Has anybody successfully gone from a VLCD to slimming world/weightwatcher?
- Thread starter dalek
- Start date
Flabuless Mama
Postpartum Mama trying to conceive
Haha....RawrGirl just posted a really long post about this to a friend that is going from Lipotrim to WW.
First off, you need to eat 15% calories less than the generic charts say to maintain your goal weight (as they are based on someone who has always lived their adult life at your goal weight). 15% less takes into account the metabolic slowdown of anyone who has lost weight (esp on a VLCD). And it is recommended to eat 15% less for the first year. Most people do not do this, and that's why regain is so prevalent.
I don't know anything about Slimming World, but it you count calories, it should be fine. WW counts points, so you would have to track both calories and points to ensure you don't eat too much, esp the first year.
I have a chart posted on my diary here that shows how much a person who lost weight should be eating for the first year -- page 12 / post #178
Here is excerpts from the post to my friend:
WW will put you on about 29 points a day, but I guarantee, this will be more than the 15% less recommended calories a person who just lost weight should be eating to maintain their loss.
Bear in mind that WW is meant to have been losing on points the whole time. People had been eating roughly 2000-3000+ calories a day (let's estimate that to around 50-60 points), so when they join WW and start eating around 29 points (approx 1500 calories), their calories have been drastically reduced and they lose. But since you've been on a VLCD (approx 15 points) and then jumping to 29, RawrGirl fears you might see a gain.
RawrGirl strongly recommends slowly working your points up to 29 over a period of 4-6 weeks (18 a day for a week, then 20, then 22, etc.), while keeping an eye on the scale to make sure you don't gain.
If you talk to a WW leader about all this, keep in mind that they are trained only with WW. They are not nutritionists, they are merely WW people who reached goal and went through WW leadership training. They are only allowed to talk about WW food plans, and they are forbidden to let you eat less than 29 points. If you were to start gaining on 22 points, they will tell you that you are gaining because you are not eating enough...
Here is an online WW calculator so you can see exactly how many points you've been consuming with your shakes: Weight Watchers Points Calculator
(Use the "Points Plus" calculator, not the "Previous" one, as their whole system changed about a year or so ago. The Points Plus is better system it takes into account carbs now, so something with the same calories that is all carbs is more points than something that is the same calories but mostly protein. But even with that, points = calories. It's just that some days on 29 points could be 1200 calories if mostly protein and other 29 point days could be 1600 if mainly carbs.)
RawrGirl also recommends keeping an eye on your carbs. She didn't lose much with WW (despite jogging 3 miles a day 4-5x a week) until she started keeping her carbs under 30 grams -- not including fiber. (So if total carb count of a roll is 20 grams and 6 of those grams are fiber, then subtract the fiber, and count the roll as 14 carbs or 14 Net Carbs as they call it with Atkins).
Personally, needing to keep track of calories and carbs is why RawrGirl will be using Atkins to maintain, not WW. And Atkins is free. But WW is good for the emotional support the meetings can provide. This is why at first RawrGirl actually still paid for WW meetings even when she switched over to Atkins.
So, in the end, calories should take precedence over points. (You will probably be eating less than the recommended WW points for the first year). Again, I know nothing about Slimming World, but as long as it allows you to keep track of your calories, and you eat 15% less most days, you should be fine.
First off, you need to eat 15% calories less than the generic charts say to maintain your goal weight (as they are based on someone who has always lived their adult life at your goal weight). 15% less takes into account the metabolic slowdown of anyone who has lost weight (esp on a VLCD). And it is recommended to eat 15% less for the first year. Most people do not do this, and that's why regain is so prevalent.
I don't know anything about Slimming World, but it you count calories, it should be fine. WW counts points, so you would have to track both calories and points to ensure you don't eat too much, esp the first year.
I have a chart posted on my diary here that shows how much a person who lost weight should be eating for the first year -- page 12 / post #178
Here is excerpts from the post to my friend:
WW will put you on about 29 points a day, but I guarantee, this will be more than the 15% less recommended calories a person who just lost weight should be eating to maintain their loss.
Bear in mind that WW is meant to have been losing on points the whole time. People had been eating roughly 2000-3000+ calories a day (let's estimate that to around 50-60 points), so when they join WW and start eating around 29 points (approx 1500 calories), their calories have been drastically reduced and they lose. But since you've been on a VLCD (approx 15 points) and then jumping to 29, RawrGirl fears you might see a gain.
RawrGirl strongly recommends slowly working your points up to 29 over a period of 4-6 weeks (18 a day for a week, then 20, then 22, etc.), while keeping an eye on the scale to make sure you don't gain.
If you talk to a WW leader about all this, keep in mind that they are trained only with WW. They are not nutritionists, they are merely WW people who reached goal and went through WW leadership training. They are only allowed to talk about WW food plans, and they are forbidden to let you eat less than 29 points. If you were to start gaining on 22 points, they will tell you that you are gaining because you are not eating enough...
Here is an online WW calculator so you can see exactly how many points you've been consuming with your shakes: Weight Watchers Points Calculator
(Use the "Points Plus" calculator, not the "Previous" one, as their whole system changed about a year or so ago. The Points Plus is better system it takes into account carbs now, so something with the same calories that is all carbs is more points than something that is the same calories but mostly protein. But even with that, points = calories. It's just that some days on 29 points could be 1200 calories if mostly protein and other 29 point days could be 1600 if mainly carbs.)
RawrGirl also recommends keeping an eye on your carbs. She didn't lose much with WW (despite jogging 3 miles a day 4-5x a week) until she started keeping her carbs under 30 grams -- not including fiber. (So if total carb count of a roll is 20 grams and 6 of those grams are fiber, then subtract the fiber, and count the roll as 14 carbs or 14 Net Carbs as they call it with Atkins).
Personally, needing to keep track of calories and carbs is why RawrGirl will be using Atkins to maintain, not WW. And Atkins is free. But WW is good for the emotional support the meetings can provide. This is why at first RawrGirl actually still paid for WW meetings even when she switched over to Atkins.
So, in the end, calories should take precedence over points. (You will probably be eating less than the recommended WW points for the first year). Again, I know nothing about Slimming World, but as long as it allows you to keep track of your calories, and you eat 15% less most days, you should be fine.
