Any Weight Watchers Members?

[bellevivre]

Figure we ought to have a thread where we can support each other in a unique, Rennie way! I just hit my -10 mark today WAHOOO!

Anyone else?

[Serenity]

Congrats!  Those first 10 feel so good when they come off.  I'm not with Weight Watchers, but I have been doing the gym thing since January and have lost 25.  Best of luck to you!!

[Metheri]

Great job losing 10. I am a WW member and love to talk about it with other people.

I am having a real hard time getting below a certain weight. Every time I get below the number I have an event or party or faire and tend to forget bout it for a few days and gain. This weekend is a family reunion and my family likes to eat so I am working with one of my sisters to make sure that there are things that I can eat with out blowing the program.

I am also trying to log every thing that I eat on ETools.

[Ginette]

WW member here!     ETools is my friend, I LOVE it!

[bellevivre]

in a weird way, the Plan Manager is like accountability to me- even though there's not anyone monitoring it, just entering everything into something external makes me more aware of what I'm doing (I had tried to do it myself with my own tracker- didn't work!)

Have fun at the reunion- just try to think small! I've got a big family get-together this weekend, too, so I'm right there with you...

My personal goal is at least 30 down by Highland Fling weekend at TRF

[Anna Iram]

I'm glad you started this thread. I've been considering joining a group, possibly WW. I like the idea of group support. It's what worked for me when I quit smoking, though I tried for years on my own.

I have a question:

I know it's a point system. Are there any free points, like veggies, or certain fruits? I like to juice.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

I am also doing the WW Points Plan. Though I have been sidelined for the last 3 months with a Bum Knee that I am going to have Surgery on July 16th, torn Meniscus tissue behind the knee, I have lost 17 pounds since January. I have managed to keep it off despite not being able to take my long walks to keep toned up and lose even more. My garb does feel better since I have lost the weigh. My goal is 40 pounds off for the year. I should be able to achieve that.

Excercise
Portion Control
Keep busy with other fun activities
WRITE things down on a DAILY or WEEKLY basis and STICK TO IT!!
Don't let others discourage you

[bellevivre]

Anna:

it is a point system- to not get TOOO into it (as they get cranky when they see people talking about their 'proprietary' info) Points are calculated based on calories, fat and fiber- more fiber is good, more fat is bad.

When you join, they give you a short quiz to figure out what your starting points need to be- it's a VERY gradual process, almost subconsciously guiding you to make better decisions. I started off with 33 points and have recently had trouble eating them all (you MUST eat all your daily points- otherwise, your body goes into conservation mode.) Luckily, now that I'm 10lbs down, I lost a point... (and I'm mulling taco bell for dinner!!!) look here for more info: http://www.webmilhouse.com/pointcalc.php

There are SO many resources online you have access to with membership- your points tracker is a really helpful tool, but that's just the start- there are forums for all sorts of different groups, and there's a whole database of recipes, which you can sort by point value. You can ALSO calculate the points in something with the point tracker, and enter your own recipe- Grandma's lemon poundcake? Enter it into the recipe builder! By browsing recipes you also learn how to make things less pointy.

You'll also want to become good friends with HungryGirl (www.hungry-girl.com) I learn SOOO much from her recipes!

[Escarlata]

I'm WW also, lifetime but working to get some back off. I've started tracking consistently again and it makes all the difference in the world. It was a great week, 5 weekly points left at the end, lost 3.4 lbs.

Thanks for the links, bellevivre, I'll be checking those out.

Couple of things I found that help me:

When tracking your points, it's a 24 hour schedule. But when that 24 hours begins and ends is up to you. I've learned that what works best for me is to start my new points at 5pm. Supper gets counted first. I pretty much eat anything that appeals to me, though it's usually quite reasonable since I've been on plan for so long (started Mar 2001). Breakfast is almost always the same 4.5 points, whatever is left is what I can have for lunch. That works for me because I tend to plan lunch better. Supper is the time when we end up going out to eat or want to have a drink or dessert. If I've already had breakfast, lunch, and snacks, I'd find that I didn't have many points left for supper and certainly none for "extras". This way I do supper and the extras first, then adjust the lunch and snacks.

Another thing I've learned is how to enjoy the pizza that I love so much, stay on plan, and feel satisfied. One piece is legal and more than enough physically as long as I'm having a salad also. But it's not enough mentally. What I've learned to do is immediately cut the slice. If it's a standard pie slice, I cut it in half so that now I have ... Viola! Two pieces. If it's the pizza roll that I make here at home, I cut it in to pieces that are just a little bigger than bite size. Bite size gets me in trouble cause I just pop them without thinking. If I have to take a bite of it, I can put it down, have a bite of salad, pick the rest of it up and have it, etc. It satisfies my desire to have "more".

Mental? Yep, that would be me. As they frequently tell us, it's not our stomach that causes us to gain weight, it's our mind. I have to trick mine on a regular basis.

[bellevivre]

ooh, Escarlata- those are GREAT ideas! And they all illustrate how flexible Plan is! For me, because dinner is my 'danger zone' I'd rather snack and whatnot at work (because I'm less likely to be super piggy under the eyes of my thin coworkers) and then I know what I have left for dinner- and I usually plan what I will have before I leave, enter it into tracker- if it's already planned out, I am more likely to stick to it- if I don't, then I start the grazing when I get home.

Pizza! What I have done is to eat two BIG plates of salad first- luckily for me I am very fond of salad... but if you eat the veg first- then you are fuller faster and have less room for pizza- last weekend Hubby and I went to Pizza Hut and got a medium 2 cheese 2 topping on hand tossed... there have been times where half of that would have been NO problem for me to knock back... but, because I had already had two huge plates of salad, and a big glass of tea, I only ate two slices.

I do really like your idea of cutting things into two servings...

It really is a mental thing sometimes- we have so many of us been raised to 'clean our plates' that we've forgotten what 'full' feels like- instead of stuffed. Another issue sometimes is when your MOUTH is munchy, but you're not hungry- I keep chewing gum around to help assuage those impulses, drink lots of unsweet tea (or Cherry Coke Zero!) or at the worst- baby carrots are a great, sweet snack!

There's NOTHING you cant have on WW- it's about facing the reality of those choices. You WILL fall off the wagon- but you just have to dust yourself off and chase back after it.

Also, Anna-
in addition to your food points, you get a set of weekly discretionary points for those splurges, and you ALSO get points BACK for exercise, etc.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

On days I have Pasta, which irritates the heck out of my inards, I measure either 2/3 cup cooked or weigh 2 oz. uncooked on the scale. I will measure 1/2 cup of sauce for 7 points total. A small meatball, salad, 10 points total.

When I buy my meats, I weigh them out on the scale before I package them into single servings. No more than 5 oz. each. I allow for some shrinkage due to the fats. This way, I know that my Protein is where it should be. Using a Non-Stick spray in the frying pan, seasonings, makes for more delicious eating.

Essential fats are Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Canola Oil, Butter in very small amounts on occassion. I like the Hellmans(Best Foods) mayonaise made with Canola Oil. Two Tablespoons is 2 points.

Read the Labels on packages to get the accurate Point values and plan them into your Daily Meal Plans. That is part of the Discipline one learns that is life changing.

See, wat back in Dec. of 1974, I joined Weight Watchers when I was 5 months pregnant with my daughter. From the time I got pregnant to joining WW, I had gained only 5 pounds because I was heavier to begin with. I was able to maintain a 2 1/2 pound weight loss the rest of my pregnancy. A week before my daughter was born, I weighed in. A week after, I weighed in. I recorded a 26 pound weight loss. No stretch marks! I was 9 pounds over my desired goal for ny age and height. The whole time I was on WW, my daughter was growing, I was losing body fat. She weighed 7 pounds at birth.

I was a Lifetime member of WW for 6 years before I started a medication for my eyes in October of 1983 that put 35 pounds on me in less than 3 months depite following my WW food plan, running, and working out. I have had struggles ever since then. Of course, Menopause didn't help either. 20 pounds came on without an effort. That's coming off. The rest will comne off after I heal from my knee Surgery I will be having on 16 July!! I can't wait to get back into my long walks.

[renren]

I am too, although *ahem* haven't been tracking for a while..
I'ts been almost a year!

[Ginette]

This faire season is going to be my first on WW and I'm a little lost on faire foods.  Between turkey legs, funnel cakes, beer, and any randomness you can get on a stick, how do you stay on track while eating at faire?  Do you "sneak" in your own snacks or do you know of anything that is sold that is healthier than the typical faire foods?  This season the family and I are camping so breakfast and dinner are a little easier being I can make those meals myself.   

[bellevivre]

I'd bring your own- a LOT of people do this- LOL i will NOT be on plan at Faire, though- too many delicious things at TRF!!!

[Ginette]

too many delicious things at TRF!!!

VERY TRUE!!