Frustrated with WW :: Giving MFP a Go

2Dec1989

Has anyone else made the switch from WW? What say you?

About me: 60 yo female, 75 to lose, 18 lost since May.

Here's the deal. I've been doing WW since May and I'm down 18 pounds. Happy for the progress, but I'M SUPER FRUSTRATED that I've been battling the same 3 pounds for a month and feel like I should be able to make more progress. Hoping for at least 1 pound/week.

On WW, I eat my daily points and play Pickleball 10-15 hours/week. I DO NOT eat all the extra Weeklies I earn from exercise. I've largely given up alcohol and high points foods (beef, oils, cheese, and anything delicious). BUT ONE FREAKING CHEAT WEEKEND with smoked brisket with fixins + a three glasses of wine and I'm up FOUR STINKIN POUNDS.

I know I have to make sacrifices to lose weight, but seriously?? One cheat weekend and I'm facing a month-long set back. I'm so discouraged... I feel like I have to eat next to nothing to lose weight.

I know I'm of an age, but something seems WRONG. So now I'm going to try tracking my macros (again.)

MFP tells me I should have 1200cal/day. When I compare programs, MFP definitely has me eating more food. Maybe WW isn't enough food (depending on how I choose to allocate my points.) Could that be the problem?

I'm concerned that I'll gain on MFP because it's clearly more calories, but gonna give it a go for a couple weeks.

Lopke1991

WW definitely doesn't let you eat enough. I started after the birth of my first child and quickly lost 14 kg in about 4 months. Then I tried 2 years to lose one more kg. As soon as I ate anything I gained it all back.

Last summer I ate normal for 4 weeks, not even anything crazy, and gained all my weight back in a month!

It took me a whole year to reset my metabolism. I counted and was eating only 800 kcal with WW. My 2 year old was having the same portions as me next to me!

Soooo yeah this may be a bit more slow but I'd rather take it slow and not see the kilo's back!

Lietchi

2Dec1989 wrote: »

Has anyone else made the switch from WW? What say you?

About me: 60 yo female, 75 to lose, 18 lost since May.

Here's the deal. I've been doing WW since May and I'm down 18 pounds. Happy for the progress, but I'M SUPER FRUSTRATED that I've been battling the same 3 pounds for a month and feel like I should be able to make more progress. Hoping for at least 1 pound/week.

On WW, I eat my daily points and play Pickleball 10-15 hours/week. I DO NOT eat all the extra Weeklies I earn from exercise. I've largely given up alcohol and high points foods (beef, oils, cheese, and anything delicious). BUT ONE FREAKING CHEAT WEEKEND with smoked brisket with fixins + a three glasses of wine and I'm up FOUR STINKIN POUNDS.

I know I have to make sacrifices to lose weight, but seriously?? One cheat weekend and I'm facing a month-long set back. I'm so discouraged... I feel like I have to eat next to nothing to lose weight.

I know I'm of an age, but something seems WRONG. So now I'm going to try tracking my macros (again.)

MFP tells me I should have 1200cal/day. When I compare programs, MFP definitely has me eating more food. Maybe WW isn't enough food (depending on how I choose to allocate my points.) Could that be the problem?

I'm concerned that I'll gain on MFP because it's clearly more calories, but gonna give it a go for a couple weeks.

Without counting calories, losing weight is really guesswork. Works for some, but never did for me.

If WW had you on super low calories, it's perfectly normal to gain a few lbs after a cheat weekend: extra food waste in your system, extra water weight from higher carb intake and sodium and alcohol. Don't panic, look at your weight over a longer period instead of focusing on short term fluctuations.

Also: if you're denying yourself foods you like to lose weight, what will you do once you reach goal?

MFP saved me. I lost 75 lbs eating all my favorite foods in more suitable quantities and proportions. No need to eliminate certain foods, no need to starve myself.
I will add: your calorie goal on MFP being 1200 probably means you selected a (too) aggressive weight loss rate since MFP will never give a woman a goal lower than that (to ensure adequate nutrition). What goal weight loss rate did you set? Also, you're supposed to log exercise separately, which will increase your calorie goal.

The fact that you were stalled for a month on WW, super low calories, could be due to water retention from the stress of eating so little

sugaraddict4321

First, congratulations on losing 18 pounds! That is great! Don't let the plateau make you feel as though you haven't accomplished anything.

I want to reiterate and emphasize what @Lietchi says below because it's spot-on. Everyone on a weight loss journey will have plateaus. Weight loss is not linear, and 3 pounds can totally fall within the range of water retention and food still working through your system. But boy, it can be frustrating to see that scale not budge!

It's also a good point to think about what you will do once at goal. If you've been depriving yourself for months, are you going to let go and do whatever you want as soon as you see that magic number? That's definitely the temptation.

Instead, try to look at this as a lifestyle change. You're going to be more active and make better food choices. Most of all, be kind to yourself! :flowerforyou:

Lietchi wrote: »

...it's perfectly normal to gain a few lbs after a cheat weekend: extra food waste in your system, extra water weight from higher carb intake and sodium and alcohol. Don't panic, look at your weight over a longer period instead of focusing on short term fluctuations.

Also: if you're denying yourself foods you like to lose weight, what will you do once you reach goal?

Latestarter2018

I am totally with you. You sounds like you’ve done very well in WW though. I’ve had dozens of tries at WW and it seems very slow - especially with all the new zero point foods. For someone like me it’s very easy to over do it. I like the advice on the calorie targets at 1200 being quite low. I thought I would budget for 1500. It’s a bit more achievable and definitely less than I am eating right now. I am 55 and I have 25 pounds to loose.