Weight Watchers - Jenny Craig

Fridaklo77

Was considering joining one of these, never thought I would have too. Anyone have sucess with these programs?
what was the pros and cons...

thanks!

sezie

In lost my first 30lbs with Weight Watchers.

Pros: it teaches you about food and nutrition and how to track everything on a daily basis. I found it easier than counting calories in the beginning.

Cons: it costs money. Sometimes their database is lacking in certain food items(My Fitness Pal has a MUCH bigger database).

I lost the rest of my weight through using My Fitness Pal, which is free. But I do think Weight Watchers definitely helped me get the wheels in motion and realise exactly what I was putting in my mouth.

SummerRain43

I've never tried WW so I can't comment.....but I did do Jenny Craig years ago and all I lost was approximately $500!!!

eatspopcorn

I signed up with WW numerous times over the years, never really had success and always cancelled because I couldn't afford to pay for something I either wasn't using or wasn't working for me. I like MFP better. It took me a while to get used to counting calories, plan out my day and all but once I got the hang of it I prefer this method. No foods are off-limits unless you have an intolerance or sensitivity to something. This is truly not a diet, but a lifestyle change and teaches you how to eat for the rest of your life.

neelia

I currently attend WW meetings but do not follow the WW plan- I simply count calories. It is MUCH easier to me to count calories than it is to calculate points. I only attend the meetings in an attempt to make friends who have similar interests as me (which, really, is losing weight and being healthy) and to keep myself motivated.
In my opinion, you should save your money on either program and find some supportive friends on MFP.

kwantlen2051

Tried Jenny Craig & Weight Watchers before and quit. Too costly and no time to go to weekly meetings. So glad I found MFP. Nothing off limits, just be honest, log everything and make yourself accountable. Plus great support on this site.

caroldavison332

Weight Watchers seemed to be obsessed about food. That didn't seem healthy so I stopped going. Now play with my dog and our friends at the dogpark instead which is great fun and healthy.

Dogwalkingirl

I know people who have had great success with Weight Watchers but basically as far as I can see it is basic calorie counting anyhow. I don't understand the point in paying to do that when you can do it here for free? They do have the weigh ins so maybe some people need that. I have two girlfriends also trying to lose weight and we weigh in on Saturdays. I believe with Jenny Craig you have to pay for food??? No thanks!

I suggest you stick with this and weigh in once a week or so for motivation.

claudie08

I've been on WW numerous times over the years - some with success and other times nothing - and I've gained every pound back.
I know people who've had success with it and are maintaining, but for me, it was just alot of money out the window.

tjsoccermom

A long time ago, like almost 20 years (holy cow!) I did Jenny Craig. I was looking to lose weight before I my wedding. This was before the internet and I was rather clueless about diet and exercise. I will say that I did lose weight, around 25 lbs if I remember correctly. However, I didn't keep it off afterwards. Because I was eating their prepackaged foods, I wasn't really learning how to calorie count, use proper portion sizes or cook healthily. I would not suggest it. You'll probably lose if you stick to it but you will probably also gain it back. Plus, it's not cheap!

I can't speak for WW as I've not done it but it does seem just like another way to count calories. I do know that the weekly meetings do help some but I feel like making MFP friends and the forums provide just as much motivation as that would.

I've now lost 59 lbs using MFP, counting calories with their app and exercising. You can do it on your own and you'll be learning how to form habits to use the rest of your life. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

David_AUS

I would definitely recommend Weight watchers to anyone considering eating healthier. Jenny Craig - I have not tried I would prefer to make my own food choices and always felt that you become dependent on their system.

Weight Watchers- was the trigger for me to lose the majority of my weight initially (around 90lbs I shed through monitoring my calories with their system - you can / could do the same here in MFP)

Pros:
* Simple system - makes estimations of food (even when eating out drop dead simple)
* Makes you accountable with weigh in's (usually weekly)
* Have a great "reward" system (they offer pins etc... for accomplishments) - for mini goals along the way
* (Relatively) cost effective - serve to educate in food choices
* Once you "know" the system you do not have to remain a member you can continue to follow the principles without going to their meetings etc... (this is what I did and I tracked in my own excel spreadsheet)
* Great support structure and understanding staff (from my experience)
* I am not sure whether they still do this but membership was "free" in AU for the non-online version if you remained in your healthy weight range? IE: You kind of become a mentor at the meetings
Cons:
* Cost - there will always be a cost involved
* Time - you still need to be logging your intake (monitoring points)
* Time - to learn their system, the maths is not difficult but it does take a little bit to get use to.

I think you will find it redundant to monitor calories in here and WW-Points I quickly searched WW points and importing into MFP and found (not read) this posting

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/822197-how-to-track-weight-watchers-points-on-mfp

auntiebabs

Was considering joining one of these, never thought I would have too. Anyone have sucess with these programs?
what was the pros and cons...

thanks!

Everyone I know who has done WW has lost, but ended up gaining it back plus more.
I have one friend who started out at a healthy weight, and ratcheted took more severe measures to lose. It seems to me such an unsustainable unhealthy cycle.

I know a couple of people who have done Jenny Craig as well, that process seemed more sensible to me... but both of them ended up gaining back the weight as well... So who's to say.

I HATE, HATE, HATE the idea of "jump starting" your diet... eat sensibly, track your nutrition as well as your calories and be patient and results will follow. Make sure you have a reasonable goal (I know BMI isn't perfect but it's a good place to start for most of us. I shave 10lbs off of the top end and 10lbs off of the bottom end of the scale. As a safety zone. If I get sick or life gets out of control for a bit I've got 10lbs wiggle room at each end of the spectrum)

It's the long haul that is important. It's not the first one to the finish line that wins. It's the one who can be the healthiest the longest. YOLO.... you only get one body, no trade-ins. I want it to feel good, so I can go out and have fun for as long as I can.

I want to be capable and dance and run and swim and kayak and climb trees and backpack and throw my niece and nephews in the air. I don't want my body to stop me from living my life. But I also don't want dieting to take over my life... (Balance is so damn hard.)

My, my, my seems I had a little over zealous outburst here... Oh, well what ever you choose stay safe and GOOD LUCK!

Fridaklo77

Thank you all for your feedback, I think I am going to give MFP a shot first....

Fridaklo77

Was considering joining one of these, never thought I would have too. Anyone have sucess with these programs?
what was the pros and cons...

thanks!

Everyone I know who has done WW has lost, but ended up gaining it back plus more.
I have one friend who started out at a healthy weight, and ratcheted took more severe measures to lose. It seems to me such an unsustainable unhealthy cycle.

I know a couple of people who have done Jenny Craig as well, that process seemed more sensible to me... but both of them ended up gaining back the weight as well... So who's to say.

I HATE, HATE, HATE the idea of "jump starting" your diet... eat sensibly, track your nutrition as well as your calories and be patient and results will follow. Make sure you have a reasonable goal (I know BMI isn't perfect but it's a good place to start for most of us. I shave 10lbs off of the top end and 10lbs off of the bottom end of the scale. As a safety zone. If I get sick or life gets out of control for a bit I've got 10lbs wiggle room at each end of the spectrum)

It's the long haul that is important. It's not the first one to the finish line that wins. It's the one who can be the healthiest the longest. YOLO.... you only get one body, no trade-ins. I want it to feel good, so I can go out and have fun for as long as I can.

I want to be capable and dance and run and swim and kayak and climb trees and backpack and throw my niece and nephews in the air. I don't want my body to stop me from living my life. But I also don't want dieting to take over my life... (Balance is so damn hard.)

My, my, my seems I had a little over zealous outburst here... Oh, well what ever you choose stay safe and GOOD LUCK!

I am thankful for all your comments , this really made sense, my problem is that i want things to happen overnight! I get so sad getting on the scale, and I think I am sick of starting and stopping and seeing how awful i look in the mirror...But, you made sense, and i need to wake up and do the work!

David_AUS

.. I will say that when I was on WW this was pre- "Fruits have no points" etc... the main reason I did not go back to WW was that the old system was all book based and probably outdated for current grocery lines and I heard about the "No points" for fruit and I intrinsically did not agree with this and did not want to learn the new system - so that is why I am here instead!

craftywitch_63

I did WW and nutrisystem. I lost weight with both. The problem was keeping the weight off after I couldn't afford the program anymore. Nutrisystem is convenient but so is going to the grocery store and buying lean cuisine or healthy choice meals.

David_AUS

Everyone I know who has done WW has lost, but ended up gaining it back plus more.
I have one friend who started out at a healthy weight, and ratcheted took more severe measures to lose. It seems to me such an unsustainable unhealthy cycle.

I must be one of the more determined few I am determined never to be that weight again! and WW was part of my early journey - I knew some foods were calohorific, and it was when I could compare foods in a book Points against points that I could see just how calhorific potato crisps, flavoured milk and a few other foods that I was eating with little thought really are!

I am grateful for work running the "weight watchers @ work program" and the wonderful young lady that ran our sessions at the time. This really changed my life.

kbmnurse

Joined WW in the past, did not like it. The meetings were annoying, the leader was a loud know-it-all. Quit after just 3 mod. I do much better on myfitnesspal and exercise.

Roaringgael

Jenny Craig is very expensive and their food gets monotonous - they don't teach enough about calorie control preferring to keep you a bit ignorant and dependent on them. I have lost weight with them though. Couldn't recommend it, its too expensive.
WW works but costs money, great if you want to met people etc.
Any thing will work if you want to it to.

cwolfman13

It would seem that with WW you're just counting points instead of calories and you have to pay for that for some reason. MFP is free and easy and I think you can actually learn a lot more about nutrition should you go beyond simply counting calories.

Snow__White

i did JC about 8 yrs ago only lost 10 lbs and gained it all back plus some when i stopped!
waste of money!!!
just use MFP you are already here and its FREE!

Sarah9380

I really liked Weight Watchers. I live in a city that has multiple meeting locations each with multiple meetings. I had a monthly pass and went to several different meeting leaders until I found the ones I liked. And I found that different leaders were what I needed at different times in my weight loss journey.

I found the meetings supportive (once I found ones I liked) and that was very helpful. I also learned a LOT from other members. It's amazing how a problem that seems huge to one person has been faced by so many other folks who have found solutions to that problem. It's nearly impossible to share a problem at a good meeting and not have someone share a solution that will work for you.

I also found the PointsPlus system to work well for me rather than just counting calories. It helped me learn what foods really fuel my particular metabolism.

The huge drawback is the price. I was doing it when I got it for free with an "at work" program at a previous job. I lost 70lb through WW. I quit two different times due to cost. The first time was for almost a year and I pretty well maintained what I'd lost. This recent time, I gained almost 30lb back because I'm a crazy emotional eater and had a bunch of hospitalizations and death in my family.

Now that I don't have it available to me anymore due to money, I'm on here. I do worry a bit about counting calories rather than points and not having the in-person meeting support. We'll see how it goes.

headzy

I have lost 8kg since October on Weight Watchers. I find going to meetings and "weighing in" keeps me accountable and get heaps of motivation from my leader. You don't have to buy their products it's just sticking to simply healthy and filling foods. I don't track I'm too busy to log food count calories or points I would rather use that time getting out and exercising. Yes it's expensive, I pay $73.50AUD per month for unlimited but I'm going to lose this last 7kgs and become a lifetime member and then it's free as long as you keep at your goal or plus 2kg so that's a great incentive to maintain your healthy weight range for the rest of my life.

SezxyStef

I've learned more about losing weight, nutrition, health and fitness here on a free site than I ever did from WW...

They are all about the weight loss...never mind how you do it. Fat, Muscle, water doesn't matter just lose that weight...

and call fruits and veggies free???? That means you aren't being totally honest about your intake and your points are actually quite low.

auntiebabs

Was considering joining one of these, never thought I would have too. Anyone have sucess with these programs?
what was the pros and cons...

thanks!

Everyone I know who has done WW has lost, but ended up gaining it back plus more.
I have one friend who started out at a healthy weight, and ratcheted took more severe measures to lose. It seems to me such an unsustainable unhealthy cycle.

I know a couple of people who have done Jenny Craig as well, that process seemed more sensible to me... but both of them ended up gaining back the weight as well... So who's to say.

I HATE, HATE, HATE the idea of "jump starting" your diet... eat sensibly, track your nutrition as well as your calories and be patient and results will follow. Make sure you have a reasonable goal (I know BMI isn't perfect but it's a good place to start for most of us. I shave 10lbs off of the top end and 10lbs off of the bottom end of the scale. As a safety zone. If I get sick or life gets out of control for a bit I've got 10lbs wiggle room at each end of the spectrum)

It's the long haul that is important. It's not the first one to the finish line that wins. It's the one who can be the healthiest the longest. YOLO.... you only get one body, no trade-ins. I want it to feel good, so I can go out and have fun for as long as I can.

I want to be capable and dance and run and swim and kayak and climb trees and backpack and throw my niece and nephews in the air. I don't want my body to stop me from living my life. But I also don't want dieting to take over my life... (Balance is so damn hard.)

My, my, my seems I had a little over zealous outburst here... Oh, well what ever you choose stay safe and GOOD LUCK!

I am thankful for all your comments , this really made sense, my problem is that i want things to happen overnight! I get so sad getting on the scale, and I think I am sick of starting and stopping and seeing how awful i look in the mirror...But, you made sense, and i need to wake up and do the work!

You don't have to be perfect, you just have to do better this thought has helped me a lot... little things really do add up

auntiebabs

Everyone I know who has done WW has lost, but ended up gaining it back plus more.
I have one friend who started out at a healthy weight, and ratcheted took more severe measures to lose. It seems to me such an unsustainable unhealthy cycle.

I must be one of the more determined few I am determined never to be that weight again! and WW was part of my early journey - I knew some foods were calohorific, and it was when I could compare foods in a book Points against points that I could see just how calhorific potato crisps, flavoured milk and a few other foods that I was eating with little thought really are!

I am grateful for work running the "weight watchers @ work program" and the wonderful young lady that ran our sessions at the time. This really changed my life.

More power to you!!! Use the tools that work best for you!

shoppingdiva2011

I am still a member of Weight Watchers and have lost a lot of weight there as well as here on MFP. Weight watchers laid the foundation for my weight loss but WW does not have a good food database and hands down its way better here and FREE.

crose0056

my 2 cents (that I have saved here) MFP+fitbit-1 year=35lbs weight loss.

castadiva

I found WW unbearably patronising, misguided in some areas, and the idea of weighing in publicly somewhat traumatic. Jenny Craig (I only went to a consultation) suggested a goal weight that would have been insanity to even attempt. My mother weighed more than that when she was a biafran-looking teenager, and I'm of very similar build, but two inches taller... Mind you, I generally prefer non-group activities, so it makes sense that I'd dislike the group aspect of WW. Of the two, I suspect WW is preferable in terms of eating normal food and being able to apply the principles to normal life, but I'd personally steer clear of any 'organised' weight loss system that makes you pay - that fact alone disincentivises them to make it possible/likely for you to be able to achieve and then maintain your desired outcome without their help.

bobbi29

I have found that WW is what I needed. I became to obsessed with calories and even know there is a cost I find since I have to pay for it I am more accountable for it so compared for other programs is only 19.00 a month. And for now that is working for me.

Raniatlw

Currently on JC right now. I've lost about 15lbs. It's a slow weight-loss. Every week I lose about 1-2lbs (sometimes a little more). It's great for those people who are too busy to cook (or, like me, hate and despise cooking). It's not so great for your bank account. It's expensive. You spend on average about $150 a week (and there's an initial sign up fee, but you get half of it back if you reach your goal weight). The food is tasty and you cycle through 4 weeks of food. There's some overlap from week to week but not enough to get super tired of the food. If you don't like something you can exchange it for a meal you like more. Portions are small, but you eat 6 times a day and honestly I have not gone hungry a single day. You do have to buy extra's like fruit and veggies and milk, but that's about it. Every week you meet with an advisor and talk to them about the week ahead. If there's something you need to plan for, like a friend's birthday out, you plan ahead for it, so that when you go to a restaurant you aren't just picking whatever. After you reach your goal they transition you to 4 weeks (I think) of eating their food and your own food (haven't gotten there yet). The meetings get reduced to once a month, instead of once a week. They're also supposed to teach you how to maintain the weight without eating their food. But, again, haven't gotten that far yet.

The reason why I chose to try JC is because I'm busy and I don't make time to make my own food; I used to opt for the easy meal (ie. fast food), instead of trying to do the healthy meal. (Obviously, I know I'm going to have to change that fact once I'm done with JC; I'm hoping to learn the tools to do so when I've reached my goal.)

Hope my experience with JC is insightful.