I don't understand [sad]

[PericardiumOne]

Hi all,

I've signed up for one month of WW to give it a try. I'm not huge, but since I turned 40 the weight has been steadily creeping in and I'm now a good 5kg above my fighting weight. You'd think I should be able to lose those 5kg easily, but so far I haven't managed.

So I've forked up, and am logged in...and I just don't understand. I don't even know what plan I'm on, there is no introduction or summary of how to do things. I have entered today's food and apart from noticing that I've already consumed all my points and more, I get no other guidance. How is this different from counting calories in MPF? Am I just being thick? Or is there no advantage to using WW over just shutting my mouth and being hungry?

[MissConductUS]

I don't think that there's any big advantage to WW over an app like MPF, and others seem to agree:

www.organizeyourselfskinny.com/2015/03/20/3-reasons-why-i-use-my-fitness-pal-and-not-weight-watchers-to-track-my-food/

I've tried both, but prefer the Loseit! app to MFP. It's really about portion control, eating filling but low calorie foods (apples!) and getting some exercise into the mix, even if it's just walking for 45 minutes a day.

Try Loseit, the free version is fine and you might find it easier as well.

Good luck. I'm trying for the same 5kg.

[Shine2018]

The idea is to eat foods that are lower in points as these contain less sugar and fat and are more satiating.

[SpongeBobJudgeyPants]

Its WW own system which encourages brand loyalty but tbf also means eating low in sugar and fat foods will give you more points to play with iuswim. Many foods are now 'free' which were not previously, eg all protein in its original form, ie not processed is now free. The newest plan is Smart Points flex. Or I assume that you can still do No Count, where all food on the Free List is allowed in moderation. Do you know how many points per day you are allowed? Sounds like you do. Also you get 42 pw, floating ones, and you can earn Fitness Points.

[PericardiumOne]

Thank you everyone, I'm starting to get the hang of it although I have to say, their website is not very well organised! The app is better though.

I have 23 points to spend daily and apparently, by being quite active I've earned 'FitPoints' which seem to translate into points.

I'm horrified that I've gone out to brunch and eaten all my points for the day though

[katmarie]

I had a lot of success combining WW and the gym, to lose around 3 stone, but I recognise it's not for everyone. One of the things that helped me a lot was planning out meals in advance. It's not just about tracking what you eat, it's about looking ahead to the coming days, and making better choices about what you're going to eat, to stay within your points allocation. I used the app to try out meal and food combinations to see how many points it would use in a day, and that gave me good options for what to eat and avoid.

Also portion size is a big thing, weigh everything. A lot of the time I found that I was eating the right things, but in the wrong proportions. Bulking out meals with zero point veg and reducing the size of starch portions like bread and potatoes made a big difference.

I think they've tightened up on carrying points over now, it used to be that you could save a lot of points for the weekend, but that's obviously not healthy and so I think they've reigned that in now. Also alcohol is understandably high in points, making some sensible changes about what I drank and how much had a considerable impact.

Also you will gain points for activity, and if you eat these points, you will still lose weight, but if you don't eat them, in theory you will lose quicker. You can link up things like fitbits to your WW app as well so those points update automatically for you.

Like I said, I had a lot of success with it, and I think they have some really good recipes too, so it's worth a look through that part of the website for inspiration. I will say though, that once I stopped doing it, the weigh did creep back on, and although it's marketed as not being restrictive, I did find it limiting, especially when it came to socialising, so your mileage may vary.

Best of luck though, you've made the decision to do something good for you, so whether it's WW or something else, I wish you all the success :)

[SpongeBobJudgeyPants]

Katmarie makes a good point about planning ahead. It's a pita to plan ahead, for me, but works better. If I'm going to be out over lunchtime eg, I tend to shove a banana in my bag, so I won't end up really hungry.
WW are now encouraging you to start a meal with a 'free' protein, then bulk out with veg, before you start adding things with points.
Under the new system launched last week, you can carry 4 points each day from your daily allowance, which gives you more flexibility for a night out or whatever.

[Dontfuckingsaycheese]

YY to forward planning. Once you get into the swing, a few of your own meals saved etc it's easy peasy! I think I'm spending less as less throwing away with a bit of planning - salad over 2 days etc.
I found I learnt the most by tracking it all, tweaking here and there, a bit less rice and I can have a bit of cheese etc. I usually have a good breakfast - eggs etc, fruit for lunch then a decent tea - I love fish, prawns etc so all good here!!

[PericardiumOne]

Ok so I'm getting there (and losing weight!), but I still have one doubt - what is the difference between weekly points and fit points? I mean, the weekly points are the 'floating' points you can use to indulge and go over your daily allowance. But what about the fit points? if they can be used in the same way why don't they just add them up?

[SpongeBobJudgeyPants]

Fit points are a strange beast.... From what I can gather, when I put 7 in for activity, it is grabbing 4 of them (presumably for increased weight loss/healthy activity goals?) and then allocating the remainder as fitness points. The app makes you use your weekly points first, and then presumably uses from the separate pot of fitness points, maybe so you don't see them as being as readily available and don't use them if you don't need to?

[Notreallyhappy]

You can change to use fit points in the app. They only allow you to use any above your predicted fit points goal.. which previously didn't do
I got my 35 weeklies back from working out this week

[Dontfuckingsaycheese]

I'm just not bothering with fit points. I'm not really doing anything above and beyond so don't want to go thinking I deserve more points than I should. I do as much exercise as poss but hate the thought of doing more so I can eat more.