Losing ‘last 10 lbs’- WW vs CICO

Raegold

Hey everyone... I haven’t been on since I was doing maintenance/recomp. It was fairly successful, but now I’m ready to lose the last 10ish lbs, or at least attempt to. I’m still nursing my 2 year old, but I’m planning on weaning over the next couple months.

I got back on my WW app and the program changed again, now lean protein is ‘free’... I’m just not sure if this is a good thing or frustrating. I get it, but now I get less daily points and my PB banana toast in the morning ‘costs’ me more than it used to. On the other hand, counting calories and macros has been difficult for me sometimes mentally. It can get consuming and obsessive.

So, anyone who has tried to lose basically vanity weight, any recommendations about the best and easiest method of tracking food?

FYI, I’m 5’3 and probably around 137 currently, looking to be around 125-128.

4legsRbetterthan2

I have heard in the past WW was pretty accurate to calorie counting, but hearing about their newer system with free foods it sounds alot less accurate to me. But, if calorie counting becomes obsessive for you then that is definitely a concern you should have. Losing weight is not worth sacrificing your happiness! Calorie counting is definitely not for everyone. And you might just need to give it a little time to get used to the new points, I get how frustrating it must be for you favorite foods to cost more, but on the other hand I imagine it has to feel nice to get some things for free too?

I am not as close to goal as you, so I cant speak from experience, but it sounds like people who have had success with the last 10 lbs really had to hone in on accuracy, accept a slower rate of loss, and just be patient.

MindfulDecision

Calorie count. Make sure calories out > calories in. Lean meat has calories, account for everything. Keep a calorie deficit and you will lose your last 10 pounds. Exercise to quicken the weight loss.

newheavensearth

^^Agreed.
You have to find for yourself what you can manage long term. Finding something you can maintain is the key to not having to lose those same vanity lbs every other year.

Raegold

Thank you for the insight... I’m honestly not sure what I can maintain because I’ve had two kids and breastfed them both (not even done nursing yet), so I can’t say that I’ve lost all the weight I wanted to lose and then tried to maintain it without those other variables... if that makes sense? Maybe 125-128 is too low to reasonably maintain, but I honestly don’t know, I haven’t hit that since after kid #2 yet, but I did after my first... and then got pregnant.

I just tried to cancel my WW but they are going to charge me $21 cancellation fee which makes me mad bc I signed up for the old program, not the new one.

Also, just saw the huge WW thread, sorry I started this one without looking!!

deannalfisher

maybe instead of losing weight - focus on recomp (losing fat while gaining muscle) - i'm your height and about 15lbs heavier, but look to be in the 135 range (my doc always makes me get on the scale twice, because they can't believe i weigh in the 150's)

Raegold

I honestly had trouble doing a recomp. I don’t think my body is meant to easily gain muscle. I ended up injuring myself, I have hypermobile ligaments plus the recent pregnancies and nursing. My goal, fitness wise, is to continue my moderate program, which I don’t think will have me gaining much actual muscle weight but helps to stabilize. It’s a functional mix of Pilates, some cardio and functional strength training

vismal

MindfulDecision wrote: »

Calorie count. Make sure calories out > calories in. Lean meat has calories, account for everything. Keep a calorie deficit and you will lose your last 10 pounds. Exercise to quicken the weight loss.

newheavensearth wrote: »

^^Agreed.
You have to find for yourself what you can manage long term. Finding something you can maintain is the key to not having to lose those same vanity lbs every other year.

I don't think anyone disagrees that counting calories is the most accurate way to ensure a deficit exists but look at the advice both of you gave. "account for everything", "finding something you can maintain is key". Then look at what the OP wrote "Counting calories and macros has been difficult for me sometimes mentally. It can get consuming and obsessive". Anyone see a problem here? Now I agree that for most people counting calories is the way to go. I literally wrote a guide to counting as accurate as possible for this forum. OP said she struggles with the obsessive nature of calorie counting. So while counting absolutely works, and works well for most people, it might not be the optimal choice for the OP. I don't like weight watchers idea of "free foods". I didn't like it even when it was limited to fruit and vegetables and I like it even less now that it includes lean meats but as the OP pointed out, they account for the "free foods" by upping the cost of other foods. Honestly, if WW is less obsessive for you, and still gets you results, then that's fine. The last few vanity lbs are often the hardest to lose and usually I would tell people count as accurately as possible if you want to lose them. If that's not a good option for you I'd simply exhaust all the options available. Since you've already paid, I'd at least give the WW a try and then reevaluate if it's not successful.

Raegold

vismal wrote: »

MindfulDecision wrote: »

Calorie count. Make sure calories out > calories in. Lean meat has calories, account for everything. Keep a calorie deficit and you will lose your last 10 pounds. Exercise to quicken the weight loss.

newheavensearth wrote: »

^^Agreed.
You have to find for yourself what you can manage long term. Finding something you can maintain is the key to not having to lose those same vanity lbs every other year.

I don't think anyone disagrees that counting calories is the most accurate way to ensure a deficit exists but look at the advice both of you gave. "account for everything", "finding something you can maintain is key". Then look at what the OP wrote "Counting calories and macros has been difficult for me sometimes mentally. It can get consuming and obsessive". Anyone see a problem here? Now I agree that for most people counting calories is the way to go. I literally wrote a guide to counting as accurate as possible for this forum. OP said she struggles with the obsessive nature of calorie counting. So while counting absolutely works, and works well for most people, it might not be the optimal choice for the OP. I don't like weight watchers idea of "free foods". I didn't like it even when it was limited to fruit and vegetables and I like it even less now that it includes lean meats but as the OP pointed out, they account for the "free foods" by upping the cost of other foods. Honestly, if WW is less obsessive for you, and still gets you results, then that's fine. The last few vanity lbs are often the hardest to lose and usually I would tell people count as accurately as possible if you want to lose them. If that's not a good option for you I'd simply exhaust all the options available. Since you've already paid, I'd at least give the WW a try and then reevaluate if it's not successful.

Thank you, that definitely makes sense. Maybe I have to weigh my desire to be at a certain weight with the mental cost. I could always try CICO again but not focus so much on the macros like I did. I got obsessive with the macros, which was probably unnecessary. I think just plain CICO could be doable for me. WW used to be doable when I wasn’t penalized for eating carbs or fats

vismal

Raegold wrote: »

vismal wrote: »

MindfulDecision wrote: »

Calorie count. Make sure calories out > calories in. Lean meat has calories, account for everything. Keep a calorie deficit and you will lose your last 10 pounds. Exercise to quicken the weight loss.

newheavensearth wrote: »

^^Agreed.
You have to find for yourself what you can manage long term. Finding something you can maintain is the key to not having to lose those same vanity lbs every other year.

I don't think anyone disagrees that counting calories is the most accurate way to ensure a deficit exists but look at the advice both of you gave. "account for everything", "finding something you can maintain is key". Then look at what the OP wrote "Counting calories and macros has been difficult for me sometimes mentally. It can get consuming and obsessive". Anyone see a problem here? Now I agree that for most people counting calories is the way to go. I literally wrote a guide to counting as accurate as possible for this forum. OP said she struggles with the obsessive nature of calorie counting. So while counting absolutely works, and works well for most people, it might not be the optimal choice for the OP. I don't like weight watchers idea of "free foods". I didn't like it even when it was limited to fruit and vegetables and I like it even less now that it includes lean meats but as the OP pointed out, they account for the "free foods" by upping the cost of other foods. Honestly, if WW is less obsessive for you, and still gets you results, then that's fine. The last few vanity lbs are often the hardest to lose and usually I would tell people count as accurately as possible if you want to lose them. If that's not a good option for you I'd simply exhaust all the options available. Since you've already paid, I'd at least give the WW a try and then reevaluate if it's not successful.

Thank you, that definitely makes sense. Maybe I have to weigh my desire to be at a certain weight with the mental cost. I could always try CICO again but not focus so much on the macros like I did. I got obsessive with the macros, which was probably unnecessary. I think just plain CICO could be doable for me. WW used to be doable when I wasn’t penalized for eating carbs or fats

You are correct in thinking that obsessing over the macros is uncessary. Hitting a protein goal is most important but the amount of carbs and fats matter much less, especially if you don't tend to eat low levels of fat. It's certainly worth a shot if you can do it without getting too obsessive with the numbers.

deannalfisher

Raegold wrote: »

I honestly had trouble doing a recomp. I don’t think my body is meant to easily gain muscle. I ended up injuring myself, I have hypermobile ligaments plus the recent pregnancies and nursing. My goal, fitness wise, is to continue my moderate program, which I don’t think will have me gaining much actual muscle weight but helps to stabilize. It’s a functional mix of Pilates, some cardio and functional strength training

you don't need to do uber-heavy weights to recomp - i do mostly body weight and other low weights (5-10lbs) - its slower going and i don't do all the recommended compound movements, but its working - i've stayed roughly the same weight, but lost a pants size

janejellyroll

deannalfisher wrote: »

Raegold wrote: »

I honestly had trouble doing a recomp. I don’t think my body is meant to easily gain muscle. I ended up injuring myself, I have hypermobile ligaments plus the recent pregnancies and nursing. My goal, fitness wise, is to continue my moderate program, which I don’t think will have me gaining much actual muscle weight but helps to stabilize. It’s a functional mix of Pilates, some cardio and functional strength training

you don't need to do uber-heavy weights to recomp - i do mostly body weight and other low weights (5-10lbs) - its slower going and i don't do all the recommended compound movements, but its working - i've stayed roughly the same weight, but lost a pants size

Yep, this is my experience too.

Raegold

Thanks everyone, that’s good to hear. Maybe I need to basically do everything in more moderation than I was doing before

newheavensearth

4legsRbetterthan2 wrote: »

I have heard in the past WW was pretty accurate to calorie counting, but hearing about their newer system with free foods it sounds alot less accurate to me. But, if calorie counting becomes obsessive for you then that is definitely a concern you should have. Losing weight is not worth sacrificing your happiness! Calorie counting is definitely not for everyone. And you might just need to give it a little time to get used to the new points, I get how frustrating it must be for you favorite foods to cost more, but on the other hand I imagine it has to feel nice to get some things for free too?

I am not as close to goal as you, so I cant speak from experience, but it sounds like people who have had success with the last 10 lbs really had to hone in on accuracy, accept a slower rate of loss, and just be patient.

@vismal

This is the quote I was agreeing with. Things went out of order (no clue how that happened). I've done WW, I've done calorie counting. I go between both depending on my life circumstances and which I can maintain at the moment. So yes it is an issue of what OP can maintain without causing her needless distress. If calorie calorie counting or counting macros isn't a good fit it won't work long term. If WW feels too punitive that won't work either. Sorry if things got mixed up.