I just started WW online. I feel VERY full at the end of each day however, I can’t eat all my points. I am allowed 29 and on average and I eat 20 points a day. Am I doing myself a disservice if I don’t eat all 29 points a day?

It always concerns me when people say that they can't eat all of the points. 20 points a day on weight watchers is only equivalent to MAYBE 1000 calories... (Assuming you aren't eating many free foods) If you only eat 1000 calories a day and feel full, then why are you even overweight to begin with? Perhaps you should see a doctor to check if you have some other health condition that is going on.

It's not at all uncommon for people to find 1000 calories of healthy, lower calorie, lower carb, lower fat, higher fiber, higher water, lower carb (or lower refined carb) food more filling than 4,000 calories of fattier, more calorie-dense food.

After all a fast food burger (about a handful of food) can have 500 to 1000 calories. Try to eat the same calories in cauliflower, and see how full you'd be.

Eat the same 500 to 1000 calories of cauliflower, and you're going to be stuffed.

5 to 10 lbs of cauliflower vs. maybe 9 to 12 ounces of sandwich.

I know on WW people aren't only eating cauliflower, but chances are just making "better" choices is going to mean a higher volume of food. Not more calories, but definitely more volume, and one of the strongest hunger/satiation cues for most people is food volume.

yes you are doing yourself a disservice can you get the points in different ways? a cup of low fat milk is 2points. Southern style sweet tea is also 2 points for 1 cup - water it down for a hint of taste.
can you use real sugar instead of substitutes? (if you do that)
Could you use 2% milk or whole, instead of fat free?
are you getting your healthy guidelines? teaspoons of olive oil add points too
These are just a few suggestions to get more points into your day - which (imo) shouldnt change your satiety.

Definitely look at what you're eating. I have to eat 40 points each day and I'm usually within 3 or 4 points of that by the time I've finished dinner - and that's with free food snacks all day!

For breakfast, I just had coffee with FF cream, two hard boiled eggs, and two pieces of light bread toast with lite butter and low sugar grape jelly. Not a ton of food but it's an 8 point breakfast.

My lunch will be a whole can of soup (4 points) and a Lean Cuisine meal (6 points).

Dinner is a recipe from the WW site (8 points) and salad (3 points with dressing).

That right there is 29 points and I haven't even touched on snacks!

29 points is the lowest minimum you can go on the new Points+ plan, so, you definitely want to do what you can to get 29 points in each day. As others have said, see about eating more full fat dairy and other foods. Do you eat a lot of the zero point fruit? Maybe you should cut back, it could be that you're eating so much fruit it's leaving you too full to eat all of your points.

Besides the good health guidelines, you can also try adding little things to what you eat depending on what that is. Instead of a plain steamed veggie, you could saute a veg in olive oil or brush it with oil and grill. If you eat a salad with low fat dressing, use a regular dressing or a little more or add a few things to the salad to dress it up (example: 1 Tbsp of dried cherries (1 pp) and 1 Tbsp of walnuts (1 pp)). Or mix those walnuts into a yogurt instead. If you eat soup, add a few multigrain crackers to the side. If you just do those little adds here and there, it won't feel like you need to add another meal entirely just to get them all in.

Use the suggested daily pointsplus target breakdown by meal chart in the Getting Started Guide (p. 60). It's just a rough guide, so if you prefer a heavier-pt breakfast or a heavier/third snack in the day, just make your own 29 point breakdown and keep it handy. Then just worry about points meal by meal, instead of this lump of 29 points.

In the booklet it says:
B: 5
L: 8
D: 11
S1: 3
S2: 2

Are you eating your oils? I find that a couple of teaspoons of P.butter can make my points go higher if need be. I'm usually right at 29 if not 30/day. I get 29 but sometimes at night i tip over a point or so! Add regular dressing to your salad instead of light or fat free to get some more points in.

I agree with everyone else! Most diets that I've tried in the past include completely cutting out certain food. Since you've just started, maybe you feel like you want to be extra careful with what you eat? For example, there are things that I've changed such as light sour cream instead of regular or wheat bread instead of sourdough, but I wouldn't cut out those things completely.

Try planning out a whole day of food ahead of time to get all of your points in. After you do that a couple times, it will get easier to know how much you should be eating and you can work out ways to do it without being too full. It is easy for me to forget to eat while I'm working, so I plan to eat every 2 hours while I'm there and bring food accordingly. You absolutely can make the plan work but it's a matter of fitting it to your lifestyle.

While it is not a big deal to be under 29 points at times if you have eaten to satisfaction (I ate 26 points yesterday and did not go to bed hungry), it would concern me to be at 20 points on a regular basis. I would be worried about lack of good nutritional content. For me a point is worth about 37 or 38 calories so 20 points would work out to less than 800 calories a day.

When I am lowish on points I tend to eat some nuts which have a lot of calories for low volume but are good for me.

Honestly, this is what I love about weight watchers. I don't really feel like I'm on a diet....my whole life, the word "diet" was associated with hunger pangs, restriction, and deprivation. How great is it that you can lose weight and not feel that way?!?

A day every now and then at 20 points is okay. Having only 20 points every day is definitely doing yourself a disservice. You will lose weight now, but you will also be slowing your metabolism-and that will almost certainly cause you some problems later.

Also, it's possible to have a psychological effect as well. I do okay with deprivation for short periods, but eventually it bites me in the behind. Obviously we were eating more than 1000 calories a day to need to do weight watchers in the first place So going to 20 points a day is probably a drastic change in your daily diet-whether it is in volume or type. You're much more likely to burn out on the diet or binge if the changes you're making aren't ones that you can live with long term.

I'd try to get my points in most of the time anyway. Getting those last points in could be really easy by making small changes-adding in snacks, or just eating full fat/calorie versions of what you're already eating.

We've been trained to think of food as the enemy, and that if we aren't hungry we aren't dieting.....and that is a hard habit to break. Think of those points as fuel for your metabolism so that your weight loss/maintenance is sustainable.

I have been eating a lot of fruits and vegetables which I did not do prior to WW . I have not been getting my oil as one of you pointed out. All my salad dressings are 0 fat Walden Farms I can change that which will add a few points.

Robin, planning out a whole day of points ahead of time is something I am look forward to. I stress out all day trying not to eat too much but by the end of the day I have 9 points left.

I will eventually loss to “diet” mentality Dragonlady1978. I was eating a lot more than 1000 calories a day but I was eating JUNK! Real food the increase of fiber and water is really making a difference.

Thanks again for all the comments. It helps to have the support!
Changing my mind set will not happen overnight!

You definetly want to be consuming your points range for the day. This is to help you in the long run with the program. I noticed that when I don't reach my points allowance I don't do as well on the scales as I could be doing. I found it hard at first but my leader made a great suggestion that I suggest to everyone on Weight Watchers. Instead of consuming more food, increase the points value of what you are eating. Instead of using fat free products like milk, yogurts and cheese upgrade to the low fat or full fat varieties. You will increase the value of the food but not consume more than you can handle. It was an easy change I made, and it really helped me to reach my allowance for the day.