Weight Watchers vs MFP

ashmitatua
ashmitatua Posts: 35 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I prefer MFP to WWPP because :

As a former WWPP member, I had more success in MFP than in Weight Watchers. One of the main reasons being WWPP considers all fruit and veggies to be 0 points. Veggies can be zero points (some of them), but fruits are definitely not 0 points. When I first started in WW, I was allowed 22 or 24 points, cannot recall and I was eating a lot of fruits and was always below my points. I did not lose a single pound. Not even inches of my body . Then I went to one of the meetings and thats where they said to limit fruit consumption and eat more protein and fiber and eat all your points. So even though WWPP says fruits are all 0 points, they are not.
And WWPP is expensive. I tried the online one (one with no meetings) I paid $17/mth and then if I wanted to attend any meetings it was I think around $25.

MFP on the other hand is free and I can see what I am putting in my mouth. That gives me more control over what I eat. It taught me to eat healthy, make better choices.

Anyone else a WWPP failure and MFP success?

Replies

  • MrOFM
    MrOFM Posts: 41
    Even though WW say fruits are 0 points they clearly state you shouldn't be eating fruits all day. I done both just to see how they worked. WW is pretty much the same. It gives you your daily goals in fruits and veggies. If you didn't read that part then it was your fault.

    But I do prefer MFP the community seem much lager and younger then the one on WW.
  • luckylissette
    luckylissette Posts: 24 Member
    I think it's a balance. I am finding success with WW online. I've been doing WW for 32 days now and am down 10 lbs, whereas I've tried other things on my own like MFP and it didn't work. I would yo-yo around the same 5 lbs, but I've also learned some throughout that journey that was holding me back and I've incorporated into the WW journey.

    Rule of thumb has always been more veggies than fruits, because of how the body breaks fruits down into sugars, and then that's no good if not taken in moderation.
  • MrOFM
    MrOFM Posts: 41
    Sugar in fruits do not matter! Because they are not table sugar but all natural. But it doesn't mean eat all the fruit you want also.

    when you track sugar it should always be table sugar your tracking. Because natural sugar is used right away as energy for your body. But you still need to keep track of the carbs and cals. But yes you should eat more viggies.
  • Camille0502
    Camille0502 Posts: 311 Member
    I was successful with WW after my daughter was born 8 years ago (my profile picture) and lost 50 pounds. However, I tried a few times since then and failed miserably on WW. I just felt hungry all the time on WW - plus, you get penalized (points-wise) for eating certain foods - and I must eat a lot of that type of food because I was running out of points fast each day. When I did WW after my daughter was born, I was nursing so I got 10 extra points per day - so that probably helped keep my appetite at bay.

    For me counting calories is so much more straightforward. Anyway, the WW points are basically proxies for calories anyway.

    The reason I came here is that I didn't want to keep a paper log of my eating but didn't want to pay $20 per month just for an on-line app. I found the free MFP and have been a convert ever since.
  • LilRock25
    LilRock25 Posts: 71 Member
    I love WW & if I could afford it I'd still be doing that instead of MFP. But like you said, the cost is quite a lot.

    As far as the fruits being 0pts, if you read everything it did say that fruit still has calories (just as veggies do) and in fact usually more calories than veggies. It also said to limit your fruit intake because while they were trying to push people to eat more fruits/veggies instead of 100cal packs for a snack they do still have calories & if you eat too many can cause your WL to slow or stop.

    I haven't been doing MFP long enough to say how I will like it. But currently I don't see much difference between my diet while doing WW vs doing MFP.
  • _Brown_Eyed_Girl_
    _Brown_Eyed_Girl_ Posts: 39 Member
    I used WW before and had great success, I lost 80 lbs! But, after getting pregnant, I regained 55. I tried to do WW again and had no success. I don't know if it was the new Points Plus program or what but it was just not working for me. I started using MFP last week and have already lost 4 lbs! I don't notice a huge difference in what I'm eating but I like being able to see the calories instead of having to figure out the points values for everything.

    WW was really expensive too, $40 a month just to go to meetings! I love MFP because it's free.

    I did learn the value of eating properly while I was doing WW which is probably helping me make the right choices.
  • Lindse121
    Lindse121 Posts: 30 Member
    I recently started a Weight Watchers at Work program, and I am finding it to be successful. I've lost 8.4 lbs. in 4 weeks which I don't think is too shabby. I think it's good for me because of the accountability...I don't want to be -not- losing if others are! Not that I know how much they weigh/have lost unless they tell me, but you know. It's also good to have support at work, where I spend most of my day and eat breakfast, lunch and possibly a snack. My friends here are really supportive, and we can also blow off steam/vent/whatever.

    I had been doing MFP, too, on and off for awhile, and definitely lose if I just keep to my tracking...I just get slack and stop. I am really committed now, and I know it really does work. I also just LOVE the motivation and support I get on here. It is absolutely amazing.

    I think the success of whatever someone tries really depends on the person. Some are helped more by the in-person meetings or just having the set points to work with. But others are helped more by somewhat anonymous, online support and the flexibility of tracking calories.

    Whatever floats your boat - or drops your lbs.!! :)
  • btoby
    btoby Posts: 5
    I think I am going to quit WW and try MFP. I lost about 18 pounds on WW but now I am on a platuea, I feel like I need to do something different. I do feel like I was able to eat more food on WW but then again I stopped loosing weight so maybe I do need to east less food. I am going to give this a chance and see how I do.
  • Trainee_Jane
    Trainee_Jane Posts: 9
    I haven't really had luck on MFP so far. At first maybe a pound or 2, but I was always going over... I got a free WW calculator app yesterday, and decided to give it a try. I am entering my foods on here first to get the calories, fat, and fiber. Calorie wise, its about equal to what MFP says I should be eating to lose. I feel like protien is much lower low. I have muscle milk before bed sometimes or after a workout, and its 6 points! I know there's activity points and extra points to factor in, but that seemed crazy to me. I just want something to work, because these 10-20 pounds have proven VERY stubborn :/
  • cathymarie75
    cathymarie75 Posts: 222 Member
    I did ww after my 3 year old and lost the 35lbs I needed to. tried it after my 8 month old was born and do not like the new plan did not work for me. So far I like it here hopefully it will continue to help me lose and het support!
  • kingofcrunk
    kingofcrunk Posts: 372 Member
    What I don't understand is why people don't join WW for a month - learn all the rules and then just live their lives by those rules without paying for and attending the meetings?

    If you really want the group weigh in aspect you can just organise a free weigh in with your friends or family?!
  • popzork
    popzork Posts: 78 Member
    I have had a lot of success with WW over the years. I ended up switching for a few reasons. Primarily, I hit 4-5 MONTH plateaus, and WW couldn't figure out why. I was paying them a lot of money not to lose weight. Plus, at the meetings, the canned response was "just do the program, it works" and "you must not be logging everything you eat". I was getting pretty upset with it all.

    My cousin has lost over 70 lbs with MFP, so I switched. MFP did not get to the root of my problem, but it did give me printable diaries that dieticians can relate to (calories not points). I DID get to the bottom of my lack of weight loss and am now losing (knock on wood).
  • KaceyRussell87
    KaceyRussell87 Posts: 1 Member
    I joined WW for 3 months (it was one of the free sign up with three months or something) and had absolutely no success! It is different for everyone though. My former supervisor does WW and the last time I saw her, she had probably lost close to 100 lbs! I didn't lose a single pound though, and felt hungry all the time! Using MFP I never feel like I am starving myself and I have had lots of success. I also didn't like counting points in WW. I know that sounds silly because we count calories here, but you can pick up an item and look at the nutritional value to see the calories. You have to calculate or look up the points for everything for WW. And you know the whole free thing makes it a no brainer to me!

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