One nice thing about TOPS is that you can follow ANY plan that you want. You can continue doing the Core or Flex plan and use the TOPS meeting as your official weigh-in and support meeting. Our local chapter is $28/yr and then $2 a month for dues so it's actually a total of $52 a year.

TOPS does send the chapter president (basically the leader) topic programs that can be followed.

Anyhow, if either WW plan is working for you but it is more of a $$ thing, then stick with the plan but go to TOPS for at least the official weekly weigh-in.

If you like the Core Plan you will probably like the "Whole Foods Diet" developed by Dr. Katherine B. Chauncey, PhD, RD. I live in Lubbock, TX and she is an Associate Professor & Director of Nutrition @ Texas Tech Medical Center. They usually have the diet posted on their web site.

I agree with the plan but I have to count points because I have a hard time knowing when to stop eating.

I have tried all different diets and WW is the one that works best for me....but that is not true for everyone.

Good luck and you use the best plan that works for you.

Louise

You should love the new WW Momentum Plan (yep, Core and Flex are no more). The Filling Foods section is similar to Core and Flexers are encourged to eat Core Foods. A bunch of things are changing. Its on the website now if you are an online member and meeting members will start getting the new info Sunday.

You may want to check with your health insurance. I do my WW program at work and a 17 week plan is about $180 and my health insurance covers $150 of it. It is only once per year but it helps. Some insurance covers up to $300 per year. Check it out.
It is very expensive in these tight times. I reason the fees to cutting out my daily cup of starbucks. I like the support I get at the meeting, but when I cannot afford to go I stay with the plans and use the forums. Good luck.

This is the list of Filling ie, Core foods and it is all what is nutritionally sound:

Whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, potatoes and grains

Vegetables and fruits some examples:

* Vegetables cannot contain ingredients that are not Filling Foods (for example, pork and beans and French fries are not Filling Foods)
* Vegetable juices and fruit juices are not Filling Foods
* Canned fruit must be packed in water or juice, and drained

Whole-grain cereals — without added sugar,nuts or dried fruit

Lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, beans and meat substitutes such as tofu

Fat-free milk and milk products

What are foods you think should be Core and are not? I am not understanding.

W/W really has many options and they aren't that expensive. If you think TOPS will work for you then go for it but to me it is more like AA than anything (that's just my opinion --- not trying to change yours).

W/W online is $17 a month; W/W has a monthly pass which includes meetings and e-tools for $40 a month (not available in all areas); heck they still have an at home program which is about $100 for all their info.

You should do whatever allows for weight loss. There are people on the other Board that definitely get very irrirable when foods are questioned and yes it is sad that anyone would flame you for a question or a comment about the Program.
In my case I still feel that if whole grain breads were in the selection list the Program would be a much better one. I have never tried doing this but it's an opinion.
Also, if you research it, Core was available on Countroes like New Zealand and Australia and whole grain and whole wheat bread were permitted, 2 slices per day.
What you have to do is experiment and I agree with you that there are foods that I can definitely see whould be on the Program. One way to find out is to try to eat these foods and see how it treats you on your weekly weight in. Don't allow anyone to knock you down.

In my TOPS group (which my husband and I had to leave because of a scheduling conflict. Haven't found a new group yet), it's not an AA atmosphere as much as a "Biggest Loser for ladies who bingo." Most of the ladies are a little older, but there's been a recent influx of younger members, so the group's activities have become a bit more varied (one member organized a field trip to a grocery store where we were broken into teams and had to find foods that met certain criteria and report back on the nutritional information and price of the food). The team that finished first "won" (each member received a small doorprize).

There were always several contests of some type going on. Hubby thought ,most of them were was pretty hokey (but liked winning the best loser of the week prizes - which were the weight gain fines of ten cents per pound gained). I liked the games because they did keep me motivated.