Weight Watchers

[Greentealady]

I am thinking of joining weight watchers, is anyone part of this group and if so does it work with a gluten-free diet?

Judy

[Mizzo]

Weight watchers has 2 programs both of which can work on a gluten-free diet. A drawback is their online website for tracking calories etc.. does not have "prepared gluten-free foods" in it for a quick point count. You will have to calculate those on your own.

WW pushes fresh fruits and veggies and many of them are "free" no points, but when you start getting into grains etc.. that is where your points start really adding up (makes sense) but even more so for gluten-free because of the small amount of fiber and proteins in breads, crackers etc...

They strongly suggest low caloric (sugar substituted) items for yogurt, cheese, drinks, etc.... without going low cal your quantity really shrinks and you'll end up hungry.

examples

1 cup lowcal yogurt vs 1/3 cup whole milk yogurt

1 slice reduced fat cheese vs 1/2 slice reg cheese

diet drinks or water only(suggested)

I think skim milk is 1/2 point but whole milk = 2 points per cup etc........

A whole wheat mini pita is 1 point but 2 slices of Udi's bread is almost 4 points. When you get between 20 and 30 points (depending on your wght) it adds up

[cyberprof]

I am thinking of joining weight watchers, is anyone part of this group and if so does it work with a gluten-free diet?

Judy

I'm on Weight Watchers and I find it's very easy. They have little handheld calculator to calculate points (was on sale last week for $6 regularly $12) that is good for calculating gluten-free.

You get 29+ points a week - 29 is the lowest.

With WW, you choose your own foods so I think it works well.

[mamabear272]

I am also on WW and I love it! I would say it's probably the beat plan out there for us. So much freedom! And it easily incorporates the foods that are the beat for us to eat. I actually find it easier now that I'm gluten-free. Two thumbs up here!

[kathleenp]

I am doing WW now and it is very gluten-free friendly. The recipe builder allows you to input your favorite recipes and get the points values. If your premade foods aren't in the food list, it only takes a few seconds to input the info and have it saved forever. How many points you get depends on your age, weight height and sex. Real carby foods usually have higher points values than those with more protein and a little more fat. Fat free milk is 2 points per cup and whole milk is 4. Since I get a lot of daily points (and don't forget weekly points), I drink whole milk. Besides, there is no difference between 2% milk and whole milk.

[GlutenGladi8or]

To use an old quote from the late Robert Mondavi.... (and I am paraphrasing).

"Do you know what's the best wine out there? The one that YOU like".

And it sounds like there are plenty of people who like Weight Watchers. You might as well give it a try or stay on it -- especially if it's providing real results.

[Guest Cassie Getty]

I recently started having a gluten free diet after trying and doing so many programs out there. I can say that this early, I can feel and see its effect, of course with the help of exercise. I find it difficult at first and was reluctant to continue but not anymore! Gluten free diet for me is here to stay and will be part of my system.

[GlutenGladi8or]

I recently started having a gluten free diet after trying and doing so many programs out there. I can say that this early, I can feel and see its effect, of course with the help of exercise. I find it difficult at first and was reluctant to continue but not anymore! Gluten free diet for me is here to stay and will be part of my system.

My eye doctor, who lives only 50 yards away from me, is in the EXACT same boat as you. She's already on week two of living gluten free and she's mad at herself.

She wishes she would have done it years ago!

[PennyP]

I do WW and was just diagnosed *yesterday* so we will see how it goes. Found out at my meeting this week there is a smart phone app you can download at www.scan_calc which will scan barcodes and give you the WW points! And it is accurate. I plan to put this today at the grocery store when shopping for my new supply of gluten-free foods.

[yumyummum]

I was doing WW before and am on my first week of gluten free. I can already tell I feel SO MUCH BETTER.

I went off for the last few weeks before my endoscopy. Today was the first day I felt like..OK I am ready. Pointing here I come. I am curious to see if losing weight will be easier now. I always felt that I gained weight suddenly when my first symptoms came on.

[pricklypear1971]

The only negative I can think of on WW is the attitude (at least when I tried it 2 years ago) that you can eat any manufactured piece of crap and as long as it has low points, it's great.

I know attitudes differ by group, etc. But I just couldn't drink the WW cool-aid.

I seriously wanted to vomit when I heard what some people ate and were excited about. Ick.

I would do it online, but not a local group. And find a celiac online group. I think the "group" makes the biggest difference.

[Jessi Lou]

I've been on weight watchers for a couple of months, about as long as I've been trying to go gluten-free. And I've found that it's helped me a lot. It works well with gluten-free. If you join for meetings you can purchase a points calculator, with which you can figure out how many points things are worth.

I've actually found that my gluten-free foods are a lot less points!

[Kay53]

I am thinking of joining weight watchers, is anyone part of this group and if so does it work with a gluten-free diet?

Judy

I have recently re joined WW and have a really good feeling about it. It is going to fit right in to what I need to do to stay gluten-free!!

[anabananakins]

The only negative I can think of on WW is the attitude (at least when I tried it 2 years ago) that you can eat any manufactured piece of crap and as long as it has low points, it's great.

I know attitudes differ by group, etc. But I just couldn't drink the WW cool-aid.

I seriously wanted to vomit when I heard what some people ate and were excited about. Ick.

I would do it online, but not a local group. And find a celiac online group. I think the "group" makes the biggest difference.

This. When I walked in as a 20 year old at a perfectly healthy weight, they should've told me to go away. But because I was 5 kilos from the bottom of their healthy weight chart, they signed me and proceeded to encourage me to eat tonnes of artifically sweeted processed rubbish. Sweet is sweet regardless of the source of sweet taste and it sets you up to crave more - I was permanently starving hungry on the daily points allowance and it made me feel like a complete freak. Whereas before I just wanted to be a bit thinner, I now struggled with every mouthful and I ended up dieting my way into a binge eating disorder.

I've nothing against the points system, it's a good method of portion control. But their products set you up with really bad habits where they should be encouraging eating fresh fruit and veges and lean meat. Not 1/2 point fake desserts and candy washed down with endless diet coke, as was being pushed in the meetings I attended. But I guess the products bring in tonnes of money.

I don't want to dismiss the experiences of those who've found support and success, but it made me extremely unhappy (and crazy enough to keep thinking that it was my fault and I re-joined over and over, yet never losing any weight at all).

I follow the south beach guidelines (mostly) now. I always thought the name sounded very fad-diet ish, but it's actually a great option for someone with insulin resistance.

[coffeetime]

I am a lifetime ww who fell off the wagon. When the gluten-free lifestyle was thrown into my life I really struggle with my weight. I felt it took so much of my energy to make sure that I was eating gluten-free that I really didn't care about the calories (or points) and most prepared gluten-free products are very high in calories and fat. The meetings which has always been so helpful for me were no long beneficial, because I couldn't use most of the products that were being discussed. About 5 weeks ago I rejoined on line and so far have lost 12.5 lbs. The new points system has unlimited fruit which is considered 0 points and most vegetables are 0. The online calculator is great for gluten-free recipes, you just plug in the nutritional info of your ingredients and it calculates the points value for you. WW is a very sound program but if your head is not in the right place it (nor any other program) will work. I have about 8 more lbs to lose then the real fun will begin--maintenance

[Ceara]

I'm a former WW member that was diagnosed in March. I fell off the wagon because of my gluten intolerance. After reading this i'm thinking about going back and rejoining so thanks!