FYI, except I specify otherwise, the factors i am regarding is the antique WW plan (Momentum)--not the new 2011 plan. additionally, keep in mind that this is only MY OPINION.
Did you count number WW points or calories to lose weight?
both. once I first started losing, i was counting points due to the fact I had the materials at home already. I saved a paper journal to hold music of factors used, and i used Sparkpeople to kind in my recipes to calculate the nutritional data according to serving (and i determined the factors from that). After some time, I began counting points AND energy, and then eventually just switched to counting calories.
were you a Weight Watchers member? Did you do the online software?
No, i was no longer a member, and no, I didn't do the net program either. I were a member within the past (severa times) and had most effective bad reports with it (see beneath for that tale), so I selected to do it by myself. I weighed in at home once every week and followed the WW program of counting points.
Why did you turn to counting energy in place of points?
As I misplaced increasingly weight, my points values dropped (per the WW application). I felt like i used to be ravenous all of the time, and so I determined to peer how many energy i used to be getting while counting points. i discovered that some days, i used to be only getting a thousand-1200 energy and others i was getting 1500-1600 calories, at the same time as consuming the same wide variety OF points in step with day. It just relied on what meals i was eating. You all recognise i've a love affair with nut butters, and one serving of nut butter was approximately 1/4 of my allotted points for the day, although it turned into most effective 190ish calories! No marvel i used to be ravenous. I may want to apprehend if i was eating entire junk meals, however nut butter is healthy--and i felt like i was being punished for deciding on to consume it. So I started out to rely energy rather than points, and that i felt a good deal higher.
I not felt like I needed to consume a perfect serving of some thing with a purpose to get a full point really worth. for instance, if 1 Tbsp. of jam became 1 factor, i would continually eat the whole Tbsp., because half of Tbsp. was also 1 point. however when counting energy, I should devour half Tbsp if I desired and rely simply the energy--I did not sense like i used to be getting gypped out of half of point of meals. if you think about it in phrases of cash, it would be like paying $1 for a big soda or $1 for a small soda--evidently, you'd want the huge because you are paying the identical charge. Does that make sense? when I switched to counting calories, there has been no manipulating the serving sizes to get the maximum bang for my dollar, so to talk.
Do you propose Weight Watchers?
There are positives and negatives to the program (in my view) so i'm able to spell them out for you...
- Positives:
- Counting factors is easy to keep song of to your head. whilst you get, say, 25 factors consistent with day, it's no longer hard to hold track of the math throughout the day. So if you don't like to write down matters down, this could be beneficial.
- it is smooth to memorize the range of factors for your favourite meals, so you don't need to look up foods in a book or online forever.
- For someone who's used to consuming complete junk, they may research that selecting more healthy ingredients will allow them to consume extra than in the event that they pick out the junk. Weight Watchers also has tips that urge you to pick out healthier ingredients.
- There are certain "free" ingredients (non-starchy veggies) that you do not need to count number against your factors. you may bulk up meals with greens and no longer should matter them.
- Negatives:
- when counting points, there honestly isn't a difference among wholesome fats and unhealthy fat. WW tells you which you ought to pick out wholesome fats, however whilst calculating the factors for a food with fat, the kind of fats isn't always a aspect. So in case you enjoy ingredients with healthy fat, like avocados, nuts, seeds, nut butters, and so forth, you will feel like you are being punished for selecting the ones ingredients.
- it is clean to manipulate this system to get greater meals for the identical wide variety of points. you may research that something with 40 energy is 1 point, however when you have a serving and a half of, it's also simply 1 point. So obviously, you'll select to have more.
- you may basically live off of junk food--processed food with masses of delivered chemicals. WW encourages you to eat fruits and vegetables and complete ingredients, but many humans devour frozen dinners, packaged cookies, etc, and count the factors for it. (this is additionally true of counting energy, not just counting factors). for instance, if a packaged muffin calculated to at least one point, you can have that or you could have an apple for 1 point. clearly, if you want junk, you'll need to select the muffin.
- you have to pay for the materials and/or the fee of being a member or using the online software. it could be highly-priced!
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| A random day from my Weight Watchers food log |
To be fair, I will also post positives and negatives for calorie counting.
Positives:
- You simply get what you pay for (in calories, this is). for example, if 55 grams of cereal is 210 calories, then you can shave a few grams off and have 50 grams for 191 calories. You cannot manage the device to get more without spending a dime ;)
- there are numerous unfastened on line applications that you can use to track energy--my personal favourite is Sparkpeople. I additionally like My fitness pal.
- in case you are very sincere with your food tracking, it works.
- You don't have guidelines to comply with or unique "phases" to go through. You just weigh/degree your meals and song the calories. very simple.
- it's tough to memorize the range of calories in food objects, and it is nearly impossible to hold song of calories with out logging it (either on paper or on-line). Doing the mathematics for your head may be very hard.
- There are not any "unfastened" meals, such as greens. you have to be counted everything.
- due to the fact energy are a great deal extra particular than points, you need to be very correct whilst weighing or measuring your food. "Eyeballing" doesn't virtually paintings when counting energy.
- you may devour lots of junk food and shed pounds, if you're counting the energy, which makes it tougher to make healthful picks. there is no "reward" for making wholesome alternatives.
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| Random day of calorie counting on Spark (hopefully it's readable) |
average, I assume Weight Watchers is a high-quality application for humans with plenty of weight to lose (you get sufficient factors that you won't experience like you're ravenous). It teaches you more healthy ingredients to consume, and encourages you to devour them. It truly WORKS, if you observe this system. but, for a person with much less weight to lose, I assume counting energy is higher, due to the fact you can make sure you're getting enough calories. (Like I stated, i used to be not getting almost sufficient energy while i used to be down to twenty-24 factors in keeping with day).
I also think Weight Watchers is a good application for human beings that do not like to jot down down their meals intake, because it's easier to tune points for your head than it is energy. but, if you have a tendency to be a bit of a perfectionist (like me) then you definitely'd in all likelihood like counting energy higher. For someone who is just starting to shed pounds, all of the numbers of energy can get confusing; so counting factors might be much less overwhelming.
Why didn't you go to the conferences or do Weight Watchers online?
As I noted earlier than, i'd had nothing but awful reviews at the WW meetings. I also attempted the online program for three months, and wasn't inspired. i'll spell all that out for you right here...
conferences--while i used to be fats and joined WW, I felt just like the simplest issue they cared about become my cash. I think it became approximately $11 per week that I needed to pay. The meetings consisted of a weigh-in (which was finished simply before the meeting, and it become non-public (they do not announce your weight or something); and a 30ish minute assembly in which the chief might select a subject to speak about. I never once felt like the leaders or the receptionists virtually cared about whether I lost the burden, as long as I paid my dues.
the first five-10 minutes or so of the assembly was truly the leader handing out stickers to members that reached a milestone or members that just had an excellent week and wanted to acknowledge that. The meetings, I felt, were generally ruled via one member who insisted on talking about herself and her problems/successes the whole time. i discovered it simply disturbing to listen a member go on and on approximately how she does not like veggies and never will and which means she'll never shed pounds, etc.
The leader might try to speak approximately a topic for a couple of minutes (I consider at my first assembly, the subject became BLT's--bites, licks, and tastes--and how the ones can upload up and be horrific on your weight reduction. I in no way genuinely found out something on the meetings, because it just regarded like commonplace sense to me (I think i've gone to a grand general of about 25 WW meetings in my lifestyles, at approximately four one of a kind WW centers).
The worst experience with going to a WW middle changed into just recently. In January 2011, I went in to buy the brand new materials for the 2011 application. i used to be simplest approximately a hundred thirty pounds at the time, and a small size 4. The receptionists were SO impolite to me, and one even made a snide comment implying that I actually didn't want to be there. (She had no idea that i would simply misplaced a hundred and twenty+ pounds). Then they instructed me I wasn't allowed to shop for something unless I became a member, which I notion turned into in reality stupid. once more, it was all about the cash for them! i might been shopping for three-month meals journals there for over a yr, and abruptly I wasn't allowed to shop for that unless I have become a member?! Registration occurred to be loose that week, so I "joined" for one week simply to buy the new materials. The receptionists have been a touch peeved that I refused to shop for a 12-week skip. I walked out of there resolving that i might never stroll in to every other WW middle again.
on line--I did not feel that this become beneficial in any respect for a person that isn't familiar with the program. fortunately, I already knew this system just like the again of my hand when I paid an arm and a leg for sold the membership. it is basically the same type of component that you could get totally free from on line calorie counting sites, only they music your factors as opposed to your calories. I used the recipe builder element the most, which calculates the points for your recipes, however now I simply use Sparkpeople for that.
What do you believe you studied of the new (2011) Weight Watchers program?
I tried the new application for two weeks, and i really ended up gaining weight on it. I notion it might be a laugh to try some thing new, and it turned into, however I speedy located that I hated the new program. while i'm not a vegetarian, I devour that way a whole lot of the time--and i found that maximum of my favorite vegetarian dishes have been LOADED with factors. now not because they were "junky" but because they usually contained beans or lentils of a few type, and perhaps starchy veggies. the brand new factors gadget calculates the factors values based on carbohydrates, fat, protein, and fiber. Carbohydrates play a large role in it, and seeing that beans and starchy greens have lots of carbs, I (once more) felt like i used to be being punished for deciding on those meals.
i used to be used to consuming pretty a piece of fruit (i really like fruit!) and fruit is a "loose meals" on the new program. So I didn't reduce back on my fruit intake in any respect, and that i assume that contributed to the burden advantage that I had. I wasn't consuming a TON of it--maybe 3-four pieces of fruit according to day, one in every of which changed into a banana. once more, this become an try and get humans to make more healthy choices. i am very knowledgeable approximately health and vitamins, so i like to make my own decisions and no longer feel punished for it. that is why i like counting energy vs. points.
any other element that I wasn't loopy approximately with the new application is that it is difficult to estimate points in a meals. With the antique application, I should quite appropriately wager the quantity of factors in pretty much anything--however with the 2011 application, I could be off by using many many factors.
So, I hope this has answered your questions about me and Weight Watchers. I don't want to come off as too cynical about the program, because it definitely CAN be a great program for some people. It certainly helped me to lose weight in the beginning. As I progressed into healthier eating, I just found that WW wasn't for me. However, even now, sometimes I'll count points instead of calories if I'm going to have a super busy day--if I don't have time to calculate my calories, I just add up the points in my head to stay accountable.
Update (1/16/2013): I decided to give Weight Watchers another chance in September 2012, by joining their online program. I did really well with it, and surprisingly enjoyed the program this time around, so I joined the meetings with just 5 pounds to lose. I reached my WW goal weight, and am now a Lifetime Member!