To Weight Watchers or not WW?
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JaydedMiss wrote: »Your on MFP...a free site that accomplishes the exact same thing while also teaching you how to eat long term. The fact that your here asking this now tells me weight watchers wasnt long term for you. So question for you, Why go back? Learn to eat what you want within your calories. Why make it any harder? Beter yet, Why pay to make it harder? ALL you need is to eat at a calorie defecit.
Pretty much this.
I also want to mention that I did WW awhile back, and it didn't do very much for me because I wasn't motivated to stick with the program. MFP has worked much better for me, and I am learning to eat better since I have a breakdown of nutritional goals for each day.0 -
The "why" of a points program is to steer you towards the more nutritionally dense foods, to make it easier to eat a healthy diet. You'll snack on an orange -- zero points -- rather than a chocolate bar.
It doesn't always work, though, does it? Some of us have to be able to eat that chocolate bar occasionally to stay sane and on program.1 -
songbird13291 wrote: »The "why" of a points program is to steer you towards the more nutritionally dense foods, to make it easier to eat a healthy diet. You'll snack on an orange -- zero points -- rather than a chocolate bar.
It doesn't always work, though, does it? Some of us have to be able to eat that chocolate bar occasionally to stay sane and on program.
I think that's what they tried to do with the free vegetables from long ago, but it seems they're doing everything in their power to NOT teach you about the energy balance. The old way left people frustrated when they didn't lose weight after over eating vegetables and this way they form a disgusting relationship with food because they're penalized for autonomy in food choices. Weight Watchers is a joke.5 -
I think the free fruit thing is likely to backfire (so many calories from so much sugar) - you're gonna wind up with some people getting fatter on that plan (but I guess they will at least be getting their fiber).0
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If you want an extremely strict diet where you are penalized for eating pretty much anything other than chicken and veggies then WW is a good choice. If you want to be able to enjoy your food, have an occasional treat, and easily track how much you can eat on a daily basis I recommend MFP. I couldn't even begin to do the latest WW program - I've had great success in the past but not with the latest version. Much more successful with MFP!5
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Hello~
I was a WW customer a few years ago. WW really worked for me and I lost the Lbs I needed to loose. I've read here that the Point System has changed. I guess is called now Smart Points. When I was a customer, WW would assigned certain amount of points daily and you would just use them depending on the food consumption. Then you would decide if to use your exercises points or not. In my case when I didn't use my Exercise Points I would loose more. What is the difference between the old Points System to this new one? I would like to join again but need to understand how does the new system work. Thanks...................
I did WW last year and it jump started my weight loss for sure but I quit when I found MFP because it's free. But I lose slower when I do MFP alone so I use WW along with MFP again now. I just signed up at WW last week and still getting used to it but it's still the points system. There are some differences between the two though. I like that I can enter my fruit and veggies here and it shows actual sodium, sugar, fat, calories but WW just flat out doesn't count the majority of them.1 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »If you want an extremely strict diet where you are penalized for eating pretty much anything other than chicken and veggies then WW is a good choice. If you want to be able to enjoy your food, have an occasional treat, and easily track how much you can eat on a daily basis I recommend MFP. I couldn't even begin to do the latest WW program - I've had great success in the past but not with the latest version. Much more successful with MFP!
Actually that's not truly true. I eat what I want on WW. They do expect you to get in various things throughout the day but I mainly just try to stay within the allotted points they give me just like I do here with my set goal per day. I don't eat fast food or a lot of high sodium foods but that would be the same no matter what plan or site I chose to use.
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perkymommy wrote: »Ready2Rock206 wrote: »If you want an extremely strict diet where you are penalized for eating pretty much anything other than chicken and veggies then WW is a good choice. If you want to be able to enjoy your food, have an occasional treat, and easily track how much you can eat on a daily basis I recommend MFP. I couldn't even begin to do the latest WW program - I've had great success in the past but not with the latest version. Much more successful with MFP!
Actually that's not truly true. I eat what I want on WW. They do expect you to get in various things throughout the day but I mainly just try to stay within the allotted points they give me just like I do here with my set goal per day. I don't eat fast food or a lot of high sodium foods but that would be the same no matter what plan or site I chose to use.
You must have a lot more points than I did then. Or like a bland diet. Everyone has their own opinion. It is MY opinion that the new program demonizes too many foods that don't need to be.2 -
I tried WW in the past and did not have much success. I do know some people who have done it successfully, but I also know quite a few who have failed to use it successfully, like myself. Let me clarify that I define success as dropping weight and keeping it off. If you follow the points system you will lose weight, but trying to keep it off is not as easy. Part of the problem lies with the fact that not everything is so simple to guess at its point value. So it is easy to underestimate.
I find MFP easier. Yes, it is a little more work on your part to input foods and count calories, but it offers so much perspective on how much one is actually consuming. In the long run I think MFP helps to teach you better how to eat and to keep weight off, because you are learning the true nutritional value of food.0 -
So I'm with WW right now but my losses are disappointing so I am looking with interest at this thread, with MFP does everyone weigh their vegetables and salad? Basically do you weight every single morsel that goes past your lips?0
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So I'm with WW right now but my losses are disappointing so I am looking with interest at this thread, with MFP does everyone weigh their vegetables and salad? Basically do you weight every single morsel that goes past your lips?
Yes because I'm a volume eater so my veggies can easily be 150 cals/meal x3 and there goes your deficit if you're not counting veggies.0 -
I did WW about 20 years ago or so. The accountability was helpful for me I think. It is now cost prohibitive for me with modern technology and apps like this with practically every food imaginable in the data base. Mfp makes way mire sense now. I also wound up binging more often when doing WW. Not sure if it the program or if I have changed but I do better with this. As long as I consistently folliw a plan to keep myself in check either will cause weight loss but MFP is so much more convenient and free.0
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So I'm with WW right now but my losses are disappointing so I am looking with interest at this thread, with MFP does everyone weigh their vegetables and salad? Basically do you weight every single morsel that goes past your lips?
At this point, it's more that I'm aware that I should be. Until coming here, I didn't realize that measuring cups and spoons are often inaccurate for solids/dry foods. In some cases, using them can add 50–150 extra calories. Now, I still do reach for measuring cups more often than I don't. And I like to take time each week to plan my menus and when I'm putting a recipe into the tracker, I will use cups of flour or the generic entries for "1 medium carrot" etc.
The thing is, I recognize that this is less accurate than weighing and, while my weight-loss has been steady, my starting body weight was 124 lbs above goal (now 83). With this far to go, even if I'm a couple of hundred calories over, the weight is still coming off. But from reading other threads, it seems that for a lot of people, the closer you get to goal, the tighter your margin for error in calculation, because the closer you are to goal, the less aggressive your weight-loss target should be.
So, the way I see it, right now, I'm trying half-heartedly to break a habit and I'm coming up against 1) the fact that habits tend to be hard to break 2) I'm losing weight, so there's no real incentive.
But sooner or later, I've got a feeling my weight-loss is going to slow down or plateau and, at that point, I'll need to take a hard look at what I can do to start things moving in the right direction. And if, by that point, I haven't gotten used to weighing everything, that'll be the first thing I tackle.1 -
I did successfully lose weight with WW about 15 or so years ago, became a lifetime member and actually worked for them for a couple of years. At that time, there was at least co-relation between calories and points. IIRC, there was a formula where around 60 calories equaled one point.
Tried it again a few years ago after I put back on about 15 lbs and really couldn't find success that time around. Part of the problem was the whole concept of Zero Points. Implied that you could - and many, including me, did - eat unlimited amounts of those foods. While those foods were mostly vegetables and some fruits, they may not have points but they do have calories which add up!
The other thing is that WW is really not interested in member success - ie. a successful lifestyle change based on healthy eating & activity. At that point, you are not a revenue source for them. One of my biggest beefs was that there wasn't any support for lifetime members in terms long term maintenance.
Much prefer the MFP program - based on CICO - nice and simple!1 -
I joined WW Online in February, and cancelled after 2 weeks. I found it incredibly restrictive, due to the way that the plan policed the food I chose (e.g. 7 points for a 250kcal ready-meal), and I was extremely hungry all of the time. I dual-logged in MFP for the second week, and discovered that I was only eating 1100kcals a day! I cancelled WW and fully came back to MFP; I'm now eating what I like, I'm not hungry and am still losing weight.0
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estherdragonbat wrote: »So I'm with WW right now but my losses are disappointing so I am looking with interest at this thread, with MFP does everyone weigh their vegetables and salad? Basically do you weight every single morsel that goes past your lips?
At this point, it's more that I'm aware that I should be. Until coming here, I didn't realize that measuring cups and spoons are often inaccurate for solids/dry foods. In some cases, using them can add 50–150 extra calories. Now, I still do reach for measuring cups more often than I don't. And I like to take time each week to plan my menus and when I'm putting a recipe into the tracker, I will use cups of flour or the generic entries for "1 medium carrot" etc.
The thing is, I recognize that this is less accurate than weighing and, while my weight-loss has been steady, my starting body weight was 124 lbs above goal (now 83). With this far to go, even if I'm a couple of hundred calories over, the weight is still coming off. But from reading other threads, it seems that for a lot of people, the closer you get to goal, the tighter your margin for error in calculation, because the closer you are to goal, the less aggressive your weight-loss target should be.
So, the way I see it, right now, I'm trying half-heartedly to break a habit and I'm coming up against 1) the fact that habits tend to be hard to break 2) I'm losing weight, so there's no real incentive.
But sooner or later, I've got a feeling my weight-loss is going to slow down or plateau and, at that point, I'll need to take a hard look at what I can do to start things moving in the right direction. And if, by that point, I haven't gotten used to weighing everything, that'll be the first thing I tackle.
^^Ditto. Although down 75 lbs I'm starting to work on the accuracy a bit more.1 -
I liked Points Plus and lost a ton of weight. Then they switched to smart points and I left. After I gained my lost weight back, I thought I'd join again. I lost a bit of weight, 15 lbs... but they don't really account for people who need to eat a lower deficit because they have other goals (ie. want to maintain muscle mass, etc.). I ended up having to eat a lot of carbs because I was doing some medical testing, and I was STARVING all the time (bread costs more than chicken and vegetables...) so I stopped tracking. I cam here, instead.
I would save your money. The community is good, and the meetings are good if you have a good leader. But there isn't anything magical about WW that you can't get here... for free.0 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »So, if you are on WW and decide to have a chocolate bar, doesn't that mean you compensate by eating less of the nutrition you need? And, because they bump up the points for the chocolate bar as a "bad" item, the penalty in reduced "good" foods may lead you to a nutritional deficit?
Am I missing something or does this make WW really unhealthy?
WW was an excellent plan years ago, but apparently it has changed. I did WW back in 2002 -2004, and lost 60 pounds, and learned to eat SO much healthier. It was the old 1-2-3 points system, and it worked great. No eating disorders LOL.0 -
So I'm with WW right now but my losses are disappointing so I am looking with interest at this thread, with MFP does everyone weigh their vegetables and salad? Basically do you weight every single morsel that goes past your lips?
Every single thing. I don't see why that is a big deal though? I did WW many years ago, and I weighed my food then too. The only difference is that I used a much crappier scale then. The new digital ones are far nicer.
Hmmm I guess this has to do with the plan changes they have put in place.0 -
I don't know why you would spend the $$ on weight watchers when you can just measure your food and track what you eat. You simply eat less than you burn and you will lose.0
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