Has Weight Watchers gone insane?
Replies
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I joined WW on December 10th after about a year of mixed Jenny Craig and MFP calorie counting.
As of last week I have lost 11 pounds. This was with a few Holiday slips.
In the beginning I was double tracking with the WW tools and MFP. My calorie count was coming in at around 1200, perfect for me. After awhile I was confident that this WW thing was working and I gave it all up to Freestyle.
Yes, you do have to be aware and mindful but it is an absolute joy having a big bowl of zero-point turkey, bean and vegetable chili and not agonizing over calories or points. Cooking is wonderful---start with zero point foods and build from there, tracking only the foods that have points.
As always, fats and carbs are point-heavy.
I am the happiest that I have ever been with a food plan since I started Freestyle. I am not weighing and measuring and tracking every single stinking bit of food that I put in my mouth and it is immensely liberating.
Best thing---it's working!!
Not all carbs are point heavy though, as all free fruits are mostly simple carbs.
In what is probably my last WW meeting today, the leader said the zero points system does not allow for the inclusion of essential and good fats and essential and good carbs. Those require a points hit. But everyone seems to be bent on eating zero points total or zero points then saving the rest for treats.5 -
BruinsGal_91 wrote: »Nony_Mouse wrote: »
Me too. I did WW in the 90s and it was the 1-2-3 Success program. As far as I can remember the points were based on calories and fat, and only fruit and veg were zero points. I've still got some of the recipe books and the little cardboard points calculator. You were given extra points for exercise (I used all mine on beer). Looking at my progress during the time I was doing it, the weight came off very, very slowly. Too much beer and 'free' foods I guess.
Were we in the same WW meetings in the Boston area in the late 90's haha j/k.
I used my exercise points for beer too because that's how I stayed sane until I totally fell off the wagon. Got down to 174 on my wedding day. Man I would love to be there again. Slowly but surely!0 -
estherdragonbat wrote: »suzannesimmons3 wrote: »spiriteagle99 wrote: »But who eats a whole pineapple? I love it, but that's a lot of food.
How do you think people get fat???
Maybe it's a blessing that, while I can enjoy pineapple in moderation, too much gives me cankers, then.
Too much makes my tongue burn. Same with kiwi fruit!0 -
I notice Oprah isn't looking too slim in her commercials, and the food they are showing, well, cupcakes? Even though the cupcakes are tiny, tiny, still, I wouldn't recommend eating them every day, empty calories. Really, losing weight and keeping it off is so much a lifestyle change, bottom line. Everything said about lifestyle change is totally right on. A person has to decide, do I really want to go back to eating the way I did that got me fat in the first place, or do I want to give up that instant gratification and still stick to my plan?7
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millcreekr wrote: »I notice Oprah isn't looking too slim in her commercials, and the food they are showing, well, cupcakes? Even though the cupcakes are tiny, tiny, still, I wouldn't recommend eating them every day, empty calories. Really, losing weight and keeping it off is so much a lifestyle change, bottom line. Everything said about lifestyle change is totally right on. A person has to decide, do I really want to go back to eating the way I did that got me fat in the first place, or do I want to give up that instant gratification and still stick to my plan?
Can't the same be said about this plan? How many members eat cookies, desserts, pizza, wine, etc, almost daily, count calories for it, and still lose weight? As for how Oprah looks, she has always looked like that. She lost weight slowly. No dramatic weight loss for her since she signed on with WW. Doesn't mean that she failed or the program didn't work for her.6 -
I had a ww person who kept saying fat makes people fat so I bought low fat everything and ending up getting no where cause of the sugar they added to replace the fat.4
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Marykaylady2010 wrote: »I had a ww person who kept saying fat makes people fat so I bought low fat everything and ending up getting no where cause of the sugar they added to replace the fat.
Sugar doesn't make you fat either. Too many calories makes you fat.9 -
For me at least glassyo, sugar is addictive so I see Marykaylady2's point. Some of WW - not very nice anyway - cakes, are almost 50% sugar.7
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Thats weird, I could eat a dozen eggs and half a chicken by myself tbh. I used to eat half watermelons to myself, bag of shrimp. lol How tf aren't these considered risky to overeat?3
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For me at least glassyo, sugar is addictive so I see Marykaylady2's point. Some of WW - not very nice anyway - cakes, are almost 50% sugar.
Im not sure that's how marykaylady2010 meant it but I get that too. I love my carbs. It still doesn't mean it was the actual sugar (or any kind of carby goodness for me or cake for you) that hindered weight loss or caused weight gain. It was eating at or over our calorie goals. Addiction is more of a personal obstacle.
For what it's worth, I lost all of my weight averaging 300 grams of carbs a day and definitely not being afraid of sugar just fine. And, yes, I've used the word addicted too.
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millcreekr wrote: »I notice Oprah isn't looking too slim in her commercials, and the food they are showing, well, cupcakes? Even though the cupcakes are tiny, tiny, still, I wouldn't recommend eating them every day, empty calories. Really, losing weight and keeping it off is so much a lifestyle change, bottom line. Everything said about lifestyle change is totally right on. A person has to decide, do I really want to go back to eating the way I did that got me fat in the first place, or do I want to give up that instant gratification and still stick to my plan?
When I eat cupcakes, they usually contain carbohydrates and fat, two macronutrients my body can use for energy. I don't consider them empty calories, although they certainly can be calorie-dense.
The way I got fat was eating more calories than my body was using. Yes, that sometimes included cupcakes, but it also included pineapple, rice, tomatoes, walnuts, and dozens of other foods. I don't see the need to eliminate any of them just because I used to suck at determining proper portions for my body's needs.
As far as Oprah's weight, we're talking about a woman who has struggled with her weight virtually her entire public life and has tried a variety of different plans. I wouldn't conclude that a plan wouldn't work simply because Oprah didn't achieve someone's personal standards of slenderness on it. That would result in us discounting dozens and dozens of plans, including calorie counting (which I believe she has also tried). Sometimes people don't succeed on a perfectly reasonable plan. Sometimes people make slow progress. And sometimes people define "success" as a higher goal weight than we personally would.15 -
For me at least glassyo, sugar is addictive so I see Marykaylady2's point. Some of WW - not very nice anyway - cakes, are almost 50% sugar.
Im not sure that's how marykaylady2010 meant it but I get that too. I love my carbs. It still doesn't mean it was the actual sugar (or any kind of carby goodness for me or cake for you) that hindered weight loss or caused weight gain. It was eating at or over our calorie goals. Addiction is more of a personal obstacle.
For what it's worth, I lost all of my weight averaging 300 grams of carbs a day and definitely not being afraid of sugar just fine. And, yes, I've used the word addicted too.
I'm sure I'm not alone in my addiction to sweet things, things made with sugar. Snow white and addictive.12 -
For me at least glassyo, sugar is addictive so I see Marykaylady2's point. Some of WW - not very nice anyway - cakes, are almost 50% sugar.
Im not sure that's how marykaylady2010 meant it but I get that too. I love my carbs. It still doesn't mean it was the actual sugar (or any kind of carby goodness for me or cake for you) that hindered weight loss or caused weight gain. It was eating at or over our calorie goals. Addiction is more of a personal obstacle.
For what it's worth, I lost all of my weight averaging 300 grams of carbs a day and definitely not being afraid of sugar just fine. And, yes, I've used the word addicted too.
I'm sure I'm not alone in my addiction to sweet things, things made with sugar. Snow white and addictive.
Some people do find it difficult to moderate fat or cocoa beans though. That doesn't necessarily mean that any food is addictive, it just means that some people find it more difficult to moderate foods they find particularly delicious and that certain foods can be more of a challenge to these people than others. Creating a pathology of this by attaching claims of "addiction" doesn't really seem necessary to me.
I find it very challenging to control my consumption of foods with coconut fat, to the point that I sometimes crave just plain coconut oil and would eat it with a spoon. Does that mean that fat is addictive or that coconut fat is somehow uniquely addictive (I don't feel this way about eating, for example, olive oil)? Or does it mean that different people will experience the struggle to moderate delicious things around different foods?9 -
For me at least glassyo, sugar is addictive so I see Marykaylady2's point. Some of WW - not very nice anyway - cakes, are almost 50% sugar.
Im not sure that's how marykaylady2010 meant it but I get that too. I love my carbs. It still doesn't mean it was the actual sugar (or any kind of carby goodness for me or cake for you) that hindered weight loss or caused weight gain. It was eating at or over our calorie goals. Addiction is more of a personal obstacle.
For what it's worth, I lost all of my weight averaging 300 grams of carbs a day and definitely not being afraid of sugar just fine. And, yes, I've used the word addicted too.
I'm sure I'm not alone in my addiction to sweet things, things made with sugar. Snow white and addictive.
Why do you not think it's the fat? Or the hyper-palatable combo of sugar & fat?
Most of the foods I have trouble moderating are fat-heavy : nuts and seeds, premium ice cream, chicken wings, cheese. I don't think it's addictive though, I just really like it and need to be mindful.5 -
For me at least glassyo, sugar is addictive so I see Marykaylady2's point. Some of WW - not very nice anyway - cakes, are almost 50% sugar.
Im not sure that's how marykaylady2010 meant it but I get that too. I love my carbs. It still doesn't mean it was the actual sugar (or any kind of carby goodness for me or cake for you) that hindered weight loss or caused weight gain. It was eating at or over our calorie goals. Addiction is more of a personal obstacle.
For what it's worth, I lost all of my weight averaging 300 grams of carbs a day and definitely not being afraid of sugar just fine. And, yes, I've used the word addicted too.
I'm sure I'm not alone in my addiction to sweet things, things made with sugar. Snow white and addictive.
Why do you not think it's the fat? Or the hyper-palatable combo of sugar & fat?
Most of the foods I have trouble moderating are fat-heavy : nuts and seeds, premium ice cream, chicken wings, cheese. I don't think it's addictive though, I just really like it and need to be mindful.1 -
Marykaylady2010 wrote: »I had a ww person who kept saying fat makes people fat so I bought low fat everything and ending up getting no where cause of the sugar they added to replace the fat.
I've said for the longest time- "low fat" is probably the worst thing that ever happened to this country. It's really effed up peoples ability to make good choices and suss out what they need. Demonizing fat- and now carbs- it's just making life really complicated when it doesn't need to be.12 -
I thought it was crazy too. Chicken breasts are free! My friend is doing the new program and I thought he had it wrong, it was not possible that they are free... but I looked it up and they are... It would only take 5 chicken breasts, and nothing else the entire day, to put me over. How can that be CICO?3
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I have been on WW for years and have always questioned their math - here is the last straw!
The new "Freestyle plan" says beans, including chickpeas are 0 points.....BUT..... wait for it... if you roast them with nothing more than spices, they have points! HUH??? Why I asked them - "because you can overeat those" - REALLY??? I can eat beans straight from the can for 0 points but if I roast them it changes?? This makes NO sense. They still have calories!!!6 -
I'm not sure which is more comical, WW or the Special K nourish/feed it campaign. Special K, the corn/grain "diet" wasn't working. Wow, who could have seen that feeding lots of grains doesn't work for weight loss! So Special K stopped calling it a diet and now their commercials are "feed it"... I think it's just WW's way of giving in and saying, "it's not a diet" so more people join. Profits over reality.2
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Agreed, MikePfirrman, they are desperate because their profits a losing so much weight they're nearly at starvation level.1
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