Anyone on Weight Watchers

I know chime in the  "Welcome to Fat Fighters". Any yankees going to WW or doing it online. After trying every silly diet in the book I started the meetings and without sounding silly... I like talking about eating 

So has anyone been? I have really just started but so far so good.

Hey Colleen from one PA girl to another!  lol

I was doing weight watchers a few months back but with no success.  I have no idea why ... some said I wasn't eating enough which confused me.  So, I started back on my tried and true low carb diet again and have lost some pounds.  Not much as before during this time thus far ... not sure why.  My husband who is due back in the UK in a few weeks tends to make dinners with gravy etc so I think that is hampering my weight loss so once he goes (which is the only good thing about him going) I can manage it a bit better without him complaining.  lol

Good luck on your diet.  You'll have to let me know how it goes so maybe I can be your weight loss buddy. 

I just started this week

I've never done WW in the USA, but I lasted for 3 weeks here in the UK before I quit.  I hate to bash it because I know it's an extremely successful program, and it's a healthy lifestyle, but it wasn't for me.  I found a lot of flaws with it.  I used to be a Health teacher and I know a bit about nutrition, so maybe that's why I disagreed with some stuff.

I found myself constantly thinking about food.  All day.  I was starving all the time, and that's NOT supposed to happen while on WW.  I constantly went over my daily points limit, even if I exercised regularly, and got those extra exercise points. 

My WW mentor sat down with me and looked at my food diary.  She said I wasn't eating enough for breakfast.  They teach you in this program to eat until you are satisfied, not until you're full.  So that's what I did, but apparently I wasn't doing it right (?)
I also told her that I've found myself thinking about food all the time, and she said, "Oh, I know, it takes over your life."  I told her that is a VERY unhealthy way of living - nobody should be thinking of food around the clock.   She didn't reply.

I also found some odd WW recipes.  I don't eat cream cheese because it's high in saturated fat, yet they had a veggie lasagna recipe calling for cream cheese!  Of all the healthier options of cheese to use on lasagna! (not to mention, it wasn't good).

But anyway, I am definitely in the minority as far as giving WW a thumbs down.  I know it's a great program for so many people, and I am going to give it a try when we move back to the US where I like more of the food there (beans on toast - yuk!).  I hope you're doing well with it, and good luck.

I've never done WW in the USA, but I lasted for 3 weeks here in the UK before I quit.  I hate to bash it because I know it's an extremely successful program, and it's a healthy lifestyle, but it wasn't for me.  I found a lot of flaws with it.  I used to be a Health teacher and I know a bit about nutrition, so maybe that's why I disagreed with some stuff.

I found myself constantly thinking about food.  All day.  I was starving all the time, and that's NOT supposed to happen while on WW.  I constantly went over my daily points limit, even if I exercised regularly, and got those extra exercise points.  

My WW mentor sat down with me and looked at my food diary.  She said I wasn't eating enough for breakfast.  They teach you in this program to eat until you are satisfied, not until you're full.  So that's what I did, but apparently I wasn't doing it right (?)
I also told her that I've found myself thinking about food all the time, and she said, "Oh, I know, it takes over your life."  I told her that is a VERY unhealthy way of living - nobody should be thinking of food around the clock.   She didn't reply.

I also found some odd WW recipes.  I don't eat cream cheese because it's high in saturated fat, yet they had a veggie lasagna recipe calling for cream cheese!  Of all the healthier options of cheese to use on lasagna! (not to mention, it wasn't good).

But anyway, I am definitely in the minority as far as giving WW a thumbs down.  I know it's a great program for so many people, and I am going to give it a try when we move back to the US where I like more of the food there (beans on toast - yuk!).  I hope you're doing well with it, and good luck.

I have to say your not the only one who gives it a thumbs down I tried an it worked for a bit for me & I was also always thinking about food as well so I gave up on it.    I have PCOS so I have to watch my sugar intake alot of the WW ready meals the fresh kind the at least the ones I saw the sugar was way too high for me but the fat was lower though.    I even took some of my WW treats into my gym to show my trainer she was appalled at the sugar content in the toffee bars she said I shouldn't have 1 everyday but every once in a while.    I have to give kudos to those of you who can make it work for you!!  

I did it for about a month here.  It didn't work for me.  I mean, it did, I lost weight, but I was starving.  I had better luck with WW in the US, I felt I got more food.  That said, I'm trying to get away from all processed foods, with the programs seem to rely on heavily, so I'm just not following any of the paid diet programs.  Right now I'm calorie tracking and just going to the gym, which is working, although a little slower than the WW programs.

I did it for about a month here.  It didn't work for me.  I mean, it did, I lost weight, but I was starving.  I had better luck with WW in the US, I felt I got more food.  That said, I'm trying to get away from all processed foods, with the programs seem to rely on heavily, so I'm just not following any of the paid diet programs.  Right now I'm calorie tracking and just going to the gym, which is working, although a little slower than the WW programs.

Keep up the great work Sb15!!   

I'm not any specific diet myself I'm just going to the gym, Dh & I are on a LO GI diet which we don't really call a diet its just a much healthier way of eating in our opinion, & taking my medication with each meal. I'm losing weight slow & steady but from what my trainer & dietitian say that's the best way to maintain the weight I have already lost long term.    

Thanks!

Yeah, I weigh more than I did at my goal weight at WW by about 10-15 pounds, but I feel a ton healthier. 

I don't want to knock WW, because I think it's really valuable in teaching portion control if it's something you've never thought about before, and also encouraging the balanced diet (if you tick off all the healthy guidelines).  But for me, I would get to the point where I could only see how  many points things were without being able to enjoy them, so now I'm just trying to eat whole, unprocessed foods.

I'm so glad you posted this topic, ColleenfromPA!  I thought I was the only one who didn't dig WW...but now I can see that others were having similar problems as I did while doing it.  I wonder if WW UK should follow more of WW USA's guidelines, because I don't think I know many Americans who disliked WW in the US. 

I think you can make weight watchers work if you eat real food and not the weight watchers products- ready meals, cakes, biscuits, beans, whatever  they taste awful, don't fill you up and are full of chemicals, and as Shugga says, are full of sugar.  However, I think the nice thing about ww that you are able to include anything and everything, as nothing is off limits.  Now I used to do WW in the US when I was in uni and I lost over 100 lbs.  But that was like 12 years ago and I am ashamed to say it all came back over the years and more. 

But then again, any kind of lifestyle that includes vegetables, whole grains, beans, fruit, fish and other lean protein, good oils, and all the other stuff in moderation plus exercise will help you lose weight and keep it off.  And to know that one snack or meal over isn't the end of the world- the 80-20 rule.

Now if I could just keep my own advice, I'd be OK. 

Looks like weight watchers is trying to make you eat healthier- here's a Daily Fail article on the new programme:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1326447/Weight-Watchers-Pro-Points-plan-A-new-approach-dieting-success.html

Interesting!  I'll check out their website on Monday for the launch. 

So, I took a gander, and re-joined for the online plan.  It's kind of a mashup of what I was used to in the US, and what the old plan was like here.  So, flex points seem to be back, and the daily allowances are higher.  So I went from 18 to 29 (but naturally, the foods are counting higher in points as well) so that part evens out.

But I'm excited - I always liked WW for the tracking and if this program is LESS reliant on pre-packaged foods, I'll like it even more. 

Excellent! Let us know how you're getting on with it in a few weeks

I've made a few WW recipes that I got in one of their magazines. They're delicious and my husband even rates one a 10 out of 10! I promised to make it for him again this week. Good thing I liked it too since I'm the one who actually needs to be on WW! I also have two WW cookbooks, one is a really old one from the US and the other I got about 2 years ago in the UK. I use the UK one quite a bit and I highly recommend getting one!