I joined weight watchers Monday. My current weight is 290lbs. My tareget points is 31. look at my menu. Feels like I'm eating too much to lose.

breakfast

grapefruit 2
english muffin ff cream cheese 3
raison bran 1.5
milk ff skim 2

lunch
salad ff italian dressing 0
2 baked chicken thighs no skin 6
1 c. honeydew melon 1

dinner
boiled chicken liver 7
brocolli 0
1 baked chicken thigh 3
oriental rice 3

snack
skinney cow icecream sandwich 2.5
31 pts. total

some days I use 25-29 Is this o.k. Am I eating too much Please give me some feedback. Dieter in DISTRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First off calm down....research has proven you need to eat to lose and W/W has done extensive research on the minimum points a day a person should eat based on BMR (which includes weight and other factors). You should be eating the minimum points a day every day but an occasional day under those will not hurt your metabolism. Review the PointsPies (I'll post at the end of this post) to see how to divide up your points so you get in all your nutritional requirements.

I tend to use (and I am in the 22 points a day range) an average of 29-30 points a day with APs and WPA....so if I being smaller than you can lose eating a lot of points so can you.

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

Thank you so much for your response. This information will be very helpful in my journey to lose weight.

Charlyne:

Just so you know and for some additional encouragement, when I joined WW in January 2004, I weighed in at 271 lbs. and my points were 30/day. You said it seemed like too much food to lose weight??? But the question is, are you satisfied? or are you hungry? Everybody is different...I didn't feel it was too much food at 30 pts. but I wasn't starving either, although at times I was very hungry. I was definitely used to eating more and higher fat. I have low blood sugar and did suffer headaches the first couple of weeks. My doctor told me something I hadn't heard before....it was food withdrawal! He said that after a couple of weeks, the headaches would subside. They did! By the way, my doctor was a Lifetime WW member...so he knew what he was talking about from experience.

I did find as I got closer to the next points range, that I was feeling like I was eating too much and not losing, so a few pounds early, I did drop my points to the next level down to break the plateau. You know if you have like a 3 week plateau, they give you a "booster" menu that is only 20 points!! I think that is too drastic for those of us at 26-31 points/day. But like Kelly S. said, you can go under your points once in a while, but I wouldn't do it too often because it will slow your metabolism down and WW won't work for you then. That is what is wrong with those other diets. They cut your calories too drastically for what you weigh and the amount you have to lose and you're starving and can't stick to it. WW is very gradual and that's why people who lose with WW have a better chance of keeping it off. This eating lifestyle becomes a habit and just that, A LIFESTYLE.

Now, I have lost 54 lbs. am eating 26 points/day and rarely get a headache. I am eating a healthy well balanced diet that I can live with for the rest of my life.

Good luck and keep up the effort.