Points Plus not working - 3 months - did it destroy my metabolism?
So I tried my first "commercial" diet ever, Points Plus. I stuck to it exactly. I started at 165, lost 2 pounds the 1st week, and I haven't lost A SINGLE OUNCE SINCE in the last 2.5 months! Goal weight is 120.
I am 40 and don't have time at all to excercise. A few minutes here and there every few days, but nothing consistent.
So, I'm actually a bit freaked out by this - I thought I might be still eating too many calories on this, so I did a quick bit of average math based on packaged foods to figure out how many calories I was eating. 1 Fiber 1 90 calorie bar = 3 points. I get 26, so if that is average, the points are.... 780 calories a day?!!!
If I understand correctly, most dieticians don’t recommend going under 1200 calories a day, never less than 1000, or your metabolism can slow. Am I correct about that? Please correct me if I am wrong. I was eating some fruits and vegetables, but DEFINITELY not at least 400 calories a day!!! My current theory is I wasn’t eating enough fruits and veggies to get a minimum level, so perhaps I stalled out because I l slowed my metabolism . I also feel like I’ve been starving the whole time, no matter how many veggies I ate (tried this the 1st week then gave up because it is too $$$ and doesn’t help).
So what do I do now? I can’t rev up my metabolism again through exercise because there is NO time to do this on a consistent basis, period. I don’t even have enough time to sleep during the week.
What do I do to get my calorie intake back to a normal/acceptable level, and for how long? I think I will need to do this before attempting any weight loss, because this sure isn’t working, and I’m miserable.
The only thing that only worked for me ever was South Beach – but again, time is a restriction so can’t go there.
Ideas to help fix my metabolism without packing on the pounds? Thanks in advance.
It is sooo frustrating to do everything by the book and stall out after the 1st week... gah....
I'm sure someone else will come along with more info but I can assure you that you couldn't have killed your metabolism in 1 week. There are so many reasons that you may not have lost in the 2nd week (water retention from TOM, maybe something high in sodium, not drinking enough water, hormones, lots of things).
2 weeks is hardly enough time to measure progress. I'd hang in there for a month and then see how you are doing. At that point if things aren't better, then it would be time to tweak. Good luck!
PointsPlus average between 30-40 calories each, depending on what you're consuming. But that does not include the calories you should be getting from your 0 PP foods (fruits and veggies). The days I calculate my calorie intake, I'm usually consuming between 1200 and 1600 calories and I get 26 points a day. My question to you would be how many carbs are you eating vs protein? Are your PP coming from prepackaged food or whole foods? It really could come down to what you're eating. It also may be that you are not eating enough. I've been on WW for about a month and have lost 6.4 pounds. It works best for me when I eat more fruits, vegetables and lean protein and limit my processed carbs.
Were you attending WW meetings or were you doing WW online? Depending on what I was eating my points averaged out to between 35 to 50 calories per point... I also had 26 points per day... So that would be a range of between 910 to 1,300 calories a day WITHOUT ANY zero points fruits and veggies... So with a couple of pieces of fruit, salads, and vegetables with my meals I would easily eat between 1,200 to 1,400 calories a day... Also I would often dip in to my 39 WP's as well... if I needed to because I was still hungry or I wanted some sort of "treat"...
And you can only slow your metabolism just so much... Weight loss is an equation of energy balance... If you were in fact eating only 780 calories a day, barring some unknown medical problem... You would be in an energy deficit and would be losing weight even with slowing metabolism...
Here's the good news... Even though you didn't lose... You didn't gain either, correct? So that means if you can accurately figure out how many calories you have been eating than that has been how many calories you need to maintain your weight... So you'll need to cut calories from that number to actually start losing...
It's actually been 3 months.... and think what I'm eating is OK...
Hi,
It's actually been 3 months, which is why I'm worried about my metabolism being slowed . I generally don't eat MANY carbs/refined carbs/ much sugar, due to hypoglycemia (and sugar makes me hungry, anyway) but I do eat some
Here is an example of what I ate before:
Coffee with creamer, 2 splendas
apple
2 cups of cooked sole, green beans almodine (1 serving)
simply snackin jerky-1 serving (ie beef with beries, etc.), maybe an apple or orange
my "simple ham sandwich" (2 slices of sara lee reduced calorie wheat bread, 4 slices land o frost ham, 1 slice sargento's lowfat cheese, mustard), 1-2 cups asparagus
Not sure what I was doing wrong here if I was getting enough calories? I really think not eating enough fruits/veggies for months is probably what the problem is.... what do you think?
I usually have 2 cups of coffee a day with cream, so that does take up points. Unfortunately coffee is a must for me, and so is the cream/creamer. Cream and creamer is measured to point accuracy.
oooh, I hope not... I don't think I could live off of less than 800 calories a day! But you're right, even though I didn't lose, I didn't gain either - and 1 month of the 3 was during trial prep which IS a huge bonus (that is how I got overweight to begin with, i am a stress eater and my work has a lot of deadline-induced stress). No, I don't do the meetings, just online. I wish I could but again... time is a limitation. Glad to read the points fluctuate some... I tried the "simple math" because I was thought that maybe I was still eating too many calories and got scared at what came up. . I assumed it was correct because when I stalled out 9 years ago on South Beach it was because my calorie count was too low.. but then I had the luxury of having the time to excercise while bringing up the calories, which I don't now, unfortunately.
SO if this is true, what would you recommend for someone like me with an apparently slow metabolism? Rev up my calories a bit, or switch over to strict calorie counting or something similar? Maybe WW is just too "lax for me"? I'm still at a loss, but this makes me feel a lot better knowing the calorie count probably wasn't as low as a feared...
Quote:
Originally Posted by TripSwitch
Were you attending WW meetings or were you doing WW online? Depending on what I was eating my points averaged out to between 35 to 50 calories per point... I also had 26 points per day... So that would be a range of between 910 to 1,300 calories a day WITHOUT ANY zero points fruits and veggies... So with a couple of pieces of fruit, salads, and vegetables with my meals I would easily eat between 1,200 to 1,400 calories a day... Also I would often dip in to my 39 WP's as well... if I needed to because I was still hungry or I wanted some sort of "treat"...
And you can only slow your metabolism just so much... Weight loss is an equation of energy balance... If you were in fact eating only 780 calories a day, barring some unknown medical problem... You would be in an energy deficit and would be losing weight even with slowing metabolism...
Here's the good news... Even though you didn't lose... You didn't gain either, correct? So that means if you can accurately figure out how many calories you have been eating than that has been how many calories you need to maintain your weight... So you'll need to cut calories from that number to actually start losing...
You need to get your dairy in as well as your healthy oils. That doesn't look like it equals 26 points.It is important to get in all your good health guidelines.
Your menu looks very light...are you using all 26 of your daily pts? Here's a sampling of mine (I get 32 pts):
Breakfast 1 egg wrap 8pts
-1 scrambled egg 2pts (cooked in nonstick skillet, so no oil)
-pinch of fat free cheddar 1pt (it's 1pt for 1/4 cup, but I don't need all that)
-3 strips of precooked bacon 2pts
-1 whole wheat wrap 3 pts 1 Coffee w/ 2 tablespoons french vanilla creamer 2pts
Lunch 5oz grilled seasoned chicken 5pts 1 cup steamed broccoli, drizzled in olive oil and garlic 2pts (for the oil)
Dinner 1 Hamburger 8pts
-4oz lean ground beef patty 4pts
-1 slice of whole wheat bread, sliced in half 2pts
-pinch of fat free cheddar 1pt
-1 strip of precooked bacon 1pt 1/2 cup steamfresh lightly sauced corn 2pts
This puts me at 27 pts for the day, which leaves me with 5 pts of fun. For snacks I will usually eat veggies or fruits, and at the end of the day I may splurge and have a fiber one brownie for dessert (the 90 cal ones are only 2 pts), or one of the weight watchers ice cream bars (2-3pts).
Also, any exercise is better than no exercise. I know it's not always easy, but try and think of it like your time...When I'm on the elliptical, or taking my dogs for a walk, I like to let my mind wander. I don't like to be interrupted, I don't like to talk to anyone. I turn my cell phone ringer off, and I jsut enjoy the time to myself. I found it easier to accept this way, and not make as many excuses not to do it.
Don't forget about your 49 weekly points, either! If coffee with creamer is a must, maybe budget some of your weekly points to cover that, instead of your dailies. This will give you more wiggle room with your eating, and you will probably still have a decent amount of weeklies left for special occasions.
You can't destroy metabolism, but you may have beaten it down a bit.
Sleep and exercise and eating a high-nutrient diet are essential to maintaining metabolism, and health in general. Make time for both, because they may be the most important modulators of health.
Sleep may even be the most important. If you deprive lab animals of sleep, especially restorative stages of sleep, they sicken and die of immune dysfunction.
I suspect that my autoimmune and other immunity issues were a direct result of burning the candle at both ends for years.
Exercise is vital to quality sleep, so lack of exercise contributes to poor sleep quality.
Thanks all for the nutrition and other suggestions.
Yes, that is 26 points. The "Sole" by itself is 12 points, and I drink 4-6 points a day in cream or creamer.
I could use my some (like half) of flexpoints for the creamer... that's an idea. If i used them all, that would take up almost all of the flex points 28-42!!!!
Good to know it might be slowed but not destroyed. I didn't think of sleep contributing.
I feel like I have to say something here, as I tend to have a lot of people saying I have to "make" time for it" or "it must not be important to me" (aka when I asked my dr. for diet advice, they push exercise, my friends who don't work in the same field I do, etc). I don't have time due to my work and commute, and I need to work to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. I have a minimum 2-2.5 hour commute EACH WAY to work every day, with a job that OFTEN requires LOTS of overtime (and is so busy there are often large chunks of time I barely have time to use the restroom, let alone take an actual break). Before the economy crashed, where employment and housing options had some flexibility, I spent a LOT of time taking care of myself and going to the gym. The economic climate prevents me from having time to take any care of myself, except very rarely and sporadically, I hope that this changes someday soon.
I have not had any issue with WW since I have started it almost 4 months ago...
BUT, I do know that if I consume too few points, or too many points my weight loss does weird things. I also know that if I do not make good fruit and veggie choices, even if I am within my daily points, my scale shows it.
Like other people have said, try adding more fruit (I am not a fruit fan myself) or veggies (YAY VEGGIES). You will probably not be hungry as much.
Also, I am a coffee drinker as well. So I feel your pain with the points! I used to use Splenda, but switched to Stevia, and I had to cut WAY back on the creamer. Cutting back on the creamer is hard, but I never knew how much I was actually using until I started measuring! You can do it!
I am a busy professional mom and wife as well. I work insane hours and have a 1.5 hour commute each way! So I get the busy thing, but trust me, even if you can only find 20 minutes a day to take a walk, it will help.
Stick to it, and it will happen. But, also remember, not every plan works for everyone. If WW is not your "thing" try something else. Just always remember that you need to have a caloric deficit to lose weight, regardless of whatever plan you are on. Working out in any form helps with muscle, hormones, and skin tone, besides the added bonus of burning calories
Hope this helps, I am by no means an expert, I just can speak to what works for me
Last edited by lazylioness; 06-05-2013 at 01:52 PM.
Water! Water! Water! Helps your metabolism big time. First thing in the morning drink one or two glasses of cold water to get your metabolism started. Then before bed drink another glass to flush over night. Then drink water throughout the day.
Thanks. It's comforting to know others are in the same boat and understand (but not happy you share the lack of time).
It's also good to know that going over/under does odd things for you - well, not that it does for you, but maybe that could be a contributor, as well as the fruits/veggie choices. I have gone under a few days due to work craziness. Maybe tweaking would help? Do you find certain fruits/vegetables are good vs. bad choices for you? Would you mind sharing for me what choices you find good/bad?
Do you also find that certain veggies fill you up more than others? I think I haven't found what works for me re: that. I did find I can't eat carrots or they make me hungrier...
I know, right, re: creamer? I was shocked how many points i use on it. I so, so wish I could get used to drinking coffee black... or that "lower calorie" versions existed...
Funny, I started WW because I didn't want the pain of calorie counting, but if some of these suggestions don't work, I'll have to start to make sure I'm getting a good range between "minimum" and "maximum" for my body, lol.
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazylioness
I have not had any issue with WW since I have started it almost 4 months ago...
BUT, I do know that if I consume too few points, or too many points my weight loss does weird things. I also know that if I do not make good fruit and veggie choices, even if I am within my daily points, my scale shows it.
Like other people have said, try adding more fruit (I am not a fruit fan myself) or veggies (YAY VEGGIES). You will probably not be hungry as much.
Also, I am a coffee drinker as well. So I feel your pain with the points! I used to use Splenda, but switched to Stevia, and I had to cut WAY back on the creamer. Cutting back on the creamer is hard, but I never knew how much I was actually using until I started measuring! You can do it!
I am a busy professional mom and wife as well. I work insane hours and have a 1.5 hour commute each way! So I get the busy thing, but trust me, even if you can only find 20 minutes a day to take a walk, it will help.
Stick to it, and it will happen. But, also remember, not every plan works for everyone. If WW is not your "thing" try something else. Just always remember that you need to have a caloric deficit to lose weight, regardless of whatever plan you are on. Working out in any form helps with muscle, hormones, and skin tone, besides the added bonus of burning calories
Hope this helps, I am by no means an expert, I just can speak to what works for me
Points Plus not working - 3 months - did it destroy my metabolism?
There are so many reasons that you may not have lost in the 2nd week (water retention from TOM, maybe something high in sodium, not drinking enough water, hormones, lots of things).
. I generally don't eat MANY carbs/refined carbs/ much sugar, due to hypoglycemia (and sugar makes me hungry, anyway) but I do eat some
