Nelie - The 8 healthy guidelines can be found in this article. If you follow those, you will be upping your points amount. For instance, you will need to add the healthy oil (1 tsp = 1 point and the healthy guidelines say 2 servings a day), at least 2 milk products (really anything with at least 30% calcium counts - calcium fortified hot cocoa, calcium fortified soy milk, and WW smoothie packets are good vegetarian examples), two servings of protein (you could get this from beans, not sure if soy yogurt contains it), and I don't see any grains on your list except that cereal but you should be eating some whole grains (1 cup cooked brown rice = 4 points).

It looks like you are overloaded with vegetables. Can you try to work in things like oil, beans, tofu, meat substitutes, whole grains, and nuts? Those would get you closer to your points target and get you on the road to those 8 healthy guidelines

Mod,

Thanks. Yeah not much grain other than the cereal but I can easily add that. The spinach (and soy yogurt) is where I'd get my calcium. The veggies have quite a bit of protein when added together but yeah a lot of veggies

nelie - I find when I'm not eating animal protein I have trouble getting my points up, too. It's harder to eat enough when meatless; I find I've been consistently eating more meat since I re-committed to WW and I don't think that's particularly good. Almonds and avocados are my absolute favorite ways to get my daily intake up where it ought to be. I don't think we generally eat enough fat, and good fat is essential of course. I never feel guilty eating avocado

lizzy/sonja/you there - If you want you could post a couple of sample menus, there are lots of smart people here who might be able to help you find out why you're hungry all the time/feel like you're not getting enough food out of your points. Or maybe we'd be stumped too and that'd just validate your frustration

Lizzy I agree with judy there, why not tell us what you've been eating and maybe we can help! Thats what we are here for

I had a really hard time, when I first started, even getting my daily 23 in...I have no idea why! Last week I went 3.5 over my FPs...so I guess I've adjusted! Now that I'm down a daily point, I can really see using at least an extra point or two daily so that I can get in my essential 8 HGs. Usually, though, I try to save those points for an evening where I can relax a bit. So far that seems to have worked out! Not to mention is a great motivator!

Without knowing what you're eating, usually they say if you're feeling hungry you should eat some protein, like peanut butter or a hard-boiled egg.

I sometimes feel hungrier when I'm eating refined carbs, white bread, sweetish stuff, when I eat a sweet potato (slow burning carb) instead of a white potato it seems to stay with me longer. I love the sweet potatoes, when I'm baking something I'll put a couple extra in the oven, I wash them and wrap in tin foil and bake, then the extras heat up in the microwave another day. They can drip a bit so a cookie sheet under to catch that stuff saves cleaning the oven

I'm going to try and find the name of a book my brother had years ago, the guy (some Dr.) was big on slow burning carbs, peas, sweet potatoes, etc. and finding exercise options that for you are like play (rollerblading, snowshoeing, biking) so it's fun not a chore.

By the way, I eat every flex point, activity point and sometimes a few extra :blush: by the end of the week. My big thing is when I track even if I go over I do so much better, when I give in to that "oh well, I'm over, might as well quit tracking" I'm sunk. Having a good week this week, one day 2 FP, next day 5 FP, next 8, today 8.

I admire you guys being able to do the veggie thing. I love them, but can only go a few days at most and then feel the need for something w/meat. Can't wait for summer and vegs from the garden, there's nothing finer than eating stuff you grew yourself!!

OK, well I guess I got REALLY hungry yesterday as I polished off a lot of protein in one sitting. 20 pts worth of peanut butter on apple slices instead of eating the carefully prepared, point friendly stuff that I brought to work. I am now 1.5 Flex points in the hole ... Guess I am strictly OP within my daily points budget till they reset on Wed.

Wow, 20pts of PB is a lot of PB! I don't blame you, I have trouble with restraint around good, natural PB.

I have a similar story today, I ate pretty much all of my daily points in one sitting so I'm going about 10 into my FPs today. Not gonna beat myself up about that one meal, though, I figure I'm still OP for the week

Thanks. Yep, back OP today, finished up 1.5 below my target. I figure that is OK since yesterday was so nutso and I don't make a habit of under eating! Yes, peanut butter is definitely a trigger for me. I had it on apple slices, but the real deal was that my mother had pushed me to my limit, I was hungry and tired and stressed and *that* seemed like a good soother at the time. I KNOW I have to learn other comfort behaviors! I do NOT want to sabotage myself...just learn to eat within a reasonable range of points. Back in the saddle till Wed. In a way it is a good lesson to me...hopefully I will remember that it is not fun to have NO extra flex points the next time that sort of situation crops up. I am aiming for some AP's tomorrow too.

Peanut butter is one of my triggers too, I have to be careful with it.

kelijpa - For some reason, white potatoes (russets with skin) make me stuffed. I've been trying to eat them because they have a good amount of fiber, protein and vitamins. Of course my problem is I'm not hungry enough to eat all my points (although that hasn't stopped me before from overeating). Also, as far as eating meat, I used to be a major meat eater and enjoyed meat thoroughly. Once I slowed down on eating it (and then completely stopped), it didn't taste as good. It actually reminds me of when I stopped eating refined carbs, everything else tasted better. For some reason, after I stopped eating meat, everything else tasted so much better and meat just tastes ick. It is an interesting transformation.

Friday I ate all 27 of my points and I was stuffed. Yesterday, I went out to eat at an independent but healthy restaurant (vegetarian restaurant where they strive to make healthy dishes, although they do offer things like fried 'chicken'). I estimated as best as I could, possibly overestimating and did dip into my weekly flex points.

I noticed I do get a bit panicky when I notice near the end of the day that I only have a few points leftover and think it is a good time to stop. I think it will just take time to adjust.

I know this is an older thread, but it was/is an answer to my prayers. I am fighting with feelings of guilt with going over my daily points target. I'm also not one of those people who can ignore or sleep through feelings of true hunger.

I've divvied up my 35 extra points evenly through the week, and also have activity points. While I don't force myself to eat these, if I'm hungry, I'm going to eat them.

I keep forgetting that they are incorporated into the plan for a reason. I've also noticed that every once in awhile I have to go re check how well I"m measuring and points. For some reason I've thought 1 cup brown rice was 3 and I was wrong.

Food is such a complicated presence in my life, and trying to find ways to co-exist with it is difficult.

And as much as I hate to admit it, if I'd step away from the cereal and closer to the eggs and bacon I'd make better use of my points. I love cereal and my comsumption of it is demonstrative of this fact

Like someone mentioned, Peanut butter is playing with fire for me. I don't measure it and most likely underestimate how much of if I eat... that's another thing I should probably just nix out of the plan for now, until I know i can 'be a good girl' with it

For me it doesn't matter if I eat them or not, I lose about the same amount, so I eat them!

our leader told me that people lose whether they use the flew point or not, it's just that those who don't use them lose more...

i don't use them. I like to keep them as a backup in case i underestimated points for some foods i eat (restaurant food from non-chain places where i can't get the nutritional information for example)

is there a thread about busting plateaus?

Hi guys!!
Well, all I can say about Flex points is that it really comes down to you! What I mean by this is that, for ME, if I eat ALL my Flex points in a week, and will NOT lose anything at all. And if I eat ALL my Flex points and ALL my exercise points, I will GAIN weight. Found this out the hard way.

SO, I focus on eating all of my daily points, because I need at least this amount of food to keep my engine burning! I eat the Flex points in case of emergency (i.e. a glass of wine at a friend's house). I MAY eat 1 or 2 of my exercise points in the form of a post-workout banana. And with ALL of this, 1.5 lb losses are GOOD weeks for me.

So, you just need to play with the combo of Flex and Exercise points to find what works for you. But your Daily Points are there for a reason -- to make sure you get enough fuel to keep your engine burning.

Now, IMHO, the healthy good guidelines are great, but I can't personally follow all of their recommendations. I get 22 points a day, and I choose not to use 1/4 of those points on dairy recommendations. I do struggle with keeping my points down, and I do balance my meals, but I haven't been successful in eating ALL of the dairy points and ALL of the oil points recommended because it doesn't leave me much flexibility for the rest of my day.
And I don't feel bad about this one little bit!!! Because we all do "imperfect" things, so if you can stick with MOST of it, you are doing GREAT!

Kira

Great thread! I use some but try not to use them all. I am sure the last 2 time I have been on ww there were times I used them all, special occassions and what not but others where I barely touched them. I also think in the beginning when you are starting out, you tend to use them more so than when your body adjusts to eating less foods.