Anyone have tried W.w ??

Swaroski

Hey Pals,
I'm looking to lose weight as every body else is here and I was wondering if anyone had tried Weight Watcher and if it worked or has work.
Any friends, advice, comments on it?
Thanks for reading, hope to hear from u pals soon
Swaroski

manda1978

I haven't, but my Mum & Sister have with great results

Swaroski

Nice!!!
How long have they been on it, and how much weight have they lost? Just really wanna make sure before I subscribe that it's worth it

aStrongerSteph

The support is nice but, I prefer calorie counting. I know a few people who really enjoy it though. Worth trying to see how you like it.

cappri

I've been doing WW online for not just over 8 months. MFP is my back up tracker because I wanted some place to track sodium. Points or calories it essentially the same. The tracking of your food honestly is the main thing.

racataca

So I did WW and it took me like 3 weeks to lose 2 lbs. I've been using MFP exclusively for about 4 days and have already lost 2 lbs from my weigh in a week ago.

WW is good for some people, but for me the "free" fruits were my downfall - I could subsist off fruits alone, and eating a ton of them isn't good for weight loss, haha.

Swaroski

Thanks for the anwser.
But doesnt W.w have "points" counting system or something? I think it might be working with how many pounds u wanna lose and also how many weight u are already no? LOlllll Hard to tell!

manda1978

About 10kg each. Sorry not sure how long it took them. Basically its swapping calorie counting for points counting.

chubbygirl253

yes I have. It does work but it's slower than calorie counting. Right now I am calorie counting but I plan to use ww as my maintenence diet once I reach goal.

cappri

Yes WW has a points system, it's pretty easy to use. I think anyway. The points are roughly equal to 40 calories. How many Daily Points you have does depend on your starting weight, and as you lose weight you get less Daily Points, so far I've lost 12 points from where I started. There are also Weekly Points and you can earn Activity Points. Fruits and veggies are zero points, but WW has figured those into their plan. I've been tracking using both WW points and MFP calories since the end of August and I eat a lot of fruits and veggies and my points/calories usually come out about equal for the day.

racataca

So how WW works is, you weigh in and based on whatever you weigh, you get a specific number of points allotted to you. You can eat that many per day, plus there are 49 "flex" points per week that you can use whenever you want, and that are extra. You also get more points when you do exercise.

So for example, my allotment was 33 points a day, plus the 49 extra a week, and I tended to gain about 7 extra points per every time I exercised, which was about 4 times a week, equally 28 more points.

Then, every food has a point amount assigned to it. Generally if it has more carbs and less fiber, it's going to have more points. Protein bumps it up a little bit too. You can basically eat anything you want, as long as you don't go over your point allotment, but fruits and vegetables are "free," meaning you can eat as many as you want and they don't go against your point allotment.

That last part was my downfall, because I eat fruits like it's going out of style, and though they're WAY better for me than some things, I can't expect to lose weight by eating all 33 points, plus 3 apples, 2 bananas, a cup of grapes, and a pint of blueberries a day, haha. Plus I feel like WW didn't really teach me HOW to eat...it doesn't break down the foods as much as MFP did, and doesn't give you specific ranges of carbs/proteins/fat to aim for.

That said, it works for some people, so def try it out if you're interested!

sarahisme18

I've tried it three times... always gained the weight back because I wasn't able to make it a lifestyle.

chubbygirl253

So I did WW and it took me like 3 weeks to lose 2 lbs. I've been using MFP exclusively for about 4 days and have already lost 2 lbs from my weigh in a week ago.

WW is good for some people, but for me the "free" fruits were my downfall - I could subsist off fruits alone, and eating a ton of them isn't good for weight loss, haha.

this is true. I should specify that the points plus program which offers free fruit doesn't work for me for the same reason. I lose about 1.5-2 lbs a week on the older version flex/momentum plan. Fruits are a point on that plan but veggies are still free. I lost 68 lbs in 7 months on ww in 2007 before points plus. This summer when I first started dieting again I lost my first 15 lbs through ww on the older plan. That took about 6 wks. Calorie counting sped things up a little bit. roughly an extra pound a week? something like that.

YcatsFursworth

I did about 5 years ago now and back then it wasn't for me.... was a bit too much freedom for me... but that could just be because of my control. have just as much freedom on here but I do alot better with it now so it could just be my age

sarahisme18

Plus I feel like WW didn't really teach me HOW to eat...it doesn't break down the foods as much as MFP did, and doesn't give you specific ranges of carbs/proteins/fat to aim for.

^ This!!

cappri

I haven't found weight loss to be slow. I'm still averaging 2.1 pounds a week. It was faster in the beginning, but I'm now just 15 pounds above my healthy range, so it's bound to slow down.

Nicoleholmes2

I joined WW about 9 weeks ago and on average lose about a pound a week before I was tracking on MFP and lost but it was more up and down. I love the community here on MFP so I toggle between the 2.

racataca

I haven't found weight loss to be slow. I'm still averaging 2.1 pounds a week. It was faster in the beginning, but I'm now just 15 pounds above my healthy range, so it's bound to slow down.

It definitely works for some people! But I'd been doing it for about 5 months up to a week ago and I only ever lost about a half pound a week, if anything, and that was with meticulous tracking. For me, it was the fruit, I swear! But everyone's body composition is different so what works for me may not work for everyone, and vice versa.

DopeItUp

I never really saw the point. They take something extremely simple (calorie counting) and then try to simplify it even more - to the point of oversimplification. No points for fruits and veggies? Are they magical 0 calorie foods? Of course not. Not to mention, you have to pay for it. Why pay for something you can do very, very easily for free? Plus once you learn how to eat properly it stays with you for life. Who does WW for life?

collectingblues

I did Weight Watchers for close to three years. I dropped 10 pounds very quickly, then stalled for a year. I was hungry all the time, and miserable -- I got to the point, after I promptly gained seven of those pounds *back*, that I decided it was stupid to pay all that money and be miserable. Having had a history of eating disorders, I can do miserable and hungry on my own, thankyouverymuch!

When I calculate what I ate on Weight Watchers, I learned I was barely clearing 1,200 calories a day. My BMR, by contrast, is 1,475. I think the reason I lost so quickly was because I had a severe deficit at first, but then it got to the point where my body decided that was ridiculous, and it held on to those pounds. Likewise, as soon as I went off, I gained weight back.

That's what I like better about MFP. It's not as much of a one-size-fits-all approach as WW was, and I think it sets me up better for sustainable habits. I'm not hungry on MFP, and I'm not miserable, either.

APBTChampion

I've done both, and honestly the weight loss is probably about the same... I lost MORE weight on the old WW system than their new one (PointsPlus). I prefer to count calories verses points, because there's no calories/carbs/fiber/protein to points calculations and the workout to point conversion is weird too.

Honestly, MFP is FREE and easy as hell to use by comparison.

emd528

I did Weight Watchers and lost 20 lbs in probably about 3 months. This was February-April/May of this year, so it was with the newest Points Plus system. They set a limit for how many points you can eat each day, and all fruits and most vegetables are worth 0 points, so you get those for "free", even though they suggest you track them anyway. You also get 49 extra points you can use throughout the week- you can save them all for one big event, or spread them out a few every day, or not use them at all. You also can earn exercise points, and you can choose to use/not use those towards food.

They calculate your points per day based on your height and weight, and the lowest you'll ever be at is 26 points/day. As a 5'4" woman who came in weighing 180 lbs, I started with 32 or 31 points per day, and by the time I had lost the 20 lbs, I was down to 26. Points Plus values of food are calculated based on fat, carbs, fiber, and protein. The more fiber something has, the less points, but the more fat/carbs/protein, the more points it has.

Positives: I liked that you got 'rewarded' for eating fruit, and for adding more fiber to your diet. But, the points calculation can make you try to cut weird corners to try to save points. Points don't round, so when I was calculating the points for a meal, and a tiny difference in ingredients or portion size (which would usually mean a small caloric difference) would change the points value, I'd sometimes do stupid things to make the points work in my favor. Sometimes (like light Laughing Cow cheese, for example) doubling the amount of food means the same points plus value; doubling things with a lot of fiber (which is still doubling the calories) usually *doesn't* double the points plus value. Other times, like if something has a lot of fat, doubling the amount of food will more than double the points plus value. These quirks of the system are unintuitive, frustrating, and make you do stupid things to try and make sure you get the most food for your points- at least, that's what I did! Exercise points were frustrating, too- I'm a runner, and so I would always see how many minutes I could run to bump myself up another exercise point, instead of just listening to my body and sticking to a number of miles I wanted to run. If you ran, say, 30 minutes, you'd get about 5-6 points (I'm pretty sure, depending on your weight), but if you ran 32 minutes instead, you'd get an extra point, and then not get another point after that until probably 38 minutes.

Basically, I didn't like that things weren't incremental the way calories are. If I run 35 minutes, instead of 32, I want the units I burned (calories, points) to reflect that in my diary. If I eat double the serving size of something, it makes more sense and seems more fair if the amount of points/calories I record to reflect that. I like counting calories better because it's more straightforward, and feels more honest. It's intuitive, it's something you can easily do for the rest of your life, and you don't need to constantly whip out your phone when you're in the grocery store to figure out how many points something has. Plus, counting calories is free!

I think WW helps you make good choices in terms of food, and encourages you to lose weight at a healthy rate, but these are things you can get from counting calories, too. Usually healthier foods are lower in calories, and most people who are watching their caloric intake know that they should eat fruits & veggies. The sense of community and encouragement I felt at WW meetings and at WW online is about the same that I feel here, so I don't think you'll really be gaining anything in that regard. I liked WW, and I am glad I did it because it helped me lose weight, but I am getting what I think is a better system with MFP for free.

Hope that helps!

txdahl

I did amazing well on WW, I was going to the meeting each week so accountability was easy because you knew you would be standing before someone each week. The eating was easy and I was able to handle my points so that I still got to eat anything I wanted. I stopped due to some stresses and life changes and just never went back.

I found this site by a friend. The thing with this is I find the community support so much better and the eating easier. I don't have to worry about counting to find points, just put in what I eat and how much and occasionally have to add something that isn't in the data base. My favorite part of MFP is that it is free. I found with WW if I had to miss a meeting due to work or something I felt guilty because of the money.

I think it is person choice, if you like what MFP has to offer than you should do well, if you like the stricter structure and accountability of WW then go with that. I do have a few friends at work that are doing WW and as soon as their time is up this time they are all moving to this site and not doing WW anymore, for them it is the money. We have all lost about the same amount except mine is free.

Which ever you choose I wish you the best of luck!

mollymoo51

I think WW is a good program... like most diets, I do well a couple weeks and then give up. My Dr seems to think calorie counting & exercise is the best way to lose weight.

JessieTangerine

Plus I feel like WW didn't really teach me HOW to eat...it doesn't break down the foods as much as MFP did, and doesn't give you specific ranges of carbs/proteins/fat to aim for.

^ This!!

See I found the exact opposite. I did ww online and I felt like there was a great emphasis on eating a wide variety of foods and making sure that you do get all your veggies in so you get adequate nutrition. My mum does ww meetings and they are even more big on get in your vitamins and minerals. I find on mfp, people completely ignore micronutrients in favor of hitting their macronutrients. Even on days I dont track calories, I track servings of fruit and veggies, a habit I learned at ww.

Overall, ww has the most wonderful community and can really help most people lose weight. I think my mom has lost about 40 pounds since january. Personally, I prefer mfp though because a. I did not lose weight on ww (eating too few points made me average less than a pound a month) and b. mfp allows you to adjust your macros so if high protein low fat isnt your thing, thats ok as long as you stay within calories whereas ww points have a non-negotiable formula.

RoadsterGirlie

I lost all 90 lbs on WW in the span of just over a year, back in 2011. I made goal last December, and have drifted down about 10 lbs past my initial goal weight.

I'm an Online member only, and am looking to make the change over to MFP to save myself $18 per month. Tracking is key, and I already know how to get my fruits and veggies in - those are crucial in keeping hunger at bay.

I figure it may take a month or two while i double track to figure what what works for me on this site - i already know WW like the back of my hand so I need to figure out what my daily amount here will be in order to maintain.

The only thing I wish MFP had was "weekly calories" like WW has "weekly points" for splurges and what not. Those tend to occur on the weekend and they keep me from feeling deprived.

scrapfrfun

I've done both, and honestly the weight loss is probably about the same... I lost MORE weight on the old WW system than their new one (PointsPlus). I prefer to count calories verses points, because there's no calories/carbs/fiber/protein to points calculations and the workout to point conversion is weird too.

Honestly, MFP is FREE and easy as hell to use by comparison.

This^^^

I lost 60lbs on the momentum plan and then when they switched over to the pointsplus system that is when it went south for me.....I was constantly yoyoing and NEVER had 2 straight weeks of loss. It was so frustrating, I even tried it twice a couple months apart.

I have lost 17lbs while on MFP and find it just as easy as WW for tracking but I don't have to pay for it!

gramacanada

Each weight watchers 'point' is about fifty calories. that's the Only difference with their system.

babicak3z

i havent but a coworker has and hes lost 70lbs and counting

HurricaneElaine

I did - twice. Both times I lost 40 pounds, and eventually gained it all back. I couldn't afford it anymore. MFP is much easier, and it's FREE. Works for me!


edited to add: My sister is a permanent member of WW - she's lost over 80 pounds. Unfortunately, she's lost TOO much; her face is sagging terribly and she has no breasts at all now.

WynterSkeyes

Yes I did WW about 2 years ago and yes it does work if you are willing to work. My problem was I stopped. I lost 30lbs and got tired of weighing and tracking food. But I know now that to stay on the right track thats what you have to do. Just like being on this site you still have to weigh and track food. But its a good thing because you pay more attention to what you are putting into your body.