Calorie counter thinking of going WW

  • Hi there,

    I haven't been around the forums lately. Who wants to push their ticker up 15 lbs.?

    I maintained a loss of over 25 lbs. for years with calorie counting and lots of exercise, and even lost some more by last summer. Then a foot injury limited my activity for months. I think I just got depressed about it. I started making really bad food decisions on a frequent basis. I've tried to reign it in lately and go back to calorie counting, but I've lost all willpower.

    I'd like to join WW for the meetings and accountability, but I'm not sure if I'm into the points system. I have calorie counts for tons of foods and recipes that I've accrued over time. Would it be major project to convert all that to points? Or, can I attend meetings but continue calorie counting instead of using the points system?

    Thanks for your help!
  • Weight watchers is essentially calorie counting where 50 calories = 1 point. There are slight variations if there is fat or fiber in a food, but it evens out to about that. It probably wouldn't be that difficult to convert your current plan over and it sounds like you could use the support. They have free registration right now, so you could try it and see what you think. Good Luck!
  • I actually find weight watchers easier than counting calories. When you join you are given a point slide everything breaks down to calories, fiber, and fat you are given a certain amount of points per day plus an additional points per week plus you can earn points doing exercise. You can attend a meeting for free right now so I would suggest doing so and picking the brain of the leader to make a educated decsion. Good Luck
  • Well, I went to a meeting and joined! Thanks for the advice.
  • Congratulations.....Good luck, remember use your leader she is a wealth of knowledge, I am sure you will love the program. I think the best advice I can give you is try to eat something every few hours and if you choose foods from the filling foods list you will never feel hungry. Also my other little trick is I make sure I eat desert (WW giant fudge or Latte Pop) everyday. This way I never feel as if I am missing anything
  • Hi there! I used to keep calorie counting journals..I am a data freak so this was my best method...but I got so busy..and tired of calculating all the time...I like WW because it counts calories but shorthands it!

    I have an excel spreadsheet I use to monitor my points...and it keeps me very satisfied..
  • Yeah, after one day I feel like the point system is a lot simpler than calorie counting. We'll see how I feel by the end of my first week, though!

    Thank you all for the encouragement!

    Edited to add: I had to bump up my ticker even further because weighing in for a 5:30 meeting in winter clothes (it's still in the 30's here) is a LOT different from weighing in at home in my undies first thing in the morning. Boo! But I want to keep my ticker at the same weight as my WW stamp.
  • LOL I wear the same thing I did in the summer (notice in NJ here) I wear my shorts and tank with sweats over them and change after the meeting if need be. This way I have the least amount of clothes on as possible laugh if you may but I am not the only one in my meeting who does this.
  • I know WW points by heart.But actually use both calorie and WW points.I dont know why but I like flexability of being able to do either.