T Nation

The Points Diet

Supplements and Nutrition
#1

For all those people looking for a good wieght/fat loss diet I have a real good one.

so as not to make a huge thread I will only outline the basic points of the diet now but if you want more info just let me know.

you get a set amount of points you can eat per day due to your age, weight , sex etc. etc.

I can eat 29 points a day, my wife can eat 19 HAHA

all food has a points value, you can eat what you like when you like but must not exceed the points allowance. Points not eaten can be carried over into the next day and used anytime for up to 5 days.

some foods have a 0 points score, for example egg whites, mushrooms and tomatoes, and you can eat as many of these as you like.

points are calculated by the foods calories and sats fat value.

For example a pot of 80g instant noodles is 7 points, 100g of plain egg pasta is 2 points.

40g of cheese is 5 points.

you can earn extra points by exersizing each day, this is calculated by the exersize type (low intensity, moderate intesity and high intensity) the time you exersized and your weight.

For example if I do 30 minutes of moderate exersize (jogging, swimming) then I earn myself an extra 2 and a half points for that day.

I have been cheating a little by taking an epherdrine, caffine and asprin mix, that supresses my appetite and gives me amazing energy to still train hence…

at the ens of my first week i have 25 points left over this week i have not eaten.

This diet has really opened my eyes to what foods fatten you, I eat lots of spag bol, using the score chart I have realised that my old spag bol sauce was 7 points! so now I have switched to a 2 point sauce.

My friends have had amazing results on this diet one girl lost 18 lb in 3 months, I have only been on it for one week and have lost 2lb, my BF has gone down for sure but I have not had it measured yet.

Anyway I highly recomend it if you are interested let me know and ill pass on the full details

#2

I’m pretty sure the only reason these diets work is because they work as a monitor of what goes into your body, sorta. The point system ends up equating to a rough average of what you should be eating, and since healthier things are less points (some even being free) it makes people choose better. Has this strategy ever worked with someone who has a decent diet tho? Just my .02

#3

This is what they use in Weight Watchers.

It makes sense for obese people as it it simple to follow and will cut down the calories they consume, make them eat healthier foods, thus helping them lose fat.

However, there is no distinction between carb points and protein points. A friend of mine was following this diet during a fat-loss competition we had at work, and it didn’t work that well for her because she was simply chubby, and would have benefited much more from a high-protein, low-carb diet.

She would say to me, “tonight I’ll have a vegetable stir-fry for dinner and I’ll be 1 point under my limit”. I would ask, “any chicken with that stir-fry?”, “oh no, that would put me over the limit”, “maybe, but it would also help you burn fat and not lose muscle”, [silence] “yeah…but it would make me go over my points limit”.

She didn’t even come close to winning that competition. Enough said.

#4

Sounds like weight watchers to me. My sister has been doing it. It has its pros and cons. It teaches you about portion control and not putting too much food into your body. But it doesn’t teach you how to be full, and it only teaches you about healthy foods as a by-product. For example, cottage cheese and a small bag of chips are the same amount of points. She’ll eat the cottage cheese.

The health of the food is reflective in point value, but someone could eat less healthy foods and end up not as food, not getting as much nutrition, and not getting enough calories for optimal body composition and training. It also may underestimate your points if you are lifting and exercising and don’t have too much to lose in the first place. She will have more points than they alot sometimes. But maybe what you’re talking about is something else.

#5

I’m sorry, but you’re in the entirely WRONG place to be talking about Weight Watchers. They have their own message board at weightwatchers.com. I starved myself with those people for years.

Do you know what macronutrients your beloved points are calculated with? Calories, Fat and Fiber. NOTHING to do with Protein, which is the single most important macro to watch in a fat loss diet. Not to mention it makes no distinction for healthy fats as opposed to, say… lard. When I was eating “correctly” on WW, I was consuming about 1100 calories a day and SKIMPING on protein because it cost me too many points. It took a long time to unprogram that from my system.

My advice to you: Read the nutrition articles by Berardi, Lowery, and the other authors cited on the left side of your screen. If you follow those guidelines, you’ll be eating to live heathily, without wrecking havoc on your metabolism.

#6

The “points” aspect is only good for people who want to “diet” but don’t want to be bothered with learning how to actually eat correctly. It truly is a diet and not a lifestyle change. This is why anyone who has ever done one of those diets will gain all of the weight back plus more. I’ve truly never heard of a single person who’s done that diet that didn’t eventually gain all of the weight back.

Be weary of any diet that tries to simplify things. Dieting is not simple, nor should it be. It takes education, conviction, and willingness. Getting fat is simple, doesn’t require anything but opening your mouth.