Weight Watchers

After a lot of praise from some coworkers of mine, I joined Weight Watchers online today.

Between the stress from work, a much busier schedule, a little one at home, and health problems stemming from both back issues and my bout with thyroid cancer, I've packed on probably close to 60 lbs over the past three years.

One of my biggest problems is portion control, largely due to a veeeeeery slow metabolism and a feeling that I'm never satisfied (never mind "full"). This was perhaps the biggest benefit I could see to joining Weight Watchers. When you don't have a "target" in terms of caloric intake or the amount of food you should be eating, you pay no attention to portion control. Now, knowing that you could exceed your allowed points, or that what you're eating now can negatively impact what you're allowed to eat later, it forces you to consciously think about what you're eating.

Has anyone else here participated in/is still participating in Weight Watchers? How about any other diet/exercise regimes (I was actively engaged and doing wonderfully on P90x until February of this year brought about a career change and forced me to quit due to schedule problems)? Success or horror stories?

 

In 2000 I did APEX through a local health club. Ate 5 meals a day, never once was hungry. Lost over 20 lbs in 3 months. Started working out, which continues to this day. Looks like they have an online version.
http://my.apexfitness.com/vsc/home.php

No matter what you do, good luck. Stick with it.

 

It is the only diet that works, because it addresses the number one reason we are fat: too many calories, people!
We are not fat because of genetics or thyroid or gluten intolerance. We eat too much.

I tried it a few years ago and found the online meal tracker to be very helpful. I was surprised when there had been a lot of days
when I was full and still did not reach my point limit. I was told to eat ALL points and I still lost weight. It worked. I did not like
meetings, however and I found the leaders to be a bit patronzing ; "What is a better choice? A carrot or creme bruleeeee????"
You can still get weighed in, to track your progress without sitting through the meetings.

Drinking water is critical, also. Drink a lot.

 

Trying the Dukan diet over here. You eat as much as you want so long as you stay within the prescribed food categories and avoid the proscribed food categories. That is, you start out with 5-7 days eating nothing but pure, lean protein. Then you spend a couple of months alternating days of pure lean protein with the protein and allowed veggies. There are 2 other phases after that. I haven't gotten to the stage yet where you start to re-introduce foods from the disallowed list. So over the last 8 weeks I'm averaging 3 lbs loss a week. Started at 217.5 in August and this morning was 196. Drink lots of water to keep the kidneys from clogging on all the crap your body starts pushing out as you burn fat. I take a multi-vitamin for luck. I don't exercise much, take cream & sugar in my coffee, eat as much as I care to. So far so good.

 

I've heard nothing but good things about weight watcher. few friends of mine have done it, and as long as you stick to it, the weight does come off.

 

I began Weight Watchers in between the birth of my 2 children. What I remember them always saying is that it is not a diet, but it is a life style change. You learn to make better choices, eat smaller portions, when to stop eating, and not to give up. What I learned at that time helped me out tremendously while pregnant with my 2nd. I didn't gain nearly as much that time and it was easier to lose it once he was born. I do not count my points anymore, but I do believe I make better choices now and the weight has stayed off. My portion sizes are clearly still smaller than they were before I joined WW.

Good luck to you in your weight loss quest.

 

Glad to hear some positivity surrounding the WW program!

I will say that I am doing the online-only version, not attending meetings. It's definitely tough picking the grilled chicken pita at lunch, and the side salad over the fries, but hopefully as time trudges on it will be more of a subconscious preference for me, rather than a forced decision.

 

I really need to fix my eating. Apex sounds like it's possibly for the guy who works out. I don't wanna lose all these slabs of muscle, just to lose some fat. It's that or the paleo diet, I haven't decided.

 

There are 2 women at work who have used Weight Watchers to great success.
They seemed not to be suffering either.
I think a lot of diets are faddish bullshit. WW is not one of them.

 

I went to Weight Watchers on and off for years & years. There are some useful tools to be learned from them. But I endorse them conditionally. Yes, they are number 1 in helping you lose weight. But keeping the weight off is my biggest challenge and that statistic is a slippery one to nail down. A higher percentage of folks who successfully lose weight gain it all back and then some, than folks who take it off, keep it off, end of struggle.
The variables matter.
For example, were you a normal size then through having a baby or illness or some other 'event' resulting in you gaining weight? Your chances for success* are higher.
*success = taking off the weight and keeping it off.
Or, perhaps your story is more like mine. Drastic lifestyle change at age six with decreased exercise and increased food intake equaled me becoming a dieter by age 9 and continuing the yo-yo diet lifestyle until my mid--late 30's. I joined what was then called the size-acceptance movement and tried to remove tying emotion to my eating habits. I stopped gaining weight at that point but didn't lose. I also wasn't exercising. Weight Watchers is good too in that they are very pro 'get moving'.

I am not-at-all anti Weight Watchers. In fact, the original idea of gathering for support with like-minded folks--brilliant and still applicable. Portion control is what is all about along with increasing your movement. The points thing? Not my bag.
We are not cookie cutter people and what works for me might not work for you and likewise. I tend to take something that at it's core works for me and then adapt the parts that don't work. I refuse to focus on a number on a scale so that part does not work for me. I'm on a scale about 6 times a year--any more than that and I get caught up in numbers. I'm more inclined to see how my clothes are fitting.

I probably should have 'disclaimed' earlier in this post but here it is: If you wish to slap a label on me I'm dysfunctional in my view of myself. I can't tell by looking in the mirror how fat I am or am not. I only see fat. Photographs however do work. I'm a former binge eater--compulsively overeating and borderline bulimic. It's just the mirror thing now. Otherwise it is normal to sometimes overeat whether celebrating or just being careless (or carefree). When I overeat now, I simply watch myself carefully for the next couple of days. It used to be a complete recipe for disaster.
I'd credit much of what I've learned to 20th century Weight Watchers. Good luck and good health to you!

 

I have known a few people who have had great success losing weight with WW. The problem that I have with WW (and some of my acquaintances as well) is the end game. If you 'go on' a diet at some point you're going to 'go off', unless you're planning on staying on WW for the rest of your life. If you go back to eating the way you were before WW you're just going to put all the weight back on (maybe more).

At some point along the way you're going to have to learn how to eat to stay as fit as you want to be and then eat that way for the rest of your life. Weight watchers may or may not help you do that.

 

I've been thinking of joining either Weight Watchers or something else. I need to get in shape.

 

I've lost over 110 lbs using weight watchers. Took 2 years. The hard part though is keeping it off. See me in 2 years.

 

110 lbs in 2 years? That is impressive. Over a pound per week. Not easy to do.

Congratulations.

 

I did WW back about 11 years ago-lost 45 lbs in 6 months and, within 10 lbs, kept it off until 2007. Now I need to drop 50lbs and it is seemingly impossible. I do keep things from WW in the back of my head; it's so much harder with age to drop poundage. When I did WW, I told myself all bets were off on weekends; I ate what I wanted when I wanted and found I couldn't eat quite as much as before. I did too well with them-I had reached the minimum weight for my height and was having a hard time not losing more to the point they increased my daily point value to 40 and threatened to take away my membership. I made it thru the six weeks though only to lose more weight after getting sick shortly after.

Lindy, knock it off. 112lbs is SKINNY unless you are 2ft tall. Stop weighing yourself every day. You are bordering on Anorexia with that mindset.

 

I've known people that have done weight watchers and they were very successful with it. It seems like a quick and easy way to track calories. And it seems to take into account your activity level. That seems to be an issue some people have of working out a lot but not eating enough.

Personally, I just make sure to eat a protein, a little fat and some veggies at every meal. I definitely cheat on the diet a lot but I'm maintaining my weight without exercising.

 

My friends niece has been going to slimming world for some time. She is about 5ft 9, and now has an anorexic weight of 98lbs, she is still going and every week they take more money to help her slim. Her aunt worries about her. She had her over for dinner, and the girl goes through all the ingedients, and if something is in there thats not on her list she will refuse to eat anything. We think its obsessive. She is a very pretty girl, fais hair down to her bum, attractive (more so with a few less bones poing through), is intelligent, her company is well liked. Sad that she does noy have enough in the way of confidence.
Swimming is exceptionaly good for toning up your body and a good cardio vascular workout.