Hb made some awesome ham and bean soup over the weekend. I was fine working it into my points, until Hb made cornbread with it. I LOVE cornbread (anything baked and sweet!) Well, as you might've already guessed, I ate extra cornbread last night. I'm guessing I dipped into 5 of my flex points. I haven't done that since I started WW. I've had incredible weight loss to date and I'm angry with myself for jeopardizing that. Help!

I guess I'm just disappointed in my lack of controlling myself. I know better. It sure is easy to fall back on old, destructive habits!

ditto what modkitten said you might even find it helps you lose a little, who knows? As Confucius once said, "One night of cornbread does not weight loss success ruin."

Just don't make it a habit and you'll be fine.

The other thing to think about is if there's a healthier way to make cornbread than how your DH usually does -- perhaps you can find a recipe that allows you to feel like you've splurged but you can still afford it points-wise? I use a recipe from Cooking Light that's 3pts for a pretty big chunk, but it's admittedly not very sweet (I don't do sweet cornbread). I can give it to you if you're curious.

I understand your frustration, Paintfancy. I, too, fear my flex points! In fact, for the first few weeks on WW, I was stingy with my points at all. Because I wasn't ever hungry, I felt like I must be eating too much, and therefore I was afraid to use all my regular points! But then, last week, I had one bad day where I knew I'd had to dip into my flex points. I was terrified going to my weigh-in. But, it turns out that I lost almost exactly the same amount that I did the week before. Go figure! So now I'm trying not to obsess too much about it: I try to hit my points target, and I usually end up using 1-2 flex points per day, as well!

Thanks you guys! I hadn't dipped into them at all until last night. I do, however, sometimes use my activity points. I read somewhere to use one or the other, but not both. I guess I'm still learning what my body will react to and what it won't. I'm just scared to get on that scale in two days. I don't feel lighter this week and my scale at home fluctuates so much, that I'm not sure what the WW scale will say. I just know that I want that scale to continue going downward!

The first day I ate the soup, I dipped Wheat thins that I had pre-counted in it. That wasn't so tempting that I HAD to have more. But oh, that sweet cornbread......<insert drooling icon here!>

Thanks for the offer on the lower point cornbread, but I probably should stay away from it altogether.

ATG- you hit the nail on the head when you said, "I, too, fear my flex points!" LOL

The program allows you to use both flex and activity points. Not that you have to, but don't add extra restrictions on yourself to feel guilty about. That kind of thinking is self-destructive and makes it that much easier to beat yourself up, think you can't do it, and ultimately give up.

Flex points and activity points are not "extras" they're part of the program. When I was a WW member (I still use WW Core principles, but follow an exchange plan, now) our leader cautioned us against thinking that we got "extra credit" for not using flex points. She said they're there to use if you need and want them, because flexible programs help people succeed. If you vow never to use them, you've made the plan unnecessarily restrictive, and you're sticking yourself in "diet" mentality where one slip (which in this case isn't even a slip) is something to feel horrible about.

Thank you Kaplods. I do not want to get into destructive thinking mode. I appreciate your honesty. Flexibility IS the reason I chose this program AND have had success so far. I guess I'm just fearful of abusing it since lack of control is what got me into this mess!

Thats what the flex points are for hun! Don't feel guilty, eating the flex points will be GOOD for you in the long run, if your body is used to you staying at your exact point range you will have a hard time maintaining when you get to your Goal, you want your body to maintain on the most possible points! Don't feel guilty!

Gosh, I know what you mean. I feel guilty ALL the time. I know it's a terrible mindset to get into, but even knowing I have the flex points there, I still feel like I should have not eaten that little bag of Maltesers or had sugar and milk in my coffee. It's just little things like that, not gigantic trips to McDonalds or anything, that really make me feel down about it. But I am doing better this week than last, so I guess eventually I'll be able to control cravings and my guilt better. If you've not gone into your flex points at all this whole time, you are doing amazingly well and you really shouldn't be so hard on yourself! I love cornbread too - it is so delicious!

To make matters worse, my stepper broke while I was using it today! I like to think it is not because I am too heavy (it says it has a capacity of 250 pounds, and I weigh about 165) but this is the second time this has happened. The last one, same model, I returned because it was within 60 days, and they replaced it, but this one, the replacement, is about a year old now, so I can't exactly do that this time. I'm just going to blame it on the manufacturer. So annoying - I was being good and exercising and now my only at-home piece of equipment is no longer usable!

Sorry for the rant, I didn't mean to change the topic - I am just so disappointed that it broke. lol

I think somewhere in the past week, I got stuck in a "diet" mindset vs. a "lifestyle" mindset. I've re-adjusted my brain thanks to all of you and I'm back on track. Now I'm praying the scale keeps going down! LOL

Please eat your Flex points so you'll have more points available during maintenance, aka "the rest of your life".

I'll tell you my little story as a kind of cautionary tale. About 15 years ago, I lost 65 lbs. in 10 months. I was super good on my "diet" and made WW lifetime, thank God I made lifetime or I probably wouldn't have ever gone back. I almost immediately started gaining my weight back and skipping meetings. Over the years I've gained and lost, never made it back to lifetime and a couple years ago pretty much gave up on ever getting back to goal.

Last year I read an article that said to write your resolution on the calendar so it would be out there in the future. So I did and then a girl started in my office and she wanted to join WW@work because she was getting married in Nov. (which she did and she got back to goal weight). So, I'm back in WW and slowly but surely getting to my goal.

You probably don't want to take as long as I am to lose this weight, but however you do it you need to keep the maintenance in mind. Listen to Jane, she's right on, if you have to be on a "diet" to maintain you won't do it.

I eat all my points, all my activity pts and by the end of the week all my flex points. I have worked up to 28 APs a week because that what they recommend for maintenance. I need to keep that in the front of my mind, for me. Anyway, hope this doesn't sound like a lecture or anything, I just don't want anybody to have to go through what I have. Today I feel great, I feel motivated, I feel sure I'm going to make it and keep it off.

DH and I are watching a show about a poor kid who's over 500 lbs. They're staging an intervention.

This is my first time ever on WW, I don't even know what maintenance entails. Please help me understand better....Why if I eat all my points now, will that help me with maintenance in the end?

Many theorize that the less you eat, the lower your metabolism drops to compensate, often referred to as "starvation mode." Every diet, every drastic drop in calories, it is believed, lowers your metabolism further. Thus, if you cut your calories "just enough" to lose weight slowly, but steadily, you may be able to eat more calories at your goal weight than someone who "crash dieted" to get there.

Research is inconclusive as to whether "starvation mode," is universal. It may be that some people experience it, and some do not. However, there is some very compelling evidence for it, particularly linked to insulin resistance and diabetes. People with insulin resistance can find it very difficult to lose weight, even on extremely low calorie diets. Thus, if a person is sticking to their WW points and not losing, or losing extremely slowly, a glucose tolerance test to test for diabetes or insulin resistance would be a very good idea. Other hormonal and metabolic issues can also decrease metabolism and may also make a person more prone to "starvation mode."

Now I'm more confused. I want to eat as many points as possible- after all, I love to eat, but I'm really loving the progress I'm making also. The past few days I've been eating ALL of my activity points. Sunday I dipped into the flex points, but that was the only time. Tomorrow is weigh in......