A couple friends of mine started doing WW a few months ago and they're doing really well. I hate counting calories/fat/etc, because I always feel like nutritious calories shouldn't count as much as empty calories. For example, an Arnold sandwich thing with 2 slices of ham is about 140-160 calories. But why should a healthy, fiber-and-protein-filled sandwich (no mayo, no cheese) count the same as a can of soda?? And I love Quaker Oatmeal Squares for breakfast, but why should a bowl of extremely healthy cereal with skim milk be worth the same as an Entenmann's chocolate frosted donut?

So I'd like to start on WW, like, today. But I'm flat broke. Like, if I buy the 1 month subscription my car payment check might bounce... I don't want to use my credit card for it - it's only for emergencies. So can any of you recommend some resources for finding/calculating point values of the food I eat? One of the aforementioned friends is a big shorter and weighs about the same and when she was about as active as me she was on 22 points a day, so I figure I'd shoot for that. But I haven't a clue what to eat...

I'm sorry if this is inappropriate for this forum, and mods, if so, then please go ahead and delete. But I just want to get a head start - I should be back in shape money-wise by Christmas, but I wanted to lose a few lbs before then...

I did WW for free with the help of a friend who was on it. Your question does not seem inappropriate at all! Tough times call for tough measures. It's not like you would be attending meetings and not paying a dime. Their formula is patented and online for free. Just look up "WW patented formula." I just used a regular calculator the whole time I was on it. Your number that you came up with, 22, sounds pretty good. However, the lowest you are supposed to go is 20. So you may want to go up a point or two at first and see how that works.

Calories in/calories out -- I agree it sucks this is the way it is, but you have the power to change that. If you are eating three donuts a day at first and nothing else and losing weight, you are going to be hungry and feeling like crap. You might lose some weight, but you learn real quick that this diet is also about volumetrics. You tend to start eating more food for less points. When I am actively losing weight, I eat a lot of egg white omelets with tons of vegis, salads, Kashi high-fiber, low-cal cereals, low-cal bread. When I am not actively seeking weight, I just eat the bread I really love -- something with some real substance to it (butter).

There are still some rules, and I will admit I don't know all of them, but it is common knowledge that you need your healthy fats, protein, and carbs to survive. Your fats being very important because this is the most easily ignored once you get really good at WW. I ignored them the summer I started and got very, very sick. Exercise is also important. I am going on and on. If you need any more help, must private message me and I will give you my email and send you some pages of stuff that helped me.

Thanks for the advice! I found the formula (a couple different formulas, actually) and I'm already surprised (and saddened, a bit) about how many points I typically eat in a day. The formula makes it super easy to understand how to eat.

One thing I was wondering, I found two formulas, one that counts all grams of fiber and another that only counts the first four grams of fiber. Which is the most current and/or widely used system? In some cases I'm finding this can mean a difference of a whole point.

The most current version of WW caps the fibre at 4 grams - the main reason being that some members were either over-consuming very high-fibre foods as they "worked out" to be so low in points, or finding ways to add fibre to unhealthy foods to reduce the points value (I even recall hearing about someone who sprinkled bran over ice cream, to make it only 1 point!!!).

For some foods, I ignore the "fibre cap" rule. Why? Because the foods are very healthy, legitimately loaded with fibre, and I don't overeat them just because it's low in points if I take all the fibre into account. Some people maybe can't do that....but you know yourself best. For myself, I'm losing just fine....I'll reassess when and if that changes, but I really don't expect it to be an issue.

Also wanted to add - if you do an online search, you should be able to locate the WW points quiz somewhere. You answer a few questions about yourself (age, height, weight, activity level, etc.), and will be able to determine your daily points target. It's not all about height and weight, so you may be able to start higher than you think.

There should also be some online points calculators if you look - if you have an iTouch or iPhone, there's a handy app called "iWatchr" that has a food database, points calculator and journal. Alternately, if you go to a WW location, you can purchase an electronic points calculator...where I live, they're about $16, and it's like a small calculator. You click "Points", then it will prompt you to enter calories, fat and fibre from the label of the food and return the points. You can for sure use a regular calculator, but these other options make it a little easier for not a lot of money.

I did find a quiz that told me I should have 21 points a day, which makes sense since my friend is on 22pts and she's kinda similar to me.

And as for calculating, I'm a math geek (I got my BS in math) so I like doing the calculations myself. Plus I don't have an iPhone... back to the whole being-broke thing.

You can just buy the tools you need right on ebay. They have the WW journals for around $10. The calculator is less than $7 usually (I NEEDED this) and the book with the points of all the foods is right there to. Thats all you really need.

Whoo Hoo that is where I got my calculator and journal too...gotta love ebay
I am just about to run out of journal space so I took some mailing labels and printed some for activity pts and some for flex pts and put in a small sprial notebook ($.50)

The complete food companion is a great time savor when you want pt info quickly too.....a small investment on ebay but there is also a website that lists all the foods and pts for quick reference

btw welcome aboard

So basically I can count my daily Fiber One bar as 1 point instead of 2? (It has 9g of fiber). And the other day at the Phillies game I had a second bar in the evening while my boyfriend ate a huge bbq turkey sandwich (I had a bite, but the bar kept me from wanting more). If I have more than 1 I'll count the others as 2, but I really like the fact that I can count my mid-morning snack as 1 point. That's a really good point you make about over-eating fibrous (lol) foods. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!

Thanks for the welcome! I'm getting excited about it! I lost 1 lb between Wed and today, just because I didn't eat as much. I like that feeling.

And next week I get paid, and my bills don't outnumber my paycheck, so I think I'll look around and see what I can find. Thanks for the tips!

Something else to check out...if you're ever in a situation where you have to eat out and you want to look up nutritional information ahead of time...there is a site called Dotti's Weight Loss Zone, you can just Google it and it should come up...and there are TONS of point listings for food at different restaurant on there. =D

Oh, and I got all the weight watchers information from my mom who used to do it...so thats where I got my points slider and the books and stuff. I don't pay to go to meetings or anything either..lol

Will check out "Dotti's"
Thanks DivineFidelity!