Weight Watchers - An Unhealthy Diet

[LC_Dave]

Let's start a thread about Weight Watchers.

I don't have time right now, but I will relay my story later.

Basically I am dead against this cult-like junk food company.

I have spent thousands with them and even worked for them as a recorder (both paid times and voluntary).

Their low fat/high carb/junk food pushing ways contributed to my massive obesity and quite a bit of depression.

I get very tired when people say: "Oh WW is healthy, I know my long lost cousin's friend's uncle's girlfriend's neighbour's dog-walker's great-Aunt's lesbian lover - lost all these weight on them. etc etc".

The real official numbers are very low for long term success. Official numbers that WW know, but instead of blaming their program they profit of making you feel like a failure.

[Sherrie]

You know what we need, we need a good example menu so we can crunch numbers and pick apart.

[Prothvar]

when I did it both times they worked on a 'points' system where by your weight and height determined how many points you could consume each day. You had to buy the counters with the pre-assigned point values for each food. There was 10kgs difference between my start weigh on the separate occasions and I still only had the 20 point allocation. They also promoted their own products really heavily, breakfast bars, chocolate rice crisp bars, lollies as well as the supermarket lines like ice-cream, puddings, pizzas in a box etc. I just could not stick to it - everything was low fat and thus unsatisfying. I also didnt like standing in line to be weighed like a market heifer, their incentives were laughable and I think the 'leaders' nutritional experience was lacking (both times) as well. Its a very pushy mentality.

[melvan]

I have a problem with any diet program that says you have to buy THEIR packaged food to stay on plan...no wonder nobody can stick to it, those things aren't cheap.

[damsel]

I was given a copy of the book that shows how many points each food is worth - never got into it

'Points guide' 7th edition

Sherrie, I can post it to you if you want it

[Sherrie]

Thats nice of you! Wait though, lets see if we can find a list online, I bet there is one around!

[damsel]

I put a post in here yesterday about the WW book ... did I say something wrong?

[Sherrie]

Damsel did it go through? I never saw it?

[damsel]

Yes it was there - I saw it after I posted it

I was just asking if you wanted that WW points guide book ... or if anyone else wanted it or I was gonna chuck it

[Sherrie]

Hmm maybe there was a glitch with my host?

It has been removed on our end as I never saw it and moderators can only do a soft delete so I would still be able to see it if it had been deleted.

[damsel]

Strange! oh well ... never mind.

So, does anyone want the book ?? :)

[Sherrie]

Okay I was just looking through salad dressings for the TF thread when I came across this, its a classic example of why low fat products are crap and why weight watchers is full of ****

Okay here's a typical classic caesar dressing by Kraft per 100ml:

Calories in Kraft, Salad Dressings: Classic, Caesar
Home » Nutritional Information » Salad Dressings » Salad Dressings » Kraft

Nutrition Facts


Calories 298..................( Kilojoules 1246 )...% Daily Value*
Total Fat...........................28.7 g.....................44%
...Saturated Fat...................5.1 g......................25%

Sodium..................................754 mg.................31%
Total Carbohydrates...............7.6 g.......................3%
....Sugars.............................6.7 g
Protein.................................2.1 g


Calorie Breakdown
This table shows you where the calories in this food come from.

Calories from Fat................258 (87%)
Calories from Carbohydrate....30 (10%)
Calories from Protein..............8 (3%)
Calories from Alcohol..............0 (0%)


Now this is the weight watchers caesar dressing, per 100ml:


Nutrition Facts


Calories 185....................( Kilojoules 775 )....% Daily Value*
Total Fat...............................8.9 g...................14%
...Saturated Fat......................1.8 g.....................9%

Sodium....................................895 mg...............37%
Total Carbohydrates...............23.3 g...................8%

...Sugars..............................19.8 g
Protein..................................1.4 g


Calorie Breakdown
This table shows you where the calories in this food come from.
Calories from Fat....................80....(45%)
Calories from Carbohydrate.......93....(52%)
Calories from Protein.................6.....(3%)
Calories from Alcohol.................0.....(0%)



It jumps from 6.7g of sugars to 19.8g!!!

And for those that believe in watching salt, WW has more sodium too...

And for what, to save 73 calories??? :rolleyes:

[Osanna]

WW to me is just frankenfood in disguise. Many people think they are eating "healthy" when they are eating the WW branded products. They are choc full of additives, may as well just have the meal replacement shake and save yourself a lot of food prep.

A friend of mine is on it and eats a lot of the branded products, I had a jam tartlet one day, it was so unsatisfying I had to go out and find a real biscuit to eat. I would much rather eat 1 real biscuit than 3 awful ones.

[Sherrie]

Look at the percentages, instead of the majority of calories coming from fat they are coming from sugars, no wonder so many people have diabetes 2 these days!

[LC_Dave]

Over my many years at WW, I noticed more and more that Head office would get teh leaders pushing the products more. Now they have a range of products (chocolate bars and lollies) that are only available (and pushed) at the meetings.

It's like a cult too, because it's a weekly dose of brainwashing and commercials.

They get you hooked on things like candy and chocolate and fake food.

I never used to eat many sweets prior to joining (mainly savoury lover), but I really think they trained me into going for those foods. (Especially how their menu is mainly carbs).

Stupid me knew nothing about Blood Sugar. It was a foreign concept to me. I used to think feeling feint and feeling like passing out was good, becaus eit meant I was sticking on plan!!

[peace+love]

My father lost a load of weight on it the first time he did it - too much actually. However he was not eating the franken foods and his only source of sugars was an apple and 5 Allen's lollies. For lunches he had soup and salad and for dinner he had protein and salad. He found it hard to stick to, and ended up doing WW with the ice creams etc and not losing permanently but he won't accept that low fat and higher carb is bad.

[Kyra3]

got really ill after eating Wight Watchers Meals und all products from WW after 2 years. It was so easy. I didn't miss anything...BUT after 2 Years I got very ill.. I'm from Germany, I'm looking for people in the USA or all over the World to sue them. Do you know anyone, woh get ill too from the WW meals und other MM stuff? I got CFIDS and more. I think in der Products of WW is not enought ensaturated fat. Beyond other things. It makes you really ill. I can't proofe it by now, it ist my opinion. I would like tot contact people with bad experience with WW Food
Mail to

Anisimov-Schulze@gmx.de

[thinjen]

i came off weight watchers to join the low carb revolution only last week, so glad i have. weight watchers is like sending an alcoholic to a pub and letting them have 5 sips of a glass of beer and then that's it.
20 points almost kills you especially when you eat their ww products that don't have any nutritional value and so therefore you are hungrier after you consume them than before you had the first bite, go LC!
and the lining up to be weighed thing - why did i even do that - i hated it i knew i hated it yet i still did it because you have to. well no more i say!

[Sherrie]

Welcome Thinjen :)

Is there a particular low carb diet that you're following?

[thinjen]

i'm half way through the atkins book so i'm doing atkins but i'm on my 6th day and i think that i have been making mistakes, i'm finding the carb counting really confusing, i just need to read induction rules again and then again and then again i'll get there

[Sherrie]

The main thing to remember with the carb counting is you need to subtract fibre from the total carb count to get your "net" amount of carbohydrates.

However, in Australia we already do that, so you don't need to do that with labeled food, you only need to do that for fresh food and only if you are using American nutritional information such as calorie king or the carb lists in Dr Atkins book etc

[Malcolm]

However, in Australia we already do that so you do need to do that will labeled food, ...

The anal editor never sleeps!:o :p... I think Sherrie means "you don't need to do that (with labelled food)..."

[Sherrie]

Yes thank you!

[SmileToday]

I have from time to time picked up WW foods at supermarket to read the nutrition label just out of interest. And wow.. it is all processed beyond recognition and all full of highly processed carbs in the form of simple sugars. It's also full of other additives! Things like chocolate biscuits... small cakes etc etc. This is not healthy eating and it is definately not helpful when you're trying to lose weight! I think their mantra has well and truly become greed before health.

Stay clear of WW food, and learn to cook your own healthy food I say.

[olivia18]

I'm with you SmileToday. I've posted before that for many years I was heavily involved with WW.

Take it from me "stay away from their food IT IS ALL CRAP!!!!"
All you have to do is read the list of so called ingredients - unpronounceable words and numbers cannot be good.

Grow your own if you can - always cook your own.

Believe me WW couldn't pay me enough to darken their door now. My friend who was VERY high up in WW and has worked for them for 34years has just resigned. Cannot use her words her but basically what she was saying is "they are just after the almighty dollar and don't give a continental about their clients". All the managerial staff are young upwardly mobile pains in the a..e who have never had a weight problem and don't know diddly."

For my friend to have resigned means a heck of a lot, I always thought she'd go out with her WW boots on.

[LilRascal]

I tried ww so many times I can't count them and I would lose 10kgs at a time and come to a sudden holt... now I know the reasons why!

I also recently out of curiosity picked up a few ww products to check out their nutritional value, carbs mainly and wow I couldn't believe it!! No wonder I wasn't losing much

[Keeshy]

Hi!

I have been on WW 3-4 times. I tired SO DAMN HARD! I did it on and off from age 14 to 26 yrs... I could never understand that if I did it perfectly I didnt lose weight and my mates/family always did! I just didnt know I had insulin resistance and I was eating an ALL SUGAR diet... they dont tell you that on the points do they? The teach you to get more bang for your buck on the points so - the evil food pyriamid at work - fruit and veges and low fat, high sugar, low quality food. Take this, buy that and have a box of choc crip bars as well - thanks for coming - come again. After all that is what is really about. Business.

But in their defence the rest of the world has still not really 'arrived' with low carb eating - its waaaay too controversial isnt it? It means we would have to restructure society alltogether.... farming, industry, marketing, health care etc...

You couldnt pay me to go to a meeting again... glad those days are over and my eyes are open.

[Chrysalis]

Amen to all that.

[Sue14]

Hi, I was wondering if you had the list of how foods went on weight watchers about 30 years ago before it went to points. My mum has asked me tofind out. Apparently it just told you how many serves you had of what per day. There wasn't all this comercial stuff in it It was just basic food you eat. Thanks sue

[LC_Dave]

I remember it was like divided into foods. You are allowed 2 starches and x amount of protein etc etc. Their original plan paid a lot more attention to carbohydrate, as it was before the Low Fat fad in the eighties.


They used to sell cookbooks mainly, and emphasize people cooking instead of take away.

Even when I was there, that's how it was, then it slowly changed over a few years.

They starting bringing these packaged foods to sell exclusively at the meetings.

It's because leaders aren't paid a wage. They get a share of the membership for that day and a percentage on books sold, and now a percentage om the meeting products they sell.

I've also noticed their supermarket product range has dropped, whilst their range of meeting food has increased.

Last I remember it was chocolate bars and lollies they were pushing.

Ever read their magazines? It's all product advertising with a couple of articles.

[Sue14]

Hi LC Dave, My mother went on it years ago and she lost heaps of weight , But these days it is all about bying there products. She couldn't remember the original program, so she asked me to find out. She remembered it told you how many servings of each food group, but what they were that's what she can't remember. Do you know? Thanks sue

[Osanna]

Hi Sue - check out second hand bookstores, they may have some old weight watchers cook books etc. You could even try a Google search. I did a quick one and found some books back from 1986 and 1990 before the points came in. Good luck

[Daisy]

Hi Guys

I have in the past joined WW 5 times , what a waste of money that was . I had many many years back gone on a program called "Easyslim" , I actually lost 31 kilos and it was fairly low carbish , but as I was nearing my goal the company just announced it was packing it in . I felt really betrayed as the support line that was supposed to be there for me was now gone , eventually the weight came back on . The thing that has really really annoyed me was that I recently found out that WW had actually bought them out because they were such a treat to them ...............oh they make me sick WW , the big bullies of the weight loss industry . I will never EVER spend another cent on any of their products .......EVER !

One good thing that came out of it I guess was that I found LC and have never been happier . I also have found the greatest place for support and online friendships here at POH .

Take Care
Daisy

[kgb]

I say if ww works for you good on you, eating vegies and protein isn't all that much fun. But if its not working and you want to lose weight faster and feel satisfied longer do the low carb thing.

KGB

[arandall]

I to tried WW, as my MIL lost weight on it, but me being me, I PUT ON weight! AHHHH don't you love those carbs!

[janal]

I say if ww works for you good on you, eating vegies and protein isn't all that much fun. But if its not working and you want to lose weight faster and feel satisfied longer do the low carb thing.

KGB

Hi KGB, There's a lot more to LC than just Meat & Veg, have you checked out our lovely recipes :p

[LC_Dave]

Hi LC Dave, My mother went on it years ago and she lost heaps of weight , But these days it is all about bying there products. She couldn't remember the original program, so she asked me to find out. She remembered it told you how many servings of each food group, but what they were that's what she can't remember. Do you know? Thanks sue

Unfortunately I dont. :(

[Sherrie]

Theres a post on the forum here somewhere with these old recipe cards from weight watchers, perhaps try a search and see if you can find them, might help ?

[Sue14]

Hi everyone, Thanks for the imfo. I have been doing body trim myself, but have been trying to get my mother to do atkins or body trim or even low carb. Years ago, she did try atkins but she didn't understand the program properly and just ate lot's of fatty meats ect. She got really sick. She can't use a computor, so I have been showing what she can and can't eat. There is so much great imfo on this site. See how we go. I myself don't think ww is very good. To me theres no life style change, and if you are like me I would just eat junk all day, and make up the points that way. sue

[yesican128]

Hi Everyone! I've just joined your forum today because I'm looking at LC. It makes a lot of sense to me and seems to be very satisfying. There are so many programs though! I was curious about this thread because I am actually currently with WW, and am on staff. I do agree that their food is high carb and unhealthy, but that mighten be any different then most processed food, don't you think? Like someone has already said, the world isn't accepting LC as readily as maybe should. I also agree that WW seems to me personally to be very corporate now, as someone has mentioned. Now I would like to also say that as a WW member you DO NOT have to buy their food like some other programs. Many people do not. Maybe how the Leader voices the issue it comes across as YOU HAVE TO. WW Corporate would "pressure" the Leaders to sell, of course, just like Tupperware and other companies pressure their people to recruit. I myself do not like to eat alot of "sugar" because I know it doesn't "agree" with me. (Although I can pump myself full of it). That's why LC makes so much sense. Therefore, I don't buy the WW sweet foods that often. I do like the frozen main meals for their convenience; i'm a very lazy cook! Which is alot of my problem. So I'd like to say that not all WW meetings pressure people to buy their food, or any of their products. My country meeting does not. Maybe in the big cities they do. WW has many positives, and I agree that WW does help a lot of people lose weight, but not all. Sorry for the long message. I have some other questions for you LC experts, but I'll post them in another thread.

[Shez]

Hello Yesican - welcome to POH :)

I agree WW does not pressure you (been there done that) to buy their food but it certainly doesn't discourage it either. You go to the meetings and they have all the little lollies and bars along with the Magazine laid out in front of you to entice you to buy. The magazine itself is choc-a-block full of advertisements for their products, most of which are for sweet things. The so-called healthy foods are so low in fat that they have to add sweeteners to add any sort of flavour at all.

2 things add flavour to the foods we eat - fat or sugar. Give me the healthy fats any day :)

[LC_Dave]

Welcome to the forum Yesican.

Weight Watchers preaches Low fat and calorie controlled. It also teaches the virtues of the food pyramid etc.

It's wrong and criminal in my book.

I would starve on the points system. Any starvation of hunger is doing damage to your body.

[janal]

Hi LC_Dave,
Off topic, I was looking through smileys the other day and I came across one for you.
Hope you like him :D

http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq117/janal_photo/7.gif

[Sherrie]

Welcome Yesican :)

There is a bit of cooking on low carb but you can cook big thinks like quiches and cheesecakes, cut them up into serves and then freeze individually. How about introducing yourself int he introduce yourself section so that we can all get to know you better!

[Sue14]

Hi Shez I agree with what you are saying , mum was saying that before all this garb came along the ww was calorie controled, and the food groups were measured into portions There were no juck food or sweet foods included, but I don't think it would have been lo carbs. I think ww may have worked for some people, those that eat senceably(can't spell that word) and are strick with it. Not like me.sue

[LC_Dave]

Hi LC_Dave,
Off topic, I was looking through smileys the other day and I came across one for you.
Hope you like him :D

http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq117/janal_photo/7.gif


Nice!! Thank you!

[Newlife]

Hi Everyone!

I cam across this post some time ago and read it with heaps of interest. I don't know whether anyone else has noticed but in Sydney WW are advertising a new "Feeling Full" program (or something like that). They obviously don;t give you much detail but I found it quite amusing that they have a picture of an egg, chicken leg and a fish I think featuring quite prominently........

Maybe I am wishful thinking that they are hopping a little bit on the we "don't need so many carbs" bandwagon and upping protein?


Does anyone know for sure?


Newlife:eek:

[yesican128]

Hi Newlife,

Yes, WW Australia does have a new program. It's call "satisfaction plan". It's the points and Core blended together. You still count points but certain foods are highlighted to show that they give more satisfaction. Yes, you could say that some of those highlighted foods are lower carb, more so healthier anyway. In my reading of GI and Low Carb Diets, i am finding that WW is a bit on the band wagon, but I can see that WW does promote alot of high carb items that I am going to stay away from. I am liking the GI/Low carb system and am feeling better and losing a bit of weight. Hope that answers a bit. Sandy

[LC_Dave]

Until WW give up their phobia of saturated fat - they wont get it.

You cant run your body's energy on protein.

[healthy]

Maybe look at the Australian Governments NHMRC guidelines for women 19 - 60 years. Women 60 years + need 2 serves less of Starchy Carbs.

Daily serves
4-9 serves Starchy Carbs
5 serves Vegetables
2 serves Fruit
2 serves Dairy
1 serve Protein
2 serves Extra Foods

This is not a weight loss diet just a healthy way to eat.

[healthy]

These Guidelines are very similar to Weight Watchers healthy guidlines to eat daily from the major food groups

[Sherrie]

I certainly wouldn't call that healthy!

[Daisy]

These Guidelines are very similar to Weight Watchers healthy guidlines to eat daily from the major food groups

Are you a member of WW or do you work for them . I had previously joined WW , 5 times , after following their 'healthy guidelines' , I was still constantly struggling with cravings . I was still on all my diabeties medications , which included 1 overnight injection . Since starting LC and my new healthy way of life , I have ceased all my meds and my BSL's are perfect . I also feel great . Have you ever tried LC , I have tried both WW and LC , and I am very ABLE to say that LC is definately the 'healthier way to go' . Give LC a go and then let us know your opinion , a much fairer debate that way , don't you think?

[healthy]

"Diets" don't work long term because "diets" are just a brief inturruptino to the way we eat.

We need to change our attitudes towards food and exercise.

Change our direction otherwise we will end up where we are going.

[Sherrie]

That's why we make low carb a lifestyle and not just a diet! :)

[healthy]

Yes lifestyle is the way to go and I agree that processed food is unhealthy. I do understand about LC because I used it for 12 months to lose weight. But...that was about 30 years ago. Way back then it was called "The High Protein Low Carbohydrate Diet" - the name has changed a few times since then. At the time I bought a small book, from the chemist, about 4 x 4 inches in size (somebody else might remember). I then changed to eating a balance from the major food groups, which suited me better; I have continued to do this for the past 25 years. I haven't regained my weight. I am 65 years old, my BMI is 22 and I don't take any medication. This conversation started with WW and has somehow ended with LC. I am not promoting WW but they do offer alternate options to processed food, and the program will convert to LC - and no I don't work for WW. Everybody is different thus the best approach is something that works in keeping your weight where you want it to be, while keeping you healthy for the rest of your life.

[healthy]

If anybody is looking for used Low Carbohydrate Diet books the are 1000 or more on www.biblio.com & www.biblioz.com - just type Low Carbohydrate into key words.

[LC_Dave]

Healthy... how much fat was in that low carb diet?


There are studies that show that a low carb diet is more muscle sparing than the standard recommended diet.

[Sherrie]

Dave I deleted the post that you were replying too as the exact same posts are already in another thread they are just copying and pasting them here. Want me to move your post to the other thread?

[healthy]

This debate has exploded into action in a thread named: Some Critiques on Low-Carb Diet.
You probably already know but LC DAVE has exposed this web site. Every time somebody types “Weight Watches” into Google his forum is listed.

Enough – this needs to stop so over & out

[janal]

I just did a google on Weight Watchers and these are the 1st page results that came up, I don't see POH there or anything to do with Dave.

[Sherrie]

Janal just fyi I will delete that post shortly, I am not providing weight watchers free seo :)

[janal]

That's fine Sherrie, I did try to take the links out of it but they just wouldn't unlink for me.
Thanks

[nunge]

Point taken though:)

[LC_Dave]

This debate has exploded into action in a thread named: Some Critiques on Low-Carb Diet.
You probably already know but LC DAVE has exposed this web site. Every time somebody types “Weight Watches” into Google his forum is listed.

Enough – this needs to stop so over & out

Huh what??

Did I miss something?

Was I accidently an evil genius or something?

Someone explain it to me? What did I miss?? lol

[LC_Dave]

Oh don't worry, I get it now.

LOL.

[TLP]

I used to go back to the WW points plan every time I feel like eating carbs! LOL!!! I have only done it about 10 times and I gradually became fatter than ever!

I still think that different programs work for different people, we are not all the same. I know people that actually struggle to eat all of their 20 points in a day and they feel full on 2 pieces of toast with vegemite for breakfast! Me on the other hand could have eaten about 40 points!

I know I need fat and protein in my diet for satiety, some can live on cereal/fruit/yoghurt for brekky, but not me......I was starving on the WW plan but thought that to lose weight it was necessary to "starve" to some degree, but since finding low carb eating I now know this isn't true and I no longer have to go hungry whilst losing weight! Yay!!!!!:p

[Tara-Rara]

I have done WW twice...once on the portions per day diet and once on the points system. The portions way I gained weight and the points way nothing happened at all!

Hi LC Dave, My mother went on it years ago and she lost heaps of weight , But these days it is all about bying there products. She couldn't remember the original program, so she asked me to find out. She remembered it told you how many servings of each food group, but what they were that's what she can't remember. Do you know? Thanks sue

Sue...I made a little chart that I stuck on the fridge so I could cross off the portions I ate....they were as following...for a 30kg weightloss.
Milk-2 portions
Fat-3 portions
Protein-5 portions
Bread-5 portions
Fruit-3 portions
Veg-6+ portions
Water-6+ portions

From what I remember...the milk portion was something like 30ml, and the fat was a teaspoon, although don't quote me! I found it really difficult to eat that much food in one day.

I hope this is what you were looking for.

Tara

ps...day 3 of Bodytrim....1 kg lost so far!

[beady]

i had been in and out of WW or Club Fat as i called it over many years. I was always hungry, and i was aghast at the constant junk food recommendations. I found the meetings full of guilt and lacking in real nutritional advice.
If you look at Rosemany S, one of the in the media ADVOCATES for Club Fat, she looks very very unhealthy to me. I have nothing positive to say about it.

[Sherrie]

I was surprised the other day. I bought a food mag when out grocery shopping and in there were WW recipes... they were low carb! :eek: (mind you they were probably very low fat)

[keriann]

hello!!! I see that this thread hasn't been active for about a month - but I came across this forum and HAD to introduce myself!
I have changed to eating a healthy low-carb (atkins) lifestyle this year (started January 03rd) and couldn't be HAPPIER! I've lost 27 pounds so far and have 9 more to get to my goal.

Now this thread caught my eye because I am also an ex-lifetime member of weight watchers. I lost 37 pounds on WW back in 2002 then gained back 25 then from there I lost another 45 pounds for a total of 57 pounds on weight watchers...and became a lifetime member (points)...and I WAS able to maintain that for about 8 months - but then my weight just started going up - no matter HOW many points I counted - no matter HOW much I killed myself at the gym...it just krept back up.
Literally - in 2006 I was counting every single "point" that went into my mouth - doing cardio for 1 hour a day - 4 days a week AND weights...and literally couldn't lose an ounce.

Finally when I got back up to 197 pounds 3 years later (2006) - I went to the doctor and she diagnosed me with Insulin Resistance. I had NO clue what that was but she told me to go on Atkins. I thought she was insane - and tried WW again (core this time) for a year...yup - lost 20 pounds and then gained THAT right back.

And this year I finally listened to my doc and went on atkins and can NOT tell you how much happier and healthier I am.

But the difference this time is now I know WHY high-carb/low-fat diets are SO incredibly bad for you!

I listen to every podcast I can - I have "good calories bad calories" by gary taubes - and I eat about 99.9% only whole foods - nothing processed.

It actually makes me ANGRY to think of all the lies that I learned from weight watchers about eating "healthy"...I remember they actually passed out literature about why CARBS are "needed" for weight loss...it's very very disturbing.

I will absolutely NEVER go back to eating all those processed sugary foods ever again because now I know WHY and HOW sugar affects my body and that FAT is very healthy for my body!

Anyways - I could go on and on and on - but I just wanted to say HI and give my story. :)

Hope to post more!

[wenever]

Hi....previous poster forgot ya name :D

I am on WW and while I agree with all the sugary stuff being bad for you, if you cut that out of your diet and eat healthy salads and meats and fruit and veg, then I can't really see what the problem is.

Adding all the sugary stuff every day would be bad for you, but doing the diet to suit you with the healthy stuff I see no problems, not at this stage anyway.

I admit I added it into my diet initially, but I have reduced it drastically because I know it's bad. But every now and again if I want a treat then I won't deny myself.

I have a lot to lose yet, probably another 20 kilos, so I will reserve my judgement about if it stays off when I lose it :D hopefully in the next 7 to 12 months.

All that said I hope atkins suits you, personally for me I didn't do so well.

[Sherrie]

Welcome Keriann :)

I think the bad thing about low fat diets is that they usually encourage high grain and low fat consumption which imo isn't a good idea. Low carb can be done badly too if your calories get too low. Ultimately, I am starting to think weight loss in itself can be a trigger for things like insulin resistance, thyroid problems etc we are best off not getting fat in the first place but oh so easier said then done!

[janal]

Hi keriann,
Welcome.
I have IR which developed into Type 2 diabetes and the LC diet has done wonders in this department. Sugars all under control now, IR virtually gone.
The main thing to remember is what ever life style / food choice we make now that work for us we must incorporate into changes for life. If we return to the old eating habits unfortunately the weight will creep back on.
What ever we do it's got to be something that we're happy with for a lifetime. It will always be a problem area that we have to keep in check. The good news is that once your body has had time to repair some where down the track an occasional treat won't hurt us. :D
Look forward to more input from you as we all travel this weight loss journey together.
Cheers

[keriann]

HELLO AGAIN!!! :)
Thank you all so very much for the welcome. :)

Just to add - for me personally - the problem with weight watchers is they never told you the DANGERS of sugar. I absolutely agree with the poster that said, "all the sugary stuff being bad for you, if you cut that out of your diet and eat healthy salads and meats and fruit and veg, then I can't really see what the problem is."

But - unfortunately, at least in my experience (and I went to at least 6 different meetings/meeting leaders in 3 different cities) - that obviously - none of them have had any nutritional education and are only going off of their own experience...and MOST leaders - and even boards online - everyone tries to eat the most "junk" for the least amount of points.

I became a MASTER at figuring out how to get 27 points worth of junk into my diet! lol.
I'd always eat baked potato chips - skinny cow ice cream - portion out exactly 1/2 cup fat free ice cream or cottage cheese - 2 tbsp exactly of fat free (nasty, imo) sugary salad dressings...

But looking back, now - they never talked about the dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup - or of sugar in general on insulin and shoot - even the American Diabetes Association tells diabetics to eat "whole grains" when grains and high carbs turn STRAIGHT to sugar in the body!

It's just incredibly frustrating to follow a program to a "T" and yet - because my body, specifically, does NOT handle carbs - instead of losing weight - I kept GAINING weight even though I was doing everything I was "supposed" to do.

While I DO know WW can and does work for some people - for the most part - I absolutely 100% agree with the reason for this post that weight watchers is unhealthy because it doesn't teach actual nutrition - it only teaches portion control (which, granted, not that many people even know how to do THAT)...
Weight watchers doesn't teach you that all those processed foods out there are NOT good for you.

:) this is just a subject I'm very passionate about anymore. :)

And I'm not even saying that Atkins specifically is the ONLY diet people should follow - not by any means - but the fact is people should NOT eat junk food / processed foods or frankenfoods. If people would only eat WHOLE unprocessed foods - and also realize that FAT is not the enemy (and sugar and flour is) then this world would be a whole lot healthier. :D

[wenever]

HELLO AGAIN!!! :)
Thank you all so very much for the welcome. :)

Just to add - for me personally - the problem with weight watchers is they never told you the DANGERS of sugar. I absolutely agree with the poster that said, "all the sugary stuff being bad for you, if you cut that out of your diet and eat healthy salads and meats and fruit and veg, then I can't really see what the problem is."

That is very true, in the meetings I have been too they don't say not to eat the sugars, or to be careful with how much you eat. apparently years ago they used to give you a set amount of sugar points each week to eat, they don't do that now!

But - unfortunately, at least in my experience (and I went to at least 6 different meetings/meeting leaders in 3 different cities) - that obviously - none of them have had any nutritional education and are only going off of their own experience...and MOST leaders - and even boards online - everyone tries to eat the most "junk" for the least amount of points.

Again yes I agree, they are only losers...hehe weight losers that is, and have no training, the meetings in my opinion are very, very unprofessional, I really think they need to work on this aspect of their diet program. In fact I don't even bother with the meetings any more, I feel it is such a waste of my money, they really don't tell me anything imperative.

I became a MASTER at figuring out how to get 27 points worth of junk into my diet! lol.
I'd always eat baked potato chips - skinny cow ice cream - portion out exactly 1/2 cup fat free ice cream or cottage cheese - 2 tbsp exactly of fat free (nasty, imo) sugary salad dressings...

And that is something thatt each and every one who does weight watchers needs to be careful of themselves, monitor it themselves, because the team leader would not have a clue about what you eat, unless you volunteer to take your food diary in and show it to them.

I think a bit of common sense needs to be used by the dieter and be aware that these "bad"things should not be a regular occurance, only eat them now and again.

With the salad dressing I use up 2.5 points and use Paul Newmans whole egg mayo, because it is "fat" and it tastes so much nicer than those yucky fat free ones.

But looking back, now - they never talked about the dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup - or of sugar in general on insulin and shoot - even the American Diabetes Association tells diabetics to eat "whole grains" when grains and high carbs turn STRAIGHT to sugar in the body!

It's just incredibly frustrating to follow a program to a "T" and yet - because my body, specifically, does NOT handle carbs - instead of losing weight - I kept GAINING weight even though I was doing everything I was "supposed" to do.

While I DO know WW can and does work for some people - for the most part - I absolutely 100% agree with the reason for this post that weight watchers is unhealthy because it doesn't teach actual nutrition - it only teaches portion control (which, granted, not that many people even know how to do THAT)...
Weight watchers doesn't teach you that all those processed foods out there are NOT good for you.

:) this is just a subject I'm very passionate about anymore. :)

Agreed, agreed, agreed, their system is flawed, very flawed, but on the whole if you stick with the points allotted to you and eat "healthily" ie: salads vegies, fruits, some grains, like oats, rice, then I see no problem, but naturally you need to monitor it yourself and be balanced, as with every good diet.

Can you imagine doing atkins and you gorged yourself on cheesecakes all day most days, would any one really lose weight on that, or if all you ater was mounds of cheese, you'd be plugged up for a year! I can only imagine the pain of when you body does want to release it :eek:

And I'm not even saying that Atkins specifically is the ONLY diet people should follow - not by any means - but the fact is people should NOT eat junk food / processed foods or frankenfoods. If people would only eat WHOLE unprocessed foods - and also realize that FAT is not the enemy (and sugar and flour is) then this world would be a whole lot healthier. :D

So on the whole I believe we agree about WW and their lack of training, teaching, but if followed in a balanced way, it can be healthy, which is what I am doing....mostly :D The last month has been a bit of a waste, but I can get back on it quite easy.

I tried atkins and I was too tired on it, I need the carbs and I decided on WW cause I need the strictness of how many points I can have, so far I am pleased.

[wenever]

Oh and I forgot to say i still cook in coconut oil, I use butter on my bread and some vegies, I use cream in my coffee sometimes, when I have it.