Who here has been on weight watchers??

I am trying weight watchers...

My main concern is, how do you know how many points are in each food? I mean, if something is home made and has no label. I find it a huge hassle to weigh and measure everything...Is this the only way to be successful at weight watchers?

If anyone has done it, please share your experiences with me...

I've never been on weight watchers, but I know people who have and have had great success.

Losing weight requires a committment, and part of that committment is learning portion sizes.  So until you get the hang of eyeballing what a serving size is for various foods, you will have to weigh and measure.

It's just that, even if I do weigh and measure everything, there are still foods that are already prepared, that I don't know how much of what ingredient was put in them by the person who prepared it...

It's hard because they may have listed "broccoli and cheddar soup", but the soup that my mom made might have more cheese, more fat, etc than Campbell's does or whatever...And I feel the need to know that difference!

So I find it so frustrating! And, I tend to be a little OCD so the fact that I can't know to the 3rd decimal point how much fat, carb and protein is in everything drives me nuts..

Lifetime member! I joined Weight Watchers a year ago in September and I hit my goal in April, and I've been on maintenance since then and have kept it off.

Do you go to meetings, or are you doing it online? If you're doing it online, there are E-tools that tell you how many points are in pretty much everything. If you're putting together your own recipe, you can do the "Recipe Builder", and it works out the points - if you end the recipe by putting in how many portions the recipe makes. The Recipe Builder pretty much talks you through it.

If you're just trying to find out how many points - say - 2 oz. of cooked chicken breast is, type in "chicken breast", hit "go", and a whole list of different types of chicken breast drops down and you can pick which one you want and it'll tell you what points, and it'll plug in the points for that meal. They take you through it step by step for getting your daily points total and your extra allowance for the week. It automatically subtracts whatever points you've used for whatever you've put together for your meal, and lets you know how many you have left for the day.

I'm probably not explaining this very well. I go to a meeting every week. I've been doing that since I started, and got things explained to me that way. I'm sure, if you're doing it online, that they must give you an intro to how to calculate points, and your daily points target.

I find that measurement is key. It seems like alot of work at first, but it soon becomes second nature. I reach for those measuring cups and spoons and the scale automatically now.

Good luck with it! I think it's the best program around!

Also, they have a calculator on the e-tools that can figure out the points in foods if you read the labels and calculate by serving size. I bought one of their little blue calculators that makes it really easy when I buy food, and even if I'm cooking, and I'm looking at labels of ingredients that I'm using.

nanner said:

Lifetime member!

I joined Weight Watchers a year ago in September and I hit my goal in April, and I've been on maintenance since then and have kept it off.
Do you go to meetings, or are you doing it online? If you're doing it online, there are E-tools that tell you how many points are in pretty much everything. If you're putting together your own recipe, you can do the "Recipe Builder", and it works out the points - if you end the recipe by putting in how many portions the recipe makes. The Recipe Builder pretty much talks you through it.
If you're just trying to find out how many points - say - 2 oz. of cooked chicken breast is, type in "chicken breast", hit "go", and a whole list of different types of chicken breast drops down and you can pick which one you want and it'll tell you what points, and it'll plug in the points for that meal. They take you through it step by step for getting your daily points total and your extra allowance for the week. It automatically subtracts whatever points you've used for whatever you've put together for your meal, and lets you know how many you have left for the day.
I'm probably not explaining this very well. I go to a meeting every week. I've been doing that since I started, and got things explained to me that way. I'm sure, if you're doing it online, that they must give you an intro to how to calculate points, and your daily points target.
I find that measurement is key. It seems like alot of work at first, but it soon becomes second nature. I reach for those measuring cups and spoons and the scale automatically now.
Good luck with it! I think it's the best program around!

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Well, if that worked for you then that makes me feel a little better. I guess I am worried that I will find a way to cheat, and I will end up lying to myself that I'm doing well!

And yes, I joined online. I am not going to do meetings right now, but maybe in the future I will...I don't know. The thing that bothers me is that it doesn't show a graph of what my weight loss WILL look like if I stick to the points....

What I used to do on my own, was use the formula 1 pound of fat = 3500 calories, and calculate how many calories I need to cut out of my diet this way, and I would put on my calendar based on that, what my weight SHOULD be on a certain day, if I've stuck to the plan...that motivated me a lot, like if I look at a calendar and see at the end of the month I'll be 120 pounds lol...

And the weight watchers site seems to only say that you would lose 2 pounds per week. But they don't say that very loud, I only remember seeing it once when I signed up, after that there is no goal tracker or anything like there is on fitday.com. I kinda wish I had more of a guarantee...

I am going to try it anyway and see where it takes me. Maybe I should do the meetings, that way if i don't lose any weight and I know I've followed everything precisely, I can yell at someone for leading me on

ut0pia said:

Well, if that worked for you then that makes me feel a little better. I guess I am worried that I will find a way to cheat, and I will end up lying to myself that I'm doing well!
And yes, I joined online. I am not going to do meetings right now, but maybe in the future I will...I don't know. The thing that bothers me is that it doesn't show a graph of what my weight loss WILL look like if I stick to the points....

What I used to do on my own, was use the formula 1 pound of fat = 3500 calories, and calculate how many calories I need to cut out of my diet this way, and I would put on my calendar based on that, what my weight SHOULD be on a certain day, if I've stuck to the plan...that motivated me a lot, like if I look at a calendar and see at the end of the month I'll be 120 pounds lol...

And the weight watchers site seems to only say that you would lose 2 pounds per week. But they don't say that very loud, I only remember seeing it once when I signed up, after that there is no goal tracker or anything like there is on fitday.com. I kinda wish I had more of a guarantee...

I am going to try it anyway and see where it takes me. Maybe I should do the meetings, that way if i don't lose any weight and I know I've followed everything precisely, I can yell at someone for leading me on :lol3:

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I don't think they can have a graph like that, because they stress that life for everyone is different. Different circumstances - how you feel, what's going on in your life - determine how some people relate to food, so it's hard to predict how each person is going to do each day. It's a very individual thing. They treat it very much as a day-by-day thing.

I found that tracking everything kept me accountable, and having to account for everything I ate, and figuring out how to keep to my points and still feel satisfied and not deprived, was a challenge. But that was my own way of making it work.

But I really don't think I could have done it without the meetings. I weighed in every week, saw results, even if it was .8 pounds, or .6 pounds, or 1.6 pounds, or if I went up .2 or 1.2 pounds, if I felt like talking about it at the meetings, I would, if not, I could hear other people talk about their problems that week, or their progress that week. It was very motivating.

So, I don't really know what to tell you. The program worked for me, but it really involved me changing how I look at food, and changing my behavior. I also do all my own cooking, so I could commit to getting good, healthy ingredients and putting them together. Plus, I loved the recipes I found on the site!!

I'm sure if you explore their website, too, you'll find all sorts of good info. They have a message board, too, although I haven't gone on that.

Is this the newest one on WW, the Pro Points?. I'm starting that next week because l had to buy the new calculator.

Heres a question though?. The 49 points extra over the weekend, can l divide them into my weekly points if l wanted to?

I just wanted to wish everybody the best of luck!

There's no way I can afford WW. So I'm just going back to what I do best....count the calories and measure what I eat. It may be a PITB, but it works the best for me. I have a food scale and I weigh as I go; the scale lists calories, carbs, protein, fats, etc (I'm more concerned with calories and fat than anything else). It was a hassle at first, but I've been doing it for so long that it's become second nature now.

Rosiemac said:

Is this the newest one on WW, the Pro Points?. I'm starting that next week because l had to buy the new calculator.

Heres a question though?. The 49 points extra over the weekend, can l divide them into my weekly points if l wanted to?

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It may be called something different over in the UK - here it's called PointsPlus 2012. And, the 49 points are weekly extra points, so you can use them any way you want. Say you have 26 daily points, and it's 8 PM and you've used your 26 points for the day, but you really want that little bag of crisps. With the 49 weekly extra points, you figure out how many points the bag of crisps is, and whether or not you want to use some of those points, or save them for if you're going out sometime that week and want to indulge in another glass of wine or whatever. But I know alot of people who do, indeed, like to leave them for the weekend, for the extra food and fun that may happen on the weekend. Whatever works, I say! :nod:

This is why, for me, writing everything down works. If I've reached my total points for the day, and I feel like having something else, I'll go to my points tracker and see how many weekly (49) points I have left and if I want to spend them.... and what I want to spend them on. I look at it as a sort of bargaining chip with myself.

Sooo the weekly points...What if you don't use them?? So far I went back over what I ate two and three days ago, and I feel fine with just the daily points...Am I going to lose weight faster if I don't use the weekly points?

I am excited, I read some of the recipes and they are great. I think this makes managing your weight pretty easy, as long as it works which we will see soon!!

ut0pia said:

Sooo the weekly points...What if you don't use them?? So far I went back over what I ate two and three days ago, and I feel fine with just the daily points...Am I going to lose weight faster if I don't use the weekly points?

I am excited, I read some of the recipes and they are great. I think this makes managing your weight pretty easy, as long as it works which we will see soon!!

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Plus, the recipes give you the points values, per portion! Yay! :nod:

Nope, you don't have to use your 49 extra weekly points. They're there just in case you go over your daily points..... I think we get them so that we don't hit ourselves over the head for eating something we "shouldn't" - feeling guilty leads to just giving up, so if you go over one day, it's no big deal. It's all about trying not to feel guilty and making each day worth the work you put into it. And you might lose weight faster if you don't use your extra points, but I always feel good about having them there - I don't feel deprived.

The plan is mostly about learning to eat in a healthy way for the rest of your life, so slow weight loss is key. Also I learned so much about food along the way (still learning) - about how certain foods work together to break down fat in the body. It's a scientifically based plan, and it just makes so much sense to me. There's one gal at my meetings who is such an inspiration. She's lost 102 pounds, but this is over two years. She's living it, and still losing, and I love hearing her talk about her progress. And sometimes, she'll not have lost anything. Like last Friday she was saying how she and her mom (they're doing this together) are both sort of stalled..... but she keeps going and sticks to the plan, because she's learned what works.

Wow. I do sort of rattle on when I get started talking about Weight Watchers. Sorry about that.

Hi! I did weight watchers on the old points plan, and lost around 10 pounds over 3 months, then I stopped tracking and put the weight back on, plus a couple of extra! I'm back doing it again now, following the pro points (uk) which is plus points in the US and Canada I think?, which is pretty good. This time I won't put the weight back on after I loose it, I will have to stay disciplined!! I go to the meetings, I find them really helpful. Let's motivate each other ladies! When are your weigh in days? Mine is Thursday.
Good luck! And well done Nanner!

Jessy said:

....... Let's motivate each other ladies! When are your weigh in days? Mine is Thursday.
Good luck! And well done Nanner!

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Thanks! My weigh-in day is Friday. It just happened that the day I marched in there was a Friday, and now, I like it. It means I have the weekend to start with a whole new 49 extra weekly points, and, if I have something special planned, I can have that in my mind.

I do not do Weight Watchers, I use myfitnesspal to count calories. I know it'll be different with Weight Watchers, but when I make things from scratch I calculate all the total calories in each ingredient and divide it by the number of portions. Then it comes with a firm number of calories in the meal. 

I have a couple of friends doing Weight Watchers and they've lost approx.15lbs each. They do go to the weekly meetings and both love them! Good luck!

x2006nkg said:

I do not do Weight Watchers, I use myfitnesspal to count calories. I know it'll be different with Weight Watchers, but when I make things from scratch I calculate all the total calories in each ingredient and divide it by the number of portions. Then it comes with a firm number of calories in the meal. 

I have a couple of friends doing Weight Watchers and they've lost approx.15lbs each. They do go to the weekly meetings and both love them! Good luck!

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I use myfitnesspal to keep track of my calories as well! It's so easy and i found out that I was totally UNDER eating by ALOT so it has helped me to figure out how much food I really need to eat daily. 

nanner said:

It may be called something different over in the UK - here it's called PointsPlus 2012. And, the 49 points are weekly extra points, so you can use them any way you want. 

 

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Yes, it's the same but with a different name

I think i'm going to divide my 49 points up between my weekly ones then l know where l am. I have to write it down as well just incase l go over

I heard on the news yesterday that they are adding chicken mcnuggets to their list of endorsed products. Hmmmmmmmmm

Trouts mom said:

I heard on the news yesterday that they are adding chicken mcnuggets to their list of endorsed products. Hmmmmmmmmm

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I just read an article about that.....I understand that's in New Zealand and then the UK. I wonder if it's also the US. I guess it's always about how you want to spend your points!

I have all the McDonalds products listed on my app here in the UK. 4 chicken nuggets are 5 points ..... Not bad, probably wouldn't keep the hunger away for long!