So. I did it - I put my wallet where my mouth is and I joined Weight Watchers!

[AmberLab]

The book where you can look up the food seems to be much more limited than I remember too. I'm using the website quite a bit to calculate everything.

I meant to reply to this Zon...did you know about their Daily Points white booklet? It is slightly bigger(but not thicker) than the blue booklet, and WAY more detailed for food points. It sells for $8 at my meeting, have you seen it at yours? I'm thinking of buying the combo pack (daily points booklet, dining out booklet, points tracker, plus coupons). I can't recall how much it was only that it's 25% off right now and it's better to buy the bundle.

Think I'm also going to get the points calculator, it would be great to use in the store before I buy an item.

[FallenPixels]

~is jumping on the WW bandwagon but doing it online because I know once the snow hits I wont want to go to meetings~

[VeeVee]

I also think I will be jumping on the WW wagon ..but online like Fallen Pixel. I will prob start after thanksgiving LOL Have my final binge before I do it hahah

[FallenPixels]

Dont forget the special fee ends 14th Vee!

[Zonny]

I didn't know about that extra booklet AmberLab, but don't think I'll buy it. It kind of bugs me that there is no way to look up points values now without spending money on a calculator or an extra book. Said book should have been included IMO!

With the 'at work' program you get six months of e-tools, which includes an online diary where you can look up points.

Had my weigh-in today - I was only down .2! Not even a quarter pound! But I think I deserved it though, so I guess I'm lucky I didn't gain.

Tried cooking a spaghetti squash last night, had some for lunch in place of pasta. Not bad at all, and zero points!

[FallenPixels]

If you haven't checked it out already, I am in love with skinnytaste.com - the recipes all have points plus calculations and you can sort by points or meal/course

I made the potato leek soup for lunch today and it tastes better than most restaurants' versions and only 3pts. It was so filling I didnt need anything with it

[AmberLab]

~is jumping on the WW bandwagon but doing it online because I know once the snow hits I wont want to go to meetings~

Awesome! And oh, yeah, snow. My meeting is a 5 min drive from where I live, but I don't drive...yet. I am pushing to get my license before the snow falls. I don't want to be frozen waiting for the bus just because I want to get weighed!

I also think I will be jumping on the WW wagon ..but online like Fallen Pixel. I will prob start after thanksgiving LOL Have my final binge before I do it hahah

Whoo-hoo, more Losers! I mean that in a good way, notice the capital "L?"

I didn't know about that extra booklet AmberLab, but don't think I'll buy it. It kind of bugs me that there is no way to look up points values now without spending money on a calculator or an extra book. Said book should have been included IMO!

With the 'at work' program you get six months of e-tools, which includes an online diary where you can look up points.

Had my weigh-in today - I was only down .2! Not even a quarter pound! But I think I deserved it though, so I guess I'm lucky I didn't gain.

Tried cooking a spaghetti squash last night, had some for lunch in place of pasta. Not bad at all, and zero points!

From my quick glance through it, I think $8 book is good if you eat specialty food a lot mostly, or don't have online access. When a food isn't in the blue book, it's online - I like how even brand name items like Old El Paso are listed online. Saves me the trouble to point it myself. One of my peeves about points is having to point things that aren't already done for me (lazy much?!). I am grudgingly pointing my fave recipes, and being shocked at their values.

I'm wondering more about your work meetings - what do they offer? Is this just a quick pop in to weigh? My meeting is the weigh-in plus 30 min discussion. There's always things laid out to buy at my meeting, WW snacks, cookbooks, food scales, pedometers, measuring spoons, etc.

If anyone hasn't tried them yet, I tried the WW Smart Ones microwave meals that are sold in stores (coupons are on your paper tracker). My review: blech. Not counting the sodium in them, they are NOT worth the points with such a bland taste to them. I expected more if WW wanted to sell that stuff.

I'm going to try the Garden Vegetable Soup tonight. Makes 6 servings and 0 PP per serving. I am slightly cringing it because it has one of my most hated vegetables - cabbage. I'll try it this once anyway.

[recessionisnotfun]

Quick question, how does this new system differ from the points system? Thanks.

[AmberLab]

Quick question, how does this new system differ from the points system? Thanks.

In a nutshell....probably 99% of fruits and veggies are now 0 points (even a can of diet cola is 0) . You can eat to your hearts content (not really, moderation as in all things) and not be hungry if you were out of your daily points. And in the restructuring, some points have gone higher. But, points assigned to your weight have changed too. Nobody ever goes below 29 points a day, even if you reach your goal weight that does not change. Obviously if you weigh more, you start with a bigger number, like 40, you gradually make your way down to 29 points, but you will always be 29 points then.

[FallenPixels]

I made the 0 point soup without the cabbage too! I just upped the amount of the other veggies - it is very bland and I ended up sticking it in the blender with some spices and a cup of milk and making a cream of veg soup for 1 pt a cup instead

[Zonny]

Funny you mention the WW frozen dinners. At my meeting today, our leader mentioned someone she had in a meeting last week who had gone up a bit and was unhappy about it. The big thing she'd done is eat high-sodium things - like WW meals. Our leader said that she'd probably be lynched for it, but that those things are NOT how they want us to eat. I did eat a Lean Cuisine I had in my freezer the other day for lunch when I was in a pinch, it was tasty, and only five points (which was marked right on the box!). Not for every day, but not bad sometimes!

The at-work meetings are like a regular meeting as far as I know - you get weighed, then there's a discussion. People often leave early though, as not all of us have a full hour for lunch.

And I'm with you on the cabbage! Blech, stinks too. I was going to make veggie chili recently, until I figured out the points on the beans, chickpeas, etc. They're among the veggies that aren't free, so it wasn't going to be low-points at all! I bought several cans of tomatoes recently when they were on sale, they're the base of several things.

As for why I 'deserved' not to lose much - I was bad on the weekend. I travelled to Cape Breton and back on Saturday with my family, it was a long day and not for a fun reason. We brought fairly healthy sandwiches for the way down, as well as some fruit, pita and hummus, etc. But we stopped at A&W on the way back and had burgers, onion rings, etc. Then I bought wine on the way home. I'm surprised I was down at all.

FallenPixels, I'm going to look for that potato leek soup, I love soup. I have a 'heart smart' soup base mix I make, going to figure out many points that is, it makes a lovely creamy soup.

More on the spaghetti squash, I highly recommend it! I made balsamic chicken in my slow cooker (from crockpot girls on Facebook), added a lot of extra veggies and used the spaghetti squash instead of pasta. Delicious!

Recession - most of the veggies that are not 'free' are sweet or starchy veggies - beans, peas, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes. I think that all fruits are free, even bananas. And high-carb foods like bagels, bread, etc. seem to have more points than on the old system.

[AmberLab]

Oh and recession - I also forgot about the Power Foods list. Not all foods on it are 0, but those that are on it are there because they are healthy and more likely to fill you up or give you a full feeling, so you eat less in turn.

Zonny - Even if you splurged, your allowance should have covered that (if you had any left)?

[bargain_hunter_lola]

You ladies are making me really want to join again.

I've been debating for a while. I bought a treadmill (used one) and it's just not cutting it. WW worked so well last time...

Is there a current promo?

[Zonny]

I have a friend on Facebook, someone I went to elementary school with, she lives away now. She's the same age as me, nearly 40. While I'm 50+ pounds overweight, she's a professional fitness competitor and as a business, does boot camps and helps people with diet plans (not being on a diet, but eating properly as a lifestyle). Her advice to me is that weight loss is 80% diet, only 20% exercise. You can exercise yourself silly, but if you're eating crap, you won't get the results you want.

She eats supplements, artificial sugar, things that I would not, but I do agree with her basic theory.

For me, portion control is most of my problem. I eat fairly healthy stuff, but too much of it. For example, pre-WW I'd eat a whole large chicken breast at supper. While on WW, I weigh and measure, so my portion is about half. WW helps me measure, weigh, and most important, THINK before I eat!

[bargain_hunter_lola]

I agree about the exercise, I need to watch what I eat also. The thing is I skip A LOT of meals. I remember last time on WW's I felt like I was eating all the time to get my points in. lol. Not such a bad problem, I know. Just need to commit and do it. Once I'm on the plan, it's really not hard. I guess it's the getting started again.