New Weight Watchers!

[maillotpois]

Hmmm, interesting that all of you that cannot eat your 29 points!

I never said that.

[katluvr]

I never said that.

I stand corrected!
But some said that...I think I am just always hungry. And even more so when I wound out regularly!

Day #2 of REALLY eating only 29 points. We shall see!

K

[maillotpois]

I don't know if it is the new program or new motivation because of the new program or what but I have lost 8 pounds since the end of November when they rolled out the new plan. You do need to give it a chance and let yourself re-learn the new plan.

Good luck!

[katluvr]

So today I ran 9 miles, gives me 13 activity points. I did not record the G2 or shot blocks I did partly because I don't really plan on using my activity points. So far this week I have not used any of those 49 points weekly points...what does one do with those? Are they for a splurge meal/day? I must admit I may use some of either of those extra points on a bit larger glass of wine!
K

[ASammy1]

I'm going to a WW at work intoduction meeting tomorrow. They are rolling out the new program for us and I'm curious to see what has changed based on all the posts in this discussion.

[gnat23]

So today I ran 9 miles, gives me 13 activity points. I did not record the G2 or shot blocks I did partly because I don't really plan on using my activity points. So far this week I have not used any of those 49 points weekly points...what does one do with those? Are they for a splurge meal/day? I must admit I may use some of either of those extra points on a bit larger glass of wine!
K

katluvr, those weekly points are for either spreading onto each day or saving them for a special bigger meal, your choice. I usually end the week with about half of them still in the bank.

If you're running 9 miles, I would absolutely track those activity points and the stuff you eat during the run. Then I would eat the heck out of the rest of those activity points. If you're just doing a half-hour of yoga or something, fine, don't eat the 1-2 points. BUT if you're exercising a LOT, then you really do need the fuel to keep moving.

Another way of putting it: skip a few weekly points or a few activity points, but don't skip 'em ALL.

-- gnat! (is my opinion, be it not-so-humble)

[Tri Girl]

I became a Lifetime member 5 years ago (and then subsequently thought I knew everything, quit going to meetings and gained back all 30 lbs I lost).

I rejoined the second week of December. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new plan. I actually like that it leads you to more of a low-carb way of eating. Carbs are my nemesis, so I like that it leads me to choose lower-carb things.

I also LOVE that fruit is free. Before when I had the choice of a 2 pt apple or a 2 pt package of cookies, I'd go for the cookies. Now I find I eat the apple first, then realize I don't need/want the cookies after all.
I have no problem eating my 29 pts daily. I felt like I scrounged before with 18 pts, but now I feel like I have so much more. I don't even keep track of earned activity points. If I eat a gu or any kind of nutrition during exercise, I figure the activity points I earned even out with the nutrition I ate.

I do try to eat most of my 49 extra points (figuring my activity makes up for that). In the last 3 weeks I've lost 4.8. Not great, but not too bad considering it was the holidays. I'm looking forward to less temptations and more focus in the new year.

I hope to be at goal by May. I will NEVER stop attending meetings this time. I have learned my lesson. I may only go to meetings every other week once I'm at goal, but when I stop going, I stop being accountable. I wish I'd learned that lesson the first time so I wouldn't have to lose 30 all over again. This time when the scale goes up, I will STOP it then and there.

I'm curious how I'm going to track once I start Ironman training in March. Last time I did one I was hungry ALL THE TIME during the training. It will be interesting.

Good job to everyone! We can do this together!!!

[maillotpois]

Trigirl - ditto everything you said except replace the details with I lost 60 lbs and made lifetime 21 years ago. And kept it off til I had that silly kid. The new plan is so much better. Real food.

Let's do this.

[okraftw]

I lost 40 lbs on WW last year. Then due to extended work travel/vacations/holidays, I quit for the last two months of the year and gained 15 lbs back. I just started the points plus this week, and I love it. Last autumn, I was struggling to get by on 19 pts a day and I found myself dipping into my weeklies on a daily basis instead of my normal method of saving them until the end of the week and having a treat meal out with friends. Almost everything I ate every day had to be "filling" or I wouldn't make it until the next meal time. That was a lot of pressure on every single thing I put in my mouth every time I did it.

Now I get 7 extra points to play with (my points of my typical day only went up by 3 from the oatmeal and random grain with dinner, everything else was already veggies, lean meats, fruits, milk, etc.) and I don't feel like I have to make a decision between an orange (which I would want) or a piece of cheese (which would keep me going until the next meal.) I can have have the orange, see if that works, and if not, have cheese in another hour because I have the extra points, and fruit is free.

Granted, it's only been 3 days, and the scale movement is most likely due to the cessation of junk food (and the un-retaining of water that goes with it) but mentally, it's a lot easier for me to follow.

[GLC1968]

but mentally, it's a lot easier for me to follow.

I'm finding this to be true for me, too. It's helping me even out my 'bad food' vs 'good food' issues. Of course, I'm only on week one so it's a bit too early to pass final judgement.


I have a question about recipes though - can someone explain to me why if I put my little 'baked peach' dessert/treat in as 3 separate items (unsweetened canned peach half, brown sugar, walnuts) it adds up to 2 points but if I make it a recipe it turns it into 4 points for the same quantity??

[maillotpois]

A recipe doesn't look at the points within individual food items, it looks at their nutritional information. So it adds the carbs, etc. of zero point foods. If you are making a recipe with zero point foods and some non-zero point foods, you can save it as a "meal" instead, and that will zero out your zero point foods.

[GLC1968]

Thanks, MP. That explains it. That's kind of sucky though. So I guess the recipe builder can't tell a veggie from a grain? I threw my tomato/cuke salad recipe in there and one serving is 3 points but when I key it in individually it's only 1 pt.

So which one is 'right'? Will I be cheating myself if I key these things in as meals and not recipes?

And does this mean that the counts for the recipes in the database are probably misleading as well?

[maillotpois]

It's certainly not an exact science. I look at it on a case by case basis. If it is a salad, or something that is predominantly veggies, I count it as a meal - or I only count the stuff that isn't zero (dressing, beans, etc.) so I am not plugging in a bunch of veggies. If it is a soup or something where the veggies are a more incidental part of the recipe, I do it as a recipe. I may underestimate the amount of veggies in it to make it more "fair".

The WW recipes are all counted as recipes, so the values are high. If they create the recipe, I kind of figure you should go with their values.

I don't think there's a right or wrong way. I just think you have to see what works. I've steadily lost every week for 8 weeks, so I feel like what I am doing is "working". If I plateau for a while, I will re-evaluate.

[GLC1968]

I don't think there's a right or wrong way. I just think you have to see what works. I've steadily lost every week for 8 weeks, so I feel like what I am doing is "working". If I plateau for a while, I will re-evaluate.

Good point. We'll just see how things progress and make changes as necessary.

(I often wish I wasn't so anal about stuff like this! )