MFP VS. Weight Watchers

IsabeausRose

I have felt so out of control lately and thought I ruined things again today by eating the rest of a pint of Ben and Jerry’s (1cup). I thought my whole day was blown because I was way over on Weight Watcher points. I decided to see how many calories I ate and it was only 1,000. I don’t know how the day will end up but it’s 430pm and I’m under 1200. I feel that by counting calories it let me see that I didn’t ruin things and I am having a successful day after all. I have been trying to manage my weight by counting points for months but every day I find myself not trusting that math process and needing to know the actual calorie count. I just don’t know which plan is better because calorie intake can vary so drastically even if you are eating the same number of points every day. I feel like I am in a free fall with no real security unless I know total daily calories. And it was coming back to mfp today that showed me I didn’t ruin my day just by having 26 points of ice cream when if I had gone by ww math my day would have been blown on only 1,000 calories. Something is wrong with their math..

SalinitySally

Sounds like you trust your own MFP logging. Go with it.

New_Heavens_Earth

What do you do when you go over points? Do you say "I blew it" and keep going to the point of overeating? If counting calories allows you to have flexibility and enjoyment, while staying within your limits and losing weight, then do that. It sounds like you feel better counting calories.

Meggie43

Im with you 100 percent. After logging my coffee 3 cream 1 sugar...extra large coffee. Weight watchers took 13 orc14 points...its ridiculous. Im only allowed 24 a day lol. Mfp its 150 calories. Im sticking to mfp and just using weight watchers for my accountability. I enjoy getting weighed in. Anyways do not beat yourself up...stick with logging your food. Good luck

Kayla647

My friend does weight watchers and I can't wrap my head around the points system it doesn't make sense to me, the CICO method makes sense which is why I use MFP

PokeyBug

For me, personally, I think MFP is easier. I just don't get the rules about what you keeping track of points. To me, it's just easier that I get a set amount of calories at the beginning of the day, and if I want more calories, I have to work out, lol.

lmbecker12

I am currently in the process of switching from WW to MFP, mainly because I am finding sodium is a huge issue with me, and that it's really affecting me.

I appreciate some of the thoughts behind WW in that unhealthy foods (higher saturated fats/higher sugar) are higher points and that high protein/fruits/veggies are low points. I feel great when eating this way, however I don't like that it can be easy to eat unlimited amounts of "free foods" and convince yourself you can still lose weight. I'm not sure it's a good indicator anymore of how much a person is eating as you lose that double-check.

I will continue to essentially eat as WW taught me, but will be tracking 100% in MFP and no longer a member of WW. I was tracking in both and like you, found it to be a pain in the rear!

tcunbeliever

WW plus points lists the various flavors of Ben & Jerry's at 3-8 points for 1/2 a cup.

Is that really enough to blow a whole day?

I haven't done points plus, but if I remember right on the old plan I had 32 points per day, so a cup of ice cream, even good ice cream, would always fit.

Katiebear_81

tcunbeliever wrote: »

WW plus points lists the various flavors of Ben & Jerry's at 3-8 points for 1/2 a cup.

Is that really enough to blow a whole day?

I haven't done points plus, but if I remember right on the old plan I had 32 points per day, so a cup of ice cream, even good ice cream, would always fit.

OP at the whole pint, not just a half a cup. So it was nearly her whole points allotment for the day.

Personally, I did WW with Points Plus and did very well. When they switched so Smart Points (and then Beyond the Scale), I stopped having as much success. Mostly because I'm a grown *kitten* woman who doesn't need to be told that jelly beans or ice cream or chocolate is "unhealthy" by using up a 1/4 of my daily points. I just found that punishing fat and sugar is silly.

tinkerbellang83

This is exactly what I don't like about Weight Watchers & Slimming World, they create a massively unhealthy guilt around foods that could easily be fit into a balanced diet that still allows for weight loss. Also don't like the guilt trip some of their "leaders" lay on people who haven't seen a loss, when in reality most of them are just experiencing normal water weight fluctuations, I have heard some right horror stories from friends.

janejellyroll

Katiebear_81 wrote: »

tcunbeliever wrote: »

WW plus points lists the various flavors of Ben & Jerry's at 3-8 points for 1/2 a cup.

Is that really enough to blow a whole day?

I haven't done points plus, but if I remember right on the old plan I had 32 points per day, so a cup of ice cream, even good ice cream, would always fit.

OP at the whole pint, not just a half a cup. So it was nearly her whole points allotment for the day.

Personally, I did WW with Points Plus and did very well. When they switched so Smart Points (and then Beyond the Scale), I stopped having as much success. Mostly because I'm a grown *kitten* woman who doesn't need to be told that jelly beans or ice cream or chocolate is "unhealthy" by using up a 1/4 of my daily points. I just found that punishing fat and sugar is silly.

I think OP ate part of a pint (they refer to "the rest"), which equaled 1 pint. Although it's possible they had eaten more earlier in the day and they were just finishing off what was left after their initial planned portion?

Chunkahlunkah

I've known people who've had great success with Weight Watchers, and I do think it encourages a nutritious diet (with how they structure point values). I personally consider it too paternalistic though in how it inflates or deflates point values based on nutrition. I think they're resting on the premise (faulty, imo) that a nutritious diet is more likely to result in sustained weight management for most people. It seems like they're trying to train people to eat "treats" very infrequently, assuming that it's too many treats that caused the weight problem. Maybe it did, but also maybe it didn't. All we can know for sure is it was too many calories, not the vehicles for those calories or why the person consumed too many.

MegaMooseEsq

I genuinely don't understand the appeal of the WW points system (although I know a lot of people who appreciate the group support structure). If you've got a reasonably good head for numbers, counting calories is much more accurate and logical. And if you don't have a good head for numbers, I don't see why points would be easier to manage than calories.

amlelas68

I have been on WW before and definitely support both plans. I know WW also has a simple filling plan which is less of point counting. For me the MFP works better because i Know exactly where I am at. You could log in the MFP and go to WW for the support and would be getting the best of both worlds.