Hmmm...hi there Congratulations! I can't remember if we have any WW folks here who are still following the plan. Have you tried posting this on the Weight Watchers forum also? There are a quite a few ladies there who have reached goal and could answer if you don't get a response here.
WW maintenance adds back 4 pts/day each week (i.e. for you a week of 24 pts/day, then if you're still losing, a week at 28 pts/day) until you stop losing. If you start gaining, drop back 2 pts/day until you reach that magical equilibrium. I found this hard to do, as my weight fluctuates enough from week to week that I'd gain one week, drop back, and then start losing again. The real trick to WW if you want to be lifetime and not pay for meetings is to set your goal high enough. They only allow you to be 2 lbs over before you pay again. I can be 2 lbs high in the evening than I was in the morning.
Last edited by WaterRat; 12-30-2004 at 10:49 PM.
Reason: Senior moment = missing words :lol:
WaterRat is exactly right, the current recommendation is to add 28 points a week to start, and add or decrease 14 or 7 a week until you find a good no-longer-lossing-nor-gaining point. Why is it per week? Because of the new Core plan, they're addional points in the weekly points allowance for Core-ers (who continue to eat until satisfied from the Core foods list, introduced in August).
That being said, I split mine out into daily points, and think of it as x target points a day and still the 35 flex points. As a point of comparison, most people end up with a 30-ish point per day target, but everyone is different and needs to learn what their own body is comfortable with.
I, too, do WW at home. Although I wasn't quite ready for maintenance, I started it anyway in early Dec. to ward off "fallen face syndrome". Through trial and error, I have found that when all other variables are even, adding 4 - 5 points a day keeps the scales in the right area. Too bad I didn't check here first, lol.
Sorry to be so late to the discussion but I still want to add my two cents.
WaterRat is exactly right. 4 pts/day or 28 pts/wk for those following the Core plan is the current WW recommendation. Then, of course, there are rebels among us. I am among their number.
I only stepped up 2 pts/day intially when I started WW maintenance. 4 pts seems awfully high and likely to lead to an instant (and scary!) gain. If you are on 20 pts/day, adding 4 pts/day is instantly adding 20% to your total daily caloric intake! It seems too much of a shock to the metabolism to me. WW also says to give it two weeks at any new (revised) daily point level. That's good advice, although I did fine at only allowing a week per points level as I tried to find my maintenance level.
As a few asides on WW maintenance -
1) increase your water intake by a third, especially if you are only taking in the WW minimum of 48 oz per day. I did and it really seemed to help with the bloat I usually experience as I get off a diet and back into more normal eating habits.
2) eat your activity points - all of them! If you haven't been eating activity points or eating only half of them (which is what I did), start now. Eat all of them.
I also agree with ameliaamy about at which the range most folks end up. 30-ish is about right. The only folks who wind up with something higher are women who in the course of losing weight have become decidely more athletic - marathoners, long distance cyclists, biathletes or triathletes. You may find that you'll need to "rock back and forth" on daily points target. I find I need to be at 31 pts/day one week and 32 pts/day the next week. I guess I could even it out at 31.5 pts/day but who wants to track half points?!
And congratulations on goal, SueJo!! Welcome to maintenance...now the real adventure begins!!
Weight Watchers Points for Maintenance
Congratulations! I can't remember if we have any WW folks here who are still following the plan. Have you tried posting this on the Weight Watchers forum also? There are a quite a few ladies there who have reached goal and could answer if you don't get a response here. 
