After a week of diligent tracking, a four mile hike, a dance class, and several miles walked on breaks at work, I…
lost a whopping .2 of a pound
I’m frustrated. Not gonna lie. Thinking about canceling Weight Watchers on the spot and drowning my sorrows in peeps, guacamole and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. But I’m not going to do that. I calmly met with my Weight Watchers leader after the meeting and we went over a few things.
The first thing is we agreed to reduce my daily points target by two points. This means eating less. The second thing is, I can’t use any of my “extra” or “flex” points. That sucks. Those are usually my weekend enjoyment points, where I’ll have a hard cider or a cupcake or popcorn.I’ve also been instructed to eat a maximum of three pieces of fruit a day.
I have mixed feelings about this all. First, I’m pissed that my second go around on the new Weight Watchers Points Plus system is turning out the same as the first. I’m paying for the plan because, ya know, even their copyrighted tagline is, “because it works.” Clearly it doesn’t work in a one size fits all way. I’m supposed to be able to follow the plan and have 49 extra points and all my daily points that the calculator decides for me… and I can’t. I’m supposed to be able to eat unlimited fruit. And I can’t. I’m not saying it doesn’t work at all, because it obviously does… for people like my friends KjPugs, WonderWall,Ā A Bit of This and All the Weigh. These people have rocked the plan, and lost tons of weight, and it was more than just the plan – it was their dedication, blood, sweat and tears. I’m not saying I’m following the plan perfectly, because I’m sure sometimes my measurements are off or I track something as less than it is – but I think I’m at about 90% genuine compliance.
Gratuitous Photo of Leo the Cat because I don't have any pictures that apply!
Am I just not compatible with Weight Watchers? I’m really fed up, but I’m going to try at least for a month with the no flex/extra points, less fruit and lower daily points target. If after a month I’m still honest to goodness trying and not seeing results, I gotta move on. I see my nutritionist early next week, and I can’t wait to dive into my tracking history with her and see what knowledge she can give me. I successfully lost 30 pounds in 2008 under her instruction, so I know she can steer me in the right direction.
I think the hardest thing about this is trying to figure out why, a couple times, I’ve managed to lose 2.8 pounds a week. The only thing I’ve discovered is that was a week I didn’t use flex points – so hopefully this will do the trick. Still… kind of crappy. What do you think I should do? Keep at it and see if these tweaks will do the trick? Abandon Weight Watchers and go back to sensible eating and exercise without a plan? Say screw it and accept my zaftig unhealthy weight? š Choices, Choices… I gotta lose the weight because there’s something coming up in the near future that will require a fit and healthy body- and NO, for the love of god, I am not pregnant.
I’ll share the exciting news in the next post š Have a marvelous Monday!
Hey Alyssa!! I feel your pain girl! I have done weight watchers 3 times in my life – the first one worked like a charm, the second time not at all, and the third (now) its going all right. Reading this post made me think though – have you been taking measurements at all? For a while I was training for a sprint triathalon, and then I got injured and had to stop (and having picked it back up, but I need to!!) at this time I wasn’t losing much weight, if any, but I was dropping upwards of 5 inches a week all over different parts of my body. It sounds like you did a lot of physical activity this week, and if you keep it up, you may want to start tracking your inches. It can be that extra motivation you need on a week like this when you don’t see much shift in the scale. Just a thought. Good luck with your revised plan this week! š
I DEFINITELY need to do measurements!!!! I keep slacking or maybe I’m avoiding it. Thanks for the tip Tanya!
From a health standpoint, any diet that limits intake of fresh produce (fruits or vegetables) is concerning to me…maybe I’m just suspicious, but if a plan touts their packaged food over an apple–I know you know what I mean. It seems kind of crazy. But there I go being all hippie-dippie.
As far as inches, I agree with Tanya. Muscle weighs a lot, and if you’re hiking all around, I bet you’re gaining muscle more quickly than you realize. Yay for muscles and hiking!
No matter what, you’re an amazing person and I know you’ll find something that works for you š If you become a freegan, though, we’re gonna have to have an intervention.
I’ve had a very up and down relationship with weight watchers but I truly do think its a fantastic program. I have to say, people who love to eat will find any excuse they can to eat more, I know I do! But the thing with the extra 49 points and activity points is that they aren’t there so that you can change your daily 29 points into 35. They’re there so that you can still enjoy your life without your diet interfering. If you want to have the piece of cake at your friend’s wedding or a glass of wine after a rough day at work, that’s when you use those points. It’s when you turn them into an excuse to neglect your diet that those points don’t work to your advantage
I don’t do WW, but a lot of bloggers I follow do, and most, if not all, of them struggled with the transition from Points to Points Plus, mainly because of the “free” fruit. Because the reality is that nothing is really “free.” Everything has calories, some just have more than others.
You summed the issue up the best, I think, when you said “Iām supposed to be able to eat unlimited fruit.” Because that’s the thing – it’s not supposed to be unlimited, just not counted the same as processed snacks. (It reminds me of something I once heard a comedian say, that “all you can eat buffet” isn’t meant to be a personal challenge.)
Fruit *can* be a healthier choice than cookies, but not when you choose 500 calories of fruit over 250 calories of cookies. Everything needs to be enjoyed in moderation, including fruits and veggies, because too much of a good thing can quickly become a bad thing.
What helped a lot of the WW bloggers I follow was tracking both Points Plus *and* calories for a while, just to see how the two compared. One woman remarked how she still had Points left over some days even though her calories were rather high, mostly because of the “free” foods.
Good luck with finding balance with whatever system that works best for you!
Hi Mary, thanks for the great comment – you brought up some awesome points, especially the fruit vs cookie analogy. I definitely am guilty of doing that! Your weight loss is so inspiring in so many ways š Thanks for reading.
I have to echo everything the previous 3 comments have said, especially the part about feeling your pain. I’ve lost lots of weight on WW but when PP was first introduced I kept losing and gaining the same 5 pounds. I went online (My Fitness Pal) and started tracking calories as well as PP. Something I had already suspected quickly became very obvious to me and that was that 29 points plus was too many for me. I quietly lowered my PP to 26 points and I counted fruit as 1 or 2 points depending on type and size. I also tried to keep my weekly points to around 35 or under. My weight loss picked up again. In November WW decided to agree with me and said that my PP goal was now between 26 – 29. For some reason my brain decided to process this information as permission to start eating 29 PP plus all my weeklies. I continued to loss some weight at a slow but reasonable level. At the beginhning of February I joined a gym and I’m working out there 3-5 times a week for about 2 hours each day. The weigh in after I joined the gym my loss slowed to a crawl. I’m lost .4 that first week and that’s what I’ve gotten each week since except yesterday when I lost 0 pounds. I’m very frustrated. I’ve asked varous people and gotten much the same responses you have. I’ve decided I once again have to make some quiet adjustments on my own. I’ve lowered my daily PP to 25 and I will continue to count fruit as 1-2 points. I’m going to try to be very strict with myself and only eat 25 PP each day. I’ll see what happens.
I’ve think I am suffering from The Biggest Loser syndrome. I’m eating right and exercising so “where’s my 10 pounds a week?” Not very realistic I know but as I said I’m very frustrated. We will see.
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By the way the previous poster who said fruit is zero points NOT free is correct. WW has recommended 3-5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Fruit and vegetables may be zero points but they do have calories and some fruit has lots of calories. WW will not tell you this but in very simple terms weight loss is really just expending more calories daily then you take in.
Try figuring out your BMR (calculators online) which is the number of calories your body needs to function if you do nothing but stay in bed all day. It’s based on your age, weight, sex, height, etc. One pound is approximately 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound a week you need to eat 3500 calories less a week than your BMR. 3500 calories spread over 7 days is 500 calories per day. So if your BMR works out to 1700 calories you should be eating around 1200 calories daily (1700 minus the 500). Exercising can effect this number but in a nutshell that’s the formula for figuring out weight loss. One PP is approximately 40 calories so if you divide your daily calorie need (in my example 1200 calories to loss one pount) by 40 calories you have 30 PP daily. It’s important to remember that fruits and vegetables will lower this PP daily number as they have calories in them so depending on how much you are eating in that category that’s how many PP you have.
Rosie, thank you so much for your insightful comment! I think your point about “Free fruit” is really good – and something I haven’t been understanding correctly! I’m going to look into the calories math – might make it even more black and white! Thanks for reading my blog and leaving a comment! š
In my personal opinion, it just makes sense to count calories on MyFitnessPal rather than do this strange PP game with Weight Watchers. If you want 5 pieces of fruit, have them, as long as they stay within your calorie goal. With counting calories, you can give yourself a range (1200-1400/day, for instance) and then you can see what happens with your weight loss. And you can make adjustments as you need to.
I myself have not had success with WW, but have been having great success counting calories (and working out). At first it was difficult to turn my back on WW, but it’s been the greatest decision I’ve ever made.
Interesting post an great comments! I have to agree with Bella…stick to your calorie goal and track how much you are consuming with another system (free iPhone app?). It will save you time and money. On a side note, you know how I feel about eating too much (especially dried!) fruit š
I feel your pain. I’m having the day thing happen with WW. I actually gained weight the first week. Perhaps that should have been a sign. Trying to not eat the flex points or activity points this week. Hope it worls. Good luck to you.
How about you stop dieting all together?
Because quite frankly IT DOES NOT WORK
I’ve lost 10kg/22pounds in the last few months WITHOUT restriction, counting calories/points, drugs, surgery
Thanks to Jon Gabriel
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