Weight Watchers points plus - seeking opinions

[WDW&MK]

Hi Everyone,

I need to lose some weight. I did very well years ago on the old points system with WW. I have joined again a couple of times since the points plus came out, but really haven't given it a fair shot. Has anyone lost weight with the points plus? How has it worked for you?
I have not been able to wrap my head around how points plus works seeing I was so entrenched in the points system years ago. It's hard for me to get past things like the fact that your daily points value doesn't really go down with losing weight, how many points carbs are worth now (yikes!!), how you really can't do the math in your head any more to guess at the points seeing there's so many variables.

Thoughts? Any other plans work good for anyone?
Thank you!!
Kari

[John]

NutriSystem worked for me personally. Haven't tried WW.

Lost 40+ lbs at age 40 and just lost 20 in January that I gained back after getting ill last year. Worked very well both times if you follow the plan and don't cheat ;)

The food as a whole was much better the second time around - now that they added frozen stuff and such.

[NewDVCowner]

I used points plus and lost almost 60 pounds (and then got lazy and quit and gained about half that back). I never used another system with WW so can comment on the difference between regular points and points plus but the nice thing about points plus is that almost all fruit and veggies are zero points.

It does work and I did find it easy to follow. Like I said, I've gained weight back but it's because I gave up and stopped eating smart. My own fault.

[cspenc28]

I've done both systems. I lost 45 pounds with the old school system, and kept it off for quite some time. I then met my now husband, and we went out every single night to eat, and I gained it all back. So, got married, had a kid, time got in my way and I realized I had gained it all back, plus. So I joined last year, and it was the new system. I lost 40+ pounds and got down to my goal weight, I'm no longer at my goal, but I'm still at a good weight. The new system took some time to get used to, but I actually like it. Basically with the old system, a candy bar and a piece of chicken could be worth the same points, but the candy bar won't fill you up. The chicken has protein which helps fill you up, which means in the new system the chicken would be worth less points. Most fruits and veggies are free with the new system, and that has helped me make much better choices when it comes to snack time. And your point values do change as you lose weight, just not as drastically as with the old system.
I felt like with the old system I was starving myself, with the new system, I feel full most of the time (as long as I make smart choices). Hope that helps!

[WDW&MK]

Thanks for the info!! Certainly have some things to think about. Good to know that with both nutrisystem and WW with Points plus you all seem to have done really well. Thank you so much for your replies!!

[PirateLover]

To get right to the point- yes it works, and for me, when I followed it diligently, it worked fast! I lost 15 lbs with points plus, got a little full of myself and quit the program thinking I could now do it on my own, and of course gained it all back, had a baby, gained more, and now I'm heavier than I've ever been. I'm actually debating going back to WW or trying Nutrisystem... Both seem to run the risk of gaining it back when you quit. What I really need is for my family to get on board with eating healthy. It's hard to eat soup and salad when your mother-in-law and husband are having cheesteaks and pizza.

[BrerGnat]

All of these weight loss programs are simply calorie restricted, healthy eating plans. You can do the same thing yourself without spending extra money. The benefit to that is you actually learn how to eat properly and can continue it in the long run. Many of these plans are SO user friendly (which is great for convenience sake) that they don't really do much in the way of teaching you HOW to eat.

A simple digital food scale and a food logging app like My Fitness Pal is all you really need.

If you are a woman, eat between 1250 and 1500 calories per day, maximum. You will lose weight that way. Most of these diet programs are based on the simple concept of calorie reduction.

[JanetMegan]

I'm with Natalie on this one. I've done WW (about 5 years ago) and gained weight. It turned out I had Cushings Disease so it wasn't WW fault. Now that I'm tumor free I lost about 80 lbs. and have kept most of it off. I need to lose about 15 now to get back to my lowest weight and I'm finding that between my Fitbit helping me get those steps in and any type of food tracking program that I can do it myself.

Now I will say sometimes that spending money on something makes you more accountable, I know that seems crazy but I think it is true.

[BriarRose0708]

I have done WW and wasn't a big fan of the Points Plus method. I am not a tracker so I disliked it a lot, actually, lol. I think there's a "no tracking" option now but I know nothing about it.

What did work for me was a book called The ABS Diet for Women. I got it about 7 years ago and it was awesome (basically anything by David Zinczenko is great). There's a newer edition called The NEW ABS Diet for Women that has been updated a bit as new food science has emerged since the original version. What I loved about it was no points, no tracking, and it really teaches you how to plan for meals (and that includes eating out). Now, I didn't mind it because I love cooking, but I think even the most novice cooks can follow this. Most of the dishes can be prepared in 15 - 30 minutes or less, can be made ahead, or made in bulk so you can freeze/refrigerate and eat later. The book is more than recipes, it gives concrete, scientific (but still easy to understand, no medical dictionary or nutritionist license needed!) examples and reasons why and how our bodies react to different foods and substances. It makes a lot of sense. What's fun is, even though it says Diet in the title it's really more of that long-term lifestyle change that's essential to losing weight and keeping it off.

Good luck!

[NJGIRL]

I'm a little late to this conversation, but I lost a lot of weight on the new system...but it's like anything else, you have to keep up with the program to keep the weight off.

WW doesn't count calories anymore...they count Fiber, Fat, and Protein.
Most fruits and vegetables are zero points.