Is it possible to do Weight Watchers and watch your carbs at the same time? I'm not sure I can do Atkins or South Beach again. I like both of the programs, but I can't sustain them. I'm good for about a week or two, then I miss carbs. I'm thinking about Weight Watchers so I get a better grip on portion control, but I'm also thinking about no sugar or white bread or white flour. Has anyone tried to incorporate these dietary changes. The only problem is it's two different philosophies - low carb vs. low fat (which contains sugar) and I do believe that the low carb philosophy is better. Any advice?

You know what I would do? I'd do weight watchers for a while then, maybe when you hit a plateau i'd eliminate refined sugars and simple carbs. You'd give your body an edge.

Actually,the last time I went to WW(1 year ago) there was a lady there who had lost almost 100 pounds. She stuck to WW eating plan, with the additional restrictions of no carbs except fruit and vegetables.

I don't know about the States, but WW is very popular in the UK. One of the main reasons why it proves to be sucessful with dieters is their is a weekly support group meeting plus their marketing campaignes.
However,it sounds awful to me ; standing up in front of a crowd and most probably feeling guilty if you have gained...

The downside is that their is a notion of counting points which makes it complicated to follow for some.

I can not help feel its a good way to make money from peoples misery....lets change the counting from calories to points then charge £5+ per week to weigh them pffft Just my opinion though

I feel everyone has the ability to lose weight and just need a plan of action that suits their tastes. If low carb and WW works for someone's taste excellent....I just feel people should spend their hard earned cash on themselves though.

This board is free, supportive and with a wealth of knowedge when ever needed

For a carb addict like myself, and others, WW couldn't really work well for me because I WILL manipulate my points to reflect what I want, not what I need. *An addict is gonna do what they can to get what they want.*

If you need a support group then Slimming World would be better for you. It has green (carbohydrate) days and original or red (protein) days and you can do any combination you like. You could do all red days if you don't like carbs. And there are no points to count. You still pay five pounds a week though!

The problem trying to do weight watches and low carb is that you can't do low carb and low fat. There are too many 'points' in the fats you need to eat to be able to significantly lower your carbs. It would be very difficult to combine them.

If you understand the science behind the low carb theories, it's all insulin related and weight watchers does not deal with this issue, weight watchers is about calories in vs calories out (a theory that if it actually worked this way I'd weigh about 125 lbs according to the math)

If I may inquire, why do you want portion control? One of the best things, in my opinion, about low carb eating is that you eat until full.

Also, what do you mean by you're "missing" carbs? Do you crave them? Do you just want something carby? Are you out with friends and want what they have to "fit in"? If you're craving them, then you need to stick to induction to get past that.

Also, according to your stats, you have 11 pounds to go. You should be "climbing the carb" level to add back various foods and find your "critical carb level" (the amount of carbs your body can process without gaining weight). There is no reason, with only 11 pounds to go, that you should be missing carbs. Your idea of combining WW with low carb by eliminating white bread, sugar and the like, well, quite frankly, you should be doing that in OWL & Pre-Maintenance.

Just some food for thought ...

High fat and protein rich food are a lot of points. It's possible bit difficult. If you crave carbs it does not necessarily follow that you should eat them. Not in the quantities allowed in WW anyway.

Weight Watchers is good for the support network. You are able to see results - people just like you. It's the reason it works. So it depends on exactly what you need from a personal meeting space. I have yet to find a Low-Carb Watchers group. Being able to connect with real people struggling with similar issues is good. As nice as this virtual world is, there is no substitute for the immediate reaction of a person who knows the what and whys of weight issues.

I wonder if some people have done LC plans and attended WW and lied about doing the point system just to be around other people losing weight.

Seems pretty likely actually.

Remember WW had their own lower carb version a few years back "Core". Why in the world did it not work? Because it still allowed you to eat what you wanted, and yet... encouraged you to eat off their core list of foods.

I know WW works for some. I have seen it in others. I won't argue that point. But for me, if i want junk, ww allows it.. I just have to keep track of the points. I am clearly a typeA personality and it is a "All or nothing" way for me. Atkins makes it much more attainable, workable, and liveable.

I used to have a friend who belonged to Overeaters Anonymous (this was back in the '80s) ... I remember her diet assigned was a low-carb type diet. I don't know how they work those things, but it could be something like that.

i saw a commercial, i think from jenny craig, which states that you can choose from 3 programs, one which is low carb. seems like a better option for those on the go than WW. and i am sure it is not as restrictive as they still need to make the meals appealing to a mass market.