WW at home program? Worth it?

[MamaKath]

Okay, I have strategically avoided this particular forum for too long now. ;-) This past qtr I have been teaching my 1st and 2nd grade PE students about health and nutrition. It has been really eye opening to many of them (not many parents happy with me when their soda and snack habits are an issue with their 6, 7, and 8 year old kids, lol) and to me. I am thinking of trying the Weight Watchers at home system http://www.weightwatchers.com/plan/hom/package.aspx to track my eating in a better way. I was wondering if anyone has tried it, and if so what did you think? Years ago I found WW to be fairly straightfoward to follow.

I also found Richard Simmons Deal-a-meal/food mover to be fairly user friendly. http://www.richardsimmonsstore.com/index.php?product=FM02 It seems pretty "idiot proof" and without the many bells and whistles as the WW program.

I guess I need to know if WW at home is worth the $$ for the bells and whistles without the "in-person" support. There are no meetings that are feasible to get to (only 1 place in our county apparently has them and is about 30 minutes away on a good traffic day :-() and the times won't work with my work schedule. Should I look at the online program. Is there a better system to follow out there?

[MamaKath]

I need to get some program going while the motivation is. Lay it on me, which will be easier to follow?

TIA :-) :-)

[psophia17]

I really wish I could answer the question for you, but I don't know anything about any program that isn't WW, and I never did WW online.

I think the real thing you need to do is research both programs, and decide which one you think you will follow. I picked WW because they offered it at work (with a discount, even!), so it was easy to go to every Wednesday. Once I became a SAHM, I already knew WW, so I did it myself, and got all the way down to my previous WW weight. So it works for me. It's not easy, but I made the decision for it to work, and that's what it did.

[bcky2]

ok ill give my 2 cents :) i did ww for a while and went to the meetings. i was very successful for a while and then i gave up(im still wondering why). i have tried many times to start again(like 8 times!) and i just cant. i have tried online and didnt have much success with it :( BUT eveyone is different and there are plenty of women out there that have great success with the at home program, just not me :(

on another note that richard simmons deal-a-meal was something that i have been wanting to try, now i just may :)

[MayB]

I have never joined either version of WW but have been following their points plan with good results, other than a fall off the wagon between Thanksgiving and New Years. I found all the information I needed about WW on this board and other places on line, primarily Dottie's Weight Loss Zone, www.dwlz.com and Bootcamp Buddies, www.healthdiscovery.net. The money I don't spend on memberships I use to buy better food choices or treat myself to new clothes when I reach a milestone.

I have tried diets and failed more times than I can count. WW isn't really a diet, it's a lifestyle change and if you're committed, it will work for you. I think the difference this time was that I was mentally prepared to lose the weight. I still have 10 - 15 pounds to go, but I feel healthier than I have in years and have more energy, too. Good luck.

[mmaimp]

I just joined WW online this week. So far I like it. I'm a Life Time member from 2002 and I'm about 20 pounds from my goal weight. I really like to go to meetings but with two little ones I can't seem to get to them. I tried last year and it was difficult to get out.

I really think support is the main thing that makes WW great. Is online support enough for you? I think there are some yahoo groups that do WW and they are free to join. I'm hoping WW online will work for me. My DH is counting points with me so it's helpful to have that support at home.

When I first started WW in 2001 I thought the meetings would not be for me and just joined for the plan and weigh-in. Little did I know that the meetings would be key in my weight loss. I liked getting the food ideas and recipes. I really loved the recognition for the pounds lost. My leader was great at making you awesome when you hit a goal, no matter how small. I think meetings were really instrumental in my original weight loss.

I'm going to start participating in the weekly check-ins here too! Hope to see you there.

[MamaKath]

I have a feeling the points is going to be easier overall to follow, so that is the direction I am leaning, though I may not buy the "kit" to follow it. I think while exchanges will work for me, it will be frustrating over the longer period trying to balance out what has what exchanges in it.

I know what you guys mean about support though. At work we are talking about meeting once a week for a support meeting and weigh in. Not a "This person weighs XX lbs." but a "I am up2" type thing. Just enough to share tips and recipes and to keep each other honest. We'll see how it goes.

Thank you for your thoughts though, I know I can aalways come to BBB and get great advice on nearly any topic. :-)

[JacksMommy]

I haven't tried the WW at home program, what I did was downloaded wwcalc, a free program that does ww on your palm pilot. I've been tracking my points that way and it's worked well for me so far (just a few weeks now). I assume the WW at home program works similarly - if you are reasonably self-motivated and will follow through with writing down and calculating the points for what you eat, I'm guessing this program will work for you.

Laurel
WOHM to Jack, 6/4/02
Baby Madeline 12/14/04

[MamaKath]

Laurel, I just noticed one of these programs for palm pilots. I have been wanting a palm forever, lol, and was wondering how this worked. I am terrible about writing things down, but am much better about working with an electronic devise. The ww at home program has you writing everything down, but gives you the tools to calculate your points (restaurant guides, etc). It just seems pricey for what you get(about $150 for the "deluxe package" which does not include anykind of waiver to even try a meeting when I travel, etc or an online membership to their site that i can tell), but I know the program itself works. It is good to know that the palm programs work. Do you know if they only work with Palm brand organizers or also with others (like Dell's)?

[JacksMommy]

I could probably answer this question better if you asked specific questions about how it works, but basically the one I have (this is not the official WW one) has me entering into the palm what I eat and includes a points calculator. It also subtracts whatever points I've used from the day's total and banks any leftover points through the end of the week. I can automatically pull up entries I've made in the past (since like most people, I eat a lot of the same things over again).

I'm not sure whether you this works for other handhelds but I think it does. www.dwlz.com usually has an updated link to where you can find this online.

Since you don't already have a handheld, have you considered WW online? This would be similar to using a palm (I think) but you'd use your desktop instead. I think they have a free one-week trial going on right now. And I believe it was something like $65 to get started for a three month period. If it's working for you, I know they also have a WW to Go (either free with the online subscription or for a price) for handhelds that's probably better than WW Calc.

Best of luck and definitely ask if there's anyway I can help! Petra also uses WWCalc or used to, since I got the idea from her previous posts.

Laurel
WOHM to Jack, 6/4/02
Baby Madeline 12/14/04

[lizajane]

i am doing ww online now. i only have 10lbs to lose. (i actually suddenly realized that the 10lbs leftover from dylan had turned into 15!! ack!!) but i have lost the first 5.

i find it VERY hard to get my points tracked on the computer with the kids running around. i would like to have BOTH the online tools and the cardboard thingy to take to the grocery store with me. i need to carry a pad of paper to write stuff down. i am really good at remembering it, but i would like to keep better track all day.

i need to get my old materials back from my sister (who has lost 25lbs and gone from a 20 to an 18!! hooray!!) and then it will be perfect. she is going to meetings.

i think online would be great for folks who work full time. it is harder when you are with kids all day.