Help Please! Advise with WW Points Plus? Other Advise/Ideas

samb

Hi everyone! I have been on MFP for over a year, and I love it on here. There is great support and I like that I can track all of my food easily, and see the nutritional information. However, I go through phases of eating really healthy and then I get distracted by life & don't focus enough on my nutrition (I am a vegetarian and still eat healthy/vegetables, nuts, yogurt & fruits mainly, but end up eating more processed foods when I am around my boyfriend & my friends, which usually sends me over my calorie limit).

I feel like I need a more structured system when I go through these not-as-healthy-phases, to keep me on track and not let my friends' bad choices affect my own life, especially since I always end up regretting the bad decisions the next day. I know MFP lays out the nutritional information for me & I can list my foods, but sometimes during these times I think I need something a bit more structured to keep me focused. I don't know if anyone else feels this way at times...

This is my story.... During my senior year of high school/freshman year of college I gained the "freshman 15." I lost most of the weight I needed to lose during my sophomore year of college/4 years ago just by becoming a vegetarian, cutting out most processed foods & working out on the elliptical for an hour each day (since I had never worked out a day in my life because I rode my horse 3 hours a day and that was good enough for me, I was almost all muscle back then!) Since then, I have been dedicated to learning more about nutrition & exercise since I had never really ever learned about these things & never needed to in the past (or so it seemed). But now I have gained the weight back over the last year & my body seems to be used to exercise and eating mostly fruits & vegetables/less refined/processed foods & I feel "stuck" because I feel like even when I eat healthy and exercise, I still don't seem to lose any weight & I have never really weighed this much! I don't like feeling this way and it is hard for me to stay motivated when nothing seems to really change with the hard effort I put in.

Does anyone use the weight watchers points plus system? I joined WW 5 years ago, and I think I actually gained weight from the old system but I don't think I had approached it correctly though, so I am just wondering what people feel about the old system & the new system & if you suggest I go back on it? Have you all been successful? Id love to hear your stories!

What do you all do to lose weight - exercise & nutrition - wise? Especially in the winter when most activities cannot be performed...I would love any suggestions you may have & just to learn what you all do (I love learning new things about exercise and nutrition).

***I am just interested to see what you all have done to be successful, what programs you use, what your diets are like, etc. Please share! ***

jms1739

Its funny that you posted this because I just started back using the point system today. I too felt the need for more structure and at least when I go out to eat I can easily figure out what I am having. Counting caloires and fat is great but doesn't work for everyone. I found the point system very helpful. I started today just to see how many caloires I am actually eating based on MFP and WW, because I wasn't seeing any results, so I was thinking maybe I wasn't getting enough food. So we will see what happens. You have to find what works for you.

yellowfairy

I was like that-and went on the old system at WW and lost 20 pounds, because of the meetings to keep me on track. Now I am just more dedicated, so I can use this site, but really-if that is what it takes-I say go for it. Not sure how the new system works-but I loved the meetings to keep me on track.

klbeall71

I'm actually going to my first weigh-in and Weight Watchers at Work meeting today and will find out how their "new system" works. I used their old points system a few years back and lost 50 lbs. However, I got WAY off track and gained almost 40 of it back. I've been reading comments about the new PP system and how people are complaining that they're not losing weight like they did with the old system so I'm very curious to see what happens. I also just started using MFP to help get me motivated, and I too am curious to compare it to the new WW system.

I will say though, from what I've heard so far about the new PP system, it might be the perfect option for you since you're a vegetarian and already eat healthy!! For someone like me who has very crappy eating habits, I think it will be tough. I will let you know what I find out at today's meeting.

klbeall71

Ok, so after going to the meeting, I would think that the new PointsPlus program would work for you. The majority of the people get 29 points per day (that's the lowest that it will go) and you get 49 weekly points. Now the points values have gone up on a lot of foods, but now pretty much all your frutis and veggies are 0 points and you are supposed to eat them until your comfortable....not gourge on them all day long. The example we were given was a banana.....on the old plan, it was 2 pts. With the new system it's 0 points, but if you were to eat more than one a day, you will gain weight.....they said use it to beef up your meals. You also still get activity points that you can swap for food.

It's definitely a little different from the old program. Maybe you can find a meeting in your area to attend and check it out to see if you think it would work for you before you make the committment. Anyway, I hope my little bit of information helps!