Musings of an ex Weight Watcher (very long)

Angellore

I was thinking last night about the difference between MFP and Weight Watchers and I wanted to share my thoughts here.

First, a bit of background about my battle with my weight.

In the early 2000's my weight was up to 322lbs. I had been overweight my whole life, and badly bullied because of it as a teenager. My mum always fed me good, nutritious food, but I would sneak food from the kitchen, and spend all my pocket money and paper round money on sweets and snacks as I got older. Once I moved out of home I would serve myself portions which were probably meant for 4 people and I would eat until I felt sick. One day something clicked. I was trying to do my boots up and I couldn't reach them because my belly was stopping me from bending over properly. After crying about it I knew I had to do something. So I joined Weight Watchers. I had been a member a couple of times before and lost around 20lbs, but then decided I could go it alone and ended up re-gaining. This time I was in a much happier place in my life and I stuck with the plan and when I got married in September 2007 I weighed 177lbs (I'm 5'10" tall), and I was wearing a size 14 (UK) wedding dress. I couldn't remember ever being that slim. However, over the next couple of years I regained much of my loss. I guess I thought I could relax a bit. I also began suffering with depression and anxiety and spent some time off of work, just sitting and eating, trying to make myself feel better. So come the end of 2009 I was back up to 294lbs. It certainly goes back on alot quicker than it comes off!

I decided to re-joing weight watchers - after all it had worked before, why not again? By now I was working shifts so I jolined online. For the next year and a half I messed aroung losing and gaining the same 14lbs. I tried the new pro points and really didn't get on with it.

Then, a few wekks ago I emailed a friend of mine who has lost over 50lbs and mentioned than I was sick of feeling like a lump (It's how I was feeling). She mentioned MFP so I came to have a look.

Obviously it's early days. But I have lost 12lbs in 3 weeks. I've eaten my calories, i've excercised and I feel satisfied.

So, onto my comparisons.

My first thought is about how Weight Watchers doesn't teach you about nutrition very well. Every food has a point value. I could probably tell you the (old) point value of any food you care to mention. But under the old system that didn't tell me about the nutrients in it. You could eat Mars Bars all day and lose weight if you were within your points and still lose weight, but boy would you be malnourished. MFP encourages me to learn all about what nutrients I should be filling my body with, both with it's guidelines and reading the board posts.

My next thought is about exercise. While WW does mention in its literature that exercise is a good idea it is not really actively encouraged IMO. Here, you can see exactly what your exercise is doing for you in terms of how many calories you 'earn' through working out. I've been really encouraged to exercise, I never was with WW.

Onto the subject of 'free' foods on WW. Looking at my diary now I can easily eat 200 cals plus of food which on WW would have been 'free'. Now, while I know that salad never made anyone fat, an extra, uncounted 1400 cals plus a week is going to slow your weight loss down. I like how I am encouraged to count EVERYTHING which passes my lips here. With the new pro points fruit isn't counted either, so those uncounted calories could be even higher.

Then there is the matter of the fact that WW is a business, it is there to make money and once you get to goal it is in there interest for you to regain at least some weight so that you think "Well, I lost with WW before, I'll go back", and so they make more money from you. That's just from the weekly fee, then there's the books and everything else you could buy. While I realise MFP makes money from advertising, they still make that same money whether you are losing or maintaining, unlike WW who allow you to weigh in for free when maintaining. The support provided for those who have reached their goal is, IMO, sorely lacking.

I'd be interested to hear from any other ex or even current weight watchers on their thoughts comparing WW with MFP.

dancer77

I've never officially joined WW. I did look into it and the calorie/nuitrition thing is what got me. I love fruit too much. I could easily go 500cals over a day on that :P Ok and this is COMPLETELY shallow, but when I saw the WW success stories they all seemed to be in the 40s or up and while they were healthy they weren't "fit." Here I feel that people are encourage to be healthy in their exercise habits as well as their eating habits (as you mentioned).

chevy88grl

I agree with what you said. I did WW and I DID lose some weight, but dang it.. I was sooo hungry ALL the time. I can remember laying in bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about FOOD. I was just so dang hungry all the time. I did do a bit of walking while on WW - but, I still only got X number of points and was so dang hungry.

I like that MFP lets me see in black and white how many calories I'm consuming, an estimate of calories I'm burning by actually working out. Are there things they could probably tweak? Sure. But, overall it is a much better product.

I've lost 60lbs counting calories, working out and simply learning to eat better (and smaller portions).

glendeb

I feel the same. I did WW before we got married 9 years ago - I failed horribly and got married in a size NZ 26-28 wedding dress. It was expensive and as you say a real lack of support.

I've slowly lost weight over the years due to pregnancy, and this year decided to actually do something for real - I thank my lucky stars everyday that I found MFP. I'm having great success too!

Lollyvoddy

I've done both now. I've experienced a similar level of success with each, but, I am much fitter and stronger now I use mfp. I agree 100% about the teaching of nutrition.

OneLostSock

I've still got 3 weeks of a WW membership paid for and i've finally given up. In over 2 months, i had lost a total of 2lb sticking to that plan. I've lost 2.5lbs in 5 days of calorie counting on here. Plus the website is easier to use!

The old points system, i actually gained weight.

KatyRing

I have heard some hings about the new WW and the free points.

Here is my issues...

Fruit is good.. in small quanities. Fruit has a lot of sugar and carbs, it can really slow you down.

I love MFP I am able to track all my nutritional info. My body has issues with carbs, so i can really watch those.

chevy88grl

I have heard some hings about the new WW and the free points.

Here is my issues...

Fruit is good.. in small quanities. Fruit has a lot of sugar and carbs, it can really slow you down.

I love MFP I am able to track all my nutritional info. My body has issues with carbs, so i can really watch those.

I think this website helps people realize what may negatively affect them (like carbs or sodium). I'm lucky in that my body only reacts negatively to high fructose corn syrup or aspartame. I don't have issues with carbs or even sodium. But, if not for this website - I may not have learned what DOES affect me. And I really like that I can go back in a week or a month or longer and see what I ate during a certain time that may or may not have helped my weight loss.

whisperingdragon

When I was in High School a friend of mine's Mom joined WW, she lost a lot of weight however she gained it back within a year. :ohwell:

Aesop101

I lost 40 lbs. on WW in the 1980s. It's not a bad deal. You get some support with real people and good or bad you weigh in front of everyone. I thought it was good but others not so much.

Like you they didn't encourage exercise much. Further it seemed more strict on what you could eat. So you were pretty much hand held. Real life isn't like that.

Another thing is the meetings were short and there wasn't much time to tell others your thoughts or to ask many questions.

I guess they have an online site now.

Here you can ask all you want and the support is every minute of every day. Then you get to share more ideas and you are not tied to a menu. Then one of the best things in my opinion and one that you brought up was the exercise factor. It is so strongly encouraged and best of all not just at the gym.

Great post!

RockinHorseRanch

I Love the new WW's program, basically you eat all the non starchy veggies and fresh fruit you want, then you count "points" for the other foods, or you can modify it by counting calories instead of points. If counting calories you're allowed between 1200 and 1400 cal's per day. I use MFP to keep track of the cal's and get support from friends, I don't log exercise/cals because I don't need them as long as I can eat non limited fruits and veggies, also, at the end of the day the totals of carbs/sugar/ etc, is not accurate because I don't log the "free" foods, this does not matter to me because I have gotten canceling from a dietitian enough to know how to eat healthy and balanced. Also MFP can be way off on some nutrition values. To me this modified program is getting the best of both worlds and I am comfortable with it. I think everyone needs their own comfort zone to succeed.

mcc75

Here here. I joined ww at the age of 16 and I was 14 and half stone (203 pounds roughly) and I was on and off until I was about 32 years old. During those years I was as high as 18. stone (260 pounds) and as low as 12stone 8 (176) That place made me lose the ability to eat ‘normally’ All I knew was ‘on the diet’ (Count everything and like you I can stillg ive you points values in everythig) or off the diet (eat everything in sight..binge) I became massive binge eater. I was at my wits end daily..will I stick to diet tday or go over..anyway about 3 years ago I read some great books and an online prog shrinkyourself.com and a book ‘overcoming overating’ they changed my life and I retrained myself to eat normally again.
I vowed never to follow a diet again…..and I never did ..my weight went down due to trainig hard and eating normally…BUT after meeting my current partner and eating out lots a bits crept on…so I tried this…I still don’t call it a diet..just knowing the nutritional values helps me make wise choices…and I seem to be losing…result!!

glypta

I never joined WW but did follow the plan. And didn't gain, DID lose, but extremely slowly. I just couldn't 'get' it. I was always slightly under my points value, but ate LOADS of fruit, which I'd try to point, as it obviously has calries, especially in the quantities I ate it. I was extremely fit (did some half marathons - emphasis on WAS fit!) but couldn't easily shift the weight.

I'd been on here before, went to WW, and I'm back. I agree with the other posters - you're more accountable here as you (should) log everything, you can check more readily the macro nutrients, etc.

My fear is when I have a 'bad' day I won't log - I'm terrible for that! But then, I was terrible at it with WW too!

kettlenic

I have been at ww many a time and while I did lose weight and it helped me lose 3 stone before my wedding, I became complacent as I knew the points values backwards and would often end up guessing instead of weighing things!

I love MFP because-
1. Free to join
2. Fabulous app which is what I need to keep on track all the time
3. Fabulous message board – ww forums got really nasty sometimes
4. Such a comprehensive data base
5. Encouragement to exercise – which is great and really gets me focused on doing more!
6. Accountability for everything – even tea and coffee!!!

And I am losing weight

Angel1066

Bump

Gabby215

The exact same thing happened to me! I had been on WW before a few times and last year chose it to slim down for my wedding. I met my goal weight and felt great, but I was hungry lots of the time. I was also really obsessing about points - I swear most of the time when I looked at food I would only see points and nothing else! I also got into a pretty unhealthy habit of binging - my meeting was on Tuesday evening so on Tuesday morning I would go to the gym to workout for about an hour and a half, then eat practically nothing all day, then go for a run right before the meeting so I could see a good number on the scale. Then from Tuesday dinner to about Thursday I would just EAT and then really pull it back until the next Tuesday - so not healthy.

The first week I used MFP I was still following WW and basically just logging in my WW diet to see what was going on. Turns out I was WAY undereating. Then the next week I only followed what MFP told me to do and I lost two pounds - I can count on one hand the number of times that happened to me with WW! I made the permanent switch because MFP is free, I've found some really supportive people from all over the world and like you said, I like seeing the breakdown of what I'm putting into my body. It's helping me eat healthier, which is my goal now (while on WW I used to eat a lot of marshmallows cause they were relatively low in points. Now I look at a marshmallow and all I can see is processed goop and I can't believe I used to put that into my body and thought it was helping me!!!)

WW, in the end, didn't work for me. But I believe everyone needs to find out what works for them.

Angellore

The first week I used MFP I was still following WW and basically just logging in my WW diet to see what was going on. Turns out I was WAY undereating.

I think this is the case quite often. I am also with you on the binge/famine thing. So often I would have a couple of really high days full of take aways and then spend the rest of the week cutting right back.

I also agree with the people who have said that they were always hungry on WW too - I totally identify with that. I would obsess about food so that it took up every waking hour of my life. Now, I know that it doesn't matter if I am a few calories over or under. It's all about the bigger picture. WW led me to feeling that if I didn't lose every single week I was a failure. It's not natural to lose weight every week, we all have weeks when we stay the same or even gain. Get on the scale "Ooooh, you've gained half a pound, where did you go wrong this week?" would come the question from the leader. So i'd end up thinking I must have gone wrong somewhere even if I followed the plan to the letter.

Just want to say, I am not bashing weight watchers, or those who follow it. I am just comparing it with MFP and the things I have found personally from following both.

graysmom2005

I remember earlier this year my friend saying she was joining WW again and that fruit was free since they figured, "You never see a fat person eating lots of fruit". I thought that was the craziest thing I had ever heard.

Kathy_Noring

If you follow the program faithfully and follow your body's queues, you will lose weight, even with "free" fruits and vegetables. It's easy to pig out on a bag of chips; you're not going to sit around eating an entire bag of apples.

I do think the new Points Plus program is somewhat improved nutritionally speaking, but I definitely think I pay more attention to nutrients on MFP. The other day, going for a bike ride and packing a snack, I thought, "I would have packed the granola bar on WW because it has fewer points. On MFP I am packing a 1/4 C of mixed nuts to reach my nutritional goals!" I do like this "plan" and forum better than WW's Web site.

I thought WW was great when I first started. My neighborhood had a dedicated WW office and my leader was great. I loved going to meetings and learning and celebrating with like-minded people. Exercise was encouraged in meetings. The weigh-ins kept me in check. But about six months into my WW experience, they began cutting costs and got super cheesy. They closed the office and started having meetings in suburban churches and hotels. They kept cutting meeting after meeting until the few meetings they had swelled with members. The last meeting I went to, I was still trying to weigh in when the leader started. By the time I got seated, I was at the back of the room and couldn't even hear the leader talking. I just said forget it at that point. It was way too expensive for that poor "service."

spinaddict4life

I have been on ww since August the 8th and lost 93 pounds. I think it all depends on you, the type of leader you have, and truly reading their weekly readers and blog. I have never been successful at any other plan, I love the science behind the new plan, and under the new plan they say if you eat several servings a day of free fruit then it can cause you to gain weight. They also advise you moderation with the free fruit. And if you use free items in a recipe it does count them in the recipe builder as points becuase of the calories. If you follow the plan as designed it steers you to power foods which are foods rich in protein, low in fat , high in fiber, protein, and lower carb. So when you see the power foods it is mostly whole grains, lean proteins, fruit and veggies. To me the meetings are invaluable, and my leader talks about the mental side of obesity, if not been for her I do not think I would have realized the mental side of overeating that I had. Yes they allow people to have indulgences, but most Americans are not going to eat clean all the time either. I do and I read a lot but it is true most Americans are not going to. SO ww tries to steer them to make better choices with those indulgences. The new plan shows you that you can have a donut for a certain amount of calories or toast eggs, canadian bacon, and fruit for the same amount. They changed the plan becuase they realized people would choose the unhealthy foods more often than the healthy ones. Now since the unhealthy ones cost more people tend to be more careful with their choice. And every week they show you new ways to incorporate exercise in, their etools has tons of exercise demos and suggestions, a running and walking program. The people I see struggle with the new plan 99% if the time are ones who were on the old plan.

That being said I use mfp becuase I am diabetic and like to track my calories and nutrients per my doctor. But I say everyone do what works for them, for me I would hate not having my meetings. They are a treasure for me, and they even have open hours where you can come in and talk to a leader. Best of luck to you!

goron59

To me, WW always seemed like a scam designed to take money off people that simply want their weight loss to be handled for them, or who aren't that bright (no offence to anyone who's used it). Reducing everything to a simple points system kind of reinforces this.

MFP is all about taking control of your own destiny. You benefit most if you know what you're eating and understand the nutrition and the role that exercise plays. It's a more complete system and one that is more likely have life-changing effects.

You can succeed or fail with either, but for me, knowledge is power and MFP is also cheaper.