I'm a prisoner of Weight Watchers - How do I break free?
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atypicalsmith wrote: »I know many people who have been avid fans of Weight Watchers, and have paid them lots of money. They lost weight, quit WW, gained it back, then joined WW again and paid them lots of money. I don't get it.
The majority of those who lose weight will regain it no matter what program they use; that isn't specific to WW. But it does seem silly to keep throwing money at the problem without figuring out what is going wrong.
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booksandchocolate12 wrote: »I just canceled my membership and signed up here.
I'm not sure I understand why it's complicated.
I to have cancelled my membership as I never went to meetings so only had myself so if I gained weight I didn't really care as I wasn't doing it in front of others. Taking it back to square one and re-educating myself into counting everything that goes in my mouth and having the support of members on here is hopefully going to be more benificial, I'm only on day 3 but so far I have not binged as I won't let myself down but the people I'm supporting as well!! Feel free to add me as a friend and good luck with your journey xx0 -
atypicalsmith wrote: »I know many people who have been avid fans of Weight Watchers, and have paid them lots of money. They lost weight, quit WW, gained it back, then joined WW again and paid them lots of money. I don't get it.
The majority of those who lose weight will regain it no matter what program they use; that isn't specific to WW. But it does seem silly to keep throwing money at the problem without figuring out what is going wrong.
Totally agree with @Dnarules, this isn't specific to WW, the same could be said for MFP. Many people log on, lose the weight, quit and gain it back. The only difference is MFP is free.
Back to the OP, I don't see the difficulty here. You are already doing exactly what you need to be doing, minus weighing the fruits & veggies. That is going to be your biggest hurdle and even that isn't too much trouble. I did WW for about a year and I really liked it, the only problem was I could be spending $18/month on something else so I quit. MFP is essentially the same thing as WW except it's free and the community interaction is much better in my opinion. Don't be afraid to quit WW, take @rabbitjb's advice. Give it a go and see what happens.
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Actually Im going to offer slightly different advice
Give yourself a month to 6 weeks continue to follow your weightwatchers points scheme eating as you have been eating but just weigh and log everything in MFP
Do not worry about MFP 'system'. On ww you have been maintaining ...logging your foods will give you your maintenance level
In a month or so cut out 250 calories worth...no doubt thats a banana and a couple of apples a day...by then you will understand how mfp works
And then you will get your weight loss
LOVING THIS!! Thank you very much for this excellent advice. I'll stay on WW but log on MFP for the next few weeks and see how this plays out. Thanks again for the great advice.0 -
You have not been losing weight with WW for some time. It feels safe but it isn't getting you anywhere either. You also don't know how many calories you are eating.
Give MFP your numbers-height, weight, age, activity level. Start with a reasonable goal... 1/2 lb a week. Eat the calories you are given. Eat a portion of the exercise calories you earn.
You might start with logging what you currently eat to see how many calories you are eating without worrying about sticking to your goal yet. It isn't difficult and might be pretty eye opening.
Log food as accurately as you can. Weighing and measuring are really helpful so you learn what portion sizes are appropriate for you. Do that for awhile, pay attention to what the portions look like and you will be better at judging what you can eat at random potlucks without carrying a scale around.
Some of us find pre-logging our food for the day pretty helpful to sticking to our goal. It takes me just a few minutes to log my whole day in advance.
You're spot on about WW "feeling safe." I think I just have to recognize this and move on. It might be a fresh start to start over somewhere else.
I totally agree about pre-logging.
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First it's not as overwhelming as you think it is, I promise. To me, all that point stuff, complicated, so if you can do that, this is easy breezy. You are not losing anything because you are eating what your BMR is. This is the amount of calories you can eat and not lose or gain. The points might "hide" calories you didn't realize you were eating. So get a food scale, eat pretty much what you have been eating just tweak it. If you are going to eat it, Fitness pal it. Easy, Peasy! Good Luck!0
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Here your exercise is similar to WW giving you APs, but here you get extra calories. So if you're exercising, then use those to eat extra on your weekends. However, you can't hold on to calories like you can all those extra points WW gives you....also that could be a reason you've plateaued.0
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My WW membership was due at the end of the month (I was online only) and I just cancelled it on Monday after about 5 years with WW. I tracked here for a few weeks for a "test run" before pulling the cancellation trigger and let me tell you it is the best thing I have done. I cancelled that membership and have not thought about WW since. It took me a minute when I first started to get rid of the "points" mentality, but it has been for the best.
Like you I was exhausted about thinking of transferring my recipes from WW and tracking the fruits/veggies, but the transition has been so smooth. I do suggest if you have recipes saved on WW website to transfer those before making the jump. I also love that on MFP I can just paste a URL link to copy a recipe instead of entering every stinking ingredient in to the recipe builder on WW.
I have actually found the tracking to be no more difficult even with the fruits/veggies. If anything, it has helped to track every little thing because I get a more true picture of what I am eating along with the actual breakdown of calories, where with WW you just got the points without the breakdown. So, you could eat all your points in carbs and it would be no different than eating all your points in meat. I like how with MFP I can see if I am eating balanced meals and I can also track other things as I see fit. For example, sodium. I never realized with WW how much freaking sodium I was eating!!
I am so happy I made the transition and it is now FREE!! Not to mention, I have lost more weight on average here than I did with WW. I think it is because, like I said above, I am getting a truer picture of where my calories are coming from and I am making overall better choices with my foods. Also, people are much more helpful and friendly here.
Do it!!0 -
Actually Im going to offer slightly different advice
Give yourself a month to 6 weeks continue to follow your weightwatchers points scheme eating as you have been eating but just weigh and log everything in MFP
Do not worry about MFP 'system'. On ww you have been maintaining ...logging your foods will give you your maintenance level
In a month or so cut out 250 calories worth...no doubt thats a banana and a couple of apples a day...by then you will understand how mfp works
And then you will get your weight loss
Totally agree with this! This is exactly what I did. The fruits and vegetables was something that was holding me back, as well as all their "endorsed foods". MFP has taught me so much about food and nutritution and what I need to eat to make my body run better. I think weight watchers is a great starting point for some people but it doesn't truly teach you how to eat well for life. Best of luck to you!0 -
Actually Im going to offer slightly different advice
Give yourself a month to 6 weeks continue to follow your weightwatchers points scheme eating as you have been eating but just weigh and log everything in MFP
Do not worry about MFP 'system'. On ww you have been maintaining ...logging your foods will give you your maintenance level
In a month or so cut out 250 calories worth...no doubt thats a banana and a couple of apples a day...by then you will understand how mfp works
And then you will get your weight loss
This is exactly what I did and in the short time I did it (3 weeks) I was 100% convinced the switch to MFP was right for me.
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Did you know that in the WW tracker you can get all the nutrition info for your portion size? - just click on nutrition info to see it. Even the 0 PP foods reveal their nutrition info. Create a spreadsheet with the data and at the end of the day you have totals for fat, protein and carbohydrate in grams. To get the kcal equivalents: fat grams x 9, protein and carbohydrate grams x 4. Opinions vary WRT fibre and calories. Insoluble is zero and as there is no breakdown of fibre and there is so little soluble fibre in the diet it won't make that much difference to daily calories.
A couple of days of that will make duplicating food into MFP feel like a holiday.0 -
I know exactly how you feel. I have been doing WW for 12 yrs. I lost 40 Pds., but I have stopped losing with it. It was, so hard to let it go, but I finally canceled yesterday. I was giving WW 19.95 a month & I wasn't doing anything with it. I noticed I had switched over to MFP for a month & loved it. I would rather give MFP 10.00 a month & get a lot more for my money & the best part is I'm doing it on my own.
You can do it. If you want to add me as a friend feel free. 0 -
Uhh, just quit?? I mean unless they have nekkid pictures of you then what can stop you?0
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allenpriest wrote: »Uhh, just quit?? I mean unless they have nekkid pictures of you then what can stop you?
That's about the only good reason not to quit. Thank for the laugh!0 -
Weight Watchers gave me great mental strategies, but having been with them on three different times (lost weight all three times), the last time I didn't learn anything new to help me. I am just on here and counting a different way for free. Keep what worked there and use it here. Trust me, if this doesn't work out, they will take you back.0
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<<Thumbs Up>> for a great post!
I have no experience with Weight Watchers and can't offer much advice, but I particularly found your post (and most everyone's replies) to be relevant and interesting.0 -
Their points are based on a macronutrient breakdown. Figure out their fairly simple formula, and you can 'follow' their program without paying for their BS.0
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Oh..I understand. I hear what you are saying. It's like changing schools or churches. You get attached to the people there and the life style. If you do decide to leave, you always have the option to go back. I have gone back and forth many times. If they had not gotten so 'money greedy'..(and changed points to points plus)..I'd still be there. You would get used to counting calories instead of points after awhile. Do what feels right for you and that you believe you will be most successful with.0
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The recipe entry system and barcode scanner on the phone app make this product the best weight loss product I have ever used. Integrates well with fitbit, endomondo, and the advertising isn't THAT obnoxious. I wonder if premium would be worth it? Just build the food you see at restaurants that are not a chain. I've actually talked to chefs and asked them what they were using so I could build the recipe and get a decent estimate of what I'm getting. It's not exact science, but it's better than panicking about a 50-60 calorie difference.0
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Love WW and has worked for me. I am here to watch my sodium intake but WW rocks.0
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