Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 04-15-2011, 11:36 AM   #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sfree13's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Midwest--for now.
Posts: 146

S/C/G: 240ish/180/165

Height: 5'9"

Default Does WW Work??---Very Frustrated.

I have been on WW about three months, and the scale has completely stalled. The WW leaders are really no help. I already work out 6 days a week, I started doing more intervals, I've upped my protein and try to eat something every 3-4 hours, but the scale won't budge. I decided I must not be eating enough, because on PP i was already at 30 a day. My mom is a life-time, is 5 inches shorter than me and 31 years older than me, and we are eating the same about of calories---that makes no sense!

So I don't really think the PP program is for me. The last time I got down to goal, I used calorie counting and ate around 1700 calories, for a net calorie of 1300 - 1400 a day (assuming I burn somewhere between 300 and 400 a day, with a minimum of 45 minutes of cardio).

I'm using loseit.com now, and so far, this website has far surpassed anything that WW online provides (in my opinion). It doesn't have the recipes or the articles for advice (which I generally don't use anyway), but the way to track food and calories and all the weekly graphs and charts are really helpful! I just started doing calorie counting this week, but I have to say, I'm really discouraged with WW. I'm going to attend the meetings a few more weeks to earn my 16 week thing, but I am not sure that this plan is really for me.

I already eat mostly fruits and vegetables, fairly low carbs (only whole grains when I do eat them), beans and lentils, soy or low-fat dairy, and very few animal products or meat (sub low-cal protein powders). I have not binged in month and months, and I always track my calories. So what gives??

Is the problem that I am only 15-20 lbs away from what WW would consider a healthy weight? Is it that I already eat really well and exercise, where the average WW attendee probably doesn't?

At one point, I was 240, but have maintained below 200 since about 2006. Is my body just happy in the 180's, how do I fight that?

I appreciate your advice, and any ideas you might have to make WW work for me---other than the consistency of the weigh-ins and occasional gems I get from the meetings, I'm not sure this plan is for someone like me who already leads a fairly healthy lifestyle.
sfree13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 11:47 AM   #2  
foodie on a diet!
 
uncontentgirl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 158

S/C/G: 180.2/ticker/145

Height: 5'5"

Default

I'm sorry your having such a hard time. I was stuck in a plateau for almost a month and recently broke it by upping my daily calorie intake. I also calorie count and, after being a little frustrated myself, learned to tweek my WW & calorie counting to work better for me. What I did was try calorie cycling/WW Wendie plan and it totally broke my plateau. Maybe you could try that? I believe there is a thread on here about that.
uncontentgirl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 12:13 PM   #3  
Fat Chick on a Mission
 
dragonlady1978's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Louisiana
Posts: 233

S/C/G: 216/ticker/150

Height: 5ft 3in

Default

I didn't start WW until February this year, after PP officially rolled out. I research everything to death lol, and this was no exception.

I found that some people really enjoy the new plan. But lots of people switched to it and stalled or gained too. I compared aspects of both and decided I preferred the old plan even though I wouldn't really have any support for it other than here. I know everyone doesn't agree with that idea, but I personally would rather stick with the plan that had already proven itself to be so successful for so many people for so long.

Also, I haven't been doing this long enough to really advise anyone on breaking a plateau....but I have been trying to prepare for that inevitability myself (no matter what plan you do, it seems that is likely to happen at some point). Have you thought about trying the Wendy plan? From what I've read it seems to be eating the same amount of points, but staggering them in a way that's similar to calorie zig-zagging to break out of metabolic ruts.

Whatever you do, don't give up! Stalling for months definitely warrants trying something different, granted, just don't let it steer you away from your goal. It will happen!
dragonlady1978 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 12:19 PM   #4  
Calorie Countin' Fool
 
NorthernExposure's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Northern Minnesota
Posts: 883

S/C/G: 274/ticker/150 for now/137?

Height: 5'6"

Default

I'm a calorie counter, but stumbled across your post from the main page. I'm always curious about other plans, even though I think calorie counting is the plan for me. I know some folks over on the CC board do a WW/CC combo. Some have switched entirely to CC from WW, and some have tried CC and decided they like WW better. Whatever works for you is the best plan for YOU!

I can't speak to your experiences with WW, but I do know that my weight loss has slowed a LOT since I got under 200 lbs. I'm still losing pretty steadily at 1/lb week on average, but that's about it. Anything over a pound is hard to come by! I eat about 1600 calories/day (a little higher on weekends) and I do a moderate amount of exercise (30-45 minutes 5-6 days a week.)

Whatever you decide to do, good luck! Those plateaus are discouraging no matter WHAT your plan!

Last edited by NorthernExposure; 04-15-2011 at 12:22 PM.
NorthernExposure is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 12:28 PM   #5  
Less of a Better Me
 
Koshka's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,412

Default

I think that WW is fine for people who live a healthy lifestyle and exercise. I also track calories as well as points.

How many of your weekly points are you eating? How many of your activity points? If you eat activity points are you being careful in recording them in a conservative way?

Do you eat out a lot? It is perfectly OK to eat out. However, when you eat out it is harder to be accurate on points. Some places don't give nutritional info and of those that do it may not be totally accurate.

For me, I find that if I eat more than about half my weekly points (assuming I eat no activity points) then I lose slowly, very slowly. If I eat activity points first, then I can't eat weekly points at all.

I went to livestrong and calculated what calories I needed to eat for the weekly weight loss I wanted and for my height it is closer to 1200 calories (plus activity).

Have you asked your weight watchers leader to look at your tracker? If not, for a week track very closely including portion sizes (measure them if you can) and then take it in and have your leader look at it. If you get no insight from that then maybe it isn't the right program for you.
Koshka is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 12:30 PM   #6  
Senior Member
 
pointspluspioneer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Bean Town, MA
Posts: 514

Height: 5'4"

Default

I'm in the SAME boat, i started the first week of December and have only lost 13 lbs. and i've been following this to the T! The . something ounces a week up and down is really annoying and i'm still at 195, i should be steady further than this i would think very disappointed!
pointspluspioneer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 12:34 PM   #7  
Senior Member
 
Spooky's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: The shore
Posts: 472

S/C/G: 261/see ticker/140

Height: 5'4"

Default

When you say the scale has stalled does that mean you haven't lost any weight at all for months? I have big losses here and there (not often) but I'm still at an average weight loss of 1 lb per week. That is slow by many people's standards but it is a healthy rate. Maybe look at your weight loss over the 3 months that you've been on WW and see what it is.
I have trouble losing when I only eat my daily target. It simply isn't enough calories for me. We are all different and you may need to tweak it a bit to find what works for you. Your mother's WW plan and yours might not be the same.
Spooky is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 12:53 PM   #8  
Senior Member
 
DixC Chix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Just moved out of denial
Posts: 881

S/C/G: 298/238...285.5/217/150

Height: 5'5"

Default

Sfree - I am sorry you are having some trouble with WW. There can be a number of things that can cause a slow/stall on WW. I am not accusing you of any of these things, just bringing them up for consideration.

- eating too many zero point fruits and veggies. 5 to 7 servings is the recommended daily amount.

- eating more than a serving size of fruits and veggies

- not measuring/weighing out the correct serving size of other foods

- consistently eating all your activity points and weekly points

I am on 29 points which is as low as it goes and I am far from a healthy weight. This is how I will be eating the rest of my life. WW trys to encourage the lifestyle change which results in weight loss. It is not a crash diet or good for deadline dieting. It is slow and steady. My rate was 1# a week but it is slowing down for me as well so I stepped up my activity but that only goes so far.

I a little confused about your post -- When did the stall happen or how long have you been in a stall? It could be that the increased activity is showing up as water weight. Sometimes our bodies hold onto it for a good whoosh after 3-4 weeks. What was your starting weight 3 months ago and what is your loss so far?
DixC Chix is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 01:47 PM   #9  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sfree13's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Midwest--for now.
Posts: 146

S/C/G: 240ish/180/165

Height: 5'9"

Default

Hi everyone---thanks for the comments. I'll clarify a few things based on some of your responses.

I've lost NO weight in 5 weeks----I go up 1 lb one week and then down the same pound the next week. So I haven't gone below 184 in 5 to 6 weeks now.

I've been on WW for 14 or 15 weeks now, and I've lost 10 lbs, all of which I lost during the first 8-9 weeks, including almost a 3 lb loss the first week (water, right!).

I've tried eating all my Weeklies and no exercise, all my weeklies AND exercise, and NONE of my weeklies or exercise, or just half my weeklies. So basically, I've tried it all over the 14-15 weeks. I am too hungry to only eat 30 PP a day with no extras.

I eat out a maximum of 1 time per week and I always over-estimate the points values to make sure I'm not eating too many calories.

Thanks for the idea of the CC forum---I wasn't aware there was one just for that! I've heard a lot of the same feedback on extremely slow weight loss on WW, so I'm just confused!

I read that post about Wendy, so I'm going to do a bit more research on that

Thanks!

Oh yea---I measure all of my portions very closely, and I only eat 3 fruits a day MAX.

Last edited by sfree13; 04-15-2011 at 01:56 PM.
sfree13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 02:26 PM   #10  
Up and at 'em...again!
 
Snoofie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Smack dab in the middle, Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 668

S/C/G: 203.4/170.4/140.0

Height: 5'0"

Default

I can safely say that, for me personally, WW works. Now, admittedly, the main reason it works for me is because I know that come Wednesday, I'm going to be stepping onto a scale in front of someone else, so that keeps me accountable.

But I also find that WW is liveable, which is what I love most about it. I don't feel as though I'm depriving myself, because I really have not cut anything completely out of my life, in terms of food.

I can totally relate to being frustrated when the scale doesn't move as fast as you'd like it to. When you say that the scale hasn't moved, though, do you mean that you've literally not lost any weight? Or just that it's not happening as quickly as you'd like it to? I belonged to WW back when I was 22 (that was in 2002) and I found that the weight came off much more quickly then compared to now. I don't know if it's just because I'm older and my metabolism has slowed, or if it's because now I'm on WW+, but it's just something I've had to come to accept.

It's ultimately a decision that you have to make for yourself, based on your own experiences, of course. But if you've done everything you can and just cannot budge, weight-wise, then maybe WW isn't the right program for you. After all, everyone's different, so it only stands to reason that WW won't work for absolutely everyone.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

Last edited by Snoofie; 04-15-2011 at 02:27 PM.
Snoofie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 02:57 PM   #11  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sfree13's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Midwest--for now.
Posts: 146

S/C/G: 240ish/180/165

Height: 5'9"

Default

Thanks Snoofie! yeah, I've lost about 10 lbs in 14 weeks, although all 10 were lost in the first 8 weeks. I haven't lightened up on the tracking or counting or anything. I agree that it is liveable, but I believe Calorie Counting is actually more liveable, because you don't have to convert every food into PP. I really don't like the WW website for tracking, in comparison to other ones I've found. I agree with you about the weekly weigh-ins, so I do think I'll keep going for awhile, but I weight myself daily, and since the leaders and members seems kinda clueless to me, I wonder if I'm better off just doing it on my own. I'm really having trouble seeing the WW advantage, other than the weekly weigh-in and an occasional new idea I hear at the meetings.

I also wonder if the weight is just going to move slow for me since I'm only 15lbs away from a healthy weight range:/
sfree13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 03:17 PM   #12  
Up and at 'em...again!
 
Snoofie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Smack dab in the middle, Newfoundland, Canada
Posts: 668

S/C/G: 203.4/170.4/140.0

Height: 5'0"

Default

Yeah, I think that the closer you get to goal (or if you just have a smaller amount of weight to lose from the get-go!) the scale can move much slower. I've heard sooo many close-to-goal members in my group talk about how that last 5-10 pounds are the most stubborn, so you are not alone in slow progress.

I agree that sometimes converting things to WW points can be, well, annoying at times. I find it especially difficult at times because I don't do the eTools thing, and so I pretty much have to guess at the points values for some of the foods I eat (for example, I LOVE goulash, but I can't exactly convert that to points.)

Like I said, whatever you decide to go with, I wish you the best of luck. No matter what program we follow, we are all in the same boat here, and we all need all of the support we can get.


Last edited by Snoofie; 04-15-2011 at 03:18 PM. Reason: Typo!
Snoofie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 03:47 PM   #13  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sfree13's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Midwest--for now.
Posts: 146

S/C/G: 240ish/180/165

Height: 5'9"

Default

That is sweet, thank you! Yeah, its really frustrating---I'd really like to still lose close to 30 lbs, as I think I look great at 155ish, but my body seems to be happier on the high end of the 'healthy range'---or slightly over-weight, so I probably have to be more realistic that it may take me a very long time to get there.
sfree13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 04:24 PM   #14  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sfree13's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Midwest--for now.
Posts: 146

S/C/G: 240ish/180/165

Height: 5'9"

Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by pointspluspioneer View Post
I'm in the SAME boat, i started the first week of December and have only lost 13 lbs. and i've been following this to the T! The . something ounces a week up and down is really annoying and i'm still at 195, i should be steady further than this i would think very disappointed!
Have you talked to your leaders? I'm wondering if they've given you any tips, as it seems we are losing really slow together

My leaders seem so at a loss---they always say exercise, but I tell them I already do a minimum of 45 minutes of cardio 5x a week and lift weights/abs at least twice a week---I do intervals 2x a week too, so what else??
sfree13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2011, 04:37 PM   #15  
Senior Member
 
pointspluspioneer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Bean Town, MA
Posts: 514

Height: 5'4"

Default

Oh ya she's the BEST leader anyone could ask for! She's a riot and gives really good advice. she also sends a weekly goals email to all of us. I seem to plateau VERY fast. I'm not giving up but not sure why i don't lose much either. I'm going to try Wendie Plan next wee and see what happens! I may email my leader my daily menu. I only eat half of my weeklies because, like you, i've tried every combo and i know i can't eat them all and i know i can't not eat some
pointspluspioneer is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Related Topics
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
So very frustrated, but I know it’s my own fault! PinkyPie Weight Loss Support 31 04-05-2009 11:16 AM
Guaranteed to work? Amberoo Weight Watchers 20 05-30-2007 01:08 PM
On WW and loss is very slow... ^^Angel^^ Weight Watchers 15 07-31-2004 09:17 PM


Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:30 AM.


We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.