Weight Watcher Members?
gwendyprism
Posts: 222 Member
Anyone out there going to Weight Watchers but tracking calories with MFP?
I've just come back to MFP. I've been a member of Weight Watchers for a couple years now. Before joining WW, I lost about 50#s on a 1200-1300 calorie diet and tracking with MFP.
Since joining WW I've been struggling to lose any more weight tho I am tracking pretty consistently. I just think the Point system isn't specific enough. Its too easy to over or even under eat using points depending on your food choices. I understand the purpose is to steer people to better choices such as fruit, veggies and lean meat. However, I've been a dieter for many, many years and know what healthy eating looks like. For me I think it's more important to have a detailed account of what I'm eating using calories and macros.
Would love to connect with anyone doing WW. I'm going to stay a member because I know I need the support group and accountability of weekly meetings.
I've just come back to MFP. I've been a member of Weight Watchers for a couple years now. Before joining WW, I lost about 50#s on a 1200-1300 calorie diet and tracking with MFP.
Since joining WW I've been struggling to lose any more weight tho I am tracking pretty consistently. I just think the Point system isn't specific enough. Its too easy to over or even under eat using points depending on your food choices. I understand the purpose is to steer people to better choices such as fruit, veggies and lean meat. However, I've been a dieter for many, many years and know what healthy eating looks like. For me I think it's more important to have a detailed account of what I'm eating using calories and macros.
Would love to connect with anyone doing WW. I'm going to stay a member because I know I need the support group and accountability of weekly meetings.
12
Replies
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Hi Gwendyprism
I started weight watchers for the very first time last week, like you i don't get the points system at all.....but i do have 3 apps on my phone (MFP, WW and Fitbit also change 4 life food which is great for tracking how much sugar is in food) and all have scanners so i can scan food yet that tell me different things so i get confused. I try not to worry to be honest and just make sure i portion my food, and one trick i always do is close my eyes when i put the food in my mouth and concentrate on the flavours (it doesn't work for everyone but it works for me lol ).
Would like to connect with you on this as i am a long way of my goal and maybe with some encouragement from others the journey won't be so bad, share food and fitness tips along the way
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gwendyprism wrote: »Anyone out there going to Weight Watchers but tracking calories with MFP?
I've just come back to MFP. I've been a member of Weight Watchers for a couple years now. Before joining WW, I lost about 50#s on a 1200-1300 calorie diet and tracking with MFP.
Since joining WW I've been struggling to lose any more weight tho I am tracking pretty consistently. I just think the Point system isn't specific enough. Its too easy to over or even under eat using points depending on your food choices. I understand the purpose is to steer people to better choices such as fruit, veggies and lean meat. However, I've been a dieter for many, many years and know what healthy eating looks like. For me I think it's more important to have a detailed account of what I'm eating using calories and macros.
Would love to connect with anyone doing WW. I'm going to stay a member because I know I need the support group and accountability of weekly meetings.
Sort of doing ww. Been weighing in for more years than I care to count.1 -
Ive only just started WW and find it easier to track calories than the smart points. Im a bit scepticle though because im suppose to consume at least 1200 a day which is fine, yet when its converted into SP it takes me way over the amount so im confused?
It will be interesting though to see how it progresses over the next 12 weeks, ill use it as an experiment lol
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LoveMusic4Life wrote: »Ive only just started WW and find it easier to track calories than the smart points. Im a bit scepticle though because im suppose to consume at least 1200 a day which is fine, yet when its converted into SP it takes me way over the amount so im confused?
It will be interesting though to see how it progresses over the next 12 weeks, ill use it as an experiment1 -
How did you convert calories to smartpoints?0
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To be honest i didn't, i just typed in the food i was going to eat on MFP, Fitbit, and WW, and all are in within my 1200 cals a day thats including my breakfast too, but when i type it into WW it puts me way over that intake, its very strange how it works and still trying to workout how the points system works.
But i think counting cals is a little bit better for me because otherwise i would hardly eat anything, plus i work out everyday so i burn a lot of it off anyways. I would be happy to learn more about the points though then at least i would be able to understand them a lot better!
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LoveMusic4Life wrote: »To be honest i didn't, i just typed in the food i was going to eat on MFP, Fitbit, and WW, and all are in within my 1200 cals a day thats including my breakfast too, but when i type it into WW it puts me way over that intake, its very strange how it works and still trying to workout how the points system works.
But i think counting cals is a little bit better for me because otherwise i would hardly eat anything, plus i work out everyday so i burn a lot of it off anyways. I would be happy to learn more about the points though then at least i would be able to understand them a lot better!
Well, the general rule of thumb was that 50 calories roughly equalled a point. But I did find that ww seems to penalize foods they deem unhealthy. They seemed to be more than the calories. Yellow cheese for example, I found varied in points, but not in calories per slice.3 -
Thats interesting to know!
Im on a 12 week programme so will see how it goes, im sure ill get the balance right
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LoveMusic4Life wrote: »To be honest i didn't, i just typed in the food i was going to eat on MFP, Fitbit, and WW, and all are in within my 1200 cals a day thats including my breakfast too, but when i type it into WW it puts me way over that intake, its very strange how it works and still trying to workout how the points system works.
But i think counting cals is a little bit better for me because otherwise i would hardly eat anything, plus i work out everyday so i burn a lot of it off anyways. I would be happy to learn more about the points though then at least i would be able to understand them a lot better!
Well, the general rule of thumb was that 50 calories roughly equalled a point. But I did find that ww seems to penalize foods they deem unhealthy. They seemed to be more than the calories. Yellow cheese for example, I found varied in points, but not in calories per slice.
The original points system was 50 calories a point. The newer "smartpoints" system is around 35 calories a point and is then adjusted up for saturated fat and sugar content, and adjusted down for protein content (e.g. some protein shakes are 145 calories but only 2 points due to the high protein content, while things like ice cream will be disproportionately higher in points due to having both sugar and saturated fat).
I still do weight watchers for the weigh ins but track with MFP, because I get more predictable results. My problem with the current "freestyle" plan is the bulk of what I eat are now "zero point foods" so I feel like I'm not really tracking at all.2 -
LoveMusic4Life wrote: »Hi Gwendyprism
I started weight watchers for the very first time last week, like you i don't get the points system at all.....but i do have 3 apps on my phone (MFP, WW and Fitbit also change 4 life food which is great for tracking how much sugar is in food) and all have scanners so i can scan food yet that tell me different things so i get confused. I try not to worry to be honest and just make sure i portion my food, and one trick i always do is close my eyes when i put the food in my mouth and concentrate on the flavours (it doesn't work for everyone but it works for me lol ).
Would like to connect with you on this as i am a long way of my goal and maybe with some encouragement from others the journey won't be so bad, share food and fitness tips along the way
0 -
LoveMusic4Life wrote: »To be honest i didn't, i just typed in the food i was going to eat on MFP, Fitbit, and WW, and all are in within my 1200 cals a day thats including my breakfast too, but when i type it into WW it puts me way over that intake, its very strange how it works and still trying to workout how the points system works.
But i think counting cals is a little bit better for me because otherwise i would hardly eat anything, plus i work out everyday so i burn a lot of it off anyways. I would be happy to learn more about the points though then at least i would be able to understand them a lot better!
Well, the general rule of thumb was that 50 calories roughly equalled a point. But I did find that ww seems to penalize foods they deem unhealthy. They seemed to be more than the calories. Yellow cheese for example, I found varied in points, but not in calories per slice.
WW points are designed to get you to eat healthier foods. The problem is points just aren't an accurate reflection of how many calories you are eating. I compared 4 foods that have about 161 calories each (2 slices rye bread, 2 T chocolate chips, 1.5 T butter and 5.4 oz chicken breast.) But their WW points are very different: rye bread= 4 pts, choc. Chips =5 pts, butter =8 pts and chicken =0 pts. You can see how you could stick to your points each day (I get 23) and could be over or under eating depending on what foods you ate.4 -
Well i weighed myself this morning and im 2lb lighter, ive used all my points daily and then some when tracking on ww. Been tracking my cals on MFP and still am within my calorie goal, so i think ill just use ww for weigh ins.
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gwendyprism wrote: »LoveMusic4Life wrote: »To be honest i didn't, i just typed in the food i was going to eat on MFP, Fitbit, and WW, and all are in within my 1200 cals a day thats including my breakfast too, but when i type it into WW it puts me way over that intake, its very strange how it works and still trying to workout how the points system works.
But i think counting cals is a little bit better for me because otherwise i would hardly eat anything, plus i work out everyday so i burn a lot of it off anyways. I would be happy to learn more about the points though then at least i would be able to understand them a lot better!
Well, the general rule of thumb was that 50 calories roughly equalled a point. But I did find that ww seems to penalize foods they deem unhealthy. They seemed to be more than the calories. Yellow cheese for example, I found varied in points, but not in calories per slice.
WW points are designed to get you to eat healthier foods. The problem is points just aren't an accurate reflection of how many calories you are eating. I compared 4 foods that have about 161 calories each (2 slices rye bread, 2 T chocolate chips, 1.5 T butter and 5.4 oz chicken breast.) But their WW points are very different: rye bread= 4 pts, choc. Chips =5 pts, butter =8 pts and chicken =0 pts. You can see how you could stick to your points each day (I get 23) and could be over or under eating depending on what foods you ate.
This is exactly why I only go to WW for accountability and only track with MFP. Its too erratic.6 -
I have been on ww for a while now and I have flat lined. I am maintaining my weight but the last 15 pounds are the death of me. A good buddy of me told me not to worry bout the scale just as long as your pants still fit!! Lol I will work these last #15 off some how!2
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I've basically maintained for the last 2 years. I still could stand to lose 30-40 pounds. It's time for another big push!0
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I do weight watchers, mostly use mfp to track my weight, although I will put in my foods ocaasionally when I have trouble losing to see where I am going off track by seeing how many calories I am eating1
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I double log, in WW and in MFP. Well really, I triple log, as I also use LoseIt! and have done so for years. I like certain things about LoseIt and certain things about MFP. As to WW, I love my meeting so I stick with that also. I put more stock into the calories than I do the points, because I've been out of points and still need to eat approximately 600 calories to even be near my calorie goal. The weight I log into MFP & LI is my home scale. The weight in WW is their scale, as there is about a 2 pound difference.3
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I do Weight watchers but also use Fitness Pal.. if anyone whos doing both would like to be Fitness pal friends please send me a friend request, would love to motivate and support one another.. I am down 37 pounds in 6 weeks, please send friend requests if interested in being new friends.. ~Sherry6
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I joined WW almost 2 years ago and have only lost 49 lbs because I go up and down constantly. I joined here today because I'm trying to kickstart with a 1200 calorie diet. I lost 3 lbs. in 3 days so I'm going to continue it awhile longer. I'm still going to WW meetings though because I really like the leader and group of people and find it motivating.3
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Ive also been tracking and logging food and exercise on my fitbit as well as MFP and WW, i am over on my points on WW but on MFP and my Fitbit i am still within my calorie goal. I think the WW meetings are useful and for sharing ideas and recipes and just getting to know people.
I would be happy for anyone to add me as a friend on here and share the weight loss journey3 -
I double log, in WW and in MFP. Well really, I triple log, as I also use LoseIt! and have done so for years. I like certain things about LoseIt and certain things about MFP. As to WW, I love my meeting so I stick with that also. I put more stock into the calories than I do the points, because I've been out of points and still need to eat approximately 600 calories to even be near my calorie goal. The weight I log into MFP & LI is my home scale. The weight in WW is their scale, as there is about a 2 pound difference.
That actually makes sence, because i weighed 2lb lighter at home and by the time i walked to the group and was weighed i was 2lb heaver than i was when i left home lol, needles to say i was slightly gutted.
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I've been a Weight Watcher's member since April 4th of this year. I'm cutting back on finances, so leaving WW & coming here.1
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So I had a .2 loss this week according to my scale at home But at WW meeting I was up .4.
I'm not comparing my scale to WW scale, but what my scale weighed a week ago vs this week.
I didn't track Tuesday (it's kinda my free day) but every day this week I was between 1000 and 1400 calories. Getting frustrated. Not sure what to do from here.1 -
gwendyprism wrote: »Anyone out there going to Weight Watchers but tracking calories with MFP?
I've just come back to MFP. I've been a member of Weight Watchers for a couple years now. Before joining WW, I lost about 50#s on a 1200-1300 calorie diet and tracking with MFP.
Since joining WW I've been struggling to lose any more weight tho I am tracking pretty consistently. I just think the Point system isn't specific enough. Its too easy to over or even under eat using points depending on your food choices. I understand the purpose is to steer people to better choices such as fruit, veggies and lean meat. However, I've been a dieter for many, many years and know what healthy eating looks like. For me I think it's more important to have a detailed account of what I'm eating using calories and macros.
Would love to connect with anyone doing WW. I'm going to stay a member because I know I need the support group and accountability of weekly meetings.
I was on it and believe me as a vegetarian I could not use WW to loose weight. Just wasted a lot of money.
Here I can go on different diets and check my macros and I started looking weight.
Of course we need to workout and create calorie deficit.
So I was on the wagon...But I jumped off.0 -
....And oh we can stay in touch and report our weight loss.0
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LoveMusic4Life wrote: »To be honest i didn't, i just typed in the food i was going to eat on MFP, Fitbit, and WW, and all are in within my 1200 cals a day thats including my breakfast too, but when i type it into WW it puts me way over that intake, its very strange how it works and still trying to workout how the points system works.
But i think counting cals is a little bit better for me because otherwise i would hardly eat anything, plus i work out everyday so i burn a lot of it off anyways. I would be happy to learn more about the points though then at least i would be able to understand them a lot better!
Well, the general rule of thumb was that 50 calories roughly equalled a point. But I did find that ww seems to penalize foods they deem unhealthy. They seemed to be more than the calories. Yellow cheese for example, I found varied in points, but not in calories per slice.
cmdmedia.....
I think your right. The point system is does not seemed to be based on just calories, fat, & protein any more. It's like I get punished for eating something "unhealthy" even if it's just a very small amount. I think things with sugar & carbs really have high points.2 -
I am doing WW Points Plus and tracking calories with MFP. Most days my 26 WW points and the 1200 MFP calories are almost the same, give or take a few calories. I've lost 40lbs since April so it seems to be working for me.0
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PamEllaHasGoals wrote: »LoveMusic4Life wrote: »To be honest i didn't, i just typed in the food i was going to eat on MFP, Fitbit, and WW, and all are in within my 1200 cals a day thats including my breakfast too, but when i type it into WW it puts me way over that intake, its very strange how it works and still trying to workout how the points system works.
But i think counting cals is a little bit better for me because otherwise i would hardly eat anything, plus i work out everyday so i burn a lot of it off anyways. I would be happy to learn more about the points though then at least i would be able to understand them a lot better!
Well, the general rule of thumb was that 50 calories roughly equalled a point. But I did find that ww seems to penalize foods they deem unhealthy. They seemed to be more than the calories. Yellow cheese for example, I found varied in points, but not in calories per slice.
cmdmedia.....
I think your right. The point system is does not seemed to be based on just calories, fat, & protein any more. It's like I get punished for eating something "unhealthy" even if it's just a very small amount. I think things with sugar & carbs really have high points.
Points go up for sugar and saturated fats, go down for protein.0 -
I joined Weight Watchers April 2017 and lost over 30lbs the first 6 months but it slowed them stopped the next 6 months. I think I lost only 5lbs over the second 6 month period. I chatted with online staff, talked to my leader, talked to my doctor, got bloodwork, had them review my food diary with mostly blue dots, and my fitness log which was 60 fit points per week. Was told to cut down 0 point foods to maybe 2 servings per day. I tried eating my weeklies but started to gain. With MFP it comes up with about 1200 calories per day. Not sure what else to do but keep going on. Having hard time justifying the cost though if it’s no longer working,1
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I've been a member of WW for almost 2 years. I love my meetings, the weekly accountability, and I really think the plan has made me a much healthier eater. However, I came to MFP because Freestyle isn't accurate enough for me. WW tells you to eat until satisfied on 0 point foods. That is all well and good unless you have food dependency issues like I've had my whole life. Also eating until satisfied is highly subjective to my mood and what I'm currently eating. Soooo, I've been double tracking and it's amazing that I have seen a 500 calorie difference using the same 24 daily points. That was a huge eyeopener for me and since joining MFP, I'm back to losing.
There is a WW support group over in the motivation and support forum if you are interested. We are just a group of girls that are sharing life together. 4
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