Do i HAVE to eat my flexpoints?

[IrishAngel]

Hi,
Trying to do the flexpoint system without going to meetings. Just using the info from here and the WW site. I'm just wondering about the above question. I know i have 35 flex points a week, but do i have to use them or are they there just if i need them. Like can i use all 35 one week and none the next. Or should i be using them all every week.
Thanks for all your help.

 

[Mermaid02]

You can use all of them, some of them or none of them. It's up to you. And you can do it differently each week.

 

[MelanieC]

Ditto on what Mermaid02 said.

The only thing I might want to add, is that if you get your body used to not eating the flex points, or low points, when you go into maintenance, your body will gain pounds when you add extra points in. If you start off eating more in the beginning and you loose weight eating a little more, when you go into maintenance, your body will be able to tolerate more points. I have seen many people talk about how they can't eat above 18 or 20 points in maintenance (on the WW' Bulletin Boards), because they ate at the low end of their ranges while trying to loose. Now that they are on maintenance, they can hardly eat anything.

To combat this, I will not lower myself down to the lowest level of points. In fact, I should have done that this week. I wiegh 149.6 and instead of having a target of 20, I will keep my target of 22. I eat all my AP points each week, and pretty much most of my flex points. I still continue to loose weight, and I average between 25-30 points day. I like the flex points better because I get to eat more. When I used a range I ate between 20-25 points, and would bank some and have maybe a 30 point day once or twice a week and sometimes I wouldn't do that either.

Moral of the story is that your metabolism slows down as you eat less. It wants to hold on to your fat to store for use during the "lean times". Since we aren't cave men, we don't have lean times usually and therefore our bodies learn to stay within this range. I also think that there is a lot of good that comes from mixing your days up during the week. If you ate only your target, your body gets accustomed to that. If you shake it up and have 22 one day, 26 one day, 24 one day, 30 one day etc. Your body has to keep guessing what you will do next and your metabolism stays revved up.

I hope this made sense.

Melanie

 

[IrishAngel]

Thanks to both of you for your advice. MelanieC i weigh 149.1 so i think i'll try doing what you advised and eating at the upper end of things. I don't want to maintain on 20 points a day!!

 

[MelanieC]

Try it for a few weeks and see. If you find that you aren't loosing (but faithfully journaling and eating within your points (measuring your food, etc). Then decrease some. Remember that you might loose slower this way, but in the long run it will be to your benefit. You may find that you loose pretty fast too. I think I have done well eating at my higher end.

I think that if you are new to WW's, your body will do fine. If you need any help, just let me know.

Good luck,
Melanie

 

[jwfla422]

Thanks for some of that insight. I've been OP for 2 weeks, tomorrow is my 3rd week for WI, I've only lost 1 lb last week and expect that I may have a gain tomorrow because of that bloated time of the month.

It's been real frustrating because I've been working out almost everyday and trying to stick to 25-27 points. I also know muscle weighs more than fat, but I still should be losing because I worked out pre-WW.

Today I had a tough afternoon (those darn chocolate/sweet craving) pre u know what...but I plan to stick with this.

If it's worked for so many others it has to work for me, I will keep trying.

 

[MelanieC]

jwfla422,
Hang in there. Slow is better than fast. Onward and downward is a good motto. Just hang in there, and post if you get frustrated. Don't throw in the towel, just keep trying different things. You have to sometimes try something, see if it works. If it doesn't, change something till you find what works.

Good luck,
Melanie

 

[WDWLVR]

Melanie

Your post on using the points makes great sense. I've been trying not to use them or use them sparingly but I can see where that can hurt me down the road. Now I'm going to switch it up like you suggest and eat at target one day, use some flex points another and every more another so that my body has a variety.

Thanks!