I am VERY adimant about losing weight. I mean very, very serious about losing around 130 lbs. once I'm finished and I'd appreciate some input from all that count calories.
I've been on WeightWatchers on and off for years. I'll lose some weight and then stop,get discouraged and derail big time.
I just went to Sparkspeople and you know how they give a range of calories? Well the range for a 2 lb. a week weight loss for me is 1330-1680 cals./day.
I went ahead and just calculated a day with their Program. It's between 1880-2380 calories per day. OK, no WONDER I am not losing weight except at first because I was certainly eating far more calories than the 280 lol!!!!!
Ok, now here are my questions...
(1) I don't understand the range. Does this mean that my unhunbgry days I MUST eat 1330 to stay within my daily requirements and a hungry day eat up to 1680 cals./day? Also, can I stay at 1680 cals./day and still be losing weight?
(2) Vegetables... water based veggies like yellow squash,lettuce,broccoli... do you count these calories, I know the starchy ones like Winter Squash,corn,sweet potatoes,baked potatoes,etc. of course I know to.
(3) Fiber... does this impact anything with calorie counting like it does with points on WeightWatchers or is it viewed that it's better for you to eat more of these foods and less of those foods.
Everyone figures out their own way with calorie counting, its trial and error but I can help.
1) I eat more on days I am going to be doing a hard cardio session, because I need more energy. I eat a different amount of calories everyday, just because I don't eat the same exact things every meal of everyday. You will find what numbers work for you. I also eat 6 times a day. 3 meals and 3 snacks so my calories are spread out so I dont really get hungry. My suggestion is to start higher than lower, try it for a couple of weeks, if you arent losing, then lower it a little bit.
2) My body is going to count them, even if I don't. So I count EVERYTHING that goes into by body.
3) Calorie Counting is very personalized, you want cake you can eat cake. If you have trigger foods it is usually best to avoid those but I drink soda (diet), have chips (baked), and have desert every night, I have just found healthier ways to eat those things. I don't count out (ignore)the calories from fiber. I tend to eat foods that are higher in fiber than their counterparts because it keeps me feeling fuller for longer, which helps me not do the mindless snacking thing.
I'm a little confused about your comparisons. Were you saying Weight Watchers allowed you to consume too many calories?
My personal opinion (don't flame me please!) is that Weight Watchers is just simplified calorie counting. It seems each point is approximately 50 calories unless it's high in fiber or fat. They allow some latitude for vegies but for me personally when I stuck in my 24 point range my calories were around the 1300-1500 (including calorie counts for vegies). They have the 35 bonus points but I think you have to be careful how/if you use them. It's easy sometimes to take a program and see how much food we can get away with to stay "in the program" and then blame the program for not working. I think you need to experiment with how many calories you can consume and lose the amount of weight at the rate that works for youl. In truth there are many, many programs that are good solid programs we just have to find the one that we like.
I love the Weight Watchers program I'm combining the program with calorie counting. They have good solid health guidelines and group support. But some people do great on low-carb, Jenny Craig, etc. just have to find the niche for you. I would LOVE to go on Jenny Craig but it's not in my budget
Actually, if you look at just pure calories (i.e. x calories, 0 fat, 0 fiber) you'll find a point is about 73 calories (enter these values in your WW calculator, or in any online WW points calculator). For me, this puts my daily caloric intake at 21 points or around 1500 per day. We get 35 points a week to spend as we see fit. And we can earn exercise points.
The 50 calories a point rule is generally good for comparing food labels at grocery stores if you don't have your calculator with you -- say you have french fries and one has 150 calories 3 g fat 2 g fiber and the other has 200 calories 2 g fat 3 g fiber for the same serving -- which is a better points choice? I estimate the first at 3 points per serving, and the other at 4 based on the 50 cal/point "rule". And it generally holds true...
?????? Pardon???????
I don't understand. If you are allowed 21 WW points and you eat high fat foods you're going to be hungry because high fat foods take up more points per food volume.
If you are allowed 1500 calories and eat high fat foods you're going to be hungry because high fat foods take up more calories per food volume.
21 WW points = 1500 calories. You don't get more food if you calorie count because you have the same amount of calories to work with...1500 calories is 1500 calories, whether you divide them into points or 10 calorie units or whatever. And if you want to eat a chocolate bar, you'll pay for it whether you calorie count through WW or through calorie counting...
WW is basically calorie counting, only in a different format that works especially for math-challenged people like me.
Now, eating high fat foods may not allow you to get your NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS in within your allotted daily calories (or WW points) but this isn't a function of WW. It is a function of your personal food choices.
I don't eat chocolate. Or non-nutriative high fat food. I just tend to eat a lot of nut butters, avocado, olive oil, etc.
1/3 cup avocado has 115 calories. It also has 11 grams of fat. Because of the high fat grams, it is 2 points.
My glass of whole milk is 4 points.
English muffin is 2.
Breakfast = 8 points.
That's a 1/3 of my points for the day, but only 400 calories. Which would only give me 1200 per day.
With Counting Calories I get 1500-1700 per day.
I'm not saying WW doesn't work for people who like a lower fat diet, I'm saying for me, for a variety of reasons it's not the right plan.
Calories vs. WeightWatchers...
