Go figure - I don't think I've been eating enough!

dss62467

dss62467

Cathlete
So as I've mentioned in other threads, I've been doing the online Weight Watchers program for the last couple months. I don't think I like the whole "points" thing. It allows me 18 points a day, with something like 35 "cheat" points a week.

The thing is, I don't pay attention to those "cheat" points and have been restricting myself to the 18 points. With all the exercise I do, my points should probably be higher - right?

I checked out that Sparkpeople.com yesterday and they gave me a range of 1200 - 1500 calories a day, with a target of burning 540 calories through exercise a week. This makes WAY more sense to me. My 18 points was probably about 1200 calories a day. But I burn much more than 540 calories through exercise a week. That's like - 2 Cardio Coach workouts.

The points thing works for a lot of people, and I'm not knocking it. I've known SO many people who have had great success with Weight Watchers - and, yeah...I dropped 8 lbs. following it. But I think I need more concrete numbers for me to get a realty check on my habits.
I've been pretty much flat on my losing for the last couple weeks, and I'll bet dollars to donuts that it's because I'm not eating enough.
 
I agree with you on the eating more idea. When I stick with eating small meals 6 times per day ( about every 2 1/2 hours), I lose weight/water retention. Also, I tend to binge less at night. Melissa
 
Donna, why in the world are you on WW and trying to lose weight?? As I recall, you're naturally slim and barely weigh more than 100 lbs. For the kind of exercise you're doing, I don't think you should be restricting your calories in any way. I'm similar to you in size, and for people like us I think the only real eating guidelines should be staying away from empty calories, simple sugars and junk food.

How do you have the energy to workout??? If you keep eating 1200 calories per day, you'll disappear by summer! :eek:
 
Yeah, well....I reached the "I'll be happy with this weight, but am REALLY shooting for this weight" goal. I think that the weight I've hit is where I need to be actually. (only a 2 lb. difference between the two). When I logged that I had hit that weight on WW.com, I expected my daily points allowance to change since I'm in "maintenance" mode. It didn't. it stayed at 18. Which I think is too low.

It's defitely allowing myself to fall victim to the numbers on the scale.
 
Nancy - I did WW to lose weight because after I hurt my knee last August, I couldn't really exercise for almost 6 months. (Well, I COULD have done the stationary bike or Nordic Track, but hated them and hadn't found Sean yet). Once I stop exercising, everything falls to pot. I eat bad, I don't drink enough water...it's just not good and I gained about 8 lbs. The first couple times back to Tae Kwon Do, I was huffing and puffing, whereas I'd hardly break a good sweat before the injury. And then I got one of my favorite pairs of pants back from the dry cleaners. I hadn't worn them in months because they needed to be cleaned and I kept procrastinating. I could hardly zip them and they gave me a wedgie.

That's when I had to face the facts. Weightwatchers was just a place to go to help me track my eating and get good recipes. I don't actually do any of the WeightWatchers meeting things.

Yeah, I am only 106 lbs. (was shooting for 104 - don't ask why, I don't know). But I'm only 5'0" and very small boned (size 3 1/2 ring), so any extra weight shows FAST.
 
Donna- you are right, you are probably not eating enough. Just to let you know, though, that the 18 points a day averages out to about 900 calories, not 1200! I also had that issue with WW when I started using Cathe as my primary exercise source. WW is not intended for those who are "advanced" exercisers. I only refer to myself as advanced in the light that WW encourages walking as the primary form of exercise....NOT Cathe-like stuff! When I would talk to my leader about my plateau she would ask if I was exercising. I was typically earning 45-50 activity points a week and when I told her that, she looked dumbfounded and said, "Why?" She honestly didn't know what to do with someone that exercised that much. I tinkered with my activity points and my extra points (I was eating 24 points/day= 1200 cals) and it still didn't work. When I found SparkPeople, it calculated that I should be eating 1500-1800 cal/day, which personally, I still don't think is enough because of my height/weight. All other calculations come up with over 2000 cals/day for me to lose weight, and it's working, but very slowly because I think that WW put me so far into starvation mode for so long that it's taking me a while for my body to adjust. Just you give you some perspective...I'm 5'8" and 180 lbs (yes, and WW was giving me only 1200 cals/day!)

Oh, and you can also put in your weekly calorie burn on SparkPeople and it will take that into account when it calculates your daily calories. Chances are, it will give you more because of the CC workouts.
 
900 calories!?! No WONDER I felt like I wasn't allowed to eat enough.Thanks for the info. I'm really glad I come on this forum and get such good ideas and advice from all you wonder ladies (and occassionally gentleman). :)
 
Sorry to hear about your knee, Donna. I didn't remember that. I'm glad you're doing better now. I agree that 1200 or less is WAY low, especially now that you've hit maintenance mode and are exercising again.
 
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