Switching and Weightloss Success?

KiaraThompkins8263

Hey I'm thinking about making a switch from a slightly more expensive tracking app to this one but I want to know any advice on continue weightloss success in the process?

AnnPT77

It's hard to answer that without knowing more. Are there specific features you're concerned about that you want to make sure are available here, or features you dislike in the expensive site that you hope aren't in MFP?

There have been people here who switched from WeightWatchers/WW to MFP, or Noom to MFP, and things like that. Depending on what you're switching from, there might be someone(s) here who've made the same switch, if you said specifically. Someone who'd done that could give you pros/cons, maybe.

Generically, MFP has very mainstream nutritional goals by default, but lets you modify those if you want to; and uses research-based calorie estimating methods. It will tell you when you're missing certain of your goal settings (for example), but unlike some other tracking apps, it doesn't try to influence you to eat in any particular way by making so-called "bad foods" have some kind of penalty or so-called "good foods" have some kind of reward. (The foods aren't coded red/yellow/green or given point counts, for example.)

With MFP, you have control over your goals (i.e., you can change your calorie and nutrition targets), and you can eat whatever foods you like within the goals you set for yourself (or let MFP set for you). You can even blow out your goals, and MFP won't do anything major, other than maybe giving you some kind of warning message.

Whether that's better or worse depends on what you want.

cmriverside

It works if you work it.

Any diet and weight loss tool is only as good as the person using it.

I lost 80ish pounds 17 years ago and I've kept it off by basically logging food and exercise on this site. I just use it as it was designed to be used, I don't/didn't use even a tracking gadget like fitbit or anything similar.

Here's the explanation of how this site calculates. It is a little different than other trackers:
https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625391-How-does-MyFitnessPal-calculate-my-initial-goals

Log food, study my FOOD diary and learn from it - then and now.

KiaraThompkins8263

I'm currently on WW and thinking about making a switch more so in the cost department I do enjoy WW but I'm want to see if I can save some money and I am more use to counting points than calories and I'm concerned that I won't be able to stick with it

AnnPT77

KiaraThompkins8263 wrote: »

I'm currently on WW and thinking about making a switch more so in the cost department I do enjoy WW but I'm want to see if I can save some money and I am more use to counting points than calories and I'm concerned that I won't be able to stick with it

Got it - thanks!

Here's what I understand from friends IRL and other MFP-ers who've done WW, though I'm not a former WW person myself.

WW points tend to penalize heavily for . . . treat foods, for lack of a better term. The free foods tend to be things that are more nutrient-dense, not quite as calorie dense. In essence, they tend to push you toward more nutritious, and probably more filling foods.

This rest is more personal experience from me, so YMMV:

Personally, I'm such a veggie/fruit lover, I'm sure I could gain weight on WW free foods.

Key point: There's ample research that it's calories that are the direct trigger for weight gain/loss/maintenance.

The trouble is that many foods people think of as junk foods, highly-processed foods, treats, even (somewhat to my horror) "bad foods" - those tend to have relatively many calories, be relatively less filling/satisfying, and not have as many nutrients (for their calorie level) as so-called "whole foods". (I think WW makes those high point foods.)

So, if a person calorie counts, they could - in theory - lose weight eating all McDonalds food, or mostly Twinkies, or something like that. Legit, people have done that: Eaten really iffy stuff, lost weight, improved cholesterol and blood sugar at the same time, all that jazz.

But doing that is kind of a party trick, something done for effect (or publicity). Most people who try to lose weight eating largely fast food, highly-processed food, etc. . . . they're going to crash and burn before they reach their weight goals because they can't feel full, or don't feel energetic/good.

On the flip side, people who try to eat only (exaggerating) kale and boiled no-skin chicken, they're likely to find it super unpleasant, and not be able to stick to it. They crash and burn in a different way, maybe eating foods they crave, or giving in to social situations - whatever.

What's the solution? Balance, IMO: Mostly whole foods (lean meats/fish for protein, maybe some cold-water fatty fish for Omega-3s; healthy fats from nuts, nut butters, seeds, avocados, olive and avocado oils; plenty of varied, colorful veggies/fruits for micronutrients and fiber) . . . plus a few small treats now and then just for joy (chocolate, a rare rich dessert, a deep-fried appetizer super occasionally, whatever).

Balance is somewhat individual. Different people thrive on different eating routines.

To me, that's what's brilliant about calorie counting: I like that flexibility. I eat mostly so-called whole foods, and I definitely prioritize getting good nutrition on average over the week(-ish). But I also eat some small treats almost daily, and have a truly indulgent meal or day infrequently. I lost weight fine (class 1 obese to healthy weight in just under a year), and have maintained similarly for 8 years since. For me, calorie counting is *perfect*: It's so flexible, and logging highlights my nutrition averages for monitoring.

Will it work for you? I don't know. Give it a think. Maybe even try it in parallel with WW for a month. (Yes, that's a lot of work. But you can get most of the benefits from free MFP, not premium . . . and see how the two compare.)

I hope some former WW folks will comment. But I hope this gives you a bit to consider, too.

No matter what you decide, I'm cheering for you to succeed: Reaching and staying at a healthy weight has been a huge quality of life improvement for me. I want that for everyone, including you.

Best wishes!

KiaraThompkins8263

Thanks for the advice and support

COGypsy

It’s been years, but I originally switched to MFP from WW. On the one hand, it was no big deal because I was already weighing and logging “every bite, lick, and taste”—mostly. There was a bit of a mental shift from free fruits and veggies to needing to include those in my logging, but honestly once I saw how produce calories add up, it was ridiculous to leave them out of the calculation.

I think the biggest jump for me though was dealing with the potential margin of error in the MFP database. It’s no big deal once you get used to it, but moving from a curated database like WW has, where they control and verify entries, to a crowdsourced database that has to be hand-verified by the user was a big surprise. Once you’ve tracked for a while you get a favorite foods list and things go faster, but it is definitely a learning curve.

That said, I love the price of MFP (free!) compared to WW and I like having actual data about my food instead of some arcane “points” designation.

yirara

I never used WW. I'm also one of those people who would gain weight on free points because I eat a lot of it. MFP can be free, thus there's no need to pay depending on whether you need the premium features or not. Me, I've been using MFP for ages without. Never needed them.

mtaratoot

What if you started with the FREE version of MFP while still sticking to WW? Then you could assess how the tool works and what your data might look like. You'll start to learn how to enter your foods (and activities) more easily. Then after a month or two, if you think that MFP will server your needs, stop paying for WW. If you're interested to see what the premium version of MFP is like, I'd suggest just using the free version for a week or three to learn the basics, then use the free trial of premium to see if it is worthwhile to you. There's some great tools on premium. You may find that you use one or two that you really like. Or you may realize that you don't need them and don't mind the advertising.

The main thing is to stick to it.