Hey guys, here to join the chat!

I signed up for WW today, and will hopefully be heading to my first meeting tomorrow. I'm going back to school at the end of August, going on vacation at the beginning of August, and I'm just tired of saying "Oh, I'll start tomorrow" all the time.

First couple weeks will be tough for me, I just had somewhat major surgery on my tubes/ovaries, so right now my working is getting up and down stairs a few times a day.

Good Morning and Happy Mothers Day

Welcome EmilieMarie!!!

flickety switch Congrats on your decent loss that's great! I'm hoping for one too this week...

Kitten ITA... And I know for me I can really "overthink" things when it comes to losing weight... That's why this time I'm really just trying to have faith in the plan... I know WW works for me, so I'm getting on board 100% AND I'M GETTING BACK TO GOAL AGAIN!!!

SO... I'm celebrating today... It was one year ago, last Mothers Day... And I weighed 218.7 lbs... I decided THAT WAS IT and STARTED this weight loss journey...

AND TODAY I'M DOWN OVER 50 LBS !!!

SO TODAY I'm just going to enjoy that and be happy...

Down to 284.6 after a 61 point day yesterday. Ok... well, I'm not complaining! My daughter made brownies, what was I supposed to do??!! I tracked every bite though and although I made a serious dent in my weeklies, it's kinda what I do.

TripSwitch - Just remember that your daily points are your minimum, not your maximum points. For me, if someone said I had to eat exactly 26 points each and every day that would be too dietlike and restrictive for me. Weight Watchers designs the plan for people to lose weight even if they eat all of their weekly points. Yes, of course, if I eat all my weekly points I will lose weight a little more slowly than if I didn't eat them. 49 Weekly Points roughly equates to about half a pound so theoretically I would lose half a pound less eating all my weeklies versus none of them.

But speed of theoretical weight loss isn't everything. First, I don't think I could stick with always eating exactly 26 points. Also, part of weight loss is to teach us how to eat for maintenance. Losing weight means nothing if we don't maintain the loss. I know I'm not going to eat the exact same number of points each day for the rest of my life while on maintenance. So, if I won't do it then, I'm not going to do it now. In real life, some days I'm hungrier than others. Some days I go out to eat. Some days I have special events (like mother's day). So, I won't eat the same amount each day.

In practice I usually end up eating about half of my weekly points each way. I don't go out of my way to eat them, but it doesn't bother me when I do. Occasionally I eat all of them or eat only 10 or so during the week. But, I think that being open to eating them creates a much more natural food environment for the long term.

Why I Don't Follow Simply Filling - I am a huge fan of eating real foods that aren't highly processed. I think that for long term weight loss and maintenance it isn't enough to just cut calories. I have to change what I eat. And, I do much better when I avoid highly processed foods and when I avoid fast food and most junk foods. So -- theoretically -- I like the idea of Simply Filling which is largely focused on more of the less processed foods. But, I found I can't follow it and while I agree with much of the concept, I disagree with some of the details.

WW shows that it is still fat-phobic with how it structures simply filling. As a result, there are certain foods that aren't power foods due to high fat content even though they are nutritious foods. And, in one instance, WW prefers a highly processed food to one that is more nutritious (although higher calorie). Some specifics:

1. Nuts are not a power food even though many nuts are super good for you. Yes, they are high calorie. But they are really good foods. I eat an ounce of nuts every day. Yes, I can count them as part of my 49 points, but since a serving of nuts is 4 or 5 points, it isn't really realistic to have them every day on Simply Filling. I think that having them is healthier for me than not having them. (I think WW should treat them more like oils. So, allow 1 oz. a day to be included in Simply Filling, but beyond that count them in your weekly points).

2. Fat Free Cheese is a power food, but low fat cheese isn't. I think that is a limitation that is unnecessary and is really more about WW being stuck 20 years ago on fat.

3. WW allows reduced-calorie bread on Simply Filling even if it is refined bread. Conversely, whole grain bread that isn't reduced calorie is not a power food. This makes no sense to ever prefer white bread over whole grain. At a minimum, if WW thinks reduced-calorie bread is required it should require that it be whole grain.

4. For many people, not counting and tracking what you eat doesn't work. I know that I need to track what I eat. I do wish on the regular plan that they made it where junk food like cake, cookies, candy, sugary drinks could only be counted from your weekly points. I think it is good that you have to do that with Simply Filling. But, I know that I would not succeed on a plan where I didn't track what I was eating. Of course, that isn't true for everyone.

Koshka I definitely agree with those assertions. The way I see it full fat cheese within portions will keep you fuller. Plus at this time almonds are good for milk production which is important to me at the moment.

Weighed in at 288.8. Lost 2.8 lbs. Yay

Hey gals. I haven't posted over in this section for a while. I sort of fell off the weight watchers plan with getting ready to move, and we decided to get two puppies later in July so we were checking out kennels and all to find a reputable place to purchase from. Closing for the house is Friday, final walkthrough is Thursday.

I have sorta put a hold on WW for now. With all the busy stuff that was going on I wasn't cooking and we were ordering out a lot. Taco Bell, McDonalds, Pizza Hut.. not good stuff. I put on 5lbs that I had lost. So for the next few months I'm trying out Medifast. It's nice because it's mostly bars and shakes. So really quick grab and go foods that are balanced for nutrients, which I don't feel like the microwave meals with points on them necessarily are. I've always felt those were suppose to be more of a one-off thing.

I'll likely be joining you ladies again in a few months, once we get settled in our new home, with our puppies (we're getting two huskies)! Basically when I have time to really cook again. Hope everyone is doing well!

Also Munchy, I know it's way late but your dress is gorgeous and you look fantastic in it!

Hi All...

Koska thanks... and ITA with lot of what you're saying about simply filling... I'm just getting started back with WW again and I loved my meeting... I really had a lot of fun at it... So it's probably going to take me a few weeks to get back in the groove with tracking.... But now correct me if I'm wrong, can't you switch back and forth between counting points and simply filling... For example do a day of simply filling and then track the rest of the week if you want? Because that was what I was thinking of doing... We'll see...

Tomorrow is my meeting and weigh-in and I think I did pretty good this past week, so hopefully I'll show a decent loss... I think I've used 30 of my wp's' so far, so depending on what the scale shows I'll have a better idea of what to do as far as perhaps some fine tuning...

Yes you can switch on a daily basis which is a great option to have.

Ughhh.... so, my daughter found and ate my Fiber One cookies. I had eaten two and she ate the remaining 3 at once. I keep them in my car because that way they aren't immediately accessible to me at home but I can take one into work with me for lunch. Today when I went to get one, the box was empty.

I'm so annoyed with her that I'm secretly anticipating the gastrointestinal upset she's sure to reap after eating 3 Fiber One cookies. Yeah, I know, I'm a horrible mother.

So anyway I was absolutely starving. I really count on that afternoon snack. I'm stuck with the vending machine and got a Special K bar out of. It was 5 points, so i'll have to shave 2 points off from something else today to accommodate. So frustrating!

Koshka- I agree with most of what you say about simply filling. Even with PPs I avoided most processed food and non fat foods, so I am doing the same with Simply filling. Trying to eat real healthy foods, not just low point foods. I think it is up to everyone to decide how they are going to use the program and what they are going to eat. I see simply filling as a great transition process to normal eating without measuring/ tracking every lick and nibble. I still track everything and make the real food healthy choice first.

Good Morning All!!!

Super excited about my meeting today and even my weigh-in, even though I'm not sure what the scale will show... I'm sure it will be fine... But the best part is I'm finally feeling so motivated to get to goal again, which was something that I was really struggling with...

Thankfully that has passed and I have that feeling again that "I CAN DO THIS!"

Hope everyone here has a great day... and I'll check back in later...

TripSwitch, good luck - you have a great attitude!

Mother's day was tough - wine and pizza, two absolute favorites. I have been exercising more this week than I have in a long time, so am hoping that helps on Friday's weigh in. Anyone have any advice about how much to exercise (or not exercise) before a weigh in? Is cardio better or weights? TIA!

I think you just do what your plan is for fitness and ignore the weigh-in. I mean... I wouldn't modify my workout plan in order to tweak the numbers on the scale. I weigh in every morning at the same time and count Friday's weight as official and just do my normal routine.

I know it's hard, we always want to do whatever tricks and stunts we can do to make the numbers on the scale more favorable, but it doesn't really MEAN anything. Just pick a day and a time you can stick to, and if you follow your plan you'll see an overall downward pattern, even if you go up and down day by day.

I just got back from my weigh-in and meeting.... DRUMROLL PLEASE... Lol...

I LOST 4.2 LBS !!!

So this goes to show that the scale makes almost no sense to me... I literally thought I heard the woman wrong when she said it... I said to her "You're got to be joking"... And she said "Trust me... I would never joke about that"... and we both had a good laugh... I really was shocked... And even if it is only just mostly water... I'm OK with that... I mean I can't imagine I could possibly put that much water weight back on by next weigh-in as long as I stay "On Plan"... Which trust me, I am very motivated to do now.

Thanks everyone for all the advice and ALL THE ENCOURAGEMENT... It really does make a difference...

Thanks!

I only do cardio... so no real experience with weights and how it effects the scale for me... But I do notice that on weeks when I up my workouts I also tend to go up a little bit on the scale too... just the increased water retention to go along with muscle repair that is taking place I think... and than it settles back down...

So ITA with Kitten I would just keep doing what you're doing as long as you're happy with it... because in my experience a slight increase on the scale when I did more was usually followed by a really nice drop once my body adjusted...