6 months of PP v. Momentum
 

I just completed 6 months on Points Plus (26 weeks) and compared my loss on it to 3 months (13 weeks) immediately before it on the old plan.

I felt that I was having more success with PP and that is true. I started the old plan in August and completed 13 weeks before PP came out. I lost an average of .58 pounds a week.

I started PP when it came out and after 26 weeks (i.e. last week's weigh in) I have averaged .74 pounds a week on PP. Since the first thirteen weeks with the old plan includes the first couple of weeks of water weight loss the true average of the old plan is really probably less than the .58.

I just went back and calculated the old plan but not included the first two weeks (dropping it to 11 weeks). My average weight loss over the 11 weeks drops to .44 pounds a week.

So, PP at .74 pounds a week has been much more effective for me. I know some people might think .74 pounds a week isn't good, but I have always been a slow loser. Back when I lost 43 pounds and got to goal 20 years ago I averaged about 3/4 a pound a week.

I think any amount of weight lost is excellent progress. I'm glad to hear you're finding success with the PP plan :D

I have to admit I was on the Momentum plan for so long that I have that nagging voice in my head yelling "Fruit has Points!"... hasn't stopped me from dropping the weight properly, though.

Congratulations! Of all my mistakes, planning to lose fast, then giving up when it didn't happen, is the one I regret most. Three-quarters of a pound a week is 40 pounds in a year. I'd take that. Interesting comparison of plans, too.

You just made me curious to figure out my average. I've been at PP for 19 weeks and have lost 27.4 which is a 1.44 pound per week average. I would have to say that PP is working!

17 weeks on Momentum=1.03 pounds per week average (17.6# lost)
19 weeks on PointsPlus=.30 pounds per week average (5.6 # lost)
5 weeks back on Momentum=1.56 pounds per week average (7.8 # lost)

Evidence of why I switched back to Momentum. It works better for me.

I have faithfully attended meetings. We have an exceptional leader, and I figured the specific mechanics aren't as important as the overall program.

I will probably switch back to PP after I have reached my goal, but for right now the more restricted points/higher carb works better for me.

Are you a fruit eater? I don't care for most fruit, I'm more of a veggie person. My husband eats more fruit and he found his weight loss stalling recently and he started counting points for fruit after his first fruit of the day and then started losing again. I think that for some people who eat a lot of fruit they lose more slowly on PP. I eat more veggies than fruit so I think that is one reason that PP has worked better for me.

Actually, it was forcing myself to eat fruit that I didn't like. I think it was just too many points for me. 29 pps per day plus another 49 just gave me too much leeway.
And I didn't like being told what to eat. That is one of the things I liked about older plans, there wasn't so much of what I jokingly refer to as "nutrution nuts" wagging their fingers at me about eating more fruit and veggies. I DO like veggies, just not the fruit so much. Having "free fruit" was not a big plus for me. Having wine be 4pp instead of 2pts was. 6 pps for a bowl of cereal seemed like punishment! I like having whole wheat bread and liked being rewarded for choosing higher fiber choices.
But the bottom line was the bottom line: I lost more following Momentum. I've got another 40 pounds to go, and doing it at the rate I was losing on Points Plus was too trying for my patience.

It is great that Momentum is working for you and I'm not at all trying to change your mind. These comments are more for others who might read.

For anyone who doesn't like fruit there is no need to force yourself to eat fruit. The plan does not require fruit at all. The Good Health Guidelines are for 5 fruit/vegetable servings a day. You can eat them entirely through fruit if you want (and I usually do).

I totally get that you weren't losing on PP and are losing on Momentum so I don't at all suggest that you change. But for others reading I think that for most people the way WW sets the points that for the number of PP and WP that you get on PP is an equivalent number of calories to what you were getting on Momentum. I was 23 Momentum points and 29 PP but a Momentum point was worth more calories than a PP point is. There are some people who were at low weight (particularly people under, say, 150 pounds or so) whose PP target was higher calories than the Momentum plan because they've set the flower on the PP higher than on Momentum. I don't know if that applies to you or not. I only mention all this because sometimes people read here and thing that a food that was 3 Momentum points is less calories than a food that is 4 PP and that isn't necessarily the case.

Actually one of the issues I have with the new plan as compared to the older plans is that they new plans don't tell us what to eat. Back in the day (i.e. 20 years ago), WW was an exchange program and you had to eat a certain number of proteins a day, a certain number of breads, a certain number of milks, etc. When WW went to points, they abandoned that and now have Good Health Guidelines. I see Guidelines as suggestions but not actually requirements.


I agree entirely, but I meet my GHG by eating veggies most of the time rather than fruit.

You do still get rewarded for higher fiber choices. I know that when I was buying sandwich rounds, I chose a higher fiber one so that a round was 2 points and not 3. Some foods have gone up in points but my points went up from 23 to 29 so it has worked out OK. FWIW, early on I calculated my food both under Momentum and PP and found that usually a day's food that would be 23 points on Momentum would be about 29 PP. Of course, YMMV depending on what types of foods are eaten.