I lost 61 pounds 3 years ago on 123, did it within a year, and felt I had great success. Oh yea, and I was nursing for part of that year so I got 10 extra points to boot!! I just rejoined last week and am wondering why WW felt they needed to change the POINTSFINDER! I am discouraged that you no longer get to use more than 4 gms of fiber! That means less food in my book!
For example a bag of light popcorn with 9 gms of fiber used to be one point for the whole delicious bag, and now its 3!!
If you have done both programs, which POINTSFINDER to you use? I still have my old one and am tempted to use it again! Is there more success with the new program than with the old? Since my first weigh-in is tommorrow, it's hard for me to know.
I am a LTM of ww and did 123, I have since rejoined the program and have stayed with 123. I really liked the progam and I found a few flaws for me with WP.
The first was the loss of fiber. I liked the challege of eating and finding foods wiht lots of fiber so I could eat more. Fiber is great for you and the natural sources are excellent. I feel the new 4 g cap has made it less important to strive for a healthy Lifestyle, and to want to learn to eat within the guidelines of a high fiber low fat diet which 123 is.
The second was the cut in points off the top end, to earn the 2 extra points you have to exercise. This bothers me because I find something fundementally wrong with using food as a reward for what is part of the progrm anyway. I think that you should do it anyway as part of the lifestyle change.. i do not have a problem with the earning of even more points for those that exercise at a higher level.. It is important to feed the body.
To answer your question, I think they changed the program to find a new inticing theam, and to stop people like me that were eating really high fiber food from getting too many cals.
so I have stuck with the 123, I do not like change anyway, I like the freedom of trying to get in the fiber and I really feel better with a high fiber diet.
It really is up to you and you have to decide if you want this change. I still count the popcorn as 1 or 2 for the bag because i count allthe fiber and fat..
Some people will disagree with me but why fix what isn't broke.
I was also very successful on 123 and rejoined this January with the Winning Points program. Last week I sat down and looked at my progress and compared it to when I was on 123. What I found was that while on 123, I consistently loss and over a 9 month period, only had 2 weeks with either a maintain or gain (and those were usually for an obvious reason) but with WP, I've already had 5 weeks of either a maintain or gain, even though I've always been OP 100%. When I was on 123, I generally ate at the top of my points range.
What brought me to look into this was that the week before last I had a great loss (3.25#), something I hadn't seen since the first two weeks back OP in January. When I looked back over my planner, I found that due to a number of "events" that week, I consistently ate at, or just above, my point allotment. So, this week, I added back in the 2 points that we "lost" with WP, but did still keep using the new points finder to calculate my points. When I weighed in this morning, I was down another 3.5#! I was shocked.
So, my plan this week is to try this again and see if it was simply a fluke or if I really do need the extra 2 points to keep my weight loss up.
Hi
On the positive side I would like to explain it..the way employees of Weight Watchers heard the Winning Points..ok?
As a Leader I was told that WW had not reevaluated the points since it was introduced in 97.......there were not as many high fiber foods on the market at that time either..........well......the only area of improvement they could see was that members wanted to lose a little faster...they loved the 123 but thought it rather "slow-go"...SO..they made the changes by adjusting and limiting the fiber therefore changing the point value of many foods.
Now the most important part has not been mentioned....they told us over and over to emphasis to the members IF they loved 123 and were doing well with 123 do not change what you are doing.continue
on and it is fine!!
Hey..remember that old saying "If it aint broke dont fix it!"....APPLY it here as well. Good Luck with 123!
WW Cin
Hope this is clear to you that if you found success with 123 and your former points finder..great.keep using it!
WWCIN is exactly right. What works for you, if it is safe and sane is what you should follow. For many, though the 123 had too much leaway in the fiber/points area for them to lose effectively.
I have been using the WP system now and what works for me is the journaling, water, portion control, good sound decision making and exercise. Either works for me, if I work the program.
I hope you get encouraged to use whichever, whatever is working for you.
I switched to WP when it came out and have gone back to 123 gradually. I was doing fine and 123 and liked the carrots and onion being free veggies plus being about to use more fiber. I'm back on 123 completely, using my old slide and book. and I like it better. I'm doing fine so am sticking with it. A plus -- I now have extra slides and books because a friend that switched over gave me hers.
I too am a person who had fantastic weight loss on the 123 program (85#) and disagree with being 'rewarded' for exercising which should be a daily part of someone's life and no rewards involved. I'll stick to the great 'old' program.
debbie
Count me in as another that's still using 123. I just got back on track last Wednesday (for about the 50th time) and I refuse to do the changes that are WP. Maybe if I hit a platau someday down the line, but not now.
I have just gone back to 123. I was doing ww 123 at home and bought the new wp "kit" in January. My brain just could not adjust to the loss of points, fiber, carrots, and exercise changes so I have gone back to 123. I lost slowly but consistantly on 123 so have decided to stick with what works for me. If I had started originally with winning points I think I would have been fine with the program though.
I reached goal last fall on 123 and have stayed with it. I do eat lots of fiber but on a daily basis I don't think I over do on the points because of the fiber. You do what ever works for you.
I have only been back to WW a couple of weeks, last time I went it was the personal selections plan. I have read with great interest the discussion about loss of fiber, because I really thought the goal of a healthier eating program was to increase fiber, but it seems you aren't rewarded for that. (Getting enough fiber has always been a problem for me). However, having said that (and having no experience at 123) I like WW more now because I feel I have more freedom than on the Personal Selections plan.
One thing I have been doing that I was worried about, but that as I read your posts may not be that big of a problem, is that I have been eating at the high end of my points consistently the last two weeks, and went over a bit on Saturday due to a buffet. ( I have trouble with those). I know the leader said to aim for the middle of your points, but as my day progresses I am almost always at that high end.
While I would love to lose all the weight in 3 months, I know that isn't practical for me. I have been heavy all my life. I am hoping the freedom of this plan will allow me to lose steadily but at a rate at which I can maintain the loss.
Teach93. If you always eat at the high end of your points with the Winning Pts Plan and exercise but don't eat the bonus points for exercising you should do just fine. When the weigh loss slows down you will know what to do and can cut back. Many like to vary their points to fool their body. I eat at the high of my range under 123 27 pts a day and walk every day at least 30 minutes. I can maintain at this level. It would be nice to drop a few more pounds to have a cushion.
Hmmm. I switched to WP this year, and so far have lost a whopping 5 pounds. For the year. I definitely lost better last year and the previous years. Maybe I should try switching back to 123 and see if that makes the difference. I've always been a slow loser, but this is ridiculous.
I think it's amusing that WW changed 123 in order to help people lose more quickly, but a lot of you have said that you're losing more slowly on WP!
The only change I made when I obtained the WP materials is to lower the points. I eat a lot of fiber-filled foods, but few of them have over 4 g per serving. So, when they do, I count it like 123. I don't count carrots and onions. I rarely eat a portion large enough to need to count it anyway. But I did lose better on 123. So, I may up the points back to the old number. I started out losing faster, but it's grinding down to almost a total halt! (one pound in the whole month of March)
I agree with you all that we should exercise for our health, not so we can reward ourselves with more food. Eating more food ought to be a result of meeting our active bodies fuel requirement. It's a small semantic difference, but a huge attitude shift!
Thanks for your comments and suggestions! I lost 5.8 pounds my first weigh-in! Yahoo! I know the first weigh-in you always loose a lot, but it's encouraging.
I think I will use the best of both 123 and WP. I'll use the 123 slide to calculate points, use the current alloted points system--without using the extra points for exercise and see how I do.
