Weight watchers anyone?

[jgenie]

I've been working out pretty consistently for three months and have made no progress on losing weight. I know it's my eating habits. I'm thinking of joining WWatchers for three months to see if it makes a difference. Anyone currently doing WW? Online only or meetings too? How are you liking it? Glad you did it or wish you hadn't? Any tips / tricks? TIA

[klwa]

I haven't done weight watchers, but I HAVE been logging my food intake into an app on my phone since August. I've been amazed at how much easier it's been for me to take weight off (30 lbs as of this morning!) by just paying a little better attention to what I'm eating.

[anonomom]

It's been several years since I did WW, but the program did not impress me. Tracking points can work well in tracking food and encouraging smarter choices, but the meetings were not helpful. Mostly, they'd be discussions of what snack foods were the lowest points. :-) Also, give that nearly everyone I ever met in several months of meetings was on their third, fourth or fifth round of WW, I'd have to conclude it's not an effective program for long-term weight loss (and at least one study has borne that out; something like 95% of people who do WW, if they lose any significant weight in the first place, gain it all back within a few years).

That said, I do think tracking one's food can be a good way of keeping an eye on things. I used Spark People to good effect, and have heard good things about Live Strong.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I did it and enjoyed the meetings and online food tracker. Liked some of the recipes as well. Weighing in weekly and meeting a friend there made it all pleasant for me. I lost 20 lbs in a few months and then another 5 that I go up and down with. Definitely showed me that carbs are so much of my problem! Healthier food choices and planning to work out makes it easy. The encouragement and their model worked for me where nothing else had in 6 years.

My (already skinny) SiL used the Lose It app after baby weight but I don't know anything more about it.

For WW, it meant replacing my bread choices when I could with light breads or lower "point" tortillas from ole wellness or something like that. Peanut butter was cut out and replaced with PB2 but I don't eat much PB anyway. A pbj was a ginormous amount of points.


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[jren]

I had been stuck for the last 5 years, since turning 40, with a steady slow weight increase. I tried exercise and tracking what I ate, but couldn't make a dent in the weight gain. Exercise made me gain even more! I recently switched to a plant-based diet, mostly Vegetarian but without all the eggs, cheese and cream. I do still eat fish and seafood occasionally for the vitamin B12. Also, I keep my saturated fats down to under 15 mg per day. no coconut products, no palm oils. It's really not as restrictive as it sounds and is actually pretty easy. Food tastes great! I also have Invisalign which greatly limits my ability to snack. It's a process to remove and clean them and my teeth each time I eat, and I have to wear them 22 hours a day. I lost 3 pounds from the Invisalign and an additional 7 pounds so far in the last month since switching to the new way of eating. I don't count calories and eat as much as I want.


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[SnuggleBuggles]

My friend did it very successfully last year and lost 30lbs. She's now gained all that back. I was inspired when she was losing and almost joined too but I held off because I was curious if it was sustainable. Obviously everyone is different. She still speaks positively about it and says she now knows what she has to do to lose- it just takes discipline to do it.


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[lovin2shop]

I did WW about two years ago, and really felt the program was fantastic. For me, the key was attending the meetings and getting weighed in weekly. Knowing that I was getting on a scale kept me really in check. The meetings were usually pretty uplifting and encouraging. I did make lifetime weight, and I only quit going because the meeting times changed to a less convenient time. Since I stopped going, the pounds have started to creep back up. I've started a new exercise program and am tracking calories on my fitbit, but if this doesn't work, I'll be back to WW soon. I have about 10 pounds to lose to get me back to the lifetime weight that obtained with WW about two years ago.

[AnnieW625]

I am a former lifetime member. I joined the program in Nov., 2003 and made lifetime in July, 2004. I lost the minimum I needed to lose to get to lifetime. I am the Weight Watchers @ Work coordinator for my office so I do believe in the program. I am about 30lbs over my goal weight because I spent a few years not following the program post Dd2 because I was tired of it, and frustrated that I should have lost all of my baby weight again (It took me not quite a year post Dd1 to get back to my lifetime weight). I have lost 10lbs since last May (my heaviest non pregnant weight ever and 40lbs. over my goal weight) and I have also given up eating a lot of wheat based products and I really think it is the limiting the wheat products that helps me more than anything. The main reason I originally joined Weight Watchers in 2003 was to lose about 5-10lbs, and because I had/still have a problem with portions and would over eat and not even realize it. I do know people who lose weight on the plan and then once they stop they gain weight back, but once you get into the habit of tracking and lose some weight if you keep yourself focused you can keep the weight off. I am hoping to be back at my goal weight or at least within 10lbs of it by the end of this year.

Weight Watchers has been having promos like lose the first 10lbs. on us so I would wait for one of those promos. Your success also depends on the leaders. I have had some awful leaders over the years and that was part of the reason I stopped going for a while after I had Dd2.

[daisysmom]

I am actually doing it now, and the new program (smart points), is fantastic, I believe. This was unveiled late in 2015, and I joined on New Year's Eve day on 12/31/2015. I kind of joined on a whim actually, hadn't really thought about it but a good friend asked me to and I did it more as a gift to our friendship. And I have lost almost 15 lbs, and this is weight that I have been trying to lose since I first got married. I am not quite back to my wedding weight, but I am within 4 lbs or so and am determined to do it.
I had done weight watchers three times in the last 20 years and never made goal and never lost more than 5 lbs before I gave up. What is making this different:
-the smartpoints program really punishes sugar, which to me is the right move. So processed snacks and desserts are very high in points
- there is something called "Connect" in the app which is the best and most supportive social media site I have ever found. It is really inspiring and great.
- I am almost 47, and I want to be in the middle of my healthy weight range before I hit menopause.

PM me if you decide to do it. I am doing meetings, I am loving them this time. But the Connect group is really awesome. I read it every night instead of snacking.

[ray7694]

A few of my friends are on it and it takes major discipline. I could never cut all sweets.