weight watchers
Options
melissawhittaker490
Posts: 7 Member
Hi all. I've started weight watchers and im finding it confusing. I'm always below the 26 points per day averaging 16 so far but I'm genuinely confused with certain foods and I've been doing this to and some days I'm above calories and others below so it's nuts.
I've also been doing the squat challenge and walking more.
Anyone else do this and how do you find it?
I've also been doing the squat challenge and walking more.
Anyone else do this and how do you find it?
0
Replies
-
I used to do WW. I would make sure I always had my 26 points a day. It's a low calorie diet at best without under eating as well.0
-
Weight watchers encourages fruits and veggies which is important for people who are getting into the habit of eating foods with good nutrition, but MFP has us tracking calories, which is important to weight loss.
In other words, for actual weight loss, MFP is better. The two plans do not sync.
Weight watchers has a message board you can check out.0 -
I used to do Weight Watchers and kept on the Filling and Healthy with 49 ProPoints a week. I always had some points left. It was good eating all the fruit and veg as it was free!0
-
I used to do Weight Watchers and kept on the Filling and Healthy with 49 ProPoints a week. I always had some points left. It was good eating all the fruit and veg as it was free!
Nothing is 'free.' That's why I feel WW kinda sets people up to fail in the real world, which cycles them back to WW.
0 -
26 points is the minimum WW allows. If you can't meet that number, my bet is that you're filling up on the "free" fruits and veggies.
I'll let you in on a little secret: they're not free. They're zero points, and yes, there is a difference. I see people on the WW boards and on these forums saying, "WW lets you have as many fruits and veggies as you want". Nope. You are to eat them "to satisfaction". You're not to gorge yourself. It's not a free for all.
Eat a REASONABLE amount of fruits and veggies. One banana, not three. A slice or two of watermelon, not half the melon. Then fill the rest of your day with other foods that meet the Good Health Guidelines (healthy oil, lean protein, whole grains, dairy). You'll discover that 26 points gets used up VERY quickly. I had to use some of my weekly points every day, just so I wasn't hungry.
I lost 35 lbs on WW before canceling my membership. I think the program is solid. If the website wasn't so antiquated and the app wasn't so glitchy, I'd probably still be there. In the end, I decided that I didn't want to throw money away on something where the tools that were supposed to help me only worked part of the time.0 -
I love weight watchers. Lost 75 pounds and have kept it off for over a year. I still go to meetings once a month. Why am i on MFP? Hate the WW mobile app.
So...16 points a day? Love to see what you are eating. As a rule the"free" fruits and veggies are for 5 servings a day(at least that was pointed out to me by our leader and was written in the getting started materials at that time).
When losing i allowed myself 2 free fruits and 3 free veggies a day. More than that and i counted points for them. So 1/2 c of fruit or cooked veggies or 1c. Leafy greens is 1 serving.
If you are still under the 26 a day and are full you might want to switch to the simply filling tracking on WW eating those foods to satisfaction and limit the extras to 49 per week.
I lose weight better when tracking WW points than straight calories, because i am more conscientious about the quality of my food intake when using points.... but everyone is different. Seems the Ww points use glycemic index and that works for my body.
Please feel free to add me if you want to discuss WW or anything.0 -
Weight Watchers always worked for me. The old points system. The new Points plus as it is written. did not. So now, I count calories on MFP as well as count points...but I calculate the portions so that INSTEAD I have a true count. I count fruit and every bite I eat. I also weigh and measure. I'd still be at WW meeting for the support, except they are too expens
ive nowadays.0 -
Congrats on starting your weight loss journey!
0 -
What is it about ww that makes you want to do it in addition to MFP? I first did ww in 2003 and most recently in 2007. I'm sure it's moved on since then but it me I'm finding MFP so much easier and better for me.
The barcode scanner and immense database of foods make logging so simple. I don't have to remember or calculate calories, they appear as if by magic in the app.
I was never a fan of the meetings and
don't miss a woman with a clipboard weighing me.0 -
Weight Watchers is a relatively solid program, which was designed for a pre-internet era. It doesn't rely on a lot of 'magical thinking', which is good. They pretty much just bury CICO into a points system that makes meal planning easier for a lot of people who aren't used to managing their calories.
The points system helped make it easier to estimate good portions that put you in a calorie deficit, which was harder to do when you couldn't get good nutrition information on foods. The meetings help provide an accountability factor that keeps people on track.
Weight Watchers is getting increasingly challenged by services like MFP, and by devices like Fitbit, that help people understand their CICO balance. WW is trying to adapt, but it's still relatively expensive.0 -
I did weight watchers for about a year and lost about 30lbs on it. I have a love/hate relationship with that system. Unless you read the fine print and all the materials available you can sell yourself short with their point system. I dislike the way they calculate their point values because more protein can sometimes jack the poin value up when really it's a healthier option compared to something else. But that's just me. MFP has just overall been a better option for me. Now I'm very closely examining my food choices. With WW I feel like everything is blanketed over with their general point value.0
-
I may have had a strange WW group or mindset, but sometimes I felt like there was too much emphasis on how MUCH you could eat, and not enough on eating healthy and exercise. With MFP I can tweak my food to watch micros and macros for health reasons. MFP exercise burns are more accurate.0
-
daniwilford wrote: »I may have had a strange WW group or mindset, but sometimes I felt like there was too much emphasis on how MUCH you could eat, and not enough on eating healthy and exercise. With MFP I can tweak my food to watch micros and macros for health reasons. MFP exercise burns are more accurate.
Maybe a little weird, but not hard to understand. With a point system like that, I think some people respond by gaming the system for maximizing how much they can eat and still stay in the points. People do that with calorie counting, too. Group meetings can amplify that when a few people can influence the group towards that type of attitude.
0 -
@daniwilford I think a lot of that comes from the whole craze of the dieting world. So many people think dieting is about restricting so programs, like WW, harp on the idea of eating SO MUCH! Nothing is off limits!! Kinf of like Jenny Craig, even though their program is completely different. People hate feeling restricted or deprived so they want people to feel like they can still eat all of those "normal things"0
-
Weight watchers encourages fruits and veggies which is important for people who are getting into the habit of eating foods with good nutrition, but MFP has us tracking calories, which is important to weight loss.
In other words, for actual weight loss, MFP is better. The two plans do not sync.
Weight watchers has a message board you can check out.
I definitely would not say MFP is better than Weight Watchers since I lost 106 pounds with weight watchers and I personally know about 6 others who have lost more than that with WW. They teach people how and what to eat with support and accountability that many people need to succeed. Although I am no longer on that program I still use what I learned from it and it helps make MFP a good program for me. In my opinion both programs are great in their own ways.
0 -
snickerscharlie wrote: »
Nothing is 'free.' That's why I feel WW kinda sets people up to fail in the real world, which cycles them back to WW.
This^ I did WW twice, and both times lost about 20lbs and then plateaued and could never understand why. The problem, for me, was the Simply Filling Technique which allows you to not track points on fruits (except avocados), vegetables (except corn), whole grain breads, fat-free dairy, and fat-free condiments. So, here I was slathering things in ketchup, eating two and three potatoes a day, eating tomato sandwiches, and never keeping track of anything I was eating. I gained 9lbs in one week and quit the program. The good thing about the first time I did WW (just the regular PointsPlus program, not Simply Filling) was that it got me in the habit of tracking my foods which has benefited me immensely on MFP.
0 -
I would never do weight watchers because i believe it half-educates people on nutrition, makes the process of eating more complicated that just counting calories. It isn't explained to you exactly how it works (by ultimately cutting the amount of calories/fat/fiber/protein you consume) and may alter your perception of certain foods.
How many people come to MFP insanely confused that fruit and veggies actually have calories? A lot, thats how many.
In my opinion, weight watchers may be good in the social aspect of going and meeting with people in a physical setting but it is lacking in the tracking of foods. I would use MFP for watching my diet, go to WW for the meetings and then slowly ween myself off of that.
Just my 2cents.0 -
rainbowbow wrote: »I would never do weight watchers because i believe it half-educates people on nutrition, makes the process of eating more complicated that just counting calories. It isn't explained to you exactly how it works (by ultimately cutting the amount of calories/fat/fiber/protein you consume) and may alter your perception of certain foods.
How many people come to MFP insanely confused that fruit and veggies actually have calories? A lot, thats how many.
In my opinion, weight watchers may be good in the social aspect of going and meeting with people in a physical setting but it is lacking in the tracking of foods. I would use MFP for watching my diet, go to WW for the meetings and then slowly ween myself off of that.
Just my 2cents.
The fact that people do not know that fruits and vegetables have calories is NOT WW's fault.
0 -
rainbowbow wrote: »I would never do weight watchers because i believe it half-educates people on nutrition, makes the process of eating more complicated that just counting calories. It isn't explained to you exactly how it works (by ultimately cutting the amount of calories/fat/fiber/protein you consume) and may alter your perception of certain foods.
How many people come to MFP insanely confused that fruit and veggies actually have calories? A lot, thats how many.
In my opinion, weight watchers may be good in the social aspect of going and meeting with people in a physical setting but it is lacking in the tracking of foods. I would use MFP for watching my diet, go to WW for the meetings and then slowly ween myself off of that.
Just my 2cents.
The fact that people do not know that fruits and vegetables have calories is NOT WW's fault.
I think it kind of is. They promote the idea that fruits and veggies are "Free!" and "eat as many as you want no points!"0 -
The fact that people do not know that fruits and vegetables have calories is NOT WW's fault.
I think it's more that people who come from a program like WW that offers "free" fruits and veggies (with a caveat - that you stay within the 5 servings per day) don't understand just how calorie-dense some fruits and veggies can be. If your daily target is, say, 1300 calories and you eat that in conventional prepared foods and then eat 600 calories of fruits and veggies all willy-nilly on top of that, then it can sabotage your weight loss efforts.
0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 392.1K Introduce Yourself
- 43.6K Getting Started
- 259.9K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.4K Fitness and Exercise
- 403 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions