Weigt Watchers vs. MFP.....any thoughts?

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  • L1zzydarcy
    L1zzydarcy Posts: 15 Member
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    I just don't understand why fruits and veggies are 0 points on weight watchers. You can get fat from eating too many of those, they do contain calories and those calories do add up.

    I understand what you're saying, because obviously food - including F&V - has calories. However, I know that personally my weight issues, and those of everyone I have ever discussed it with, do not come from eating too many servings of plain fruit or vegetables.
  • pianolover2012
    pianolover2012 Posts: 168 Member
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    I just don't understand why fruits and veggies are 0 points on weight watchers. You can get fat from eating too many of those, they do contain calories and those calories do add up.

    I have often wondered that myself...
  • UKMarjie
    UKMarjie Posts: 257 Member
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    WW uses points and you therefore do not get knowledge of the true calorific value of foods
    WW online takes your money and just leaves you to it - no email encouragement - nada (I know I tried)

    THIS!

    I found that it has encouraged me to eat more fruit because I am like: WTF would I put that granola bar in my mouth (at 160 calories) when I could eat like 1200 grapes or a bazillion strawberries and get vitamins etc out of it too. It is making me read labels in a way that WW never did and also it doesn't require learning anything new beyond food nutrition - you see a box, you read a box, you log the calories...
  • Lisah8969
    Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
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    I did WW years ago. I think I lost 30 pounds or so doing it on and off for a few years. Although it isn't what they wanted, I found that I ate a lot of pre-packaged stuff that had points values on the front of the box b/c it made it easier to track. Also it drove me crazy trying to get to in so many oils in a day or what not. And it definitely never sunk in to my brain enough that it would be something I could just continue for the rest of my life and once i stopped going to meetings, I gained it all back. And let's not even mention the one woman who monopolized EVERY meeting on Saturday morning telling us absolutely every little thing that she ate and did that week (and she was on maintenance).

    Now MFP...I have been doing this for about 11 months and have lost almost 60 pounds. I haven't once felt deprived about anything. I have changed the way I think about food and will try to make what i eat something i still enjoy, but better for me. Yes, I can have a turkey burger instead of a regular burger. But even more important, when I do want a regular burger, or pizza, or cake...I have it! I do my best to fit it into my macros for the day and exercise more if I need to. This isn't a diet. This isn't something I am going to stop doing one day. And it works. And MFP is FREE!

    Most of all, MFP has the best, most supportive people on it.
  • purpleipod
    purpleipod Posts: 1,147 Member
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    I've done both, and in my opinion neither works better than the other. Do whichever you will stick to and keeps you interested and it will work.
  • jgirl63
    jgirl63 Posts: 4 Member
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    I have done both - in 1998 I lost over 100lbs with weight watchers and have kept all but 30 lbs off (after having children). I would say you need to figure out what type of program would work best for you remembering in either program you have to commit to making lifestyle changes. When I was 100lbs over weight I had to start at the beginning - learning to make better choices, direction in how many calories to eat, what types of excercises to start with. Weight watchers helped me learn all this and now I have applied that to journaling on MFP. I still to this day get in 8 servings of fruits and vegetables, healthy oils, excercise, water, and choose whole grains over processed foods. I use MFP now to understand the calories I am eating and how many I should eat to lose weight and how many to eat to maintain, how my excercise impacts how much I need to eat. I was having trouble keeping up with points with two young children and being free is an added bonus!
  • doingitright2013
    doingitright2013 Posts: 11
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    where did you get your ticker picture from? I want that one.
  • doingitright2013
    doingitright2013 Posts: 11
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    I've done both. I have had success doing weight watchers and doing it alone... now maintaining I have never done, but then I have always had a major life event that has really thrown a wrench into things. (ie; pregnancies, cancer) That said, I also always looked at it as a diet and not as a lifestyle change. Truly. I know I don't need meetings or counting points to do this so I am not joining weight watchers this time. And I like FREE! Haha! However if you need the accountability that weight watchers offers (which is not a bad thing!) then go with that!


    Where did you get that picture for your ticker from? I want that
  • treagal
    treagal Posts: 264 Member
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    I've done them both and I prefer MFP.
    MFP is FREE! And just plain old easier to use, no points or anything. I love the online community with mfp. I love that I don't have to go get weighed in, I just do it at home on Sundays.
  • kimi131
    kimi131 Posts: 1,058 Member
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    I've done both. I didn't lose much, if any, with Weight Watchers. I like the simplicity of MFP and the constant access/availability. Plus I don't have to figure out any points. Calorie information is more easily available.

    In summation, MFP is simple, free, friendly (well, now always the forums :wink: ), easy, free, quick, accessible, free, and did I mention free? :smile:
  • Beckycm1971
    Beckycm1971 Posts: 40 Member
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    I lost most of my weight on WW and it really helped me to focus on the different groups of food I need. MFP is free, and the people here helped me to focus on exercise. I have achieved many goals exercise wise here. I recently was doing both tracking WW points and Calories, and found that as long as I wasn't overboard with stuff that had little nutrition, my calories evened out with my points. I definitely have far more support here than I ever had going to meetings or anything.
  • ptbodacious
    ptbodacious Posts: 65 Member
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    I have been doing both since June of last year - down 63 pounds. It's been interesting to log on both places and observe the differences between points and calories - some days I'm WAY over on calories and just fine on points (usually due to fruits and veggies), others way over on points and barely over on calories. MFP has more items in their database, is free and has a more user-friendly website, but I tend to get a little OCD if all I do is focus on calories, so find WW more comfortable. Not a real "user community" - focused kind of person, so the differences there make little or no difference to me.
  • kimberliiw
    kimberliiw Posts: 242 Member
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    I lost 34 lbs on WW several years ago and got to goal. After putting 22 of that back on I rejoined last year and only lost 2 lbs in 4 months. I find it's easy to fudge the points. You want something to be 3 points instead of 4, then just eat a bit less of it. You might just be cutting out 20 calories, but the way the points calculate it rounds down a point. Considering a point is approximately 40 calories you're going over by 20 calories, do that 10 times a day then you're over 200 calories. Counting calories is concrete, no need to calculate, no creative handling of points.

    I don't think WW is bad, I just think personally I take more responsibility for what I eat doing MFP.
  • missy0307
    missy0307 Posts: 4
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    Same for me! I did we'll until they moved to the points plus plan!
  • Off_The_Record
    Off_The_Record Posts: 17
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    After doing WW for a couple of week I figured out there formula.. 1point=40 calories pretty much... This just made me feel like they were complicating a something simple. It's easy enough to track calories but if everybody realized that they wouldn't make any money..
  • meghan_lovely
    meghan_lovely Posts: 48 Member
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    I've done WW in the past and have always had a tough time sticking with it.... and I do think it is because of the points. When you don't know how many points something is you need to put it in the calculator and after a while I got sick of always calculating points.

    MFP is more straightforward. People here seem more supportive too!
  • KC7997
    KC7997 Posts: 69 Member
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    I have done WW in the past and I think overall it is a great program. However, there are definitely pros and cons--just like with anything.

    I thought the program itself was really easy to follow. You get so many points a day and here is how you calculate points--easy.

    Also, I disagree with the people who say it doesn't teach you the difference between good/bad/healthy/unhealthy food and just general food knowledge. I think they do a pretty good job of that, actually. I remember they had "Good Health Guidelines" (I think that is what they were called.) were they taught specifically about choosing whole grains, getting your water and dairy in, etc. Also, I think there is an inherent sense of how "good for you" (in essence) something is in how many points it has vs the portion (not always...some foods like nuts, which are good sources of protein and aren't necessarily "bad", but should still be eaten in moderation, etc.) That is true for calories counting, too. If something is high in calories/fat/whatever, we naturally questions its nutritional value.

    I especially liked the the extra points each week (for special occasions, etc.), but found myself often using them as an excuse to eat more and indulge too much. (That's my fault, though, not WW....)

    Also, I agree with another poster who said WW starts to feel like a part time job. I often felt the same way. It was such an effort to get to the meetings and I didn't usually find them all that useful or "community building" in the sense that everyone seemed to stick to themselves or with the people they came with. Maybe I just didn't find the right one?

    Speaking of meetings, a real pet peeve of mine are the staff that weigh you in at the beginning. I always managed to get the one who can't help but comment on the progress...out loud. ("Up a little", etc. Grrr!)

    For me it came down to cost. WW gets really expensive, really fast.

    MFP is free and the community and inspiration I get here (especially from the boards) is 10x better than anything I got from WW.

    I hope this helps some!

    Happy losing to us all. :-)
  • lyndabyh
    lyndabyh Posts: 187 Member
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    I lost 41 lbs on WW a few years ago and put 12 backon. I rarely went to the meetings but did like the accountability of weighing in every week. Someone else was going to see my weight it better have gone down!! However once I reached my "goal" I figured why spend my money I can do this on my own. It worked for a while but counting points gets old.

    MFP. I've been on here since Sept/12 and have lost 6 lbs. However I've engaged in more discussions then I had the entire time I was with WW. I also like the focus on eating helathy and exercise. I found with WW I didn't eat as healthy just as long as I hit my points.

    I prefer MFP, to me its more of a lifestyle change which is what I personally want. That said WW started my journey and was great in terms of kickstarting my knowledge of portions and tracking. Long term though WW became a diet not a lifestyle and that's not what I want.

    Good luck with whatever route you choose :tongue:
  • justtodayjen333
    justtodayjen333 Posts: 142 Member
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    I think WW has a lot of good to offer. I got good information and motivation from the meetings. I have three kids, and life has gotten more busy, so it was harder and harder to get to meetings. Now I take that time to get my workout in. Also, for me, one of the strengths of using MFP is all of the support from the online friends. I never found this kind of motivation and support at WW--but I never really used their online program, so it might be there as well. I have done both and succeeded, and both and not succeeded. You have to do the work either way, and you have to do what works for you! Just my two cents.

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