How does WW works

I noticed that some turn to WW's as a way to maintain, or even lose more weight. I was thinking of doing it myself but how does WW work with our new caloric adjustment? When on WW's before WLS I could eat about 1800 calories a day and lose 2 lbs a week, but now if I ate that much I would gain weight!? Even MFP App does not adjust to my current caloric quantity.

With WLS being so popular-especially regarding health benefits, you would think these so-called Diet Programs would adjust to helping others maintain weight loss instead of promising unrealistic rapid weight loss and then leaving them to their own-i'm sure over 90% gain it all back and then some, I sure did, MANY TIMES!!!

I did like WW's, it was slow and gradual but it did leave me accountable and had a sensible eating plan-but of course eventually I blew that up also. Yet. hand-in-hand with WLS I think it would help me with maintenance. All in all-we are the tool that need to work properly.

Hi Willie,

I am going to let other Vets jump in here but for me pre op it never worked. I should own stock in WW for all the times I joined and spent $$$ on the latest WW fad. After surgery I stick with the basics and high protein, low carb veggies and fruit and avoid the carbs. For me personally I wanted off that Merry Go Round of fad diets and programs like WW, and meal programs. Now, that being said if it works for some to stay on track then by all means do it Here is the list of my basics that worked for me for 15 years.

LOL you may have seen this before, I share often

Planning/Preparing

Remember when we were preparing for surgery? How many meetings, classes and such did we attend? We were told the more prepared we were the better our chances were for success. And they were right. Go through the house, car and work place and get rid of trigger foods. Stock up on foods that will keep you on track. I removed every bad carb/sugar temptation and replaced it with lots of protein, veggies, grains and fruits.

Journaling

Get back to journaling. This will help you identify when you feel like eating, stress factors and any triggers in your life. Once you identify these factors, this will help you put tools in place to keep you from eating. It became clear I was not taking time for me anymore. I worked my day job and then spent the rest of my time caring for my husband. It was easy to reach for fast, prepackaged food. Since I purged my home I have to eat clean as there are no other options LOL

Use a tool to track you're eating and exercise like Getting Started with Health Tracker. Once I started to track ever bite and drink it became clear why I had gained.

Goals/Rewards

Make a list of goals for yourself. Make them realistic and small. Some of mine were move more, purge all junk from my home, eat more protein. If you didn't make a Weight Loss Surgery bucket list when you first had surgery do it now. GREAT reminder of all the things you can enjoy in life after losing weight.

Food

In general, a long term post-weight loss surgery eating plan includes foods that are high in protein, and low in fat?, calories, and sugar. Important, vitamins and minerals are provided as supplements. (if you had a different surgery adjust this to your food plan).

Water

Water is our Best Friend. I have to say I never went back to pop or any bad drinks, however I was drinking tea like crazy. What is wrong with drinking tea? I was either using sugar or 3 equals and 3 sweet n lows per 32 ounce glass. I found once I started carrying one of the metal bottles of water to keep it cold I drank water all day.

MOVE!

I can't say enough about how key this was for me. The reason I kept my weight off for almost 10 years was no matter what, I kept moving. If I could not go to the gym I would walk. Grab a cart and walk all the isles at your local box store. I loved Zumba, bootcamp workouts, lifting weights. When I stopped, the weight started coming back. So for me I am starting slow to avoid injury by walking and using some of the workouts on my Demand TV. Find something you love to do and it won't feel like a pain in the *** to do daily.

Support

If it's an option "run" don't walk to a support group. Come here on OH daily for support and participate in one of the food threads. It helps you be accountable and also great ideas for food prep.

WLS usually restores, at least in part, our metabolism. I could eat moire to maintain my weight after surgery than I could before.

But really, it's mot relevant. I've seen some maintain on 900 calories, and some maintain on 2900. It may not be fair, but that's the way it is.

The key is to find out at what level, precisely, we maintain, and that tells us how much we need to cut back to lose, or add in order to gain.

You don't need WW to do that. You could do it on your own using OH and MFP. What WW does is provide a template and accountability. The relevant number is going to vary for each if us. And it will change as we get older, as well.

Weigh****chers is at its most basic calorie counting. They use the points system to kind of boil it down and make it easy for people. Instead of thinking, "Oh, I can only eat 1800 calories!", WW kind of frames it as, "Hey, you get 34 points to spend every day!"

On the face of it, it's not something that you can't do on your own with one of the many apps and websites available now, but it has the advantage of accountability with the weekly meetings and weigh-ins which some people find very motivating. It's easier to blow off logging or weighing in if you don't have to show it to anyone, right? It's nice too to sit and chat with people who are all having the same struggle as you are and pick up different tips and tricks.

I did WW at Work years and years ago with the points system and I did lose 50lbs, but of course gained it back. One thing I don't care too much for in the current system is what's considered "free" and doesn't count against your points. I think that gives people too much permission to abuse and overeat on certain foods. We all know that you can definitely gain weight on salad!

Try it out if you're curious--you might find that it works for you. Let us know how it goes! :D

Jen

Thanks guys. I just need to be accountable and go back to the journaling as Kathy says. And as Grim mentioned, use OH and MFP" No more "magic elixir or pills" anymore. Just good old fashion accountability, I have the tools just have to use them. I KNOW how to do this! I do not need to spend money to do what I've been taught to do anyway. So true when we "prepare" we follow a good routine and program. Lack of preparation sets us up to fail. Amazing how the mind works, why would I want to go back to something I've failed at umpteenth times? I'll get back to my routine of journaling, moving and making proper choices even, especially in the little things in this program. Notice I did not say "diet"? No more diets, now just my way of life. Thanks for the support-its what we need!

I sometimes compare calories to dollars. Some people can get paychecks direct deposited, pay all their bills every month automatically, and always have money left over, without ever checking their balance. But not many people can do that.

Most of us have to make sure there is money in the checking account before writing a big check. We see something we'd like to buy, and decide it's not in the budget until next month, or next year.

But with calories, there is nothing to stop us from overspending. 500 calories more for a cupcake? Sold! 1600 caliries for that bag of chips? There's a buy one get one free sale? The vast majority of people never check their calorie balance, we just keep spending. Until we get SMO, bad knees and hearts, and diabetes.

I really believe the best way we can control our weight is to keep a close count on how many calories we spend, and try to stick to a budget. It's the only thing that works for me.

Good analogy.

On MFP you can go in and set the calories for the day plus you can set the protein/carb/fat % as well. That's the free version! I have mine set for less than 15% carbs and it helps!

Liz

Ok...let me "weigh in"...pun unintended...as someone who is almost 17 years post RNY, and a 3 year WW Lifetime member. I attend my WW local meetings, most every week. They help me with support/accountability/fellowship/etc. The struggle is REAL, no matter what methods/tools you choose to lose/maintain your weight.

I had struggled with about 30 pounds of regain, and that is what I had lost, this last round, with WW. I had joined, as a favor, with some co-workers, who had weight to lose. As often happens, I'm the only one still there, but made a lot of new "WW friends".

I don't use the WW app as much as I COULD, and I still eat my post op plan - pretty much Bari Keto, these days, but plan to continue going to WW. It's all FREE, to me, as a Lifetime, at GOAL member

I never did WW but I did a similar eating plan that used the points system when I was in Eating Disorder treatment. I remember converting the points to calories and I was eating a lot of calories but still losing a couple pounds a week. I believe in excess of 2000 calories i was eating. Of course that was when i weighed 430lb. They adjusted the points for my current weight. I wonder if WW adjusts your points as well when you get to maintenance.