Ditching WW to try going it alone

I was miserable when I did WW. All I did was concentrate on what I couldn't have. For me, this works much, much better.

I would say to give it longer than a month - give it at least a couple. :-)

I lost my first 20 on WW back years ago. The problem is it only tracks three things, really. It's a good program as a "base" for starting off. But, after that, you really need to start looking at EVERYTHING. WW didn't care about sodium, sadly....it was like as long as you had a high fiber volume, you were fine. So, that's why it works initially. When I gained a lot of weight back, I tried to do WW again and lost nothing. I lost much more on my own and tracking EVERYTHING on MFP.

aaand....I just noticed posting here, MFP has a big error. Says 13lbs lost in my ticker. That should be 43! Need to contact support. weird...

EDIT: It's fixed! YAY!

I recently ditched WW online. I found I was scared to eat anything and spend my precious points. Didn't lose any weight either. Ex WW peeps feel free to add me and good luck, I think you'll enjoy MFP.

I have done WW a couple of times or more over the years and always had the same experience you just had. It just doesn't seem like a sustainable plan to me (whatever the plan of the month is). I discovered MFP by accident in March and I've loved it! I'm almost to maintenance now and I'm planning to continue because I like tracking my food and exercise. I've "met" some great friends on here and have learned so much! I hope you love it also! Good luck to you on your journey and feel free to send a friend request if you'd like some support. :flowerforyou:

i lost about 25 pounds on ww about 15 years ago. tried going back but wasn't very successful. and it did get a little expensive for me. much happier here.

oh my gosh! Thank you!!! I got more feedback in 5 minutes here than I did my entire meeting this morning! :bigsmile:

Cult members never share their secrets when they are still members. :laugh:

I've been 'back' to Weight Watchers (this time) for about 5 months. I've only lost 15 lbs and it's a constant struggle. I track. I think I'm eating the right things, yet I lose tiny amounts for a few weeks and then put it all back on. I'm frustrated beyond belief. Years ago, I successfully lost 42 lbs on WW and became Lifetime. That was a totally different plan then. This one, it just isn't clicking with me.

So after going to a meeting this morning, which felt more like a sales pitch, I have decided to come here and see where all my calories are going. I will also truly log my activity. It felt awful to do a long brisk walk and then be told that I've only earned 1 or 2 activity points.

So I'm giving this way of doing things a month to see if I can do it, if I like it and if it's something I can do long-term. I still have 80 lbs. to lose.

You can do it the way that will last a lifetime here.

I lost 35 lbs with WW about two years ago and kept it off.. what I liked about it was the focus on building good habits, something that I've kept with me. I had a great leader, and a really fun group of women in my meeting. When I moved I tried the new meeting and just didn't feel it. Without the fun meetings and good leader, WW was meaningless to me. Plus the online tools are TERRIBLE compared to this site!

One thing I hated about the new points system and the online tools is you were inputting all of the information (protein, carbs, etc) and there was emphasis on eating protein, but then you couldn't go back and check how much you've eaten. The graphs and stats on this site make it awesome (plus, the tracking of things like sodium)

Welcome to MFP! Take the time to read a lot of the resource on here and play around with your calorie target to figure out what works for you.

You don't need anyone to lose weight but yourself. When you realize your the most important in your life then you'll have the drive to lose weight. Just log everything make sure you get 10 cups of water a day. I found that planning your meals the night before is the best way to go. Add the foods you like and adjust them to fit in your daily food goals.

WW worked for me years ago... but I had to carry the lil book around everywhere (this was before the online tracking took off). I did eat a lot of their pre-packaged foods though so t was probably that more than anything. I went off it, gained it back and 2nd time around it just flopped. I came to MFP because it's free, no one tries selling you stuff (it's against the rules), you make great, supportive friends you can be accountable with and once you start to scrutinize your meals and workout, you really catch on. I love the tracking here. I have tried stopping and it doesn't work, I need the food diary otherwise there is no accountability. I swear by my kitchen scales. Good luck... MFP is a great way to go. Throw yourself in the deep end!!!

oh my gosh! Thank you!!! I got more feedback in 5 minutes here than I did my entire meeting this morning! :bigsmile:

There's lots of good sites for losing weight "the right way". This happens to be one of them. There's also good support on Sparkpeople.com and Livestrong, apparently. I've never really gone to Livestrong except to read articles. And I don't like Spark's Food tracker. This site is good. I've made alot of friends through the forums.

I did the same thing a few months ago. Left WW to do this, since it was free and my sister turned me on to it. The money I saved on the WW fee I now use for my gym membership so that I can do Zumba classes and work out 3 - 4 times per week. I have lost some weight and I am finding MFP easier, because I just look at the straight up calories and count. The bar code scanner is also a lot better on MFP than WW. It seems to have everything, including generic brands of food. I have been doing this for about 5 weeks now and have lost 5 pounds. Better than the up and down a pound every week at WW.

@Railr0aderTon: Don't shortchange yourself, 87 pounds lost since January isn't doing pretty well - it's terrific progress!

Another WW dropout here. I have joined WW at least four times.The most I have every lost by going to WW was 35 pounds. I don't like the point system. I would rather keep the food diary. I like to use Sparkpeople as a reference for how to do exercises and for recipes. I like MFP because it is simple, and it's easy to log your food intake and exercise in the diaries.