? for you current/former weight watchers...

dr.mel_PT

dr.mel_PT

Cathlete
when i used to go to the meetings (i recently cancelled so i could save $), they would tell me to eat no more than 4 points' worth of activity points a day, no matter how hard you worked out. so, even if you ran a marathon that day, you can only account for 4 AP's worth of food. now, if you go by the "1 activity point per 100 calories burned" rule, most of my workouts burn WAY more than 400 calories. i'm thinking that my weight loss progress has been hindered because maybe i'm not eating as much as i should? i'm scared to up the calorie intake but then again if i'm working out hardcore, i should be refueling my body. any thoughts/suggestions?

i brought this up in one of the last meetings i went to and the leader told me to stop exercising as hard as i do and just walk/lift light weights. i didnt mean to be rude but i laughed in her face. no way can i give up my workouts; they keep me sane!! plus i feel great when i overcome a challenging workout.

its frustrating because a lot of the leaders/members i know don't know too much about fitness.
 
WW'er here

Sounds like your former leader has really old information-that used to be their thinking until about 4 years ago. I believe they were trying to curtail those that thought walking 30 minutes = 1 hot fudge sundae from DQ :)

Also, since they changed to the Momemtum Program this past December, Activity Points are treated/used differently. You now use your points in this order: Daily, WAP, then Activity-which can be carried over to be used the the next day or throughout the week(it's no longer use them the same day or lose them). I personally think this is a healthier approach.

Hope this helps!

Lisa
 
I wear a heart rate monitor and count each 100 calories as 1 point. If I burn 1000 calories on a long bike ride, I count 10 points, and I eat those 10 points. I am losing weight. I also belong to sparkpeople and will occasionally enter my calories in there - I know the range I need to stay in in order to lose weight. If I went with my points AND 4 activity points, I'd be eating 1500 calories a day - and at 5'10 and my activity level - that's NOT enough. But when I count my activity points it puts me within range.

I'm used to the old way of using the Activity points first - and it kind of freaks me out to see the flex points go first, but I guess I'll get used to it. :eek:

But yes, the 4 point rule was due to the fact the people tend to overestimate their activity level. I figure a HR monitor is the best way to go.
 
Hi Melissa,

I think it is silly for a ww leader to tell you to cut back on your exercise. I think you need to do what works for you. If you are carefully tracking your points and know exactly what you are eating, you may not be eating what you need to, as you said.

After losing 68 pounds, I went through this holding pattern for a couple of months while on ww but am now on my way down again, losing my last 10 pounds. I decided to track my calories (with free software) for a while along with points and realized how many carbs and too little protein I was eating. Once I decreased the carbs and increased the protein (while adding points), my weight started dropping again.

I am in Meso 2, week 3 of STS and have lost 4 pounds in the last 3 weeks. I would say I am using 70-80% of my AP's and I earn 46-50 AP's a week. I think cleaning up my diet has made a big difference for me.

Have you tried the ww online boards? There is no charge for the boards and folks in the women's fitness boards are very helpful.

Good luck to you,

Chris
 
I've been following WW'ers for about 7 years. I started with Flex, and over the past few years have been doing Core on and off. I've been having a hard time losing about 8 lbs that I've put on over the last few years. And then a few MORE lbs started creeping on recently. About a month ago, I went back to Flex , but concentrating more on Core foods. Eating my 23 Points, and then sometimes adding on a couple of APs. (I work out pretty hard, 6 days a week, using Cathe workouts, or running, an hour or more a day).

Just this week, I went over to Sparkpeople to see how many calories I was eating. Well, lo and behold, I was eating TOO MUCH! To lose weight, SP said my calorie range should be 1200-1550. Well , comparing them to WW'ers, 1550 calories was equivelent to about 21 points!!

I never even would have guessed! In fact, I thought I wasn't eating enough too!

I'm not saying this IS your issue too, but go to one of the free calorie sites, and see how many calories you're eating!
 
My biggest gripe with WW is that most of the leaders just don't get it that some of us actually do engage in activities beyond parking your car further away at the grocery store. I pretty much ignore what they say about activity and give myself extra points for my workouts. I have been at or below goal for over two years now. For a long time I was 10lbs below goal. Right now I'm hovering right around goal and starting to lose again. Giving myself extra points for working out never caused a gain. Not keeping track of what I eat does me in every time.
 
Boingo1 said:
I've been following WW'ers for about 7 years. I started with Flex, and over the past few years have been doing Core on and off. I've been having a hard time losing about 8 lbs that I've put on over the last few years. And then a few MORE lbs started creeping on recently. About a month ago, I went back to Flex , but concentrating more on Core foods. Eating my 23 Points, and then sometimes adding on a couple of APs. (I work out pretty hard, 6 days a week, using Cathe workouts, or running, an hour or more a day).

Just this week, I went over to Sparkpeople to see how many calories I was eating. Well, lo and behold, I was eating TOO MUCH! To lose weight, SP said my calorie range should be 1200-1550. Well , comparing them to WW'ers, 1550 calories was equivelent to about 21 points!!

I never even would have guessed! In fact, I thought I wasn't eating enough too!

I'm not saying this IS your issue too, but go to one of the free calorie sites, and see how many calories you're eating!
Click to expand...

Whoa! I've found the exact opposite to be true. If I eat 26 points - it's the equivalent of around 1300/1400 calories. You must have been eating many many 0 point foods!
 
What you need to do is forget about WW and just buy a GoWearFit!! That thing is awesome. I can log my food and see just where I am in terms of calorie burn v. consumption at any given point in the day.

Back when I attended WW the leader referred to exercise as the "E word" and she was the last person I would have asked for advice on anything having to do with exercise or nutrition. As far as I know, the only requirement to be a leader is to have reached and maintained your goal weight after using the WW program.
 
andtckrtoo said:
Whoa! I've found the exact opposite to be true. If I eat 26 points - it's the equivalent of around 1300/1400 calories. You must have been eating many many 0 point foods!
Click to expand...

No kidding! That's what I always thought too! I was shocked! And no , I don't eat a lot of 0 point foods. It was just very strange...
 
The fact is WW leaders are not very well trained. I followed WW in 1998 to the point of not ovulating. ( poor goal choice) The leader's comment was "if you are not trying to get pregnant what is the big deal" She had no knowledge of the risks of bone loss etc with extremely low body fat.

Any way my points are 1) These leaders are not health coaches and they are minimally qualified. 2) Remember, WW is a FOR PROFIT business. They make money off of people who repeatedly join and yoyo over the decades.
 
On the same lines: if you're interested in WW's "point system" - do you think 1 point equals 50 calories?
 
Here is the WW formula for points from a few years ago - this may have changed but it should be close:

#Points = (Calories / 50) + (Fat g / 12) - (minimum of (Fibre g, 4) / 5)

Example:
For a food with 160 calories, 5 g Fat and 6 g Fibre
#Points = (160 / 50) + (5 / 12) - (4 / 5)
= 3.2 + 0.4 - 0.8
= 2.8
You would round this to a 3 point food
 
I prefer counting calories also

Boingo1 said:
I've been following WW'ers for about 7 years. I started with Flex, and over the past few years have been doing Core on and off. I've been having a hard time losing about 8 lbs that I've put on over the last few years. And then a few MORE lbs started creeping on recently. About a month ago, I went back to Flex , but concentrating more on Core foods. Eating my 23 Points, and then sometimes adding on a couple of APs. (I work out pretty hard, 6 days a week, using Cathe workouts, or running, an hour or more a day).

Just this week, I went over to Sparkpeople to see how many calories I was eating. Well, lo and behold, I was eating TOO MUCH! To lose weight, SP said my calorie range should be 1200-1550. Well , comparing them to WW'ers, 1550 calories was equivelent to about 21 points!!

I never even would have guessed! In fact, I thought I wasn't eating enough too!

I'm not saying this IS your issue too, but go to one of the free calorie sites, and see how many calories you're eating!
Click to expand...

As much as I like what WW does, I like counting calories better. I do a hodge-podge of WW concepts, Eat This, Not That & calorie counting. I also find it's easy to over estimate the # of calories you burn in a workout. To be safe, I think the 4 activity points limit makes sense, because, even with intense workouts, during the rest of your day you may not be that active. I consider myself "moderately" active even with very intense cardio 4 days a week because I'm not that active the rest of the day. So, you may be eating more & burning fewer calories than you think.
 
I've had very good luck using WW, but I agree that the orientation of the meetings is not exactly...shall we say, pro-exercise. Many of the other people there obviously hate exercise and do as little as possible. When I'm tracking points, I go as high on my activity points as I think the activity merits, and I COUNT THEM ALL :) So if I have 9 activity points for the day, not unusual if I do a Cathe cardio activity plus some strength training plus a hike with my dog, I count those against my food. And I lost weight steadily that way. In fact, I think if you didn't count your full activity points, while doing intense workouts like Cathe's, you wouldn't be eating enough each day, might have trouble working out, and might even go into that zone where your body hoards calories because you aren't taking in enough. Hope that helps!
 
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