My husband has done WW successfully without writing a single thing down. He knows how many points he gets for each meal and he does track how many points things are worth and follows the plan. But he doesn't write anything down. He has lost over 30 pounds and looks great.

Personally I think it's easier to write things down because you can look back and see what you did when you were succeeding. For instance, even when I lost weight, I cheated on something every day (eating something that wasn't necessarily good for me like a cookie). I find that encouraging.

With my husband, I'll make something, figure out the points, then serve it as leftovers a couple days later and he wants to know how many points it is. Well, if you had written down what you'd eaten, that would be a lot easier than my getting out the recipe, recalculating the points and trying to figure out how big of a portion you're having. Irritates me to no end, but he's still lost weight so apparently my estimates haven't been completely off.

But like others have said, you have options. If you want to eat whatever you want (as WW allows), you have to track your points. If you want to limit your options (such as with South Beach), you don't have to track anything but you are stuck with what is on their plan. If that type of plan works better for you, go for it.

Most people eat a small selection of things most of the time, so tracking does come very easy over time. The Greek yogurt I had for breakfast this morning was 5 points today just like it was yesterday and the day before.

And over time you get better and better at estimating points. I can look at a nutrition label and estimate within a point or two (depending on the total) how many points something will be. If something is heavily laden with fat or carbs, figure 30 calories per point; for everything else, it's closer to 40 or 50 points per point depending on how much of a Power Food it is.

But if the thought of tracking just sets you off, try something else for a while. If it works, great; if not, you might want to seriously consider tracking. It really isn't that hard.

My boyfriend is the same way Pageta! The man can remember anything and do math in his head quickly. I do catch him cheating a lot doing so but despite that he has still lost almost 30 pounds in about 3 months. He isn't 'officially' on the program though and doesn't have weekly weigh ins, whereas I do. When I was in high school I did the same thing tracking calories when I dropped 60 pounds in 9 months. When I stopped tracking, I stopped losing - then I went to college and we can all see what happened there!

The online apps - WW or others makes tracking easy. The first couple of weeks you have to do a lot of figuring out points but once you save things to your "favorites" it is easy peasy!

It is too easy to slip without tracking. Every time I have failed and gave up it was preceded by not tracking and skipping weigh ins. Not doing either this time until I thoroughly ingrain new healthier habits.

thanks ladies. Going to my first meeting today

It is going to be a lot of information. Take it in and be open to all of the possibilities. It works if you work it. I've lost 12 lbs since the day after Thanksgiving and feel fantastic. You always lose more that first month though, so I'll probably lose right around 5 lbs a month. Slow and steady wins the race.

One thing that really helped me was to write down all the foods I ate often on eTools and then to "favorite" them.

yea it is a lot of information to take in. I have soooo many questions. I read my getting started book front to back just now. I guess I just gotta organize my thoughts and the foods that I can have. Since I like to eat Im gonna try to aim for low cal snacks and eat more. I never realized how many cals are in the foods I love. Ive eaten 21 pts and its 10:30. Guess u learn from your mistakes

One of the main reasons I love WW is because I can eat whatever I want (within reason). If I choose to have a slice of pizza from dominoes, I can. Planning and tracking are necessary but not completely restrictive. Im finding that It's realistic for me to eat the way this progam is structured permanently. My suggestion is to not restrict foods in your head, that's not sustainable. Allow yourself to have what you want in moderation.

Good luck

Thank you mammasita

Breanna - I've found that pre-tracking helps. I don't always do it. but I find when I pre-track a meal I'm less likely to stray from it. I dislike tracking enough to not want to delete (or erase) everything and re-track whatever the new meal is. lol.

Something else that helped me get through the first few weeks was to get food/meal ideas from other people who had been doing the program for a while. I spent a couple of hours one Saturday and read several blogs of people doing the program. As I read I wrote down some idea and headed to the grocery store with a list. It was almost think free because they had done the work in calculating the points. As the weeks went on I added my own stuff in, replaced a few things I started out with and now tracking is a breeze (well mostly).

Don't get discouraged with all the information and how many points your "old habits" cost. This is a learning process and will take a few weeks to get into a routine.

Remember that lean protein and fiber fill you up so find some foods that you love that are low in points but high in protein and fiber.

You'll be into a routine in no time and losing weight!

Tracking definately works! I've lost 100lbs and every single pound shed was due to hard work and dedication at the gym, attending weekly meetings, and tracking.

I write down my foods as I eat them and add the points as I go. I even have an excel program I use sometimes to track.

I just joined two (no, 3 now!) weeks ago and so far I love it! It's a little disappointing learning how MANY points simple things like a turkey sandwich are. I always thought I was being very healthy when I made a sandwich or a salad but as it turns out the stuff I put on it makes it as many points as a burger.
I don't feel like I've had to make major sacrifices and I have been losing weight which is awesome. You can still eat what you like you just have to be aware of everything you put in your mouth and tracking is so easy with the apps. It works, just stick with it!

I am a lifetime member who joined the first time back in the 80's to lose 15 lbs. Points Plus is a whole lot easier than the plan they had back then. I find it helps to make a list of low point foods that I like and save them in my favorites. The first couple of weeks I kept to those foods. Now I use the calculator and online tracker to add new foods when I eat something not on my list. I also use a phone app that lists points for foods in popular restaurants. The app is a lot easier than carrying the WW book around.

YAY Glad you joined ! YOUR GOING TO LOVE IT !

and remember it's not cheating unless you don't count it !

GOOD LUCK in your new journey !