Journal To Success Blog

WW WINNING POINTS At HOME...
Notes to myself taken from miami.org

The plan uses the points formula to assign points to everything you eat based on calories, fat and fiber. You can use a little slide rule they provide to calculate points from the packages on foods or you can use a calculator they sell. If you want to be different you can calculate points with the formula or calculator. You get a certain number of points per day. If you don't use points you can expend them later, they call this banking. It is a simpler but more sophisticated form of calorie counting, which teaches good eating habits. They also encourage some milk each day and lots of glasses of water. The system forces you to eat more veggies, soups, low fat foods, and more fiber.

HOW MANY POINTS WORTH OF FOOD
ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO CONSUME EACH DAY ?
http://dpede.rsna.org/FC.html

POUNDS POINTS/day
Current Weight
Under 150 lbs *18-23*
150-174 *20-25*
175-199 *22-27*
200-224 *24-29*
225-249 *26-31*
250-274 *28-33*
275-299 *29-34*
300-324 *30-35*
325-349 *31-36*
Over 350 lbs *32-37*


The table is provided to remind you of the WW recommended minimum and maximum recommended points per day: I think that WW recommends you aim for the average and 'bank' any points not eaten under the average. Banking points is their word for saving them up and using them later to increase the points allowed on a later day. The table at the right shows YOUR CURRENT WEIGHT and how many points you should eat per day. As you lose weight your points per day goes down.

The following is some basic information I sent to a lady in Paraguay who wanted to know how the program worked so she could try it at home, as there are no WW meetings near her: If anyone has improvements to this of any type, please write me ( ray@miami.org ) so that I can post them. However, I am not interested in reproducing WW documents verbatim online. This information is presented to give guidelines and support to those who cannot attend meetings.

The basic rules of the program are:

You should eat/drink:
* more than your minimum points but less than your maximum
* at least six 8 oz glasses of water each day
* 2 servings of skim milk each day (or calcium supplement)
* at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day
* at least 20 minutes of exercise per day

I am trying hard to drink more water. A lot of people have trouble at first drinking enough water and getting started on the exercise. The most important thing is keeping a journal of your points. The Jounal is the key to the program. You must write it down !)

Here are some basic steps to follow to begin:

Step 1:
Determine how many points you should eat per day by using the chart
on my website at: http://www.miami.org/weight/at_home.htm

Step 2:
Figure out how many points are in the foods you commonly eat by using the cardboard points finder or portable points calculator available from Weight Watchers (see above), or by using the formula, calories/50 - fiber grams/5 + fat grams/12 or by using one of the growing number of computerized solutions available over the Internet.

This may be a little more difficult for you to do with packaged foods, if foods in your country do not have nutritional information on the label as they do in the USA. CYBERDIET is one good online source of fat/fiber/calories, click on their foods database link. You might also try: HomeHearts Nutrition Calculator or: Mike's Calorie And Fat Gram Chart , although neither of them gives fiber (so you will have to assume it is zero). Also: Dotti's Weight Loss Zone has a lot of points info, particularly for restaruants. Another site: TONY G. also has lots of fast food and sit down restaurant points.

Step 3:
Figure out ways for you to eat big low point or no point meals when you are hungry
vegetable soups, or stacks of cooked veggies are a favorite of many

Step 4:
KEEP A DAILY JOURNAL OF:
1. What food is in each meal
2. How many points are in each meal
3. How many 8 oz glasses of water you drink
4. How many servings of vegetables or fruit you eat
5. How many glasses of milk you consume or calcium
6. Record how many minutes of exercise you do

Step 5:
At the end of the day add up the points for the day. You should eat less than your maximum but more than your minimum. You should have had at least 6 8 oz glasses of water and 2 servings of milk, and 5 servings of fruits/vegetables. If you eat less than your maximum points for the day, you can save the points and use them later in the week. You should do 20 minutes of exercise per day. You can add a point to your daily points maximum for every 20 minutes of exercise over that.

Step 6:
At the end of the week you go to a meeting to be weighed. If you are at home you will have to do this yourself, although it is not as effective psychologically. Perhaps you can find someone else (a friend) to weigh with once a week.

Step 7:
After the weigh-in you will clear your log and start again!

* * * * *

THE WEIGH-IN:
I CANNOT STRESS STEP 6 ENOUGH! WEIGH YOURSELF ONCE A WEEK AND (IF POSSIBLE) HAVE SOMEONE THERE EACH TIME FOR THE EVENT. NEXT TO THE POINTS FORMULA, THE WEIGH-IN IS THE MOST POWERFUL COMPONENT OF WW. IT MAKES YOU STICK TO THE PROGRAM. IF THE MONEY IS NOT A PROBLEM FOR YOU AND YOU CAN GET TO A WW MEETING, THEN YOU WILL PROBABLY FIND IT WORTH IT, EVEN IF YOU JUST STAY FOR THE WEIGH-IN EACH TIME.

MORE ABOUT FIGURING POINTS:
I keep getting messages from people who cannot make it to WW asking for more help in figuring points. And if some of those who do go to meetings are like me (eating out a lot), then you also want additional help in figuring out points. Go to www.CYBERDIET.com for fat calories fiber of many foods then use the formula to figure points (click on their foods database link).

LOW POINT FOODs
A diet soda is no points...
A CAFFENE FREE diet soda counts as water...
Most fruits (like an apple) are 1 point, but a banana is 2 points:
A typical sandwich roll (American) is about 3 points. Regular bread is 1 point, diet bread 1/2 point.
Be careful with certain ethnic breads (like cuban bread here in Miami). It has a lot of extra fat!
1 oz of lean meat (like skinless chicken) is a point.

FUN SNACKS:
Blue Bunny Fat Free Creme Bar-1pt each
FF Jello-0pts
Fat Free Pringles-15 chips for 1pt
Goldfish-one serving (55 pieces)-3pts
Fat Free Pudding cup-2pts
Quaker Chewy Granola bar-2pts
Slim Fast Meal replacement bar-4pts
Grahamn crackers -low fat 2 sheets -2pts
Jollytime 94% fat free popcorn whole bag-2pts
Dole Juice pops sugarfree 2 -1pt
WW Smart one's round icecream sand -2pts
Fruit - nectorine or banana for me -2pts
Crystal Light Peach or Rasberry tea (HOT) -0pts
(Just mix with hot water instead of cold, wonderful treat and filling).
0 Points soup and have it on hand when I run out of points, this is the link:
http://pages.ivillage.com/teresa633829/vegsoup.html


MY FAVORITE LINKS:

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My Main Page
Love Yourself
My Old Page
Donoghue Journal
Diaryland Journal
Fast Food Facts
Weight Watchers Links
GoalWeight.com
Healthy Discovery
BlackPlanet
Fitday Journal
DWLZ EZBoard
3FatChicks Inspirations

ADVICE FOR NEWBIES by MaryBB Almost everyone who starts on this journey is afraid. I put off weight loss efforts for years because I would rather have been fat, unhealthy, and movement-limited than face the emotional consequences of another failed attempt. When I did start WW I told myself I didn't expect to succeed, but that my mobility would improve if I lost 20 or 30 pounds, which I thought I could do. I soon realized that the WW program is really doable, and I have been successful beyond my wildest dreams (123 pounds in 20 months; 10-25 to go). Trust the program. Don't start tweaking it because you think you know better. WW has been doing this for at least 40 years, and they know something about losing weight. Don't think you can't lose unless you have a good leader, or a certain kind of support from your friends and family.

The commitment and the effort has to come from you, and you need to make the effort to find the support you need. Do this for yourself. Make a list of all the things you like about yourself, and don't hold back. Include physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual attributes. Carry the list with you, read it frequently, and add to it as you think of new items you like. This list is why you deserve to lose weight. It's all the good things about you that don't depend on a number on the scale, which, in the long run, is really a minor factor in who you are. Don't blame your lapses on anyone but yourself, unless someone holds you down and force-feeds you. Look at situations where you will be tempted or urged to overeat as challenges, and plan carefully how you will approach them. Plan everything, especially at first. Don't be an all-or-nothing dieter. How many times have we all given up the quest because of one really bad meal? This is for life, and, as my daughter used to say, "Everybody makes 'stakes." Understand that you must give up your former eating habits forever, and replace them with something else.

I will be counting points and journaling for the rest of my life. Why? Because I lack whatever it is that thin people have that tells them they are full, and they can stop eating. In the larger scheme of life's blessings, and compared to the things I have that I would not trade for that "eating switch" (intelligence, humor, passion), it is, after all, a minor impediment, especially when there is a great system (WW) to replace it.