I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I'll give it a go.
I started following the WW program on April 16, 2007. I borrowed the materials from a friend who had done WW previously, and followed the points system, etc. I have been pretty successful so far - 50 pounds gone since then. I am very proud of this, but I'm stilll trying to lose another 7-8 pounds which I'm finding is getting harder and harder - whoever said the last 10 pounds were the hardest was right. The scale hasn't been moving much lately.
So, according to WW I should be eating 20 points a day, and no less than that. I also use some of the 35 extra flex points throughout the week but I try to keep that to a minimum. I have found it hard to feel full on only 20 points a day - I try to eat food that is high in fiber and protein to keep hunger at bay. I am not so good on the veggies - I hated veggies growing up and I have learned to like some since I've changed my eating habits, but I just can't snack and snack and snack on raw veggies throughout the day just because most are zero points. I eat as many veggies as I can, but I'm just not ever going to be a snacker of veggies. So, I try to supplement this by eating things high in fiber to keep hunger at bay. I exercise anywhere from 4-6 days a week (walking, elliptical, cardio videos, weights, running, etc.) so I'm definitely burning calories from exercise. My whole point here is I FEEL HUNGRY AFTER ONLY EATING 20 POINTS A DAY. I try not to eat back all of my activity points, but I do eat a few if I exercise intensely.
So I was curious to see how many calories I was eating by only eating 20 points a day, or even eating 22-24 that I sometimes eat. It turns out that I've only been eating about 900-1100 calories a day, and with exercise it comes to even less than that. I have read in soooo many places not to eat below 1200 because your body can go into starvation mode, and now I wonder if that is why I've been doing to my body?
I went online last night and did some research. After putting my numbers in to several different websites for BMR and what my calorie intake can be to lose 1 pound a week, and it says I can eat roughly 1415 calories a day and still lose weight. And, I can eat even more if I am exercising on that day.
My dilemma is (sorry this is so long): I feel hungry on 20 WW points a day - on 20 points I am eating about 900-1100 calories a day - my research online has given me a number of 1415 calories a day to still lose a pound a week. Should I chuck the 20 points a day for eating the 1415 calories a day to see how I feel about the hunger situation and to see if I can still lose weight? I'm scared that I've been eating too little and that's why the scale is stuck - my body is trying to hold onto every bit of fat. I think maybe getting in more calories and keeping the exercise up will help my body re-energize and get going again and get the scale moving downward.
I still can't believe I was eating so few calories on only 20 points a day. I hate that I'm getting two contrasting ideas - WW tells me to eat 20 points a day which is equaling to 900-1100 calories a day, and my research online has told me to eat 1415 calories a day to lose a pound a week. I'm confused and just frustrated to tell you the truth.