Hi everyone,

My name is Mikah and I just started Core .Coming from a long background of ED , and obsessions of calories counting, CORE seemed like a big relief to me . I am doing WW online thing, so I can log everything on their website.
I need to lose about 10 lbs to feel comfortoable in my skin (Im 5"3 and 143 now.)
I am having a hard time knowing "how much?" I am supposed to eat ?
I really love the fact that technically you dont have to measure with this plan . Here are my questions for you ladies :

To those who have had success with core :

#1 Do you really not measure ?
#2 From my understanding pasta, brown rice and potatos are once a day / oats , blk beans, corn etc are eat to satisfaction ...but do you all have some sort of guildeine on your starches at all ?
#3 I do not "cook" with oil ... What is the harm in substituting 1 T of almond butter / natural PB for the oil ? Is it some type of scientific thing that makes you hold if you exchange olive oil for a daily serving of PB ? Or is it just a binge trigger so WW has taken it upon themselves to limit this particular food ?

#4 Do you all use your 35 points ? If you did use your 35 points a week , would that hinder your weight loss ?

#5 How much do you all workout? Do you consider a stroll in the park a workout , or must it be a standard sweat drenching workout to count as activity ?

I really need some encouragement because I am afraid that this will not work for me as I feel tainted with the calorie counting, percentages of macros etc etc etc? Im having a hard time having trust in what I think a portion size is, eating it and moving on without obsessing over exact contents .
Any pointers will help !

Hi Mikah. I've followed core since 2004 when it was introduced. i did hit goal but have since gained some back that I'm working on. What I have found is the following:

If you don't have an issue with portion control, then not weighing and measureing can work. If you don't know what a normal portion of potato or pasta is, I would suggest measuring so you know what a correct portion is. For a while I did points (weighing and measuring) while eating the core/simply filling foods. Also, if you cook, core/simply filling is easier to follow then if you rely on prepackaged foods. Those will eat up your 35 points very quickly.

For #2 you are reading the program correctly. If you need to limit is really a personal choice. Do you lose slower if you eat more startches? I tend to do better limiting startches, but thats me.

#3 - again, I think its a personal choice. If you can substitute those and still lose, then great. I would still try to get in the olive and healthy oils -- they are just good for you.

#4 - I never really used all my 35 points, for me they are more of a buffer when I am in situation where I'm going off program -- either planned or not. My old leader used to joke how I lost and still had my glass of wine each night
#5 -- I walk about 1+miles a day, plus recently added biking. Walking counts, check out the online activity tracker. The more steneous the better it is for your overall health.

The big thing with core/simply filling is knowing when to stop eating -- can you stop when you are satisfied or do you eat until you feel like you'll explode? A few here have different tricks to help with portion control without measuring. Eat on a salad plate rather than a dinner plate, I try to have my plate 1/2-1/3 veggies and I put those on first. I've also started cooking meats in smaller portions -- A package of 3 chicken breast become 6-8 servings.

Come on over to the chat thread as well, its a great, supportive group!

HTH

Hi Mikah! Welcome to 3FC

The activity points equal out to round about a half pound's worth of calories per week. So if you use them all, it's not costing you that much if it helps you stay on track. However, over the course of a year, that adds up! I use them if I need to - I don't plan them, but mainly it just helps me 'go off plan' without beating myself up. That helps my morale, and keeps me from giving up. But if I don't need them, I don't use them. My mother is a lifetimer, and she uses every activity point (she just adds on 5 a day) just to keep herself satisfied.

A stroll in the park is an activity, and is good for you, but if you really want to burn calories, your heart rate has to get up. So just stroll a little faster.

Oh - about the peanut butter - it's actually less calories and fat than oil, so I don't see what the harm would be in it.