Does MFP work as well as Weight Watchers?

laursoar

I've seen WW work for some, but personally it wasn't for me. I feel weary about any diet industry that profits from an individual using their program. It makes sense that they want you to pay for it as long as possible, you know? So while some certainly can learn good habits and get off it, they make it easier to lose weight if you keep paying/coming back and using WW. I feel like MFP is more sustainable for me in the long run and free! Plus, I think it's crazy fruits and veggies have no points. I like to acknowledge that they do have calories too. If I ate like two banana smoothies a day, a large apple, and three cups of certain higher calorie vegetables, I'd be racking up close to 500 calories. It's good for me to compare that to the 500 empty calories in like half a restaurant milkshake too to promote healthier choices!

harms97

I did WW 3 times over the span of a few years. Most I lost was 18 pounds. I'm at 23 pounds on MFP and I like it much better. lOn MFP, I am learning to eat clean and make a lifestyle change. WW works, but if you hold yourself accountable and follow the guidelines on MFP, you get FREE results. Just my personal opinion.

Mary407

I've done WW online multiple times, with mixed success, but finally quit for good when I found MFP. I liked a lot about the WW online program, including the recipes sections, but the MFP user interface is much more efficient. The "quick tools" options in completing the diary are great. Will you use the mobile app? MFP's online app is awesome! And, sorry to say it, WW's is just absolutely awful. I read all the bad reviews of the WW app before downloading, but put it on my droid anyway cause I was using WW online and wanted the option to log from my phone. It was just as bad as the reviews I'd read, and the difference in user friendliness was my primary reason to switch to MFP. Doesn't hurt that it's free too!!!

greenmonstergirl

I gained weight on weight watchers

stuj019

I prefer WW to MFP, I have just come back to MFP but have given myself two weeks to lose five pounds. If I have not lost five pounds in two weeks I am rejoining WW on Line. I have only ever done WW on line I have never attended the meetings. This may sound stupid but when I am paying it gives me more of a reason to stick with it. If i lose the five pounds i will continue with MFP.Good Luck what ever you decide.

Ready2Rock206

I am more successful on MFP than I was on WW.

If you join WW and go to meetings and have a great leader it can be helpful. If you're just doing WW online - then MFP is a much better program.

DrewMontoya

I haven't read all the replies yet, so this may have been covered already. I inadvertently found a fatal flaw in WW while I was on it last year. Basically, it amounts to rounding errors with low and zero points foods. To give an example, bananas are 0 points and I found myself eating three to five a day. While that wasn't contributing to my total points, it was still 330-550 calories that I was not counting. Needless to say, I constantly hit plateaus and even gained weight while remaining well within my points budget.

I won't go back.

cyndilie

I did WW 14 years ago, lost 25 pounds and slowly put it back on over the years. I have been doing MFP for a little over 5 months now, lost 23 pounds to date, and now I'm interested to see what happens as far as going back to old habits and putting it all back on. When I was doing WW I was all about whatever food I could eat to keep the points in range. With MFP and following the threads here, I'm much more aware of food values, what's good, what's bad, and I'm eating cleaner and really have made a lifestyle change for the better. I think that MFP is my answer for the long term. Good luck!

stillnot2late

I liked WW a little better when they had the core system. You didn't have to count points or calories and you got FULL. It was based on the carb thing, but you ate fruit, potatoes, pasta! I couldn't afford it when I retired, and lucky I found MFP. WW made it easy for people who have a problem being accountable, because of the book with the types of foods to eat and how they fit in with your particular program. I hated "points system", just count the darn calories! I would love to go but not driving any more and the center is so far away, and I don't know if the do core system any more. MFP is just the same except there is nobody pampering me and showing me what to do, I have to be accountable for myself.

chargraves

I think it's crazy fruits and veggies have no points. I like to acknowledge that they do have calories too. If I ate like two banana smoothies a day, a large apple, and three cups of certain higher calorie vegetables, I'd be racking up close to 500 calories.

Just a note that between the banana smoothies, large apple, and high calorie vegetables (assuming that the poster means things like potatoes, beans, corn, etc), only the apple is zero points. The WW points goal assigned to members takes into account eating fruits and vegetables within the GHC guidelines ( 5- 8). Yes it makes a difference if someone eats 8 bananas or 8 cups of spinach but it's stressed that you should eat a variety of fruits/veg which usually evens out.

stillnot2late

I haven't read all the replies yet, so this may have been covered already. I inadvertently found a fatal flaw in WW while I was on it last year. Basically, it amounts to rounding errors with low and zero points foods. To give an example, bananas are 0 points and I found myself eating three to five a day. While that wasn't contributing to my total points, it was still 330-550 calories that I was not counting. Needless to say, I constantly hit plateaus and even gained weight while remaining well within my points budget.

I won't go back.

That was one thing I didn't like about the points system. When they did the core system, you could only have ONE fruit, seems like thats how I remember it. Only one small potato, half cup pasta, etc. but mostly everything else as a good carb and protein, you ate your full share, when you decided it was enough.

NikiChicken

For ME it works better. For others WW works better. EVERY diet works, it's just a matter of finding what works for YOU. MFP is free, so it certainly doesn't hurt to try it. You might love it or you might hate it, but only you can figure that out.

lisajsund

For every 2 pounds of fat I lost on WW, I also lost a pound of lean tissue. That's bad news. I've been enjoying more successes with MFP (and saving money) and keeping my protein intake up.

Does MFP work as well? Yes, and you get support from others without having to go to meetings. The only advantage is having someone else look at the scale with you. Is that worth paying for? That's up to you...

beccamh

I did weight watchers, lost 20lbs, stopped and slowly gained it back over 3 years. Now I'm diong MFP and I'm losing again. I have calculated my "points" for a few random days just for fun and I am usually around 36pts ("old' WW points, not points plus I never used that). When I was on WW I would eat around 26, so I know I am eating a good deal more now and still losing. I do think WW encouraged me to eat a lot of fruits/veggies and I did like the weekly weigh-ins/meetings ... but this is free and it's working

rml_16

I am more successful on MFP than I was on WW.

If you join WW and go to meetings and have a great leader it can be helpful. If you're just doing WW online - then MFP is a much better program.

Playing devil's advocate -- I did WW online and lost 30 pounds and three sizes over 12 weeks. never felt hungry, ate "real" food (including dessert when I wante dit) and exercised regularly.

On MFP, I have either gained or maintained my weight, no matter what I try.

In truth, that is not MFP's fault. I switched birth control methods and it was a huge mistake I'm still paying for. But my pesonal experience doesn't mean one program is better than the other. I followed the GHGs on WW and I lost steadily (not one gain in all thetime I was on it) and kept that weight off for years using the tools I learned from the program. MFP on its own (aside from the community) doesn't offer any of the tools WW offered. People come here and have no idea what to eat. They know they need to eat less, they sometimes even try to hit their macros, but they don't know where to start. WW -- if you do it right -- teaches you where to start.

And those saing WW doesn't encorage exercise -- 30 minutes of activity daily is one of the guidelines.

shortnsweetbb

Bump for later

swhiteism

My aunt lost 100 + lbs doing WW. I almost signed up before I discovered MFP, but I'm so glad I didn't. Nothing against WW, I'm sure it DOES work for most people, but MFP is FREE! And even if it wasn't, calorie counting is FREE! There's no sense in paying for something you could do yourself. It's the same with things like NutriSystem, Jenny Craig and the like. Why pay someone to feed you low calorie meals when you can eat at a calorie deficit by yourself? I wish more people understood this.

SLLRunner

I haven't read all the replies yet, so this may have been covered already. I inadvertently found a fatal flaw in WW while I was on it last year. Basically, it amounts to rounding errors with low and zero points foods. To give an example, bananas are 0 points and I found myself eating three to five a day. While that wasn't contributing to my total points, it was still 330-550 calories that I was not counting. Needless to say, I constantly hit plateaus and even gained weight while remaining well within my points budget.

I won't go back.

I don't understAnd why fruits and veggies are "free" in Weight Watchers. I mean, some can be pretty high in calories.

auntiebabs

Better, i think, everyone I know who's been on WW has gained back plus some. Some folks have done that a couple of times and now feel really desperate, so they take more drastic measures instead of chilling out and making a series of small sustainable changes.

frankiep73

I am a lifetime WW member. I think WW is great, the meetings and being weighed by another person is very helpful in being accountable. They have online tools that are very similar in tracking here on MFP but the difference to me is the money and the time required to go to those meetings. I lost 100# with WW before baby and I'm now too busy with a toddler who likes to wake early so going to meetings are not an option right now. Will I go back to WW. More than likely yes, as the fundamentals have really changed and are very much in line with what my current MFP goals are.

While there are FREE foods with WW, you do have to use common sense in knowing that 1 piece/serving is FREE, not multiple. You need to keep a very well rounded diet, and I think the new program takes that into account for the most part. I don't really think fruit, with natural sugars or calories, should be free, but do think the veggies should be. I would take out a few point for fruit I ate, based on the old Points system.

Tracking either way comes down to being honest. You can follow WW, and track but if you are not honest, then nothing will work. MFP I have made my diary public so my friends can see it.

You need to do what is right for you. There is never a one size fits all for weight loss.

Denjo060

Ive been on MFP for a while now but just joined on line Wednesday Ill try it for a few months and see waht happens

upscalelifedownscalebutt

It's a personal decision.

I tried weight watchers a few times (different incarnations) and despised it. I hate someone else weighing me. I despise the fact they think all weight fluctuations are "real" and not water, totm bloating, ate/didn't eat, different clothes, went potty first, etc. I also hated lying to myself and putting zero for fruits and veggies. Their weekly lessons were also useless. Didn't learn a single thing. I was just throwing my money away so I stopped and saved my money for new clothes instead to celebrate my weight loss.

Foxymoron59

I lost 33kg on an old points system at WW and it worked really well for me. Then. The new points system seems to treat people like children, yes we grown ups know that we need to eat fruit and veg, so making them zero points is pointless (heh, see what I did there?) I didn't lose much weight the last time I joined and while I am still getting used to counting calories on MFP I am finding it much better and enjoying that I am in control of the whole thing. Also, if you live in a country area as I do, and weigh in at different meetings depending on what town you need to travel to for other things, the scales all seem to be different. And on a cynical note, I really think they want us to be paying members for as long as possible so I never really trusted their scales which were also always different by a couple of kg to my own scales at home.

MilliDenney

I have been a lifetime WW member for about 35 years. In those years I've jojo-ed up and down below my goal weight countless times. I've also worked for WW for about 4 years or so. While working for them, you have to maintain your weight - wouldn't look good to have an overweighed receptionist... But I managed to gain weight higher than my goal weight during those years, and nobody knew it exept my best friend there, and I. The trick is, someone else but YOU has to sign off for your weight card, and my friend just didn't want me to have to leave.

ANYHOO....

This summer I decided to start the Peer trainer method, and with that method I have lost 25lbs in 5 months. I read about MFP in a Peer trainer group, looked the MFP pages over and decided I needed to become a member.

And now your question if WW is better than MFP. WW is great (I mean the real WW-ers, NOT the one on line because that sucks). It gives a lot of support, which always worked very well for me (until I stopped going) (which always happened in times I could not control my food cravings).

They give you excellent recipees, and the point counting system is easy. Yes, vegetables and fruits have no points. The theory behind that is 'Who eats 5 bananas a day?', 'Who eats 6lbs of strawberries?' and 'Who eats 4 plates of green beans?' And even if you would do that one day, the next day it wouldn't be that fantastic anymore.

When I looked over these MFP pages I became enthousiastic, with the way you can put together your daily meals, that is a tool WW doesn't have. With the community, all the boards, there is an answer for every question nomatter what it is about.

I guess that both systems work great, but it depends on YOU and on YOUR commitment.

My advize would be: Give MFP a try. Give yourself 2 months, and see how it goes. If it doesn't seem to work after 3 weeks, hang in there, give yourself all the time that you promised to try it. It doesn't cost anything, and with the right mindset, all you can do is succeed.

If after 2 months you don't have any result you can always decide to go to WW.

I wish you good luck, and I hope you'll stick around!!!

gigglesinthesun

They give you excellent recipees, and the point counting system is easy. Yes, vegetables and fruits have no points. The theory behind that is 'Who eats 5 bananas a day?', 'Who eats 6lbs of strawberries?' and 'Who eats 4 plates of green beans?' And even if you would do that one day, the next day it wouldn't be that fantastic anymore.!

I do. I live in a hot country and can eat 5 bananas easily throughout the day. I can add to that a lunch time salad that contains 2lbs of lettuce, green beans, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and some lemon juice. Only yesterday I snacked on 1300g of watermelon. Does everyone do this? No. However with a following as large as WW there will be a few and before you say common sense, until I started here I had no idea that I consumed the quantities I did. The scales are my friend. Now I shall have some more watermelon :-)

cberger831

MFP was better for me. I am holding myself accountable. I been doing it for twenty days and loss 13 pounds!

cahtchme

MyFitnessPal is better in my opinion. One of the main reasons: it's free.

I tried WW back in 2005. I lost 20 lbs or so. Stopped figuring out the points...gained it all (and then some) back over the next few years.

I went to Medical Weight Loss clinic for about a week in December 2011 and realized they were a money hogging gimmick as well and asked for a refund. (Normal grocery store food my a**).

Joined MyFitnessPal December 2011 and have enjoyed it. Having to actually look at the entire nutrition label instead of points makes me realize what is going into my body. (I'm not perfect, I still eat a lot of junk). But it is more feasible to do long term I think, then counting points.

kf5ljp

Who wants to watch their weight? I'd rather take it off

yustick

I like the basic principals of WW (at least when I went)... extra virgin olive oil, fruits and veggies, low fat dairy and protein. I think it is better to use the money on a gym membership. MFP gives you a free source of information, logging and support.

Good luck to you however you decide to get healthier.

elisa123gal

i wanted to shoot myself when I was on WW... don't know how many calories they had me on.. but I was so starving and hated it. I quit after a few weeks. I love mfp and i'm losing.. so happy.