WW Food and Point Issues - Points questions- just started ww

I called ww and asked how many points I am allowed.
They said I get core points based on the 1st 2 numbers in my weight, 18
I get 2 more for being female
+2 for being 40, 22 pts
I get one more for being 5ft 4in, 23
They said with my activity level I can add up to 4 more pts, and for every 10lbs I lose I subtract a point.

My plan is to eat 23 a day, and workout enough that I could have had 27, because on the weekend I might go over a little bit, so it should all balance out.

I forgot to ask how many lbs Im supposed to lose at this pace. I havent been on ww since 2002, and Im having trouble getting started. They didnt sell me the calorie point calculator, so I already have to go back and buy it. Im estimating what I can from the books.

The easy part is that I found a food that is rich in what my body is deficient in and I dont feel hungry all the time anymore. I feel like I can finally lose weight.

Everyone is different so all I can say is give your plan of action a try...then you can adjust if you aren't progressing like you want. Keep in mind that a healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds a week but most people close to their goal weight will lose at a slower pace.

Right now I'm averaging losing a pound a week after getting under 180

I called ww and asked how many points I am allowed.
They said I get core points based on the 1st 2 numbers in my weight, 18
I get 2 more for being female
+2 for being 40, 22 pts
I get one more for being 5ft 4in, 23
They said with my activity level I can add up to 4 more pts, and for every 10lbs I lose I subtract a point.

My plan is to eat 23 a day, and workout enough that I could have had 27, because on the weekend I might go over a little bit, so it should all balance out.

I forgot to ask how many lbs Im supposed to lose at this pace. I havent been on ww since 2002, and Im having trouble getting started. They didnt sell me the calorie point calculator, so I already have to go back and buy it. Im estimating what I can from the books.

The easy part is that I found a food that is rich in what my body is deficient in and I dont feel hungry all the time anymore. I feel like I can finally lose weight.

Please keep in mind the way WW works is you get your daily points allowance, then an additional 35 points per week plus activity points. I never used my activity points. Also remember as you loose your amount of daily points will go down as well so if you restrict yourself too much in the begining it will be harder later on. I would suggest using all your daily points and all your weekly points to start. They give us this amount because as funny as it is you gain weight by eating too much but you can also gain or remain the same by not eating enough. When we do not eat enought food our body goes into starvation mode and begins to store fat.

I wont let myself starve. Its just amazing to be hungry and not have my insulin resistance kicking in. The cravings for bad stuff is low, too.

Im so glad you told me about the extra 35 points a week. I had no idea. Is it 35 for everyone? Or do you think they already added that into my total? I was planning to try not to use the excersize pts, just in case I cant get to the gym.

Thanks for your replies.

Tanee, Im guessing by your response that WW sets u up to lose 1-2 lbs a week. I will definately see how week one goes, and adjust if needed.

Can you tell I like to plan things. I wanted to figure what I could be at in 3 months, weight wise.

They didn't add it into your total, the 35 points is for everyone, some people add it to their daily total (extra 5 points a day) or save it for the weekend for a treat meal or whatever (which is what I do). Some people don't even use these bonus points at all. They recommend earning at least 28 activity points per week as well (this is estimated based on weight/time/intensity level) As a ballpark, 20 min of yoga would be 1-2 points, where 60 minutes of running or high intensity aerobics would be 7 to 9 points for 180 lb-ish person. So if you wanted to earn just 28 pts of activity you would have to earn 4 pts a day which is equivalent to approximately a 1/2 hr brisk walk. Generally the idea is not to "eat" your activity points, however, nobody is perfect and I know for me sometimes I do end up eating some of those points. However, I average about 43 activity points a week. My rate of loss is about 1-1.5 a week. Happy losing!

The 1-2 pounds is a general rule for healthy weight loss and not just WW. During your first week you may lose more than the recommended 1-2lbs but don't look at that as the norm. That's usually excess water weight ;)

Activity points are now supposed to be used before dipping into your 35 weekly points....at least that is what is says in my newer weekly books. I'm thinking it doesn't really matter as long as you don't confuse yourself!

You'll come to find that people on WW work it different ways...some eat their activity and weekly points and can still lose & you'll find people that don't touch their weekly points. You'll find what works for you!

Personally I don't touch my weekly points because if I eat them I just maintain or even gain but that's me :)

Thanks for the info. I went to get the points counter and they talked me into joining for a few weeks. I guess this will be a good way to get started at least. So I will go to meetings every Wed.

WW used to have a calculator (i got mine with the kit you buy for home) and you put in points as you used them, put in water as you drank it and it kept track of how many points you used and had left for the entire day! It was great. I don't know if they still have them or not.

I have the digital WW calculator too and has been working great for me since I've been on the run so much with 2 of my kids in baseball & me coaching one of their teams :) I normally write everything down in a WW journal so this is new for me!

Welcome, Tamii! I'm glad that you joined an in-house in-person program for a few weeks. You will benefit from experience and immediate and accurate advice while working the program. Not that we all don't know what we are saying, but if you have trouble, it is easy for the leader there to review the plan with you to make sure you have it down pat.
I have 2 calculators and keep one in my purse and one in a drawer in the kitchen for emergency calculations. It is amazing how I choose better snacks when I force myself to calculate the points of the goodies in the pantry. After seeing the points values, I generally wander over to my fruit bowl because I just can't justify say, 2 points for a Lindor white chocolate bomb when I could have an apple and 1 cup of grapes instead...
Kira

The one who said Activity Points are supposed to be used before WAPs got it backwards. I use etools and my books and they both say that and that is how the WW points tracker uses them.

ummm...nope check your *new* weekly books girlie ;) Although I don't think it really matters enough to try and split hairs over it!

Etools will use your weekly 35 before your activity points only because they are there EVERY week 36 points no matter what...activity points are earned some people dont earn them therefor thats why etools will use weekly first. bottom line a point is a point does it really matter if its a weekly or an activity..dont think so...

Hi everyone. I've been cooking all day, using apple sauce instead of oil and buckwheat ferinetta (grain) instead of wheat flour. Oh and I used carrots and Stevia instead of sugar. Anyhow, I made my breakfast and afternoon snack for the next week or so.

Im finding that days if I dont get my buckwheat ferinetta snack, my body knows it and starves the next day, but when I do get my snack I am doing really good and staying right at my allowed points of 23. However today Im only at 19 for the day, and I already counted my dinner, which part of is veggies that I dont have to count (0 when I measure from the slider thingy, I have to add cheese and milk just to get to 19).

Seriously, is it going to kill me to get 19 pts instead of 23? I've been at this since Tues (its Sunday) and I havent dropped a pound. What do I do if I dont lose weight and I eat 23 pts a day, and most days get 2-3 excersize points? Then what do I do?

If you don't eat all your points, it might actually slow down your weight-loss believe it or not. Have an apple and another slice of cheese, or maybe some smart-pop popcorn as an evening snack. I find if I don't eat enough, especially when I add in activity, not only do I feel tired and lethargic, but my weight-loss stalls right out, but when I eat enough as well as keep my activity level up the weight loss is steady and so is the energy. Also, make sure you're staying hydrated! Everyone is different though, since you just started it may take awhile to figure out what your body needs and what it responds to.

p.s. and your body WILL respond, guaranteed, maybe not right away, but it will! :)

you really need to eat all your daily points like Leesa said you could actually stall your weigh loss if you dont! no eating enough is just as bad as over eating. some people swear they have to eat all the daily points and all the weekly points and all earned activity points to lose. ME I can dip into weekly points but never touch activity points and that is where I am most succcessful with losses! good luck to you!

You really need to read your first week book and just get on plan with what the basics of the diet are:
Eat all your daily points.
You get 35 extra points a week to use if you like.
Just focus on this for now.
Exercise points are discussed later in the program, once you have the basics of getting your points in and sorting out your menus, etc.
It probably won't be productive to be jumping on and off the scales and trying to adjust your daily points as a result of the scale numbers. You need to eat all the points you are allotted each day and you need to weigh in once a week to see how things go.
Also, the program is designed to let you lose 1-2 lbs a week. And you do with with being consistent with your points intake. So don't get impatient or frustrated, at least, not yet.
So take a deep breath, plan your meals, eat your points, drink your water, and weigh in next week to see how things are going!
Kira

RomanceDiva -- I've been looking at my books and can't find the reference you are mentioning -- I've found in week 1 they discuss using 35 points per week either divided up, or for a special treat, or not at all. And in week 2, my 2009 book says that
"The only rule is that you must use swapped activity points values within the week that you earned them. Activity points values roll over day to day, but not week to week: they can be added to your daily points target or to your weekly points allowance." I can't find any mention of what you use first.
I'm just interested, thats all, because as you said, it really is splitting hairs. I just want to make sure I know the "rules"!
Thanks!
Kira

I added some extra meat to my sandwich, skim milk, and cheese to the veggies and got my 23 pts yesterday.

I had an issue with a meal I get every saturday, I had to guestimate 9pts, based on other stuff on the ethnic menu in my book. I expect I probably went over because of the chicken, veggies and sauce. So I decided not to use my weekly points because I probably used some of them in not knowing for sure. Im guessing thats part of why I was NOT that hungry Sunday.

I watched the ww video about cooking yesterday too, made me want to buy lots of foods to cook.

I'm just interested, thats all, because as you said, it really is splitting hairs. I just want to make sure I know the "rules"!
Thanks!
Kira

This is what is on the WW website, I underlined the clarification about points used:

Swapping activity POINTS® values for food

You can swap the activity POINTS values you earn for extra food POINTS values, for times you need an extra treat. Once you've used up your weekly POINTS Allowance, the POINTS Tracker will automatically swap your earned activity POINTS values. You may lose more weight if you don’t use them, but using them doesn’t eliminate your potential to lose weight. The only rule is that swapped activity POINTS values must be used within the week that you earned them.

The booklet received at the actual meetings has a similar statement on page 12 of the Week 2 booklet, but it does not have the sentence that I underlined previously. It says that you can add your activity points on to your weekly points if you want. (Which, I guess, if you really break down the sentence... you would be using your weekly points first and then your activity points, since you are "adding on" to the weekly points. Sort of the FIFO method... the weekly points are given first so they are used first.) ;)