Weight Watchers Refugee - How best to transition??

montrealsue

I'm a former WW member but dropped out a year ago when i was moving around a lot. WW online always seemed too expensive and hard to use. MFP is a new experiment for me. Since I do most of my own cooking from scratch, finding the right food in the list of brand names can be a challenge--that's where the old WW worked better--but so far it seems like a better fit than the new WW. It all comes down to tracking for me, so it won't matter much whether i'm tracking points or calories, i'll still have to face the difficult choices. Good luck to you!

jandw122912

I'm right here with you! I've been doing WW since summer 2012. I stopped in March 2014 when I got married (and pregnant a few months later). After my son was born I decided I needed to lose the baby weight (in addition to the weight I still needed to lose from before I got married). I signed up for WW online in June 2015 and I've been doing it on and off since.When my app updated to the new system I cried! Literally.The system I had been using for 3 years was gone and I had to relearn everything! Ugh.
So I decided I would give MFP a try instead and see how calorie counting works for me (and save $20 a month).WW has been a way of life for me for quite some time so I'm trying to keep things as similar as possible! This is my plan for now... I'm not tracking calories for fruits and vegetables that I didn't track on WW. The only high calorie fruit we didn't have to track on WW was bananas and I'm not a huge banana fan anyway... Maybe once or twice a week.I will continue to track the fruits and veggies we've always had to track (corn, avocado, beans, etc). And I will give myself and extra 1000 calories a week for wiggle room (to replace the weekly points we use to get).
When I compare the calories I got on the "updated" WW plan its about the same as the calories I get on MFP including the 1000 extra calories I'm allowing a week (considering 1 point is roughly 40 calories). I got over 1000 more calories on old WW system in comparison to MFP so that's why I based it on the new WW system. I'v only been using MFP for 3 days so im not sure how my plan will work yet but i will adjust it as needed.

jandw122912

jandw122912 wrote: »

I'm right here with you! I've been doing WW since summer 2012. I stopped in March 2014 when I got married (and pregnant a few months later). After my son was born I decided I needed to lose the baby weight (in addition to the weight I still needed to lose from before I got married). I signed up for WW online in June 2015 and I've been doing it on and off since.When my app updated to the new system I cried! Literally.The system I had been using for 3 years was gone and I had to relearn everything! Ugh.
So I decided I would give MFP a try instead and see how calorie counting works for me (and save $20 a month).WW has been a way of life for me for quite some time so I'm trying to keep things as similar as possible! This is my plan for now... I'm not tracking calories for fruits and vegetables that I didn't track on WW. The only high calorie fruit we didn't have to track on WW was bananas and I'm not a huge banana fan anyway... Maybe once or twice a week.I will continue to track the fruits and veggies we've always had to track (corn, avocado, beans, etc). And I will give myself and extra 1000 calories a week for wiggle room (to replace the weekly points we use to get).
When I compare the calories I got on the "updated" WW plan its about the same as the calories I get on MFP including the 1000 extra calories I'm allowing a week (considering 1 point is roughly 40 calories). I got over 1000 more calories on old WW system in comparison to MFP so that's why I based it on the new WW system. I'v only been using MFP for 3 days so im not sure how my plan will work yet but i will adjust it as needed.

And im not tracking exercise yet. I want to focus on eating better first. I will start tracking exercise as soon as I get the hang of tracking just food.

bsbprincess

YES!

I lost a bit of weight before on the points (about 20), but through the app called iTrackBites, so it was a one time purchase of a few bucks. I've always struggled a bit with the transition. I had gotten sick of points and had plateaued so I tried MFP and didn't lose much, but I was told I probably wasn't eating enough calories. I worked in a restaurant and walked a lot and also did tough hour workouts like 5 days a week. I increased my calorie intake from 1400 to 1600 and dropped a bit that week. But then I fell off the health wagon. I admit I didn't give MFP enough time before but I also found that I slipped into too many carbs when I was on MFP, and I cross-referenced for a bit too. Logging with MFP and Bites app at the same time. I usually went over on points when I was hitting target calories. However, I also plateaued pretty easily with WW... I also never seemed to make the right healthy choices when it comes to calories. Like I would eat cereal instead of fruit.

I reallllllly want to do this with MFP, but I'm worried it's not strict enough to guide me. Everyone is different... can I possibly do this just by calorie counting? I've never known if I should change my % of protein, fat and carbs. I feel lost in that department. WW limited your carb and fat intake by making them higher in points. help?? lol

Oh and I'm always really scared to eat back exercise calories on MFP.... Should I?

FitPhillygirl

katheryntaylor wrote: »

Eileen_S wrote: »

I'm a Lifetime member who is 16 pounds under my WW set goal. The leaders there hate it because as long as I weigh in once a month they never make any money from me, lol. That said, I use my Fitbit to maintain and the great community here at MFP for support. After counting calories only with my Fitbit and using my free WW online tools, found that their new program has me at least 300 calories under what I should have for my activity level. I think if anyone is able to lose weight here on MFP, they should continue on. Since it is free. As for me, I'll continue to weigh in at WW monthly since my membership there will always be free as a Lifetime member.

My understanding is you have to maintain your weight 2# over or under your goal to maintain free status with WW. What state are you in, and is the the WW rule not being enforced where you are?

I'm a Lifetime member, but since I'm stuck at the last 14# it would be quite awhile for me to go for free

https://weightwatchers.com/help/index.aspx?pageid=1028501

PA, and as far as I was told, they do enforce not being more than 2 pounds above goal, but you don't have to be exactly 2 pounds below. However, when I did drop 15 pounds below my goal I did have to get a note from my doctor that said I could continue to go there. He wrote that it was ok since I still have a normal BMI. If I drop 5 more pounds I won't be able to go to WW, though. Therefore I have upped the points from the 36 that they set for maintenance to at least 39 to 40 per day. Fitbit says I should eat more, though, due to my high activity level, so I might be upping the points more after January weigh in.

FitPhillygirl

PinkPixiexox wrote: »

My Mum has recently transition from WW to MFP and has been VERY successful.
Simple answer - enter your stats into the MFP app and eat to the number given (remember, you can eat back your exercise calories). It doesn't have to be hard or complicated and WW's new SmartPoint's is a whole lot more complex than it needs to be. My mum wishes she did the transition sooner. Wishing you the very best of luck!

I don't really see what is that complex about WW new smart points program and don't find that it is all that different than the old PP. The only thing that has changed is that foods that are high in protein have lower points to them. And foods that are higher in sugar and saturated fat are now higher in points. Fruits and Veggies are still no points. People can still eat back their "FitPoints" if they choose to, but WW does state that it is better to use the weekly points first. Last week I used all my weekly points and a few FitPoints since the 36 that they set me at simply aren't enough to maintain on.

chrisnawoo

I was thinking of going back doing ww online since I was successfully lost 56 lbs and kept it for 3 years until got pregnant 2 years ago and now I am overweight again.I am thankful I found this app and it's free...it's easy for me to use it cause it's kind similar to ww online tools except the weekly allowance but I love this app easy to log and find foods, it's counting my steps through my cell phone, and many people seem to care and encourage others

AnxiousWitch

I'm also contemplating leaving. I get 30 "Smart" points. And 42 weeklies... I ate 40 points today, and it came out to 1257 calories. I can't sustain that. I had a 160 calorie protein shake for 2 points just to add the calories. That's B.S. I liked the previous system, it was much more flexible. I lost 65 pounds on it, and rejoined after my second baby, and I've lost 28 pounds... but Smart Points isn't smart for me.

FitPhillygirl

HenrysMom78 wrote: »

I'm also contemplating leaving. I get 30 "Smart" points. And 42 weeklies... I ate 40 points today, and it came out to 1257 calories. I can't sustain that. I had a 160 calorie protein shake for 2 points just to add the calories. That's B.S. I liked the previous system, it was much more flexible. I lost 65 pounds on it, and rejoined after my second baby, and I've lost 28 pounds... but Smart Points isn't smart for me.

I found the same thing to be true. For maintenance I was given 36 points with 28 weekly points. One day I ate 38 points which was only 1530 calories. That is about 450 calories under what I should be eating. I think people will definetly lose weight on WW smart points program because they'll be taking in a LOT less calories than they actually should, including those of us who don't have to lose weight. I like that WW finally lowered the points for protein, but can't understand why they made so many other foods that are not that high in calories so much higher in points. There is a small ice cream that is labeled as 28 points. Lol, really WW!!

AnxiousWitch

I totally get that they're pushing healthier choices. Higher protein, fruits and vegetables, less sugar. But there isn't the flexibility that a lot of people need. Including me. It worked for me before, I've started allowing my activity points, otherwise I don't get enough calories. I might double track for awhile and pick one.

AnxiousWitch

Also, I agree, we need a Weight Watchers Refugee group.