Weight Watchers?

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tmauldin80
tmauldin80 Posts: 10
in Health and Weight 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..............
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  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    I lost 60 lbs on an older weight watchers program.

    I find it works best for sedentary people who don't love exercise/athletics/sports. It's quite a low calorie diet and I found it wasn't enough food for me to support all the sports I did.

    As an example, I ran a few days of my diary in Weight Watchers points and found that I lose best when I average about 58 points per day. On the Weight Watchers program I am given an average of 38 points per day including the weekly points and activity points I was earning.

    If you do lots of sports, I'd recommend counting calories. If you don't, count points... it's more simplistic and it will work.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    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.
  • Rowan813
    Rowan813 Posts: 170 Member
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    I lost 45 pounds with WW and kept it off. They are very geared toward thse new to weightloss. I got tired of the same old same old newbie stuff. It is a good program that tries to focus members on healthier choices on one hand and then sells them processed crap at the same time. It can work.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,081 Member
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    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".
  • Penfoldsplace
    Penfoldsplace Posts: 159
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    I did it and lost weight, I only did it online though not meetings and as mfp pal is free I decided to switch. It's basically calorie counting the same as this site but everything is assigned points rather than calories. I also liked that as well as daily points you get weekly points to use as you wish so one high point day will not make a bad week.

    If you think meetings will encourage you then I would go for it, but if your thinking of just online then I think mfp is just as useful and you save money.
  • notmac
    notmac Posts: 89
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    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.
  • mrsdutra07
    mrsdutra07 Posts: 28
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    I think the bottom line for any weight loss success is readiness. YOU have to be REALLY READY to make the change. If you are, any program you pick will work because you'll stick with it.

    I say give it a try. I've tried it and I ended up right here on MFP with all the support I need for FREE. I mean, how can you be held more accountable than publishing your food diary for all of your friends to see and comment on?
  • flslp87
    flslp87 Posts: 175 Member
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    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..
  • pberta
    pberta Posts: 48 Member
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    I have done it about 5 times. The first 4 times I was super successful. Lost a bunch of weight (100 pounds twice). Once I stopped going to meetings I gained the weight back. I tried the new program, but just could sync with the all you can eat fruit. I just do better here and all my 'pals' are better than the support I would get going to meetings.
  • amez1974
    amez1974 Posts: 213 Member
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    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
  • herwholejourney
    herwholejourney Posts: 86 Member
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    I lost 45 on WWs old points program.

    I stopped doing it when they changed it to the new way of calculating the points. I got too confused because I had my favorite food points memorized and now they are all different!
  • Maryaly40
    Maryaly40 Posts: 551 Member
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    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:
  • kooltray87
    kooltray87 Posts: 501 Member
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    I lost initial weight with WW, but I found that I didn't really know what to eat. Sure I stayed within my points but the food I was eating was crap, so I've started tracking on MFP as well as WW. Now I stay within my points in much healthier way, plus there is a lot of support on MFP
  • kobiemom
    kobiemom Posts: 218 Member
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    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.
  • jrwatson87
    jrwatson87 Posts: 66
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    Just to give my two cents, I was oblivious to healthy food choices and different exercises, etc when I first signed up for MFP- my family has just never been into nutrition. The best way to start losing weight is to just jump right in. You learn as you go along. You will make mistakes like "omg I just ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and didn't log it first and it was 500 calories"- yea, that will happen. But then you never eat that **** again, or you tweak it, or you invent a new pb&j. It's a learning process and if you really want it and fully involve yourself, you will learn a hell of a lot and be successful. It is kind of amazing. Also, I did Weight Watchers in middle school, lost 40 lbs, and learned absolutely nothing. The beauty of Weight Watchers is they take the guesswork out for you but when they aren't there holding your hand, you won't be able to sustain the loss.
  • HausOfTina
    HausOfTina Posts: 92
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    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!
  • carlsoda
    carlsoda Posts: 3,422 Member
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    I just left WW for MFP - I was following both for about a month and calorie-wise it's basically the same. I didn't go to meeting because they were annoying and I was paying $40.00 a month. I'm more of an online person then a meeting person, so this works best for me. If anything, try it for a few months and see if it works better for you but you can always come back here if you don't notice much of a difference :happy:
  • BalmyD
    BalmyD Posts: 237 Member
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    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. :smile:
  • BarbellBlondieRuns
    BarbellBlondieRuns Posts: 511 Member
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    I have done it a couple times. Sadly I don't think it teaches you enough.

    When I joined MFP a couple months ago, one of my first thoughts was "Holy smokes! This site is so good I don't know why anyone would pay for Weight Watchers when they could do this free!".

    You can learn so much here. It's a site where you get as much out of it as you put into it.

    Take care! :)
  • dfborders
    dfborders Posts: 474 Member
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    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:

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