Just go slowly one step at a time. If it’s daunting just try to tackle a little bit at a time. I haven’t checked out that site but I will now. I have a couple of Weight Watcher cookbooks. Not for my weight but I have a really lousy family history.

I did Weight Watchers online (screw the meetings) about 3 years ago for six months, my discounted 3-month trial and then another full-price 3 months. I lost weight consistently on WW and found it very user friendly. It’s true that there’s a lot on the website, but start by first familiarizing yourself with the tools you’ll be using – the food diary being the most important. Experiment by looking up some foods you plan on eating to see what the point values add up to be. Then, set up your profile and head over to the forum. Those people can help you a lot more than we can in regard to great things to be found on their website.

As for WW itself, it’s a good program. The part I loved were the flex-points (I don’t remember what they’re actually called), the extra points you could use at any point during the week? I used to eat healthy all week and save all of my leftover points AND the extra points and eat unhealthy foods on the weekends. Still lost weight! A great thing about the point system if you don’t have to worry about calories AND carbs AND protein AND fat AND sodium. If it fits into your point allowance, it’s fair game. WW is the program that taught me how to log my food correctly, which I still do now. However, the downside of the points for me was that I had no clue about nutrition because WW took all the work out of it. I’m just now realizing how important protein is, which was never a concern on WW.

I’ve moved on from Weight Watchers because I’m no longer willing to pay. I use MyFitnessPal now, which is free. And no points, which I personally prefer.

Don’t worry – you’ll get the hang of it!

Nope, don’t need to.

No. I don’t believe in weight loss programs, other than the support of peers.
These programs are like rehab, sooner or later you have to learn how to cope and manage your stress without drugs or overeating unless you plan to spend the rest of your life tethered to a crutch.
The best way to to buddy up with an exercise pal, hold each other accountable, and eating lite and healthy is easy, you don’t need to purchase pre-packaged diet meals/foods and you can count your own calories, fat grams, etc. with a little pocket calorie counter available everywhere.
Eat sensibly, walk at least 29 minutes a day, do some weight bearing exercise, swim, ride bikes, lift weights and don’t keep temptation foods in the house.

@Coloma Weight loss programs are only rehab if you think of them as such. Keeping a little notepad and calorie calculator in your pocket just isn’t enough structure for some of us. I prefer being able to have an electronic diary with a large database of foods to choose from so I know it’s accurate. I also like to see how my carbs/protein/fats are being distributed. Logging in this way is extremely educational – I’ve learned more about nutrition from using MFP than I did in my nutrition course in college. It’s easy to tell someone to “eat better and exercise,” but if it were that simple for everyone, no one would be overweight. I plan to use MFP even when I reach my goal weight, because I enjoy it (and it’s free). It’s not a crutch because I could do without it, but it’s simply a tool to hold myself accountable. I’m not sure how that’s different from keeping track of your own calories without a tool.

Also, not everyone has someone that could be their exercise buddy. I certainly don’t.

I think it’s unfair to tell someone they’re trying to get healthy the wrong way. If it works for him or her, then that’s good enough. Good for you if you don’t need these tools, but not everything that works for you works for the rest of us.

29 minutes? Where did that number come from?

@livelaughlove21 I wasn’t implying there is a right or wrong way, just that educating yourself about nutrition is not that hard. Everyone knows an apple is preferable to a donut. lol
My point is that outside of WW meetings and support one still has to make their choices, on their own, in the moment, just like a recovering anybody and a lot of times these programs are exploitive of your pocketbook as well.

@Coloma A lot of people think they know more than they do about nutrition. It’s not as simple as “an apple is healthier than a donut.” Of course that’s true, but people tend to think they eat healthier than they do. I learn something new and revamp my whole menu quite often. If it was as simple as you think, nutritionists wouldn’t have jobs.

@livelaughlove21 I’m not disagreeing that a lot of people are ignorant of basic nutrition, just that with all the resources available it is not that hard to figure out a healthy lifestyle plan without resorting to pricey help.
I guess being the researcher type and knowledge seeker I am biased.
It is just so easy to create your own plan and self educate.

I have studied nutrition, food combining, and many facets of health.
I would never spend my money on a diet program, now massage is another thing entirely. lol

@Coloma I’d never spend money on either (at least, not again). To each their own, but I think it’s commendable that the OP made the first step toward a lifestyle change, whether it was done the way I’d do it or not.

@livelaughlove21 Agreed. :-)

My doctor recently diagnosed me with Type 2 Diabetes. I am eating 60 carbs at each meal; no more, and no less. The weight is just falling off.
I am not starving, just unfulfilled at meals. It’s a pain, but it works.

Why is it there are so many fat people perpetually on weight watchers?

Yeah ok not nice or pc but true. I don’t think it works.and not.just because of all the people I see on it. They count calories but not quality of calories think that processed food is fine as long as they were paid to have ww label and number put on the product… Ok maybe I’m not precisely right as I haven’t examined the program. But paying to lose weight is jsummust crappy.

@Unbroken Why is it there are so many fat people perpetually on weight watchers?

It’s not WW, it’s every single weight loss plan/program. Most people that diet and lose weight will gain it back. It has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the program; it’s the people that can’t keep it off.

You’re right, it’s not PC or nice…or entirely accurate.

@livelaughlove21 you are right. Women esp are built to store fat to not only protect incase of a famine or hardship but have enough to nourish a baby. Being overweight used to be a sign of wealth and good fortune. People who are overweight but not obese actually are healthier and live longer then skinny.

So not only do we have our biological tendency to store fat which each time we starve ourselves or decrease activity level without resetting our body fat storage memory but then we have stress eating the availability of food the social aspect of food and tastier foods that are lacking in fiber and high in sugar creating spikes insulin resistance and diminish our thyroid or inner furnace. Often we don’t get the nutrients we need or satiated because we don’t chew or recognize our food as eating multi tasking etc.

Why I came down hard on ww in particular is that its one of the diets that has lasted longer then I can remember… My mom talked about it when I was a child. Yet no one ever seems to reach their goal even much less maintain. And overall in time if they stick with it seem to balloon… Yet it still exists…

@Unbroken I know quite a few people that reached their goal on WW.

I think on line programs are OK for people who have will power to lose weight on their own and have discipline.

Others (like me) need the social network that you get from real people at face to face meetings once a week. The meetings are actually fun and you develop real relationships with the people you sit with once a week. Also there is nothing like knowing you will be weighed every week by someone else on a computerized scale.

I think Weight Watchers are one of the best programs out there. You are eating real food, learning how to cook healthy and learning portion control. It is not a fad diet, it is a way of life. Good Luck.

It was horrible.

Everything tasted like printer toner.

@SecondHandStoke haha, that must be the frozen meals or something? I’m just eating regular food.

I haven’t tried printer toner. What would you season it with?

The tears of overworked office employees.

@SecondHandStoke Oh god that’s bad, but still LMAO.

^Just doing my job.