Weight Watchers..help, I searched but can't find

naughtoj

naughtoj

Cathlete
Hi everyone!

I have been perusing diets. Found the 90/10 plan and it looked good but I snuck a peak at WW Core Plan and thought that looked good too.

Basically, I am totally lazy. I love produce and fruits and all. Cooking appeals very little to me. I love to eat out because of that.:-( I need a plan that takes little energy. I feel that if I eat frequently enough I can stay out of the danger zone. Core looks good but what if I want to eat a TV dinner every now and then? I guess I could just adjust my calories?? The Flex Plan looks like it gives you more freedom but I just don't know if I want to get into all that counting/will maintain it. However, I saw WW has a bunch of cookbooks. If it was real food and not some crazy weird stuff, I could see myself making a few big batches on my day off and freezing...

Can you give advice for a dieter that needs something extremely convenient? I could give up "bad" foods except for the occasional treat if the plan wasn't too much work. I also have a good basic knowlege of nutrition and exercise.

I started the 90/10 yesterday but apparently failed to eat enough and let too much time go by between eating that I was STARVING when I got home from work. I am still trying to find the balance on how much my body REALLY needs!

Thanks for any help you can give me!!
 
Hi,

The core plan is EXTEMELY difficult if you like to eat out. Flex points would be MUCH better for you. The reason Core is so hard is core foods are very natural, no sugar, all non-fat dairy, nothing processed. When you go out you never know what you'll get, it's almost impossible to find a restaurant serving fat free cheese. If you want to make things in batches, Core could work. Let me know if you need any help, I am a 2 time WW's alumn (had to join after my last two pregnancies).


Sally
 
Janice,

If you look under checkin and challenges in this forum, you'll see we have a weight wathers checkin. You may want to give it a peek.

Buffy
 
I do the WW core program unofficially. I count 25 points a day. Fridays is free day where I eat whatever I want. We go out to eat then and treat ourselves to a Starbucks. I'll eat chocolate or cookies during the day and not feel bad about it.

I eat pretty much the same thing for breakfast and lunch everyday. Cereal and milk - 3 points, wwlunch (5) small apple or fruit (2) and small yogurt (1). Dinner is trickier, but my DH cooks big batches of food on the weekend to eat from during the week, and portions it out into plastic tubs with the points already figured on it.

My job is to decide what I want him to cook. I also have daily "what I ate today" prefilled out sheets with the points of things I usually eat already printed on it. That way I only have to fill in dinner.

On my computer at home I have a link to a website that has points for all kinds of restaurant menus. I can post it tonight when I get home if you like. You will be shocked to find out what some things will "cost you" to eat it. For example, my DH and I love California Tortilla - but not since we found out a burrito is 21 points! And it's not even really junk food!

You will also be surprised at how easy it is to memorize lots of point values for different foods.

HTH.

Susan L.G.
 
I've been doing WW off and on for a lot of years. I'm a lifetime member. I periodically go above my weight and then I have to get serious again and lose it. I'll always been able to lose it and I really think Cathe is the secret ingredient.

I think it's pretty near impossible to keep your weight down if you eat out a lot. Unless you are just incredibly able to resist temptation (both in ordering and then not eating all of it) and able to suss out exactly what's in that food you order, I just don't see how you could do it. Good luck to you if you try.

I don't cook much either. I make a crockpot of veggies that I eat as my side dishes (just throw bags of frozen veggies in there, plus a can of diced tomatoes and some spicy things - like peppers in adobe sauce) and I buy the prepared bags of salad. I eat a frozen dinner for lunch often with the veggie side. I also am good at a "graze" type of meal - high fiber bread spread with store-bought hummus and a little light feta cheese. I also keep cottage cheese on hand and slices of turkey. Tuna from the can is good too. Ahh, and peanut butter - just measure that. It's dangerous for me. And I make good red beans and (brown) rice.

I follow the points plan and I subscribe to it on-line. I got tired of nasty remarks at the meetings like "why are you here?". Pleeeeze. If this 5 lbs bothers me, then that's all that matters and why are trying to get in my business? Anyway, I love on-line now.

Following points is not hard. It takes a few weeks of time up-front to learn point values (you'll spend time looking them up before you eat) but after that time, it's pretty much second nature. You can gauge points pretty well on the fly. The important thing is to find a system to track your points so that you don't go over each day. It's just too easy to say "oh, I think I'm ok" and then eat too many.

The plan is so simple. I promise, if you stay within points you will lose weight. I sound like a WW ad, but honestly, it is the best. It treats you like a grown-up -- I like the fact that they focus just on controlling your food intake -- they do not try to be your exercise physiologist or your shrink. They basically say, here's how much you should eat to be successful. It's important to follow the WW good health guidelines also, it is not intended to be a diet of junk food. Sometimes people overlook that.
 
I wish I could budget my money as well as I can budget my points!

I never joined WW because they wouldn't let me visit one meeting as a "test drive", to see how things worked at a meeting. I was really put off by the attitude of the lady I spoke to on the phone. She implied that I just wanted to look at all the fat people. I mean, what kind of freak did she think I was?

She said, "People are there to learn how to lose weight, not be looked at." Well, duh!

Susan L.G.
 
I'm new to all this....Cathe, forums, eating right, but here goes:

I joined Weight Watchers on-line 2 weeks ago. I'm using the Flex Points and find it very easy to use (after a bit of initial set up time). I've eaten out a couple times, but by planning ahead, I knew what to choose and stuck to it. I've saved my bonus points each weekend to allow for wine with dinner and even some french fries.

Eating right and rotating Cathe dvds, I've lost 5 pounds. It feels great :) It makes losing 10% is a realistic and achieveable goal!
 
Way to go on your first 5 pounds, Monkey!!!

I did WW points 5 years ago, before the flex and core plans. I *loved* the online program opposed to meetings (which just felt like more class!) I went to the first 10 meetings that I paid for and then went solo for my remaining pounds. (It took me 1.5 years to lose 45 lbs.) I learned how to eat out with my points, but ended up eating in much more often!

I'm only really chiming in right now because it was just yesterday (!) that I found out that the Core plan is low carb... and I generally can't agree with low carb menus! One of my bootcampers told me she had joined WW again last week and had chosen the core plan... only to be gasping for breath after her 30 min of cardio on Monday!!! I told her she needed to eat more complex carbs if she wants to make it through the hour-long workout.

Btw, I used every last little point in my bank every week on NACHOS :9 :9 :9 :9 :9
 
Another vote for WW--I love this program! I do the flex program since I'd rather count points and get to eat whatever I want (provided I've budgeted correctly for it), rather than stick to the core foods (yes, you do get the 35 weekly flex points, but I'd breeze through those pretty quickly if I did core LOL).

I wish lifetime members could do ww online for free. I think their website is useful, but I'm too cheap to subscribe ;).

Jennifer
 
Hello -- I'm a lurker who just discovered this site - LOVE it.

Anyway, just wanted to add my 2 cents as far as WW goes -- And I do agree with everybody that, with your lifestyle, Core is probabaly not the way to go. But Flex would be great --- I've had good success using it before to lose 15 pounds and it was so easy.

I've also dabbled in Core and I really like it -- And I just had to comment on this...

>
> the Core plan is low
>carb... and I generally can't agree with low carb menus! One
>of my bootcampers told me she had joined WW again last week
>and had chosen the core plan... only to be gasping for breath
>after her 30 min of cardio on Monday!!! I told her she needed
>to eat more complex carbs if she wants to make it through the
>hour-long workout.
>

The WW Core Plan is sooooo not low-carb. I know it's not YOU spreading the mis-information, but rather your friend-- but I just wanted to clear that up.

You can eat a virtual cornacopia of whole grains. Not to mention you get 35 points a week to eat *whatever* you want. The only "limits" on grains are potatoes, cold cereal, brown rice and ww pasta -- they can only be eaten once a day. But as far as things like oatmeal, cous-cous, barley.... there are NO limits, except eating to "satisfaction"

It really is a great plan. :)
 
Ok, well I think the consensus is Flex Plan.

I really want to give this a go!! I know if I could just lose 10lbs I would feel soooo much healthier and positive! I will check out WW online as soon as I can. Thanks for the feedback everyone!;-)
 
>
>You can eat a virtual cornacopia of whole grains. Not to
>mention you get 35 points a week to eat *whatever* you want.
>The only "limits" on grains are potatoes, cold cereal, brown
>rice and ww pasta -- they can only be eaten once a day. But
>as far as things like oatmeal, cous-cous, barley.... there are
>NO limits, except eating to "satisfaction"
>

Breads aren't allowed either, BUT, as you mentioned, there are the 35 weekly flex points, so if you're eating whole grain bread (with at least 3 grams of fiber), it usually "costs" 1-2 points at most :).

Jennifer
 
I was on WW a couple years ago and LOVED the Core plan! My favorites were...oatmeal, cream of wheat, shredded wheat, fruit, potatoes, whole wheat pasta...pretty sure that's not a low carb way of eating! The carb restrictions were based on typical dieter's eating habits and struggles, I believe. People tend to overeat bread, certain cereals, etc. that they placed some limits. It was great, though - no weighing or measuring.

I started with the Flex Plan, though. I lost most of my weight this way. My only caution is not to "cheat" the system. After a while - probably about 8 months - I would eat a whole tub of those meringue cookies - and tell myself, "Well, it was only 8 points," and then not eat lunch. Stick to the healthy guidelines they give you and I'll bet you'll really like it! Applebee's even has a WW menu! Oh and you must bookmark www.dwlz.com ... it has most popular restaurants and the point values for common foods.

Good luck!
 
Janice,
I lost over 35 pounds with WW a few years ago. I'm thinking of joining agin (on-line). I have tried but just can't eat right on my own. The points plan is the one I was on and it IS a lot of work at first, but once you get a few weeks under your belt you have meals and food you can pull up easily to get the point value. I just do better with a plan and am to the point where I will have to probably do this again to get myself back under control. Also, over a vacation or a fun weekend or a holiday, I would enjoy myself and on Monday I would jump right back on the plan and THAT's what keeps the weight off for me...not letting a holiday turn into a 6 month occasion! I enjoy eating and WW is very balanced if you make it work for you. Good luck!
Angela:7
 
That link to the restaurants is really cool!! .....and humbling! To think of how much I've been eating.....OUCH! :eek:


Curious though...who runs that website? How do they know the calories/points values of the entrees. The website looks awfully "busy". Is it reliable? Whether it is or not, I suppose, it is still pretty easy to figure out what you shouldn't eat. There is no way buffalo wings will turn out to be five points, LOL!!!

I am just so curious to see how much I could lose. What I like about WW is that it has been around so long and there are so many recipes out there based on the program. I can make batches and freeze.... I am going to sign up online today! And check out the check in! :)
 
So then what is the difference btwn Flex and Core? This is fascinating to me how WW comes out with a new way to lose weight every few years, yet our bodies and biology remain essentially the same...

I was surprised to hear her tell me it was low carb. Now I'm curious what she considers a "carb" since she told me she could have "one piece of toast or 1/2 cup of rice per day". Huh.

Of course, if someone were to limit my potato intake I might have a nervous breakdown!! (Don't eat a lot of potatoes, it's more the principle of the thing. :p)
 
One more question...


If I order WW online, will I get everything I need to follow the plan, ie. total points I can have per day, directions on calculating activity points, etc??? The website is very poor at describing what you will get with the online version. There are no paper materials right? I am getting "WW at home" and "WW online" confused. I think a long time ago I joined WW online tools in addition to going to the meetings. Is that the same?... Help!
 
So then what is the difference btwn Flex and Core?

The difference is that on Flex you count points, on Core you don't.

On Core, yOu are given a list of healthy foods. It's mostly lean meats, veg, fruit, healthy grains, FF dairy - but it's way more comprehensive than that.

You can eat whatever you want off of said list, whenever -- but again, only to satisfaction. That's the trickiest part!

The only points you count are the 35 points you get per week to use on whatever you want. And of course, you don't have to use them if you don't want.
 
Ahhh... magic words: "to satisfaction"!!!! :) If I could do *that* I wouldn't need WW in the first place! :p

I can see the appeal of the Core plan this way. Thank you!!!
 
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