[nursebrandie]

Well, I have been on and off of WW for years and I would have no success because I would cheat. Needless to say, my husband has put his foot down! no more WW monthly bills! So, now that I have hit my all time weight high of 250, I am attempt WW on my own. They have change the points value since I have joined last, but I get the magazine so I know about the switch.

Any (free) advice?

How much can you loose on WW?

Any success stories?

[noregrets4me]

You say you've failed at WW over the years and now you want to try it again? Why? Obviously, it's not the program for you. One of the definitions of insanity is repeating something over and over and expecting a different result.

I've been on all sorts of diets over the years, they worked for a while, then I failed. I've given up on formal diet programs. And once I did that, I started to lose weight, stress-free. What I do now is use the tools and information I've learned from these programs in regard to calorie and carb intake, portions, etc. I eat three meals a day and two snacks - I eat sensible foods in sensible portions. A little protien, a little starch, lots of veggies, some fruit and some milk..... I eat one portion per meal - and if I'm hungry I bulk up the meal with extra veggies. I usually have something like chicken or fish, and with my rice or potato or pasta I mix in lots of different veggies. Sometimes I add in a salad or sliced cucumbers, and I use dressing, just not half a bottle. I make sure I eat until I'm satisfied - I eat slowly and don't leave the table until I'm satisfied. I try to vary meals so I don't get bored. Snacks will be yogurt, fruit, popcorn, rice cakes, sugar-free pudding. And you know sometimes I eat pizza, KFC, etc. - but it's once in a while and it's one portion. No "supersizing"

I don't feel stressed because I don't count calories - but I do use common sense. I just don't sweat it - I know what healthy eating is supposed to be and I try my best. I don't jump on the scale every day or even every week. Since I gave up dieting last year I didn't weigh myself until a recent doctors appointment, which was several months after I "gave up dieting". I've lost over 50 pounds without stress.

I see from your post you want to lose 70 pounds. What worked for me is realizing I can't succeed at "dieting" - but I can improve my health by making a healthy lifestyle change in regard to eating. (and there are no diet fees!)

Good luck to you - I wish you success.

Mary

So I'd think about trying WW again

[Lovely]

(While this is a free support group area for those following WW, we aren't allowed to give out formulas or certain copyrighted information about the new program.)

We still can offer plenty of free advice!

I'm going to be blunt, though, in a tough love sort of way.

How much can you lose and maintain on WW? Same that you can on any other plan. A person can lose anywhere from 10 to 1,000 lbs eating less and moving more. The problem here isn't with WW... the problem is how you're using it. Why are you cheating? Why are you an on again/off again member?

At some point you're going to have to face those questions and answer them to determine what the right food plan is for your life. It could very well be that WW isn't the program for you... or it could be that it IS the right method, but you aren't in the right mindset about what it means to lose weight and maintain permanently.

This isn't a diet, but from your own post you're using it like a diet.

If you want to use WW to make a permanent change in your life, then that's amazing! And we can help support you in that, and point you in the right direction.

You have to decide whether you want to change permanently or just go on a diet for a few months. That goes for WW and every other plan out there.

You want to change permanently? Then it means ridding yourself of ideas about perfection, and quitting. Those words no longer exist. You are human, you are not perfect and no one here at 3FC is perfect either, but we're still going forward ESPECIALLY after making mistakes. We're not quitters, either. The only way to get the weight off forever is to keep going forward. Even after a struggle. There is NO other option. If you want the weight off, there is no more "off the diet".

All that being said, every person here at 3FC has it within them to make change. To DO this. To successfully lose weight and keep it off for the rest of our lives! We CAN do this! You CAN do this!

My first suggestion to you is to think about why you went off plan before. Sit down and think about what caused you to quit. When you figure out why you quit, you'll be better prepared to choose a plan that fits your life, and to move forward when you make a mistake in the future.

Best of wishes! It's not easy, but it's possible, and necessary.

[bargoo]

The above posters have given you some good advice. I agree that WW may not be for you and that is not critizing you or WW. It just may not suit you. I have done WW successfully (for awhile) and failed and found calorie counting works best for me. There are many diet and exercise plans. You may need to experiment a little to find what works best for you.

[sheramama]

I agree with everyone too...I've been in that boat. What has been working for me is keeping a food diary like you would for WW. I go through and put * on all the foods I shouldn't have eaten--like did I really need those chips? I write a healthier substitute. I guess it's kind of like, "Eat this, not that". See how that goes. Good luck!!!!

[Koshka]

I love WW and was previously successful with it (lifetime member currently not at goal). However, WW really mostly has these 4 things going for it:

The support you get from being at meetings --- You don't get this as an at home member.

The motivating feedback you get from being recognized for losing weight (10% award, 5 pound star, etc.) -- Online members do get this although it isn't as motivating as at meetings

The external pressure on you based upon weighing in every week -- For me I really, really need that. It is the primary reason I go to WW meetings. I think about just getting through each week and point to that weigh in. I tried being an online member for awhile and -- for me -- I couldn't do it mostly because of the lack of the meeting weigh in. For people who are successful at home or online they don't need this external weigh in.

A structure for eating -- Truthfully this is mostly making it easy to keep track of how much you eat through the points. I personally also calorie count so the WW points are not that valuable to me. They are however easier to keep track of and for many that is important. Also having someone else to tell you how many points to eat.

WW really doesn't tell you all that much how to eat. Yes, there are Good Health Guidelines but they are minimal. The points do penalize fat and carbs a bit but beyond that you do WW with high carb/low fat or low carb/high fat and everything in between.

If the WW structure doesn't help you in losing weight then it isn't for you. There are a lot of diets and eating programs out there. I would suggest to find one that works better for you. We are all very individual in what works for us. If you basically want to count calories and work on portions rather than what you eat then I suggest doing calorie counting and recording it online. If you want a more structured eating program then look around at some of them talked about here and find out what will work well for you. (Currently I'm doing WW but am going low carb).

[bp2loselbs]

If you have a smartphone like iPhone or Android, you can use an app that will track you points for you. Or use an online program, lots of free ones out - you just have to count calories instead of points.

Or maybe a meal delivery system, can't cheap if the only food you have is pre-portioned for you.

Good luck,
LFG

[Time2GetFine82]

how do u know how many points u suppose to have w/o the joining the program?

[NightwingFanGirl]

Time2GetFine - This is the site I used to figure out my daily point allotment. ww.healthyweightforum.org/eng/calculators/ww-points-allowed/
(I can't post links yet, so you will have to add a w)