I'm a little worried about no points for fruits and veggies. I have been calorie counting my fruits/veggies but going by ww. My daily points in 48 points but today I only ate 29 points but consumed nearly 2000 calories! This is mostly fruits and veggies that I have been munching on all day. Last year I had sucess prior to the plan change but than my weight stalled with the switch over so I ended up quiting...
Does weight watchers work anymore or is it just incredibly slow weight loss? Has anyone found sucess since the change???
I've been a Weight Watchers member through both their TurnAround/Momentum/Flex Points counting -and- now their PointsPlus system.
It works just fine for me. I've lost over 40 pounds, as you can see on my ticker.
The key is to follow the guidelines, and keep servings in mind. Most fruits and vegetables are Zero Points, however not all of them are zero points so first a member has to make sure they're consuming one that is zero points.
Next. The Good Health Guidelines. They recommend between 5 & 8 servings a day for most people for fruits and vegetables. Servings... not pieces... not whole chunks. A serving for most fruits and vegetables is only half a cup. Just to put that in perspective, a banana is usually two servings of fruit. It's only one piece of fruit, yes, but it's a whole TWO servings for the good health guidelines purposes.
The final step is to accept that while Weight Watchers is an incredibly balanced and healthy plan, that like any other plan we have to be reasonable in our expectations and to tweak the plan to fit our lives when needed.
In as far as fruits and vegetables go. I'm going to give you an example: For up to 3 servings a day of fruit, I don't count the points for Zero Point fruits. If I have MORE than 3 servings of fruits in a day, I count the points for the above and beyond.
Because: Fruits are not free. They just Zero Points. I still have to be reasonable with myself. If I want more fruit, I can eat it... but it's not "free" it still has calories in it. So I count the points for it above 3 servings to keep myself accountable to that.
I actually love the PointsPlus system a lot more than the other one. I love the emphasis on better nutrition. I like how the Points are now calculated using fat, carbs & protein. Instead of just looking at one thing, they're covering more bases. It's helping me to make better decisions.
I've been doing the new plan since Feb (after twice doing old plans), and I'm down 37. I LOVE the new plan and find more success and confidence on it than any of the old ones.
As Lovely pointed out, the zero point fruits and veggies is not all encompassing. And, yes, a SERVING is only 1/2 a cup for fruit and veggies (1 cup for green leafy veggies). You really only need to eat 2 1/2 - 4 cups a fruit a day. It might seem like a lot, but when you consider a single banana is a single cup/two servings, it's really not.
The zero point fruit is there to help us make better decisions, like grabbing an apple for a snack instead of a candy bar. But it is not meant to be used as a substitute for eating other food. If you're eating so much fruit that you can only get about half your daily points in, you're definitely eating too much fruit. It will take time, but you'll figure it out, I promise
(Also, slow weight loss is not a bad thing. WW recommends 1-2 lbs a week.)
Points Plus is the only WW program I've done but I've been really happy with it so far, I've lost just under 60 lbs in 6 months.
I would double check your daily points target, make sure your info was entered correctly wherever you figured out your dpt to begin with. I am not sure if the stats on the left are correct (5'4", 275 lbs) but 48 pp might be a teensy bit high. (I could also be totally wrong, I still feel like a rookie in many ways!)
Personally I keep my servings of fruit to 2-3 a day. If I ate over that, I would probably count the points for it. (Only happened once and it was making a smoothie, so I used recipe builder - which counted the fruit.)
Also make sure with starchier vegs like corn, potatoes, peas, that you are counting them, and that they aren't your only source of veggies. I've seen folks in my meeting struggle from those 2 things.
I double track too but calories is more of a curiosity thing. I mostly watch my protein and fiber, trying to get in at least 100g of protein and 20g of fiber a day. I feel much more satisfied and have less carb cravings since I've worked on improving my protein intake.
How are you doing on your other good health guidelines? What is making you turn to fruit/veggie snacking over trying to spend your daily points?
I am at week 14 or so and am still losing an average of about 1.8 lbs per week, so I think it is working for me.
OP, are you drinking enough water? It might be that your body is trying to get water from the fruit and vegetables you are eating.
If you are only getting 29 of your daily points, can you add some other food into your day, like some whole grains or some extra protein? How about a slice of whole wheat bread with a tablespoon of natural peanut butter? That should be about 3 or 4 points at least, right (I haven't had PB since staring WW b/c it is a trigger food for me, so I am making a guess here).
When I find I am a few points "low" for the day, whcih happens pretty often since I earn a lot of APs, I have an extra glass of 1% milk and a few almonds.
Maybe try adding a few slices of lean turkey or some tuna to your lunch?
If I find I am eating more than 4 servings of fruit, I'll add in a few points based on what the fruit "costs" when in a recipe, or what the points calc says it is worth based ont eh nutritional info for the fruit. If you do that, do you have enough points?
How about a slice of whole wheat bread with a tablespoon of natural peanut butter? That should be about 3 or 4 points at least, right (I haven't had PB since staring WW b/c it is a trigger food for me, so I am making a guess here).
At least 4-5 points!
Peanuts, almost, etc, do wonder when you need to fill up your points. Or throw some cheese in your meals.
God, there's a bunch of wonderful things I'll do with those extra points! hehe!
Thanks everyone! Im sadly actually back at 300.... I counted everything and I ate like ten servings of fruit. When I count that in I actually did just fine point wise. For some reason I was having a free for all with fruit yesterday which is weird cuz I generally avoid it like the plague. Thanks for all your advice! I joined back online last week and I've been relying mostly on this,forum for advice. Thanks again
I love the new program, I've lost most of my weight on it. BUT I don't over eat the fruit. You still have to make good choices and fruit does contain a lot of sugar and carbs. I try to limit myself to 3 servings at most a day and eat the rest in veggies. I have a hard time hitting my 29 point goal but I'm not eating dairy, carbs, or soy so my choices are limited *laughs*
Worried...
I counted everything and I ate like ten servings of fruit. When I count that in I actually did just fine point wise. For some reason I was having a free for all with fruit yesterday which is weird cuz I generally avoid it like the plague. Thanks for all your advice! I joined back online last week and I've been relying mostly on this,forum for advice. Thanks again 
