Weight Watchers vs. MFP

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Replies

  • centexhusker
    centexhusker Posts: 115 Member
    I can't imagine a better or more complete system than MFP jmho :)
  • 4aFitTina
    4aFitTina Posts: 88
    MFP > all


    This!

    YESSSS!
  • missjennifer1966
    missjennifer1966 Posts: 143 Member
    Good luck!! I personally love WW simply because it counts points and you do not have to figure everything else. Just put it in the point calculator and that is it. On here, it is more difficult to log the food because not all foods are in the system and you have to put everything on the container on here. WW much easier IMO.
  • marinebiologist_girl
    marinebiologist_girl Posts: 300
    Free is always better. You get out of it, what you put in.
    Precisely. I also find MFP a lot less shaming than WW.
  • 1lizette1
    1lizette1 Posts: 14
    I joined WW in Jan of this year, not 2 days later I discovered MFP. Oops. I continued with WW (mainly because I paid for 16 weeks). I am so glad that I stayed with WW because I go to weekly meetings and get weighed-in and that keeps me accountable. I also learn from their meetings. Not once have they ever tried to sell me anything.
    But, I do not use their points system anymore. I found I wasn't losing like I wanted to. I struggled to eat all my points in the day (when I first started I was at 34 points I believe). I eat a lot of veggies and fruits which are 0 points so I had trouble.
    I love MFP because I can use my cell phone to log every day. I really like their iphone app.
    In my opinion, only use just MFP if you can keep yourself accountable, otherwise you'll be sitting at your computer late one night thinking "I'll just have one bowl of ice cream, just one." and the next thing you know you've gained 10 lbs back.
    I will continue to use both MFP and WW. It's working for me.
  • justbecause2014
    justbecause2014 Posts: 371 Member
    My mom has had great success with WW. She's lost about 40lbs since the beginning of the year! I on the other hand...am a poor college student! Therefore, cheaper is better! :)
  • nnarciss
    nnarciss Posts: 10
    I tried WW as well. It was good but the online version was sketchy. Sometimes the app didn't work. I much rather something free like this. I think its easier to encourage and get encouragement from others on MFP.
  • MissTattoo
    MissTattoo Posts: 1,203 Member
    I think both have their pros and cons. I was on WW and lost 30 pounds. What did it for me were the weekly meetings.

    I know we are suppose to lose weight for ourselves, but part of me did it for the ladies (and one guy) at the meetings. I worked harder during the week just to hear "Great job!" by the lady who weighed you in! I cried with the woman who lost 100 pounds and even though I'm Buddhist, I was moved when she was on he knees thanking God for her victory. I hugged a woman who lost 40 pounds and was no longer in danger of being diabetic. I cried when everyone stood up for me when I lost my first 5%! So I think WW is better in the community aspect. Not saying the community here isn't great but sometimes a warm hand on your shoulder from someone else in the same boat as you is uplifting.

    Then again, I was paying almost $50 a month to hang out with my weightloss buddies for an hour. I wish there were weekly meetups here. Maybe there are and I just don't know. Seems like my city group is full of fit people who run marathons together and complain about gaining 2 pounds on their size 2 *kitten*. lol

    So for me, WW is better for community. Sure, you can read success stories, but you don't know those people you know? You weren't there for their first weigh in or that Saturday morning when they cried about eating an entire large pizza on their own, or when they were happy to finally go down a dress size, etc. You can read about someone's journey in one post here but you are invested you know?

    MFP is great too. I love the app and the barcode scanner. I love the people on my friends list. I love the motivation I get from MFP on Twitter. I lost 10 pounds last month from logging every day and watching my weekly intake/out-take.

    And MFP is free.
  • marthathebear
    marthathebear Posts: 498
    It's free on MFP! Enough said.
  • BFlowers2
    BFlowers2 Posts: 50
    I can't do WW. I liked it when I was younger, but my problem is I hoarded points. i felt you really don't get to eat a lot. I was never satisfied, I didn't want to waste my points on anything. With MFP, I eat throughout the day, and am usually so full I want to explode by the time it is evening. I like that I can still have what I want, and not worry about points.
  • Jodycnd
    Jodycnd Posts: 56 Member
    I did the same exact thing with fruit! I did a side by side tracking of WW and MFP back in July and I found that when I was at my Points limit for the day, I was around 1200 calories. But then I was eating fruits and vegetables at night, which easily added up to another 250-300 calories! It was no wonder I had so much trouble getting motivated to lose weight under Points Plus.

    I had previously lost 60lbs of baby weight a few years back under the old Points system, but after baby #2 and the Points Plus, I just couldn't lose, then got frustrated, then gained little by little. So here I am with 40 more lbs to lose, but I am down 10lbs so far and SO much more confident about the rest coming off.

    And to the other poster who commented that Weight WAtchers didn't encourage exercise enough, 100% AGREE!
  • pwittek10
    pwittek10 Posts: 723 Member
    Why pay for something when you can get it free
    Just put the money up for new clothes!
    MFP works!
  • brandiemhgc
    brandiemhgc Posts: 20
    What's wrong with middle aged women. FYI I like MFP better too. LOL I just so happen to be middle aged, and totally awesome. As are all of you! Which is why I am here. Love MFP so much better!
  • mandyabraio
    mandyabraio Posts: 112 Member
    I was doing WW online and PAYING for it!!! I found MFP and it's FREE and I think MFP has the same as WW plus MORE to offer...
  • kneubee7
    kneubee7 Posts: 47 Member
    WW worked great for me but it was a hassle to calculate & remember points for different foods (I didn't do meetings or online, just tracked my points based upon information on the net and used iphone apps). I switched to MFP and continued to lose weight. MFP keeps me motivated to workout which WW never did. I find it easy to measure portions using a scale so I feel more confident in the numbers. I also use a HRM when I workout so I know exactly what I burned instead of estimating.
  • AmberJo1984
    AmberJo1984 Posts: 1,067 Member
    I would stick with MFP. I've tried Weight Watchers online before. MFP is pretty similar -- if not exactly the same. The difference is that MFP is FREE. Free is always better. Plus... I love the forums here.
  • dendalee
    dendalee Posts: 10 Member
    I prefer MFP because it deals with actual macros, nutrients, calories, etc, instead of some dumb point system created by middle aged women.

    What's wrong with middle aged women???
  • StaycJulia
    StaycJulia Posts: 32
    I'm a ww lifetime member, but switched to mfp for a few reasons. WW does teach good habits (food tracking, portion control, etc) but I find it easier to connect with like minded people on mfp. I'm into fitness and I don't think ww emphasizes it enough. I think they try to be gentle about pushing exercise so as not to scare people off, but that's a disservice imo. I didn't like having to figure out points. Straight up calories is easier and more straight forward. Plus this is free!

    I agree. I do credit the program for helping me get started. Now that I have the right tools, I really don't need it. I like MFP because I can see my exact calories and nutrients but WW is a great program for anyone who needs help getting started.
  • sugboog29
    sugboog29 Posts: 630 Member
    I'm trying both simultaneously at the moment, to see which one I like better. So far, I'm liking MFP better. Tracking is so much easier and the database is far more extensive. I love the bar code scanner for my foods. WW has it, but almost nothing is in that database!

    I've been stalling on WW for the last couple of months. I think it's because fruit is free. I eat too much of it. With MFP, I am counting those calories!

    This is me too! I use both but I will admit I am better at using MFP than I am my WW app. When I found MFP I quickly realized that the "free" fruits and veggies were what was stalling my weight loss...I hit a plateau. Now I am back on track and losing again. I still am a WW member and will continue until I am a lifetime member....but this is for me no one else.
  • SparkleHorse224
    SparkleHorse224 Posts: 98 Member
    I did Ww for like 6 months before switching to MFP. I like MPF better - I've lost more weight, for starters. But also there's nothing like good old fashioned biology - you eat x calories, you burn y calories, you lose z pounds.
  • Barbell_Jules
    Barbell_Jules Posts: 358 Member
    I just recently switched from WW to MFP as well. I was successful on WW this time and in the past. I did tracking on both for a week or so to see if my calories on here "matched" up with my points on WW. Once I saw they were pretty close, I cancelled WW. Why pay for something when this is free and so much better!!!! The foods database here is also much better than WW.

    Also, on WW, you were never watching your calories, but rather points. I had no idea how many calories I was eating every day, not to mention how much I was adding with all the "free" foods they allowed.

    I am really liking MFP!
  • NovemberJune
    NovemberJune Posts: 2,525 Member
    What's wrong with middle aged women. FYI I like MFP better too. LOL I just so happen to be middle aged, and totally awesome. As are all of you! Which is why I am here. Love MFP so much better!

    LOL That's what I thought! That comment made it sound like there's some problem with middle aged women. But I do agree that it's just a point system made up by *people* to try to get you to pay money to lose weight :wink: Whether it was men, women, old, young... I can see why the meetings would help some people though. I love mfp!
  • goodfido
    goodfido Posts: 127 Member
    I did WW years ago and at the time that was the tool I needed and I was successful. At this point in my life I really need MFP. I really need to understand calories and not just points. As others have also stated WW doesn't push fitness and exercise with their plan and that's something that I really wanted to focus on.
  • elevensgirl
    elevensgirl Posts: 24 Member
    I will also agree that WW creates great habits and good building blocks for weight loss. I lost 50 pounds on it in 2003/2004. Then I had a baby, and then another! And now I'm here with 50 pounds to lose again :/

    WW is wonderful for keeping track of your water intake (find that not as intuitive here on MFP,) your fruits and veggie servings and your calcium servings. I also like that it reminds me to take my daily vitamin. And frankly, there are other free apps for your iPhone that can help you with those things.

    That said, the food aspect is just SO much easier on MFP. I'm excited to see the difference in my weight loss on this new program. Maybe the newness of it is helping me too :)
  • CharlieBarleyMom
    CharlieBarleyMom Posts: 727 Member
    The main difference that I can see (besides cost) is health. WW pushes the points system and you've got to learn that and be able to translate that while at the grocery store or spend hours (yes, I used to spend over an hour every week in the grocery store breaking out my points calculator to see if a specific for was worth buying) debating whether to buy or not to buy a specific food.

    MFP is not a diet. MFP is a health collective. We're all here to get healthy and the community shares healthful helpful tips. WW has many items that you can eat that have a low point value, but they have low nutritional value as well and they are highly processed and really not too healthy. (not all,of course, just most that I found).

    I'm not saying that you have to give up processed & frozen meals when you change your account from WW to MFP, but I think if you give it enough time that naturally that is what will happen. You learn what really is healthy and what really works for you... there's no danger of "gaining it all back when you go back to eating normal again". [I lost weight on NutriSystem, 73pounds, 23 years ago - I also lost weight with WW, 97 pounds, 12 years ago -- since I had to do both, and I'm here now, how well do you think either one of them worked?]

    Welcome to full time MFP! If you find you NEED the weekly meetings you might have to join WW again just to get that... but I believe in you and if you do too, you'll be just fine here.
  • msrootitooti
    msrootitooti Posts: 253 Member
    I had a lot of success on Weight Watchers in the past and it worked great for me. I had reasons for gaining the weight back (usually pregnancy). However, I had a lot of trouble losing on the new program. I lost and gained the same 5 pounds for a few months. I joined MFP about a month ago and lost 5 pounds. I definitely like that it is free but I also find the tracker and database a whole lot better.
  • ChgingMe
    ChgingMe Posts: 539 Member
    I'm a ww lifetime member, but switched to mfp for a few reasons. WW does teach good habits (food tracking, portion control, etc) but I find it easier to connect with like minded people on mfp. I'm into fitness and I don't think ww emphasizes it enough. I think they try to be gentle about pushing exercise so as not to scare people off, but that's a disservice imo. I didn't like having to figure out points. Straight up calories is easier and more straight forward. Plus this is free!

    Agreed about the exercise. They don't stress it nearly as much as they should. Most of the participants are middle aged women who would benefit from execise the most. Yet they hardly if at ever talk about it. And when they did it was to tell us to take the steps or park further in the parking lot. Never once did they mention cardio or weight training. Or yoga which can be great for us older women. I'm so grateful to have found MFP. I've learned so much in the time that I've been here.

    Let me add that for some WW is the perfect tool. But if someone wants to really get 'healthy' MFP is the way to go.
  • lkcuts
    lkcuts Posts: 224
    There is a lady that comes to my shop and started WW about 2 weeks after I started MFP. She has lost 49 pounds where I not so much, but she walks every day. The thing I noticed, she has flab in her belly and arms. I think I don't mind the slower rate and weights. I WILL say she was probably more motivated because she had to weigh in every week in front of everybody like on Biggest loser and it made her even more accountable. I know it would me! Plus the money she spent. But once she loses it, I am curious if she keeps it off..I am sure if she quits WW after her loss thing might change. MFP is here forever, free and I can always look if I am going over. Once on maintenance I can continue to keep myself in check..for free. I will not be bound by a cost to have someone monitor me for the rest of my life.
  • ChgingMe
    ChgingMe Posts: 539 Member
    Plus there's an easy point system you can follow and the points are listed on the products themselves, not just in a book. If not for fresh produce etc, then the info is readily available all over the internet.

    The points are also known as 'Calories'.

    You work out how many points (or 'calories') you can have in a day and add them up.

    There you go!

    I think the points right on the box is where it falls down. It encourages people to learn less about their food and pay more for pre-packaged food that is even worse crap than you were eating before.

    I was at a WW meeting, and the leader was giving a talk about bread. It ended with having to be careful about points, and choose the white because it had less points than the wholemeal.........

    Yep agreed again. Those pre-packaged meals have been proven to be toxic to our bodies. Yet that is all they sell and push on their members. Its insane. But like someone said here already. They are selling us a bill of goods.
  • PinkHurricane88
    PinkHurricane88 Posts: 156 Member
    I used WW when I was 275 lbs then found out about MFP after a while. I did both, then eventually walked away from WW because I had learned a LOT of things I didn't know previously. WW instilled a lot of good in me but I didn't see the need to continue paying 30-40 bucks a month for something I could be doing free. I just recently rejoined MFP full on, and so far so good, I love all the tools, the community, and the access to MFP much more!

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