For those of us on the Weight Watchers diet, does anyone have any good method for converting points to calories? I log faithfully online and my diet is going well, but Traineo wants calories. A point doesn't equate to a specific calorie count since it depends on the amount of fat and dietary fiber in the foods you are eating, so how to I equate them -without- keeping a separate count of calories? Or do I have to do both?

if you're tracking them on WW, why put it in traineo at all? I just log my diet on WW, exercise and weight on traineo.

or, you could make a custom log on traineo and graph points.

roughly, a point is around 50-70 calories based on what I see.

They've changed the WW point system over the years and I haven't bothered to keep up, but this was the old formula from 8 years ago.

Calories/50 + Fat Grams/12 - Fiber/5 = Points

So if you want to work backwards, take your points and either add a few if your diet is high fiber/low fat or subtract a few if it is low fiber/high fat and then multiply by 50.

Thank you both for your suggestions. I did create a log for points on traineo. It feels redundant so I may not keep it, but I'll leave it for now.

As to calories, I'm going to keep track of what I know for sure, and use Christopher's equation to estimate when I go out to eat.

Thanks

Maria9airam check out www.healthdiscovery.net/forums it is a WW support network which is better than the WW forums. They have lots of smart people over there to help with any type of WW questions.

i have been doing weightwatchers for 8 weeks and have lost 17 and a half pounds i am worried though this isnt my first time i originally lost 3 stone but after i gave it up i put 4 stone back on has anyone else had this problem

Thank you Eric, I will look at that link. I've also joined the WW forum on here.

Natasha, I've had the same experience you describe. And I've also had the opposite experience. Let me explain.

I was 23, 5" 3' tall and weighed 100lbs when I got pregnant with my first daughter. I had never weighed more than 100lbs in my life. My family always thought I was sick (Cuban culture, what can I say), and were always after me to drink Materva (heavily sweet/caloric soft drink) and sweetened condensed milk so I would gain. Anyway, I read everything I could get my hands on about being pregnant long before I did it. I was taking my vitamins and my extra calories were coming from fresh fruit. I hated veggies then so I took vitamins and ate fruit instead. I gained 64lbs with that pregnancy, way more than I should have because my family kept harping that I was too thin and I was hurting the baby. My daughter was born 8lbs 5ozs and healthy! I took aerobics and did weightwatchers and lost down to 120lbs which was in the middle of my weight range. I had no problem keeping it off because I had gained consciously due to the pregnancy; I had not gained it because of my "bad" eating habits.

Seven years later I got pregnant "unexpectantly" with my second child. It hit me very hard that something had happened outside my control. Back then I was under the hallucination that I was in control of my life. I gained almost 100 lbs. Turns out it was partially hormonal, but I didn't know that at the time. Afterwards, I went on WW and it didn't work. I was too tired with a 7 year old and an infant and a fulltime job to do any exercising (assuming I could make the time). I got down to about 180 and stuck there. I tried Atkins, lost 25lbs the first month and then gained it back.

Finally I asked the doctor. They gave me some stuff to take for three days each month for three months. I joined WW again and it was like magic. I lost 52 lbs in about 9 months and managed to keep it off for three years. I kept it off because I was exercising and I continued on the maintenance plan.

About three years ago, we had a few hurricanes come through, and the next year the same. In my job, I have to "lockdown" and sleep at work when a hurricane comes, and we were without electrical for days (once for 11 days). So I ate canned food and whatever fast food had electricity.

Obviously I gained; I gained back over 30 pounds in two years. Now I'm trying to lose it. And so far I've lost almost 20 of it.

See I can never "go back" to eating indescriminantly. I have to make conscious choices about my food. I may go out one night to my favorite restaurant and eat whatever I choose, but that week I may gain, so the next I need to drop my point count. Whether I am losing or maintaining, I have to keep track of my food, or I gain again. If I go back to eating whatever comes to hand, in whatever quantity, whenever I feel like, then I gain.

So, diet isn't what I do when I'm trying to lose. Diet is what I eat, always. It is less when I'm trying to lose, and more when I'm maintaining, but it is never unlimited.

I'm now working on getting exercise back into my schedule and habits. This will increase the amount of food I can eat and it helps my body process food more efficiently so I get a little more leeway.

That is my experience.