Yes, I see what you mean Linda - re your comment on the other WW topic about not using all your points!  I didn't use near all mine yesterday either!  I'm anxious to go to my next WW meeting and see how everyone is getting along with this program.

I'm trying to have confidence that it will work, since I'm sure that they wouldn't have introduced it if there were any doubts.  I ended up buying a new Complete Food Companion book also, so that I can refer to it until I get used to the new point values.  As I mentioned before, I also bought the new PointsPlus Calculater - I never go to the grocery store without my points calculator! 

Pattylou

WW usually tweaks their program every year, but you are right - I haven't seen such a change for as long as I can remember.  It is upsetting that all that we have bought in the past is now obsolete!

I, however, am excited about the change - maybe, because I have been going so long that this will hopefully be a little jolt that will keep me interested and challenged again.   Once the "honeymoon"period is over, it's hard to keep on maintenance - it's just not as exciting as seeing all that weight dropping off!

I don't blame you tho, Melstar, it is a pain to have to purchase new things now.  I especially don't like the fact that there are no more paper sliders to figure points.  Our WW leader said that they tried to figure out a way to do one, but there are too many variables now!

Pattylou

HI Readytogo,

I've never joined online, so I don't really know how that all works!  The Point Calculator is good to carry when shopping!

I'll be looking forward to seeing how you and others like the new plan.

Pattylou

Here's an interesting article in today's NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/04/nyregion/04watchers.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a29

Never used WW's but have been involved in the health and fitness industry forever. Reading the article, it looks like WW has it right or at least better than their previous philosophy. Not all calories are the same and it makes perfect sense where an orange is negligible but a glass of OJ is 3 points, due to its sugar content which inhibits fat burn or loss.
Whether you are on WW, count calories, or what have you, if you keep sugar (and all its deriviatives like high fructose corn syrup, etc) to an absolute minimum, increase your fiber intake and watch your fat calories, it is extremely hard to over eat. And yes you can do it with very tasty meals too!
Weighing 180 pounds at about 10% bodyfat, I try to consume 2400-2700 calories a day based on my training activity. Eating six 'clean' meals a day, it is very very difficult for me to reach my caloric intake target every day and on most days I miss it. The point being is that you don't need to starve yourself to diet. Calorie breakdown for me as an example is 35-45% from protein, 35-45 from carbs (yes the right carbs are not bad for you) and 10-20% from fat calories. I actually increase my fat intake when I am going to miss my target by alot.
Obviously someone that is less active would target a lower calorie intake but it would still be very hard to get those calories in when you eat clean.
Be aware of sneaky advertisement by food manufacturers. For example, 1% milk actually has 17% fat, 2% milk has about 37% fat and whole milk is about 50% fat. In addition, milk is super high in sugar. The same is true for soy milk as well. Its good for kids growing up but no good for adults. I take a calcium supplement in its place.
The following web site is great, it gives you the government required nutrition label of all types of foods and also gives it a grade and the reason for the grade:
http://caloriecount.about.com/
Enter the food you want to look at in the upper right hand corner search bar and it will give you everything you would find in a store by brand.

-- Edited by rjenkins on Saturday 4th of December 2010 05:55:40 PM

Well a little set back for me this week.  I gained 1/2 lb.

We'll see how this week goes.

I am getting  back on the plan.  I lost 10 lbs this summer and then when my pants fit better.  I lost some motivaton and stopped tracking and did not lose any more.  Catherine has stuck with it and lost 15. 

We are also trying to figure out the new plan.  It is kind of a pain because we had the other one all figured out.

I will say I know lots of people who say they "did weight watchers"  but never actually joined because you can get the information all over the place.  My guess is that part of the change is incorporating "new research" and also keeping the revenue stream going.  I am in publishing so I know that a lot of people will not buy what they can find for free. 



Hmmm....  I just put my Bud Select 55 beer in the new calculator. 2grams carbs, 0 fat,0 protein, 0 fiber = 0 pts.

I am liking this plan better already :) although I am a little concerned about the possible results. 

Rats- fine print says don't use calcularor use list- beer 3 pts.
-- Edited by jb on Sunday 5th of December 2010 02:24:20 PM

-- Edited by jb on Sunday 5th of December 2010 05:51:13 PM

Welcome Rick!

To find out how many points a recipe has, you use the Recipe Builder.  You enter the ingredients and their points on that page and at the end you enter the number of servings.  The Recipe Builder will then calculate the points per serving for you.

It is really a nice feature.  You can swap out ingredients to use less fat, etc.

I would bet that my baked spaghetti is very high in points.  Let me know!

I don't have the WW scale, but I do have an electronic scale that I sometimes use for weighing my portions.  My scale is a mail scale that weighs in grams and ounces.

We attended a WW meeting this past week and the leader was telling everyone about the WW scale and how much she loved it.

Okay so this week was better, although I have no idea how I could have lost weight after that wonderful birthday dinner!

I lost 1 lb.  My total lost now is 15.5 lbs.  I am also getting into some of my smaller size clothes!!!!!

Sanddreamer,

As your weight drops your points will drop also.  You were probably just on the border line of 32 & 31 points per day.  I should think it won't change for awhile now.

Congrats on your loss!

I calculated the points for Spaghetti Amore (Linda's recipe).  I used very lean ground beef and low fat cheese.  It totalled 116 points for the dish.  If it was 12 servings the points would be almost 10 per serving.   I guess that isn't too bad for a dinner. 

Cindy, I prefer the new plan. I had also done the old plan twice before. I know a serial dieter!!! The new plan has all fruit free and most veggies free except for corn, peas, sweet potatoes and potatoes. The points are higher now but so is your allowance. Veg like onion and mushrooms had a point value on the old system, not on this one. So now, if you're looking for a snack you can eat a banana plus any other fruit!!! But because of the scientific computation they say you are in grave danger if you try to combine the two systems, you won't lose weight that way. Give it a try - I am sure you'll like it.

I also have the old plan. I don't want to go out and get the new one right now. I am going to stick with it for a while.

Vicky

I agree with you.  I've been on it for 5 weeks and have lost 7lbs.  Considering that was through Christmas, New Years, and 2 birthdays in the faimly I am very satisified. 

Yippee!  I finally hit my 10% target today!  I only lost .5 lb but that is what I needed to hit that big target! 

I started on Sept. 26th and have now lost 18 lbs.

Wow, 18 lbs. Way to GO!

This is really interesting. How are yall doing on this and are you still liking it? I was checking out the WW boards and I saw a lot of complaining from people who felt they were eating too much, were having a hard time eating all their points and etc.