I just joined weight watchers on line a week ago and I really like it.
I keep wishing some TE sisters are on this; the ww lists are a little snarky...
so...anyone here on it?
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I just joined weight watchers on line a week ago and I really like it.
I keep wishing some TE sisters are on this; the ww lists are a little snarky...
so...anyone here on it?
A little snarky? General is like a viper pit! :eek: I'm a member, but I haven't been following it too closely these days. Maybe I will start up again next week...
On and off. Off lately. :rolleyes: The cycling group on Fitness challenge or whatever it's called these days is ok. I've actually met a number of the folks from there.
I should really start up again. :rolleyes:
I joined 10 months ago, and have lost a bit over 30 pounds. I attend meetings, but also use the online tools.
The boards over there are terrible, except for the 50+ (which I don't really spend any time on) and the vegetarian board. It's much like TE.
I am on it, online. I don't go to their boards, too much OCD and know-it-alls. It seems like a lot of people on there just want to attack people not using the plan the way they think is right. I definitely don't follow it to a T but I am doing okay. It is helping me be more aware of what I am eating and try to cook more.
I lost 40 lbs several years ago but moved and got less focused on cooking and living right. I am not trying to lose it again, about 10 lbs down, 25-30 to go depending on where I feel my goal weight is. I struggle to log on weekends, which reminds me I need to log now. :D What I found last time is my body does not feel good to me at those arbitrary height goals. I got thin and lean at 123 but felt I couldn't enjoy anything to maintain it. A year later my mom told me I looked sickly thin at that weight and she is obsessed with getting thin again! I am happier at 130-135 which is at the very top of the recommended weight for my age and height. Rubbish.
glad to hear my intuition was "on" after 3 messages...holy cow! although i did get some valuable info if i disregard the tone.
just started. maybe i'll keep this going and bump it..sending a call out...if i have a question you all can help me answer!
cycling is great for activity points...although an hour at an avg of 14mph should be worth more than 4...:p
Aggie...a +1 for listening to your body
DivingB......I'm impressed!!!
I am also on weight watchers, have been for almost 11 months. I have lost almost 50 lbs (40 lbs to go) and my husband, who was also doing WW with me, has lost over 60! I had a tough time in the middle, and was stuck at the same weight for about 3 of those months until I really kicked up the exercise.
I also do the online version, but don't visit the message boards anymore. I used to, but never really liked them much.
alot of ppl seem to hit a plateau....but I've seen more people lose more weight and keep it off on WW than on anything else.
I have to lose 50lbs...3 down...47 to go!!
I lost about 10 over the summer on WW at Work program. I have been plateauing the last 2 months with increased exercise :(
try cutting back the carbs?
Cutting back on the carbs is going to be my next trick. We will see what happens...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
It looks like they just use the BMI tables, which do not work for everyone. I'm 64.75 inches tall and weigh 149. That puts me at the top of their chart. But I have 22% body fat. If I kept my lean body mass the same to get their recommendation, I'd have like 15% body fat. I don't think that would be attractive.
Veronica
Yup, I think they try to make logic out of a chart. BMI doesn't work for many people I know and a lot of them are at an "ideal" weight but so sedentary they aren't as healthy as I am.Quote:
Originally Posted by Veronica
My husband says it is because they don't take in account how much weight I carry in my chest. I lost 40 lbs and barely went down a cup size. Probably right I read once each boob is like 8 lbs. That is my excuse, 16 lbs off and I would be way close to their "ideals".
I know this is a thread about WW.
Yes, 4 (or 5) years ago did WW (on line--no bullentin boards) and started biking and lost 25 pounds. Have struggled w/ getting the last 10 or so off. Up and down and have not been able to REALLY get back on and stick w/ WW.
I know when I did it the first time I HARDLY ever added in my biking or activity points. Only day we splurged or ate out was after a really long bike ride. But was fairly if not really strict. Just can't get back to that place. I wish I could.
But the reason I am posting is this quote: Probably right I read once each boob is like 8 lbs.
Ok, yes, I lost weight in my chest....I am like an A now....(if that!).
Even so....I never have carried NEAR 8 pounds per boob! Even if I lost the rest of my "boobs" it would maybe be 2 pounds---total---if I am lucky!:D
You just made me LOL!
Haha well glad to make you laugh. Sometimes they are a curse, I was a size 4 at my thinnest and a 34D (barely close to DD), no shirts would fit them and not be huge for my waist. Only really mattered with business casual type stuff but really there is a down side to everything.Quote:
Originally Posted by katluvr
Sure my best friend who is barely an A told me to STFU but seriously, 8 lbs is probably right for me (or maybe that article said both, total) and I will use that as my excuse to never hit 113-127 for my ideal weight. :p:D I just want a reason to give those weight charts the bird!
You know 8 pounds is how much a gallon of water weighs. 1 boob = a gallon of water? :eek:
Veronica
I am beginning to think it must have been on average two boobs? I mean I got some fairly big boobs but I can't see one weighing 8 lbs! Although I did like telling myself that.
Sorry to hijack Elk's WW thread but since it WWers here, does anyone use a HR to figure activity points? I prefer not to eat my APs but I am curious since I just got a HR monitor how my run tonight translated. I am very curious about my cycling since the cycling APs seeming really messed up, racing>12 mph?!
you get "moderate" or "brisk".... that's enough for me! Brisk (I think) biking for 1.5 hrs nets me a good handful of APs...but I don't swap them either.
Although after this weekend...knowing I had 10 aps helped my psyche... we had dinner out 2 nights in a row and when I came home and looked up points I just about fell over!!
ps that's not a hijack...i just wanted a place for us to talk about all kinds of ww stuff....;-)
I read somewhere a long time ago that 100 calories burned=1 AP. Not sure if that's even right anymore, but I keep that in mind. My goal is to burn between 400-600 calories/day. I never use the AP's for more food unless I am doing a 1000+ calorie day (in addition to cycling, I also do a lot of hiking, usually 6-10 mile trips). I need the extra calories then, so I don't feel as bad, but only trade in 4 at the most.
Grey- Probably pretty close. I did 33.5 minutes at high HR and put it in as 33 minutes, high intensity. It was 4 APs per the calculator (this is for my weight, I know they vary by weight).
Since I got back on WW a month ago I had been letting the points swap but then I noticed I am eating a ton and not good stuff, junk. When I successfully lost before I didn't take the APs to swap, I didn't want to eat my exercise. I may have to when I hit a cut off and lose some points, right now my 21 is hard but 22 wouldn't be. :rolleyes:
Right now it is much slower than I thought it would be. I think I will keep notes of how many APs I earned, I have consistently been earning 20+ a week which makes me content. I try to be active everyday except one pure rest day. Some weeks I take more than that if my body tells me to. Otherwise I run 30-60 minutes, commute home (27 miles), road or mountain bike. And that crazy pushup challenge. I think HR monitor will help me judge my effort better, looking forward to that.
NSV this morning- my jeans I have been wearing for the last couple months were too baggy and looked bad, even DH said they were too baggie to wear. I put on a pair I haven't been able to wear since the spring. :)
I use 100 cal = 1 AP, and I usually earn about 50 a week. I eat either them or the WPAs, sometimes both. I don't understand not eating them at all--you're exercising, you need more calories. And one point is essentially 50 calories, so you're still burning more than you're eating.
I find that the activity calculator says I get way more APs than my HRM does, so I go by the HRM.
I mean I don't want to use them and the flex points. Last week I used almost all of both (all WPA and most APs), I did lose 1 lb but I think I am eating more at a maintenance level. Maybe I should think about just eating some APs and trying not to flex. I have only been back OP for a month and still trying to find my balance. Last time I lost fast but felt deprived because I hardly had candy, sweets, my beloved Mexican food, fast food, fried foods (hey I am southern, I need this on occassion). So this time I am trying to eat better but not completely deprive myself. Now that I have the HRM I think I will rely on it for the APs.Quote:
Originally Posted by divingbiker
Do you do minutes in high= high intensity? Or just 100= 1.
For instance last night I had 33:38 for my run, of that 33:10 was "high". I would put that all as high intensity= 4 pts? It was 368 calories so that would be 3.5 pts but I think they just round up on APs. For running it seems on with their charts but cycling I am sure will be eye opening either good or bad. I am really curious how it will play for cycling as my husband thinks I do not work that hard at it but I feel like I am exerting. When I quit running in favor of only cycling I did gain though.
when I am cycling, my HR usually stays up above 75%. On our last ride, I even had points that it was 95% (I was racing my husband at the very end haha). I like to keep it around 85% most of the time, so it's been great knowing exactly how hard I'm working!
As far as eating the AP's...I think it depends on your body. I've tried it both ways. When I would eat my AP's (again, with my max of 4 per day), I wasn't losing weight. I went back to eating only my daily points, and started losing again. I'm not all that strict, I eat when I need to eat, especially if I've worked out hard, but I've just found that if I eat my AP's and extra weekly points, the scale doesn't budge. I still get 25 points/day though, I know when I drop more weight and my daily allowance drops, I will need to eat up my AP's for sure.
I just count 100 calories = 1 AP. I'm not smart enough with the HRM to figure out how many of my calories were in the high/medium/whatever category.
GC, good for you if you can get by without eating APs or WPAs. I get 22 pts (soon to go down to 21, I hope), and that's not nearly enough when I'm exercising.
Yeah, I hear ya. Like I mentioned, I've still got a lot to lose, so my daily points are still high. There are days where I feel like I just can't get enough food in my belly! I will definitely be using them as I get smaller, but still making good food choices instead of eating junk.Quote:
Originally Posted by divingbiker
Ok, so here's where I get confused.Quote:
Originally Posted by divingbiker
I ride into work, one way, 20 miles and ~1000 ft climbing. It takes an hour and a half, I average 85% MHR (per formula which I know isn't accurate, but it's at least ubiquitous), and the program says I burn about 900-950 calories doing it.
Per most calculators and WW tools I've used, and now this 100cal=1AP thing, this is *9* Activity Points. Wow!
So on days I ride into work, should I be eating 9 more points? 4 more points? or none? That's quite a difference between 20 points a day and 29!
(when I eat "none", I should mention that I am a starving wreck by about 7pm and will claw at the kitchen walls for sustenance if I must, so I know I should eat some of them... but how many?)
-- gnat! (I should be in a bikini with how much riding I do these days, but noooo...)
I still say to eat only 4 AP's. One of my friends who does the meetings in person has told me that as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gnat23
Well, I'd eat at least half of them, and possibly all 9; if you ate all 9 you still burned 250 more than you ate. If your weight loss slows when you eat all your APs, then eat half of them.
I've also heard the rule of thumb for some people is don't eat any APs if you earn 4 or fewer; if you earn more, eat everything above 4.
I try not to dip into WPAs on days that I eat all my APs. The weight loss gets really slow when I eat all I'm "entitled" to.
I am just now trying the eat the APs thing so we will see how it goes. My new HRM has been a real eye opener and I take it is as relatively accurate albeit probably a little high. Yesterday my 27 mile commute burned 1252 calories. It is rolling and 22 miles were into the wind, so very feasible that the big heavy bike was a pretty decent work out. Despite trying to stay in my zone, I spent about 1/3 in the "high" zone (I think that is anaerobic?). I ate most the APs, of course we did go out to dinner unplanned. I wouldn't eat all the APs because a little computer can't be that close. I have heard as much as 25% over? If so that would be more like 9 APs which is how many I ended up eating.
When I eat all my APs and all or most my WPAs I see slow or no weight loss. I don't think that works, at least not for me. But it makes sense to at least eat some of your APs. I get 21 points a day, I don't know the calorie formula but lets say the easy 1pt=50 calories, that is only 1,050 calories a day (someone tell me the approximate calories for 21, maybe it is closer to 1,500 still my point is valid). I would have burnt more than I ate which means I would be just burning muscle not fat, right? Also I have always heard the body is designed to go into conserve mode if you are burning too much fat and muscle and you will see the weight loss curb if you aren't fueling it. Just what I have heard, I am far from an expert!
I also agree WW is very personal, I would say eat some but look at how that changes your own weight loss. Listening to your body is right, once I get a few weeks into the program I am rarely ravenous. I might eat something like carrots if I have already used my points but I stay satisfied. If you are really hungry your body is telling you something. :) Tweak where needed to keep losing.
my new favorite pre-workout snack is pb & j. A small slice of wheat bread, sometimes 2 slices (orowheat makes a low cal bread that is 1 point for 2 slices), covered in 1 Tbsp of low fat pb (Jif, 2 pts per Tbsp), and a little bit of sugar free jam. For a 3 point snack, it really helps me get through a long workout!
Greycoral!
I second the PB&J pre-workout meal! And I love the Smuckers Sugar Free jam!
yeah, the smuckers is really good. There's even a lady here in Portland who sells her own stuff, and recently started making it with splenda. The consistency is a little weird, but it's pretty tasty.
Everyone is different. Whenever I've eaten my activity points, or even half I gained weight every single time. I limit mine to 4 also, or if I ride more, I substitute my snacks on the ride only. I've also used a hr monitor and believe me, they are not really very accurate when it comes to calories burned. I've plugged in my heart rates into the ww activity calculator and if my hr monitor says I've burned 1400 calories, I usually only get 7 or so activity points from ww based on my heart rates. Also, 1 point is 100 calories, not 50.Quote:
Originally Posted by divingbiker
Anyone else have a problem with weight watchers pushing their snacks and stuff on you? I'm a professional ww, since the age of 18 and they employed my mother as a lecturer/leader for years. She also had a problem with it. Doesn't seem like those are healthy alternatives. Another thing, when my lecturer stands in front of the class and shakes up her drink and tells us this is a good way to exercise, I just wonder if I shouldn't just go to a nutritionist instead. After all, the day before I rode 50 miles, and now I'm suppose to jiggle my hand?
Ramble ramble...sorry!:o
Me too! I read some books on nutrition and discovered that I wasn't getting enough protein. The pb on tst helps a LOT.Quote:
Originally Posted by greycoral
Hmmm there is no formula I can figure for the points to make it calorie consistent (someone who was no longer leading gave me the formula once) but I find 1=50 about right and 1=100 too high. On the site 100/0/0= 2 pts. While 50/0/0= 1 pt. It falls somewhere in the middle but then if you have a bajillion fiber grams it gets funky or a lot of fat. Anyhow, I use the site not my head but always guestimate on 1=50 if I am just eyeballing a nutrition chart (like when I am buying a frozen lunch not WW). But I also noticed from 2004 when I first started to now the points calculations have changed some. Also when I first started a serving of protein was 4 oz now it is 3 oz. It is real confusing when my husband's grandma tries to tell me how it works since she is using the program from 1980's!Quote:
Originally Posted by uforgot
I feel like they push tons of their products, another reason I am glad I don't go to meetings. Of course I do eat their dinners for lunch because it is easy and the points are on the label. I just need a program, not an infomercial. I love WW because I don't have to eat a set menu and I don't have to follow everyone else's book on it.
Oh, I meant one ACTIVITY point is 100 calories. Maybe where I misunderstood. Here's the formula. I actually programmed it into my graphing calculator, but you can't enter more than 4 grams of fiber.
calories/50 + fat/12 - fiber (max of 4)/5
I've been a Life Time WW for nearly 7 years. It seems I have fallen off the wagon and coming close to my goal weight. I think it is because I work out four days a week and figure that gives me a license to eat. I suppose I should revoke that license. (Two of the days are spin classes so I figure I can post in the cycling forums.)
I haven't been to WW meetings for over a year. My favorite leader, who did not push products, either quit or was let go. At my last meeting all they did was push product. Perhaps in this economy WW isn't doing well and needs to increase revenue by pushing their stuff????
Have you looked at the ingredients in their products. :eek: For a company who pushes healthy weights, they sure don't seem to have healthy products.
I wonder how long it will be before WW designs their own exercise equipment and pushes that.
Also, I like the sparkpeople.com site better than WW. It has some really neat stuff on it. You can earn points by losing weight, exercising, logging in, etc, to get "virtual" prizes and then give them to your friends.
My husband and I are trying local honey to help keep our allergies bearable. I found an excellent breakfast that at 4 pts doesn't seem like too big of a chunk of my points. I am hoping it keeps me pretty full and helps the allergies. I make 2 pieces of toast each with 1/2 tbs reduced fat peanut butter and 1/2 tbs honey. The bread is Nature's Own Light Wheat (1 pt per 2 slices). It was pretty tasty this morning.
Other than that I finally hit 10 lbs lost. I hate how WW online gives you a lecture for losing too fast but it really doesn't make sense. In the past 4 weeks I gained (.5), lost (2), steady, gained (.5) and lost 3.5 this week, how does that average to over 2 lbs per week in a month?
I really did everything wrong last week, ate almost all flex and activity, didn't log Friday or the weekend (probably used all the flex then). I plan to be a little more involved this week! ;)
Hi there.
Yep, I'm on WW...and I'm on the boards. Newbies board.
I lost about 40 pounds on WW and maintained for over a year, and have now gained about 10 back. Restarted on monthly plan and tomorrow is WI #3, I lost the last 2 weeks....but I spent the weekend in Dallas not counting a single point and drinking a lot!!
I've signed up for the MS150, and am really dedicated to getting a good cycling routine in order.
Anyone doing the MS150? Houston to Austin?
I started last january (online) and lost 20lbs. Went off over concerns of needing to use 'artifical' foods like sweeteners to meet my goals. I went off in August when life got so crazy lbs didn't matter. I recently signed back up, but have been lazy about it. With a new bike (YAY!) I'm hoping I can use it as a self-check, instead of a bible..