Weight Watchers to calorie counting

dogpeeps
dogpeeps Posts: 57 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I am wondering if there are others on MFP who have transitioned from Weight Watchers (counting points) to counting calories. I have lost the bulk of my weight with WW, but I don't see that as a realistic way to live the rest of my life. I had the luxury in the past of being able to pay for the program, but I find myself in different circumstances now.

So, I'm really curious to see what program(s) others are using. It would be great to hear what has or what is working for you.

Thanks!

Replies

  • anie8989
    anie8989 Posts: 50 Member
    I've used WW in the past and I lost weight, not a lot but I did. After awhile it got too expensive so I also stopped my membership and I kept going back to it for about 2 years then realized it wasn't something for me to use. The point values I think are a good thought, but to me it allowed me to also eat junk and think on if this is only 3 points I can still fit it in somewhere and not eat any healthier than I did in the past. I know WW wants its participants to actually use it and eat healthier but I don't think it was strict enough.

    I recently started to use this site that was recommended by my nutritionist. I can follow it a lot more and I am determined to follow it. I am allowed 1800 calories a day, so that limits any if not all junk food and I switch it to healthier foods like veggies and fruits and it allows me to eat more also. From using WW for almost 2 years, I tracked throughout the week but never the weekend, but here i track every single day and I will not give up.
  • Carrieffa04
    Carrieffa04 Posts: 9 Member
    I lost 75 lbs on ww but had to switch because of the cost of that program. switching from points to calories was pretty easy and I've had success with the my fitness pal program. I recommend that you find out what your bmr is and not set your calorie goals lower than that number. good luck!
  • positivelylisa
    positivelylisa Posts: 32 Member
    Counting is counting. I think WW did a lot of good for me in food education. To see that while it is about calories, not all calories are created equally. 100 cal of one food can be x points and 100 cal of another food can be fewer points. One way or the other, I'll need to 'track' food, I've decided I'd rather go with counting calories - for free.
  • juanita805
    juanita805 Posts: 7
    Counting is counting. I think WW did a lot of good for me in food education. To see that while it is about calories, not all calories are created equally. 100 cal of one food can be x points and 100 cal of another food can be fewer points. One way or the other, I'll need to 'track' food, I've decided I'd rather go with counting calories - for free.

    I agree with the above. Just transitioned over to MFP from WW this Monday. WW set me up with great tracking habits and helped me learn to eat better. I'm halfway to my goal thanks to everything I learned. But as others said, I couldn't continue to pay for WW when there are fabulous tools available for free now. Also, since I'm doing more intense workouts, I thought it would be wiser to switch to calorie counting. Especially since MFP makes it easy for me to track protein and fat intake.

    I will say though that I find I'm eating less than I should be now that I'm counting calories instead of points. But that could just be me being weird during this adjustment period. I never, ever paid attention to calorie counts before, so I keep thinking foods are going to be higher in calories than they are. Just a learning curve, I guess.
  • slgkali
    slgkali Posts: 3 Member
    Im actually doing WWs online right now but also am here for the last few weeks. I am hoping to some day transition completely over to MFP because of the cost of WWs.I love MFP likes others I am finding I am eating way healthier tracking here....=)
  • Louisianababy93
    Louisianababy93 Posts: 1,709 Member
    i did ww last year for a little while.

    um,you guys know they have free weight watchers app's? and thus being able to keep up with points and it has a point calculator...
    you just dont get to go to meetings but, it logs your points and stuff,if yall just wanted to stay on weight watchers,you can..for free.lol



    i didnt like the ww program though! so its mfp now! lol and i love mfp!
  • mom2sons02
    mom2sons02 Posts: 111 Member
    I did WW for almost a year and lost close to 30 lbs. Then they changed the point system after I had all my recipies recorded and knew what and how many points were for what food. So I tapered off, gained about 10 back and finally quit. Losing on MFP so I am happy. Only thing is somertimes I forget to log my snacks if it is just fruit or veggies. Since with WW those are free.
  • Neeser926
    Neeser926 Posts: 100 Member
    My mom does weight watchers and loves it. I think it is crazy. here is why. If three Newton Thins are 3 points....shouldn't 2 be two points? No, still 3. Same with bacon. C'mon if I have a bacon craving and have ONE piece and it is going to charge me 3 points anyway....I'm eating three. Now I've just taken in extra fat and calories I didn't even need!
  • KarinaMTL
    KarinaMTL Posts: 1 Member
    For me Weight Watchers wasn't what I needed.
    Lots of zero point foods have loads of calories.

    Counting calories is the most logical basic way to lose weight I think.

    So far so good!
    Karina
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Weight Watchers is basically counting to 20...

    Counting calories is counting to 2000...

    Go with the free option :)

    Obviously those are generalizations, but you get the point.
  • purple_tux1
    purple_tux1 Posts: 250 Member
    I did weight watchers before but was starving all the time and not losing weight. I also found it cumbersome to be always trying to calculate how many points when I already knew the calories. I also found their website cumbersome and slow. To me, it was just too time consuming. I was very happy switching to MFP because #1 it's free and #2 faster #3 no worrying about points, just put in the calories and go.
  • ZombieSidwell
    ZombieSidwell Posts: 40
    I think you will transition well. I still use WW but use MFP for the support because I can't afford the meetings. I still log in my calories though to compare with my points. I haven't had any problems with the differences yet.
  • eksproductions
    eksproductions Posts: 138 Member
    I lost 52lbs on WW, came within 4lbs of my goal weight and stayed there for over a month. Thanksgiving came and I lost it, went all the way back up to 210...so counting calories to me is much easier. I have found that I am eating more, more satisfaction, and finding it easier to record calories, in fact The MFP scanner finds almost everything I eat. I would never suggest WW to anyone, it's not a permanent lifestyle change, just my thoughts.
  • ashleyeliz25
    ashleyeliz25 Posts: 141 Member
    I did weight watchers before but was starving all the time and not losing weight. I also found it cumbersome to be always trying to calculate how many points when I already knew the calories. I also found their website cumbersome and slow. To me, it was just too time consuming. I was very happy switching to MFP because #1 it's free and #2 faster #3 no worrying about points, just put in the calories and go.

    I completely agree with this post! Worrying about how many points something is was just too much. If you don't have all the info you need to figure out how many points something is, then you can't calculate the point value (what a pain in the butt!). I love MFP because the food database has A LOT and you don't have to go out and find all info yourself. Plus it's free and you can have friends on MFP that support and motivate you!!
  • Jessicao33
    Jessicao33 Posts: 189 Member
    I want to do WW but it's not cheap so I am not doing that I am doing MFP so far so good...
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    I lost 50 pounds on weight watchers, stopped doing it because of the cost, and gained 30 back.

    Plus tracking on their website was difficult.. it seemed like most of the foods I wanted weren't in their database, and I had to manually figure out points for too many things.
    MFP has a huge database. I rarely have to add anything. Only gripe is a lot of times there are duplicate entries for things, and I have to figure out which one has the right calories. oh well. lol
  • jazee11
    jazee11 Posts: 321
    I had a membership with WW until about a month ago. MFP is way better and it's free.
  • Justbanana
    Justbanana Posts: 2
    I have done both and found that MFP gives me freedom and customization that I needed when I got into the WW rut and wasnt working the program... I was paying for months and not going. I love that this is free and has EVERY food under the sun already in here!
  • Masterdo
    Masterdo Posts: 331 Member
    Weight Watchers, when used correctly, is basically a layer of abstraction over counting calories directly. Making it more simple and hopefully still retain the benefits.

    Done "wrong" though, you can start gaming the system and either end up eating too much or too little. I think learning the real deal is better from a body awareness perspective, gain control of your life back, one bite at a time, this is what this journey is all about ultimately :)
  • Qns1980
    Qns1980 Posts: 23 Member
    I just started back on my journey last week and i am following one of the older weight watcher plans and i am double tracking on MFP! I am not going to meetings so MFP has been a great tool for me, so i think eventually i will feel comfortable enough to only use MFP.
  • beekuzz
    beekuzz Posts: 428 Member
    Stick with us here. The support is great and you'll learn things that WW either doesn't know or doesn't want to share. I've done WW 2x and never found out that 3500 calories equals one pound. Their business is keeping you hooked, but very very slow losses. Just my personal opinion.
  • strawberry53
    strawberry53 Posts: 2
    I agree. I did weight watcher and found myself overeating on fruit (0 Pts), plus using my points. Which added to lots of calories. So I am back to counting calories.When counting calories you keep a food log and you really see what is going in your mouth.
  • amadacorazon
    amadacorazon Posts: 42 Member
    I have previously been successful with WWs. I thought that their new points system would be a good change, but "my" focus has changed. Having others take charge & do the 'work' in calculating my daily food intake without a 'real' nutritional focus, doesn't cut it for me anymore. And overdoing it on zero-point foods certainly wasn't helping me.

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