All things WeightWatchers MkIII- *** Mod note- no links to blogs please**

Eabhabear

Chimpokomon wrote: »

Weight Watchers is fine if you are capable of having a normal relationship with food. But if you have any tendency towards restriction/ bingeing then it definitely facilitates that... the last few pages of this thread alone are filled with people 'breaking out' and having full-scale eating disorder style binges.

While I agree with you about people posting about their binges recently, I don't see how WW facilitates that? I think those people would do that no matter what diet/eating plan they were on. You have to have a normal relationship with food and want to be healthy to succeed at any diet not just WW.

cailleach an airgid

I would be cautious about labeling anything an 'eating disorder' unless you are a medical professional following a thorough diagnosis - an eating disorder is a serious, debilitating illness and not a diagnostic label to toss casually around based on the context of an internet forum.

For one, I do think that it is absolutely fine to subject a popular weight loss programme to scientific scrutiny - I work in academia and believe that rigorous analysis and criticism is absolutely fine - if your product or plan is of sufficient quality, it will stand up, or adapt and improve as a result of genuine criticism (wasn't this what happened with WW when it switched over to propoints incidentally? Nutritional science demonstrated that sustainable weight loss needed to take into account more than calorie counting?). I do feel that this particular programme was probably not pitched as systematic scientific analysis and they seemed to pick and choose points of analysis to make their point. I was interested in the professional who pointed out that a lot of the weight watchers supportive research was in fact sponsored by the company - however, medical science wouldn't get very far without pharmaceutical companies sponsoring research into their own drugs, so this is symptomatic of wider problems in the systems surrounding medicine and not just weight watchers.

This diet will never work if you eat 26 pink and whites a day. Unless I eat wholesome, nutritious, unprocessed foods, with adequate fruit and vegetables, I seem to head into starvation mode and hit the toast. I've learned over the last few months so much about portion size, emotional triggers, planning strategies and small lifestyle changes that will last my whole life. I am NEVER regaining this stone and a half, and the knowledge I've gained has been invaluable. I do have the odd treat, and sometimes I go over my points because of a meal out or a holiday or even just a 'feck it I'll treat myself moment'. But I'd say 95% of the time, I am very happy with my diet. Not every diet plan suits every body (for example, as a vegetarian I could NEVER do Paleo and quite frankly I find the Paleo community rather hostile when I sought information on it - other friends of mine swear by it) - for me, weight watchers seems to work with my lifestyle, my body and my innate sense of competition ;-)

Oh and made unreal spinach soup today from frozen spinach - a new zero point discovery for the freezer! I used 2pp of potato and 1pp fat free yogurt for LOADS of it. It was yum (grated in some nutmeg) - bright green and delicious - perfect for this windy weather!

muat21

Hi Guys could really do with some help/motivation please!! week 1 was down .5lbs (stuck to my points but didnt use them on good food) week 2 down 3.5 so was delighted had lots of fish some pasta etc but used points on healthy wholesome foods-used 21 of my weeklies on milk. now tonight i was up .5pounds and I dont know why! My leader asked was it TOTM which it is and when i said yes he said oh thats normal at the time everybody goes for the stodgy carbs and chocolate- but i didnt i honestly havent had one bad thing bar 2vodka with diet coke on sat nigh! Ate fish and salad /chicken during the week similar to the week before. so my question is will TOTM make me gain regardless of what i eat but once it is gone will I see the difference? If someone could explain the effect it has during ww as I havent given into the carb/sweet temptation?

ck83

muat21 wrote: »

Hi Guys could really do with some help/motivation please!! week 1 was down .5lbs (stuck to my points but didnt use them on good food) week 2 down 3.5 so was delighted had lots of fish some pasta etc but used points on healthy wholesome foods-used 21 of my weeklies on milk. now tonight i was up .5pounds and I dont know why! My leader asked was it TOTM which it is and when i said yes he said oh thats normal at the time everybody goes for the stodgy carbs and chocolate- but i didnt i honestly havent had one bad thing bar 2vodka with diet coke on sat nigh! Ate fish and salad /chicken during the week similar to the week before. so my question is will TOTM make me gain regardless of what i eat but once it is gone will I see the difference? If someone could explain the effect it has during ww as I havent given into the carb/sweet temptation?

Totm affects a lot of ppl like that... It could just be fluid retention. Tough it out, stick to it again this week, and you'll see your loss next week!

dammitj

Chimpokomon wrote: »

Weight Watchers is fine if you are capable of having a normal relationship with food. But if you have any tendency towards restriction/ bingeing then it definitely facilitates that... the last few pages of this thread alone are filled with people 'breaking out' and having full-scale eating disorder style binges.

"Breaking out" as you refer to it, do you mean having a couple of packets of crisps or a pizza? An eating disorder is a completely different kettle of fish and unless you are a medical professional I'm not sure that you can judge an eating disorder from a weight watchers forum.

Also, if I had a "normal" relationship with food I probably wouldn't be at weight watchers. But then again, what constitutes a normal relationship?

sok2005

muat21 wrote: »

Hi Guys could really do with some help/motivation please!! week 1 was down .5lbs (stuck to my points but didnt use them on good food) week 2 down 3.5 so was delighted had lots of fish some pasta etc but used points on healthy wholesome foods-used 21 of my weeklies on milk. now tonight i was up .5pounds and I dont know why! My leader asked was it TOTM which it is and when i said yes he said oh thats normal at the time everybody goes for the stodgy carbs and chocolate- but i didnt i honestly havent had one bad thing bar 2vodka with diet coke on sat nigh! Ate fish and salad /chicken during the week similar to the week before. so my question is will TOTM make me gain regardless of what i eat but once it is gone will I see the difference? If someone could explain the effect it has during ww as I havent given into the carb/sweet temptation?

I always feel much denser and bloated during my TOTM, afaik it's all to do with water retention and the way to alleviate it is to drink lots of water just before it arrives. You will more than likely lose it after it goes

layviae

muat21 wrote: »

Hi Guys could really do with some help/motivation please!! week 1 was down .5lbs (stuck to my points but didnt use them on good food) week 2 down 3.5 so was delighted had lots of fish some pasta etc but used points on healthy wholesome foods-used 21 of my weeklies on milk. now tonight i was up .5pounds and I dont know why! My leader asked was it TOTM which it is and when i said yes he said oh thats normal at the time everybody goes for the stodgy carbs and chocolate- but i didnt i honestly havent had one bad thing bar 2vodka with diet coke on sat nigh! Ate fish and salad /chicken during the week similar to the week before. so my question is will TOTM make me gain regardless of what i eat but once it is gone will I see the difference? If someone could explain the effect it has during ww as I havent given into the carb/sweet temptation?

I laughed when I saw your leader is male he clearly knows that girls have difficulty losing weight at some point in their cycle but assumes it's because we're a but more caring of our selves, it's not, if you know you've stuck to the plan it's likely to be water retention I get it the week before IM due and within 12 hours of it starting I go like mad and can be down up to 3 pounds, after 12or so good weeks on we you'll learn what way your body deals with it and you'll come to expect it, if you stick to the plan this week and point every little mouthful you should be quite happy next wee

Natmus

supersally01 wrote: »

Hi guys. Been following this thread for ages but rarely post. It's possible that someone has already mentioned this but just figured out that you can calculate the pp in any food whatsoever by just dividing the calories by 40.
For example if a bar of chocolate is 320 cals the it's 8 pro points, 400=10 etc.
I've tried it lots of times against the calculator and works every time.
Also mentioned it to my leader and she said it was correct. So handy and less time consuming

I never heard of this but it would be great if it worked...if only while in a supermarket that I don't have to take out the calculator!!

Must check it with a few jars/bread etc that I have at home this evening.

Thanks for the tip!:)

CavanGal

supersally01 wrote: »

Hi guys. Been following this thread for ages but rarely post. It's possible that someone has already mentioned this but just figured out that you can calculate the pp in any food whatsoever by just dividing the calories by 40.
For example if a bar of chocolate is 320 cals the it's 8 pro points, 400=10 etc.
I've tried it lots of times against the calculator and works every time.
Also mentioned it to my leader and she said it was correct. So handy and less time consuming

I really hope you're right as it would be so helpful when eating out somewhere where the food calories are given. Sometimes something can look low in calories but really isn't.

Feeling good today, I did the 500 yesterday and I was really hungry on the way home from work and got a bottle of sparkling water which helped quell the hunger until I got home to my soup. I noticed in the Spar that they sell a few different type of WW bars and biscuits including the 1pp chocolate digestives which are divine. Its handy to know as its on my way home and there is a Euro2 shop beside it which sometimes I get the urge to go into to buy a load of chocolate especially if Im stressed or tired.

I haven't seen the dispatches programme as I was at a meeting last night but my OH recorded it for me. I think I'll watch it for curiousity reasons. I do WW at home myself anyway but I do buy the bars and bread simply because it is handy to know the points straight off and the slices of bread are small but great for curing the urge for toast. I do think there are additives in their foods but, as someone here said, all low fat foods have lots of that kind of stuff. I've read before that women should avoid low fat yoghurts as there is very little calcium in them which is essential for us.

A few questions for you good people:
Is the WW mag in the RTE guide any good?
Can you freeze spinach Cailleach an airgid? Or did you buy it frozen?
Can you freeze wafer thin turkey? I bought a big packet without thinking of my holiday and I hate wasting food!

sok2005

CavanGal wrote: »

I really hope you're right as it would be so helpful when eating out somewhere where the food calories are given. Sometimes something can look low in calories but really isn't.

Feeling good today, I did the 500 yesterday and I was really hungry on the way home from work and got a bottle of sparkling water which helped quell the hunger until I got home to my soup. I noticed in the Spar that they sell a few different type of WW bars and biscuits including the 1pp chocolate digestives which are divine. Its handy to know as its on my way home and there is a Euro2 shop beside it which sometimes I get the urge to go into to buy a load of chocolate especially if Im stressed or tired.

I haven't seen the dispatches programme as I was at a meeting last night but my OH recorded it for me. I think I'll watch it for curiousity reasons. I do WW at home myself anyway but I do buy the bars and bread simply because it is handy to know the points straight off and the slices of bread are small but great for curing the urge for toast. I do think there are additives in their foods but, as someone here said, all low fat foods have lots of that kind of stuff. I've read before that women should avoid low fat yoghurts as there is very little calcium in them which is essential for us.

A few questions for you good people:
Is the WW mag in the RTE guide any good?
Can you freeze spinach Cailleach an airgid? Or did you buy it frozen?
Can you freeze wafer thin turkey? I bought a big packet without thinking of my holiday and I hate wasting food!

I can answer your turkey question, unfortunately you cannot freeze wafer thin turkey I have a pack from M&S in my fridge and it states Not Suitable for Home Freezing on the back.

Eabhabear

CavanGal wrote: »

A few questions for you good people:
Is the WW mag in the RTE guide any good?

I also would love to know the answer to this. Is the usual stuff or is there anything good in it?

x Purple Pawprints x

Sitting down to watch the show now and I have to say I'm not impressed.

CavanGal

Eabhabear wrote: »

I also would love to know the answer to this. Is the usual stuff or is there anything good in it?

I bought it at lunchtime. It was €1.75 so I think it was worth it. It has member stories, various recipes and fitness advice in it as well as other bits and pieces. I only got a quick flick through it but looks interesting.

April O Neill

A genuine question - why do some of you care that WW is shown in a bad light on a TV show? If it works for you, why does it matter?

gragirl

Hi Guys - well be warned this is a moaning sitting on the pity pot post. Last wed I started to feel sick with shivers and sneezing and headaches. Battled on in work Thurs & Fri as we don't get paid for being off sick. So to keep going in work those days I ate sugary crap to keep the energy going. By the time I got home friday I was a wreck. I collapsed for the w/e and have ended up home yesterday and today as to be honest just getting from the bed to the sofa via the kitchen was exhausting. As I was so wrecked I also couldn't face cooking proper food (I also live alone) so I ended up continuing the crappy comforting but not comforting food cycle. Now coming slowly out the other end I'm furious with myself. I still haven't the energy for much - a walk to the shop for milk today was enough -shop is 4 mins away. So all my running training is out the window too.
Sorry for the crappy post.
I guess I'm now debating going back to a proper WW meeting as I seem to keep hitting walls alone. I feel I need to try a new meeting - not dising my last leader but sometimes you need a shake up.
Anyway I've not figured this all out in my head yet and I'm clearly still not thinking very well.
If you've read this far - Thanks!

tiny_penguin

April O Neill wrote: »

A genuine question - why do some of you care that WW is shown in a bad light on a TV show? If it works for you, why does it matter?

I think its because in general a lot of people have a bad view of it based on information given on the show like that and you can get a lot of negative attitudes from people in every day life when you tell them you follow weight watchers - and some people, not matter how succesful you are will still insist on slating it and the fact you are following it and "wasting money" to your face and in front of others and shows likes this just make it worse.

For a lot of people weight management is as much an emotional issue as it is just what food you eat and receiving such negative comments day in day out is not nice and can be hugely demotivating especially for people at the start of their journeys. I know people who had huge weight problems who wont sign up purely because of shows/information like this when they haven't had any success trying to handle their weight issues on their own. Im not saying weight watchers in the answer for everyone and it may not be the answer for them - but presenting such biased information that may stand in the way of anyone getting themselves healthier is not a good thing. I would have had no problem with the show if it was well rounded - if they had interviewed any of thousands of people that find long term success as well as those who failed, even that one small point would have made it better.

April O Neill

tiny_penguin wrote: »

I think its because in general a lot of people have a bad view of it based on information given on the show like that and you can get a lot of negative attitudes from people in every day life when you tell them you follow weight watchers - and some people, not matter how succesful you are will still insist on slating it and the fact you are following it and "wasting money" to your face and in front of others and shows likes this just make it worse.

A lot of it is justified, in fairness. There is a lot of recidivism after following this programme, so people aren't licking that view from the stones.

One thing that strikes me after reading a bit of this thread is how the term "I've been good" is typed. This is a punishing mindset, IMO because you feel guilty when you've been "bad". :-/ It shouldn't be about "good" and "bad".

tiny_penguin

April O Neill wrote: »

A lot of it is justified, in fairness. There is a lot of recidivism after following this programme, so people aren't licking that view from the stones.

It was completely one sided. They are a business and they are there to make money - there is no difference between their products and any of the other low calorie brands out there, why shouldnt they make money if people want to buy them. What it failed to mention is that the mojority of leaders do not push the branded products whatsover and encourage people to eat fresh home cooked food as changing habits longterm is the way to real success.

They cant help that lots of people are just looking for a quick fix. The program is basically calorie counting with a structure to it and what most people pay for is that structure, support and accountability. If you read through this thread of people or are paying for meetings but calorie counting rather than point counting, or who are following a 5:2 diet. They cant force people who pay them to change their habits - what they do is provide information and support.

Not everyone needs this, there are people who can do this on their own, follow a paleo/primal, calorie controlled, low card, generally healthy eating plan, slimming world - but the key to this as with anything is once you go back to your old habits the weight will go back on. Its not specific to weight watchers.

I guess for those of us who put up with the social stigma that can be associated with trying to change our lives in the long term through weight watchers, it can be tough to see them singled out for what was basically a 30 minute attack on them.

tiny_penguin

April O Neill wrote: »

One thing that strikes me after reading a bit of this thread is how the term "I've been good" is typed. This is a punishing mindset, IMO because you feel guilty when you've been "bad". :-/ It shouldn't be about "good" and "bad".

This is a mindset instilled in people accross all walks of life from when you are a child. There are good and bad actions. And again this is not something that is instilled by weight watchers or leaders - this is a human mindset. It comes up in most threads in relation to peoples weight loss journeys, it will be the way people talk about fitness routines - ive been good training 5 times this week, ive been bad and havent trained at all, it comes up with attitudes to work, house work every single walk of life. Yes you have guilt when you feel it should be bad - but again this is not something that is only in weight watchers.

April O Neill

tiny_penguin wrote: »

Not everyone needs this, there are people who can do this on their own, follow a paleo/primal, calorie controlled, low card, generally healthy eating plan, slimming world - but the key to this as with anything is once you go back to your old habits the weight will go back on. Its not specific to weight watchers.

True, which is why it's better to figure out a way to do it that you'd be happy to follow for life, and which doesn't cost loads of money.

But yeah, I mean these shows are always going to want to be dramatic, so if you're into WW, I wouldn't really let them bother you.

April O Neill

tiny_penguin wrote: »

This is a mindset instilled in people accross all walks of life from when you are a child. There are good and bad actions.

Mindsets can be changed though, and I think for long term weight loss, you MUST change this particular one.

I can't say I personally think in terms of "good" and "bad" myself though.

cailleach an airgid

CavanGal - I bought the spinach frozen in Dunnes - it used to drive me mad buying a big pile of spinach and watching it cook away down to nothing! This is a nice convenient veggie option that I will be keeping on hand to fire into curry and pasta and soup - I feel I can taste the phytonutrients from it!

April O'Neill - I'm all for constructive criticism and I have absolutely no issue with an evidence based, systematic consideration of Weight Watchers as a program. However, I do have an issue with sensationalist journalism posing as science (but that is nothing to do with the Weight Watchers program, that's just a professional opinion of mine and this is definitely neither the thread nor even the forum to explore that!). Weight watchers works for me right now, I've lost weight and I feel fantastic. I feel like perhaps the reaction of people in this thread reflects the fact that the program is working for them and they are defending their lifestyle choices - and they are completely within their rights to do so. For me, I say critique the program away! But perhaps take a more scientific approach than 'well it didn't work for these two people' :-)

x Purple Pawprints x

No weight loss this week, stayed the same. Was sort of expecting that tbh. Lost 7 last week and I did have a sh*t week this week.

Eabhabear

I was down 0.5lb tonight I took it and ran because I have been no angel the last few weeks and I thought it might catch up with me tonight.

On another note, I was reading a thread in the main nutrition forum about Lucozade and I have to admit I am addicted to the stuff. I know it's bad for me but I love a cold bottle of it. I'm going to try and go the week without it and see what effect it has. There was one post which really struck me. It said that once they stopped it their sinuses cleared up. I have awful sinus problems and it started back in school which is when I started drinking Lucozade so I'm curious to see what effect it will have. I know Lucozade wouldn't be the sole cause but any slight relief would be so good!

Taz1

Up 4lb after weekend and have let it affect me... Did well all day in work then totally binged all evening. I feel like crap. Hopefully I can start afresh tomorrow, feel HUGE....:(

tiny_penguin

STS last night and am fine with that. With the wedding on friday and the hangover day after its the best I could expect. My leader suggested calling this my goal again - she seems quite fixated on it but I am still going. If I get 2 more STS in a row I will consider it but for now I'm gonna keep on trucking.

Natmus

I was down 1lb last night...a bit disappointed coz I was really "good"!

The past few weeks I had my dinner in the evening before my WI but I think I will stop this and eat afterwards.

Got a few things on this weekend so not sure how I will do on the scales next week.

On the WW scales I have lost 10lb but on my home scales I'm down 13lb. I know they say you weigh more in the evening .... but my home scales are motivating me more!!

cailleach an airgid

Hello all - just weighed in and I'm down three pounds! (Now I was up a half last week, so it's really 2.5, but still!) I am very happy to report that I am in the 10 stone bracket for the first time in years and I am absolutely chuffed with myself. I also got my third silver seven today - I wasn't expecting such a nice loss, so I'm really happy!

Just 6 pounds to my goal of losing two stone! I'm starting to feel like I'm on the home stretch... :-)

pinkstars

I lost the 1 and a half pounds which I put on the the week before!

Yay!

How I would love to know as I cannot stop stuffing my face. It's as if I am challenging myself to eat as much as I can.

I will have to cop on.

flowerpower12

Hi All,

Thanks for the tips re goal setting. It definately seems to be good motivator so will get working on them.

Have just discovered an unreal M&S COU meal - Asian style Cod with noodles. for 5, yes 5pps!!!!
It's a little expensive €5.99 but well worth it if you're going over on the pps and weeklies like me.
More of a lunch dish than for dinner

I bought the RTE guide for the WW supplement - looking at the weekly planner, I've deduced I'm not using my points wisely enough. For example, yesterday I have 3 ryvita, a tin of tuna with my 0 soup. BUT, I could have had a delicious "Bacon Avocado and Spinach" salad for the same pps (5). Which would I rather? the salad and soup for sure.

So, here's to a wiser using of my points.

Good luck with WI's everyone!