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.