i was so darn excited to start ww diet!starting date2/27/08
i thought that things were going so well for me so far and just found out from my freind(whom got me to join in the first place)and she joind 2 weeks ago(lost 3 pounds first week,anyway,i was under the impression that 0 points is 0 points so i have been eating ALOT OF THE SO CALLED 0 POINTS UNTILL I JUST FORUND OUT THAT 0 points is not the entier bag WHAT???? OH NO!!!
SO THERE YOU HAVE IT MY FIRST WEEK AND COME TUESDAY AT WEIGHING TIME i probably lost nothing i have been shopping with the point calculater and thought wow i can eat the entier bag of broccoli and colliflower,and 24-30 quaker mini rice snacks.i feel like i failed on my first week!i am so dissapointed in how stupid i can be for thinking that 0 points would be the whole bag!!! the thing is that even after recalculating all the points back in my jurnal,i did not go over by many points per day.i need 18 points per day but it came out to 4-5 points over for the week,why do i feel so bad about this(and no,i do not want to use any of my 35 add points)i'd like to pretend that they don't even exsist!i think i'll just walk it off and start fresh tomorrow as for the rest of today i'll just consume tea or water(with splenda in the tea)and skip dinner.am i the only one who's thought this about the 0 points?the Quaker mini rice cakes are 60 calories per serving(8 cakes)0 fat and 25 fiber, (i have had 25 of those cakes or was it 30?) i can't think about this anymore i am just feeling sick right now.

whoa slow it down Sandy is all i can think at this time reading what you wrote..

give yourself a break,.
ok so you ate the whole bag of quaker mini cakes, big deal!!! just think you ate that instead of a gallon of high calorie high fat ice cream..
what you did isn't sooooo bad...

We say put that bat away and stop beating yourse;f up..
so you learned a lesson..

when your reading the nutritenal value on a a bag, pkg or box its per serving.... so read carefully when your in the store with your point finder,
remember your looking for

FIBER
CALORIES
FAT
per serving................

Don't skip dinner tonite, eat to burn it off, if you start skipping meals and not using your points, big
surprise your going to gain weight or stay the same. you body needs fuel (food) in order to burn it off.

don't compare yourself to your friend, you have different metabolisms and probably weigh different amounts, maybe she has more weight than you do to lose, so don't get discouraged and don't quit..

and your 35 points were worked in the program for a reason by a lot of smart people who work and do research for WW... they're yours to use, when you need them..
I would suggest the few extra 3 or 4 points you used on rice cakes, check them off your 35 on the left side of your journel..

again hang in there, put the bat away and take out a feather and do nice to Sandy....

we're here for you 7/24 and alot of us still do crazy things with food..
We're not robots we're human women who like to eat...

Sandy-
Make sure when you are reading the nutrition labels you are looking at the fiber grams not the percentage. There is no way that the rice cakes have 25 grams of fiber per serving.

As for zero point foods - vegetables are zero (just not the starchy ones like corn, peas, etc which are typically 1 pt. per serving) so you can feel free to eat all you like. You should be getting in at least 5 servings a day and if you want to eat it all in broccoli you can.

As for other foods that really come up as zero from the nutritional label (there aren't many) such as fat free cool whip - you have to be mindful of the serving size. Zero points of cool whip is 2 tablespoons - not the entire tub as I would like to think. If you eat more than one serving - you need to charge yourself point(s) for it.

That being said - don't beat yourself up over this...you just started and need to get used to the program. After some time you will know how many points things are and it will become easier. Also, don't limit yourself to not eating your 35 extras for the week - they are there for a reason. Weight Watchers has figured things out scientifically and you will lose by eating ALL your points. Trust me you will NOT lose faster by eating less - I have tried it and it just doesn't work - you need to keep your metabolism running. In fact I was having a difficult time taking off the last few points before I reached goal and my WW leader told me to eat more and after weeks of disbelief I tried it and it WORKED. I reached my goal - lost 75 pounds! You do not have to feel deprived - this is not a diet but a life style change.

Come here to ask questions - alot of the ladies here have already reached goal and made lifetime - and I think most (if not all) use all the points they can to do so.

Hang in there,
Marilyn

Sandy,

Been there done that. I just posted a couple days ago how I thought an entire bag of 94% healthy pop popcorn was one point. Its not, it is 4 points. So even people that have been to WW miscalculate the points sometimes too.

As for skipping dinner, Dont. when I used to skip a meal it would back fire because I my blood sugar would drop, I would get so hungry so fast and then I would binge. I would eat it so fast my body didn't have time to tell me it was full till I was way too late. Consistant small meals is the key. It helps balance your blood sugar and keeps you metabolism going.

Also to battle those blues you having right now. Go take another walk if possible. It will get you some fresh air and hopefully sunshine where ever you are.
It always make me feel like I am back on program.
Think about how good you felt after you did it this morning!!!

Hope you have a great afternoon

Chelsie

It is okay, Sandy!! We have all been there and we all have made goofs.

The non-starchy veggies are truly 0 points no matter how much you eat. So you are fine there. But those are the only 0 point unlimited foods (not counting tea, coffee, diet pop, etc).

With regard to the other foods, yes, you must be mindful of serving sizes. Just read the package carefully and be sure to double the nutritional information if you eat more than 1 serving. be sure to cap the fiber at 4 grams too or tht will mess you up.

As for you friend losing faster... aren't you the very petite person? I am 5'4 1/2" so I am not big at all and take it from me, we shorter folks lose moe slowly. Also, the less you have to lose, the slower it will come off. My sister in law went on WW some time back and she is several inches taller than me and started at well over 200 pounds. Initially, the pounds dropped off her and I was stuck at a plateau forever. It didn't seem fair. Well,a s she got closer to goal, her weight loss slowed way down too. Everyone is different.

PLEASE DON'T START SKIPPING MEALS TO TRY TO MAKE UP FOR THIS!! We all have done that too and IT DOESN'T WORK! A couple things will happen as a result. Your metabolism will slow down to compensate for less food and you will stop losing. You will set yourself up for a wicked binge because your body will be so hungry. And you will turn into the crankiest human alive and make all those who love you wonder why? LOL Honestly, your body needs fuel. Just make sensible choices using the 8 healthy guidelines and treat yourself with kindness. Think about what you would advise a friend in this situation to do, and do the same for youself. You are worth it!

Hugs,
Uki

thank you,for all the encouragement and clairafication .
by the way, i was looking at the rice cake Nutrition facts and calories per serving=60
total fat=0g.
dietary fiber based on 2000 calories is 25g,based on 2500 calories 30 gram.
so what does that mean is it infact 25g. of fiber or not?

I messed up too.

I though a 1pt 100 calorie pack of cupcakes was still one point if you ate 4 packs in a day. Come to find out (when I didn't loose weight at weigh in) you have to add those together because the fiber caps off at 4 grams. I had eaten like 10 points in cupcakes on more than one occasion. I did the same thing with high fiber bagels.

MY RULE: I have one serving of each thing in a day.

I can't mess up on those high fiber things if I only have one serving of popcorn in a day, or one bagel or one WW cake. Then it keeps the variety alive!

Hang in there and you know what, at least you found out this soon in your journey. It took me a couple of months.

I beleive that means you should have 25 grams of fiber a day for a 2000 calorie diet or 30 for a 2500 calorie diet. That isnt the amount of fiber in the rice cakes.

Under total Carbohydrates on the lable should be Dietary Fiber next to that it will say how ever many grams of fiber there is. That is what you go by to figure your points.
Farther to the right in that same line is a percentage. That is the percentage of fiber this product gives you per serving. based on a 2000 calorie diet?

Does that make sense?

HTH

Chelsie

You are looking in the wrong place to get the fiber information. Ignore the information on the bottom of the label where it is based on a 2,000 or 2,500 calorie diet - this is telling you how much total fiber you should eat through out the day.

What you want to look at is above that where it says Dietary Fiber and then lists an amount in grams. It is typically under the heading "Total Carbohydrate" then it lists Dietary Fiber (the one you want to look at) and usually the Sugars.

Like this:

Total Carbohydrate --g
Dietary Fiber g *****this is the number you want to use
Sugars --g

Remember the cap on figuring points for fiber is 4g - even if it has more.

Hope this makes sense - don't have any of the rice cakes you were eating or I'd list them with the actual number - I'm thinking they might have about 2g of Fiber per serving.

If you are still not sure, bring the bag to your WW meeting - I'm sure your leader would be happy to show you how to figure it out.

You can do this!
Marilyn

Sandy
just read what the fiber is its probably just 2 or 3 gr of fiber per serving..
yout rice cakes are probablu
6 pcs for 60 calories
0 fat
maybe 2 to 4 gr of fiber making it 1 pt..

dont go to the side of the pkg with calories..

yes ,i am the very short one (4'9)i wont say how much i weigh because you will laugh and say omg you are so little,i may seem little but because i'm so short the curves are all located in my butt and lower abs and starting to spread to my back and hips i will tell you that i can fit a size 6-7 pant size depending on the name brand more like a 7 but am so used to being a size 3-5 i'd like to get back into my 3's once again.when i was 97-99lb.3 years ago. and i am turning 40 this summer.
thank you so much for making me feel better,i am just known as someone who gives up too soon on anything,that i start,and i'd like to be able to just once show my inlaw that i am capeable of doing something right for once!she says that all i need to do is just excercise (not diet)and drink water,lots of it(yuk!yuk)i will drink the fruit 2/o but cant drink as much as they recomend(i feel water logged).
i don't intend on giving up this time but i think that it will take abit of time to grassp this program.

ok well then
calories=60
total fat=0g.
trans fat=0g.
sodium=50mg.
total carbs=15g.
sugars=4g.
protein=1g.
nothing on fiber
so all this is per serving(8cakes)how many points does it then come to?

You're a funny girl, glad to have you on the forum

ok i think i got it!!!
it comes out to only 1 point per serving,so that means i had used up 3 points for having 3 servings right?
ok then i don't feel so bad anymore
thank you all so much,and however you guys feel about me it is still great to be here and great to know that you care!!!thanks again.
sandy

ok so

0 fat
0 fiber

6 pcs 60 calories 1 point..

and by the way I detest rice cakes.

now you say you had 3 servings right

its not 3 points its 4

multiply the 60 x 3 = 180 calories
0 fat
0 fiber

4 points....

Yeah, make sure you add the calories together like it's all one serving that you ate. Because its by the amount you ate.

So all the calories you ate together= your serving
all the fat together = your serving
all of the fiber together= your serving

The points go up the more you eat.

Wow, Sandy! All I can say is ditto to all of the posts from these fine ladies. I am so happy that you found this sight and posted your questions. It is so much easier to do this with support, even if it is from cyberspace!
Chin up!
Tammy