a question for current and past Weight Watchers members

sweetchick06

I am a Lifetime Member at WW and was even a receptionist there for a time.

I did WW many times until finally in 2007 I had enough when I reached an all-time high of 265 pounds. I was able to get to 145 but then I couldn’t get the scale to budge any longer so I switched to maintenance for a few months. Then when the new Points Plus program rolled out I tried the weight loss plan again and again the scale didn’t budge. I started to track calories on Spark and lost 10 pounds.

I think WW is a great program. No, it does not focus intently on exercise however that is because there are so many people at there who either refuse to exercise, or are unable to physically. I always thought this was an area that WW could improve upon. Calculating Activity Points via WW methods was just ridiculously inaccurate.

In my experience the meetings vary from each meeting depending on the leader and the dynamics of the group. A good leader has a feel of the group and knows what will fly and what won’t fly in the meeting. I’ve worked at meetings where there were scheduled walks as a group prior to the meeting. And some centers organize bigger walks for all of the meetings combined. With one group I worked with, we all did a walk together as a group for an Autism Awareness group (one of the member’s son has autism). The main priority as given to a leader by WW is retaining membership. A leader is not going to push exercise if they think their group does not want to hear it. Great thing about WW though if you are not getting what you need out of the meeting, you can switch to another meeting. Even if it is ran by the same leader, the members will be different and thus so are the dynamics of the group.

I worked with one leader who would seriously push products. And yet worked with other leaders who did not. Keep in mind that leaders and receptionists both get a commission on all products sold during their meeting.

I’ve grown from WW now. I sometimes will switch back to counting points, but I seriously do not like the new Points Plus Program. It does not work for me. And I don’t agree with some of the changes they made.

smartinsc711

I have been on Weight Watchers for the past few years. I think that adding exercise to that and any 'diet' change is crucial. I'm not sure that WW focuses on the exercise portion as much as the change in food intake, but I know that its valued as being part of a well balanced life change. Maybe the meeting you went to was just a bad example.

I have just recently decided to give mfp a try and take a break from WW....I'm finding that both put about the same emphasis on working out.

Laurarunnergirl

I've been a Lifetime WW member for years, but I track my points using the system I'm famiiar with, so can't speak to the newer plans.

I do recall that for new members, the emphasis for the first few weeks was on food and getting adapted to changing your eating habits. Then the exercise focus began and continued on from there.

I totally agree with the above posters when they say it depends on the group and the leader. Some are better than others. I'm fortunate that I have multiple WW locations in my area, and have found one that is really great. Our particular group is quite focused on walking/running, both on an individual basis and as a group (March of Dimes, Race for the Cure, etc.) There are also group challenges from time to time where members can challenge themselves to complete a certain number of workouts, run/walk more miles, etc. If you're interested in continuing, keep trying until you find the group that works for you.

LeanneCutrara

I have been a weight watcher for several years. I agree the support and ideas you get from the meetings are great. I am disappointed though that they only have their online tracking for Iphone and have not come up with something for blackberry. I am using the tracking with MFP and its awesome and really is easy and everything I eat I track right away. So in actual fact I am more focused then ever.

Excericse is what we all can do, its not about lifting weights or hard core excericse for some of us that can't do these things. 10 minute a walk aday is better than sitting on the couch for those 10 minutes. Its all about moving just alittle bit more than what we do...

I would love to see MFP have the ability to track points too, leave an open field that anyone can track the extras that they want,

mtnmaw

I would agree that the main focus at Weight Watchers is the food, for sure. I lost 76 pounds at WW and now have gained 20 back. Now on MFP to get that off. I am not much of a fitness buff at my age of nearly 66, but I do like water aerobics and swimming a lot. Also do some walking as well. I am trying to get the weight back down to maintain my present state of health.:flowerforyou:

zapatasbloodjv

I did WW and lost weight both times -- I gained most of it back once I left.

The meetings I went emphasized exercise but was not specific to which ones u should do...many different ppl with various levels of fitness...so I could not fault them for that.

They sell their wares but so does every other "program" p90x - has shakes/bars/mats etc. --- they do not force u to buy them and I never did.

I would say that they biggest problem is that the meetings are general in nature. The weigh-ins keep u honest but they leave it up to u to figure out proper eating habits based on the points system. When ur there u kinda expect them to give u all the answers.

doittoitandloseit

This isn't a reply this is a question- I am a current ww member and have been for years- Im thinking of switching to this program My question is with the extra calories you gain from excercise- do you have to use them the same day or can you bank them for the weekend for something special?????

sistahbigbone

I think WW is a good program. Like other have said, it all depends on your leader. My former leader was mainly about health and nutrition. Products were only brought up if it was fitting. Current leader mentions them all of the time and it's a put off.

With that said, I no longer go to meetings, but track my food online with WW and here on MFP. I stopped meetings not because of the product pushing, but because it all started to sound the same. I have a feeling in the future that I'll eventually just use MFP.

cmjustin

their program is more sent on food control which is very helpful
but if your are into working out like i was every day on my elliptical and burn calories
you would have to way up your protein, very frustrated
Working out was great and I was into it but it did not work with their plan. They would never say you are working out too much;
you need to add more protein in to compensate for the calorie you're burning
And yes it would depend on the team leader, try different ww in the area
And yes my leader wanted me to buy their products and stop using other for no reason?

mcarter99

This isn't a reply this is a question- I am a current ww member and have been for years- Im thinking of switching to this program My question is with the extra calories you gain from excercise- do you have to use them the same day or can you bank them for the weekend for something special?????

Unless they changed something in the past few years, they want you to use them up the day you earn them, if at all. And don't use up more than 4/day (of the old AP's, not sure the new ones, probably 5).

But there's no WW police. Do what you want. It's not going to make the plan not work if you bank activity calories. They already have the bankable 'weekly points', though. Do you really need to also bank AP's?

TyFit08

I did weight watchers online several times over the years. I only had success with it once. I lost just over 20lbs. I mainly ate Smart One's and other weight watchers meals. I didn't have much luck in other attempts because eventually I got bored counting points, which is a problem I'm having now with counting calories. I didn't feel like WW didn't stress exercise, I always felt it was important since earning activity points allowed you to eat more. I did feel that it didn't encourage me to eat healthier. I never really changed my habits, I just ate less. I know there are a lot of people who say weight loss is as simple as calories in versus calories out and to a degree that is true, but the quality of those calories is still important to your overall health. On WW I ate a lot of junk. Now I want to lose weight and be healthy too so frozen meals high in sodium and snack cakes aren't in my diet anymore

myfitnessnmhoy

My wife was a member of WW, and did well on it, but she was pretty much on her own when it came to exercise. There really is little emphasis on making sure you are losing the RIGHT weight (fat, which means you have to exercise to retain muscle) or pretty much anything but tracking Points(tm) which meant you needed a Points(tm) calculator and a monthly fee.

To be fair, MFP's basic setup is pretty similar, they just use an industry-standard measure (calories) and you don't need fancy calculators or a monthly fee (they make their money from ads instead). It's only when you hit the forums that you start getting fitness advice.

gingerCE

I am doing the PP online only and I have not bought any WW products or food, with the exception of their string cheese as it was on sale at my store. I bought my food scale at Target. Doing online only, I don't feel any pressure to buy their products.

As for exercise, I already exercised 4-5 times per week prior to June but I wasn't losing or gaining. My eating habits had gotten really poor--including when I realized one day I had not eaten for a day and a half and was subsisting on coke zero. There would be periods when I didn't eat, then I'd eat a whole container of cashews or a whole box of crackers and a bag of craisins plus dinner etc . . .so for either plan, I like how I am tracking what I eat. I think I eat now more than I used to but am losing so that makes me happy. I did low carb several years ago and was successful but could not stay on track for more than a year before I was cheating on carbs and once I'd start to cheat, I went all in.

Even though I log my food regularly for both, I am following WW. I like knowing I will never go hungry--I can always get fruit or veggies if I get a munchie craving. One day the restaurant I had been planning to eat was closed and the nearest place was 5 guys--and for any other diet (including low carb) and mfp, I would've panicked, but I got a burger and half an order of fries and felt fine--I was still on my diet using up some weekly pts.

That being said, MFP has a way better food database--it is awesome and the original reason I joined as I was frustrated with the food database on WW and I like how MFP is free--which makes me think that once I hit my goal, I plan to stay with MFP long term.

doittoitandloseit

With the program from WW you can bank the activity points as well as the extra 49 points you get on a weekly basis. Im a little confused on your comment. Are you saying that on The MFP you get extra calorie points or were you talking about WW.