Weight Watchers

[SansDoute]

I, like a lot of people, have a problem with my weight. To get back into the higher spectrum of what would be considered a healthy weight for my height, I need to lose about 10kg (25lb).
I'm fairly active. I take Kung Fu classes twice a week, and I go to the gym as often as I can (~2/3 times a week). I also walk everywhere.

I know my problem is my diet.
I pretty much eat whatever is available inbetween my many jobs, and that most often ends up being fast food.

My largest problem is that I don't like to think about what I'm eating. I like fatty foods and sweet foods. Pretty much, I just like to eat. What I need more than anything is to be accountable for what I eat.

My friends are no help. Most are overweight and don't care, or have the type of genetics that allows them to eat junk but never gain a pound.
I also have the threat of Type 2 diabetes looming over my head. My nana died from complications as a result of it and my mum currently has it (she doesn't have much feeling in her feet anymore but she still eats a whole block of chocolate by herself every other night!).

Currently, I've been looking at maybe joining Weight Watchers. The point system and the imminent threat of weekly weigh-ins sounds like it might work for me.

Has anyone ever used them before? And did it work for them?
Or is their any other sort of system that people here have used successfully?

[ArcticChicken]

Weight Watchers is working pretty well for me. I'm in a bit of a slump right now, but I haven't gained weight during it, I'm just not loosing. I joined in August, and I lost 32 pounds by May.

[Sapphire Silk]

I've never used Weight Watchers, so I have no opinion on them though I have heard very good things about them.

Start keeping a food diary and keep track of not just your calories, but your carbs, fat, protein, and sodium intake.

I was literally stunned when I realized how much salt I was eating.

I have similar problems controlling my diet. I do good for a few days, then I buckle. I so much miss eating things I like. the total number of calories actually is not my issue: it's the carbs, fat and salt.

However, with gradual changes, I am doing much better. I am trying different recipes, trying to cook more at home, with fresh ingredients. It isn't easy but it is getting easier.

I do Tae Kwon Do 4 days a week. I need to add strength training to my routine. The goal is to build lean muscle mass which burns more calories and fat, and help you lose weight faster and keep it off longer.

I also try to have a 1000-1500 calorie difference between what I burn and what I take in. That translates to weight loss of 2-3 lbs /week. Since January I have lost 28 lbs doing this.

My suggestions are:

1) Join weight Watchers. The support and experience will help you.

2) Increase Kung Fu to at least 3 days a week. You will advance faster (you didn't say what belt you were), burn more calories, and have more energy.

3) Keep a food diary as described above and make gradual changes.

3a) Change 1: quit fast food. Quit it cold turkey. Yes, it is hard, but you will notice the pounds melt off if you do.
3b) Change 2: No sodas, including diet sodas. Diet soda has other health problems that are not good for you, and people who drink diet sodas don't lost any weight wheras those who drink no soda and more water lose more weight. I found this to be true first hand.

[firecat88]

3b) Change 2: No sodas, including diet sodas. Diet soda has other health problems that are not good for you, and people who drink diet sodas don't lost any weight wheras those who drink no soda and more water lose more weight. I found this to be true first hand.

This! This, this, this, this to infinity plus eleventeen. I've cut sodas out pretty much entirely (the only exception being if my mom brings home Frescolita when she comes back from Venezuela. Or, sometimes, if my stomach is upset I'll have a ginger ale if there's no ginger tea readily available) and it has helped me immensely. Another thing I've done is pretty much cut out bread. Regular breads, at least. Instead, I buy these sandwich thin things that are only a fraction of the fat and calories.

I've been on and off of Weight Watchers for a while now and, even though I'm not actively recording everything nowadays, I've become much better at reading food labels and keeping track of what things have more calories, fewer calories, more fat, etc.

The big big one, when it comes to shopping, is how much fiber is in the food. For example- Raisin Bran Crunch (which I have recently discovered is my new favorite cereal), has 190 calories which is, y'know, not too bad but borders on being a lot. However, it also has 16% of one's daily recommended fiber per half cup. Which is a pretty good amount.

[trailerparkmedic]

I'm on WW. I do it online only. I love being able to track my food on my phone and there are some great community groups online. I think most of the recipes on the official website suck, but I've found some great recipe blogs. PM me if you want the websites.

If you go to meetings and you don't like the first one, try a few before giving up! The mix of ages and personalities can really vary, especially if you try different areas of town. The first in person meeting I ever went to was a bunch of 50 year old women, and I felt super out of place as the only person below 30. I went to a couple more before finding one that I liked.

The great thing about WW is that it teaches you how to eat better. Diets like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem will help you lose weight but won't teach you better eating habits because you aren't really choosing your meals.

The things I've seen mentioned most often by successful people are keeping track of what you're eating, cooking more instead of going out, trying new foods, and planning ahead so you don't go through the drive through because you are so hungry and can't think of anything better. Don't have unrealistic expectations (your first week or two will have huge losses and then it'll slow down and that's ok) and don't quit because you had a bad meal or day or week.

[Giggle Goose]

^This!!! I'm doing it online only, and I've been losing 1-2 pounds a week. Pretty much everything Trailerparkmedic has said is true for me as well.

I think it's important to be honest about what/how much you're eating, even if it's bad. That's the only way I've seen long-term success. And it sounds like you already have the exercise part down pat, so I'd say go for it! Good luck, we're here for you!

[MaggieTheCat]

This is purely my opinion, so take it how you will.

I did WW (online only) for 3 months and did not like it at all. There were several things that turned me off from it:

1) They really push you to track points, but little else. There is a section that lets you track 5 or 6 things that they consider important, I think it included water intake, fruits/veggies, dairy, healthy fats, and vitamins. But there was no place to track protein, or whole grains, both of which I personally believe are very important to healthy weight loss. There was also no place to track things like sodium intake, individual vitamin/mineral intake, cholesterol, etc.

I am a big proponent of eating healthy overall, not just cutting calories (or points) to lose weight. Don't eat all veggies just because they are low in calories; you need protein, whole grain, dairy, etc to maintain a balanced diet. Everything in moderation.

2) I just can't really wrap my head around the idea of points. They say you can eat whatever you want, as long as you remain within your points. So that means if the only thing I eat in a day is a whole pizza and an ice cream cone, I'm okay as long as it's within my point limit? Okay, yes, they do encourage you to track other things like I mentioned above, but they really advocate that in the end, it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you eat within your points, and you can eat some pretty unhealthy things that are within your points limit.

3) The message boards were sloppy, poorly moderated (if modded at all) and full of people who were giving questionable advice or being downright rude/insulting. I'm probably spoiled by being a member of CS and Fratching for as long as I have. I was pretty turned off when I saw a thread from a girl who was asking for advice because she had woken up twice in the last month having to run to the bathroom to vomit, but otherwise felt fine, and every one of the responses was something along the lines of, "POAS" "hahaha ur preggers" "good job getting knocked up" "congrats on your new baby" etc. There was not one helpful piece of advice, no one suggesting she talk to her doctor, no one who thought she could be anything but pregnant because she had thrown up twice.

That's just one example, and a rather extreme one, I admit. But the message boards, as a whole, I found were not much better.

I had much better success on a site called caloriecount.about.com. It's free to sign up and lets you track everything -- calories, all vitamins and minerals, protein intake, sugar intake, saturated fat, etc. On WW I was only counting points and trying to take into consideration how many vitamins/minerals etc. I was getting on my own, but it was more difficult since I couldn't actually track them. Whereas on CC I was able to see when I was deficient in something like iron or calcium, which I think greatly helped me lose weight more consistently, and just made me feel better overall.

I'm not saying don't try it. Different systems (and diets) work for different people. I may have had better luck with an actual WW meeting, but it's very difficult for me to get to one since we only have one vehicle and my husband works during the day. I have slacked off using CC lately but I did like it a lot, so if WW doesn't work for you, you might consider it. As I said, it is free.

[Seshat]

This may or may not be helpful.

I'm slowly and steadily losing weight, by gradually (and I do mean gradually) improving my diet. Every so often I make a change - drop a less nutritious food and add a more nutritious one. Once I've assimilated that change, I do another.

I also don't try to cut things out entirely. I just reduce the incidence a lot. Rejecting something entirely makes me crave it - instead, I know that I can have it, I've just decided not to have it today.

[Severen13]

Or is their any other sort of system that people here have used successfully?

I've lost 25 pounds over the past year and I did it by good old-fashioned calorie counting and exercise.

I'd recommend keeping track of your calories and exercise via a journal (you can find them online, I use My Fitness Pal).

[Der Cute]

I use MyFitnessPal which is an app for iPod/iPhone stuff, but is also online. I use it to track EVERYTHING I eat. I've told it I want to lose 1.5 # per week. So, it created a calorie intake limit for me, and I put in the stuff I eat. There is a nutrition list for your daily foods, and I can see that I'm over carbs ALL THE DAMN TIME. It tells me also what my fiber is, what my vitamins are, etc.
The databases for this app are BRILLIANT. I can type in a Burger King item, McDonalds, TV Dinners, and it's got the data for me. If there isn't an item there, like a home made sammich, I type in the ingredients and it's added up for me. Sometimes (not often) I have to go online elsewhere to find the nutrient/fat/stuff content for an item. I enter that, it's now in the db.

I've lost some weight, but maintained more. It's my lack of exercise, tbh. I eat the calorie intake, but am eating too many carbs and not enough fiber AND I don't get off my ass. That's all my fault.

This app is both on the mobile unit and online - they sync. Oh. For weight, I only weigh myself weekly. Water retain/ bad day etc. I figure weekly, it won't upset me, and I can tweak the food intake I do.

[MoonCat]

My sister used WW years ago and it was working well. She only stopped going because we ended up without a car for quite a while.

One piece of advice I will add, both from hearing it from nutritionists and from personal experience, is to cut down on the portions of your meals. It's easy to get in the habit of eating huge portions, especially when you eat out as most restaurant entrees are gigantic.

Try using a smaller plate, too. It's the psychological factor....if the plate looks like it's filled, you don't feel so hungry. Sounds silly but it works for some people (and if you look at very old china, you'll notice that dinner plates used to be much smaller than what is sold new today).

I've cut out sodas, potato chips and other salty fatty snacks. My downfall is cookies, and I'm trying to cut that out too. Also second helpings at dinner. Since the surgery my appetite is taking time to come back full strength, so while I'm recuperating I'm concentrating on eating healthy foods...less salt, less sugar, less fat (not completely fat-free, the body does need a little).

P.S. Carbs aren't always bad. My one sister eats mostly carbs but walks a lot on the job. She's lost a lot of weight and looks great.

[Shangri-laschild]

1) They really push you to track points, but little else.

They also have the other system which says you can eat whatever amount but only of certain foods which restricts things a lot. It's a system where if you yourself are focusing on also eating good stuff, it can definitely help.

2) I just can't really wrap my head around the idea of points. They say you can eat whatever you want, as long as you remain within your points. So that means if the only thing I eat in a day is a whole pizza and an ice cream cone, I'm okay as long as it's within my point limit?

The upside here is that you don't eat as much pizza or ice cream as you might have other wise. Your daily intake might not be of healthier things but it will be less. For some people, that is a big first step. Also, when I was doing WW, I learned quick that I could either eat healthier things or end up hungry most of the day from only eating one meal that in itself helped me eat food that were better for me.

I'm not saying don't try it. Different systems (and diets) work for different people.

Very very true. There are plenty of systems that will work, it's just a matter of what will work for you specifically. I liked weight watchers because my mom went to so I had the support structure that was specific to that program. Plus there is a line of thought that I very much agree with. If you stay 100% on diet and never allow yourself a "cheat day" or wiggle room, it will fail. It seems to be something where people need that wiggle room. With WW, the wiggle room is spelled out. You have a certain amount of points that you can use whenever during the week. It gave me room for occasionally eating some junk but didn't give me free reign which was what I needed. Otherwise I would have given myself too much leeway

If you go to meetings and you don't like the first one, try a few before giving up! The mix of ages and personalities can really vary, especially if you try different areas of town. The first in person meeting I ever went to was a bunch of 50 year old women, and I felt super out of place as the only person below 30. I went to a couple more before finding one that I liked.

Definitely agree. The lady who ran the meetings I went to was awesome. I honestly was bored with the other people who ran meetings but because of her, I enjoyed going. Sometimes it just takes finding the right group/leader.