so, just joined WW. Smoked mackerel is 14 soddingpoints!

[Kenobi]

After much humming and haing I joined WW as it seemed like the right plan for me - I eat healthily but have a problem with portion control, plus it works out points if you are breastfeeding.

I've never dieted before and spent my 20s eating exactly as I wished and staying slim, so I thought following a programme would be the way. I want to lose 2st.

But it's mind boggling. Could someone explain to me please why fish and chips is 8 points but a 150g fillet of smoked mackerel is 14???? No wonder I've put on weight, I thought a smoked mackerel salad with a bit of cous cous would be lovely and healthy but it comes in at 20 points

I'm not cut out for this. I'm going to starve

Any words of wisdom or encouragement?

I could eat 8 fingers of kitkat for the same amount....

Blimey I just had smoked mackerel for my lunch thinking how healthy I was being (don't even like it that much!). I'm not actually on a diet but would always steer clear of anything I thought was ultra high calorie. That's it, me and smoked mackerel are finished.

Mackerel is a fatty fish, even though it is high in Omega 2 oils which are very good for you. So looking at it from a fat/calorie point of view it will be high in points. I wouldn't stop eating it though. Helps keep your heart healthy and is a good source of protein.

Sorry, typo: omega 3 oils.

I love smoked mackerel.

Sod the points.

Disclaimer - I am fat......

A smoked mackerel salad with cous cous is lovely and healthy.

It doesn't become less so because of the points assigned to it by weight watchers.

It looks so unfatty, lying there all innocent. The bastard. I love smoked mackerel. So things like cod are nonfatty fish then?

I had cous cous and salad for lunch without the mackerel and I am still hungry. I think I'm going to find it really hard to change my eating habits.

Sod it, I'm going to eat it. Leaves me 9 points for supper.

How many glasses of wine is 9 points?

WW is stupid it puts you off all kinds of healthy stuff that keep you satisfied and fuller for longer (so you loose weight) like smoked mackrel and avocados etc

smoked mackerel & cous cous - it'll be the cous cous where you're going wrong, smoked mackerel plus green salad and tomatos/peppers etc and balsamic vinegar is a BRILLIANT weight loss meal, WW just wanna sell you their crappy unhealthy toxin filled ready meals, leave it before you spend a fortune, do loose some weight, then put on MORE than you did before because its a rubbish long term diet!

Hang on...

Aha! three small glasses. so but not

And apparently you have to do this for the rest of your life or you get EVEN fatter.

I'm screwed.

monkey don't tell me that, I just shelled out £30. I didn't even knwo WW do meals, I've never seen them.

cous cous is only 215 cals though...?

well it wouldn't make buisness sense to them to show you a good healthy lifestyle that is maintainable without lots of relapses that sends you and your wallet back to them now would it?

I agree with Monkeymoma. Mackeral is a good source of protein and fat. A salad with only cous cous has no protein and fat and will not fill you up at all, leaving you starving and more likely to overeat. You are much better eating things that satiate your appetite and stop you grazing.

"cous cous is only 215 cals though...?"

its not just about calories of the individual item, its also about being satisfied so you're not craving more calories later on in the day

there are good quality calories and bad quality calories. You can do WW on purely bad quality calories like merangue nests etc and you WILL loose weight but its not healthy and its hard to maintain

the calories in mackarel are fantasic quality in terms of keeping you from snacking, and in terms of making you FEEL good mentally and physically so that you are more likely to be active and healthy

So could I eat meringue nests and drink wine?

yup!
you can eat total rubbish on WW, you may end up temporarily thin on a bad quality low cal diet but you'll also be a grumpy arse a POORER grumpy arse!

1 tesco smoked mackerel fillet, 248 calories.
1 cup cooked cous cous, 176 calories.

I think weightwatchers use something around 43 calories per point?

I am eating my lovely, lovely mackerel and feeling much less suicidal. At nearly 6 foot and still bfing, when I get hungry I actually get quite tearful.

I think what I might do is use it as a way of tracking what I eat so I don;t sneak in rubbish food like crisps and er... meringue nests, plus use the healthy recipes, because a diet where I want to cry within 7 hours of starting it is not sustainable longterm.

Good idea? Bad idea?

better ideas:
(and you only pay once!)

www.amazon.co.uk/Clean-Lean-Diet-Cookbook-14-day/dp/0857830074
www.amazon.co.uk/Master-Your-Metabolism-Naturally-Balancing/dp/0307450732/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340635126&sr=1-1

my fitnesspal is also a good free way of keeping an eye on mindless snacking

I am doing ww. I was told that if in doubt of the points take the # of calories and divide by 50 to give you a rough idea of the number of points. There is an adjustment for fibre and fat content with fiber reducing # of points and fat adding them but you don't want to be pulling out a calculator at the supermarket or when having meal!

Overall I think ww has been good at showing me how to have a healtheir diet. My portion sizes were way too big and ww has helped correct this. There are ww meals and other products here but they are very keen to have you eat lots of veg, lentils, fish and lean meat. Something like mackeral or avocado is good to include in your diet but it isn't good to eat too much of these foods.

Kenonbi, I am currently on WW having put on a stone after having my DD, I have to totally disagree with all the other posters, WW actually teaches you about portion control and what food to have in moderation. I lost a stone with them a few years ago and while I was doing it was eating loads more than normal but was eating all the right food. All your veg and fruit are 0 points and they tell you which food keeps you fuller for longer.

You can eat a very filling dinner for 8 points and not starve!!! As unsaid I found myself eating loads last time round.

The WW ready made meals are ok. The chicken lasagne is quite nice and some of te desserts are ok but I only very rarely used and lost a stone in 8 weeks.

The recipes on their website are great, there are some really divine things on there.

Stick with it and you will see results

I've done WW twice, the first time I lost weight, felt great and kept it off for ages till I got pregnant, but THAT time I was effectively doing another diet WITHIN WW if that makes sense as I was doing "clean and lean" (and when you do the calories take care of themselves, so I was counting points but I really didn't need to as "clean and lean" diets are so satisfying and give you lots of energy) - so really I should have saved the money I was spending on WW and just done clean and lean

Second time I had a more typical WW experience (low pt sugar/choc fixes, lots of processed unhealthy low pt food).. of course that didn't work, I mean I did loose but I was tired and unhealthy and it didn't last

I'll never touch WW with a barge pole again - in order to do it "right" and healthily and in a way you can sustain you have to pretty much stick to another diet within it because there is so much scope for being unhealthy within WW.

Things like nuts and avocados are great for loosing weight but WW scares you off them and towards processed stuff if you're not careful!