Weight Watchers users...

jennifermaria

jennifermaria

Cathlete
Any other WW users out there? I think I've seen some of you on different threads :).

I'm curious to see how you use WW i.e. Flex or Core? If Flex, how many "base points" do you eat a day (not counting your activity points or your weekly allowance points)?

I've been following the Flex program for a year and a half now (I became a lifetime member after 10 months; now I follow the points system for maintenance), and while it worked perfectly for me during my weight loss, my maintenance has definitely been more of a hit or miss. I've managed to be at my "target weight" for the most part, but I have fluctuated by as much as 5 pounds in either direction, and I've noticed that when it goes in the "up" direction and I tweak my points to get it back to by target weight, it seems to always take longer to get back down than it did to go up in the first place!

Last Christmas, for example, I indulged a little (as most of us do :)), and not surprisingly, gained about 5-6 pounds in a week's time (hey, I don't get Grandma's cooking too often, so I thoroughly enjoy it when I do ;)), but it took 3-4 weeks to get rid of that extra 5 pounds!

It seems I plateau a lot more easily now, and little deviations from my regular points cause me to gain - and then when I do, it takes 2-3 weeks to lose what I gained in a few days' time. Puzzling, to say the least!

I should note that at the end of the day, I know that weight isn't the be all and end all of being healthy; I know that it can be affected by many factors, including water consumption, muscle mass, and other things that have nothing to do with gaining fat, but it is a good "check" for me to see if I'm on the right track. The whole reason I gained 30 pounds in the first place was because I ignored weight for so long and didn't "notice" that I was getting bigger and bigger, so for me, tracking my weight is a way for me to catch any telling trends while it's still early enough to adjust and pull back a little.

So... I was just curious:

* Has anyone had a similar experience with finding maintenance more challenging than they thought it would be?

* Any tips and strategies for getting weight to really be as stable as possible/reasonable?

* How many "base points" do you typically eat in a day?

* How many activity points do you assign to things like running or a Cathe cardio workout? What about a weight workout? (I ask because it's hard to gauge sometimes by their definition of high/medium/low intensity; according to them, a weight workout is medium intensity - I seriously doubt that a Cathe weight tape is "medium" intensity :D).
 
I can't say that I have had difficulties with maintaining yet, I am not there yet.
I have become a professional at plateauing.
In the last year (of 20 months of WW) I have only lost 10 lbs, but have gained immensely in muscle tone and definition.

Activity points question- you should have received the points finder for exercise and on the back it defines what their definition of high/medium/low it. For example, running/Cathe Cardio is definitely a high intensity. Yes, a Cathe weight (only weights, no cardio) is a medium intensity. I have double checked this with the points tracker on the web site as well and they equate.

My biggest problem that I experienced in the last 6 mos is that I was not eating enough food points to lose the weight. I am working out like a fiend (40+ Activity points per week), but only eating 10 flex points. I started eating all the flex points and the weight started slowly coming off again.
 
First off, congrats of being a Lifetime Member, a lot of ppl never make it to that point!!!

I am following WW, but still have about 20 pounds to lose, so far lost 40 tho :) :) :) My base points that I eat in a typical day are 20 and I eat more during the weekend, sometimes just a few extra points and sometimes all my flex points, lol, depends on the occasion. I hardly ever calculate my activity points because I want to lose as fast as possble, but sometimes if I do Imax2 or 3, I do eat a bit extra cuz I feel my body needs it, but nothing over 3 points.

My mom is a lifetime member and she doesn't exercise at all (i try to get her into it, but she doesn't like it, so i make sure to go walking with her whenever I can.) I know she weights herself once a week to keep her honest and even with weighting herself, she does go up 5lbs sometimes. The way she gets it back down is to go back to eating 20 points and going for walks during her lunch break.

I've heard maintenance is the hardest part of weight control and where most ppl gain the weight back, because some ppl believe that once they reach their goal weight, they no longer need to exercise or watch their eating, which is sooooooooo wrong! It's a lifestyle change, not a quick fix. And your weight is never stable, like u said, water, salt retention, being on your period, etc etc... all influence our weight, therefore I wouldn't worry too much aobut a few pounds, but once you go over 5, I would take a good look at the diet and cut down.

Hope that helps and I can't wait to be a lifetime member!

Corinne :)
 
I made WW lifetime in Oct 2004 after doing flex for 13 months losing a total of 45 pounds with Cathe's help too :). Thankfully I stay within my target / goal weight with 3lbs +/- . For my small frame 5'2" it's very important.

My base points is at 20 and I don't use the extra 35 they give you for the week nor do I add my activity points. Cathe's cardio is about 3-6 points with her weights at about 3-4 for me, but that's just a gauge as it is subjective for everyone.

As far as calculating my activity points I use e-tools where they have the activtiy points calculator which is based on your weight, the intensity and time.

I have to say that maintaining is a bit harder actually I think it's harder than losing at times. When I see those rebound pounds creeping up I track in my journal and just up my workouts, decrease my salt intake, decrease my breads and cheeses and drink plenty of water.

HTH
 
I'm a Lifetime Member as of Feb this year. I use Flex and to be honest, haven't been as good about tracking points as I was when I was losing. When I see the weight creeping back up, I immediately pull out my tracker and get cracking. When I do track points, I aim for my 20 a day, but I always end up eating 21-22. I was always over by a couple of points when I was losing too.

I never counted, or even calculated my activity points. I figured if I was burning more calories, than why eat them? But I didn't start doing Cathe until Jan. Cathe workouts may have created a bigger deficit of points than my other workouts did.

I must admit, I weigh myself everyday - twice in a row to make sure the reading is the same. If that scale goes up by more than two pounds, I start tracking points. Even if I know there's a reason for the gain, I just don't ever want to be back where I was (my total loss was 48 lbs).

I do find, though, that it takes me longer to lose any of those extra pounds. I think it's because I have so much less to lose that I don't try quite as hard. However, if I just can't seem to get on the stick, I add more cardio for a couple of weeks and it usually does the trick.
 
I am on WW and have lost about 90 pounds. I don't religiously weigh myself, because for me, it is counterproductive. I have around 10ish to go.

I use Flex but flirt with Core. Some on WW call this Floor! :) I am trying to eat more Core meals, to try to lose the last little bit.

My base points are 22. I usually earn about 4 flex a day and I do tend to eat them because I am ravenous if I don't. I don't tend to eat all of the 35 flex a week, but sometimes I make a pretty good dent.

I find my weight to really be pretty stable over the long run. This is why I think weighing less often is important to me because weight does typcially fluctuate up and down during the month, but mine stays pretty stable month to month.
 
I too am a WW lifetime member since November 2003. In my experience, maintenance has been much harder than the initial weight loss. For me it seems hard to figure out if a gain on the scale is a true gain or a natural fluctuation (I can go 5 pounds either way). In addition, body fat percentage plays a part. Since losing the initial (ugh!) 50 pounds I've decreased my body fat percentage by 8%. As a result my weight has gone up but I'm the same size. I stay off the scale except for my monthly weigh in with WW and once or twice at home. Looking at the number on the scale can drive me crazy and it's only part of the equation.

Up until a couple weeks ago I had been counting calories instead of points. Lately I've been experimenting with not counting at all. Ideally I'd like to see if I can train myself to eat intuitively. Others seem to master this quite well but for me it's been a challenge. I guess that's why I needed WW to begin with. LOL

Sorry that I have no sage advice for you about your original question, but I just had to chime in and agree with you about how hard maintenance is. Yes, and a 5 pound gain over a one week vacation usually takes me weeks to lose. That just isn't fair is it? Also I've been trying to lose 5 pounds to a personal goal since like forever but seem to be stuck at where I am.
 
Hmm, how bizarre, I thought I posted a response, but it's not appearing...

Well anyway, I just wanted to thank you guys for sharing your experience :). I'm glad to know that I'm not the only Cathe fan who follows WW! I loved getting your perspectives.

Jennifer
 
> For me it seems hard to figure out if a gain on
>the scale is a true gain or a natural fluctuation (I can go 5
>pounds either way). In addition, body fat percentage plays a
>part.

Amen to that! I find this the hardest as well. I just try to remind myself (a lot, these days!) that as long as I stick to eating healthy foods most of the time (I mean, I do have to cheat once in a while ;)) and exercise regularly (I'm training for 2 half-marathons later this year, so I'm definitely getting in the exercise!), everything will fall into place.
 
I'm new to weight watchers. I'm about to move into week 5. I have lost between 6 and 7 pounds. My base points are 20. I have been using a few of the flex points, but haven't had the need to use more than 10 a week so far. I count Imax workouts as 6 activity points, and most other Cathe at 4. I always eat my activity points. I don't know how you all don't, I get so famished and weak. I want enough calories to be gaining muscle. It seems to be working so far. What I wonder about is it seems there are a bunch of foods out there that have added fiber, so than effectively lowering the points they have. Mostly, noodles, tortilla shells, carb products. I wonder if this will slow down my progress. The better I get at cleverly figuring my points the more I am able to eat. Is this going to backfire?
Heather
 
Heather-
Actually, no, I have become a pro at "creatively" figuring out the points. The extra fiber actually is a good thing! I don't eat my activity points, but I eat all my flex points for the week. Like I posted earlier, if I don't eat the flex points, I don't lose. I am just not eating enough food and my body enters the starvation mode.
Basically what I do, my base points are 24, as the beginning of the week, I go through and add 2 flex points on to every day to spread them out over the week. I then usually eat at least 2 more per day. I am effectively eating the daily point value of me 50 lbs ago (have lost 65 1/2 with about 25 more to go) and have lost 5+ lbs over the last 3 wks doing this.

Last January, was when I also 'found' Cathe and lost about 7 lbs in month, immediately went on vacation and gained it all back and then some. It didn't take weeks for that weight to come off, it took *months*!!! ARGH!
 
Heather -
I will add this - I found that every person responds to different foods differently. I know that sounds intuitive, but it wasn't for me. About half way through my weight loss, I plateaued (sp?). I was sticking to my base points only, exercising faithfully but I couldn't lose anymore. My WW leader suggested I try to change one thing in my program, so I decided to cut all cheeses. Bingo - I lost. So I played around with the cheese and discovered that when I eat cheese, even if I'm within my points, my body likes to hold onto the fat.

So to get to my point, you'll have to experiment with those high fiber foods. They may be great for you, they may not. It all depends on how your body handles it. I personally can eat them in moderation. If I focus on getting most of my fiber from veggies and fruits, I do better. Experiment away - that's how you learn and can make the necessary changes to your eating habits.
 
Thanks for the advice. I am glad this thread was posted. I am excited about this new (to me) approach, and love to hear from others who have found success with it.
Heather
 
I agree with the above advice that everyone's body is different, so you'll have to see how you react to upping your fiber content, but for me, it's really a must to eat my complex carbs (marathon training insists upon it!!), so I am eating a ton of fiber right now and loving it. More fiber = fewer points *hehe*.

Jennifer
 
I forgot to say, regarding activity points, I found that the one time I plateued during the weight loss process, it was because I was at the peak of marathon training and I wasn't eating all of my activity points, so my body was going in starvation mode. My leader suggested I eat all of those activity points, and voila, it kick-started my weight loss again.

I still can't quite figure out what the "ideal" points total for me is to maintain, though. The usual maintenance base points are whatever your weight loss points are, plus 4 more points, so for me, that translated to 24 points a day. Well, for a while after I reached my goal weight, I still kept losing weight, so much so that my leader had me up my base points to 26. I must say I enjoyed eating 26 points every day :).

Unfortunately, about 3 months ago, I had a week or two where I kind of fell off the wagon with the points-tracking and--things have been haywire ever since. Now, even though 24 points is supposed to be my regular maintenance base point total, I can actually gain when I eat all of those points. My dress size hasn't really changed, which is a good thing, but it is rather puzzling (and a wee bit frustrating) to see the scale creeping up. I've sometimes gone back to the weight loss point total of 20 points (plus the weekly 35 and any activity points I earn) to try and fine-tune back to my regular weight, but even then I still find myself at best, maintaining at the slightly higher weight, or at worst, actually gaining a litle!! Grr! Not to mention, because I am training, I am hungry all the time, and I find that 20 points as my base points just aren't enough. I find I have to have a mid-morning snack and a mid-afternoon snack to keep from getting the hunger shakes, and with two 2-3 point snacks a day, 20 points starts to look awfully low :).

Anyway, I'm still trying to experiment with how many points I should be eating right now to get back to my target weight and stay there for consistently. It's an interesting process to say the least!

Jennifer
 
I trained for a marathon 2 years ago, and boy was it fun to eat. It was hard when I stopped my training to get back to eating a "regular" amount. Good luck!
Heather
 
Whoa - something you said caught my eye - "I can actually gain when I eat all of those points. My dress size hasn't really changed, which is a good thing, but it is rather puzzling (and a wee bit frustrating) to see the scale creeping up."

Could it be that you're gaining muscle? I lost an entire pants size in two months but had only a two lb loss on the scale because I was building muscle. If your clothing isn't feeling snug, you may just be developing more muscle, and since you're feeling hungry due to all your workouts, instead of losing a size, you're gaining a couple lbs. This is kind of where fitness experts and WW separate. WW focuses only on the number on the scale, whereas fitness people don't. You may be doing just fine.

I may be off here as I'm no expert, but it is something to consider.
 
> Could it be that you're gaining muscle?

I sure hope that's the case :). I am trying to gain muscle so I can have less fat, more muscle for the same weight (if that makes sense!). I know I can't turn fat into muscle, but gaining muscle will at least get me halfway to my goal!

Actually I think the more likely culprit may be my scale itself. I'm always wary of digital scales because they can be a little inconsistent depending on when you happen to be stepping on one. I actually did a test on mine by stapping on it, looking a the weight, and then stepping back on it a few seconds later to see if it would give me the same exact reading. Most of the time it does, but sometimes it doesn't - and it can be different by as much as 2 pounds! I think that's why I wonder whether the numbers are really because of me gaining muscle, because I can see fluctuations by as much as 3 or 4 pounts from one day to the next, and this is when I'm sticking to my points (and writing down what I eat), so I know it's not because I went crazy the day before LOL.

Anyway, I think you're absolutely right, the best (healthiest!) thing to do is just to focus on doing the right things as consistently as possible and keep the actual number in perspective. I have to admit, most of the reason why the number can bother me so much is because I'm a bit of a control freak, and I don't like knowing that there's something I can't really control with my behavior ;). But I'm learning to live with it, and at the end of the day, I am doing this for health reasons and if I've warded off the dreaded heart disease that runs in my family, I've succeeded :).

Jennifer
 
Bumping this up because I'm curious to see how everyone's doing... I don't really go to meetings much anymore, so I wanted to be able to chat with folks who are also using the program AND use Cathe, too :).
 
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