I was wondering about somehow combining CORE and FLEX points also.
I eat a lot of CORE foods but I sometimes like the convenience of sticking a frozen entree into the microwave.
But my leader said that WW wants the members to choose EITHER Core or FLEX and stick with each one for the entire week.
They seem to feel that trying to combine the 2 plans in a week will lead to accidently taking in too many calories etc. Since I am such a WW Newbie at this point I can't say for sure. --Pookie
I just remembered that one of the ladies at my meeting on Sunday said she was on the verge of quitting WW because she was so tired of constantly measuring and figuring out points. But when they brought out the CORE plan and she no longer had to measure and count she decided to stay with WW.
She did say she is not losing quite as fast with CORE, but she has accepted the slower loss in order not to have to do all that counting. --Pookie
Me! I tried Core, and there were some aspects I liked about it, but there were just way too many rules, things that had to be counted, and most of the "free" foods I didn't care for. I had to spend a lot more time cooking and my grocery bill went up for sure. On the positive side, I added more fruits to my diet as well as my milks. I just couldn't grasp that concept of being "satisfied" I always wanted more, because there were no hard and fast restrictions. "Satisfied" and "full" are very abstract and open to interpretation. I'm more of a black and white type of person. I also gained weight on Core. I'm very happily back on Flex with some added new food choices and a much better sense of control and the feeling of not being on a diet.
Just read your reply, Pookie. I think I sort of "combine" the two plans. I do Flex, but I eat many of the core foods like old fashioned oats, lean meats, fruits and vegetables, skim milk, limited prepared foods, etc. But I count the points and use serving sizes.
How popular does WW say Core is? I noticed that on our diet survey (which is open to the general public and not just our forum members) that we have 10 times more people following Flex as Core. We asked them why they chose one over the other, and most people replied that they preferred the freedom of food choices with Flex, as well as the portion control that helped them lose weight. A lot of people said they were not losing on core, but their weight loss resumed when they switched back to Flex.
Hi Suzanne, I am not sure what W/W official stance is but I know that I gained on Core because I never felt satisified because my mind knew I could have more so I ate more. I prefer (as stated 1,000,000 times) using whole, natural foods over convenience or processed foods 95% of the time with the portion/points control and feel more satisified than ever. I also think Flex is much easier to figure when you are dining out because there is so much that is added to restaurant foods. Even steak houses use a butter sauce to cook their meats in.
I asked the leader what kind of feedback they have been getting from WW members about the 2 plans. The leader on Sunday was a substitue leader and she did not know. Next week I will ask the regular leader if she knows about member feedback on the two plans. --Pookie
Interesting. I am doing much better on Core. I have lost 15 pounds on Core since September 4th for a total of 62 pounds lost since February 27th (when I had my son).
I don't buy the "Flex has more food choice" cr*p. You have choices on both plans. There are restrictions on both plans. When I was on Flex I wouldn't dream of eating avacados because of the Points. Now that I am on Core I do eat them. I don't eat white rice etc.
As I said I am sooo new at this WW thing this time around but that comment you made about the avocados costing too many points reminded me about one of the problems I had with Flex Points a few years ago.
Because of my situation I have to have a lot of PROTEIN.
I remember that things like certain CARBS and OATMEAL worked very well with the POINTS system (you can have a nice big portion for only 2 points) but when I tried to have things like Meats / Poultry etc to up my protein they would take a really big bite out of my points for the day.
I will keep experimenting and see which works best for me. --Pookie
Good luck! This is not a simple process. In the past Flex worked fine for me. But after I had my son I just couldn't do it anymore. I was so sick of counting Points. At the time I was looking at a way to combine South Beach and Points. Then they came out with Core and thats exactly what I needed.
You will find what works best. I agree with Kelly about maybe trying Flore. That seems to work for some people.
It sounds to me like a lot of people are doing some sort of combination of the 2 plans. Maybe as time goes by WW will come out with some combination of the 2 plans. As I said they seem to frown on combining the 2 plans during the same week, but maybe when they realize that a lot of people are doing it they might change their "official" response.
I think that CORE is relatively new and WW probably needs more time and more feedback from members before they make any changes.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few months. I think it is good that WW is always looking at new ways of doing things. They have not kept their plan "cast in bronze" over the years.
I joined Weght Watchers officially (after using the concepts of flex at home) specificly to get the Core foods list. I was sick of counting points and wanted to see what the new plan was all about. I'm back on Flex now, but doing Core was a good experience. Here's what I learned, both about Core and about myself.
The first week I did Core was tough. I was used to popping frozen meals in the micowave, and went through a round of "oh dear! what will I eat!" I also focused heavily on the grains for some reason and basicly went vegetarian that week. Not that it's a bad thing, but I didn't plan properly for it. I didn't get enough fat in my diet (neither beans nor bulgur nor chicken breast have a lot of fat!) and ended up craving it & hitting the vending machine. I wasn't eating my 2t of healthy fats every day either. I felt weak and light headed. I went back to Flex. I actually lost well on Core, which might have been water weight because I was eating less salt (frozen entrees).
I noticed that on Core I ate more in the morning and mid day, and smaller (5 point) dinners. I also drank more milk. When I went back to Flex I incorporated those habits in, knowing that if my body chose that when the world was wide open, I'd be happier if I stuck with it.
The second time I tried Core lasted 2 weeks. I planned far better, stocking up on unsweetened applesauce and fat free plain yogurt, bringing a small bottle of olive oil into the office, and buying a bottle of flaxseed oil for home use. And beef! I also bought the Turnaround cookbook, which has a great Tenderloin roast with mushrooms and onions recipe, and the porkchops with apples is great too. Anyways, I made meals for the week on sunday & put them in individual conatiners - mainly Black beans and bulgur, I can't remember what my other option was. My food most days was
Oatmeal made with milk and splenda
coffee w/ milk and splenda
apple
Black beans and bulgur w/ 1t olive oil
carrots (sometimes using flex points for peanut butter)
unsweetened applesauce with splenda and cinnamon
Something from the Turnaround Cookbook for dinner, and a salad w/ flaxseed oil dressing, and a glass of milk
Yes, my non-sugar sweetener intake SKYROCKETED on Core. At the end of the 2 weeks I was getting headaches which I blamed on the Splenda. I was probably wrong, because I've gone back to it since and haven't had any problems. However, I had some social events coming up, and didn't feel as motivated to cook on Sundays, so it was just another reason to go back to Flex.
I was hungrier on Flex, in part because my food choices weren't as filling. It's all about trade-offs. This week I was going to do Core but didn't want to think about dissecting my food, and just ate the core meals in my freezer because they were there and had points written on them. That food list above? Yeah, that's pretty much what I ate yesterday.
I think Core is a great ideal, but it takes conscious decisions and balancing to make it work (for me, I need more beef and avocados). My boyfriend, on the other hand, refers to it as "that wacked out diet that needs to be revised". And all of that after it fixes his main complaints about Flex! I think either plan will work fine, but generally one or the other will fit a person better. To anyone starting out, I would recommend Flex. It has the structure that I needed starting out, I needed that Target (to avoid staving myself) and having to measure foods helps to get a feel for proper portion size, and how much will actually fill me up. Switching to Core meant I didn't have to eat everything I took just because I'd already written down the points (I know, we never have to, but I'm weird that way) and I could eat when I was hungry rather than saving points for a big dinner that I thought I wanted. Core helped me get back in touch with my body after getting in touch with reality on Flex.
Sorry, I babbled on a lot, but I hope you can dig a few helpful nuggets out of all of that.
Many people 'thought' they didn't or couldn't do Flex because they one thing or another. Points counting, journaling, not getting enough protein, or dairy or whatever.
The point is if they had made wise choices few junk and processed foods and used bascially following a balanced or modified for more or less protein PointsPie the are basically following a reduced caloric intake with healthy foods on Flex they would have been better off.
Yes Flex allows more leeway for allowing junk and yes both programs have 'restrictions' but then again both are good programs and both are designed to lose at an average of .5-2 pounds a week. The point is 'one size doesn't fit all' in their lifestyle so NEITHER IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER.
Pookie, Combing the 2 programs does not lead to over eat because you need to follow points and portions with Flex but use the whole food concept of Core. So there would be no overeating. I think leaders were thinking that people were still eating 'to satisfaction' and only counting points for 1 portion. Not what we are doing at all.
Amy, I agree that many people will need or should do Flex for a while to realize what a proper portion is so that when they do if they decide to do Core they can have a better sense of when to stop to see if they are full...doesn't mean they will have to measure but after doing measuring and weighin on Flex for a bit you can sort of eyebal a portion.
who had trouble on core and went back to flex?
