Hi everyone, I'm not exactly new to 3FC, but I am new to the "weight watchers" part of it.

I'm very excited to be done with my first year of college on Friday! (although I'm not very excited about the 20 pounds I've put on with late night runs for fried mexican food at 1 in the morning and ridiculous amounts of alcohol). I am on a mission to lose 30 pounds this summer, and go from 162 (I think) to 132. I'm going to need all the help and support I can get, and I'll be here to offer it too!

I was wondering, what should I stock up on? I tend to get really hungry easily, and I need low point/filling foods. Any tips or tricks you have for me would be greatly appreciated. Also,if I don't want to do "flex" -to complicated/too much counting for me, would I just stick to 22-29 pts/day? Thanks guys...I look forward to losing weight with you!

If you don't want to do flex, another option is the new Core plan. The idea is you eat until satisfied from a list of healthy foods--lean meats, low fat dairy, fruits and vegetables and a selected set of whole grains, and use your weekly points for treats and stuff not on the list. No other counting or recording required.

You can check out some menus and recipes on the Core board here.

Also, I don't want to discourage you at all, but 30 pounds in 3 months is a little faster than Weight Watcher's usually recommends. If you follow the program in a healthy way, chances are you will only lose about 6 or 8 pounds a month, especially since you aren't starting very high. How about aiming for your 10% goal, which would be 16 pounds?

Hey Cher, well I guess I want to ULTIMATELY lose 30 pounds, but I plan on starting now =). I have heard of Core, but I don't think it would work for me because I'm a vegetarian and it seems based on lean protein.

I think it would depend on what kind of veggie foods you eat. Dairy, eggs, tofu, beans and legumes of all kinds are Core, as are soy cheeses and whatnot, as long as they are low fat. Oatmeal, cornmeal, cous-cous, kasha, barley, quinoa and a few other whole grains are not limited and you can have whole wheat pasta, potatoes or rice once a day. For anything else you can earn the same weekly and activity points as the other plan.

Good luck with whatever you choose. My favorite filling, low points foods are Western brand bagels, some of which are 1 point each. I also like the lowfat popcorn and of course, fruits and veggies.