[canadianwafflegirl]

Does anyone regularly use all their flex points each week? or just once in a while? Do you lose at a nice pace still?
I really feel like I'm cheating when I use my flex points
I can't seem to get past that.
And I want to maintain a 1-2 lb weight loss a week.

[Magfish]

I find that the big difference when I use flex points is how I use them. When I am good most of the week and then use them for one big party or something like that, I tend to lose more than if I spread them out over the week.

Using the flex points spread out over the week, I tend to maintain or lose less than 1 lb. Weeks where I have saved all or most of them up for one day, I have lost 1-2 lbs. or more.

I try to focus on using exercise points instead of weekly for my daily "buffer zone" -- when you really need that point or two extra.

[sweetnsassyfied]

I eat em'. I love em'. I'm losin thru usin'! ( Flex pts. that is )

I'm the exact oposite of Magfish. Will not nibble, bite, or drink my activity points. To me, its counter productive. I'm not working out to get extra food. I'm working out to get a better body.

My daily and flex pts provide all that I need. I started this program with 24 pts a day, add the 35 weekly and I get 59 points total. Even with the occassional aka "naughty" or questionable choice I still fall within my limit consistantly week after week. It all averages out. Some weeks I am hungrier then others. Some I'm not. Toss in everyone's nemesis "TOM" week... and well. Never really had a problem with that week truth be told. Not after a little research. I found if ever there was a week to stick to the plan thats the week! Our bodies metabolism is kicked into high gear doing what it does internally. So I work with it avoiding pasta and chinese food like the plague. I work into my plan that fruity-licious cake or piece of chocolate and I up my water by a glass or two. After my body is done whooshing away the waste, I usually have a whoosh weight too. Another added bonus that I found for me was ( remember I've been doing this a year now. Lot's of time to figure out how I tick. ) That even if I felt like I blew it before TOM ( early stages of the program. You never really blow it unless you quit! ) I could still pull a maintain if I stuck to plan during TOM week.

I would like to mention too, that I havent dropped to the next level of points either. I don't feel the need. I'm still losing. Could I lose faster if I did? Probably. But I am happy here. I like my lifestyle. I like my weight loss as it is. I may lose two pounds a month now but what a month! It's not a race for me. It's learning to live this life with style! With all it's celebrations and heart breaking sorrows. The boring ho-hums, the daily do's, the infuriating little things, coupled with all the things that make us smile.

Krista Scott-Dixon at www.stumptuous.com said it best and I quote...

"You see, progress is not exactly a linear onward-and-upward thing. It's more like a thousand little tiny stops and starts. Even for the so-called experts, life intervenes with multiple pressures to fail.

It doesn't get any easier. You just get better at managing it, problem solving, and coming up with creative strategies to combat it. You get better at saying no to things that rob your of your energy and better at saying yes to the things that are truly valuable and essential.

There is no better time. There is no better life stage. All you have is now; all you have is you. These things that seem to impede you - you don't wait till they're done then start your life. They are your life."


I have 16 more pounds to maintainace. The proof is in the fat-free pudding.

[alhiser]

Sweet N sassy-

Probably the best and most beneficial posting I have seen on a thread like this. Wow- You have it going on!

A.

[timmyshawn]

It depends on what my body tells me to do really. If I am extra hungry on a certain day then I will use flex points. If however I have made it to the end of the week and still have alot of flex points left then I use some of them to treat myself to something "naughty", a slice of real pizza or a piece of cake etc... I have been on WW for 5 weeks, this is my 6th, and as of my last weigh in I have lost 10.8 pounds so using them hasn't slowed my weight loss down a bit in my opinion.

[boaterswife]

When I started WW I had 28 daily points to use. I dropped to 26 points when the scale hit 225, just as the book instructed. I had not used any flex points up to that point as I just didn't feel like I needed them, I was struggling some days just to use my daily allotment. As time passed, however, several people suggested that I should be eating my flex points as it could impact the number of points you'll get on a daily basis once you get to maintenance. With that in mind I sort of did the same thing as Sweet n Sassy......I've not dropped my daily points as my weight has decreased. I still plan my day around 26 points. In a technical sense, it's like I've lowered my points on schedule, and gradually increased the usage of my flex points. It's worked for me, and up until these last few weeks I still lost steadily. This week I've tried varying the points a little bit each day...maybe 22 today, 25 tomorrow, 23 the next day and so on, but not going all the way up to the 26. Kinda like a modified Wendy plan, I guess! Weigh in isn't until Saturday, so I'll have to see what the scale says then to know if it worked!

[alhiser]

Timmyshawn- silly question... you working out and stuff too or just the WW alone? Thats so rad you list 20.5 lbs already!! Yee Haw!!

A.

[alhiser]

Question: Can you "save" point for TOM (which is so mean to me!!!)

A.

[timmyshawn]

I've lost 10.8 with just the WW alone, no exercise yet but I will be starting to add that in next week.

[timmyshawn]

You're daily points don't carry over from one day to the next. You are supposed to eat all of your daily points every day. You're flex pointsalso don't carry over from week to week. You start over with 35 new flex points every week.