Weight Watchers

[Tarnished]

I recently started Weight Watchers and was wondering if anyone else is involved with it. My husband and I have created an exercise routine for ourselves which we have been doing for about a month now, however we still needed help with our diet and so we decided to try weight watchers. What I have found from it is that I am not eatting enough. I tend to eat a lot of veggies and fruit if I can, but end up missing out on protein and dairy. Whole wheats I miss out on as well.

Anyway, wondering if anyone else is in weight watchers, or what other people are doing for weight loss.

Currently for exercise I do about 30 min on my elliptical and then about 30 min to an hour on my Wii Fit. I haven't really dropped a lot of weight yet, but I am hoping that with diet and exercise I will begin to really start to lose pounds.

[BenRaines]

Tarnished. It truly doesn't matter what the calories are that you eat as long as you eat less calories than you burn by way of normal living and exercise. If you exercise you can eat more than you can if you don't exercise.

You could eat sticks of butter and lose weight but it would not be very healthy.

A proper meal plan would include protein, carbohydrates and some fat, most fat will be in the other foods you eat.

If you would like to check out a great plan that I have used for years, it is free, check out Body-for-LIFE

Ben Raines

PS: Pam can tell you that I am who I am in the picture. We met last week. Not a Wally Cox double. :)

[pam]

Tarnished I have done Weight Watchers in the past and I loved it. I seriously need to get back doing it again. At first I did feel hungry as I felt I wasn't eating enough. But over time I started craving..I mean really craving...salads. Since there were no points in the vegetables themselves I could eat all I wanted. Which I did. It was any dressing you put on it that could use up your points however.

The first week I lost 6 pounds. After that I started averaging about 2 pounds a week which is what they recommend. But though I have been off of it for awhile..I do find myself really watching fat grams in foods.

Though after the Lumberjack breakfast BenRaines and I had..he is probably thinking..yeah right.

Edited October 22, 2009 by pam

[beefche]

Tarnished, I've done WW too. You have to be careful and make sure you eat enough. If you don't eat enough, your body will conserve and you won't lose, but may actually gain.

I found that what helped me the most was drink PLENTY of water--at least 64 oz/day. Write down what you eat--even the times you go off your wagon. Exercise (sounds like you've got a handle on that).

I liked WW because it taught you a healthy way to look at food--no such thing as "bad" food. Just watch your choices and portions.

[pam]

That's really what WW is all about. Portions. You can eat whatever you want..even your favorite recipes. It was about portions.

[BenRaines]

Speaking of that Lumberjack breakfast I think Pam finished off my pancakes and toast for me.

I did eat all the sausage, ham, bacon and eggs.

Just kidding I ate all mine and watched pam turn down a box to take home all that she had left. :)

Ben Raines

[FairChild]

You need to remember that as you exercise, you create more muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. Muscle burns more calories than fat tissue, even when you are not doing anything. If your clothes are fitting better, you are losing fat while replacing it with muscle tissue. I am doing TOPS. Take care and happy success.

[hordak]

2 things to remember

It isn't weight loss that is important it is fat loss.

A LB of fat is about 3500 calories, so burning or cutting 500 calories a day (from your maintenance calories) will only result in 1 lb lose per week. You didn't put in on over night, don't expect to take it off that way.

[Tarnished]

Tarnished, I've done WW too. You have to be careful and make sure you eat enough. If you don't eat enough, your body will conserve and you won't lose, but may actually gain.

I found that what helped me the most was drink PLENTY of water--at least 64 oz/day. Write down what you eat--even the times you go off your wagon. Exercise (sounds like you've got a handle on that).

I liked WW because it taught you a healthy way to look at food--no such thing as "bad" food. Just watch your choices and portions.

Thats why I am doing WW, it really isn't that I am eatting bad things, it is more that I don't keep track of what I do eat and how many calories I am bringing in. What I have found from doing WW is that I am not eating enough. I get to the end of the day and realize I have about 10 to 16 points left and go, "Woah, how did that happen?" And I don't think that eating a big meal to make up those points right before bed is the way to do it. So I am trying to figure out ways to get the food into me so that my body doesn't constantly think I am on a starvation diet.

One thing that I think I really need is to find a good healthy snack that can sit on my work desk all day so that I can snack between meals. That way when I do get to the meal I am not so ravenous that I eat more than I should.

I think I have the water thing under control, I have a 24 oz bottle and a 20 oz bottle and I down both of them before lunch, one during lunch and one to two after lunch. Then I drink about 2 to 3 cups of water while exercising at night.

Thanks for all the great comments. This really is the first time in my life that I have really started working on reducing my weight. So any advice is helpful.

[beefche]

You have GOT to try FiberOne bars. They are 2 points each and I absolutely love, love, love the oats and chocolate one--it's like eating a candy bar for me. Each bar has 9 grams of fiber which is fantastic. They have recently come out with different flavors, but I like the oats and chocolate the best. Matter of fact, I'm having one right now--YUMMY!

[pam]

One thing I ate a lot of because it took the edge off of hunger is the Campbells Soup at hand. The chicken with mini noodles = 1 point. To satisfy the sweet craving..tootsie pop sucker = 1 point. Also because I worked such odd hours with no regular shift I did purchase a few of the Smart Ones meals. Anything from 2-7 points though if you look at the Lean Cuisine ones they also show WW points.

Made it much easier at times to just grab one of those instead of trying to figure out meals and points. Of course that's just me. I thought the meals were good and again..regular food but it was about the portion size.

[Tarnished]

Sounds tasty, and I am guessing that it might just get me my whole wheat requirement.

What is slightly aggrivating for me is that I am very much an on the go type of person. I eat my breakfast at work (usually instant oatmeal in a cup), I eat my lunch at work (usually left overs from the night before), and then I come home and don't feel like cooking, or end up cooking and make only veggies. Much of what I eat doesn't use up many points, because I like veggies and stuff, and am not huge on the meats or grains. Yesterday for example I had my oatmeal, had a lunch of cauliflower and spaghetti with parmesan cheese (1 serving = 2 pts), and then stopped on the way home and got a burrito bowl at Chipotle. Got home and ate half of it, then looked it up online and found it doesn't have a points value. So I created it using recipe builder and said that it contains 2 servings, since I can't eat more than half of it in one sitting. Total that was 7 pts. I counted the snack I had after supper and still came out to 7 points still needing to be used.

Now this is just me thinking outloud here, but what I think might help me is if I figure out a way to get all my daily nutrition needs (dairy, fruit and veggies, protein, whole wheat, and oils) into each day and that I might be able to make all my points in one day. How sad is it that I learn that I need to eat more from participating in WW and then just can't figure out how? I suppose that my biggest problem is that I am tired when I get home and often really don't feel like cooking. It gives me an excuse to have something like a cucumber with light dressing and then be full for the night. Easy to make, no cooking and the dogs eat the skin and ends. But it costs like 1 or 2 pts and leaves me not getting all the nutrients that I need.

Sorry to ramble on like this, I guess I just need somewhere to put my thoughts on eatting where I can get feedback.

[pam]

No I'm glad you brought this up Tarnished. It perhaps will be my motivator to get back into it and I will have you to thank. Sometimes it's easier when someone else is doing it along with you.

[pam]

eat my breakfast at work (usually instant oatmeal in a cup),

I did this as well. I also ate Honey Nut Cheerios with skim milk quite a bit. I always added a fruit with my breakfast. Usually bananas. Dependent on the size of the banana that was usually another 2 points.

[beefche]

Tarnished, you have to eat more in the day. You need some good snacks--try yogurt and adding some granola to it. Try the Fiberone bars. Unsalted, raw almonds are good. String cheese with crackers.

If you have 25 points to eat (I'm just using an easy number for me to calcualte), you should eat about 15-20 of those points throughout the day. Leave the final 5-10 points for dinner and snack after dinner.

Also, I'm single with no kiddos at home. I work late usually so when I get home, I don't want to cook. I will typically cook 2 big meals on the weekend and then divide those up into meal portions. I will then eat that for the week for lunch or dinner. Try doing that sometime. I will use the crock pot for one meal and cook one on the stove. If I get tired of eating that, I'll eat cereal for dinner (how weird am I? I hate cereal for breakfast, but I'll eat it for dinner or a dessert).

[Tarnished]

Tarnished, you have to eat more in the day. You need some good snacks--try yogurt and adding some granola to it. Try the Fiberone bars. Unsalted, raw almonds are good. String cheese with crackers.

If you have 25 points to eat (I'm just using an easy number for me to calcualte), you should eat about 15-20 of those points throughout the day. Leave the final 5-10 points for dinner and snack after dinner.

Also, I'm single with no kiddos at home. I work late usually so when I get home, I don't want to cook. I will typically cook 2 big meals on the weekend and then divide those up into meal portions. I will then eat that for the week for lunch or dinner. Try doing that sometime. I will use the crock pot for one meal and cook one on the stove. If I get tired of eating that, I'll eat cereal for dinner (how weird am I? I hate cereal for breakfast, but I'll eat it for dinner or a dessert).

Those are some good ideas. I am with you on the cereal. I am not a huge breakfast person, I hate most breakfast foods, but if you offer them to me after breakfast they sound great! Almonds are one of my favorite snacks, but I was unsure of whether I should continue to eat them as 24 almonds = 4 pts, but I guess it would use up the points I am not using otherwise.

Cooking on the weekends and then eating that through the week sounds like a great idea. I think I might try it out. Thanks for all the great ideas!

[Tarnished]

No I'm glad you brought this up Tarnished. It perhaps will be my motivator to get back into it and I will have you to thank. Sometimes it's easier when someone else is doing it along with you.

That would be great! I know exactly what you mean, if Faded was not actively working on weight loss with me I think it would be much harder. However he and I are currently on different shifts so I only get to see him on the weekends. It makes it difficult to discuss things when they pop into my head during the week. I am glad that I have both you and Beefche to chat with about this as it helps me work out some of the thoughts that are running through my head about all of it.

[pam]

Hey we can be your support system when Faded isn't around.

[beefche]

I actually don't like breakfast foods at all. Everyone who knows me makes fun of me because I typically eat leftovers for breakfast--chili, hamburgers, pizza. Now THOSE are some yummy breakfast foods!

Raw almonds (actually any kind of raw nuts) are very good healthy snacks. Yogurts are good (I don't care that much for yogurt myself, but they are good sources of calcium and protein). Ask at your WW meetings what other people eat for snacks. You'll get a lot of great ideas.

Also, try making some of the recipes that WW recommends. Their 0 point veggie soup is SO GOOD! Oh my gosh, it's yummy. Here is a website that has a lot of great ideas--Dottie's Weight Loss. One of the things I like about her page is the restaurant guide. She's done a lot of research and it really helps when I want a cheeseburger and fries--sometimes I will even change my mind and get a cheeseburger and salad.

[pam]

Oh my gosh Beefche..that's a website I have used as well.

[beefche]

Hahaha! She is good, isn't she? I really like her page--she does all the work for me!

[pam]

It's sickening though when you go into the restaurant guide and look at some the points for some of your favorite dishes.

[Tarnished]

That looks like a great site, I will have to look through it and use it. I think it would be great to start a little support group here. I know this site has started me watching Survivor again, it is nice to be able to discuss things with people, it makes certain things (like Survivor) more enjoyable, and makes other things (like WW) more doable.

[beefche]

Yes, but I like how WW works--you can save some of your points for a night out on the town.

Or do what I do--ignore the points and fill all 4 of my stomachs.

Oh, sorry, Tarnished...I mean, think about how healthy you'll be! Think about the good choices you are making! Think about....

[Tarnished]

Yes, but I like how WW works--you can save some of your points for a night out on the town.

Or do what I do--ignore the points and fill all 4 of my stomachs.

Oh, sorry, Tarnished...I mean, think about how healthy you'll be! Think about the good choices you are making! Think about....

Hehehe, the 4 stomachs thing gave me quite a chuckle. I agree with you, the points do make eatting out a little more managable.