Been using Weight Watchers

darrienmichael

I've been doing WW since January and I've lost 30 pounds, but now I've hit a plateau and haven't lost for 3 months. Frustrated, I'm checking out MFP. Some WW people double track here and through WW. MFP seems tough to do. With WW, fruits and vegetables are free, counted as zero. It's having 0 point fruits that has kept me on plan and allowed me to lose 30 pounds. My head spins when thinking about having to count calories for all my fruit. Yikes.

random5483

Fruit calories are generally low. Unless you eat a lot of fruits, chances are you are not eating more than 200-300 calories of fruit in a given day. You can always tweak your plan here by not counting fruits, but reducing your calorie allocation by an estimate of your average daily fruit calories. For example, my daily calorie allocation is 1890. I eat about 200 calories in fruits a day if you average it out. I could simplify matters by giving myself 1690 calories and not counting fruits. I would rather not do so though because I want to be more accurate with my calculations.

At the end of the day, losing weight is about eating less calories than you burn. While WW might make fruits free, they technically have calories. I highly doubt fruits are breaking your weight loss plan as it would take an inordinate amount of fruit to do so. However, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. If you are clocking some serious fruit calories, cutting back on it might be a good idea from a weight loss perspective. But if it is a moderate fruit intake, you can probably get away by reducing your calories from another area.

arditarose

But maybe those zero points are causing your stall. WW is just a way to get you into a deficit, but it isn't as controlled and precise as actually counting and logging them yourself.

meganislosingit

I decided to join WW in January. Lost 16 pounds then stalled, and then put it all back on. I decided to look into creating a modified low carb diet, taking pieces from what I learned through WW, here, and from research I have done. I think WW has many good aspects, but it is not a one size fits all.

darrienmichael

Fruit is low in calories, but it still forces a choice. If at the end of the day I have 60 calories left over, I can have a plum or an egg, for example. But with WW I can have both. I've got to try MFP though. Stalling is seriously a demotivater, and I don't want to gain back what I've lost like so many people do.

arditarose

darrienmichael wrote: »

Fruit is low in calories, but it still forces a choice. If at the end of the day I have 60 calories left over, I can have a plum or an egg, for example. But with WW I can have both. I've got to try MFP though. Stalling is seriously a demotivater, and I don't want to gain back what I've lost like so many people do.

But it's the same. With WW you can have both, but you still only had 60 calories-and you went over. So really, you should not have had both.

vixtris

I used WW last year for a little while. I find it easier to just measure track everything that goes in my mouth and not have 'freebie foods' whether theyre good for you or not. I personally didn't like the whole point system, I think its just better to know what your eating (calorie and macro wise) than to mask it with a point(s). Good luck here on MFP! I think if you browse the forums here you can learn a lot.

megginanderson

darrienmichael wrote: »

I've been doing WW since January and I've lost 30 pounds, but now I've hit a plateau and haven't lost for 3 months. Frustrated, I'm checking out MFP. Some WW people double track here and through WW. MFP seems tough to do. With WW, fruits and vegetables are free, counted as zero. It's having 0 point fruits that has kept me on plan and allowed me to lose 30 pounds. My head spins when thinking about having to count calories for all my fruit. Yikes.

After the birth of my son I joined Jenny Craig, simply to control my portions and get into the habit of eating a few meals a day, but the program could only take me so far. Fruits have a lot of sugar in them and shouldnt be counted as 0.
What are your goals? Short term as well as long?
WW sounds like a great starting point, but probably not a lifetime situation depending on those goals and needs.

PinkPixiexox

I lost my first 20 lbs with Weight Watchers but I couldn't continue for longer than that..

The 'points' system is supposed to make things simple and the leaders seem to shun the idea of calories so much so, that we don't actually know how much we are eating in a given day - instead relying on these 'points'. I picked the plan apart a little and realised I was eating around 1100 calories per day on Weight Watchers (including my 'free' fruit and veg). When I questioned the leader as to why she had me on such a low calorie plan, she said "Oh we don't go by calories here, just keep doing what you're doing, it works!". Yes, deprivation works. But it also burns you out, changes your mood and makes 'eating out' a whole lot more complicated than it should be.

I gave WW up and discovered MFP. Not only have I learnt the science behind weight loss but my attitude toward food has changed entirely. There's an underlining guilt trip at these weight loss groups and I really can't be dealing with it. Time and time again, after getting on those scales and seeing a gain, I was told to "cut out processed food" or "You aren't eating ENOUGH". Totally inaccurate statements made by unqualified people.

With MFP, it's plain and simple - find out your calorie allowance and stick to it. Exercise to help the deficit but ultimately, calories in, calories out - that is ALL it is about. Yes you have to count your calories in fruit, Yes you have to count your calories in vegetables. No food is 'free' because all food has some form of energy. In my very personal opinion, MFP is a really positive move to make and much more sustainable and realistic.

Good luck with whatever you choose