Weight Watchers

[MonaCat]

Weight Watchers

So how many points can you eat a day?

[nancy]

Weight Watchers

well it depends on how much you weigh.

for overweight woman but not obese it is about 22 per day plus 35 per week, which equates to 27 points per day, very low caloric intake, remember a point is worth about 50-60 calories, but if you have high fiber the point count is less.

I reckon they expect people are cheating. or the guidelines are set for very small women (small bones and height).

Also, remember when doing weight watchers that some fat free foods recommended on this diet are loaded with sugar or high fructose corn syrup which is deadly stuff. (I have thrown away all of my fatfree salad dressing, check the labels ladies!)

you can still do it, just be careful with totally fat free foods.

for someone who has never been on the program I WHOLEHEARTEDLY recommend it. you will learn immensely about calories in food.

Those who have gone the rounds a bit more should be discriminating about what is in their points, not just the total, that gets lost in the WW mentality.

I say go for it Mona Cat.
Learning the point system for food has huge value for your dieting goals. But beware of the limitations (point value versus nutritional value)
and take good supplements.

[wwbarb]

Weight Watchers

Mona, there is a five question quiz that you take. How many points you eat is based on your height, weight, gender, age and activity level. Also, you get more points if you are nursing. There is another plan, called the Core plan that is based on learning your "confort zone" by eating from a list of wholesome, nutritious food without tracking or counting your points. You get an extra 35 points every week for treats, glasses of wine, etc. It scares the hell out of people learning to trust themselves and once you can learn to do that, you can truly learn to manage your eating and your weight.

You really can't do this program without the materials that either the online program or joining has to offer. Even if you just join and never go back (which I don't recommend - the group support, which is nothing like AA, is unbelievable if you get the right group for you) you'll have the week one material and everything you need for the food program. You need to go through at least week three to get the activity stuff and through week ten to get all the printed material. I don't mean to sound preachy, but if I could get a lock on my drinking like I have on my eating I would be a happy woman, and WW helped me do that.

[wwbarb]

Weight Watchers

Nancy, I am curious, when you say "some fat free foods recommended on this diet", I am wondering who is doing the recommending? A lot of times there are food ideas exchanged in the meeting room when individuals are bored or so-forth. I agree with you on the fat free stuff - most of it is horrible and loaded with crap. You are better sticking with a teaspoon of olive oil and some vinegar or lemon juice. It is an individual choice what you eat.

And the one word I will not tolerate in my meeting room is the work "diet". Diet has a very negative connotation - you are either "on it" or "off it". This is a plan where you are making a choice - you have so many points (or you are on the Core plan and you are hungry) and you decide what it is you are going to have. I treat my points like money - would you spend $50 on that pair of shoes?? Well, I'm not spending 5 points on a brownie (I only get 18 a day when I am losing weight).

Another part of the program is the "Eight heathly guidelines". This forces you to use a lot of your points on dairy, healthy oils, protein, and whole grains. It also tells you that you need a certain amount of fruits, veggies and water and to limit your sugar and alcohol, as well as take a supplement. By the time you are done eating your healthy habits, you don't have many points left for wine. Also, if you really conform to the heathly guidelines, you are going to feel satisfied after getting used to it. Like any decrease in food intake, it takes some getting used to.

[nancy]

Weight Watchers

Well the fatfree foods...

I think they advise fat free dressings don't they? Isn't it in some of the tip lists for snacks?

Also, i used to buy weight watchers fatfree products, like cookies, and I would compulsively eat the entire box. I figure it is due to the sugar content, the things they put inthe snacks to make them more palatable.

I know you are right about the recommendations for food types. I never took that advice to heart, i guess I never realized the significance of it.
I got all the handouts saying whole grains were good. but noone ever explained to me why refined sugars are so bad for weight loss. Once I understood that, through the south beach diet, i never touched them again. whereas when i was on weight watchers, i routinely ate white pasta and saw nothing wrong with that. I was still in the Fat free mentality, all the while eating tons of sugar, unknowingly.

For me and others I have known in the program, there is a tendency to focus on the number of points and being allowed goodies with the bonus points.

I used to swear by weight watchers, and it always worked. for some reason, I can't seem to lose weight anymore. It might be due to antidepressants, which I have now stopped.

I heard that some groups are amazing.

maybe i will try it again. It got depressing the last time to not be able to lose after so many successful experiences with weight watchers. Wbarb, what are your feelings about anti-depressants and weight gain?

[lushy]

Weight Watchers

I gained 30 pounds on anti-depressants and would never go back on them again. Most of it came off but it took a while to get there. Docs do not tell you about the weight gain much and I am not sure why.

[chrysa]

Weight Watchers

L,
What were the anti-depressants that you took?.

I thought some types were appetite suppressors?

[nancy]

Weight Watchers

Check the drug threads for this.

I was on citalopram. That apparently causes less weight gain than the other SSRIs.

But still, weight gain is a side effect. For me it was 10 pounds, not a HUGE amount but enough to make me very depressed.I was going through a life transition and did not think anything of it. but once the transition was over, the weight persisted and i could not use Weight Watchers anymore to lose it. I was puzzled but then I read a few threads on this on this website.

I looked up the effects of various drugs and posted them on a thread called citalopram in the drug section.

Very few are not associated with weight gain: they are Serzone and Welbutrin, but welbutrin is associated with seizure problems and not sure if alcoholics should take it.

I did a bit of reading and some of the drug cos said the weight gain tales are anecdotal. But I saw an article on psychology today indicating that weight gain is indeed a side effect of SSRIs. seems like psychiatrists recognize weight gain as a side effect of SSRIs.

what a bummer.

[wwbarb]

Weight Watchers

I have heard that some anti depressants cause you gain weight. Some meds cause you to retain water, which is just as bad. The key is not to tell yourself that, well, I'm on this med, so I might as well eat whatever I want anyway. I used to do that when I was on Prednisone. I knew that one of the side affects was "increased appetite", so I used it as an excuse to eat everything in sight.

As far as fat free goes, the key is portion control. And the flavor of some of that stuff is so nasty, why would someone want to eat it anyway? The bars and stuff that we sell in the meeting room I think are garbage and a waste of money (I hope none of my superiors are tuning in). But they are life-savers to people who are looking for snacks IF they eat just one. Some of the fat free cookies and things on the market have just as many calories as their fat filled counterparts because they have added sugar - and an added price tag. I'd much rather have a banana to satisfy my sweet tooth

[nancy]

Weight Watchers

Well, I really used to love WW choc cupcakes, but it must have triggered some blood sugar rush because I HAD TO EAT THE WHOLE BOX. i stopped buying them.

hope you don't get in trouble with your superiors, i like what you say about the banana.

[amethyst]

Weight Watchers

I was on Effexor for 18 months, and gained 30 pounds. They are hard and slow to come off. It doesn't help that when I went off the effexor I started drinking more wine. I am hopeful that when the wine is gone or greatly reduced that the weight will reduce as well

[lushy]

Weight Watchers

Paxil was what I was on. It was awful. It actually made me drink more, I gained so much weight and the weaning off was so brutal I had to take time off from work and lay in a dark room. Ugh. So glad to be free of that.....