anyone on WW??

[elk]

Me too. Last night I was jonesing for a gin-and-tonic. I had the points to do it, so why not? Ironically, the very fact that it *was* OK made it somehow easier for me to end up deciding not to have it after all.... Maybe I'm like a little kid. Tell me I can't and I want it even more. Tell me it's OK and the idea isn't as appealing anymore. HHhhhhhmmmmm, I wonder what that says about me?

We don't like being told what to do....!!!!

[Susan Otcenas]

Anyone ever have a hard time eating all their points?

Some days I'm really hungry, and I have a hard time not eating everything in sight. Those are the nights when I steam big piles of broccoli and have a big bowl of salad with my dinner, so that I don't dip too far into my weekly points (I try not to use more than 2-3 per day, if that.) But on other days, I get to the end of the day and discover I have 3, 4 or 5 points left. Last night I had 5.5 after dinner. I wasn't particularly hungry, but decided to have 1/2 cup vanilla Dreyer's Light Ice Cream -2 points - because I was so far under. I've read that WW really really doesn't want you to go under your daily points allowance (which for me is 21 points), so I felt like I should eat more food.

Do you ever have this happen to you? Do you force yourself to eat all your points, or do you find yourself falling under? How has this affected your weight loss? I don't want to put my body into "starvation mode" by not eating all the points, but sometimes I'm just not hungry enough...

Ideas?

[divingbiker]

Anyone ever have a hard time eating all their points?

Do you ever have this happen to you? Do you force yourself to eat all your points, or do you find yourself falling under? How has this affected your weight loss? I don't want to put my body into "starvation mode" by not eating all the points, but sometimes I'm just not hungry enough...

Ideas?

Unfortunately, I have no trouble eating all my points. My meeting leader is pretty adamant that you should eat your points every day.

But one thing I've heard people do if they have eaten all they really want to eat and there are points left over is to eat something that's pointy, like nuts or peanut butter. That way you're getting something fairly healthy, you don't have to eat a large volume, and you're getting your points in.

I can't wait till I'm in maintenance--nuts are what I'm adding back in to my diet.

[Susan Otcenas]

Unfortunately, I have no trouble eating all my points.

Most days, I'm exactly the same. No trouble eating my points, and could easily do more!

Maybe if I see myself rolling towards a low point day, I should force myself to have a mid-afternoon snack. Yesterday was really busy, and by the time dinner rolled around I'd only had 9.5 points. I had a normal dinner (ahi tuna, couscous, asparagus, salad) , but still had 5.5 left. After my little ice cream treat, I just didn't want anything else. The idea of having so much food after the dinner hour didn't feel right.

I *do* like the nuts suggestion. I'm definitely a salty snacker. Of course, once I let myself have one, it's sooooo hard to not eat the whole bag. :-)

Susan

[elk]

If I eat all my meals...I don't have any trouble...actually, I don't have any trouble regardless!!

my empty snack of choice are the Skinny Cow ice cream cones...only 3 pts and deeeelicous.

So...do you have more or less points if you need to lose more weight?

[Susan Otcenas]

So...do you have more or less points if you need to lose more weight?

The heavier you are, the more points you get.

[surgtech1956]

I need to get back on the 'ww wagon'. I don't like going to the meetings, in the past have done it on my own - sometimes it works, somestimes not(depends if I have a friend doing ww too). I've been thinking about joing ww online. How does the online work - is there support, etc... is it more than just a point tracking place? I've heard the online forum isn't very good.

I've been sort of watching what I've been eating. I work - 7a-3:30p, I've been eating oatmeal(quick oats) in the morning - 5:45am - then I'm hungry around 9am and eat a ww yogurt or Fiber One Bar(love the peanut butter/oats). I'm starting a new shift in 2 weeks - 6:30a-5pm, I work in surgery and sometimes don't get lunch or any opportunity to eat anything until 1:30pm - so I'm starved by then. Once I start my new hours(6:30a-5pm) I don't think I'm going to eat breakfast before I leave and just wait until I get a break at work - take my chances that I will get a break. Anyone else have this problem?

[divingbiker]

I need to get back on the 'ww wagon'. I don't like going to the meetings, in the past have done it on my own - sometimes it works, somestimes not(depends if I have a friend doing ww too). I've been thinking about joing ww online. How does the online work - is there support, etc... is it more than just a point tracking place? I've heard the online forum isn't very good.

I've got the monthly pass ($40/month) so I attend meetings and use the online tools. I lost 50 pounds 3 years ago doing WW on my own, and gained 40 of it back, so I realize I need the discipline of the weekly meetings to keep me on track, especially once I get to goal. I've also found a leader I really like, and the meeting place is just two blocks from my office, so it's really convenient to go to a lunchtime meeting.

The online forums at WW are all over the place. If you can find a spot you fit in, they're great. The vegetarian board is where I hang out, and it is much like TE--friendly, fun, and not nasty. I've made great friends there, just as I have here. The Filling Foods (was Core until this week; they're changing the program) board is full of junior high mean girls. The ones that are x pounds to lose, the fitness ideas board, the 50+ board, they all seem ok but I don't spend much time there.

[Susan Otcenas]

Anyone else notice that WW changed how APs are used online?

They seem to have turned it into a weekly budget, not tapped until AFTER you used up your 35 extra weekly food points. In my mind, this really sucks, and is nutritionally a bad idea.

The old way - where APs had to be used on the day earned - made far more sense, because it maintained the relationship between exercise and eating to fuel your body's activities.

But now, if you go over your daily target, the tracker pulls from your 35 weekly points, even on days with APs earned. This sucks. I used my 35 points for "extras" or eating out. Special things. And I nenver use all of them. But now they get tapped for exercise 1st and I don't think that is the way it should be. It also means that there is no longer any DAILY correlation between inputs and outputs.

Anyone else irritated about this?

I already sent WW an email, but I'm sure it will go into some great big black hole...

Susan

[divingbiker]

Anyone else notice that WW changed how APs are used online?

Yes, this change is part of the new "Momentum" program. It's back to the way they used to do it, before they made APs be used the day they're earned (they started doing that a few years ago.)

I do my tracking on paper, so I'm still doing it the old way. For me, I kind of like the ability to bank APs, especially since I earn 8 on some days and occasionally 0 on others (usually only one day/week).

Maybe you can find a way to just keep track mentally? It's a pain, though, I know.

[greycoral]

Yeah, that seems pretty lame. I've also noticed a ton of messups with points after they switched over. 4 oz of ground turkey is 4 points, but 5 oz is somehow 19.5 points? Puhlease. Maybe they've started fixing the bugs, but luckily I know the points of the food I eat pretty often.

I also never track my AP's in WW. I keep a hand written log of my daily exercise along with calories burned, what I did, how I felt, etc (I use a HR monitor). I also don't use my 35 Flex Points, well, usually I don't, so for me the tracker is just used for dailies.

In other news, I finally broke my plateau! I lost 1.2 lbs this week. So excited!

[solobiker]

Way to go Grey.. that is great. I am still on that long plateau that has lasted forever. What is your secret? I know I need to increase my veggie intake.

[greycoral]

I was in my plateau for 4 months, kept losing and gaining the same 4 or 5 lbs. It was ridiculous. No secrets really, I ended up cutting my points by 2, since I had been at 25 points for a while, seemed like I needed a change. I never went hungry either, just made sure to eat lots of veggies and stuff. I usually do a pretty good job of that, but I had been slacking a little bit in the last few months too. I just made sure to be good all day, every day, drink lots of water, etc. I really think changing my points though was what helped.

I retook the quiz today too, and it dropped me all the way down to 22! No wonder I was stuck! I'm going to try another week at 23 points though to see how things go. I just felt really good all week during my workouts and for my meals.

oh yeah, and I have always had um, potty problems (constipation, etc), and this last week, things were much more regular for me. The extra water and veggies helped out for sure. I swear that's why i was lighter lol

[solobiker]

Thanks for your input. I have the booklet and took the quiz which puts me at 22 points. I need to find better lunches..I usually have pbj on a high fiber bread. Breakfasts are either a fiber 1 bar or oatmeal. And dinner could be anything from chicken with salad or spg. Unfortunately I am not a huge veggie eater. I will eat them if they aren't cooked.

[greycoral]

are you eating all your points? Sounds pretty low from the few things you mentioned...that is definitely key for me.

Breakfast I either have a bowl of cereal, or an egg white sandwich on wheat english muffin. Lunch is usually a turkey sandwich or maybe a hummus wrap, something that is cold and easy to hold in hand (usually in between classes at school). Snacks are usually a piece of fruit or nuts. If I don't have cereal for breakfast, this is a good mid day snack for me. Dinner varies greatly, but always a heaping portion of vegetables. I use 3-4 oz of protein, rarely have any starches, but fill myself up on veggies. I was never a huge fan of them myself, but I've found a bunch that I DO like, and eat them a lot. I've started only eating 1/2 pbj's to cut down on my bread consumption (I feel like I eat too much), but still use 1 tbsp of pb. It's a great pre workout snack, but it's high on points.

Oh, and I always have dessert! Again, usually a piece of fruit (either banana or orange with a little lite cool whip), or a chunk of dark chocolate. Most dark chocolate is really low in points, the higher % cacao it has, the better. I usually buy 70% or more cacao, and it's 1 point for a generous sized piece. The dark satisfies my sweet tooth for sure!

In my household, we buy a lot of frozen veggies (green beans, peppers, artichokes, etc) and it's an easy way to throw them into a meal on the fly. I'm also eating a lot of spaghetti squash these days. I roast a couple off in advance, and eat them in place of pasta or just as a side over the next few days. i can't get enough of it!