Misinformed Weight Watchers

Apparently a quarter cup of Pisatchios is 9 points! Doesn't that seem a bit high?!

So, I work with a woman who was just off on how terribly bad nuts are for you. Qouting that pistachios and peanuts are dreadful! I eat pistachios as one of my 100 calories snacks. With 20 pistachios coming in at under 90 cals!! I love my nuts. I think they are a great way to generate protien and give me energy. They also really help me feild some cravings I have. How can I break it to her that cutting all of this out is going to be a hinderence for her? She is also under the impression that fruits and veg = zero. Last night I had said I had ground beef and she thought it was positively dreadful. To a point that it made me second quess my food choice. But then quickly remembered, there isn't anything wrong with delicious lean gound beef. After being on here (and after doing herbal magic) I realise that monitoring my calories its the most sucessful route that helps me have a balanced full of variety life style without succumbing to painfully bland foods. Shes obviously seeing results on WW but I think her mindset is really in the wrong place. At the minute I just keep my mouth shut. But I want to see her continue to succeed and not fall of the wagon because of all the hinderances. How to be nice about it?

I did WW. This is not the fault of the program, which encourages eating nuts, does not discourage eating ground beef and has a different formula for accounting for fruits and vegetables than straight calorie counting.

Don't bash something because you know someone who's doing it wrong.

I paid $80 to a doctor who runs a weight loss clinic. When he asked about my eating habits I told him I sometimes eat a piece of wholegrain bread with a tablespoon of natural peanut butter for breakfast. Also, I might eat a handful of nuts for a snack. He told me I was never to eat nuts or peanut butter again. He then proceeded to show me the foods I could eat. All processed...cereals, frozen breakfast sandwiches, frozen "diet" meals, etc. Can we say sodium overload? Needless to say, I did not go back.

Apparently a quarter cup of Pisatchios is 9 points! Doesn't that seem a bit high?!

The problem with WW is that the points are really in lieu of calorie counts, but nutrition really isn't taken into consideration when assigning points. While nuts are very nutritionally dense foods, they are also very calorie dense foods...thus a higher point is applied. They give zero for fruit and veg in an effort to get people to eat more of those things...let's face it, I don't really no anyone who got fat because they were eating oh so much fruit and veg.

Unfortunately, this can skew people's perceptions of food and put them in a mindset of XXX = good and healthy and YYY = BAD, BAD, BAD. Basically, if it's calorie dense, it's automatically BAD food, even though it may be very nutritious. Nuts, Avocado, any number of cooking oils, butter nuts, etc would all fall into the category of BAD on WW simply because of the calorie density. If someone is willing to put in a bit of effort in understanding basic nutrition, they can avoid such pitfalls.

First of all, please don't bash on a program that you don't know because someone is not representing it properly.

I'm on WW and I lost 56lbs. At the beggining, counting points was easier for me than counting calories. Eventually I began doing both, so I wasn't overdoing it on free fruits and veggies. Turns out I would need to eat a lot fo fruit to over do it.

WW count on the fact that people WILL eat those free stuff. If you do eat them, you won't be under your minimal requirements.

Also, 20 pistachios = 120 calories, 10.4 g fat, 5.6 g carbohydrates, 3.2 g protein, 2.4 g fiber, 144 mg sodium, 3 PointsPlus.

Not 9 pts. 3 !! Maybe your friend should do her homeworks. Also, WW tell you that you NEED to eat healthy fats.

MFP and counting calories is overwhelming for a lot of people. WW is a great alternative.

I just don't understand how not eating the protein and healthy fat foods--and still being to be at Caloric goal. Can someone explain it to me? Like obviously I would eat pistachios if i was counting points and I was allowed 25 and they were 9--seems ridiculous. But they are only 90 cals! so....Huh? someone break it down for me, how are they still getting the energy and nutrients they need to fuel their bodies? As far as I am aware, they don't take any 'magic pills'. Im not hating on weight watchers, I know alot of people have super success. Im just curious. Because to me, the math is the math, burn more then you consume=weight loss.