Weight Watchers?

My wife did it and it didn't work. They also told her she was too close to a healthy weight. The problem with WW is... it's a very low calorie diet. So long term, you lose a lot of muscle which makes it harder to have a lean tight body. And as I always say, weight loss makes you look good in clothes but fat loss makes you look good naked. If you want to tighten up your body, the equation is simple. 20% < TDEE + Heavy Weight Training = Fat Loss.

Has anyone had any luck with Weight Watchers? I feel like I am missing structure. Basically, I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to food. help..............

No on WW. I'm more of a do-it-yourselfer. This site gives me everything I need, without having to go to a meeting and pay $15 to use a website.

You can learn about healthy food. Just hang out here, or go to health sites like WebMD or MayoClinic or PubMed and research "healthy diet".

I have tried it, and it worked, but I did not stick with it, and have like many gained and lost the same weight. I would think it may be helpful for learning about nutrition, you could go a few time, but incorporate what you learn here. The nice thing with MFP, is that there is no cost. I could not handle the meetings, the same people saying the same things, eating the same meals day in and day out, I could not stick with it.

I did it and lost about 25lbs on WW but I agree with a previous person and feel that it is best for the person who is either just starting their journey or doesn't work out very much. I reached a point where I bounced up/down the same few pounds and what WW said i should be eating didn't agree w/ MFP nor w/ my fitbit......but it is a good program IF you stick w/ it and IF you are willing to check out points, etc..

I used WW to lose 70 lbs. I've went from a tight size 22 to a size 8. I went from a complete couch potato to running 5k races, and making exercise a priority while reaching other fitness goals in just over a year.

I've just recently switched to MFP. WW taught me a lot in terms of portion control (measuring and weighing food), and making better choices. I still incorporate their Good Health Guidelines in my day to day meal planning.

I know some folks have only used the old points plan, but I lost all of my weight on the new Points Plus Plan. It offers flexibility to fit your life, while giving you easy to live with ways of making healthy living fit your life. It encourages you to consume fruits and veggies by making most of them "free" on the plan. While we know nothing is free- the fruits and veggies servings are worked into the plan and leave your points to be used in other places.

I have done both meetings and online only. Meetings don't really do much for me. But if you go to just one meeting and pay for the week, you get all the written material for maybe $5 more you can get a calculator that will determine your points and help you track and determine points of food.

WW has done wonders for me, but I've reached a point I'm tired of paying and since I switched to online only, I will always have to pay. So I decided to switch to MFP for free and to continue using the tools I've learned to finish losing and then maintain.

HTH!
Amy

I've had much success on WW. That's where I've lost most of me weight. I'm only 5lbs away from goal. I'd really like to make lifetime. For me, it's now about finishing what I started, so that's what I'm gonna do.

Good luck :flowerforyou:

I lost 30 lbs. on the old program. After they changed, I gained and lost the same five pounds. They say it doesn't work as well (or at all IMHO) for middle aged people who are close to goal. I had 30 more to go. My leader actually sent me to MFP.

I hit a bit of a plateau on MFP and switched to weight watchers. I still use this website to track my weight and get motivation/answer questions from the community.

After being on weight watchers for about 6 weeks... I have lost 9.8 pounds. I love it. I don't get penalized for eating as many fruits and vegetables as I please. It forces you to eat healthy and it's fun!

I lost my first 20 pounds on the older weight watchers points plan. Then they switched to the PointsPlus plan and I plateaued and could never get going again. The beauty of the old plan was that the points were all pretty low numbers and easy to memorize. I had all my regular food items memorized and could plan a day of meals in my head. The PointsPlus program raised the points causing point values to spread out and making it more difficult to remember how many points anything was or do any meal planning in my head.

At that point, I decided it would be just as easy to count calories, protein, carbs, and fat as it would be to do PointsPlus with the side benefit that MFP is free! The people here are also great.

There are a few factors. As someone else posted earlier YOU have to be ready for a weightloss program for it to work. Once you are ready to take that step then it is up to you to figure out what works for you. For some people WW works great - take my mom for example - she can't do a lot of exercises due to health issues so the low calorie diet works for her. She has lost about 50-60 pounds and is now off of her cholesterol medication and diabetes medication. She needs to go in front of someone and be weighed in to be accountable. She wouldn't be able to do this site - she says she doesn't have enough willpower. I on the other hand I can't stand WW. But, if you are really new at trying to eat better and healthier then WW is a good place to start. As one person mentioned they don't necessarily advocate clean eating but you can do that part yourself or search the forums here or on the internet for tons of information on eating cleaner. Whatever you decide to do - good luck:flowerforyou:

I'm currently on WW, it's what gave me the kick in the rear to start losing weight when I was feeling overwhelmed. It's easy to figure out and it pushes you in the right direction as far as eating healthier. I joined a 12-week "WW at work" program and may not continue going to meetings when it's up, I haven't decided.

I had lost 30 lbs after I had my first child using the old WW and so when I rejoined after having 2nd child and used the points plus version I followed everything strictly and didn't lose any weight. I continued the program for 2 months with a total 3 lb loss and decided to switch to MFP. In the 2 1/2 months I have used MFP I have lost 15lbs.

WW is good for teaching you how to make smarter food choices and make sure you get a minimum # of fruit and veggie servings per day. But... it is sooooo annoying to constantly have to calculate points for everything. Using MFP is so much easier since I can go anywhere and only have to remember the calories I consumed rather than fiber, carbs, protein etc.

If you are already a somewhat healthy eater than I think MFP is all you really need.

I have done it a few times and invariably when I stopped attending meetings I quit losing and ended up quitting. It's getting more expensive too. But they do teach you about what to eat- if you Google "weight watchers good health guidelines" it gives you a basic structure. Hope this helps.

I didn't think about that! I am so lost when it comes to eating healthy and fitness pal realy doesn't have a lot of help in that regards. Thanks for the tips!

You only have 10 lbs to lose, so do you have your account set up for 1/2 lb per week? Are you exercising? If so, do you eat back some of those calories. Are you even picking a good weight for yourself.. meaning, do you know your body fat in order to derive a healthy goal? There are many sources of great information on here and plenty of knowledgeable people, such as myself, that can tell you about how many calories you require and a bunch of different workout programs that can help you hit your goal.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/684493-how-to-determine-weight-goal?hl=how+to:+determine&amp;page=1#posts-10001020