Anyone ever done Weight Watchers?

Tecia1970

If so, how do you find this in comparison? Are you losing weight as quickly as you did on WW or are you finding that you aren't losing as much as you did when you were on WW?

beeblebrox82

It's just like MFP... only not free.

elis_mama

I actually cancelled WW once I started MFP. I figure, why do that when I can do this for free? Plus, I'm losing weight on MFP. On WW, I actually ended up gaining. I like this.

atamrowski

Did it but too expensive and the meetings seemed "weird" to me. I like this better. And it's free. And it's fun on here. And you can find just about anything to track your calories.

judykat7

I find this to be better. With WW I was constantly reminded I was on a diet. With MFP, I feel like it is a lifestyle change and there is some emphasis on fitness. I also found the new Power POints hard to adapt to since I had started under the old plan. I rate MFP above WW, Nutrisystmes, Atkins... all that I have tried. I feel this is truly the program for me.

mockchoc

I went to WW on and off for 20 years and never felt like I really had support from others there. Totally opposite to MFP. This place is great and you learn lots about health and fitness and yes free is good too.

robert_gonzalez

I did weight watchers in 2002. In 10 months I lost 107 pounds, in part because of the weigh-ins. It helped keep me accountable to not only myself but the group of people I was weighing in with every week. Not gonna lie, it was expensive and, to be really honest, most of the principles they teach can be found right here or on other health and fitness sites. No, there is no magic formula that competes with their points plan, but if you spend any time at all looking over it (if they even still use it) you can see that their entire plan is build around specific rations of calories, fats, sugars, carbohydrates and proteins. Do you need it to successfully lose weight? No. Will it help you? Yes. Are there other, free, resources that will do the same thing? Absolutely.

GoffGirl1029

I am currently on WW360 right now, the online program. It's much like this, I prefer the MFP community though. The main difference I have seen is that you can eat as many fruits and veggies as you want and almost none of them are any points. I like that better, but for the most part I prefer MFP. It gets kinda old tracking on two different websites and once my three month membership is over, I will be canceling. I do believe it will work though.

Petrapoo45

I did WW a couple of times. Never worked for me. I never knew how many points were in something. Too hard to keep track of. Meetings were lame and full of seniors. Not that I have anything against seniors persay, just that I was in my 20's at the time, and I felt very out of place. Counting calories just makes sense to me. WAAY more success on this program than anything else.

Luv2h1k3

I've done Weight Watchers both on-line and the meetings. I find MFP much easier and I'm having better results than I did with WW. May just be that I'm finally really dedicated or may be that I just really prefer MFP. You need to just find what works best for you. I have friends that swear by WW and have done really well. Just visit the "Success Stories" thread and see how many people have been successful with MFP. Like I said, personal preference. Either way...best of luck.

Alatariel75

I was an Online Member of WW for ages and I recently quit and joined MFP.

Mainly because MFP is the same thing (eating a certain amount of "points" a day is the same as eating a certain number of calories, you still need to make good decisions about what that number is made up of) and because the Australian WW boards are BORING!!

As an Online member, I go to the boards for support and while the people who are on there are lovely and helpful, the boards are so quiet, you'd be lucky to get 5 new topics a day, and the actual forum set-up is crap.

guardian741

The two are very similar. Though, I think I lean slightly more towards WW for being "more effective". It DOES offer the meetings that are intentionally upbeat. - If that kind of thing helps you.

I think the biggest advantage, though, is seeing the impact on the foods you eat. For example when using FCD, you contemplate adding a food that has 410 calories and 14gs of fat. Given that you get - say - 2000 cals a day, this item doesn't seem like that much.
However, on WW, because of the fat content, this item would be right around 10 "points" (you usually get between 25-34, depending on weight, height, gender, etc.). 10 "points" is nearly HALF of your "daily allowance". That perspective gears you towards something with a slightly lower fat-count.

Anyway, paraphrased version: FCD is better for getting the overall picture of your nuitrition, WW is better for "conditioning" yourself towards choosing healthier foods.

Pearlyladybug

Ive found that with MFP i have learnt a lot about food, what i should and shouldn't be eating-what foods have what in them etc (protein, fats etc etc). i personally didnt find that WW taught me any of that. i did loose weight but it got to the point when i lost interest and stopped loosing

id be like hey filet o fish from maccas is only 6 points ill just live off those!:embarassed:

Energizer06

If you like to know why your losing or gaining then MFP gives you the info....as long as your honest with yourself. WW actually changed their program years ago to slow peoples weight loss. Wife lost 15lbs incredibly fast before we got married years ago and recently signed up with the new WW program....not even close to what it used to be ...It's all about money to them. Best to save the money and put it towards a good heart rate monitor or calorie counter (like fitbit or something similar). Best of luck.

ggeise14

I did WW four yrs ago and lost the 30 lbs I wanted to. Hv regained 8 and found this free site. I like the support on mfp and knowing what actual food calorie counts are vs just "points".

shelbysp8

I did WW 3 different times ALL 3 times I got to 20lbs and stalled. One time I stalled for 3 months and then I quit; it was too expensive to stay in it and not lose. This I am losing my only stall was for 3 weeks during the holidays, so I feel like I am still succeeding.Also like someone else said this is more like a lifestyle change and NOT a diet.

CristinaL1983

I did weight watchers in 2007 after a second ankle surgery and the birth of a child. I did the core program which is pretty different from MFP. It involves no tracking. There is a set ideology (no bread, lean meats instead of fatty, any fruits and veggies, etc...) instead of calories. I had great success. I lost the 50 lbs I really wanted to lose in about 6 months and then I quit going (not as much on purpose as I just stopped caring as much). I really liked it. My weight loss was about the same pace as when I was tracking on a different app and when I started tracking here. I track my calories here but use the same principles (plus IF) as when I was doing the core program.

I like this because it's free.

JustTracyB

I did WW for a short time online. I need more structure. I use MFP to log, but I have a fitorbit.com account and a trainer sets up a workout plan and meal plan for me every week. I love that more and it's the structure I need to stay on track.

soniadavisbey

I'VE DONE WW...BUT I LOVE THIS WAY...WW AND MFP ARE DAMN NEAR THE SAME THING...EXCEPT THIS IS FREE AND BETTER

SammieAus

I did WW 5 years ago and lost 40 pounds. It worked for me. I think the weekly weigh-ins and the meetings (i found a very i interactive and fun group) helped keep me accountable. I had fun! As soon as I stopped going to the meetings and stopped tracking I gained the weight back :grumble: .
I just joined MFP last week and I enjoy it so far. I'm keeping busy on the message boards and joining groups for motivation. So far so good. I like how MFP takes into account your exercise and your calorie goal for the day. Just like activity points with WW.

DebsDav

I am on ww and tracking on here, I like both but need the structure of ww to stay on track and do the weekly weighins

Tecia1970

Warning: Long post and lots of rambling lol

Thank you all for your replies. I've also done WW in the past and lost 47 lbs. on it. At that time, I had never stepped foot in a meeting. My mom was living 2,000 miles away and was doing WW so she basically taught me how to do it over the phone and sent me a points tracker and some helpful info. I eventually stopped and gained some back so I started going to meetings with a friend. Neither of us really cared for the meetings and were paying just to go once a week and weigh in but hey, it was keeping us accountable. You know the story...you stop going, blah, blah, blah.
Another thing I have noticed about here....you guys are A LOT friendlier than the people on the WW message board. Most of them are snarky and just downright rude. If you dare mention anything other than WW they blow a gasket! Weight Watchers nazis! LOL! WW also likes to change the program every time you turn around! I can't even remember what the one I liked was called because they keep changing. It's the one where you have a certain amount of "target" points per day and then the 35 flex points that you can use a little at a time or all at once. I always saved mine for either a nice Sunday dinner or Friday night alcohol lol.
But here I am 38 lbs from where I want to be and would really love to reach goal by June. Some friends and I have planned a girls weekend to the MS Gulf Coast and I prefer to not look like a beached whale when we are laying on the beach. It's doable.
I'm back at the gym. I just got back from doing 45 min. I did 30 minutes on the treadmill and then 15 minutes of leg presses and whatever that other thing was called lol. You sit and lean over and lift the bar. I also did a whole whopping 2 minutes on the elliptical. Now I know why I never see anyone on it! I wanted to stay an hour but I was the only one there until creepy guy came in. He came in and changed out of his t-shirt into a tank top but left his jeans on and was working out in jeans. Well, for the time he was working out. He went in the weight room and fiddled around for a couple of minutes, came back out where I was and proceeded to play a few minutes on this machine, a few minutes on that one, but for the most part he was just walking around doing nothing and kept looking over at me which made me very uncomfortable. I immediately got on the phone with my husband who told me to stay on the phone with him and come home.
Thanks for those who added me! I am looking forward to us supporting and helping each other!