Hm... this is an interesting idea and would probably help me with my plateaus (currently my solution is to cheat and drop myself a point per day). I'm not really having too many problems with losing weight except the occasional yoyo thing where I'm up a half pound one week and down three the next (which i never worry about) However, i like the idea of this plan because it has a day built in where I can dirnk lemonade and eat pie. It's like i have permission to eat too much some days and not feel bad, AND i have a structure under which eating over my points will work and keep me within my weekly points. Switching on a week where i switch points will work well for me too i think. I have a **** of a time figuring out how to eat for a couple of weeks on the weeks that I move down.
I should go down to 22 points starting monday next week. For whatever reason, I have always started my week as far as journaling and points on sunday. We weigh in monday morning. I went back through my journaling and noted that there were no set trends but there were some noticable spikes on thursdays, so I thought thursdays for the SHD might be good. So, if i understand this right, it would be something like
Sunday - 24-26 points
Monday - 22-24 points
Tuesday - 27 points
Wednesday - 23-25 points
Thursday - 37 points Super High Day (SHD)
Friday - 22-24 points
Saturday - 26 points

is that right?
and do you think that would be enough low days after my shd?

also, for the people debating over exercise points, i kind of do it according to how bad of a week i'm having, whether or not i've been losing weight, etc. Alot of times, if I've been doing well on the points level i'm at for a while, I will go to 1/2 exercise points or n-1 exercise points. Half meaning that if I do 4 points of exercise then I check off all 4 on the exercise boxes but i only eat 2 points extra (on the days that I exercise, extra food is usually necessary one way or the other), or if i do 8 points then I mark down 8 and eat 4, and of course anything over 8 points is still 4. N-1 means I eat exercise points-1. So, if I do 5 points of exercise 5-1=4, or if i do 2 points of exercise then 2-1=1 (and, of course anything over 5 is automatically 4 points that i can eat). Currently I'm on n-1, but keep in mind that i don't have a real consistent exercise schedule worked out atm.

Shari, Here is your weekly schedule. I used Tuesday as your High Day. But you can adjust that to be what day you want. as long as it is 3 or 4 days before your weigh in.

POINTS TARGET - 28 (Weigh 225 - 249 lbs)
Day 1 - 28 points Saturday
Day 2 - 33 points Sunday
Day 3 - 29 points Monday
Day 4 - 43 points Super High Day (SHD) Tuesday
Day 5 - 28 points Wednesday
Day 6 - 32 points Thursday
Day 7 - 30 points Friday
Hope this helps.



vo0do0:
you have points ranges, you are not supposed to... Work the plan as it is written and dont change it...It works if you let it. EAT the points is says to eat on a given day. You do have enough days between weigh in and SHD.

POINTS TARGET - 22 (Weigh 150 -174 lbs)

37 points Super High Day (SHD) Thursday
22 points Friday
26 points Saturday
24 points Sunday
22 points Monday (Weigh in)
27 points Tueaday
23 points Wednesday

As for AP points...If your plan works for you...go for it...I personally eat all my AP points on my SuperLow day up to 4 of course, and eat none on my Super High days. On the other days, Eat then if you are hungry. If not, dont. I usually eat them at the end of the night if I am hungry before bed. Usually a bowl of cereal with FF Soy milk or FF SF Yogurt with fruit. But only if hungry.
Hope this helps.

Have a great day!

hmm... i'm missing something here. Not supposed to what? Could you clarify please?

You have point ranges down..like Friday you have 22-24 points....It should be 22 points.

yeah... i understood that the wendie plan does not use all of the extra weekly points and that you could choose to use your extra on your lower days. per this quote from mauv's original post:

That is true. Wendie Plan uses all but 8 flex points. But really you dont need to add those extra points. It works with out using them. If you have to add points...do it from your AP points.
I personally dont do cardio on low points days so it isnt much of a problem. But if you find you need those extra points you can use them.

I have done wendie plan longer then I have done Weight watchers and didnt know about the 35 points....And I lost with out using those extra 8.
I did the plan as writted and it worked well...

Hope this clears that up.

Thank you SO much Wendy!

I started this plan yesterday. I have read before about the benefits of alternating lower calorie and higher calorie days, but wasn't sure how to incorporate that using points. This is great information and I really think it makes sense!

Thanks!

I WI on Mondays so I'll let you know how I do next week.

Hello:

I have been on WW for about 3 months, and I started using the Wendie plan a few weeks ago. I seem to have hit a plateau, and I don't get it? A woman at the meetings who told me about said that she always lost, and never hit a plateau. I am not cheating, in fact there have been days when I haven't eaten all my points. I am also exercising. So, I am wondering if it may be the choices I am making. I have had carbs several times a day and can only think that in spite of what people say, that carbs do count. Any advice?

Thanks~Cate

Cate:

I have used this diet for a while, and I lost about 20 pounds, and then hit a plateau. I think that plateaus happen in a lot of plans, and perhaps are even inevitable. That being said, a plateau is not defeat, nor is it reason to abandon a plan. I am off the plateau, and losing again, but it did take some reevaluation and changes...

I would suggest doing 3 things:

1) DO eat all of your points as scheduled for each day. The only possible exception might be on the SHD, and even then, eat significantly more than other days (do count points-- you want to meet your SHD goal, not exceed it by much.) This might help kick your metabolism up a notch, since you go back down to more reasonable eating habits the next day. Two weeks ago, I exercised my usual amount, was "good" about my eating, and I think I even ate less than the allotted points on my SHD, and I *gained* 1.2 pounds. Last week, I followed the plan more closely, having a higher day (eating the alloted SHD points, or close to it), exercise the same amount, was just as good -- and I've *lost* this week. So that may have something to do with it. If you eat less than your scheduled points for a day, especially if you eat about the same amount every day, you may be missing out on one of the purported benefits of the Wendie plan -- losing weight by tricking your metabolism, by keeping your intake inconsistent.

2) Examine your exercise plan. Is your cardio, etc., significantly easier than it was when you started? You often have to switch exercises or machines -- in my experience, or bodies become more efficient at certain types of exercise the longer we do it, so you have to increase the duration, the intensity, or switch types of exercise. I recently switched from the interval program on the standard ellipticals (no arms) to the cross training program on the ellipticals with arms (more variety in the types of exercise), and that has seemed to help -- it's harder, and seems to burn more calories than the standard elliptical, which had gotten much easier.

3) Review your point accounting to see if there is any possible "slippage" -- are you eating a lot of zero point foods? Are you eating foods, and not recording them? Several "little" pieces of candy can add up to several points, etc. All of those zero point foods can add up...water is, of course, an exception.

4) As far as carbs are concerned...I love white bread, etc., but I seldom eat it, not because carbs are bad, but because white bread is so many points. If you're concerned about carbs, you can try eating more whole wheat/high fiber breads (fewer points) and eating more protein with the points you "gain" by eating carbs with fewer points. You may just need more protein in general.

5) If you are counting exercise points, try not counting them. I have found that they can cause a plateau, and it makes sense -- if you eat more points when you exercise, you may just come out even instead of losing weight. If you get incredibly hungry from exercising and not counting exercise points, try doing what I do -- allowing yourself a guilt-free, 1-point "slip" -- specifically, an extra piece of fruit, or one of those individual serving healthy-pop popcorns. That keeps me from eating worse items when I am hungrier than my points allow, and both choices have fiber, and should help fill you up...
Report back, let me know if any of this helps...

Cate, I agree with Ariana...I do believe that Carbs play a role plateauing.

From my Atkins day....Your body needs about 30 carb grams a day to work properly. Anything else is stored for future use....for Instance...1 Weight Watchers Bagel is 2 points but has 32 grams of carb...If I eat more then that in carbs a day, I get a gain the next day. Like yesterday, I had Honey Nut cheerios for breakfast, 1 cup is 28 carbs...Then Flat out bread, 16 carbs, then a roll...who knows how many carbs but I ended up with a 1/5 pound gain rather then a loss...the day before I only had a flat out bread and had 1.8 loss. I try to stay around 3 points for carbs a day. I have Fruits, veggies and protein make up the most of points and I do the best.

Also....up your intensity in Cardio...and do some strength training to build muscle. Muscle is more compact then fat and your body will change. Not necessarly you pounds but your inches will definately change. I take my inches each monday and I may have a 1or 2 pound loss but I usually have a 3 to 6 inch loss. That is more important to me...

Also...EAT all of your points!!!!!! It is important to not go below you points. They are set as guidelines...the bottom of the range is not to be gone under. You have to eat more good foods to lose weight. I know that goes against everything we have ever been told but It is true.

Eat 5 or 6 small meals to keep your body burning evenly through out the day and you will find you will start burning that fat and get off your plateau.

Hope this helps...
Wendy

Ariana & Wendy:

Thank you so much for your advice. I will watch the carbs, 3 points at most. And I will switch my exercise. I have been doing the treadmill for some time and I have to admit, I am not breaking much of a sweat anymore. I don't want to run on it because I have some arthritis in my hips. So, today I will use the stairclimber and then do some weights. I have really neglected the weights. I need to get out of my comfort zone.

Thanks again. I will check back and let you know how the next week goes.

~Cate

Sorry but I am a little confused on one thing. A friend told me about this plan today and so we don't use our AP's right? Well, unless we are terribly hungry right?

Thanks in advance!

Just thought I'd add that I love the wendie plan. I did it last year and had great sucess on it. unfortunatly then I got pregnant and now I have to start all over again!

Yes that is right...I only use AP s when I exercise on my Super Low days and am hungry.

I dont add any points to my schedule normally. I tend to not exercise on my SLDs. But I do exercise on Super High day and my other high days. So I dont need to add the extra points.

Hope that clears that up.

Wendy