[Jennifer 3FC]

Are you mixing points and points plus? Don't use the 40 cal formula you are using. The new plan has 4 variables - carbs, fiber, fat and protein. Also, you get freebies of fruits and most vegetables - zero points. And you have 49 weekly points and activity points to add in if you need them. It's not a hard plan to learn, but it is complex. I would strongly recommend going to a nearby meeting location and signing up, at least long enough to learn the ropes.

Edited to add: Lovely wrote a great FAQ on the WW Points Plus Plan here:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/weig...etime-faq.html

It's very informative!

[BreathingSpace]

Originally Posted by fitbyforty

I was a tweak that WW did to the program last year.Originally the lowest points you could be allotted was 29.They gave people the option to drop as low as 26 if they were not losing on 29 pp. If you were losing well without the drop you could stay at 29.No matter if they give 26, 27 ,28 you can choose to be at 29.It is all in how you lose and if 26 isn't satisfying your appetite.

That's kind of important information that they're not giving anyone! LOL. I just started the program 5 weeks ago and I never heard that.

I, too, get 27 points. I find it just right for me, but definitely yeah there are some days I'm hungrier than normal and I probably do an extra 2 points just to get satisfied.

One of the things I do now is when I feel hungry, like at the end of the night when I'm done work and finished hot yoga and feel like I could have another meal, I just eat a banana. It stops the feeling of panic I get when I feel hungry and then I can make a better snack decision.

Maybe too you could alter your meal plan so you are getting a little more protein to keep you satisfied? I could give you a sample of my meal plan if you like for ideas (i eat the same thing all the time).....

[Koshka]

I tracked both calories and points plus for about a year. For me, a points plus works out to about 37 to 38 calories. If high protein or high fiber loser to 40 calories.

However to just take that and multiply it by 26 or 27 is really not accurate.

First, veggies and fruit are zero point so they don't fit within that formula. From at various things, I think the WW base assumption is that if you are meeting the Good health guidelines you are getting about 250 calories a day from fruits and veggies. Some people get more, some get less. If you want to know for you, look at what fruits and veggies you eat and then figure out how many calories you average for those a day.

More to the point - the program is based upon the concept of everyone having 49 activity points per week. That averages 7 per day so at 38 calories a point that is another 266.

So someone at 26 points a day, eating 7 weekly points a day and 250 in fruits/veggies would be at about 1500 calories a day, which is fine.

While weekly points are optional - they are also part of the program and part of what WW considers in determining how many calories you are getting. If WW figured they nobody ate weekly points and balanced calories based upon eating 0 weekly points then people who do eat weekly points wouldn't lose or would gain. The program isn't set up that way. It is set up so that you can eat weekly points and still lose. This isn't true for everyone but it is true for most. Some people eat all their weekly points every week, a few never eat them and I would suspect that most are somewhere in between.

[kelijpa]

Something to think about since you said you just started.

A former leader of mine once said that you should eat all of your points when you are starting out, think about this, when you lose weight you will be getting less points. You may not lose as fast in the beginning, but you are in it for life, so don't cheat yourself out of your future points. That was her philosophy, she's been in awesome shape for many years, so I'd say it works.

If you don't eat enough your body will think you are starving it and go into storage mode instead of burning mode like you want it to. If you're hungry all the time, you're probably not eating enough, listen to your body, maybe you're lacking some vitamin/nutrient that is making you feel hungry.

Also, make sure you're drinking your water, sometimes thirst can be mistaken for hunger.

Oh yeah, and don't forget about the healthy eating guidelines...

Just some ideas, best of luck to you!