thinking about joining...advice?

[Breannaj1215]

Im considering joining but everytime I consider starting I think about how much time it takes to write everything down but Im gaining more weight by the minute. Advice? comments?

[Tudor Rose]

If you don't want to write everything down, there is something known as the Simply Filling technique. I'm not that familiar with it, so hopefully someone who is will see this and be able to help

But, honestly, once you get used to writing everything down and start to familiarize yourself with points and certain foods it becomes so much easier and doesn't take a lot of time. If you have a smart phone there are even apps you can use to track which I love.

[Lovely]

Why not join and find out?

Honestly, the first 2-3 weeks are the time when it takes the most to figure out Points and how to track. After that, you tend to remember the Points for foods so they get written down easier.

Some people (myself included) use the phone application, and everything is easy to just click and get onto your daily tracker.

How long does it take me to track my food for the whole day? 10 minutes, maybe. That's added all together. 10 minutes a day to make sure that I'm watching what I eat and being mindful.

When I first joined I was leery about writing every single thing down. I didn't want to have to pay attention.... but something had to give. I was over 300 pounds. And obviously my half-butted "just be more vigilant" wasn't doing much for my weight.

Tracking works. It might not always be fun, but it truly doesn't take that long out of my day. And it works. I'd rather take those 10 minutes and do something healthy, than to have remained over 300 pounds (and pushing for more!).

[Daimere]

Tracking works. My worst weeks have always been when I didn't track.

[nancylmrn]

Tracking keeps me motivated -- I tend to make better choices when I have to see what I actually ate in print! It really only takes a minute to do and not matter what method you use once you have done it for a week or so you get to be very familiar with remembering the points for most foods

[Goddess Jessica]

I HATE TRACKING!

BUT!

If you have an iPhone, the WW app changed my freaking life. I love it. It's so handy to be able to open it and calculate points or track AT the restaurant table. I am so much more prepared and aware.

[mammasita]

I joined in October (on line only) and LOVE it. I use the apps on my phone and ipad. The first week or so it might be overwhelming, but it becomes routine to track. I even use the calculator app when I'm grocery shopping. Helps me determine if I REALLY want something.

[Koshka]

There are a lot of ways to make it easy to track. If you do it online for food you eat often you can make it a favorite. Those are shown on the right side of the tracker so are easy to select. The reality is that most people tend to eat the same things over and over so by creating favorites you make it easier to track.

Also if I eat something that I'm not going to be eating a lot I will do a quick add where I just put in the nutritional info to the calculator and get a number and record it with a short entry.

[Dthornby]

YES! Tracking helps you make better decisions. Takes more time at first looking up points etc but then it gets easier. I use an app on my phone - easy peasy

[19Deltawifey]

Originally Posted by Goddess Jessica

I HATE TRACKING!

BUT!

If you have an iPhone, the WW app changed my freaking life. I love it. It's so handy to be able to open it and calculate points or track AT the restaurant table. I am so much more prepared and aware.

^^^Yup what she said! My iphone has made tracking so much easier and almost fun. I track everything and I've been on WW for about a month. Usually the first 2 weeks are the hardest but once you start the habit it no longer feels like a hassle. Good Luck

[Jojo381972]

^Ditto! I hate tracking and am not the best at it..but.. when I track I lose weight. One week I lost 3.5 pounds, but also worked out like mad. I constantly try to push myself to track.

You can buy a three month tracker and use that instead of the weekly tracker they give you.

The longer you wait, Brianna the more weight you are going to gain as you aptly put it. So, why wait? Aren't you worth it?

[tigerchild]

I love the simplicity of the WW plan, and Points Plus (I've been part of two other plans during my many "joins" in the past) is my absolute favorite--I feel the best I've ever felt. I joined WW when I hit a plateau after losing 17 lbs on my own, and I've lost another 55 lbs with WW.

I'm going to go against the grain here. If you're not willing to change some aspects of your life (like tracking, which IMO is one of the MOST important parts of the plan; all the folks I personally know who have lost significant amounts of weight with the plan have made tracking a part of their life) then to be blunt I would not waste your money.

If you're not ready to try something new or try things that are uncomfortable and/or annoying and/or time consuming at first, you're only going to give up in a couple of months (or earlier), potentially put yourself in an even more unhealthy situation by yo-yoing upward again, and you'll be in the headspace that the minute you stall, or have a weekly gain--and you WILL have BOTH numerous times if you plan on losing a lot of weight and you have to be willing to work through it. Don't waste your money--wait until you are more ready to step out of your comfort zone.

I just don't see the point of joining something if you have no intention or are going to fight against a significant part of the plan. There are other, cheaper alternatives that can help you move into the headspace you need for staying power. If you do this just because you hate your weight and even though you KNOW that getting a WW card won't magically change that, you're in some part of you hoping that it will, you're going to be hurt, probably feel even worse about yourself.

At least, that is my experience. I spent some time in another program through the Y that was all about learning how to set short term goals, be accountable in a small group, and most importantly to *tolerate setbacks or when things didn't work out how I thought they 'should'*. When I joined WW THIS time I wasn't totally ready for the challenge, but I had a kick *** support network, and I walked into it with my eyes wide open and focused on reality.

If you are ready to do that, and I hope you are, then YES you should join. There is no perfect time. If you are not ready for some small and large lifestyle changes (and you are NOT a bad person if you're not--I wasn't when I joined and quit and joined and quit and joined and quit, I was doing the best I could), then I'd look into less expensive and perhaps not just weight focused groups. I really wish someone had told me to do that about 8 years ago when I *first* joined WW.

So...before you join, check your willingness. You may have more willingness than you think! Get a buddy ASAP if you do join. Don't be afraid to shop meetings if you can to find a leader that you really like and connect to. And do whatever it takes to remind yourself that you're GOING to have setbacks and stalls, and you ARE totally worth sticking it out and working through it.

Because you are.

[KD1234]

You could always sit through 1 meeting for free to feel it out - it's mentioned on their site. The tracking is HUGE though. Also having the feeling of weekly accountability cause you don't want to ever be told you've gained is a huge motivator. This diet isn't bs and it isn't a true diet in the sense of traditional diets. Weight watchers IS A LIFESTYLE CHANGE. You'd be amazed how much tracking daily keeps you going and on track. I'm 14 weeks in and have lost 26 pounds on weight watchers. It's not a crash diet. It's not funky chemicals you sprinkle on your food. It's not pills. It's a healthy way of life and most importantly it DOESN'T deprive you. They emphasize that they would rather you learn to eat reasonably and still occasionally be able to treat yourself. A slice of cheesecake might be 20 points, but they allow you to have that so long as it's in your points weekly allowance or points you earn via working out. It's a healthy weightloss, so like they say 1-2 pounds a week is average and expected. My highest week loss so far was 4.5 (on thanksgiving week no less LOL). If you can commit it REALLY works and IS worth it. Best of luck to you whichever route you take

[kidjng]

Originally Posted by Breannaj1215

Im considering joining but everytime I consider starting I think about how much time it takes to write everything down but Im gaining more weight by the minute. Advice? comments?

Excuse me for being blunt but you can use your time and hands for either writing things down or putting food in your mouth.

Your choice.

[BerkshireGrl]

Originally Posted by kidjng

Excuse me for being blunt but you can use your time and hands for either writing things down or putting food in your mouth.

Your choice.

This is some tough love, but true. I have come back to WW because after messing around with other plans where I did not track my food, I lose piddly amounts or I gained. It seems like a pain in the butt to write down your food at first, and it might be, but after a couple weeks, you will know the Points of most of the foods you eat... and you will be thinking when looking at some tasty morsel, "How many Points is that?" and just having that awareness can help prevent sticking it in your mouth Like ravioli, ha!

WW is the only way I lost 52 pounds before. And it would have STAYED off if I stuck with Maintenance, but I figured (arrogantly) that I had it under control and didn't need to bother with that daily food planner anymore ...You can see where that got me!