And, we’re Back

RenéeExercise, Fun Stuff, Mind, Self, Weight Watchers15 Comments on And, we’re Back

After nearly one year of being on ProPoints (well, let’s face it I took a break for a few months because it was doing my head in), I can’t help but have mixed feelings now that the US/ North America will be using the program soon (and the UK already started apparently).
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Why mixed feelings? Well, it’s just funny that I have been talking about ProPoints, bitching about ProPoints, moaning about ProPoints but my cries have gone to a limited audience. In some ways it feels good because finally we are all on the same plan – and it’s never been like that since I started in 1999 – I won’t be talking mumbo jumbo or vice versa, I may even be able to exchange recipes, ideas, plans with others. It feels less good when I think about how much I have struggled with it, the fact that I still don’t know how “they” come up with my daily / weekly points, the fact that I can never seem to just hit my daily and not dip into my weekly free points every day. I struggled for months and months with hunger (and now that I’m running less I am in fact less hungry) and no one could really explain anything to me. It was sending a really negative message to my brain – going over points = eating too much, trying to eat less+ hunger = total frustration. And as you all know I have NOT really lost weight on the ProPoints plan. I have no idea if it’s me or the plan, so let’s say it’s me until I can scientifically prove otherwise.
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One of the things I wanted to do this month was decide yay or nay if I was going to continue with Weight Watchers or not, since my credit card was about to expire and I normally follow online rather than go to the meetings (I would love to go to the meetings, but it’s highly unlikely to get to a meeting if I want to run, go to the gym, be social, hey, maybe even get some sleep every once in a while) and I have decided in fact to start over again. I’m not really sure why, except that I really hate to give up on anything and I don’t feel like I really gave it 100% the last six months. It’s time to do it without any excuses, without letting the numbers get to me, and WITH a full commitment. So there you go. New credit card, extension made on my program.
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Admittedly I was already slightly irritated last night when I noticed my totals of the day were way over my 29 points, and even though I earned activity points from running, watching my weekly free points go down by 12 was really disheartening. I thought about what I ate, how I prepared my foods, how I weighed and measured everything out. I wanted very much to eat another enchilada after running and decided against it but then I felt angry as I stared at the number 41 looking back at me from the screen. If I just keep going, I can get over this number thing I seem to enjoy arguing with internally. So, I’m keeping going.
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Day two on ProPoints has been much better, hit my daily of 29, though am admittedly hungry – I think this may have something to do with the fact that we had dinner fairly early and that I went to the gym. I just want to be sure to have enough activity points from this week to not have a deficit in the weekend when I want to have a couple of glasses of wine or a homemade thai curry. Enjoying my life is still important to me and I’m not going to apologise for having food and drink fall into my enjoyment category. Now I just have to be a bit strategic about it.
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So, here’s the deal – I see a lot of traffic coming in from searches for ProPoints like:
Can I carry over my points?
How many points for walking?
How are daily ProPoints calculated?
How many ProPoints in pizza/ almonds / basmati rice/ add your favourite food here?
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Well you get the gist, right? The thing is, I know some answers, and some I don’t. And our food is different here than in North America. And our exercise might even be calculated differently. I’m happy to help in any way. To answer any question anyone asks me directly. So just ask. I have learned some tricks and certainly some tips and I would love to help. But honestly, I think if you follow Weight Watchers, just read your materials and be patient and do whatever you need to do to make it work for you.
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We all have ways to improve our health. Some people count calories, some people follow Weight Watchers, Atkins, Slimming World, Body for Life, etc. I choose Weight Watchers because in the past it has really helped me learn about a healthy balance. I’ve learned about nutrition, portion control, and have actually figured out that I LIKE eating healthy and trying new new things. I definitely need structure and I am committed to making this work regardless of how long it takes.
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Are you following Weight Watchers? What do you think of the new program? Are you nervous? Excited? Scared? What questions do you have about the program?
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15 thoughts on “And, we’re Back”

  1. The plan starts here at my meeting on November 28th. That’s the Sunday right after our American Thanksgiving. Perfect. I’ll need it I’m sure. I am excited about it, and a bit nervous. Only because I’ve done WW so long I have point values in my head. And now I’ll have to recalculate them all over again. I will ask you this, though. Right now a 1/2 cup of uncooked oats is 2 points. And a cup of nonfat milk is 2 points. How many points are these things for you? Just wanted an idea.

    I’m glad you’re back. It’ll be nice to exchange ideas with someone who’s a bit more familiar with the program. Good luck to you!

    1. Hi Deb, I did answer you on twitter, because I didn’t have time until now to respond to comments – half a cup of uncooked oats is 4.5 points and the milk would be 1.5 (based on what I think 1/2 a cup and 1 cup is – 45g and 150ml).
      Definitely looking forward to exchanging ideas and hopefully seeing some success together!

  2. Well. After walking out of my meeting tonight with my shiny new folder…

    I am confused, a little.

    We weren’t told how to calculate our own ProPoints, unlike with the Discover Plan. We were simply TOLD. All right. We were told that all of our old cookbooks are now USELESS. AWESOME. I have something like 12 Weight Watchers cookbooks, none of which list carb, protein, fat or fibre content. When I get back on Monthly Pass, I’m going to have to spend time going through every recipe and going into the Recipe Builder, and ProPointing every recipe they’ve ever created.

    BRILLIANT.

    My calculator won’t work any more because calories, apparently, aren’t important?

    :(

    I have 60 ProPoints per day, but no idea how they reached that. The Exercise Chart in the book they gave us doesn’t go high enough for my weight range to tell me how many ProPoints I earn for the exercise I do.

    WONDERFUL.

    Basically: this isn’t like moving from the Core Plan to the Discover Plan. This is like learning how to eat all over again.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that fruit’s free, because it means that I can snack on fruit without worrying about Points – ProPoints, sorry – and my sister can do the same, if she chooses to go back, but…

    Jeez.

    Talk about confusing. It’s going to take me weeks to get used to this. I can see why you disliked it.

    1. Oh honey. I guess this is one thing I couldn’t complain much about. I never bought any of that stuff. I used to buy cookbooks but never used them so I decided never again. I’m just going to cook and eat what I like and plug those into the database, tweek where I can and enjoy.
      Patience, babe. Patience to learn it all. You can do it!

  3. I joined WW in the US on 6/1/10 and it has been SLOW going for me (averaging -.4 lbs/wk or, maybe even less (I haven’t calculated recently). I’m down 18 pounds and have 40 more to go). For me, even though I understood how my daily points were calculated, I knew that there were too many calories in that amount of points for me to lose weight. So, on my own, I adjusted my points downward and have started losing more effectively (if I stick to 1,200 or so points/day but I do go over).

    I worry about paying $39.99 US/mo for meeting + e-tools for a program where I don’t know how my daily points were calculated or what they were based on. I also worry that the elimination of calories as part of the equation will not work for me either (and, frankly, isn’t something I believe in). And, I have to also say that even though I know WW feels like they have to change to “keep up with the times” I do see this as a money making move for them. It’s unconscionable to me that they’ve been selling the cookbooks and scales (even at a discount) to members KNOWING they will be obsolete with the advent of the new program (I think it will be names PointsPlus in the US).

    At any rate, 11/28/10 is our go-live date. I am a facts and figures person and I will not take this new program at their word if I can’t figure it out on my own. So, I will give it a fair shake, but will not stick with it if it does not work for me from the get go.

    Should be interesting!

  4. Hey! I actually stumbled across your blog by googling propoints UK once I found out it went live there this week. I’m currently living in France, but I’m keeping up my NA online subscription (since i’m only here for 9months) and I must say, after reading a bit about it, I’m getting really nervous for the official launch! It seems kind of sneaky (the whole not recalculating yourself for your DPs) and daunting with the re-learning of everything… Guess we’ll see, eh?

    1. It is a new learning experience, yes! How do you handle the NA program when the food you are eating is French? do you have to add a lot to your database? I don’t like the lack of control I have over my own daily points, so yes I would agree it’s kind of sneaky!!

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  6. hhmmm… this is all very interesting info and can’t wait to see it go live either..

    i quit WW earlier this Spring when I was going crazy with a mere 21 pts a day..maybe if they offer a free week or so, I’d check it out for sure.

  7. Renee, I definitely see why having North America on the plan would help motivate you. You have a lot of connections here and I know I’ve been confused trying to read about ProPoints for the past year since I didn’t really understand what the heck you were talking about! :) Not your fault of course, it’s just hard for me to understand when I’m not actually experiencing something.

    I think I’m mostly excited about the new plan. I had a little conversation with my leader a few weeks ago just to be sure about which meeting it would be rolled out in (so I don’t miss it due to Thanksgiving travel). I think she thought I was anxious about the change, but as she said (and I agree) changing things gives you a jolt. I’ve taken Points for granted. I’ve gotten just good enough at figuring out how to estimate Points that I have become sloppy. It’s always good to have a concrete reason to take a moment to scrutinize what you are eating before you eat it. So I hope the change will give me that “New Member” feeling that helped me lose so much weight when first I joined both times.

    I’m not currently counting Points but I AM trying to eat mindfully and keep exercising. I stopped trying to count last month because my schedule was nuts, then when I heard the new program was going to be rolled out so soon I figured there is no point in getting re-committed to the old way, especially when I actually did okay without counting last month. So I am looking forward to trying something new in a few weeks and maybe actually lose weight over the holidays…that would be awesome!

    1. I generally welcome change and I do agree it gives you a bit of a jolt, and excitement, something that motivates you to see if it works and then when it does, more excitement, right? So I’m glad you are finally going to be on the same (or rather similar I guess since we do nutrition differently here apparently??) program, we can talk about similar ways to get through and make it successful for us!

  8. I am still on the old program,but its been killing me. Because I haven’t been able to lose anything. I have been working out like a maniac and nothing is working. So, then i read an article that says that women are more likely to overeat afterworking out. I found my appetite increasing the more I worked out. There is somethign in women’s bodies that causes this, but not in men’s. So I tried a solution, to drink a glass of water and eat a banana right after a workout. Your body needs potassium after workouts..Now they recommended chocolate milk because you get your liquid and your protein and it has potassium all ni one. I also stopped eating the max points. I went back to the old program back whenI had first started in 2000 where you didn’t have to eat all of your daily points. Doing this, and doing golds gym dance cardio workout every day, I have lost about 8 to 10 lbs in the last few months. Now, that may not seem great, but when I had been gaining over the last year nd not seeing any positive results for the last year and half even after working out every day, it is a great accomplishment.
    My eating habits have chagned as well. i don’t feel hungry all the time any more. I eat more points in the morning than the rest of the day. I use popcorn to fill me up. But th good news is thatwhat i already new about the current program not working for me, and the adjustments i’ve made, I am hoping that will fit in nicely with the new program.
    I am sory if this is imposing. Your frustration about the lack of results just hit home, I thought maybe these suggestions may help.

    1. Its not imposing. Thanks for your insights. I definitely got similar advise about the banana right after a workout but never heard about chocolate milk (yum! there’s a chocolate soy milk here that’s divine! NOT eating the max points is at this point impossible because even when totally diligent I still go over. My hunger levels may have something to do with too much cortisone being produced from lack of sleep.
      I hope the new program works wonders for you!

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