Weight Watchers and MFP

alisha123

Does anyone else do Weight Watchers? I just started here and I'm also on Weight Watchers. It seems that MFP is allowing me more food than Weight Watchers does. I'm following my allowed calories, but am going over in my points. Has anyone else noticed this? What are your results?

alisha123

Does anyone else do Weight Watchers? I just started here and I'm also on Weight Watchers. It seems that MFP is allowing me more food than Weight Watchers does. I'm following my allowed calories, but am going over in my points. Has anyone else noticed this? What are your results?

Birks

i would stick to Weight Watchers. I did there core program almost 4 years ago now, but i loved it and lost a ton of weight. Needless to say all this time later i have gained some of it back, but i also fell off teh workout wagon for a while. I would join WW again if i could afford it. So, that's why i joined MFP.

PedalHound

I read a really great article about the downfall of the points program in contrast with keeping track of calories, working out, and eating balanced small meals every 2-4 hours. I would maybe try following the site to the letter for a couple of weeks and you may be able to save yourself the money!

dothompson

These are both excellent programs, and will result in healthy weight loss if followed. I don't think it is a matter of better or worse. Some people like the face to face contact WW provides while others like the daily cyber support. You just need to figure out what you want to do and commit to one or the other. It sounds as if you are trying to do both and I think that would just result in confusion and frustration. Pick one jump in with both feet, get excited and get thin.

jessdove

I am also doing WW and noticed a big difference. I don't go to the WW meetings, I just follow the points system. Once you have all of the materials you can do it on your own, unless you need that face to face motivation. One day I was under my calories for the day but it ended up being something like 40 points! What I do is still calculate my points and make a note of it in the Notes section on MFP. For example, I would enter in my food but then type a note that said "Breakfast - 2 points"...same for lunch, dinner, and snacks.

alisha123

Thanks everyone! I really like this online tracking and want to stick with it. My WW session is ending and I don't want to re-join since I have to pay for it. I like the idea of in the notes section putting the points and just see in a couple weeks where I stand.

goochinator

I'm wondering that EXACT same thing. I've been on WW before, went off when I stopped losing, came here- and eventually went back, becuase I needed a bit more structure-
I've been struggling with the same 10 pounds for almost 11 months and I'm going insane.

Its a huge difference between points and calories for me, so i dont know either.
I might do both for awhile, watching the points and seeing where it goes. Still not losing on WW.

jennm75

I'm going to be starting to count my points again for WW - kind of fell off that for a while - I do it on my own at home. So I'll have to see how it all works out for me.

carvan

As far as WW goes, a nutritionist told me that a point is 50 calories. I was on 20 pts so I was only getting 1000 calories, not near enough what one needs! no wonder is was starving all the time!

GIGINATOR

I have to agree, MFP is more accurate because you are counting exact calories and can track your protein, fat, and carb intake which is just as important.
Also, almost everything has a nutrition label whereas WW points are not on every label..

banks1850

I'll submit that doing the points system from WW is the same as doing a custom goal on here. Except you don't have to use that crazy conversion tool.

our5cooks

I follow the Weight Watchers program. I love it, it's wonderful. I use this to see my weight loss and etc! I hope you choose to do the program right for you. :bigsmile:


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KrisKabob

i would stick to Weight Watchers. I did there core program almost 4 years ago now, but i loved it and lost a ton of weight. Needless to say all this time later i have gained some of it back, but i also fell off teh workout wagon for a while. I would join WW again if i could afford it. So, that's why i joined MFP.

Wow... you're the first I've ever heard of (besides myself and my mom) who has done the core plan! I LOVED IT TOO!!! I did it for the first time after college. Even after I stopped following the plan to a "T" I still kept my weight off... until I had my baby that is! haha! I did it after my pregnancy and lost the first 20lbs or so of the 32 lbs. I had to lose. After this pregnancy (it's my second) I plan to do the core plan with WW again... is so healthy and great... and virtually NO POINT-COUNTING!!! Yay!!! I find the core plan easy to follow with MFP (if you want to use both)... I choose mostly to use MFP for moral support, friends, and work out help though.

Good luck! :flowerforyou:

Reesy

I just canceled my Weight Watchers last week after I found this site. I didn't want to pay anymore and I thought this was a more realistic way of tracking for me. I didn't see myself counting points for the rest of my life, nor do I see myself counting calories either.

My plan is to use this system until I have a clear understanding of my impulses and what foods will keep me on the path to success.

The Weight Watchers core plan is excellent. I switched to that for a while and it was great.

KrisKabob

I just canceled my Weight Watchers last week after I found this site. I didn't want to pay anymore and I thought this was a more realistic way of tracking for me. I didn't see myself counting points for the rest of my life, nor do I see myself counting calories either.

My plan is to use this system until I have a clear understanding of my impulses and what foods will keep me on the path to success.

The Weight Watchers core plan is excellent. I switched to that for a while and it was great.

I agree with you about the whole counting calories/points thing... who wants to do that the rest of their life! That is why the core plan is a perfect fit for me!!! I'm glad you liked it when you tried it! I think they should call it the "Core Lifestyle" b/c it teaches you how to make wise decisions about the foods you eat... which to me are more important than the portions. That's just me.

Mangoaddict

I am also doing WW and noticed a big difference. I don't go to the WW meetings, I just follow the points system. Once you have all of the materials you can do it on your own, unless you need that face to face motivation. One day I was under my calories for the day but it ended up being something like 40 points! What I do is still calculate my points and make a note of it in the Notes section on MFP. For example, I would enter in my food but then type a note that said "Breakfast - 2 points"...same for lunch, dinner, and snacks.

What a great idea! I am going to do that starting today

Is it true that you have 35 extra points per week to do with as you please, on top of your daily allocation?

runnerwithstyle

I love Weight Watchers, so I do both programs. I feel they work very well together

littlespoon

Yep, I do both too. This wasnt working for me so I tried WW and lost 7 kilos in about 9 weeks. I have slowed down in weight loss now (i am 55kg) so I am doing this as well, as I wanted to eat more points and know how much that was in calories.

Saying that 50 calories is one point is not really accurate, as it depends on the fibre and fat content of the item.

lessertess

I've not done weight watchers before but I find it VERY interesting that everyone I've ever talked to lost weight on the program but then regained the weight when they left the program. I also talked to a former employee who said that they make their money off repeat customers. Not sure what that says, but it makes me view their program with some skepticism. I've heard similar feedback with many of the other well-known programs like nutrisystem and jenny craig and I think it's because they make your choices and portion your meals for you....you don't learn to do it on your own.

Having never tried it, my opinion may not be worth much but....

I have to question rather or not it really helps you learn to change your habits and if it might not be too complicated to keep up for a lifetime. One of the things I've found with counting calories is that I've learned to better judge portion sizes and to make better nutritional choices. Even when I don't log my calories, I have a pretty good idea of where I am for the day....I can kind of keep a running total in my head. I anticipate not needing to log my food and exercise for the rest of my life as it will eventually become a habit.

Additionally, I've learned that I have to exercise in order to be healthy and that it "frees" me up to eat more normally. When I'm active an occasional cheesecake slice won't kill me.

Reesy

I just canceled my Weight Watchers last week after I found this site. I didn't want to pay anymore and I thought this was a more realistic way of tracking for me. I didn't see myself counting points for the rest of my life, nor do I see myself counting calories either.

My plan is to use this system until I have a clear understanding of my impulses and what foods will keep me on the path to success.

The Weight Watchers core plan is excellent. I switched to that for a while and it was great.

I agree with you about the whole counting calories/points thing... who wants to do that the rest of their life! That is why the core plan is a perfect fit for me!!! I'm glad you liked it when you tried it! I think they should call it the "Core Lifestyle" b/c it teaches you how to make wise decisions about the foods you eat... which to me are more important than the portions. That's just me.

I totally agree Kris!! :bigsmile:

Mangoaddict

I know I shouldnt be promoting another website but fatsecret.com is pretty good also. Similar to MFP, but it can help you record points for weight watchers. Try it.

cerwin

I followed WW for years and I think it is an excellent program. What I found is that I was almost too familiar with it and I lost interest in tracking the points. Going back to good old calorie counting was a new challenge for me that got me engaged again in journaling my food intake. I still maintain my WW online membership because I have several years of history there (weight chart) and some cool friends on some of the message boards.

Research shows that the people who are most successful at losing weight and then maintaining are those that track their food on a daily basis and who exercise. MFP and WW (and so many other sites) are certainly excellent tools for keeping food and exercise logs. The plus for MFP is that it is FREE.

Each person needs to find what works best for them from among the many good and healthy programs. But, we all know there is no secret or magic tool for weight loss. It is simply expending more calories than you take in on a daily basis.

I love MFP's breakdown of the nutritional information. This is really helpful for those who are trying to watch their sodium intake.