Is it possible...?

[AprilB]

These threads have inspired me to look into doing WW to help me lose a few (okay, not so few) pounds. I am about to sign up for the free one week on line trial but wanted to know how you are all doing it. I guess what I mean is, is it possible to do WW without signing up on line of for meetings? I found the very helpful WW Basics that help you calculate your points. Can I do it without all the other perks?

[jennylou]

Yes. I never signed up, I found all of the information here and other places online. I've lost about 75 pounds (fluctuates between 74 and 78). I've slacked this summer, and need to get back into counting my points again. I'm hoping to lose another 25 pounds and then re-evaluate where I'm at. But, yes, it can be done. :)

[Fenway]

I can't do it without meeting help. I've tried and tried, but I need the meetings and online support to stay focused. I'm down 20 and going strong.

[MrsE123]

For me personally, I need to go to weigh in and attend the meetings. It helps me be more accountable and stay motivated.

[AprilB]

Yes. I never signed up, I found all of the information here and other places online. I've lost about 75 pounds (fluctuates between 74 and 78). I've slacked this summer, and need to get back into counting my points again. I'm hoping to lose another 25 pounds and then re-evaluate where I'm at. But, yes, it can be done. :)

Oh my gosh!! That's amazing, jennylou! Congrats to you! What tools help you the most? In looking into the online version, there's places to keep track of your points and how to calc points for your recipes . I think that maybe a little harder without those tools. How do you do it?

For me personally, I need to go to weigh in and attend the meetings. It helps me be more accountable and stay motivated.
I can't do it without meeting help. I've tried and tried, but I need the meetings and online support to stay focused. I'm down 20 and going strong.

I can understand how the meetings will help you stay motivated. I just can't find the time to make it into the meetings. They had offered a WW at work so we could go during our lunch breaks but not enough people signed up...poo!

[Hello Kitty]

Well I'm not Jennylou, but I've also done WW on my own without paying a dime. I'm pretty good at being honest and accountable to myself and also I'm pretty versed in nutrtition and fitness. I chose the WW core plan b/c it matched to how I ate, but forced me to moderate the extras in my diet.

That said, I've never found I needed any of their tools and everything can be found by looking online. Points are calculated using a simple formula, the quiz used to determine your points range is online, and well, I've got a notebook to track my food and points.

The recipe calculator tool might be helpful, but I know what's core and what points I'm adding to each meal now, so it's not a big deal for me anymore. You can also use a food tracker like fitday or sparkpeople to get all the nutrition info for a recipe, then use the points formula to calculate, divide by servings, and you're all set. :) GL!

[jennylou]

I have an excel sheet that calculates point values for me. I just plug in the fiber, fat and calories and it spits it out for me. :)

I don't need anything from the website, though, if you can get a points slider, those are handy. I use them while grocery shopping.

[jajacobsen]

I recently met my goal and made Lifetime and I needed the support and accountability of meetings. That said, the only tools I ever used were the points book, the points slider and the activity slider. I never used any of the on line tools or recipe calculators. I needed some things that was easy enough to fit in my purse and if I was travelling without internet access.

However, I have lost weight on my own in teh past and using the WW method might be a really good program for you to model. To me, they are the most realistic.

[Aimee]

I've done it. I joined during a $19 special, to get the points slider and that was it. I'm so not a rah-rah meetings person, so it worked very well for me. I went through my pantry with a sharpie/post-its and marked the points on things and used sites like dwlz.com to figure out the points at restaurants and the like.

I made my "weigh-in" every Monday morning, and I just kept mental track of my weight loss. At first, I tracked my points on paper but, once I got the hang of it, I just kept track mentally. I was going to school full time, working part time, and planning a wedding, so I ate a lot of granola bars, sandwiches, and frozen dinners, so it was pretty easy to keep track of things.

Good luck!

[AprilB]

Thanks, everyone for your input! I just signed up on line for the one week trial. I figured it's free as long as I remember to cancel before I get charged, right?! ;) I started putting in my recipes into the calculator. So far so good! See you all in the WW thread!