I started WW online, the second week of Jan. 2013. I have found during this short time on the plan that not using my WP i lose more. I try to not use all of my AP either but somedays I am just too hungry. It's a good thing we all are finding what works for us.
I noticed for me that if I break up my weekly points in any way I don't lose weight. However, if I eat all of my weekly points in one day, my weight loss is no slower than if I ate no weekly points. So I pick one day a week to splurge on my favorite dinner, dessert and beer and call it good.
I track, measure and weight everything. I also earn approx. 24 AP each week. I use most of my WP's and am still losing about 2 lbs a week. I do not eat my AP just my WP.
I think the key is to find what works for you and stick to it. WW is a system, it is flexible that you can use it in a way that works for you. You can't try to cheat the system and everyone's weight loss will be different. So people can get frustrated but they just not found out what works for them.
I just started weight watchers again. I lost 40 lbs and then! Gained back 60... now I am fatter than I have ever been. Rats. ANYWAY! Last time around I used my weeklies all the time and continuously lost even when I was to my healthy weight. I really like wine and hard cider so... they get used on that often! At first I didn't exercise at all but when I lost more and more weight I walked 3-7 days a week and ran at the gym. I also let Jillian Michaels destroy me for an entire month straight and then a few days a week after that.
So, at my heaviest I didn't exercise but still lost weight using weeklies and at my lightest I still lost while using weeklies but exercised regularly.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skinnyT
I wish we could hear some input from people who do eat their weeklies and loose. Are they really active? Are they super strict on logging? Do they weigh their food?
*waves* Hi. I joined WW in January 2011 and lost 65 pounds between then and May of last year. I ate every single one of my weeklies, every single week without fail, and had a steady, consistent rate of weight loss. As a matter of fact, the four weeks when I had a gain were weeks when I experimented with *not* using my weeklies.
And no, I wasn't *incredibly* active. I mean, I walked. That's it. Now mind you, I walk fast, but I'm no powerwalker, and I wasn't walking for hours at a time. I wasn't a member of a gym at that point; I did no weight training during the time I was actively losing weight, and I didn't do Zumba or step aerobics or any form of "structured" cardio. I just...walked.
I think that use of weeklies is, like everything else, different for everyone. Some people can eat them and still lose; others, for whatever reason, cannot. Like it or not, you really do have to experiment with it to see what works for you. I know it's frustrating to have weeks when you stay the same, or gain....but WW isn't totally perfect. You still have to take into consideration the way *your* body works. If you can eat the weeklies and lose, that's great. If you can't....well, you can't. And there's not much you can do about it. Your body is unique, and so is the way you lose weight.
I look at WW mainly as a means of support. Has it taught me a new way of looking at the way I eat? Sure. Do I follow every single precept to the letter? No, because I know that certain things about the program have to be tweaked for me in order for it to work for me.
I hope you don't mind my input...
I followed WW from November 2010 until last April. I started just before PP began. When we switched to PP, I was scared of all the points I had. After a few weeks I got into a nice grove, but I wasn't eating any of the weekly points. After a couple months, I started taking two or three here and there during the week. I didn't see a change in loss. I wasn't as afraid of them as I was in the beginning. Some weeks I ate them all, some weeks none, some weeks just a few. As long as I tracked, didn't go over my daily + weekly then I lost consistently. As I said, I joined in November and in Maine it's winter and COLD. I didn't start getting active until March '11. I didn't use my activity points at first. But I noticed as I worked out more, I was hungry. I started using my activity points instead of my weekly points and that worked for me.
I think whether you can use WP and lose or not depends upon 2 main factors:
1. Your level of daily activity
2. Your metabolism
I live a sedentary life. I have a desk job. I have a one story house that isn't huge. I come home and spend most of my time at the computer. Unless I really put in the effort to do significant activity I will not meet my WW baseline (I know this from the Active Link). So, if I eat all my Weekly Points I will not lose or will lose very, very slowly. Over the last 2 weeks I used each week about 1/3 of my weekly points and lost a pound a week.
On the other hand, I am a regained lifetime member. When I got to lifetime, I ate all of extra points (called optional calories then as I recall) every week. I ate every bite that I could eat on WW while following the program and had no problem doing so. And, at that time I was getting down a goal weight of 125. I had a similar sedentary lifestyle then with doing exercise a few days a week.
Why can't I do that now? Well, it is the difference between being mid-30s as I was then and being late 50s as I am now. My metabolism now isn't what it was then. If you are my age or older, then you have to make up for that fact by being more active (which is why DH and I are now taking 45 minutes walks every day).
So - an active person in their 20s or 30s could probably eat all Weekly points while a more sedentary older person couldn't.
I do my best NOT to eat my weeklies. I track every item that goes into my mouth as much as possible. I wear the ww pedometer and earn about 20-25 AP weekly by walking, jogging, zumba and swimming (which I track seperately since the pedometer isn't waterproof like the activelink).
I have my ww settings online set up to take points from my AP before my WP. This way I figure I at least "earned" any extra points I consume. My goal is that by weigh in day I still have 49 WP.
That being said, I have noticed that I'm slowing down and I am looking into getting a food scale because I think I'm not eyeballing my protiens correctly. I've also been considering investing in the ActiveLink, but can't bring myself to spend the $ on it until I hit a plateau that I can't break through.
Hi, I am doing WW and I found that I can lose 1-2 lbs a week on the regular points allowance and weekly points allowance if I am not having many fruits and vegetables and if I track accurately. When I decide I want more fruits and veggies and follow the program and don't lose I take off 10% of the daily point allowance I receive, and I start losing again. I really like the flexibliity of weekly points so I can eat more some days and eat less others. I would rather lose daily points than the weeklies. Currently I am following the program as laid out and not eating many fruits and vegetables because we have not really been able to afford many. It seems to be working. In the last month I have lost 14 lbs.
My suggestion
