This is my second week of gain. First I felt I was plateauing and now I feel like I'm just gaining it back. Last week was .04 and this week was 1. I just get tired of this cycle. I've been on diets and felt "fat" for sooooooooo long. It seems like I've never been "thin". I've started working on weights so maybe I'm adding muscle since I work upper body on MW's and lower body on TT's. I also started adding my activity points since I wasn't using them before. I just feel SO hungry and I feel like I hardly eat anything. I guess I just feel like venting. I'm sure alot of you know how this feels. I'm just afraid that each week I'll just keep adding and adding. I just don't understand how some ppl who just join WW can lose 8 pounds or 6 pounds. The most weight I have ever lost is 3 pounds. There's nothing wrong with my thyroid or metabolism so I'm not sure what my problem is. I guess I just needed to let it out. Thanks for lending an ear. A bunch of thanks to the 3FC's for establishing this website. It's helped out alot.

Julie

Don't feel discouraged and don't feel down. I'm just shy of a 50 pound weight loss (with another 50 to go) and I've had the same problem. One week I'm up and the next I'm down. Try to think of your body as a computer...it's just trying to re-boot. You've shocked it a little...you're doing something great - eating healthy, exercising, things you probably haven't done in years. Please talk to your WW meeting leader...keep going to meetings...tell others in the meetings about your problem. They'll help you through it and you start to lose again. And as for losing the big numbers, remember, you didn't put it on fast - if you lose it fast you may very well gain it all back and then some...that's what I've done many times. This is the first time (slowly, but surely) I've felt like I just might succeed at this. You can do it. Just keep at it. And so will I. Good luck.

It is normal to plateau at some point or another so don't feel bad and don't lose heart

Try looking back at your food journals and see what you were eating on the weeks where you were successful. It might give you a boost to get back to basics, maybe increase your activity level or maybe you aren't eating your activity points.

Sometimes just a shakeup of your regular menu can help too, it is easy to fall into a food rut and then your body gets use to eating the same things all the time and your weight loss stalls (okay, so I have no scientific proof of this - just my theory )

If you gain again by your next weighin you may want to have a one-on-one with your leader to see if she can give you some guidance.

How about posting some menus that you eat. Maybe you aren't following the guidelines for good health and that can impact your loss. It takes a couple of months to build enough muscle for it to show up on the scales. If you are doing Flex, change to Core for 2 weeks and see if that helps.

i agree with Quilter since you didn't give us much to go on give us a typical few days of your journals including serving sizes and let us look at it. Also look at these items and answer honestly (it is what I call Analyzing the Program):

1) Where in your points range (range meaning utilizing your TPs, APs, and FPs) are you eating? Most people find they lose better when eating most if not all of their points for the week. Especially if you are exercising you need to eat toward a high point total and not the lower end. The reason is because your body thinks it is starving and slows down your metabolism and holds on to the calories you intake.

2) What are you spending your points on? Review the POINTSPIES (Also make sure you get in some REAL fat (butter, margarine, mayo, real salad dressing, etc) however your fats really should for health concerns come from non-saturated sources. I had subconsciously removed almost all fat from my diet and had plateaued for SIX (count them 6) months. Make sure you get in some fat. Again W/W and nutritionists recommend for health healthy fats such as olive, canola oils etc but the important thing is to not eliminate the fat and get in at least 2 points in real fats (this is from nutritional courses).

3) Are you drinking your water?

4) Are you eating a lot of processed foods (canned, frozen, etc.) which contain a lot of sodium, which causes water retention. What about diet sodas? They can cause bloating and water retention.

5) Are you exercising? Have you taken your measurements to see if you are building muscle while losing? Remember muscle weighs 2.2 times more than fat volume for volume (this means for a 3”x3” piece of muscle and a 3”x3” piece of fat the muscle will be 2.2 times heavier). If you are exercising remember to eat high in your point range.

6) Are you journaling? This includes every BLT (bite, lick and taste). Those BLTs can add up in 'hidden' points. My leader suggested for each BLT or freebie to put a tick mark in your journal and for each 4-5 add 1 point to your day.

7) Are you calculating points correctly? Ninety percent of new members don't count points correctly. I have a favorite muffin and I realized my 3-point muffin is really 6 points because it is 2 servings. Make sure you use the nutritional information rather than the 'generic' list W/W puts out. You'll find a lot of differences.

Once you have analyzed these things then you need to start playing with the program to adapt it to you and your body. Like reducing the carbs and increasing the protein and stuff like that.

Eating by one of the PointsPies (or what used to be called Eating by the Numbers) can help with the hunger because it helps you get away from simple carbs and processed foods by eating more like most of the Core Food list ( food which gives you the tools to keep from being hungry(:

Points Pies

Balanced (under 250 pounds)

Complex Carbs/Grain Based Foods – 8-9 points a day
Protein-rich Foods – 6-7 points a day
Fruits and Veggies – 0-3 points a day
Fats, added sugars – 2-3 points a day
Milk and Milk Products – 4-6 points a day

20-28 points a day

Higher Protein (under 250 pounds)

Complex Carbs/Grain Based Foods – 5-6 points a day
Protein-rich Foods – 9-11 points a day
Fruits and Veggies – 0-1 points a day
Fats, added sugars – 2-4 points a day
Milk and Milk Products – 4-6 points a day

20-28 points a day

Higher Carb (under 250 pounds)

Complex Carbs/Grain Based Foods – 9-10 points a day
Protein-rich Foods – 5-7 points a day
Fruits and Veggies – 1-3 points a day
Fats, added sugars – 1-2 points a day
Milk and Milk Products – 4-6 points a day

20-28 points a day

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Balanced (over 250 pounds)

Complex Carbs/Grain Based Foods – 11 points a day
Protein-rich Foods – 10 points a day
Fruits and Veggies – 3-4 points a day
Fats, added sugars – 2-3 points a day
Milk and Milk Products – 4-6 points a day

30-34 points a day

Higher Protein (over 250 pounds)

Complex Carbs/Grain Based Foods – 8 points a day
Protein-rich Foods – 12 points a day
Fruits and Veggies – 2-3 points a day
Fats, added sugars – 4-5 points a day
Milk and Milk Products – 4-6 points a day

30-34 points a day

Higher Carb (over 250 pounds)

Complex Carbs/Grain Based Foods – 13 points a day
Protein-rich Foods – 8 points a day
Fruits and Veggies – 2-4 points a day
Fats, added sugars – 3 points a day
Milk and Milk Products – 4-6 points a day

30-34 points a day

See ya being a little light on the healthy oils and dairy. Remember new research has shown a link to weight loss and dairy calcium (not supplements).

And possibly a little light on the veggies.

I would suggest less processed food and more protein and whole grains. I also don't see very many vegetables. I recently began using weights also, and I notice I'm a LOT hungrier. You burn more calories at rest when you have more muscle.

Instead of cold cereal, how about some old fashioned oatmeal? (Try it with some peanut butter and lite choc syrup Yum! Tastes like a Reese's PB cup!) Or maybe shredded wheat with some blueberries. A whole grain bagel or english muffin with some cheese and or canadian bacon? A fruit and yogurt smoothie?

For lunch, instead of a LC, how about making some home made pasta. The dreamfields pasta or whole wheat is only 3 points per cup. It's also higher in protein and fiber for more staying power.You can add your own veggies and seasonings and maybe a little olive oil. Maybe some chicken breast or veggie burger crumbles for added protein. For the same amount of points, you'd get a lot more food, better taste and it will probably tide you over better.

For dinner, maybe only have one hot dog on a lite bun. Have some baked beans for two points. Good protein and fiber source. Have some cole slaw made with lite dressing or some veggies with dip or something to make it a more complete meal.

Maybe instead of the cookies, a WW fudge bar or Choc smoothie (dairy serving) or some lite chocolate pudding for one point. Helps with the sweet craving but less points and more filling.

Your menu seems to be lacking in vegetables and your dinner seems to be heavy in points for what little it is.

Some suggestions:

Add a sliced banana to your special K or some sliced strawberries, skip the fruit cup

Have a mid morning snack of a piece of fruit or a Low fat yogurt.

Have some protein with your lunch by adding 2-3 ozs of cooked chicken to your pasta and save your brownie for a mid afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee.

For dinner, have 3 oz meat with steamed veggies and a small potato with a little butter or margarine or some rice. Or if you want your hotdog have 1 hotdog on bread or a bun, a side salad or cut up veggies and low fat dip to round out the meal. I do this in the summer at BBQ's.

Maybe have a bit of fruit with low fat coolwhip or 1 scoop of low fat ice cream if you like to finish off your meal with something sweet.

It's not just total points, it's also a matter of adhering to the healthy eating guidelines. And when you bulk up your meals with more vegetables, which are incredibly low in points, you get to feel like you've had more to eat----because you have!
Work on hitting the healthy eating guidelines. I discovered that when I used my points on candy and starch, even though I stayed within my target points I didn't have any success, just stayed right where I was. And I felt like the little Weight Watchers candy bars just weren't enough to live on. Probably because they're not!

Push the salads. You can make each one different. Girl Scout thin mints are one point each? Well, if you really think they're worth that much, but I don't think I'd want to spend 3 points that way.