Weight Watchers or Calorie counting?

funjabi

:indifferent: I've done weight watchers in the past n lost a good amount of weight.
My OH has suggested doing this and counting my cal's, i'm confused as i want to keep this simple.
Any advise please????

jrich1

Its basically the same thing, the points are just a measure of calories.. and counting calories is free

lmbihn

I am doing the same thing, ww was so easy just add up points and done, counting calories confuse me sometimes because food that was FREE foods on WW are not free foods when counting calories. I dont understand this. anyone have any answers about this

00trayn

I like that calorie information is much more readily available than WW points and it's free to do. I didn't want to pay for weight watchers and I had no idea how many points most things were worth, so I was really happy to find MFP with a large database for calorie counting that didn't cost a cent. My housemate senior year of college lost weight with weight watchers and did pretty well keeping it off. It's definitely successful, just not my thing.

Skinnytime

On WW "free foods" have under a certain amount of calories per serving. If you ate ten servings of free foods, then you would be adding substantial calories to your day. I think I remember that if you went over a certain number of servings of a free food, you had to count it with points. It's been over 5 years since I've done it, so I'm sure someone current with WW can explain it better than me.

I started with just points and then I became pregnant and had to make sure I was getting the right amount of protein and calcium in my diet. This was before I ever discovered MFP and was keeping a hand written log.

If you do calories and use the food journal in MFP, you can keep track of where your calories are coming from. If you just do points, you may just eat empty calories, rather than really watching where they have come from.

I got tired of doing points and then went to just calories. I found it much easier.

Either way, good luck on your journey.

barbiecat

:flowerforyou: I've never done weight watchers but I've had good success with counting calories :bigsmile: :bigsmile:

kintegra

I've done weight watchers & have found the calorie counting to be more successful. Plus its FREE! :bigsmile:

unknownndoll

one thing i dislike about ww points values is that high carb/ high sugar items can still have low points but they are not healthy!!

8turboturtle8

I have done both WW points and calorie counting. The problem I had with the points is it isn't just straightforward...this many calories is this many points, instead you also have to figure in the fat and fiber to get the point value. And if you make unwise choices you can go over points and still not reach 1200 calories which is the recommended minimum for a day. Of course there are pros and cons to every plan because we are only human. You just have to find what works for you. Personally, I find this website to be a no brainer and the support is wonderful...and it's all free. I had to pay $10 or $13 to go to a WW meeting each week! And it taught me no more than what I already know. Best of luck on the journey!

abatres7

Save the money!! Use MFP for support and counting calories. WW uses points to replace the task of adding calories as its easier to count points then adding up calories in your head. However, points go back to calories

MC1972

I had done WW at work and lost a good amount of weight many years back. Since then I gained back the weight plus some... due to two wonderful kids that i was blessed with. Before I discovered MFP, I was contemplating on going back to WW but didn't want to pay for losing weight and having to attend in person every week for weigh in etc... I've kept the WW books and points counter. I tried to do the same thing I've done in the past, record my food intake, stick with my daily points etc.. I found that I didn't have the patience to sit there every time and look up the points for what I was eatting. Plus all the books just got too bulky for me to carry everywhere. I was not able to stick with the plan, than I fall off the charts. Having the myfitnesspal in the palm of my hands, I find it more motivating, do-able and so much more convenient. Having my phone handy with the app in it and to have the tools handy makes life much more motivating to stick with eatting healthy, watching what I am eatting and logging in my food, exercise and water intake. I am so greatful to have discovered myfitnesspal, It's been a week ago today that i've been logging my food journal and so far lost 2 lbs. I am really trying hard to stick with my given calories per day and so far so good! Sorry I got off track.....
To answer your question... Weight Watchers or Calorie counting? They are both great tools to go by, I also came across situation where I questioned some vegetables were 0 pts with WW and MFP has points for vegetables. Having lost 2 lbs in a week and sticking with my daily calories, something is working... For me personally, MFP is much more convenient, it's free and handy ready in the palm of my hands. Its with me everywhere I go when ever I need to log my food intake.... I like the Community tab tool. It feels good to know that I'm not alone in this venture. Good luck to you and everyone else!!!

exermom

one thing i dislike about ww points values is that high carb/ high sugar items can still have low points but they are not healthy!!

ITA. I have this recipe for a brownie that is high in fiber. According to WW it has 0 points, yet it contains 58 calories. A calorie is a calorie. I do think that of all the diets out there, WW is the best, at least its focus is on fruits and veges. However, it doesn't take into account things like sugar, sodium (which can really make you retain water and thus gain weight) or protein. When a mfg takes out the fat (and therefore the item is lower in calories) they usually add sugars or sodium to compensate for the taste.

JBennis1013

I've done weight watchers and lost weight, but what I did realize is I never looked at sodium or anything other than calories, fat, and fiber. I was so concerned on how many points is this going to be rather than the actual nutritional value of what I was eating. I would eat certain frozen meals because it was 4 or 5 points yay!!! but loaded with sodium BOOO!!! With counting calories I look at sodium and other things and have a somewhat better understanding of what is going into my body. Plus this site is free and weight watchers got somewhat expensive after a while because you pay for it monthly and then you fall into buying their products and nothing else.

RMX82

I didn't read through all of the posts, but weight watchers points are just a fancy calorie counting system. Well not that fancy. Essentially it comes out to like 50 or so calories per point. Their "free" foods are pretty much just very low calorie foods, or foods that have enough fiber to cancel out the low calories. Just count calories, it is free and the same exact thing. Actually, to me counting calories is much easier. I was a member of weight watchers online at one point and if they dont have the food in their system, you have to calculate the points by not just entering the calories, but the fat and the fiber as well. That's 3 categories instead of just one. MFP does the work for you.

JBennis1013

I didn't read through all of the posts, but weight watchers points are just a fancy calorie counting system. Well not that fancy. Essentially it comes out to like 50 or so calories per point. Their "free" foods are pretty much just very low calorie foods, or foods that have enough fiber to cancel out the low calories. Just count calories, it is free and the same exact thing. Actually, to me counting calories is much easier. I was a member of weight watchers online at one point and if they dont have the food in their system, you have to calculate the points by not just entering the calories, but the fat and the fiber as well. That's 3 categories instead of just one. MFP does the work for you.

I'm a little confused by what you mean when you say that MFP does the work for you. If MFP doesn't have what I'm eating in their data base and I enter in a new food I enter in the calories, fat, carbs, fiber etc. Unless there's a different way of doing it.

funjabi

Hi all,

Thanks so much for your fabulous replies, has helped.

I have never counted calories hence the confusion, think i need to spend a little more time on this site to learn more. I wasn't thinking of joining a WWatchers meeting again as i cannot commit to attending each week with the life i lead.

Anyway thank you guys, much apprieciated.

EightDMB

I loved WW. I lost 20 lbs on WW before I had my second child. He is now three and I've tried WW again a few times. However, I haven't been able to lose the weight for some reason. This is honestly easier and it's free. I would rather spend the $52 a month on a gym membership.

lee112780

I have been on WW countless times, and spent TONS of $$!!! I have lost, I have gained. Now, I'm heavier than I was before I ever started WW. The thing is...if you have the drive to do it, it doesn't matter what program you are on really. The only thing I like about WW vs this is the meetings because they help keep you motivated. If you are not going to the meetings, this is definatly the better choice, because it's all calorie counting, no matter how you look at it. I too have had the same struggle though.

lee112780

Also...I want to add that WW does not count EVERYTHING like htis site does. I like that this site counts protein...it's important!

RMX82

I didn't read through all of the posts, but weight watchers points are just a fancy calorie counting system. Well not that fancy. Essentially it comes out to like 50 or so calories per point. Their "free" foods are pretty much just very low calorie foods, or foods that have enough fiber to cancel out the low calories. Just count calories, it is free and the same exact thing. Actually, to me counting calories is much easier. I was a member of weight watchers online at one point and if they dont have the food in their system, you have to calculate the points by not just entering the calories, but the fat and the fiber as well. That's 3 categories instead of just one. MFP does the work for you.

I'm a little confused by what you mean when you say that MFP does the work for you. If MFP doesn't have what I'm eating in their data base and I enter in a new food I enter in the calories, fat, carbs, fiber etc. Unless there's a different way of doing it.

I guess what I mean is that the database is much much much better than the WW one. WW had about 10% of foods that I was trying to enter. This site has about 95%. So yea, in the rare case you can't find your food in this database, or find a food that is very comparable, then yea, its a pain to enter, but I find it to be rare that I can't at least find something comparable.

Tammysjourney

I did WW in the past, and I was successful too. It was one of the many "diets" I had tried where I wasnt starving all the time. The biggest thing I liked about it though was that you could continue with what and how you were eating for the rest of your life. It was truly a lifestyle change. All the other diets however successful, you can not sustain for any length of time. Which means as soon as you go off them, guess what happens. Just like with here, you can adapt your eating habits to making healthier choices and live like this forever. Another one I like is the diabetic exchange. It's pretty equivelent to this one, only you have so many servings/cups of each food group you have to eat. But I keep track there, and here, and they are both pretty right on the money with the calories I want to stick with. And with that one, it forces me to eat my vegetables which I cant stand, but they are good for me.
I agree with RMX, I havent found a food yet that isnt at least comparable to what I am looking for to where I have to add it in. They have a very wide selection.

JBennis1013

I didn't read through all of the posts, but weight watchers points are just a fancy calorie counting system. Well not that fancy. Essentially it comes out to like 50 or so calories per point. Their "free" foods are pretty much just very low calorie foods, or foods that have enough fiber to cancel out the low calories. Just count calories, it is free and the same exact thing. Actually, to me counting calories is much easier. I was a member of weight watchers online at one point and if they dont have the food in their system, you have to calculate the points by not just entering the calories, but the fat and the fiber as well. That's 3 categories instead of just one. MFP does the work for you.

I'm a little confused by what you mean when you say that MFP does the work for you. If MFP doesn't have what I'm eating in their data base and I enter in a new food I enter in the calories, fat, carbs, fiber etc. Unless there's a different way of doing it.

I guess what I mean is that the database is much much much better than the WW one. WW had about 10% of foods that I was trying to enter. This site has about 95%. So yea, in the rare case you can't find your food in this database, or find a food that is very comparable, then yea, its a pain to enter, but I find it to be rare that I can't at least find something comparable.

Haha ok I thought that's what you meant, but wasn't sure. You also just have to be careful with some of the things that people enter in. Like for example last night I went to enter in crab legs and the one I chose had the right calories and no sodium. Fish is naturally salty so obviously that one was wrong.

alphaip

i want to keep this simple.
Any advise please????

I've been doing Larry North's Slimdown for Life. It's a $5 used book at amazon.com - it's a bit outdated (nothing on good fats), but it has been simple and wonderful. You can read the first chapter online. The first page said "Any diet you can't do for the rest of your life is not worth doing for a day" - I've been hooked. Seriously simple

willowbee4me

I have tried ww so many times and MFP just a few. I like MFP better in that it is Free and easy to use. Most foods are in the database because anyone can enter them in the database. (which can lead to errors but not very many).
My question: I like the use of having some extra room to eat for special occasions or a Friday/Saturday night dinner, treat in the week. WW will allow you to eat a certain amount of points for this reason or spread it out in the week, if that is how you choose to use these extra points; how could this be incorporated into MFP?

Any ideas?

thanks a bunch!