Weight Watchers <tm> Discussion

[Divash]

Thank you so much, Kipluck! I'm so thrilled, I'm telling everyone all about it. My mom says that when I reach my weight goal, she's intending to send me enough money to buy an entire new wardrobe, which I'll need. I'm really looking forward to that shopping trip!  

[Divash]

I have missed three weeks of Weight Watchers. I spent one week entirely gearing up for Passover, another week celebrating Passover, and this past week I was helping a friend deal with some circumstances that were decidedly awful, so I just didn't make the time to go. Also, I ate more than I should of foods that weren't the best for me. Predictably, I've gained some of my lost weight back.

Know what? I don't mind. Because this time, I know exactly WHY I've gained the weight back, and I know exactly how to get rid of it again and how long it will take me. I know that it wasn't just bad luck, bad genes, or for no reason at all -- I gained because of choices I made, consciously understanding the effect those choices would have. I'm still powerful; I still own my body, and I was the one in charge of what made this happen. And I'll still be the Wonder Woman, in whom is the power to change it.

Thank you, Weight Watchers, for showing me my own strength.  

[Yi Min]

Does anyone do WeightWatchers online? What do you think of it?  

[Divash]

I don't do WW online myself, but a friend of mine does. She loves it. She doesn't get the benefit of going to meetings and getting to interact with people face to face, but she does get to decide when she's got time to deal with Weight Watcher stuff, rather than have to be on time for this or that meeting.  

[Zakuro_okami]

I'm not currently doing WW but i've been thinking about joining but i do buy some of thier products like their yogurt smoothies my fav is the strawberry bananna flavored and i'm addicted to them.....if you haven't tried them yet i recomend it 3nodding  

[Divash]

I wish Weight Watchers yogurt and smoothies were kosher. They've got a plain K, which is a sign that the company thinks it's kosher, but they don't have any outside agency to certify them. For something to be kosher, you need an independent, outside agency that will keep you honest.

But their little snacky cakes, their 2-Point Bars, their Cheddar Twists, their pretzel snacks, and their muffins are all certified kosher. Those are YUMMY. I hear that the yogurts and smoothies are yummy too, but I haven't been able to try those.

Keep in mind that most people need around 25 points worth of food per day. Weight Watchers snacks are anywhere from one point to three points each, or about 4% to 12% of your daily points allowance. A regular-sized Snickers bar is about five points, or 20% of your daily points (on average; each person's points are different). Most muffins are around 10 points, or 40% of the average person's daily points allowance; Weight Watchers muffins are only 3 points. So they're better by far than the regular stuff, but you still shouldn't eat them by the entire boxful. Just something to keep in mind.  

[Divash]

I just had THE BEST breakfast (well, it's late, so it was really more like brunch).

1 cup of sliced strawberries
1 cup of Breyer's Double-Churned Ice Cream, 98% fat free, no sugar added

This is a total of 5 points, which is just about right in terms of breakfast size for me, since my daily points total right now is supposed to be 25. This ice cream is actually only the same amount of and fat as a glass of 2% milk, and only a couple extra calories -- three points per cup instead of two points per cup!

Moreover, this took care of TWO dairy servings and TWO fruit servings. For lunch, I'll probably have a big bowl of non-fat vegetable soup, which will be 3 points for two cups of soup. Very filling, very tasty, and it'll take care of TWO of my three required vegetable servings today. Then I'll have only eaten 8 points of food all day, which will mean I can have dinner and then a snack later. Yay!  

[Statistical Anomaly]

OMG, I think I know what ice cream you're talking about. I was grocery shopping the other day for ice cream (yes, just ice cream. I had a craving.), and I found this amazing Breyer's-only 80 cal (and 1 WW point, incase you were wondering) per serving. I think I literally did a double-take when I read that. Only thing is that it has Splenda, so it tastes a little different. But if you can stomach that, then it's really, really good. Besides, it's a great way to eat a whole cup of ice cream without blowing your diet (I generally count calories) for the day.  

[Divash]

Yes, that's the stuff. Sweetened with Splenda, and it has slightly less fat than regular ice cream. If you can get the stuff that's also 98% fat free, it's even less.

Careful, though. A half-cup is only one point, but because of the math involved with calories, fiber, and fat, a whole cup is three points. Be sure to count the points correctly.

Also good from a Weight Watchers perspective: Cold Stone Creamery, Sinless Sweet Cream ice cream. "Sinless" means Splenda and low fat, and if you get the "Like It" sized portion, it's only 3 points. Don't get it in a waffle cup, though. Get a regular plastic cup, and maybe put some berries (not berry compote) on it.  

[BlinkyTheRed]

Hey everyone.

I'm on Weight Watchers currently (I've done it in the past with success, but never gone all the way to my weight goal)

And I'm really bummed out. I've been exercising about 1 hour every day for about a month (alternating between weight training with a personal trainer, and aerobic exercise.)

I've been following the WW points system for close to 3 weeks, and I'm having VERY LITTLE success.

In the past I've lost 2-3 pounds the first week and lost between 1-2.5 from then on.. but so far I've lost MAYBE 2 pounds, total.

I've had tests done in the past that showed I was healthy, but if I don't start losing weight, I'm worried I might have to go back to the doctor and make sure nothing has developed..

I'm sure some people will say that the reason I'm not noticably losing weight is because I'm building muscle, which weighs more than fat, but I definitely haven't built enough muscle that it should make a difference.

Oh well. It's discouraging when you don't see results for a month, but there's nothing you can do about it except keep going..

Maybe I need to eat less points than the system says. sad

(Edit: I'm 5'4" and 190 pounds-ish, for anyone wondering.)  

[Divash]

Blinky, I have some good news for you. It's the rule of time, in weight loss.

Drinking anything, you'll see a difference on the scale immediately. Drink 8 ounces of water, and the scale will immediately say that you weigh half a pound more.

Eating anything, you will see a minor fluctuation on the scale because of the weight of the food. But the real effect of the salad (or the cheesecake) won't be seen on the scale for three to seven days.

Exercise, on the other hand, doesn't show up on the scale for three to four weeks. So if you work out for a solid month and don't see any changes, never fear. You will probably see a change the following week. Don't give up!

Also, you may be burning fat but also building muscle mass. You want that. Muscle weighs more than fat (it's denser), but it takes up less room (looks slimmer). As an added bonus, muscle burns fat very efficiently, so the more muscle you build, the easier it will be for your body to burn through its fat reserves and slim you down.  

[BlinkyTheRed]

Yeah.. It's just not very fun to be working out and counting my points when I don't see or notice ANY difference at all.

I'm going to head to my next meeting today, and I already weighed myself.. indeed, I haven't lost any weight this week.


I'm really starting to get discouraged, only because I kinda have a time limit on this weight loss, and I'm realizing that I won't be able to reach any of my goals.

Unless I randomly, suddenly just lose like.. 3 pounds for the next few weeks in a row, I'm going to be waaaay behind where I wanted to be at the end of summer..  

[StilettoReject]

Don't give uuup!

How much have you been exercising, lately?

 

[Divash]

So, after gaining back about 12 pounds over a 3-month period of laxity, I seem to be back on track. I'm down about 7 pounds out of that 12, as of last week's weigh-in, and today I'll be weighing in again and seeing how much further I have to go to re-reach my record low. Wish me luck.  

[BlinkyTheRed]

Frau-- I'm still exercising about 6 days a week ( or 7) for an hour-- alternating weight lifting days and cardio days.

I weighed in last week and lost only like .4 of a pound.. *mega-gonk!*

I'm seriously getting mega frustrated with how slow this progress is, but I've decided to double my efforts instead of giving up.

I'm drinking slimfast for breakfast and lunch, along with small side-dishes (usually granola bar in the morning, and a big salad with tons of veggies at lunch), a cheese stick for my snack, and sugar free candies when I have a huge craving for junk food here at the cafeteria.

On days that I'm more hungry I'll eat a WeightWatchers microwave meal instead of doing the slimfast/salad thing.

And on the weekend I won't go out to eat as much with my friend-- we're both doing WW so we decided to have ONE feast on the weekend, not three. XD The other days we'll just warm up WW meals and eat them together.