Weight Watchers as maintenance???

[Jbird]

Im thinking about using Weight Watchers as a maintenance program after I lose my "Atkins weight". Any thoughts????

[scaleskl]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

Why not use atkins maintenance? I know that weight watchers allows more carbs than would be allowed on Atkins maintenance. Remember, This is a weigh of life, not a diet!

[sallyseachange]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

I have to ask the same... why not Atkins maintenance? You'd only really be taking out refined flour, sugar and highly processed foods. Very healthy imho. Also, there are loads of substitutes for foods you might miss.
If I were you, I'd stick with Atkins, so as not to risk a re-gain... but, of course the choice is yours.

[BeautyBox]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

I was a ww member, I was working shifts at the time and for convienience as I was working a few miles from where I lived I brought ww ready meals, when I wasnt losing any weight,over a period of time and even gained some, the leader said "what do you excpect by eating ready meals"! when I challenged her about the comment with "well whats the point in endorsing them then" she just replied they are not meant to be eaten instead of a regular meal all the time!!! Work that one out,
So Im with the others on this, why cant you eat the atkins way? At least you know it works

[deek deek]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

I agree...atkin is not just a quick fix, I had to learn that also. Some ppl look at is just a way to lose the weight but not a WOL...go thru the rungs and u will be fine. U will find that u will feel better. I tried WW also but didnt lose much cause I found myslef still eating white bread and processed foods but starving because I would reach my points so fast!! I love Atkins, It was the best decison I've made and I cant see myself doing it any other way now!! Hope u make the right choice that best for U. Good luck!!

[julirama723]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

Yes, Atkins for maintenance! Read up on the maintenance chapters of Atkins, and you'll see that it's a healthy and non-restrictive way of eating. The only things that are not allowed are refined sugars and starches. Working your way up the rungs of OWL is of key importance--otherwise, it's difficult to learn how to eat to maintain your losses indefinitely.

[ttdriver]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

You're kidding, right? Giving up this great food that satisfies and going with food that makes ya hungry? I am scratching my head here. I've been on Atkins maintenance since 12/24/2002 and I'd never CONSIDER any other way.


Betty

[healthandharmony]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

I think ww made me eat food I did not normaly eat, because i could count them within my points allowance. Then I started eating over my points allowance.

I think, Atkins is best.

[chunk!]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

i think conceptually, ww and atkins are the same. ww will be just as limiting if you're on a points system - just in other ways.

just because you're on atkins as a way of life doesn't mean you CAN'T eat the stuff that you can eat when you do ww. you're going to have to keep 'bad food' to a minimum anyway.

it is confusing to me why you think ww is any different than atkins... except for that you pay for it?

[kate58]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

WW and Atkins are utterly different. WW is a low fat diet, Atkins is a high fat diet. The concepts behind them are opposed to each other. They may both work for different people, since we are all different, but they don't mix well.

[chunk!]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

^ clearly. but the basic concepts seem inherently similar to me, especially when it comes to making good decisions regarding food. it doesn't matter which eating lifestyle the original poster chooses, they are still going to have to compromise their "bad foods" for a trimmer figure. imho it seems like the original poster wants to use atkins as a quick weight loss, and weight watchers as a freedom-to-eat-what-i-want lifestyle. not going to work.

[Jace]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

To be completely honest, the maintenance phase of Atkins is a lot like that of Weight Watchers. By the time you get to maintenance, the focus isn't so much on high fat and your ratios are closer to equal.

Both Atkins and Weight Watchers focus on healthy carbs in the maintenance phases and both have relatively balanced diets.

The real difference is that Weight Watchers allows the room to eat bad carbs like refined flours and sugars, which is entirely unhealthy and the unrestrictive nature of the points systems means one could actually spend all of their points on cookies and chocolate, still lose weight but be just as unhealthy as when they started whereas Atkins forces you into healthy eating by being very restrictive on induction and adding back foods methodically to learn trigger foods, which you probably won't learn on Weight Watchers.

I find Atkins is much better at teaching you to live healthy than Weight Watchers, but I do have great respect for it as my mother lost 75 lbs on it and any program that keeps my mother healthier and around longer is okay by me.

To each his or her own, really...if one works better for you than the other then stick with it. Switching from one to the other, however; could be problematic as there's bound to be initial weight gain from bringing the carbs back into your diet and of course trying to follow the maintenace phase of a plan that you didn't work on through the inital phases would be like trying to build a house with no foundation. Excellent chance it'll collapse. Maintenance phases tend to only be sustainable when you've worked through the earlier stages of the diet that support it.

Of course you will choose whatever you decide to, but I would encourage you to stay with Atkins if it works for you or to switch to Weight Watchers and follow their program from the beginning so you have the proper foundation to build a new and healthier life.

All the best regardless of what you choose.

~Far la bella figura!

[flpooh19701]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

Im thinking about using Weight Watchers as a maintenance program after I lose my "Atkins weight". Any thoughts????

In my opinion, I would say no! Weight watchers is a good weight loss program for people who are not carb sensitive. I did weight watchers and the program itself is good if you make sensible choices with your points. However, that being said.. they give you a certain number of points... some people make sensible choices with the points and people like myself do not. It would be far too easy for you to slip back into the carbohydrate trap because they allow nearly ANYTHING as long as it fits within your point allowance. For people such as myself who are carb sensitive I would and did gain weight regardless of how much exercise I did and the number of points I ate. All while feeling like I was STARVING and deprived.Just my 2 cents..HTH

[studyinscarlet]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

I just started OWL recently and I personally view the maintenance phase as a reward for all the hard work and effort put into getting there - almost like "Atkins Nirvana." I don't know why you would want to go through the entire Atkins program and then deny yourself the best part, much less undo all the good you've done by switching to a low-fat diet which is in direct opposition to the path you took to get there. I say stick with the program. If it works for you than why switch? Good luck!

[ShannonK]

Re: Weight Watchers as maintenance???

I reached my goal with Atkins about three years ago. I decided (for several reasons) to go to Weight Watcher maintenance. Now, I have gained it all back and I am utterly miserable about it. If you have found a plan that works for you, don't change it. It was a big mistake for me.