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02/23/2007 03:57:35 PM · #1 |
I just rejoined Weight Watchers Online today. Is anyone else on the program?
Two years ago, I started off at 179 lbs., lost 40, and then got injured, distracted by the acquisition of a boyfriend, reduced to stress eating over the subsequent breakup, was sick most of last summer, and then school seriously strapped my time for cooking, planning, and working out. Whatever the litany of excuses, I regained 30.
Lately, I'm extremely frustrated with my bad food relationships. School is still a major time drain, but I'm determined to work it out, if for no other reason than to feel like I'm doing something positive and within my control while the rest of my life seems to be a runaway train.
So as of today, I'm back on the wagon, and having a heck of a time this afternoon staying out of the M&M's.
And if anyone has any decent suggestions for a quick 3 pt. dinner, let me know, since that's all I have left for today after the spinach artichoke calzone. (Old Chicago is NOT a diet-friendly restaurant at all.)
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02/23/2007 04:06:15 PM · #2 |
I'm always eating on the point system...then not...and back and forth...
I just always want to lose a few pounds...5 or 10 anyways.
I would say have a nice big salad with fat free dressing...add lots of veggies to it, and then add a small piece of grilled chicken or something to help fill you up. BUT, before you eat it, have a BIG glass of water. It helps you feel full. :)
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02/23/2007 04:09:07 PM · #3 |
| Salads and veggies are great low-point meals. I love to slice up a tomato, and put salt and pepper on it for a snack. |
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02/23/2007 04:11:45 PM · #4 |
Ya'll be careful with those Weight watchers plans. While low calorie is a good way to lose weight, your body needs at least 1200 calories a day to function properly (or more depending on body size). Anything less and all body functions (including brain functions ) are compromised.
Also, if you are taking in too little calories for an extended period of time, you body will start hording all calories it can get and you will actually start to gain body fat.
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02/23/2007 04:13:44 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
Ya'll be careful with those Weight watchers plans. While low calorie is a good way to lose weight, your body needs at least 1200 calories a day to function properly (or more depending on body size). Anything less and all body functions (including brain functions ) are compromised.
Also, if you are taking in too little calories for an extended period of time, you body will start hording all calories it can get and you will actually start to gain body fat. |
No worries. I don't have any problems taking in calories. HAHA.
I love to eat. :) |
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02/23/2007 04:19:08 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Rebecca:
I just rejoined Weight Watchers Online today. Is anyone else on the program?
Two years ago, I started off at 179 lbs., lost 40, and then got injured, distracted by the acquisition of a boyfriend, reduced to stress eating over the subsequent breakup, was sick most of last summer, and then school seriously strapped my time for cooking, planning, and working out. Whatever the litany of excuses, I regained 30.
Lately, I'm extremely frustrated with my bad food relationships. School is still a major time drain, but I'm determined to work it out, if for no other reason than to feel like I'm doing something positive and within my control while the rest of my life seems to be a runaway train.
So as of today, I'm back on the wagon, and having a heck of a time this afternoon staying out of the M&M's.
And if anyone has any decent suggestions for a quick 3 pt. dinner, let me know, since that's all I have left for today after the spinach artichoke calzone. (Old Chicago is NOT a diet-friendly restaurant at all.) |
Over the last 10 years, my partner and I have gone up and down the weight scale. We tried Weight Watchers and LA Weight Loss and had great success with both. However, once we discontinued (stopped paying lol), the weight would slowly creep back.
Now, we have taken what we have learned from WW and LA Weight Loss and just reduced our caloric intake and started excersing. We take our dog for nice long walks 2 to 3 times a day rather than just quick ones so he can "go"! It keeps him healthy as well!
We still occasionally "cheat", because like fotomann posted, your body will start hording.
Good luck in whatever you decide, keep us posted. I know my partner and I are always inspired by others' weight loss!
Beth |
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02/23/2007 04:37:02 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
Ya'll be careful with those Weight watchers plans. While low calorie is a good way to lose weight, your body needs at least 1200 calories a day to function properly (or more depending on body size). Anything less and all body functions (including brain functions ) are compromised.
Also, if you are taking in too little calories for an extended period of time, you body will start hording all calories it can get and you will actually start to gain body fat. |
The point system is actually designed to take this into account if you use it properly. Really, it's just a fancy way of breaking the numbers down to make them less intimidating and taking the quality of the food into account in a way that strictly counting calories does not. It's easier and less intimidating to think in terms of 21 points than 1200 calories. The math is easier, the numbers less intimidating.
And trust me, I'm not going to starve. I'm a habitual snacker, and people actually seem doubtful that I can be eating near constantly and lose weight, but I did it. I was always stuffing myself with bananas, grapes (it's black grape season, my favorite, yayayay!!!), soy crisps, and even peanut butter smeared flour tortillas between meals. If I've been really good I can horde my flex points (the freebie extras you can use throughout the week in addition to daily points) and spend them all on a blowout day.
Just to give an illustration of just how much I was NOT suffering on Weight Watchers, the injury mentioned above came mid-marathon training. I was up to eight mile stretches. You can't starve and train for a marathon without suffering a serious body breakdown.
(My injury was unrelated to my diet - I pronate badly, which affects the tracking of my kneecaps, one of which was jumping out of its groove and pounding into the top of my tibia, which gave me a nasty bone contusion and effectively ended my marathon hopes... but I'm strongly considering taking up power-walking instead - low impact to save my knees, and there's the Georgetown Slacker coming up.)
My major hurdles are going to be chocolate and mac & cheese.
Message edited by author 2007-02-23 16:45:36.
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02/23/2007 04:50:20 PM · #8 |
Hi Rebecca.
My husband and I have been on the program for many years on and off. I lost 40 and he lost 70 only to regain most of it. We started again online and I am loosing slowly. We both fell off the wagon a little these past 2 weeks because of too much work and stress. We are only human. :)
3 points...mmm.. a few suggestions come to mind...
You can get the "lite" bread and make a sandwich. 1 point for the bread and keep the filling down to 2 points.
1 Point pita and store bought hummus is a filling 3 point lite dinner.
1 Point pita, sliced tomatoes, onion, mushroom and 2 points of low fat shredded mozzarella. Add garlic and spices to taste. Yum!
Taco soup and Zero point veggie soup. Both delicious and filling. Make a bunch and freeze. These two have saved me many, many time.
The recipes are on the site and there are many variations. Let me know if you need the full recipes.
Good luck and all the best!
Robin
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02/23/2007 05:04:32 PM · #9 |
Going over my old recipes, which were miraculously saved even though my account had been canceled, I rediscovered my 3 pt cheddar mushroom omelet, using fat-free egg substitute, fat-free shredded cheddar, and all the mushrooms I can stand since they're practically free. That makes me much happier!
I fed my favorite salad into the recipe builder and it wound up at 6 pts! Not bad for a normal meal, though:
Blue Salad
mixed baby greens
one sliced sweet mini pepper
a handful of sliced mushrooms
a slice of red onion
1/4 of an avocado, chopped
roughly 1 tbsp crumbled blue cheese
2 tbsp Cindy's Kitchen's Wild Maine Blueberry Vinaigrette
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02/23/2007 05:20:36 PM · #10 |
WW works, no question about it. Keeps you right at that point where you lose weight fairly fast, but not in an unhealthy way. I averaged a loss of nearly 3lb/week and went from 210lb to 155lb over a period of about 20 weeks.
I tried the online option and it didn't work too well. I guess I just needed the meeting to motivate me or something.
If you haven't already, check out Dottie's Weight Loss Zone for points values for just about any restaurant you can think of. (Yeah, the site looks totally cheesy, but the info is good).
For something quick and only 3 pts, I'd make a big salad with baby spinach, cucumber and roasted red pepper, then add 1pt of chopped deli ham, 1pt of feta cheese (I think 1/4 cup of feta is one point, it's ridiculous how low that stuff is) then use 1 pt worth of Olive Oil and some Balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic, basil and oregano to make a 1pt cal vinaigrette. I'll make a salad like this in a mixing bowl and eat the whole thing for dinner. It's huge, fills you up, and only 3 pts, what's not to like? If you get hungry later, just eat some veggies.
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02/23/2007 05:30:09 PM · #11 |
| also if your interested check out rock climbing (indoor or outdoor), it sounds crazy but you burn something like 3000cals/hour, i went from 230lbs to 175-185lbs with muscle in a little over a year. Its great excersize and its really fun :D For the eating part i just cut stuff down in portion sizes, cut out sugar, no junk food, have at least 1 salad each day. I gotta start going back to the gym though, got a little slack lol. |
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02/24/2007 12:47:39 AM · #12 |
Still not starving - here's Saturday's menu:
Breakfast: 1 packet lower sugar maple & brown sugar instant oatmeal
Lunch: the abovementioned Blue Salad
Snack #1: peanut butter sandwich on oatnut bread
Snack #2: a cup of black grapes
Dinner: BBQ tofu sandwich
Dessert: Healthy Choice Mocha Swirl Bar
I actually threw the peanut butter sandwich in because I came up six points short and WW doesn't recommend eating under points, lest you drop into starvation mode. This puts me exactly at my target. And all of it is drop dead yummy. :-)
For the curious, the BBQ tofu sandwich goes like this:
pan-seared bbq-style baked tofu, olive tapenade, fat-free mozzarella, and tomato slices, served on a whole wheat pita. Weird, but divine.
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02/24/2007 01:08:14 AM · #13 |
The Smartone TV trays a good. They have the points on the box and WW promotes them. You can't tell they are low fat/cal.
I eat a good breakfast in the morning the follow it with a practical lunch of fruit or veggies then at night I have a Smartone TV tray.
I have not joined WW but my mother did and lost 71 lbs in about 8 months. She has maintained her current wait and still eats on the point system. My doctor said it is ok but you must control what kind of calories you get and how many. As one poster said you do have to maintain a certain level of calories. And those calories have to be good calories if you want to maintain a good metabolism.
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02/24/2007 01:23:21 AM · #14 |
It also helps more if you work out and eat the points you earn by working out rather than just not messing with activity points.
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02/24/2007 01:58:31 AM · #15 |
| Rebecca, keep us posted - I am beginning (well in the early stages of beginning) to feel inspired to try it myself! That said, my experiences with tofu have not been positive.... |
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02/24/2007 02:17:26 AM · #16 |
I have been a member of WW online two or three different times. It definitely works when you stick with it, and it is doable. the good thing, to address leroy's concern again, is that it basis your "points" on your weight, so you do get enough calories. It is not necessarily a low calorie plan, either. It combines calories with fiber and fat (I think) in a formula to come up with each food's points. When you eat healthy, like scott said, it is almost impossible to eat all of your points, so you actually end up eating quite a bit of healthy food. Snickers bars, though, will rack up your points and give you no benefit.
that said, I have thought about rejoining. I would really like to shed the extra pounds I'm carrying with me each day. Maybe we could start a dpc thread!! (and if you have ever thought the forums here could get testy and "mean" their's are outrageous at times. downright nasty the last time i was a member. maybe that's changed, though) |
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02/24/2007 02:59:10 AM · #17 |
Strange to see this thread up here as I just started back with the program again after taking a short break due to too much stress and health issues. I've lost 11 lbs in this first 8 days. I am now back under goal. I am a lifetime member.
My first time on the program was very successful. I lost around 70 lbs in less than 6 months.
I think my favorite 'omg, i have to have something sweet' snack was a sugar free jello cup with low fat whipped cream in the squeeze can on top of it. mmmm 0 points.
Good luck to all of you!!
P.S. Dance Dance Revolution is amazing for earning excersize points. And it even has a work out mode where you can track your daily calories burned and miles 'danced' and such. LOVE it. |
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02/24/2007 10:29:31 AM · #18 |
Originally posted by karmat:
(and if you have ever thought the forums here could get testy and "mean" their's are outrageous at times. downright nasty the last time i was a member. maybe that's changed, though) |
Yeah, I don't like their forums at all, too many people who were bent on using a lot of heavily processed unnatural foods with no nutritional value to the exclusion of real natural food, and too many who are just completely unsupportive. I ended up hanging out on the vegetarian boards because they were a lot nicer and more focused on the whole foods thing. But we can definitely turn this into the DPC WW thread- it's kinda what I was hoping to do when I made the initial post!
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02/24/2007 10:45:44 AM · #19 |
Just thought you may want to know the formula that is used to calculate the point values. I use it all the time to mentally determine the points.
Points = (Calories + (5 * Fat grams) - (10*Fiber grams))/50
Round up or down with the remainder. If under 25 round down, If 25 or higher, round up
So if your item is:
170 Calories
3 grams Fat
2 grams Fiber
Think 170 + 15 (5*3 fat grams) - 20 (10 * 2 fiber grams) = 165 calories
165/50 = 3 remainder 15, so round down to 3 points.
Becky |
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02/24/2007 10:50:18 AM · #20 |
check out www.traineo.com
I love it... helps you keep track of your progress and all that.
I lost 50 pounds with WW and training, so I know what you are going through.
Good luck and don't stop working on it! |
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02/24/2007 11:25:41 AM · #21 |
i did the weight watchers thing a few years ago with some friends. it was a good program, but i had 2 problems with it:
1) they use the BMI to calculate your "goal" weight. i hate the BMI. i'm a broad guy with a lot of muscle (mostly untoned, but it's there) and giant legs. they wanted me to get to 165 pounds based solely on my height (i'm average height) and my gender. there were no other factors (bone density, muscle mass, etc.) involved.
for me to ever get to 165 pounds, something's going to have to be amputated. i wouldn't be healthy at that weight. and they wouldn't make an exception without some kind of official form from my doctor. whatever.
2) i was one of only 2 guys in the meeting. it's really refreshing to see the guys in this thread. the other guy at our meeting was such a queen that i seriously considered changing meetings. i mean, i'm gay but this guy was so out there that he was more woman than most of the ladies in the class. and totally annoying.
anyway, that being said, i did lose 20 lbs. on it and would like to lose about 20 more (well, 10 more + 10 that i gained back *grin*). fella just signed up for the online stuff, but i'm forming a friend-based weight watchers club 'cause i'm more social. and i like to cook, so i'm always on the hunt for new recipes.
i'm gonna watch this thread. fun! |
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02/24/2007 12:04:57 PM · #22 |
go muckster!! I've never done the meeting things. i simply don't have time, that's why i do it online. cool thread though. i'm about to be motivated to try again. :)
maybe we could get  blemt in here to help us with the exercise end of the stick. :) |
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02/24/2007 12:05:49 PM · #23 |
| i'm wondering how many calories i can burn with a Nintendo Wii. then i can justify buying one! lol. |
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02/24/2007 12:41:59 PM · #24 |
Originally posted by muckpond:
i'm wondering how many calories i can burn with a Nintendo Wii. then i can justify buying one! lol. |
From couch potato to wii muscle man
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02/24/2007 01:03:24 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by rjkstesch:
Just thought you may want to know the formula that is used to calculate the point values. I use it all the time to mentally determine the points.
Points = (Calories + (5 * Fat grams) - (10*Fiber grams))/50
Round up or down with the remainder. If under 25 round down, If 25 or higher, round up
So if your item is:
170 Calories
3 grams Fat
2 grams Fiber
Think 170 + 15 (5*3 fat grams) - 20 (10 * 2 fiber grams) = 165 calories
165/50 = 3 remainder 15, so round down to 3 points.
Becky |
Keep in mind that anything with more than 4 grams of fiber, only counts as 4 grams of fiber in their equation.
Also, the points approach and the equation used to compute them is patented by WW. They have been quite aggressive in protecting against people using it in software to calculate points to help with WW.
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