[dorlow]

So, I need to lose weight. To give you an idea of how heavy I am, my BMI is stage 1 obese. I also have high liver enzymes, so if I don't lose weight, I will need a liver biopsy. (Just painting a picture that I do need to lose weight and not one of those 85 pound 6 foot people that think they need to lose weight.) I've been on a few diets in my adult life. I researched this time and found that many sources say WW is the most popular and most healthy diet. So, I'm giving it a try.

First I signed up for WW. I did the WW app thing on my phone. I'm following the points. According to my age and weight, it says I'm allowed 44 points. 44 points is a lot of food! It's more than I eat normally before I dieted.

Actually, when I first signed up for WW, I signed up for the meetings. I went to one. I asked the guy about how I was loosing weight really slow. He asked how many points am I eating. I said I struggle to eat all the points daily. He said that's why. I'm not eating enough therefore I'm not loosing weight. (Totally makes no sense to me... turns out I'm way over weight because I'm not eating enough.)

Well, money is tight and I think I understand the diet. I cancelled WW and downloaded a WW 3rd party app. It has a speedy weight loss so it only allows me 34 points a day. I ate a normal breakfast (cereal and measured both the cereal (1 cupt) and milk (1/2 cup skim)), lunch (sandwich, some veggies, and a cereal bar), and dinner. We had chicken, zucchini, some french bread and sweet potatoes. I measured everything. Didn't squish it down. I had enough points at dinner to eat two servings. I still have 8 points left for the day. And I'm using 10 less points a day than the default sets me to.

The points it's giving me doesn't make sense. Maybe I just need to start doing all I can eat restaurants every day to get enough food so I can lose weight. If the reason I'm not loosing weight is because I haven't been eating enough, that makes no sense.

[IanG]

Then ditch it. And eat less.

Job done.

Customized diets are the best imo.

Not this branded stuff.

[atmos]

I agree with Ian...if a plan isn't working for you and you're following it correctly, time to look elsewhere.

If you like the idea of weight watchers, but it isn't working exactly, I recommend looking into calorie counting. There are many online calculators to estimate your maintenance calories and from there you can create a reasonable deficit. You can either do a method where you eat back some of your exercise calories, or figure your activity into your maintenance value and take a deficit from there.

If the numbers are throwing you off, there are several plans to follow that end up with you eating less calories. Try clicking around the many diet threads here to see if anything resonates with you.

[Koshka]

There may be something wrong with how you are counting points.

I follow Weight Watchers and if you have 8 points left out of 34, then you ate 26 points. What you posted looks like more than 26 points to me from just the list of it. I get 26 points a day. 26 points works out to about 950 to 1050 calories a day for me. What you ate seems like more than that.

Not all plans work for everyone. So maybe another approach is better for you.

That said, I'm not really much of a fan of doing WW without going to meetings. The factor that makes WW special is the meeting and the accountability of the weigh in. Also, going to meetings keeps me focused on losing weight. I've been going a long time so I don't learn much new (I used to, but not any more). But, it keeps my head where it needs to be.

The weekly weigh in gives me a short term goal I'm focused on every week (have a loss) and I know it will happen. When I did WW Online I didn't really focus that much on the weigh in as I could postpone it a day, a week, a month, etc.

Once you take away the meeting and the weigh in from WW, the food plan is (IMO) nothing special. It is basically disguised calorie counting. Not entirely. WW counts carbs/fat more heavily than similar calorie foods with lots of protein or fiber.

I personally count my calories at My Fitness Pal as well as doing WW points and going to meetings and weighing in. The main value of WW to me is the meeting and weigh in.

If you don't want the meeting or the weigh in, and you don't like the food plan, then it makes sense to find something else.

That said -- I think something is wrong somewhere in the way you are counting points.

[Dixiemom]

I would recommend not using low fat/ diet foods. Stick with the regular foods, ie regular bread, reg cheese. Etc. this will help use up points but you are not really eating more. I love WW and it really worked for me. I hope you can find a way for it to work for you.

[elaineindc]

I had a week with a gain and after talking to the meeting leader I realized I wasn't eating enough of my points - not enough fat in particular. I thought it sounded crazy, too, but then I followed her advice and had a good loss the next week. WW has been the easiest diet to follow because it's so flexible around real life situations. It's honestly been a godsend.

[KittenIsOverIt]

I've never believed the "you aren't eating enough" bs either. I am a believer in calories in, calories out.

{edited this part about because I assumed something that wasn't correct!!}

Something thing to consider if you are doing WW but not the official program... there was a huge change in how points are calculated a few years ago, and some online resources use the old formula and some use the new. If you are using the new points PLUS system to determine how many points to eat, but you are using the old points system to calculate your food, you are going to end up overeating by a ton.

If you follow the WW program and use it to guide you to good food choices rather than gaming the system (like you see in SO MANY forums, luckily not this one) then there's almost zero chance that you won't lose weight. Maybe not as quickly as you like, based on your metabolism and the specific choices you make, but you'll lose weight.

Remember that if you put oil or butter on the bread or veggies, count that too. Fruits and veggies are "free" but based on all the literature i've read, they are "free" only if they are naked. If you add something to them to make them more palatable, then according to the WW website that changes the eating experience and you need to track the points in the veggies too.

Keep in mind that potatoes, including sweet potatoes, aren't zero point. Make sure you count any beverages that aren't calorie free. Creamer in your coffee, sugar in your tea... those things add up incredible fast. Any nibbles and snacks. Really? You don't snack AT ALL? I'm in awe.

I hope you figure out something that works for you, but this for all the world looks like some calculation errors.

[shcirerf]

Bear with me, I do have a point!

What cereal were you eating for your breakfast?

What bread for your sandwich? What condiments went along with that? Was it a lean meat? What is some veggies? A cereal bar, is most likely loaded with sugar.

Which cut of chicken? How was it cooked? Zuke, is great, depending on what you did with it. Then more bread?! Sweet potatoes are a great food, but again, how was it cooked? What did you add to it?

I've been a WW for years! Very successful. However, there is a learning curve, not only for the program, but, to learn your body, and how you think.

That said, 44 points plus, (the current program) or 34, the app. You are NOT required to eat all of the points.

If your day is done, you are satisfied, have points left? Don't worry about it. No point in eating if you're not hungry.

Did the online or in meetings ever explain the good healthy guidelines? If that did not get explained to you, the WW is falling down in their mission.

WW is a good program, that nudges us towards a healthy "lifestyle". It is not a diet. However, it takes some time learn the program. More importantly, WW is a guideline, and is a tweakable program, that gives people the freedom to pick and choose.

Ultimately, what ever path you choose, it really is not so much about the program/diet what ever, but about taking a breath, and start listening to your body, instead of your mind!

[klinker]

One cup of cereal, two slices of bread on a sandwich, a cereal bar, and double servings of french bread and sweet potatoes. That is a heck of a lot of starchy foods, and I would definitely gain weight if I ate that many starches (carbohydrates) per day.

[MauiKai]

Originally Posted by klinker

One cup of cereal, two slices of bread on a sandwich, a cereal bar, and double servings of french bread and sweet potatoes. That is a heck of a lot of starchy foods, and I would definitely gain weight if I ate that many starches (carbohydrates) per day.

I agree. It sounds like the quality of food you are eating is really low. All that grain/flour just turns to sugar in the body and gets stored as fat. And since you have a fatty liver that is the LAST thing you should be eating. WW is fine, but I think it is vital to make better eating choices. Just because you can have "anything" on WW doesn't mean you should eat low nutrition sugar producing foods. Skip on cereal all together, most cereals have a glycemic index higher than a can of full sugar soda! Have protein for breakfast like eggs and veggies, or if you really want a grain have steel cut oats with a tblsp of nut butter (real nut butter as in the ingredients list is only nuts, maybe salt, nothing else. No other oils, no sugar.) in it and some blueberries. I'd stop with the bread all together, or no more than 1 small serving of whole grain bread (French bread isn't 99% of the time) per day. Cereal bars are garbage. They're pretty much candy bars.

I think if you focus on more lean protein, clean veg and fruit you'll see some weightloss start. Good luck! And work with your doctor too! They can help.

[Amberkkski]

Just from experience I started off at 44 and added in some snacks and extra condiments etc to get to my 44 points and didn't find it that difficult. That being said im now down to 40 points and have lost 30lbs in 3.5 months. I think if you track correctly that it does work for you. As someone else kind of said what you wrote down sounds like a lot of points actually. I cut out granola bars completely and cereal as well because they were too high in points for me.

[jessicadb2]

It doesn't sound like you ate that much. You ate around 1584 calories and they want you to eat around 1700 calories from the points you eat. About 200 calories should come from the free fruits and vegetables every day. Are you exercising? Exercise is also part of the program, starting at 2 points a day worth and working to 6 points. I am on weight watchers and usually lose about 1.5 lbs average a week and I am not active. Any less and I am starving and quickly fall off the wagon. Also, are you getting any healthy fats in and the other good health guidelines? Those are part of the program as well.

[jessicadb2]

Oh, I wanted to add. I am very sensitive to salt, so I understand how you could not lose weight. If I have soup that is very salty I will gain weight without fail. Every body is different and likes and doesn't like certain things when losing weight.

[jessicadb2]

Are you sure you are allowed 44 points? I am a woman and 5'6'' and 330 lbs and I get 50 points plus a day. If you are a guy that makes sense, but if you are a woman then I think your points may be off.