The biggest feature I miss about WW...how can I simulate it here?

Truthster013

The biggest thing WW seemed to offer that no other calorie counter I've found does is giving you more calories for foods that are good for you or giving you "free foods". Straight calorie counters don't seem to teach you to eat better. On WW I learned to actually make better choices (i.e. I can eat more if I eat veggies). When it's straight calorie counting there isn't incentive to skip the chips in favor of better food with the same calories. Anyone find a way to incorporate better choices into MFP?

cwolfman13

Truthster013 wrote: »

The biggest thing WW seemed to offer that no other calorie counter I've found does is giving you more calories for foods that are good for you or giving you "free foods". Straight calorie counters don't seem to teach you to eat better. On WW I learned to actually make better choices (i.e. I can eat more if I eat veggies). When it's straight calorie counting there isn't incentive to skip the chips in favor of better food with the same calories. Anyone find a way to incorporate better choices into MFP?

Because points don't equate to calories. Points are a completely made up thing...calories are actually a real unit of measure. I incorporated better choices by simply making better choices. Bottom line is I can eat a lot more making better choices and actually feel satisfied whereas poor choices leave me hungry and make is so that I can't really eat that much because I'm already at my calorie limit.

xbowhunter

WW = creative calorie reducing money making cash cow! lol

Retroguy2000

Truthster013 wrote: »

The biggest thing WW seemed to offer that no other calorie counter I've found does is giving you more calories for foods that are good for you or giving you "free foods".

What?

Straight calorie counters don't seem to teach you to eat better.

And, what?

Making arbitrary changes to calorie counts sounds like the opposite of teaching better to me. A calorie deficit is real. How you get there is up to you. It should become apparent quite quickly that a serving of vegetables is far fewer calories than a bunch of cookies.

Truthster013

I'm not here to defend WW but their system was not "arbitrary". They used a system to account for foods that metabolize different etc. Calories are not the only factor in weight loss. There is an enormous difference in empty calories for example. In any rate, I'm not a fan of WW most recent decisions but no, it was not just "made up" or "arbitrary".

Lietchi

I'm also not a fan of 'free foods' etc. but to give some concrete ideas:
- you could use fiber: by aiming for a certain fiber intake, you push yourself to increase fruit and vegetable intake as well as other high fiber foods, generally considered healthy
- aiming for a certain amount of unsaturated fats pushes you to eat for example more fatty fish, avocados, nuts (complicating factor: some sources are better than others and proportions of the subtypes matter too, and figuring out an appropriate goal is tricky there are no official guidelines for unsaturated fats)
- staying below a certain sugar intake (complicating factor: no distinction between natural sugars and added sugars - added sugars are the ones that should be limited)

AnnPT77

I feel like most of us know what food are nutrient dense: Lean proteins, veggies, fruits, whole grains, etc. MFP can help us quantify the nutrients, and also help us learn which foods are calorie-dense.

In that context, I think logging and reviewing our own diary is a useful approach. For me, it was obvious quite soon where I was eating extra calories that weren't that useful to me for either nutrition or happiness. Those were easy things to reduce (frequency or portions) or cut out entirely (and quite painlessly).

After those easy cuts, I could get a little more canny about what to do to gradually remodel my eating in a positive direction, eating foods I personally enjoy and find practical/affordable. (IMO, life is too short to eat unpleasant things that are supposed to be good for me. I admit, I like quite a range of foods, which makes that easier.)

The right balance of nutrition, calories, practicality and tastiness is going to be individual, I think. A thing I like about calorie counting (vs. a point system that rewards supposedly good/bad foods) is that I can make choices, eat mostly nutritious filling foods, but also fit in a few treat foods here and there for pure pleasure. (Usually, I get my minimum nutrition in my diary first, then use some calories remaining on less nutrient-dense but very enjoyable things.)

You can still use lists of supposedly "healthy" foods. (I think this is not as black and white as some sources, possibly including WW, make it.) You can look up WW free foods, do web searches for "healthy foods lists", look at sources like USDA My Plate (the details behind the plate graphic, not just the graphic!). MFP will quantify the nutrients and calories for you. IMO, this can be pretty simple, as long as a person doesn't try to be perfect all in one jump.

I'm not saying it's right for everyone, but this is the kind of incremental process I used to gradually move my eating in a more positive direction using MFP:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

That won't work for everyone, because no one thing does. But for me, that implicitly got my eating to an overall enjoyable, nutrition, calorie-appropriate, practical, affordable set of routine eating habits that was personalized to me. YMMV.

Best wishes!

Corina1143

WW is a "for profit" company. They are always looking for ways to please people while keeping them coming back for more. MFP and others, not so much.
It's a choice. I choose MFP and i hope they never change.

PAV8888

Log your food, accurately, stay within or close to your calories

Review your log and reflect.

Were the mayo or thousand Island or full fat sour cream or whipped cream or tortilla chips worth the calories to you in the context and quantity you ate them at? Would you have benefited by some substitutions or changes? Could you have front loaded a lb of veggies to your meal for that amount of calories?

Then ask your friendly AI web companion for ideas and substitutions.

Make some of them and repeat the process

Utility maximization given budgetary constraints for the win!

yirara

Some different perspective: I would certainly gain weight on free food because that’s what I mostly eat. With calories I know how much I really eat.

AdahPotatah2024

They have tons of WW books at my local thrift store for 50 cents-1.00! I'd get a few of those, and then log in all the ingredients and "save meal" on the food diary.

glassyo

Truthster013 wrote: »

The biggest thing WW seemed to offer that no other calorie counter I've found does is giving you more calories for foods that are good for you or giving you "free foods". Straight calorie counters don't seem to teach you to eat better. On WW I learned to actually make better choices (i.e. I can eat more if I eat veggies). When it's straight calorie counting there isn't incentive to skip the chips in favor of better food with the same calories. Anyone find a way to incorporate better choices into MFP?

I've done Weight Watchers and I've done calorie counting.

I lost weight while utilizing both.

Even not eating as "healthy" as some might.

It comes down to the calories (for weight loss).

You said WW taught you to eat better but how does all that knowledge go out the window if you move (for whatever reason) to counting calories? You still chose the 130 calorie chicken breast (or whatever you chose) over the 130 calorie bag of chips on WW, right? You still had a choice in what you ate. That doesn't go away just because you're changing the tool that helped you make better choices.

Also, free foods aren't free. Everything but water has calories and it all adds up. That's why, in the old days, you only got 5 free foods.

And, if you still need incentive, your incentive should be hitting whatever goals you're working towards by eating and exercising and living life to achieve it.

BrightEyedAgain

I've never done WW, but I normally use my macros to guide my food choices. Making sure I get enough protein tends to help me choose chicken over chips. It also helps me feel more satisfied.