Weight Watchers in conjunction with myfitnesspal

dubird

AprilJ10 wrote: »

I thought the materials my first WW meeting gave me were excellent, great meal ideas to mix and match. I pretty much count calories though not points, so I like myfitnesspal for that.

And if it works for you, that's great! Everyone's different, and some people benefit from WW. I'm just not one of those people. ^_^;

joolieb1

WW can work for some people and I lost 28 lbs with them but when you don't lose it makes no sense because they say so many foods are zero points and so I ate a lot of fruit while on WW. I prefer to know how many calories are in all food, then I can make wise choices for myself. Plus educationally I did not feel I was learning about food and health at the meetings. I prefer MFP because it is such a mixed group on the Forum but always supportive and my exercise routines are so much stronger because of the encouragement of others. I am losing weight steadily at 2 lb per week so being calorie deficient and being active works and with MFP it is free of charge, no processed products being sold, I choose to eat fresh fruit and vegetables and within my calorie goals too

cindyangotti

I lost the majority of my weight which was 106 pounds on WW. The only reason I quit was my financial situation change drastically. I love both of their programs. I was in a group where several people lost well over 100 pounds so it DOES work IF you follow it. If you don't like counting points have you though about trying their second program... I think it's called Simply Filling. A good friend of mine lost 150 pounds on that plan.

dubird wrote: »

From what I know about WW, it's more focused on eating their products. Yes, they give you information on points for other foods, but they also try to get you to buy their stuff. .

This is so not true.

Also 0 point food is not to be considered "freebies"!!!!

Many people here are very negative towards Weight Watchers. Maybe it's because they do not understand the program.... I don't know but it worked for me and several others who I know personally.

cwolfman13

AprilJ10 wrote: »

So I just signed up for weight watchers, I have about 30 pounds to lose. I think i'm going to do weight watchers in conjunction with myfitnesspal. I find the points to be cumbersome, but I like what weight watchers promotes, healthy eating and recipes. I also like the idea of the weekly meetings. Fruits and veggies also have no points! I've already stocked the fridge and freezer with fresh fruit and veggies. I have tried to diet a few times before lose a few pounds then go back to eating too much. This time I really need to stick with it for health reasons if nothing else. Would love any feedback from others on their experience with Weight Watchers.

they may not have points, but they sure as *kitten* have calories...if you're calorie counting, you need to count them anyways so I really don't see how no points really translates to anything beneficial. WW makes up for "free" foods by inflating the points on other food items.

TeaBea

There is at least one Weight Watchers group here, maybe they can help you. As for "Free" calorie items. I've always been told that your daily points are less calories than the calories MFP typically gives, so if you eat "free" foods, it kind of averages itself out anyway.

Weight Watchers: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/718-weight-watchers-points-plus

dubird

cindyangotti wrote: »

I lost the majority of my weight which was 106 pounds on WW. The only reason I quit was my financial situation change drastically. I love both of their programs. I was in a group where several people lost well over 100 pounds so it DOES work IF you follow it. If you don't like counting points have you though about trying their second program... I think it's called Simply Filling. A good friend of mine lost 150 pounds on that plan.

dubird wrote: »

From what I know about WW, it's more focused on eating their products. Yes, they give you information on points for other foods, but they also try to get you to buy their stuff. .

This is so not true.

Also 0 point food is not to be considered "freebies"!!!!

Many people here are very negative towards Weight Watchers. Maybe it's because they do not understand the program.... I don't know but it worked for me and several others who I know personally.

I'm not trying to discourage someone from doing WW if it works for them, I'm just saying of the two, I'm happy sticking with MFP. I've looked into WW, and I know my mom tried for a while. It didn't work for her and was too expensive for me to even try it. That's why I said 'from what I know'. I've also tried some of their meals that you can get at the grocery store, and didn't find one that I liked. At all. But then, I'm very picky about tastes, so take that with a grain of salt!

I will say that my mom did find a program at the local hospital that was very very similar to WW. It focused less on points and more on how to adjust your eating habits and keep watch on you calories and nutrition. I guess it was a hybrid of WW and MFP from how she described it, but I have no idea if that's something other hospitals do.

cindyangotti

It is expensive currently at $45 a month which is why I had to quit. It sucked because I was so close to my goal too. I then gained some back but now with MFP I am almost to goal again. I did learn a lot about food with WW. Combine that with what I learned from MFP I feel quite knowledgeable about my nutrition. Both WW and MFP changed my life.

AprilJ10

I am going to continue with weight watchers and this, as I lost 3.2 pounds my first week on WW and tracking as well!

Jomalone2

I made lifetime about 2 years ago and have maintained every since. I did MFP faithfully (never missed a day) for over 365 days and only lost about 10 pounds. When I switched to WW the weight finally started coming off. So it DOES work and I didn't feel like I was starving myself like I did on MFP. I say at least give it a try - stick with it long enough to know if it works for you or not. Good luck.

maxit

I did WW for 9 months last year - it worked great. The point "allowance" is actually a few (or more) hundred calories below what MFP would set for moderate weight loss - this is why the 0 points for most fruit and vegetables works for most people. The literature notes that 0 points does not mean eat 22 bananas (lol) and if they are made into a smoothie, you put them into WW version of recipe builder and lo and behold, a smoothy has points. I was online only - allergic to meetings - and found it very helpful. Counting calories in the past just made me depressed at how hungry I was on what I had as my allotment. With WW, I developed portion control. I double tracked with MFP for a few months before I stopped WW - mostly because I started focusing on protein and fat intake (easy to not get enough of either on WW) when I started lifting weights. Then I dropped WW - end of October last year. So, OP, try it and see what you think. It's not impossible to track in two places - but if you are not following the WW plan either with the points plan or that other one they have (simply filling? I forget) then I wouldn't think it would be worth it to pay them for the privilege of weigh ins.

jennifer_417

I can see where the weekly meeting would be encouraging, but MFP is free, effective, and with the friends you make on here, you can get some really great encouragement.

SolotoCEO

MFP is free, WW costs money...I get as much (or more) from MFP, so why would I spend the money. Doing both - counting points and calories will most likely drive you crazy. Good luck regardless of which route you choose in the long-term.

Jacqui_Runs

I was a huge fan of WW when I first started years ago. I also got suckered by the 0PP for fruits and veggies. Because they do have calories.

Both of these programs work very differently I personally don't think WW is as effective as it used to be. I lost weight too slow, and it definitely wasn't an accurate depiction of calories in food. I was always running out of points, and was still hungry.

Here, I can have calories left over, and gain more if I exercise. It's a happy medium, and while logging calories is tedious, it personally works better for me. Again, do what's going to work best for you, but I am not sure about doing both at the same time. MFP has been wonderful.

Renee1969

I just started back at weight watchers again after 5-6 years because my teenage daughter wanted to lose 20 pounds and the doctor feels WW is the best out there.
I couldn't believe the plus system allows three free fresh fruits per day (after that you must count the points). Butttt then I saw that the points for almost all the foods I eat have gone up in points so they are costing me a lot more and therefore those three free fruits per day really are not free. But by saying they are its mentally encouraging me to get them in. And although high in sugar, I'm opting for fruits over (for example) a skinny cow ice cream sandwich.
I haven't even had my first weigh in but that's the other part that helped me. Keeps me accountable.

sheldonklein

If meetings and accountability help you and are worth the costv to you, that's fine and personal. However, points are just dumbed down calorie counting, with small adjustments for fiber and fat. Counting calories on MFP is at least as easy and better.

Mezzie1024

I think it's great that you like the meetings and accountability, but for the long term, I would recommend learning to calorie count accurately. It seems less complicated and more accurate than points. I know there have been people on here that logged MFP-style but went to WW meetings. It seems like a happy compromise.

Here's some food for thought. A couple weeks ago, I cut up some watermelon and weighed it. I ate straight from the bowl until I didn't want anymore, then weighed what was left. I didn't think watermelon would be a big deal, but lo and behold -- I had eaten 400 calories in watermelon. It was a very hot day, and it's possible I ate more than I would have in other circumstances, but still... that's quite a bit of 0-point calories that didn't at all feel like overindulgence at the time.