weight watcher question

[Avocet]

Hi all,
I have to admit that I've been reading from afar but finally decided to jump in and tap into all your incredible support! I'm fairly new to road biking (bought a WSD trek 2000 last summer) and I'm really enjoying it. Although I've always been very active - hiking, skiing etc. I've always struggled with my weight. It seems that I yoyo from 155 to 170 and I really want to end that. I recently joined Weight Watchers (for the 3rd time) and have successfully dropped 8 pounds! yahoooooo! I know some of you here have been successful with WW so I thought I'd tap your knowledge. My question involves activity points. Its winter here so I haven't been cycling outdoors but I do take a spinning class once a week (killer!) and ski and do other cardio at least 5 days a week. When I calculate the activity points for my spinning class (1 hour) its 7 points - should I be eating all those points? and what about long outdoor rides. Do you eat all those activity points?

[snapdragen]

I think in WW they do tell you to eat all your activity points - sometimes that just doesn't feel realistic though. After a 60 mile ride? Yikes.

[jobob]

Really? I don't remember that. But it's been a while for me, and WW has changed the program somewhat since I was on it a few years ago. Perhaps the Weight Watchers website has more info? I found the website to be a really good resource back then. I did the online version, I didn't go to meetings, but I think many/most of the online resources are also available to members that attend meetings if that's the approach you're using. If you go to meetings, could your leader help out?

Nevertheless, congratulations on your progress, Avocet, and for going with WW, I think it's one of the best and sanest weight loss programs out there.

[snapdragen]

I wonder if this will work:

http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=16801



You can do either with activity points. Eat 'em, or not eat 'em.

Let me know if the above link doesn't work....

[maillotpois]

I do Weight Watchers (lost 60 lbs with them in college), and I eat ALL my APs. 60 mile ride today, about 25 points extra eaten (all in sushi, I might add!).

Anyway, come over to the WW fitness challenge board - we have a Biking Fanatics thread almost daily with some great long distance cyclists participating! It is sometimes a tough balance doing the points and the long distance stuff, but it works.

Sarah

[Avocet]

Thanks guys, I've been on the WW page but haven't really found any threads with people that do more long distance workouts but I'm glad to hear about the Challenge board I'll check it out. you guys are great! Always inspiring to read the boards here!

[BikerDar]

Hi there,
Thought I'd jump into this thread. I've been a Lifetime WW'r for about a year and a half. I lost 50 pounds. I've always been very active and ate fairly well but my problem was in my portions. And I would not eat much while riding thinking I had plenty of stores and didn't need to. WRONG!!

I ate all my activity points and all my flex points too. I found that if I didn't, my weight loss stalled. I go to the gym five days a week, weight train every day, alternating muscle groups, spin twice, run or eliptical the other three days, and then I ride at least 45 miles on Sat. I gained about ten pounds after an injury and in the last two months have been hard at it to lose them again. I realized a few weeks ago that I wasn't having any success dropping the pounds and thought perhaps I wasn't eating enough. So I increased my preworkout snack and fuel myself more regularly when I ride and the pounds started coming back off.

Lesson learned, if you don't eat enough your body goes into starvation mode and hangs onto every last oz. I know everybody is different, and some WW'rs do better not eating all their AP's, but athletes need fuel. I can't speak enough about fueling yourself regularly, like 3-400 calories an hour. I really like Luna Bars and Gels, but also dried fruit and nuts work great for me. Also if you are trying to avoid sugar, there is a product called Fruit Leather. Think Fruit Roll-ups like the kids eat, but with only fruit no corn syrup or other sugar. They're very tasty, weigh NOTHING, and are easy to digest, at least for me.

[snapdragen]

I ate all my activity points and all my flex points too. I found that if I didn't, my weight loss stalled.

That's exactly what is happening to a woman in my group - she won't eat any of her activity points! Yet she works out every day. I think our leader pulled her aside at the last meeting and had a talk. Maybe she gets it now.

[Brandi]

You know I am 5'3 weigh 144-140 and nothing I do helps me lose any weight. I am very active too. I bike about 75 miles a week if not more and just started adding more hills. I eat normally. But at night I really seem to be more hungry. Why is that? Am I not eating enough during the day maybe.
Breakfast is usually- egg on english muffin or 1 piece of toast with natural peanut butter and jam or oatmeal
lunch-soup or sandwich or all natural mac and cheese
snack maybe a cookie or two and tea
dinner -what ever but balanced protien-carbs-veggie's
dessert too usually slow chrun 1/2 fat ice cream one and a half scoops. sometimes i will have a piece of fruit later in the evening too.
I have been the same weight forever am I jsut where I need to be?

[jobob]

I lost a lot of weight last year when I had braces on my bottom teeth and, now that I have them off and have gained some of the weight back (grrrrr :mad: ) I'm trying to figure out what it is that made me lose all that weight in the first place.

I'm convinced that what did it was the fact that, especially early on, it was difficult for me to get used to chewing with the braces in place so I would chew my food verrrry slowly and carefully. The offshoot was that eating was downright tedious, and I would literally get bored of eating after a while. Although the portion sizes I ate were fairly small, I was never hungry, because eating so slowly I would gradually fill up, and the effort and the boredom from eating outweighed any hunger I may have perceived.

Even once I had the chewing thing more or less worked out, it was such a hassle to clean my braces afterwards that I would avoid snacking between meals.

I've had my braces off since late Dec and I wear a removable retainer now, and I like to joke to people to keep their hands away from the moving mouth parts. :D I really have to start being careful again, I've gained nearly 12 pounds over my absolute lowest weight (which was late summer/early fall). That's not such a bad thing since I've been told by many people that I had probably lost too much back then - my face was getting very gaunt, and I've lost count of the number of people who asked me if I had been ill :rolleyes: Even my doctor told me I should put a bit of weight back on, LOL !

But that said, I think I've gained more than enough I have to be careful again, argh.

So I'm writing this all down as sort of a reminder to myself to eat slowly, watch the portion sizes, and to cut out the snacks !! :p

[SadieKate]

But that said, I think I've gained more than enough I have to be careful again, argh. I think you look simply mahvlous, darling.:D

I do, I really do. Just freeze frame it there. Yah, easier said than done, I know.

[jobob]

I think you look simply mahvlous, darling ... Just freeze frame it there

SK, so kind of you to say {hug}. But there's the rub! I think the pendulum is swinging in the wrong direction at the moment. I'm starting to have to dig out the next size up mompants that I had stored away. grrrr.

The good thing is, I know what I need to do to keep it off - avoid the snacks, and even more so, watch the portion sizes - which means lay off the second and (*ahem*) third helpings at dinner :rolleyes: which is really hard when Lee makes his wonderful meat loafs and stews, yummm. Bad Lee.

(edited to add - by "avoid the snacks" I mean the donuts and muffins that sing their siren song to me at work mid-morning and mid-afternoon. I'm re-training myself to have a low fat yogurt or a cup of soy milk instead, like I did in my metal-mouth days. I certainly don't avoid eating before & during my rides - I'd keel over after about a dozen miles if I didn't eat enough)

And I made such a freakin' pig of myself in Denmark - all those fabulous breads and rolls and pastries - thankfully I was there for less than a week !

May need to do some hills this weekend.

- jo "I don't ordinarily obsess about my weight, really :rolleyes: " bob

[Hell-uv-a-job]

I am on my own Weight Watchers (I watch my weight go up every week :p ).

Serious, I have never being in WW but tried every diet under the sun. Is WW really helpfull? I am just a big eater and don't seem to be able to correct that. Last I tried Therapy but shortly realized that is not my head but ME the problem. I am simply hopeless about ever being able to lose weight so I use my bike to control my weight (or at least that's the plan):( :( .

[jobob]

I am on my own Weight Watchers (I watch my weight go up every week :p ).

LOL, good one !


Serious, I have never being in WW but tried every diet under the sun. Is WW really helpfull? I truly believe it is. I was on WW a few years ago. I did the online version, not the go-to-meetings plan. I thought the online version was really good, it enabled me to keep my food journal online to keep track of my points, which I thought was really nifty. I lost about 20 pounds with WW online over about 4 months time. I was still about 10 lbs short of my goal weight when I ended my subscription to WW online but I was still pretty pleased with the result. I picked up some very good eating habits from WW which I have held on to to this day (well, if you chose to ignore my recent post braces pig-out ... extenuating circumstances. Yeah, that's the ticket :D )

[Avocet]

I too have been on every diet know to human kind and I think Weight Watchers is the best from a nutrition standpoint. I think it helps keep me accountable for what I put in my mouth but sometimes I think it makes me obsess a little too much (Oh my god I have to weigh in tomorrow - no sodium, no alcohol, no FUN!!!: :eek:) Anyway, it seems to be working for me right now. I've lost about 10 pounds since January. I'm ready for some good weather to get my bike out. some good miles on the road will help gets some pounds off!

Question: I've seen some references in other posts to the "LRRH". Is that the Little Red Riding HOod all womens ride in Logan Utah?

[jobob]

Question: I've seen some references in other posts to the "LRRH". Is that the Little Red Riding HOod all womens ride in Logan Utah?

Yes indeedy!
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=4822

[BikerDar]

from what you listed as your typical meals, sounds like you may be shorting yourself on veggies and dairy.
Try having a salad along with your lunch sandwich or if you have access to a microwave maybe zap some frozen veggies to supplement. Also drinking more water may help. One of the things that WW's emphasizes is to make sure you get 2-3 servings of dairy and 5-7 fruit and veggies.

The WW website has some really great message boards that you can get lots of tips from. weightwatchers.com
I've gotten tons of great recipes....plus there's boards for avid exercisers, beginning exercisers, and many other topics.

I've battled my weight my whole life, but since joining WW two years ago I finally feel like I'm in control of my appetite and my body. I stray from time to time but then I just pick myself back up and get back on track.

good luck!