Unhealthy choices

[leanne7621]

I guys I'm only a few days into ww and I'm a tad worried that I'll start and make bad food choices in the way I eat to enable me to use up all of my 26pp per day I eat a lot of fruit and veg bit these all seem to be 0pp so I'm having to reach for crisps and choc etc to fill up my daily points allowance please can come one reassure me I will still lose weight as I can't see how that would work thank you

 

[foodiegal]

Well you could treat yourself to things that are higher points, but that are healthier choices. Like rye bread with some brie, or putting some sugar free Jam in your fat free yogurts. If I have extra points, I try to think of ways I can pimp my meals. Cheese on my spaghetti Bolognese, a slice of bread with my soup. Try to bulk out your meals a bit more instead of eating a load of snacks which you might not really need.

 

[kagome75]

I am sorry but I don't buy the excuse "I have to reach for crisps and chocolate to make my points". There are many things you can have that would make you get to the right points while not filling your guts with rubbish that your body will take ages to expel and that will higher your insulin level and slow down your weight loss. Propoints are not all equal. There are foods that are better for you and foods that are worse, with the same number of points.

For example: 18g of nuts are 3 points. I think that 1 finger of twix is 3 points as well (sorry if I'm wrong I'm going by memory here). However, 18g of nuts contain mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, anti-oxidants and a lot of other nutrients that your body craves and needs and that will help you be healthy. They don't contain hardly any sugar and very little saturated fat. The twix finger instead is full of saturated fat, contains too little polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats, is a sugar bomb and will inly increase your level of insulin in your blood, which will stop the absorption of the sugars by your body and will give signals to your brain to store all those calories as FAT STORE. Both of them are 3 points, but the label is really clear: the nuts are good for you, the twix ain't. Crisps are a very similar story: high in salt which can affect your water retention levels and make you lose weight more slowly, increase your blood pressure and clog your arteries. A packet of 30g is still 3pp, but if you could see what those pps would do in your body, would you REALLY eat them?

Chocolate in small doses is good for you, BUT the chocolate that is good for you is the DARK chocolate, which contains anti-oxidants and very little sugar (much less than milk chocolate). Small doses means a maximum of 2 squares of chocolate per day.

one SMALL glass of red wine is good for you every day. It helps keep your arteries unclogged, but drink too much of it and the alcohol will cause more problems than benefits. A small glass is 100/125ml. You might want to buy those small bottles of wine of 200ml each and have it in 2 days.

Above all, nobody says that you MUST eat your 26. If you feel full, you can stop eating and just discard the points. weight Watchers says that you will lose them if you don't eat them, but NOBODY FORCES the food down your mouth. If you feel full, STOP. No need of eating more only because you have reached 20 and not 26pp!

Let us know how you're doing!

 

[Purple_Star]

Great post above!!! I agree about not eating all of your points, if you genuinely are eating a lot of fruit, as you say you are, then it may not do any harm not to use all of your points. Although, fruit is 0pp, it still should be eaten in moderation - like everything. Don't get me wrong, eating a moderate amount will still be 0pp, but imo if you eat more than portions or so a day, then it could possible hinder your weightloss. So I prefer to eat as much of it as I want, but not to worry about always using all of my points.

It is hard to increas the points you are eating when you are used to eating 'diet food', I found that when I had to add in points to maintain, I was afraid to eat more in case I? got too used to it, and would really struggle then to reduce it again if I needed to. So instead, I made very small swaps that were easy to reverse again when I needed to cutback the odd week - I started to eat 'normal' bread for example, and put an extra egg yolk in my omelettes, things like that (I used to use one whole egg plus 2 whites).

It def wouldn't be a good idea to eat rubbish just for the sake of it - thats def not what ww is about!

 

[indiebabe]

I totally agree with these points, I am always often surprised when people say they can't use their points...I don't have have a huge amount to lose and I eat all my points almost everyday and have to think sensibly about how to use them so that I'm not still hungry!

Eating lots of fruit and veg is great (although as one of other replies said, you can eat too much - it's free in moderation!) but there does seem to be quite a 'diet mentality' of good foods and bad foods and so people (I'm not saying this is what you're doing) think they are on a diet and have to eat salads and fruit and veg and then use up their points on 'bad foods' this most definitely is not what weight watchers is.

For example if you ate a good breakfast (scrambled eggs on toast maybe if you're trying to use points, with nice granary bread, 2 eggs and some real butter you could be on 9 points used already) a cheese & salad wrap with a normal (not a diet!) yoghurt for lunch (11 ish points) you'd have used 20 by dinner and none of that is 'bad foods' like crisps or chocolate.

Maybe post some Diaries on here of what you're eating & we could have a look for you, more than happy to help you but please dont fall into the trap of eating 'diet foods' and then using up points on rubbish, that's not a healthy way to live and doesn't teach you any healthy eating principles! x

 

[MrsLmc]

Some great replies there. The girls are definately right, try not to over eat on the rubbish, in my opinion sugar craves sugar if that makes sense, leading to a higher likelihood that you'll binge/over eat on them. Try splitting your day up into pp's e.g
5 for breakfast, 8 for lunch, 11 for dinner and 2 for a bedtime snack if you need it....If you are finding it difficult on propoints why not give simply filling a try, it'll help cut out the snacking to use pp's. Best of luck on your journey xx

 

[bugsbunny2000]

I could be wrong, but I was told that you MUST have your 26pp at least - as this equals the amount of nutrients/calories (i guess) your body needs... which is why I too have a packet of crisps and cake bar (ww, 2pp each) for lunch every day and then often a ww dessert (3-5pp) for the evening after dinner. I do not feel like I am going to 'over eat' by having sweet things BUT i agree that WW food or not, eating so many sweets every day is probably not a good choice and i'm been lulled into a false sense of security by believing because they're WWs ones and because I stick to my 26pp that it won't affect my weight loss. Lost 4.5lbs in my first week, I fear this week. If the scales are not on my side then I will change my diet more next week and have less sweet things xx

 

[CLH_X3]

I was told at group aswel that if your on 26pp a day you must eat them all ... Otherwise your not eating enough calories and your body will go into starvation mode ..

I'm on 32 and my ww leader told me that if I don't use them all up every night not to worries but I should at least be hitting 26-29 a night and all if I want

 

[Lianna]

I have been going by as long as i stick within my points i will be ok no matter what i eat, its about eating in moderation and eating the things you like but in a reasonable quantity and its worked for me so far! everyone is different but i think if you stick withiin your points no matter what you eat you will loose, obviously try make healthier choices but if you want crisps and w.w chocolate as long as its within your points have it! x

 

[blondie29]

I was told the same that u must use your points or your bidy isnt getting enough food etc for your size.

I also end up with points left in a evening but i always have a pack of quavers and a curly wurly and a diet coke as my treat . I have also started eating more points for lunch so i dont have so many left on a evening.

Im not really using my weeklys or activity points though as i dont need them, i only used 10 of them last week but im not counting the odd bit of extra milk i have or the odd sugar in my coffee instead of a sweetner so im using a few weeklys x x x

 

[kagome75]

I had been told that too at the beginning, but now even my leader last week said that as long as you feel full and satisfied, there's no need to stuff your face and just eat for the sake of it only because you haven't reached your 26. Hence, even the official WW view has changed (she confirmed it for me). I think that as long as you're full, you shouldn't be eating more: we're on WW because we couldn't stop eating, because we were eating too much, aren't we? If you DO want to use all your 26 I have given some suggestions in my previous post, or you could follow other people's suggestion of using non-diet foods, like full fat yogurts and milk... if you follow Filling & Healthy you will see that you stop eating when you're full and if you point what you had during those days most of the times it does NOT make the 26pp but less.

 

[haninhudds]

A little of what you fancy is good....deprivation is not the key on WW and that is why so many 'diets' fail because you are restricting so many foods that eventually, sooner or later, you binge on. And we all know that once you've binged yuo feel bad, when you feel bad you get off track and when your off track you pack it in and gain another 1/2 stone.

For the past 12 weeks (excluding Christmas, where I ate and drank as sensibly as I could) I have eaten well in the day, usually a ww bar, yoghurt or poached eggs on toast for brekkie, a sandwich with egg or cheese and salad for lunch with a packet of skips and a jelly pot, for tea a stir fry or similar and i ALWAYS have an evening treat...small choco bar, a vodka and diet coke, a ww cake....because I can. The days where I don't need it i don't have it, the days when i crave it I eat it.

This is by far the most lenient 'diet' i have ever tried and is the most succesful by far...in fact I have only ever managed to stick to a plan/diet for 3 weeks in the past. This includes: Slimming World, Lighter life, Cambridge, Dukan, Atkins (not easy as a veggie!), cabbage soup, slimming world, celebrity slim, cuppa soup diet, blood group diet, skinny *****, calorie - 1200...and the list goes on and on!!!

In conclusion to my bored Saturday night rantings .....I believe WW is what YOU make it...no one else. Whatever works for you is the right thing...if you need or want to eat chocolate, then do. If you want that glass of wine...all good. If you fancy a banana smoothie...go for it. As long as you do it in moderation, try to move a bit more than usual and within points then you will loose weight!!! Night Night twinkles xxxxx

 

[haninhudds]

My spelling and grammar is HORRIFIC in that last post...apologies...I'm a drama and english teacher too whahaha xxxx

 

[kagome75]

A little of what you fancy is good....deprivation is not the key on WW and that is why so many 'diets' fail because you are restricting so many foods that eventually, sooner or later, you binge on.

I totally agree with that. of course if you want it or crave it you CAN have a little bit of what you fancy. I have lost my first 3 stone having at breakfast 2 slices of bread with nutella and this kept me going because I could lose weight AND have what I liked. Even now, I have in the morning ready brek chocolate, almost every day... and every evening I have a dessert.

However, I don't agree in saying that you're *FORCED* to eat rubbish to get to your 26! That was why I was saying that you can have different things rather than stuffing your face on crisps and chocolate just because you hadn't reached your 26. If you want to have it because you crave it or just because you fancy it and you have the points then why not

 

[haninhudds]

exactly....my ww leader said that the best way to boost points is to add a little bit of calcium products into all 3 meals....a sprinkle of cheese, a little full milk, a teaspoon of butter on bread, because these are the things that are good in tiny bits and also the things that people tend to neglect within a 'diet'. Totally agree - adding little fillers into meals makes you fuller! Love it....i have nothing but praise for this diet! xx

 

[CLH_X3]

I had been told that too at the beginning, but now even my leader last week said that as long as you feel full and satisfied, there's no need to stuff your face and just eat for the sake of it only because you haven't reached your 26. Hence, even the official WW view has changed (she confirmed it for me). I think that as long as you're full, you shouldn't be eating more: we're on WW because we couldn't stop eating, because we were eating too much, aren't we? If you DO want to use all your 26 I have given some suggestions in my previous post, or you could follow other people's suggestion of using non-diet foods, like full fat yogurts and milk... if you follow Filling & Healthy you will see that you stop eating when you're full and if you point what you had during those days most of the times it does NOT make the 26pp but less.

I'm going to Double check with my leader then about having to eat all 26 points then as it was only last week that she was saying people must eat there 26 points ... So if the whole official ww view has changed, she should know.

 

[Chelley]

I went to my meeting yesterday and I was old I HAVE to et my 26 points as the body goes into starvation mode and takes all the bad stuff from the next meal and stores it? Is this not right then? I know people who have put weight on when they haven't eaten their daily allowance (ps I'm not sure how people struggle to eat 26 unless I'm greedy hehehe)xxx

 

[MrsLmc]

I've always had to eat all my dailies and all my weeklies to get good losses. Just do what is best for you, you'll soon know if you can leave a few or if you have to eat them all xx