Weight Watchers
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I have done weight watchers. A few years ago I did it and reached my goal to become a lifetime member. Then I went back to my old eating habits and after a few years was right back where I started. Its a great program that works when you follow it and its not a painful process at all, you don't feel deprived or that you can't have what you want. It does take a little bit initially to figure out the points system but you begin to see patterns in your eating and the point values of different foods. A couple of years ago full reimbursement of weight watchers became part of my benefit package at my job and they set up an 'at work' meeting during our lunch hour so I really felt like I had no excuse not to take advantage of it. I started a year and a half ago, the e-tools make it SO easy to track and be aware 24/7. Who doesn't carry a smart phone any more? BUT about 3 months ago they canceled our at work meeting because most people just weighed in and left not taking advantage of the meeting, so I was somewhat concerned as to how I would handle life 'on my own', then a friend pointed me to MFP, I tracked on both programs side by side for a couple of weeks to see how they compare. They are nearly identical with MFP being a bit easier because I can look at a label track calories, without having to figure out how many points it is. Its taken just a little bit of time to switch over but for the price I don't think there is enough difference in the tracking to justify the cost of WW. There are definite benefits to having a weekly meeting for accountability at WW however I think there are ways, like this community to connect and find partners that will encourage and support accountability here as well
Hope my lengthy post helps......
Begin Anywhere...........Just Begin!0 -
I was on and off WW for about a decade. Yes the program works if you stick to it, as will any program with a caloric deficit. They have great recipes and while they strongly promote healthy foods, you can eat whatever you like within your budget.
When I started dieting, WW was the only tool I knew of that focused on normal eating habits. I didn't want to do any fad diets, pills or shakes. That's why I opted for WW.
But I never reached a healthy weight let alone goal weight on WW. I could do it for several months at a time and then just be so sick of it. In 2009 I lost a good amount and the following years I yo-yoed only a little bit, because I could fall back on my WW tool easily and keep it more or less under control. All-in-all my weight trend line kept going down.
I went off program in April this year. That's when I added in exercise, and that's when I actually reached a healthy BMI. WW does not really promote exercise, they advise it, but why would you when you can lose without working out? That was me for several years. When I reached that healthy BMI and looked at my body, I can see that I still carry a lot of fat. And I knew that I was not fit, did not have any stamina whatsoever. I now wish I had realized sooner that weight loss and exercise should always come in one package.
That said, I'm now eating more than I ever did on WW. On WW I was allowed the minimum daily points, and that turned out to be around 1000-1100 calories. On days when I stuck to my daily points I was often hungry. I'd usually have some weekly points about 3 days a week, around 10 extra. I remember I often felt a bit guilty because I ate so much on the weekend, turns out that was only 1400-1500 calories. I love to make chicken fajitas (chicken+veggies+spices+tortilla wrap+bit of sour cream). A healthy dish imo, yet it cost me over half of my daily points. To make up for that, I'd eat a meager breakfast/lunch. Now when I make the same dish and log it on MFP, it's only a little over 500 calories, actually a bit on the low end for a typical dinner for me. This did shock me, on WW I thought I was having a high calorie meal (since it was so high in points), when it's not that at all. Same goes for little things like a tablespoon of salad dressing. Seriously, 1 point for 29 calories worth of dressing?
I felt that with the new program a lot of women are under-eating. I frequented the WW forums in my country and there were always lots of messages by women who were afraid to use any weekly points. On top of that, they're also afraid to use their exercise points. WW says you MAY use your weekly points, but you don't have to, promising a weight loss of 2lbs per week if you don't use them. So no wonder a lot of women won't touch them. Often when they do use them one week, they'll gain, panic, and won't use them again. I noticed that the women who consistently used most of their weekly points and were not afraid to eat back some exercise points, were the ones who had the best results and were the ones to not only reach goal weight, but also maintain it.
In hindsight, I'd say MFP is a much better tool to lose and control weight. It's free, it has a huge database. And it's so much easier to tweak it to your own needs. I calculated my TDEE and try to eat at a -15% deficit on average. Some days I might eat at -10%, some I might be at -20%. But still, I can look at the numbers and know exactly what I've taken in. With WW you have your 35 weekly points and you have to figure out yourself what to do with them. If you eat them all, what does do for your weightloss? If you spread them out evenly, what does that do for your weightloss? I could never figure out the amount of weekly points that worked for me.0 -
I use WW...however...I don't agree with their theory on fruit being zero points...that's why I track with My fitness pal also...I have lost 32 pounds with WW since December, 2012. It works if you work the program.0
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I just recently started Weight Watchers and was wondering if anyone knew any good low point recipes for dinner. I am using the smart ones however it is getting pretty expensive and I would like to find a more cost effective way for dinners.0
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I have done weight watchers. A few years ago I did it and reached my goal to become a lifetime member. Then I went back to my old eating habits and after a few years was right back where I started. Its a great program that works when you follow it and its not a painful process at all, you don't feel deprived or that you can't have what you want. It does take a little bit initially to figure out the points system but you begin to see patterns in your eating and the point values of different foods. A couple of years ago full reimbursement of weight watchers became part of my benefit package at my job and they set up an 'at work' meeting during our lunch hour so I really felt like I had no excuse not to take advantage of it. I started a year and a half ago, the e-tools make it SO easy to track and be aware 24/7. Who doesn't carry a smart phone any more? BUT about 3 months ago they canceled our at work meeting because most people just weighed in and left not taking advantage of the meeting, so I was somewhat concerned as to how I would handle life 'on my own', then a friend pointed me to MFP, I tracked on both programs side by side for a couple of weeks to see how they compare. They are nearly identical with MFP being a bit easier because I can look at a label track calories, without having to figure out how many points it is. Its taken just a little bit of time to switch over but for the price I don't think there is enough difference in the tracking to justify the cost of WW. There are definite benefits to having a weekly meeting for accountability at WW however I think there are ways, like this community to connect and find partners that will encourage and support accountability here as well
Hope my lengthy post helps......
Begin Anywhere...........Just Begin!0 -
I did WW for a few months last year, I lost a few lbs, my friend had more to lose and he lost 80 lbs.
I found a few things:
- monthly fee is too expensive
- points values are cryptic and too much work
- WW doesn't promote heavy exercise and as a result, it was hard for me to figure out how much energy I was burning during exercise and how to eat more for it. The meeting leader had no answers neither did the website
- I think it's best for people who have really bad eating patterns because it's good to learn how to eat better
I say MFP is a better site and FREE!!
good luck!0 -
I've been on and off WW for a number of years. About 8 years ago, I reached my WW goal (I had chosen the top weight in my height range). Kept it off for a couple years, then had an Achilles tendonitis flare-up for two years. Boom, 40 lbs back on. Got my tendonitis thing over but was so demoralized about the re-fatted me that I stayed in denial for several more years. Finally in March '12 went back to WW. Had to pay each month because I was over goal weight, but by December I was below my WW goal, so I do still go each month to weigh in (for free so long as I stay below goal) and pick up any materials that are available. In the meantime, I discovered MFP and was astounded at the tools and support it provided FREE! Since then, I have lost 24 pounds below my WW goal, which is in the exact middle of my height range, i.e., normal weight. Haven't been this weight since junior high...
I learned a lot at WW, but found the current program to be lacking: not counting fruits and vegetables really doesn't make sense, and I did find that I wasn't losing weight on the program (I had 26 pts) until I began a progressively more rigorous exercise program. Once I did that, plus one dietary change (quit bread), I began consistently losing weight. Given what I know today, I would not join WW and pay their fees now that a site like MFP is available. I did on-line WW for awhile but find that MFP is faster and more intuitive than the WW on-line although they may have improved it since I tried it out.0 -
Would it be easier? No, you still have to figure out points values for every food you eat and you have to track it. Same as here, except here you will have a better understanding of how many calories your body needs and how many calories you are consuming each day. WW keeps all of that a big secret.
I have been on WW before and I did have some success. However, WW is all about a points value and they don't work in the real world. You don't learn to eat right per say, you learn to find foods that are low in points which again, doesn't apply in the real world.
^This
The esoteric points system is not going to help you in the world that is measured in calories not points to macros ratios.0 -
The bottom line with any plan is once you are past the 26 week mark to really stick with it. It is after 26 weeks people start to eat what they have lost and put it back on again plus a few pounds more. This happens to about 85 %.
The BBC doc. "the men who made us thin" , which part 1 is available on you tube, discusses this point and as well as weight watchers long term success rate which is very low.
The goal to any diet is reduce portion size to a healthy amount. Since the eighties portion sizes in fast food and restaurants has increased to the point where we feel we are deprived if we do not get a large amount of food.
The food industry makes more money selling the increased portion sizes hence it is a win for them and a lose for you.
This is discussed on BBC "the men who made us fat " part 2 also available on you tube.
Good documentaries that are available on you tube
bbc " the truth about food" entertaining six part series with lots of info and also dispels dieting myths
as well as supersizers go , an entertaining series looking at food consumption through history.0 -
I don't think it would be easier since the point system isn't universal and calories are. Every label will tell you how many calories are in something but I'd hate to have to work out the points value too. Also fruit and vegetables are "free" and I can tell you from experience that i can rack up a nice surplus eating free bananas and broccoli. They complicate things so you think you need them, you don't.0
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Weight Watchers , which is owned partially by Heinz, who sold off a portion of their interest to a European Investment group for $735 Million.
Jenny Craig is owned by chocolate giant Nestles, and Slim Fast is owned by another food giant Unilever.
The latest news
Weight Watchers loses value on wall street to my fitness pal
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/biz-beat/2013/aug/02/weight-watchers-sheds-stock-value-after-poor-profi/
Weight Watchers is shedding more than just pounds. August 02, 2013
The weight-loss company’s shares fell sharply Friday after it reported its second-quarter profit fell 16 percent and revenue also declined, partly because consumers are turning to the Internet for more weight-loss help.
Things may not improve, the company warned Wall Street as it lowered its profit estimates for the year. Attendance at weekly meetings was down 15 percent, and total paid weeks declined 2.5 percent, although online active was up 4 percent, the company said.
To add to the uncertainty, the company said Chief Executive David Kirchhoff, who had been with the company for 14 years (six as CEO) had left the company to pursue other opportunities. President and Chief Operating Officer James Chambers, who joined the company in January, is succeeding Kirchhoff.
The company said it was hurt by “declining sign-ups in the U.S. business, as the commercial weight loss category continued to be impacted by increasing consumer trial of activity monitors and free apps." Among the apps are Lose It!, Fooducate, Locavore, My Fitness Pal. Endomondo and the Nike Training Club.
Weight Watchers' shares were down more than 18 percent at one point in trading Friday. Are online weight-loss apps just as effective as services provided by Weight Watchers, NutriSystem and others?0 -
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I went to WW online when I got burnt out on trying to hit my fats, proteins & carbs. It was a nice little break and I did start to lose again but then I tracked a days worth of points here and my sodium was through the roof! I did like that all you need was 4 numbers to figure out the point value but unfortunately the sodium and the sugar numbers made it a free for all. If they did community challenges here and made all food entries "food scale friendly" there would be no reason to look elsewhere then MFP.0
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yes it works, but you gain all the weight back after
Great Point , the BBC doc "The Men Who Made us Thin" available on you tube, outright stated that the Weight Watchers among others profits are built on failure. 85 percent will put it back on again plus a few pounds more , and a large number of people will return to these programs to lose it again and again.
The point made on the BBC doc. "The Men Who Made us Thin" is that the very food giants who are selling the fating products are also involved in the weight loss industry.
The weight loss business is worth in the billions with the product sales alone.0 -
yes it works, but you gain all the weight back after
Great Point , the BBC doc "The Men Who Made us Thin" available on you tube, outright stated that the Weight Watchers among others profits are built on failure. 85 percent will put it back on again plus a few pounds more , and a large number of people will return to these programs to lose it again and again.
The point made on the BBC doc. "The Men Who Made us Thin" is that the very food giants who are selling the fating products are also involved in the weight loss industry.
The weight loss business is worth in the billions with the product sales alone.
Isn't it "the men who made us fat"?0 -
Last years documentary was the Men Who Made us Fat , three parts , worth watching as it is on you tube
This years is the Men who Made us Thin. Parts 1 , 2 are available on you tube It is looking at the weight loss industry.
Part 3 is broken down into 5 segments on you tube.0 -
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Last years documentary was the Men Who Made us Fat , three parts , worth watching as it is on you tube
This years is the Men who Made us Thin. Parts 1 , 2 are available on you tube It is looking at the weight loss industry.
Part 3 is broken down into 5 segments on you tube.
Oh okay thanks for the info. I'll check them out!0 -
I followed the old Momentum plan, and I lost weigh steady. I lost approx. 3-5 pounds the first week, and anywhere from .5-1.5 pound the following. I followed the plan on my own, and enjoyed it. I don't see how the new plan can say fruit is free, when fruit has calories. Also I liked the point slider verses the calculator.. By the time you enter in all the factors who wants to still eat the item your looking up. LOL I know they want you to make healthy choices, but I feel the Momentum plan was easier to follow. If you want to follow the old ww plan, you can find all the information pretty much online.
I am trying mfp calorie counting, and if it works great. If not I am going to follow the old ww plan, and keep the mfp community. I just joined and have had an out pour of support already. Im excited to get started!
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Why people put weight back on againPredictably, after my blog yesterday called out Weight Watchers for having a failure rate hovering right around 100%, people rushed to blame almost 100% of dieters for “just doing it wrong.” The myth goes that almost everyone fails at weight loss because almost everyone quits their diet and goes back to their old habits/doesn’t have the willpower to keep dieting/doesn’t do it “right”. That’s not exactly what the research says but before we talk about this let’s look at this from a basic perspective.
First, let’s talk about what “dieting” means (so that we can avoid the “It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change!” discussion.) Dieting occurs when someone gives their body less food than it needs to survive in the hope that it will eat itself, thereby becoming smaller. Call it a diet, call it a lifestyle change, if you are starving your body hoping that it will eat itself resulting in intentional weight loss, congratulations you are on a diet. (You are completely and totally allowed to diet, I’m just saying let’s call it what it is.)
So why are diets so very unsuccessful long term? Let’s look at it from your body’s perspective. Your body isn’t aware that there is social value in meeting an arbitrary stereotype of beauty. Your body can’t actually imagine that there is enough food available, but you won’t feed it because you are hoping that it eats itself and becomes smaller, so it assumes that you live in a circumstance where sometimes you have to deal with starvation. If you add a bunch of exercise to that then your body assumes that there are times when you are starving and have to run long distances. Your body is very interested in helping you live, and so it reacts to this situation by putting measures into place for the express purpose of gaining and maintaining weight so that you can deal with your life of starvation and running. And it keeps that up long after your initial weight loss ends.
An Australian research team studied people who had lost weight in an effort to understand some of these changes. A year after their initial weight loss:
•A hormone that suppresses hunger and increases metabolism – Leptin – was still lower than normal
•Ghrelin, nicknamed the “hunger hormone,” was about 20 percent higher
•Peptide YY, a hormone associated with hunger suppression was abnormally low
•Participants reported being much more hungry and preoccupied with food then they had prior to losing weight
A year after losing weight these people’s bodies were still biologically different than they had been prior to the weight loss attempt, desperately working to regain the weight – and participants had already regained about 30% of the weight they had lost. One of the study’s authors characterized it as “A coordinated defense mechanism with multiple components all directed toward making us put on weight.”
The evidence that exists shows that almost everyone fails at long term weight loss (yes Virginia, even the National Weight Control Registry. In fact, especially the NWCR!) I will never cease to be amazed at people who insist that it’s just that almost everyone does it wrong. That’s like saying that, since some people survive jumping out of planes when their parachutes don’t open, almost everyone who dies in such a circumstance is just falling wrong.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the truth is the almost everyone can lose weight short term on almost any program, and almost everyone gains their weight back long-term even if they are able to maintain their diet behaviors, with many people gaining back more than they lost. What WW and other diet companies have managed to do is take credit for the first half of a natural biological response (the weight loss), and convince their clients to blame themselves for the second half of that response (the rebound weight gain.) Sure it’s disingenuous, but at least it’s highly profitable! They’ve also managed to spread this myth far and wide, successfully making people into PR machines. They’ve done such a great job of turning people into myth-spreading marketing machines, that diet companies don’t even have to speak up in their defense because other people will be so very happy to do their dirty work for them.
http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com/2013/05/03/why-do-dieters-regain-weight/0 -
Hi,
I've done WW twice. It worked the first time with the old points system but not the second time after they changed it as I seemed to be able to eat much more!!!
Wouldn't do it again but everyone is different and will lose weight on different programmes. 0 -
I did weight watchers. It does work.
However, MFP is the same as online WW and it's free.
WW focuses on a points system (derived from the nutrition label) while MFP actually shows you all of the nutrition information.
I feel like you have a better chance on MFP due to learning and seeing the actual content of your food vs. a points system.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the meetings and all....but I think this serves an even better purpose.0 -
IMO the best thing about WW is the accountability and socializing at the weekly meeting. If you're just doing it online, you may as well save yourself some money and use MFP. Having said that, out of all of the 'diet clubs' (and I think I've pretty much done them all!), I think that the WW plan is best in terms of information, being easy to follow and encouraging a balanced diet.
Although you have to wonder...if everyone who tried WW suceeded first time and kept their weight off...they would be out of business.0 -
Hi
I've done WW on and off for years and can contribute around 25lb of my current weight loss to it. However since using this site I have found that I was really undereating and so it is no wonder I struggled with it. It seemed to take ages to lose weight and I felt hungry a lot of the time. I now eat to me TDEE -20% and am finding that I'm not so hungry. Also I got very patch advice from my leader about eating back exercise calories - she would never commit as to whether I should do this or not. Now I eat back the majority of them.
For me though the best thing about MFP over WW is that the log shows you not only calories but also the macros so you ensure you eat sufficient carbs/protein/fats etc. I think this is one of the best things. I have PT sessions a couple of times a week and when I showed my WW food diary to my trainer he said I was having far too much fruit (high sugar) and not enough protein to sustain my training.
There is lots of great information on this website and I've found it well worth trawling through and reading it and learning from the advice given. I track weight plus my measurements and re-calculate TDEE every few weeks just to make sure I'm on track.
Good luck!!!0 -
Has any of you on here ever tried weight watchers? If so, does it work? Do you think it would be easier to use that type of program instead of MFP?
Yes, I have a couple of times. I am just coming off of ww because I needed to mix things up a bit. I was getting bored with it and I wanted to see the nutrients broken down. I have had a good loss with WW, but I think I should give this a shot. The variety of food I have been eating is much better. I am not so worried about counting points for corn, pasta, potatoes, and peas. Portion control is what is needed and this is a good way to learn.0 -
I lost weight on WW a few years ago. It does work as long as you stick to the program. After about a 20 lb loss however, I thought I could do it on my own and ended up gaining it all back plus some. As with MFP it is a lifestyle change and you have to accept that you will have to follow the program forever to be successful in the long term.
I like MFP better, and am losing weight -slowly but surely. And it's free! Plus the MFP app is much better than the WW one.0 -
I was on Weight Watchers for a while. Did really well too. I lost 55 lbs on their program but it's so expensive to pay that monthly fee every month so I left. My supervisor at work started a weight loss support group and suggested we all try MFP. This works just as well as Weight Watchers and it's free! And I haven't gained the weight back that I lost on Weight Watchers and I'm still losing. It's the same basic concept eat right, exercise and track what you eat.0
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My mom is 60, doesnt work out, but uses weight watchers and she has used weight watchers since december 2012. she's lost about 45 pounds.Mind you, that's with no exercise and metabolism fighting against her. AND she does the weight watchers online, not the meetings. In my opinion, weight watchers works. The first week I was on it, I lost 3 pounds. However, I struggle to stick to anything.. even MFP.
To clarify for a few people who haven't a clue... Weight watchers is NOT a diet plan. You can eat whatever you want. It teaches you how to eat the healthier foods and stray away from the unhealthy foods which will be the foods really high in points value. I love weight watchers. If only I could actually be persistent with logging my food whether it be on MFP or WW.0 -
Another great source for food info is www.fooducate.com It is free along with a free app that you can download to the Iphone or smart phone so you can do your scanning while shopping.
This web page has a great search engine with 200,000 products listed .,
http://www.fooducate.com
It has a vast amount of info regarding the additives in the Food,
eg, a search of McDonalds Burritos comes up with 13
concerns regarding the ingredients. There is a wealth of info regarding the chemicals, additives in the food, Msg, dyes, flavoring of the product. More so when you click on each of the items where it is red flagged there is more detail concerning the nature of additives ,
It allows one to really grasp what is in the product and make a much more informed decision0
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