Weight Watchers vs low-cal diet? which works best?

Juliane_

It depends on your mindset.

I will say that PointsPlus does not work for me. However, Weight Watchers old program (Momentum) works wonderfully for me so I do that on my own using a phone app for android phones called WWDiary. It is customizable so you are able to track Momentum points if you want.

I prefer to use points to plan my meals. It seems to help me distrubute my foods better throughout the day. I can't think in terms of calories to ballpark how much is too much food in one sitting. With points I know a good breakfast is anywhere betwee 3-4 points; lunch is between 5-6 pts; and dinner is the remainder with snacks being no more than 2 pts. But that's just how I handle it.

tcunbeliever

Actually calories are not calculated into WW points.

Did they change the formula for points? It used to be (calories/50) + (fat/4) - (fiber/5) = points (but they didn't allow more than 4 grams of fiber to count).

Anyway, WW or MFP whichever works for you. I did WW a while ago because a friend of mine wanted to try it and she didn't want to go alone. The program is simple, not overly complex, but the concept is the same as MFP, you eat it you track it. I lost and got my lifetime membership and kept it off until I started strength training and then I started gaining weight, but in a good way. But I stayed in the group and kept weighing in even after I made lifetime (it's free once you hit lifetime, so I saw no reason to quit). I loved the support of the people, and there were constantly new ideas from the group leader as well as from other members and for me it was a life change, I did not want to quit. But with the strength training it was a hassle - they essentially required a doctors note, so I just quit weighing in. My friend who joined with me gave up before I ever made lifetime, I guess about a year into it, because she felt she could do it on her own. She was making excellent progress, but she didn't stick with it after she stopped going to the meetings. It was really sad to watch her gain it all back and then some but she absolutely wouldn't consider spending the money to go back. It depends on you and your personality. If you are very driven and disciplined, then you will probably do as well with MFP as you could do with WW. If you want the support of other people, the accountability of getting on that scale and having someone write ON PAPER what your weight is every week, then you will do better with WW. (They give you a gold star if you lose weight too, or used to) That's what you are really paying for with WW, the people, the support, the cheerleading, and the written weekly weigh-in. The food plan is not that different from any other portion/calorie control system.

Momma_Grizz

I was a WW member - they started me on my journey to health - I achieved my goal, became a lifetime member, worked for them for almost 2 years. But their new plan (at that time) didn't work for me; I actually gained So the new plan worked for some and not for others. It's been well over a year since I attended a meeting so I'm not sure if they have changed it again.

I was a paying member of WW for 14 months and lost 116 pounds on their Flex/Momentum plans. I later summed up the weekly fees I paid to calculate how much I paid per pound - it was a bit astonishing; but it was something that I needed at that point in my life. I was 296 pounds, very unhealthy and lost.

Now the only thing I miss about WW are the weekly meetings and the feel of community; but with supportive friends on MFP it's almost the same (just without the face to face). With MFP, not having someone to weigh me every week taught me to be accountable only to myself and not to the person(s) weighing me.

That being said, I'm glad I found MFP for my 'second tour of duty'. With WW, everything had to be calculated into points and because of that I found that I wasn't learning many details about healthy nutrition - I was only focused on the points. With MFP I'm learning so much more and it's free! And even better, there is no converting calories/fat/fibre into points - there is no fumbling with a WW calculator or their food index guides in the grocery stores or restaurants.

I'm losing with MFP, learning more about healthy nutrition and get to leave my money in my pocket. Same results, same rules, honesty, accountability and common sense - one day, one choice, one step at a time.

alsunrise

Actually calories are not calculated into WW points.

Did they change the formula for points? It used to be (calories/50) + (fat/4) - (fiber/5) = points (but they didn't allow more than 4 grams of fiber to count).

The point system is actually based on fat, protein, carbs, and fiber now. I didn't like it, but I'm a carb person. lol and on the new system the carbs were costly.

rml_16

I've always wondered about those pre-packaged food diets. I would think that learning to eat a low cal diet would be more effective in the long run because you have learned to eat healthy and can maintain the weight loss. So in the long run....Low Cal diet.

WW is not a prepackaged food diet.

You can buy the frozen meals, but I did it for a year and never did. And I lost weight just fine.

RunHardBeStrong

Weight Watchers IS a low-cal diet, it just shows you "points" instead of calories. MFP and weight watchers are practically the same thing. There are some minor differences but it's the exact same concept. Some people have more success with one than the other. I like the idea of MFP better because you can learn about actual calories in food rather than just learning about the "points" they are associated with, which mean nothing in the real world.

Took the words right out of my mouth! So in essence, low cal diet is better IMO. You learn what to do instead of being told what to do.

needamulligan

I've done WW. Like other posters, I lost a significant amount of weight and have since gained it all back and then some. WW and MFP are very similar. In my opinion, there are 2 key differences:

1. MFP is FREE. You don't have to pay each week or for the weeks you miss. This is how I got in trouble on WW. I always wanted to wait until they had a free enrollment to catch up.

2. WW is focused on points. Many of us would focus on keeping points low and not on nutrition. Because of the formula for calculating points I often chose packaged food. I don't know if WW now has a computerized food database but this is a huge benefit of MFP. Here you eat what you like and track it. With WW, we were always running out to buy that new find that would magically keep us under our point limits. I admit that I don't know if/how the program has changed in the last 7-8 years. I feel that MFP is more straight forward and easier to maintain.

Bighiker2

Tried WW many times and didn't have any consistent results, although it does work for many people. I quit for good WW in July at my highest weight ever, 143.5 lb (I actually gained 6 lbs while on WW....). Shortly thereafter, I found out about MFP and began a 1200 daily calories regime on 7/16. Today's weigh in was 133 lb, -10.5 lb! So, my two cents based on my personal experience is go with MFP and forget about WW.

Best of everything to you!

JenLosesIt

I love WWDiary for Android!! And hello its free too! I LOVE the support on here but I agree its easier for me to plan my day out of points then thousands of calories. Smaller numbers are easier for me to keep track of....just me though. If anyone is doing Momentum still (old WW) please feel free to add me!!!:smokin: