Weight Watchers to MFP

slboling

After dioing both WW Online and MFP for a few weeks, I have decided to drop WW and come to MFP. Not only because of price, but the site has so much more to offer. I would love to team up with others who have done WW and are switching to MFP. WOuld love to know your experience with the switch also.

Colleen_in_LV

I have done WW several times, lost weight each time, however, I have never been able to lose any significant weight or keep the weight I did lose off. I've been doing MFP and although the weight is coming off slow its working too. The big difference in my opinion is this: 1. You figure out points, OK so you can have say 35 points a day I get in the mindset that I can have chocolate cake with frosting and its oh 3 points no problem, but with MFP you have to figure out each calorie and where it comes from for example making myself a turkey sandwich seemingly harmless on the healthy eating....well right up to the point that I put 2 table spoons of mayo on it and now its 450 calories, so I learned by "building" my food recipe that I need to substitute mustard instead of mayo and I can still have my sandwich just need to switch out a few things. Which is working for me because I'm learning that I don't have to give up all the foods that I love to lose weight I just need to be mindful of what, and how much I am actually eating.

I also think that the tools on this site are better and much easier to use, download the app and you just scan the barcode on pretty much everything, it pops up you enter how many servings, done! it sync with this site so its all here in one spot.

melissaw78

I was on WW for about 5 months, and quit a week ago. I like this site so much better already. My big downfall I believe was fruit for 0 points.

jim2do

I have done WW in the past a few times and am glad I have switched to MFP. I agree with Melissa about the zero point fruit! I think working with calories is better than thinking in only points for the long run. The cost savings is a plus as well!

Masq

I was on WW for nearly 5 years. Ugh, would love to have all of that money back! :noway:

I did like the Points system....I was a bit annoyed with the Points Plus. With the points, I could pretty much look at a label and know what the points are. With the points plus, I always had to have the WW calculator handy.
All of the foods I had in my diary changed.... some changed automatically, but a lot didn't.

I figured if I had to recreate my food list.... might as well start using MFP. It's free, the barcode feature for the smartphone is awesome, it syncs with my Fitbit and the people on here are great!

Hope you find success with MFP.

rudimae

I've sort of unofficially been trying to do the Weight Watchers Points Plus. Found the formulas and used them without meetings/paying. I'm sure I missed out on some important stuff along the way, but it was not working for me. I was also tracking calories just to see how many calories I ended up eating each day. Using Points, I never seemed to eat enough calories. I used up my points too soon. And I wasn't eating junk. I think that held me back because I ended up eating too few calories. Now that I'm here, I think I'm going to stop tracking points completely.

lh1626

I tried points plus twice and had zero success. I had done ww off and on for years...some programs worked and some did not. I was tired of spending the money and a friend of mine suggested MFP. She had lost 75 pounds. I absolutely am swearing by MFP. I love counting calories.....it is so much easier than points. I have learned so much about how my body works....different videos....HRM's....and the food database is 10x bigger! I would never go back to ww. I have figured I was probably eating 1200 calories per day and not losing a single pound. I have been doing eat more to weigh less and am in the first week of my calorie cut and started doing 30 day shred. I love MFP and will never do another "diet" again in my life!

di2losew8

I was on WW for about 5 months, and quit a week ago. I like this site so much better already. My big downfall I believe was fruit for 0 points.

Agree totally about the fruit. You can eat and eat all the fruit you want but they still have calories. This site to me is more accurate and you know exactly what you are taking into your body.

susan2396

I agree with everyone who has posted. I can't even count how many times I've joined WW. I have so many of those crazy books, sliders, calculators, etc. . . that I've held onto for years. While I lost weight, I never hit goal or felt I was looking at it long term. While I've only been on MFP for a week, I find it much easier to track. I like how it incorporates the exercise as well. It's so important to track every morsel (fruit, vegggie, etc. . .) that goes into my mouth. I've also added the sodium and fiber to my tracker as well so I can watch all of it. I just seem to be adjusting so much better to this site. 10 lbs 15 times is my goal. One down and 14 more to go!!!!

vespil

I live in a very small town and did WW for over two years. I lost 60 pounds, yea. Our group numbers dropped to low so it folded. I have put all but 10 of those pounds back on. I have just found out that I have developed Type 2 Diabetes. Read about MFP recently so here I am only two days in. I find the site easy to use and prefer it to WW on line.

jennywilmoth

I've been on my my own program of sorts since I began my weightloss journey on December 15, 2011. I only heard about MFP from my sister-in-law back a few months ago and I SWEAR BY IT! I've encouraged several others to use/utilize the site including my physician! He said I was so much of an inspiration he wanted to know ALL of my tools!

I have a friend that recently began using WW Points Plus so I found a FREE online calculator and a WWPP Scanner so I began tracking "points" while still utilizing MFP. There are many items that calculate at ZERO Points (Michalob ULTRA Beer, Mini Moos coffee creme are 2 that come to mind). Really? ZERO points? You can drink ULTRA beer and not have to calculate it? Same thing with Cherry Vodka now that I think about it. Or just use the Mini Moos in your coffee and not have to "count" the cream? THIS IS NOT REALITY! Each of these items has calories, carbs, fats, protein, etc. some or all of the aforementioned. I think this is how WW keeps people for all the years they keep them. Think about it; those people never reach 'goal' and they just keep going and paying and paying and switching to whatever new program WW invents. WW has not changed in 32 years (yes, the 1st time I was on WW was 32 years ago when I was 12) they just change the name and "how you count your points".

I did find after 2 weeks using the WWPP tracker/calculator it was not beneficial to me at all; MFP is still far more beneficial for ME and my lifestyle. I wish my friend the very best of luck; but honestly I don't see her (or anyone else) maintaining their WW weightloss for any length of time. Another reason why WW has so many REPEAT/RETURNING customers; they lose some weight, then when they are no longer on the "program" they don't keep it off and then many put back on what they lost and most put on more! I track everything I eat and/or drink; my water intake count for the day is just the WATER I intake nothing else is included in that portion of the tracker. That's just how I do it; everyone is a bit different...

I would remind you that no matter what the amount of weight you have to lose in the BIG picture, set yourself small, attainable goals. YOU set YOUR goals, don't let others dictate that for you; you'll find your success coming quicker than you realize! Keeping things small and attainable keeps them realistic; you'll be able to stay in a more positive frame of mind and find it easier to stay on-track! I wish each of you the very best of luck in your weightloss journeys!

sharae8

This is my first post of MFP. I literally JUST cancelled my WW subscription after reading this thread. I think one of the biggest issues for me was that I was eating WAY too much sugar on WW. This past week, I started tracking on myfitnesspal out of curiosity and I was shocked at the amount of sugar I was eating! I think that MFP has a more balanced approach. Just because fruit is good for you doesn't mean it has zero calories! I am excited to join the MFP community.

The one thing I will miss is the message boards. Does anyone know if there are "groups" similar to the way WW had groups based on age or similar interests? Maybe I just haven't had enough time to look around here yet...

198441

WW is a business and the longer it takes/fails to work the more money for ww. They are not stupid, thats why they made fruit and veg now free.

emmie0622

Request on the way, I just canceled WW this week, I am a lifetimer up a few pounds. Very easy to follow WW on this site and yes it has way more to offer especially after the WW food database mess up!

Crochetluvr

Any weight loss program you have to be charged for in order for them to stay in business is usually set up to make you fail. They thrive on return business. It shouldn't cost anything to lose weight.

KelAtHome

I've done WW on and off since 1986, and though I loved the most recent points plan, I couldn't afford to keep doing it. MFP has been an adjustment for me, but I do like seeing exactly what I'm getting out of my food choices, and the amount of sugar is staggering. I am a sugar addict, so this is good for me, but it's hard.

simplydelish2

First, congrats on your weight loss success so far! That is fabulous!

I've also done WW...and lost lots of pounds. However, when I stopped the program the weight came back on. With MFP, I've learned a sustainable lifestyle...for free! The biggest challenge is that on WW you don't count the fruits and veggies...on MFP, I track everything I put in my mouth.

Good luck on the second half of your journey!

emmie0622

I was on WW for about 5 months, and quit a week ago. I like this site so much better already. My big downfall I believe was fruit for 0 points.

Agree totally about the fruit. You can eat and eat all the fruit you want but they still have calories. This site to me is more accurate and you know exactly what you are taking into your body.

You need to keep the fruit reasonable since it does have sugar and not use all 5 servings of just fruit and measure!

desireeloo08wechanged

I tried WW twice and lost twice, but was never able to keep going. I like the system they had going on but some parts of it didnt work for me. I love myfitness pal for the community that I can work with and how easy it easy to keep track of my eating habits and exercise.

MsMargie1116

I've done WW and lost weight. It did help me look at food differently. It's a great program. But, honestly, it all depends on how you look at food!!! On WW it was so easy to tell yourself "Oh, I can have that piece of cake and it's only __ points" and not think of the calories or fat. Because, honestly, 14 points sounds a heck of a whole lot better that 350 calories!!! :happy: With MFP, it forces you to know the calories... I was coming to MFP while I did WW just to get nutrition facts on foods that I ate while doing WW. I had to stop WW for financial reasons and decided to continue with MFP and am sticking with it. I've lost over 60 lbs since the first of the year and am at the lowest weight I've been in over 15 years!!! Now that is what I call progress...

joaniec51

You can access the message boards on WW at no cost, and still be in touch with the friends that you have made there, while still using MFP. I do it.