I have tried the points system but I really need the strictness of the calorie counting. I'm the type of person who will take advantage of any little 'loophole' in the plan ~ like the free foods ~ I just totally pigged out on those as well as using all of my points in a day and wondered why I wasn't getting anywhere! I like that I have to count every little thing in the calorie counting...it keeps me on track. I have only been doing this for 2 weeks now but, for me, it's a miracle to have stuck with something for this long.

Makes sense. I don't necessarily believe that counting calories is the best choice for everyone, I just find that it's been more successful for me personally. I'm a bit of an anal-retentive control freak, though, so that might have something to do with it. :P

Good luck with your weight loss.

I honestly think it's all about personal preference. This is the second time I'm losing this weight and both times I have done calories first and then switched to points. For me I didn't feel the calories were strict enough. Not really sure why, but I would be like well I can just use those extra so many calories and then overeat. When I am on my WW points range I don't do that. I actually look at food and I think oh wow thats this many points I'll pass.....before I'd say oh its only 500 calories thats not that much. Makes a big difference in my mind.

If you find it easier to stick to calories then that might be whats best for you. If you want to try points to see if you like them better take a few weeks and try them.

I'll post the list up this weekend, no time to copy it down during the week. It is coming though!

I'm not really counting anything at all, but I am very much more aware of the calorie content of foods than I used to be. I bought an electronic scale, and have been using it to train myself to know what a "normal" sized portion of something is. In the old days I would eat 3-4 servings of cereal and think it was normal. I'd pile two pounds of food on my dinner plate. Now I focus more on eating like a healthy person, like a thin person.

But to be fair, I did count calories for several months, to learn what I really needed to eat to stay alive. I've never done the point system. No disrespect to the WW's here, but I never really saw the draw for it.

I definitely like to log in my exact calories. I have a little notebook that I keep on the kitchen counter and I log in the calories as I go throughout the day. I will average 14 days worth to get my "two week average" and that allows me to go over a couple of days and go under my calorie goal of 1200 on some days as well. Some days I only eat 900 or 1000 cals. Some days it's 2000. I try not to let that stress me. I have been averaging between 1150 and 1350 for each 2 week period so that's okay. I agree that you have to find what works for you. I think the biggest benefit of logging calories is that if, by say 2 p.m. you've eaten 1200 cals., you can stop for the day if you choose. I do that a couple of times a week. If I weren't logging in my calories, I wouldn't know when to quit.