I've tried all the Points/Flex/Momentum/Core and Simply Filling Plans over and over and I always fall off and just fail.

In the opast I did incredibly well on an old exchange Plan called freedom Plan and was within 5 lbs. of goal. The thing that made it work was that veggies and fruits were a free food and we were told to weigh when we could protieins and measure foods like fats but eating out to just be comparing protein to a deck of cards and use good sensible judgement and yes, I did that.
Anyways, just thinking why not start back when I'm off on Wed. morning and give it a whirl again. I just need to stop counting points which I hate and exchanges I can relate to much, much better.

If you know what has worked for you in the past, that is usually what will work for your body now! Good luck!

Oh, what a coincidence! I always loved the exchange plan too, I did it back in 1996 and 97 right before they went to Points. And today, I decided to look for my old WW materials to make sure I still had the plan right...and yup, I still have my booklets.

Doing the Freedom Plan really really helped me stop overeating carbs and undereating protein. I had such good results when I followed it. And yes, it was unlimited fruit when I did the plan too, it was just so sensible and easy to stay on plan.

When I went back to WW after a lapse, they had changed over to Points and I hated it! Although I did get used to working with points after a while, I think Freedom was their best plan.

I never did WW but I've done exchanges before. I did it back when I was a skinny nothing lol... But why I did it was because I felt like counting calories didn't mean much if I was eating all carbs and no fat/protein, like you said. I maintained my weight, which was the goal, and it made me feel less guilty on days when I wanted a brownie for example... I could replace the bread from a sandwich with the starch exchanges from the brownie and avoid a fat exchange later on in the day, stay on plan, and not have to overanalyze my diet all the time. Well, I'm not sure if that's how WW did it but I think that comes from old school diabetic exchanges. Hey, whatever works for you (that's in reason, anyway... and this is reasonable) - go for it!

I was looking for the old freedom plan info that weight watchers had. I was on the program back in the late 1990s. It was a great plan. Looked back in my ww book and I must have thrown out all that wonderful info when they changed to the points plan, which I've had NO success with. Can anyone please post or possibly scan and email me the booklet info. of the freedom plan. I'm desperate to start this plan again . I've gained back an incredible # of weight . Thanks so much so all your help on this.

I'll see if I can post a scan in my blog a little bit later today.

Yes, Lizzie, it was very much like the diabetic exchange diet!

If that is what worked for you, I say go for it! It's just another path to the same goal.

Sounds like the old deal-a-meal cards. My mom loved those!

tops.org has a deck of meal cards you can print out, and information on a basic exchange plan. You can also find the Weight Watcher's program materials and cookbooks, etc... on amazon and ebay.

I follow a lower-carb exchange plan I adapted from the Duke Diet book and a higher protein exchange plan I found on the hillbillyhousewife website.

I love that exchange plans are so flexible (nearly as flexible as calorie counting). If you feel you need fewer starch servings than a plan recommends, you can swap out a few for protein or other exchanges.

You can choose what your plan looks like - and you can tweak it as often as you want/need to. I started out with three bread servings and three fruit servings, and later decided that I wanted less bread and more fruit so now my plan is two bread servings and four fruit.

I like that it makes me think about balancing my diet, and that whatever balance means to me at any give time, can be reflected in my plan. I don't have to overhaul my plan if I find that a different balance of foods works better for me.