Weight Watchers...Success with PointsPlus??

[disneychick0412]

I've done Weight Watchers on and off over the years, but never with PointsPlus. While researching PP online, I've read lots about people saying that they haven't lost as well this way versus the previous plans (Momentum, Flex). I'm thinking about going back, but I'm nervous after reading this.

I'm also nervous about some fruits and vegetables being zero points. I would hate not to lose and find out its because I'm eating too many calories!

I would love to hear from anyone who is doing WW and can share their experiences!!!

Thanks

 

[dbrn]

I've lost 57.5 pounds in the past year and a half on Points Plus. I really like zero points fruits and veggies. Just like anything else, though, they should be eaten in moderation. I usually have three servings of fruit and three or four servings of vegetables a day; never been a problem.

Best of luck to you!

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't read stuff online about a lack of success with Pp, except when reading of people who have read of it. all I know I that I have been more successful and for longer with PP (and eating ALL points coming to me) than I've had the previous three times I've tried since 2000.

And the people I know in real life are experiencing the same thing. Those who really follow the program, that is.

 

[jpeka65844]

Points Plus is the only thing we've ever done. DH lost 90 lbs and I lost 25.

Guess you would say we're happy.

 

[MIGrandma]

I joined WW Online May 16th, weighed 176, last week I was 162. I really like the points system. I had generally been staying right at or just under my daily allowed 26 points. Then at my last weigh-in (before yesterday's) they sent me a notice that I was "losing weight too fast" and that I "should have a snack now and then." I hadn't been using very many of my extra weekly 49 points that were allotted to me. So, I went overboard on the snacks this week and ended up gaining 3 pounds back.

I shouldn't have listened to them. Of course they want me to lose weight more slowly, to stay on their program longer and get more $$ out of me.

I'm "back on track" this week so hope to see those 3 pounds off again by Friday.

I ordered the WW calculator (I have the WW mobile app on my phone too) and love knowing I can punch in the nutritional value for any food and come up with the points value for it.

Some of the WW snacks are really delicious too, and I like the Smart Ones frozen meals, but do eat "regular food" too.

My 3-month membership will be up August 16th, I'll decide then if I want to re-up or not, depending on how much more weight I lose.

Along with the points system I do exercise regularly too, usually 6 days a week. I'm smaller now than I have been in many, many years so it's a great feeling!

 

[bumbershoot]

It's just an auto-notice. They want to make sure you're being careful, not being anorexic, and not putting yourself into danger.

Don't eat under 26 points, by the way. Please. That's not healthy. If you really don't want to eat Weeklies or APs, at least eat that 26. It's hard to get all the good health guidelines in AND have nice filling meals if you're not eating even 26.

The actual bulk of the extra food you ate with your weeklies was likely the culprit in a scale-rise of 3 lbs. It's almost certainly not fat. 49 points doesn't give you anywhere near enough calories to gain 3 lbs.

The calories you need to burn to LOSE a pound is around 3500. Therefore it's generally thought of as what you need to eat to GAIN a pound. (it's not that exact, and bodies are different, but that's the basic idea). 1 point, in the most basic way of estimating it, is 40 calories. So the 49 Weekly points give us, basically, 1960 calories. It's not even enough to make us gain ONE pound of actual fat, let alone 3. The bulk of the food eaten, however, definitely could create the rise on the scale. I bet if you kept eating normally within the plan that gain would have changed the following week.

And of course many people cannot ignore the sodium in the Smart Ones! We can only eat 3 WW snacks (there are ingredients in most that we can't have) and I admit I haven't checked the sodium in them, but if I ate more I would need to because I'm highly sensitive to it.


I'm so glad you're having success; I just don't want you to be unhealthy, and I think it's good to know that a gain of 3 lbs in one week, when it's only been Weekly points as the difference, really can't be a true gain of fat. (in fact in researching, I'm not even sure 3 pounds of fat can be *created* inside of one week...takes the body a bit longer to do the work for that, from what I've found)

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I joined WW at work on May 1st and as of the 3rd of this month I was at 11.6 lost. I know I could do more if I exercised but that's still a bridge I have to talk myself into crossing. I love the PP program because of the flexibility. I tried WW years ago when it was something like you got X number of points a day and if you wanted cake or whatever on a certain day you had to save points from other days to account for the splurge. I hated that program with a flaming all consuming passion and cheated like crazy. With this I find that I really don't dip into my weeklies all that much, I'd say I use maybe 4 or 5 of them average and 2 weeks it was more like 10 because frankly I needed some darn pie in my life.

Also with this plan I find that I can make gradual changes, slowly getting used to things rather than that all or nothing mentality. I'm a super picky eater which played a huge part in me being as big as I am. I will never be a salad kind of gal. With this plan I can still have my pizza or my McDonalds (my not so secret weakness) but by making better choices through the rest of the day, I have the points for my "bad" items and it's all ok. I also have learned to make substitutes and just put my food down and wait for a minute rather than feeling that need to finish something. For example with the making substitutes, my old Red Robin order was coke and a Gourmet cheeseburger with fries, and you bet I got refills on my pop. Now I get the Tavern double burger and I still have the fries, but I only allow myself 1 glass of pop. I still get my cheeseburger, but I save 5 points on it and figure on a bad night I was getting 2 refills on my pop so let's call that another 10 point savings. The tavern double is also smaller and I do finish it, but I don't have that "Oh god I ate too much" feeling after like I did with the other burger. As far as just putting the food down or eating less, at another restaurant I cut a portion of the burger (yeah I like burgers lol) away and set it aside and consider it off limits. I eat slower and I find I really don't need that cutaway piece.

With this plan, I don't find it hard to stay on it at all, I don't feel that all or nothing mentality creeping up, and I know that in 9 weigh ins, I had only 1 gain of .2 which even my leader said "that's nothing, don't even worry about it" and 1 week that I stayed the same (also know as Pie week). Old me would have said "Oh screw it, I messed up so I'm done", and while yes I was a little disappointed at those weigh ins, I got over it and just kept going.

 

[mrsg00fy]

I lost 57 lbs on points plus in 6 months. It was the only WW program that I had tried and I loved the flexibility.....and the results!!

 

[bumbershoot]

I joined WW at work on May 1st and as of the 3rd of this month I was at 11.6 lost. I know I could do more if I exercised but that's still a bridge I have to talk myself into crossing. I love the PP program because of the flexibility. I tried WW years ago when it was something like you got X number of points a day and if you wanted cake or whatever on a certain day you had to save points from other days to account for the splurge. I hated that program with a flaming all consuming passion and cheated like crazy. With this I find that I really don't dip into my weeklies all that much, I'd say I use maybe 4 or 5 of them average and 2 weeks it was more like 10 because frankly I needed some darn pie in my life.

Also with this plan I find that I can make gradual changes, slowly getting used to things rather than that all or nothing mentality. I'm a super picky eater which played a huge part in me being as big as I am. I will never be a salad kind of gal. With this plan I can still have my pizza or my McDonalds (my not so secret weakness) but by making better choices through the rest of the day, I have the points for my "bad" items and it's all ok. I also have learned to make substitutes and just put my food down and wait for a minute rather than feeling that need to finish something. For example with the making substitutes, my old Red Robin order was coke and a Gourmet cheeseburger with fries, and you bet I got refills on my pop. Now I get the Tavern double burger and I still have the fries, but I only allow myself 1 glass of pop. I still get my cheeseburger, but I save 5 points on it and figure on a bad night I was getting 2 refills on my pop so let's call that another 10 point savings. The tavern double is also smaller and I do finish it, but I don't have that "Oh god I ate too much" feeling after like I did with the other burger. As far as just putting the food down or eating less, at another restaurant I cut a portion of the burger (yeah I like burgers lol) away and set it aside and consider it off limits. I eat slower and I find I really don't need that cutaway piece.

With this plan, I don't find it hard to stay on it at all, I don't feel that all or nothing mentality creeping up, and I know that in 9 weigh ins, I had only 1 gain of .2 which even my leader said "that's nothing, don't even worry about it" and 1 week that I stayed the same (also know as Pie week). Old me would have said "Oh screw it, I messed up so I'm done", and while yes I was a little disappointed at those weigh ins, I got over it and just kept going.

I loved everything you said, and you cracked me up several times in there. "also known as Pie week", LOL.

 

[LockShockBarrel]

I'm already trying to think of names for when I go to the county fair.

 

[jdanjou]

I've done just about every plan that WW has had, and by far I like Points Plus the best. In all of my attemps I've lost the most weight with PP. It forces me to make healthier food choices, and I really think the new way of calculating points generally leads to much healthier eating. When I work the plan the plan works. I can eat all of my dailies and weeklies and still lose between 1.5-3 pounds per week depending on the time of the month. I've been doing it for 2 and a half years, and while I've had hiccups along the way and I've lost slower than I would like (but that is due to me not working the program), I would never go off of it because I would gain back everything I lost plus some.

 

[NiceOneSimba]

Another huge fan here.

I did the previous plan (momentum, or whatever it was), lost about 40 pounds, quit and gained it all back.

I've lost 60 so far on points plus!

It's great!

 

[keahgirl8]

I've lost 118 pounds on Points Plus. Works for me!

 

[gudrench3]

So, I've just started the Points Plus program, and I lost 2.5 pounds the first week. YAY!!! A question that one of my co-workers had is how do you maintain when you get to your goal weight? Do you just have a certain number of points that you stick with the rest of your life? She has done everything (including WW old plans) and has gained everything back and then some. We are now doing the PP together. Maintaining is her biggest struggle.

 

[bumbershoot]

So, I've just started the Points Plus program, and I lost 2.5 pounds the first week. YAY!!! A question that one of my co-workers had is how do you maintain when you get to your goal weight? Do you just have a certain number of points that you stick with the rest of your life? She has done everything (including WW old plans) and has gained everything back and then some. We are now doing the PP together. Maintaining is her biggest struggle.

Once you hit your goal weight, you work to maintain it for the next 6 weeks. At that point you are given something like 6 more points to eat. After 6 weeks, if you've maintained inside a certain range you make Lifetime. Through that time, you see if 6 points is too much, too little, etc.

And yep, once you are at your goal, you just work to STAY at that weight! For the rest of your life. Sounds horrible, but the reality is...everyone we know who is "naturally" thin is doing *just that*. There are very very few people who can truly eat everything they want for their entire lives without gaining weight. I only know of one person who eats and drinks what she wants and doesn't gain more than 10 lbs. She has OTHER tragedies in her life that I"m sure she would trade in a heartbeat in exchange some weight gain, but again, there's only one. My brother and sister in law, who seem from the outside to be naturally thin and trim, are anything but. My brother constantly battles weight gain; he runs 7 miles every day, rain or shine. When he had a hernia that was so small it took him a year to get a doctor willing to just believe him and do surgery (the surgeon was astonished that my brother could feel the hernia, but it brought him to his knees with pain) and he couldn't run, he would swim for HOURS, just to hold back the weight. When he wants some beers, he eats lightly that day and doesn't have dessert. If he wants cake, he doesn't have extra beer. etc etc. Same with my sister in law. She eats exactly what she wants and in the amount she needs. She has been known to eat HALF of one of those tiny cups of ice cream that are sold with the little spoon on it. She will make ONE cookie and be satisfied. She constantly monitors herself.

OK I'm sorry I'm going on. The whole "the rest of your life" thing sounded so so so so so scary, and it took quite a lot for me to finally understand that that's what "they" are doing. The "they" I sort of despised because it was all natural, it was so easy, etc etc. But they are doing the hard part of weight loss. And there are no big happy moments of just...staying the same. It's not like the losing part!



So there, I've overanswered you tremendously. It seems to be what I do.