I lost 35 miserable pounds on WW back in 1990. It was the first diet that I chose when my weight was shooting up after I was married and working a desk job. Several people in our office were doing it and we all walked over the for the weekly weigh-in together. The peer pressure was the main factor that helped me white-knuckle through the near constant hunger that I endured while on that diet. Now that I understand myself better, the food I was eating on that diet was ALL WRONG. I was buying lots of the WW frozen meals and snacks. It was all low fat, low fiber, and high carb. My BG must have been spiking and crashing all day long. I was miserable and threw in the towel after a few months.

Oh, the WW memories! I did WW way back when--the 70s. In fact, I probably have Jean Nidetch's (sp?) original book around here somewhere. There were no commercial products back then--only weird recipes, like a "lemon pie" made from plain gelatin and, I think, Ritz crackers. I ate a lot of water-pack tuna straight out of the can--I believe that accounts for the fact that I can hardly face tuna now, even mixed up with mayo and a lot of other tasty stuff. I think the original WW plan required six cans of tuna (or more) per week. Aaaack. I also remember cottage cheese on toast, sprinkled with cinnamon and sweetener and put under the broiler in the Toaster Oven.

I did like our WW weekly lecturer. She was enthusiastic and encouraging. Didn't much care for the weigh-ins, but it certainly was motivating. Did it work? Sure it did! Did I get to goal? Yes, I did--lifetime membership pin! Could I stick with it? Absolutely not.

These days, WW has gone way out into the money-making racket. But then, so has "Atkins Nutritionals" and so does just about every other "diet" on the planet.

Except low-carb. You can do that on your own. Just trade in the big bucks you used to spend on cereal and crackers and orange juice for bacon, avocados, tenderloin, and a really nice gourmet cheese.

Bon appetit!

Love your story, Barbara. I did WW twice. The second time around, everyone was excited about losing those 7 pounds of water weight the first week. I had lost nothing in spite of rigidly following the program. Counselors could not deal with the failure of my body to comply with their expectations. I eventually quit.

I did WW a few years ago, mainly for the accountability, but did it LC. I tried to stay within my allotted points, but the points system is set up in such a way that you calculate the points, based on the nutritional information on the package. I looked and look, but didn't see any nutritional sticker on my meat or vegetables. It's hard to count points on whole food. I quit because of the cost. I did lose, but in essence, I was paying them to weigh me.

Oprah was on Dr Oz this week. I don't know if it was a repeat or new show. I wasn't actually watching, but one thing she did say is that "to lose weight you don't count calories or points, but be aware of every morsel that goes in your mouth." How can she represent WW and say that you don't count points? I think they keep changing their plan periodically so the members have to buy new supplies.

Good point for any newbie to LC. If it has a label with a Nutrition Facts list, leave it.

Oh my gosh, I must have been in it then too. I remember those recipes. Back then it was actually low carb if you go by macro percent of calories. Not VLC or keto but an improvement.

We've all seen that great web site with 70s WW recipe cards right? I love the cards and the commentary

WW Cards from the 70s





and for some reason I remember #4 vegetables as a category. They were the starchy ones and you limited them. Veggies 1-3 were probably nonstarchy.

I lost 40 pounds almost to goal but then decided being on that plan forever was fooey.

Honestly I do not think they have ever been scientifically rigorous about the plan itself. Who does it work for, who is not a good candidate. Plus their chief scientists seem to be CICO blindered. yuk.

I lost 20 lbs on WW a year and a half ago.
But while I was new and fresh and just bought a points plus calculator I was getting it and actually starting thinking... hey maybe this will be all right then BAM!! Smart points!!

So... hmmm smart points. A low carb version of WW. Not high fat just lower carb. Still weigh the chicken breast (not thigh) too high in calories and have only 3 to 4 oz.
Essentially they starved me out.

Thinking about the thought of rice cakes back then. A man made creation with the taste of cardboard. I think I bought them once but they were constantly pushing them like they were a food group.
That and they were so insistent that we needed to eat 24g of fiber. Do you know how much livestock feed you have to eat to reach that number Like it was going to woosh the fat right out of us..

Those recipe cards!

In addition to tuna, I never want to eat anything that's made in a mold with gelatin. Now I know why.

Yes tuna, I brought a salad every day to work with a can of tuna, no dressing and only lemon. That's what made me loose weight, the salad and tuna, not the fiber or all of the carbs.
Of course I thought I was fat back then but I was probably 50 lbs lighter then now

I forgot about the cards but I remember the pricy special tri-fold notebook!!

Ha, I first tried WW in the 1970's too, when I loathed myself for being a porcine 160 pounds! I remember the cottage cheese on toast also. The other recipe which I've never been able to dislodge from my mind was the recipe for a "muffin" where you crumbled up a slice of white bread mixed with an egg and a couple other things and baked it in a muffin tin. Sheesh.

Boy those WW photos sure are sad too. Actually a few of the recipes (maybe about 2, LOL) look like they could be edible, but the *photography*. Eeek. Just shows that food photography has come a long way.

Oh my, those recipe cards! The props! The commentary on each! Like Barb, growing up having jello salads with vegetables and fruit bits floating in them has put me off anything in a mold, "congealed" salads are still alive and well in the south. There are some classics in those cards.

I actually still like some of them. We are into bone broth nowadays right, and some people take extra collagen? why not a lovely jelled savory high-fat salad!

My grandmother seriously made this. Imagine if we used gelatin, real limes, sweetener of your choice, and the mayo and seafood.

Nice try, Seejay. But even the thought of cottage cheese in Jell-O makes me gag. My mom made this a lot.

Still laughing. I get ya. And Onions! so weird