WW info... Is this allowed?

MelissaSel

I am looking for anyone who might have info on WW, or WW online. Thinking about joining the online one but would like to know more. And is this type of question okay on here? I'm not trying to promote it or anything. I have heard it's successful, but I want to get some feedback before I do anything because I am on a budget.

heather1945

If you're on a budget, what could be cheaper or more easily followed and satifying than MFP!!!!

aa1440

If you are on a budget then you can't beat free (MFP.)

Enforcer25

I have never tried it, but here is a link on MFP about it.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/353460-weight-watchers?hl=Weight+watchers&page=1#posts-4780274

MrsCupCakeBoyle

I tried it lost a bit of weight but stopped doing it and put the weight back on plus more.

sarah307

I did WW back in the day and was successful (lost about 10 lbs!) but then gained it back. plus more!

but i like MFP more!!! and it's FREE!

mfp is easier for me because I can log it and go - I don't have to keep a tally of how many points i've had already that day in my head

Play_outside

I have never had luck with weight watchers...I guess maybe it depends on how you eat. For me, I don't eat that badly. If going to weekly meetings will be helpful for you in sticking to your healthy lifestyle goals, then it might be a good idea. I agree with the above posters about MFP being very helpful and free.

jmatthews75

I will be honest. WW was great, while it lasted. but bottom line, you don't need a diet, you need a lifestyle change. That is why we are all here, the successful ones that is, because something changed and we made a choice not to be who we didn't want to be. A diet is just that, a diet. hence the first three letters... a lifestyle change really is the only success story you will ever find.

javienjaydenmommy

Ive tried ww before and had sucess with it. It works because its not like a diet it is more about portion control. The bad is once u stop counting points the weight will come back. Doing ww and no doing mfp. i think the best choice is mfp its free and just like ww u are counting calories and portion control. ww cost 15 every week and if u miss a week u still have to pay for that missed week the next time you go to weigh in. hope this helps:drinker: .

Melmade

WW is supposed to be one of the most successful diets--I saw an Oprah show about the top 4 diets. WW, Slimfast, Volumetrics were there, Plus 1 I can't remember. Personally I'm with previous posters--MFP rocks! I don't know of any other plan that lets you balance calories with exercise.

Izzy62

I left WW when I discovered MFP, been the best possible decision for me truly.

If you are even considering WW online I would suggest why not stick with MFP, if you feel you need the accountability of going to a class to be weighed then maybe WW would cover that. Or you could go get weighed at the doctors if you need that - and still stick with MFP!

I think everyones budget is stretched atm, and this costs nothing

Good luck wherever you go xx

Lyadeia

I've never done it, but from my point of view, I would think that MFP would be a better choice if you are looking for a lifestyle change. It shows you on your log how you stand with your calories, and you can keep using it after you lose weight when you need to maintain. Since foods come in calories and not points at the grocery store, it seems much easier to keep up with in the longrun.

gwenmf

I attend weight watchers.........but I don't follow their program.............yes, you read that correctly.

I found that with unlimited fruits and veggies, I gained or barely lost....I started counting calories AND following ww....and did better...then stumbled onto MFP and now just do this. This site, counting calories, is what works for me.

I DO still attend ww because it's my official weigh in....I get good ideas and information from the other members....and have made some good friends so for the $10 a week, it's my social hour that I learn a lot from - plus a few of us participate in 5ks together.

I'll try to answer questions for you. I know you have to buy a points calculator to be able to do the program...and they charge you for that...only $4 but my thought is, if I'm joining weight watchers and paid to join, that should be included in the price if its mandatory to do the program with.

It's a healthy, nutritional program.

penelofur

WW is great! I lost some weight with them as well- but like a lot of other people I gained it back- and more.
Their point system is a simple formula though: High fiber foods- good High fat food- bad. There is a mathematical formula, but this will make your life easier:

http://www.webmilhouse.com/pointcalc.php

- there is another formula to know how many points per day you are allowed to eat as well. (based on current weight/height/activity level).

I personally found the meetings kind of redundant. Salad is a healthy choice- who would have thought?! Haha- but it was good to weigh in and have someone else to be accountable for. I like MFP better- at least for the calorie counting- much easier and less guess work. I have never used the online WW tracking system, but why pay if this one is free and awesome!

Good luck:happy:

lrd2010

I tried every possible organised diet that I could possibly throw money at to try to lose weight (bit like a cult church really, if I go every week and pay my dues maybe the WW/SW/diet gods will make my *kitten* melt off!) but sadly I never learned the basics of how my body works and how the calorie deficit will help. All I learned was that this food is this many points on this day, this many points if I eat it with this and how to calculate it if I add oil to it. Oh or don't forget, well I'm on a green day today, so SW god has allowed me to sit here and eat this entire bowl of vegetables until I feel like I could be rolled down the street to worship at the altar of weightloss.

*So* *Much* *Money* all handed over and not teaching me how I should actually be living and eating intuitively.

Can I suggest you start with MFP, stick with the calorie counts that are just on the packaging of the food you're eating and see how you get on. If, however, you really need the support of a meeting and social weigh in for the support and accountability, then yes definitely go to a weight watchers meeting or try Rosemary Conley - her diets couple an exercise class and will help you with that (if you need it).

Read a few blogs though, you'll see people who have done it all ways. Whatever works for you

smileyk003

Hi,

I am also an Ex-WW member who has started using MFP. I would suggest looking into everything that interests you with a clear mind. You will find mixed reviews on everything because everyone needs differant things from their weight/diet/health management tools.

WW worked great for me, and I have not found myself stacking the weight back on - I have used the information I learnt as a member and use MFP as a way of tracking my weight and food to keep myself accountable.

I hope you find what works for you, the more you look, the more you find amazing tools and support that is available - I am personally finding the message boards here on MFP extremely motivating with so many motivated people floating around.

Best of luck,

Smileyk

sandy2006

I did WW also till I discovered MFP. I found this to be better than WW and I am more successful here. I hated paying for basically a meeting that I hated going to. This site has been wonderful.

neuro316

I tried WW Online and dropped it when I found MFP. I can't speak to the helpfulness of the in-person meetings, because I only used the online program. But I found it hard to get a mental hold of how many points would be in something, and often when I estimated and checked later I'd find I'd eaten many more points than I had intended.

Also, I think the whole idea of saying that fruits and vegetables are "free" is pretty gimmicky - especially for fruits, they still have calories and your body isn't going to think, "Oh, well WW says it's zero points, so it doesn't matter." Eat 5 apples, or even worse, 5 bananas, and you're already looking at an extra 500-750 calories a day. I personally find it a whole lot easier to count calories rather than points. I also found that often the WW database didn't have items I was looking for, and when I went to Google them it was MFP that tended to have the information.

Frankly I don't think you get a whole lot more from WW Online than you do from MFP, and MFP is free!

danimoon67

If you are considering WW online, MFP is basically the same thing and it's free.

If you are considering WW meetings, I'd say go for it. I'm an avid user of both the WW website and MFP, but there is something about attending meetings face to face with people in my area that is hard to match with an online community. I've made so many new friends and we get together to go on walks/runs or attend fitness classes together. It's also nice to share local tips on restaurants and stores.

I learned so much in my meetings. After about 16 months on the points program, I started tracking on MFP and do like that better, but I won't be giving up my meetings any time soon. I lost 110 lbs in 18 months and reached my WW goal three weeks ago. After another 3 weeks of maintaining, I can attend meetings for free as long as I'm not more than 2 pounds over my goal weight. For me, the accountability a weekly accurate scale (my home scale is possessed) was a great motivator.

I now have new members coming to me for advice, it's an awesome and empowering feeling now that I can offer so suggestions and tips. It's definitely not a diet, it's about learning how to fuel your body with the right foods, it's about portion control (something I seriously lacked!), encouraging each other to get moving, and motivating each other to do our best. With the tools they taught me, I am confident I can continue to stay on track for the rest of my life.

lbb05

I have tried WW and i have lost weight on WW but my step mom is doing the WW online and i think it is a joke to pay for it when MFP is FREE i've tried every diet out there and have wasted alot of money doing them i will never pay for another diet plane as long as MFP is here also after telling my step mom about MFP she pre paid for 3 months or WW and when its up she is coming to MFP!

Rae6503

I lost weight with WW online after my 2nd pregnancy, but only by eating way more than I was supposed to. It wanted me to eat 22pts a day and I ate 30pts.

brwneyz09

Honestly...it doesn't matter which one you use. It's you who makes a program work. I find that there are more food already entered online here at MFP than on WW though.

HSingMomto7Kids

I would 3rd or 4th suggest doing your calories here. It's free and you have all the support here. The poster that said a diet and then another diet..it's about life style change. That is soo true! I can't stand when my mom says how the diet is doing. I'm constantly telling her it's not a diet. It's just eating different is all. I say give it a try! What can it hurt~

eviltwinkie

If you're thinking of doing WW just online... I'd try using MFP first. You can search and find enough of the materials on WW if you want and follow the point system on your own. There are free points plus calculators online and it's not hard to find the formula (I think I still have it saved in excel somewhere.)

If meetings/in person support groups are your kind of thing, WW meetings may be better for you than online. There's something about in person accountability that just works better for some folks.

I did WW online for several years, worked well for me until the last change over (admittedly I was at a plateau anyway.) MFP meets my needs more right now, as I need to see a more complete nutritional / caloric breakdown, not just 'points.'

The best thing WW and the point system did for me, was made me more aware of 'evaluating the value' of certain foods without being soley focused on 'is it low calorie?' It was a good kind of 'mental retraining' to go through and for me, it seems to have stuck pretty well.

MelissaSel

Thank you, everyone for your feedback. I was considering the online version of WW. After reading all the posts, I've decided to stick with MFP. I purchased weight loss software a while back, and have been successful when I used it... when I stopped I gained. I guess it's the same with any program. I actually prefer that food and exercise journal to this one, so I'll use it instead of MFP... but I do like the online support system here, and the accountability.

I appreciate you all taking the time to respond, and wish everyone here the best of luck with their healthy changes!

WifeNMama

I tried weight watchers lost 20 pounds between pregnancies, but it's a lot less complicated to use mfp. Straight up calories rather than calculating points. I feel like mfp is less of an intrusion or something.

Luandanielle1979

I follow weight watchers and attend meetings I like the fact I can also see nutrutional info on here and calories so it helps me make good food choices to use my points on. I like going to meetings alothough I agree it can be quite expensive.

jennifer2977

I did WW a few years ago and lost 32lbs in three months. Then I got bored. There was no 'spontaneous' meals or drinks when I was out. The meetings helped me, but if you attend for a while, you begin to notice that they just repeat every few weeks (at least they did at the location I was at). I didn't learn so much about how to control my eating, it was more like just a group of people sitting around talking about food and what they missed. This isn't to say that every meeting is like this, but the few locations that I have been to were. I eventually got sick of making a meal then having to measure, weigh, build the recipe online to find the point values, etc etc. By the time I was done weighing and stuff, my family was already done eating. It did work that time around for me though.

Fast forward 3 years, and I tried again. They changed the program (they do this once a year or so), and fruits are now free. This time around I only lost 17 lbs in 3 months (about half what I did the first time). I get that slow and steady wins the race, but for someone my size, 5 lbs a month wasn't cutting it.

A friend of mine used MFP and told me about it, and i signed up. I am just starting week 4 and I'm already down 9.2 lbs, and i go over just about everyday. It's so much easier for me to find calories than to calculate points--for some restaurants, it's nearly impossible to get all of the nutrition info needed to calculate the points (calories//fiber/carbs/protein). You can find a calorie count for every food imaginable online, and easily with phone apps. Not to mention I was paying $48 a month for meetings and e-tools (the online tracking and recipe builder tools) with WW.

Your best bet is to try it for a few months and see if you like it better. It works for people if you are extremely diligent and willing to figure out points. I wasn't, since I like my free time and having dinner with my family.

I told my doctor that I was counting calories now, and she said that's basically the same thing as WW, it's just easier to find the number. Hahaha.