So who's switched from Weight Watchers to MFP?

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  • KathyPBiles
    KathyPBiles Posts: 292 Member
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    I have done WW more than once (actually used to work for them as well). So, basically what I am doing on here, is practicing what I learned with WW and using MFP as my accountability and support. I LOVE IT! Even though I have known all these years the right things to do, I wasn't practicing them, because I wasn't making myself be accountable. Now, thanks to MFP, I am. I bite it, I write it!
  • dominoid747
    dominoid747 Posts: 33 Member
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    I've gone from Weight Watchers to MFP too. So far had two strong loss weeks since starting and I'm eating largely the same foods as before so it all seems to be working. I liked the WW concept but other than a few token gestures, it feels like they're largely uninterested in men so meetings feel quite uncomfortable and I was doing everything online. I was also starting to find it quite difficult to find some foods in the database, especially new things. I was using a third party app with a barcode scanner like the MFP one but that wasn't very good with finding food available in Britain so I ended up having to put full info in for lots of food and it was getting fiddly and annoying so I decided to switch to MFP and I'm very glad that I did.


    I agree with Anita too. I think the whole "free food" concept on WW can be a bit of a misnomer as you get closer to goal: I was getting through 400-500 calories on fruit before. I know it's not a lot in the grand scheme of things but now I'm down to under 2000 calories, it's a quarter of my daily targets! Also, it puts you in the mindset of "good" and "bad" foods and as I've been reminded by a doctor recently, there are no good or bad foods, only good or bad diets and everything can be eaten as long as you're keeping aware of what things to be more sparing of.
  • Icedcoffee29
    Icedcoffee29 Posts: 139
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    Want to hear something crazy. I inputted a couple days of my WW meals and found I was only eating about 1000 cals per day. :O Holy cow! I am very active, I work out cardio 4-5 x a week and run/walk.
  • Icedcoffee29
    Icedcoffee29 Posts: 139
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    I did WW back in 2009 and lost 67lbs and then gained it back in 2011. I started off not "dieting" this time, but changing my whole lifestyle to be centered around healthy choices rather than how many points of food I could eat in a day. I found it difficult to transition into maintaining after WW because I did not change most of my eating habits, but slimmed down my portions to fit within the points for the day. This go around it has been 11 months and I am down 94lbs and I exercise almost every day and keep strict count on my calories instead and it has worked out great since I am beginning my maintaining. Good luck!

    WOW congrats!!
  • princessage117
    princessage117 Posts: 171 Member
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    I just quit WW. I lost about 27 pounds with them the first year. Which I didn't think I would ever be able to lose. Then I struggled to get to goal for another full year.

    Got 3 pounds away at one point last summer but then had some tragedies and set backs. (Need to lose about 10 pounds to get to max recommended weight by WW's standards.)

    I like MFP but am still struggling with these darn last 10 lbs. But at least it's free. I feel like I wasn't learning anything new from WW after being on it so long. But I loved the accountability at the meetings. Did not like how food obsessed I felt on it. I guess I have mixed feelings.
  • Icedcoffee29
    Icedcoffee29 Posts: 139
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    There are some stickies (threads at the top of the list of topics ) at the top of this board that give some good info on determining how many calories you need to eat to create a deficit.


    I found the WW app to be very buggy too and free is a good thing!

    Thanks!
  • mbaker824
    mbaker824 Posts: 16
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    A few years ago (well, more than a few; it was 2002 or so) I had great success with Weight Watchers - I lost 135 lbs over about a year and a half. I still hadn't quite achieved my goal weight but I stopped going to meetings and over the next few years put about 70 lbs back on. Subsequent tries with WW weren't all that successful, although that was primarily a motivation problem, I think. Now that I'm motivated again, I find that MFP works just as well as WW. Better, actually, because MFP allows users to enter food in the database, which means most anything I eat is already in there. Since starting on MFP about eight months ago I've lost about 45 lbs, and I hope to finally get to my ultimate goal weight.
  • Icedcoffee29
    Icedcoffee29 Posts: 139
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    A few years ago (well, more than a few; it was 2002 or so) I had great success with Weight Watchers - I lost 135 lbs over about a year and a half. I still hadn't quite achieved my goal weight but I stopped going to meetings and over the next few years put about 70 lbs back on. Subsequent tries with WW weren't all that successful, although that was primarily a motivation problem, I think. Now that I'm motivated again, I find that MFP works just as well as WW. Better, actually, because MFP allows users to enter food in the database, which means most anything I eat is already in there. Since starting on MFP about eight months ago I've lost about 45 lbs, and I hope to finally get to my ultimate goal weight.

    So awesome. You're doing great!!
  • AmesMc1972
    AmesMc1972 Posts: 194 Member
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    Oh, and speaking of free....I haven't done WW in years, so they may have the app now, but if you have a smartphone the MFP app is AWESOME!
  • Icedcoffee29
    Icedcoffee29 Posts: 139
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    Oh, and speaking of free....I haven't done WW in years, so they may have the app now, but if you have a smartphone the MFP app is AWESOME!

    Yes this is another plus for me. MFP has a Kindle Fire App! WHOOT!
  • minadee
    minadee Posts: 44 Member
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    I think it just all depends on what works for you. I actually started WW 12 days ago and had lost 3 pounds at day 7. As an experiment today, I compared my breakfast and lunch on WW to my breakfast and lunch on MFP. (My breakfast was 2 cups of frozen fruit which is free on WW). In both cases, I've used 26% of my daily food allowances. That confirms 3 things for me:

    1. I've finally figured out how many calories I really should be eating!
    2. WW has reduced the points value to allow for the amount of fruit an average person would consume per day.
    3. WW is still really based on calories, they just make it complicated so they can charge for it.

    I like the accountability...so I'll keep going to meetings as long as it works. Good luck to everyone!
  • Icedcoffee29
    Icedcoffee29 Posts: 139
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    I think it just all depends on what works for you. I actually started WW 12 days ago and had lost 3 pounds at day 7. As an experiment today, I compared my breakfast and lunch on WW to my breakfast and lunch on MFP. (My breakfast was 2 cups of frozen fruit which is free on WW). In both cases, I've used 26% of my daily food allowances. That confirms 3 things for me:

    1. I've finally figured out how many calories I really should be eating!
    2. WW has reduced the points value to allow for the amount of fruit an average person would consume per day.
    3. WW is still really based on calories, they just make it complicated so they can charge for it.

    I like the accountability...so I'll keep going to meetings as long as it works. Good luck to everyone!

    Awesome! WW help me lose 51lbs, I have nothing but love for them. :)
  • sme169
    sme169 Posts: 1 Member
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    All of my weight loss has been using Weight Watchers. I like to see how calories, protein, fat, fiber and carbs all at add together. I made lifetime and still attend the meetings. Took me about a year to lose the weight my weight loss really kicked in when I added a good cardio plan and some weights. I think once you decided on a plan and stick with it you will have results. Just remember whatever you chose to do takes time to get the results you want.
  • tinak33
    tinak33 Posts: 9,883 Member
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    I did Weight Watchers for a year. I lost 40 lbs (25 on WW, and 15 before WW). Then I stopped counting points. I fluctuated in the same 7lb zone for the past 1.5 years and got on the MFP bandwagon this past Sept or Oct.... Can't remember. haha :smile:
    So far I have dropped a few lbs and am hoping to make all the extra weight go far far away!
  • cathyfowler662
    cathyfowler662 Posts: 120 Member
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    I did WW and lost 65 lbs.; got to goal and I am/was a lifetime member....then I gained it all back and so now I'm trying this. I like the calorie thing a lot better as you know how much you can eat and don't need to pull out the points calculator to find out how many points anything is.
  • North44
    North44 Posts: 359 Member
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    I used WW online in the fall of 2010 and lost 22 pounds. I did maintenance after that and kept the weight off. I discontinued my membership and then gradually gained some of it back.

    I have come to the conclusion that I need to have structure in my life that something like WW or MFP provides and since MFP is free, it's the winner long term. I like both programs a lot- would recommend either one to anyone looking to lose weight.
  • tschaff04
    tschaff04 Posts: 296 Member
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    I did WW from home for nearly a year and lost 98 pounds. Got pregnant with my third child, and when I went to lose the baby weight with points plus I found it much more difficult to do so. I still lost but not like the first time. Decided to stop paying for what I could do for free and joined MFP and have now lost about 20 pounds on it. I too like seeing calories and real food values as opposed to a point number that is put on my food. And I like free...a lot! :)

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