What do you guys think about Weight Watchers?

WOW there are a few irresponsible replies on here. For $7 per month, I think you don't need anyone's input, especially the negative, because weight watchers may be YOUR life saver and prayer answer, I would not leave it to strangers to limit that decision for you, esp when you're talking about $7, plus the cost of a point calculator.... fairly minimal.

I have tried every diet under the sun including weight watchers, did it for 3 years learned how to eat healthy, learned how to snack healthy, learned that an evening out and splurging on my calories wouldn't derail all I had done, and yes, if you reach goal weight it's free, how can you knock that? (I only quit because of economic crash and husbands business closing... had to save cash....)
Sure WW has WW food, but it's there for convenience, not required to follow the plan.

For ME the meetings were imperative, I had IN PERSON motivation and stories and food tips, this site is great and all, but WW truely is so much more, but instead of taking any strangers word for it, for only $7, I'd say it's worth trying for yourself, what's the worst that can happen? It's not likely you'll GAIN weight. It's a no brainer hot stuff. Do it. So you're out $7....

I've done WW twice and lost over 40 pounds each time. But I got bored with the meetings and tired of converting stuff to points and quit...only to regain the weight plus more. Now I use the money that used to go to a WW membership for a monthly gym membership, and I have lost more weight more quickly than I ever did on WW (and as a post-menopausal woman I don't exactly see the weight "falling off" - I work for every single pound I lose). I actually found it very stressful to weigh in, and that contributed to my quitting. So for me, MFP and the gym are working. But WW is at least a healthy approach so it's worth a shot if you think it will help.

I enjoyed WW and earned my lifetime membership, I went steadily to meetings for about 4 years, and I stuck to healthy eating and exercise even after they stopped having the meetings at work...it was easy, I like the weekly meetings with new tips for food and exercise and strategies for surviving office parties, etc...for me the social support was fun and helped to keep me motivated...for $7 a month, you don't have much to lose by trying it...

Oh, my mom lost 65 lbs on it as well, and has maintained her loss as long as I have (almost two years).

My husband began in January and is down 15 lbs.

I enjoy food so much more these days and love how I am so much healthier all the way around.

Anybody who knocks it has either never tried it, or was just plain doing it wrong.

All these programs work while on them it's when you stop is when the weight comes back on, normally + more than you started with.

I lost weight on WW and worked for them --- IMO, don't. Just don't. They are overly focused on the BMI, with very little focus on providing facts and accurate acknowledge about nutrition.

Their focus is to make money (ie keep you from your goals because then it's free). Use a free site and don't fool yourself into thinking fruit doesn't have calories.

I KNOW RIGHT!
I remember one of our leaders saying she had 3 bananas that day, I was like "Ummm that's like 300 calories??? How the hell does this equate to 0 points?"

This! Please don't think I'm knocking WW. I really don't understand the point system so I can't comment on it. it just seams like if you counting point and not paying attention to calories and nutrition how is that helping. Same thing here on MFP people just look at calories and then say "yes I'm under my goal of 1800 calories by 100 calories" then those that are fortunate enough to hav the graph macros breakdown of the mobile versions (I still don't think desktop has it) and see that 40 %of what they ate was fat and they barely had any protein ...that's a problem. Again I'm not knocking any program that assist anyone in anyway with weight loss I guess I'm just uniformed on this matter

I lost weight on WW and worked for them --- IMO, don't. Just don't. They are overly focused on the BMI, with very little focus on providing facts and accurate acknowledge about nutrition.

Their focus is to make money (ie keep you from your goals because then it's free). Use a free site and don't fool yourself into thinking fruit doesn't have calories.

I KNOW RIGHT!
I remember one of our leaders saying she had 3 bananas that day, I was like "Ummm that's like 300 calories??? How the hell does this equate to 0 points?"

Yeah, was a significant reason for my departure was the new "Points Plus" program. The meetings that I ran saw a marked decrease in progress when the shift happened. Marked. I'm not saying WW is evil or terrible -- but they are a BUSINESS that makes money when people have to pay. They are invested in people not having timely losses or sustainable goals.

I get that some people love the meetings and I think that's great -- but the "leaders" don't receive much, if any, education. I have zero background in nutrition and was leading meetings after 5 days at their "leadership seminar". Which was basically like "don't endorse products that are made by us" and "it's important you understand this is a business".

I tried W.W. and it never worked for me....not sure why. I like MFP much better and I feel it makes me more aware of the things I'm eating. Something w/ a point of 3 could be great point wise but not so great nutritionally. I think actually logging and seeing the nutritional value is alot better.

I generally am not inclined to programs like "weight watchers" "Jenny Craig" "Nutri-system" because of how expensive they could be. I already pay a lot of money for a gym membership. But I just found out today that my employer has a relationship with Weight Watchers and because of that, I'd only have to pay $7 a month for a membership....so now I'm thinking, should I try it being that it's right there and basically, almost free compared to the $200-$300 a month people normally pay for those kinda things.

Is Weight Watchers really effective? Some opinions on this please

I did WW online last year to lose almost 35 lbs. It's great (and better than just calorie counting, especially if you're just starting your weight loss journey) because it teaches you to adopt better eating habits. The points calculation gives you more credit (meaning the foods cost you fewer points) for eating lean protein and fruits and veggies vs. processed foods and simple carbs. It helped to retrain me (vs. just calorie counting where I still tended to eat "bad" foods, but in fewer quantities). I moved on from WW to calorie counting via MFP last fall because I got close enough to my goal weight that the leeway in the points v. calories was enough that my weight loss stalled.

Its just a means of qualitatively and quantitatively assessing your consumption much like MFP. I have a coworker, Female caucasion, 5'4, who lost 94lbs in a year. She has an absolute aversion towards exercise and did none. Does she look good? No. Does she look better than she did at 240+? Yes. But on her body its very clear what happens when you do not exercise or strength train during your transformation. Shes oddly shapen with no visible muscle tone. Skinny fat is the visual. WW + hardcore training would elicit amazing results im certain....

I lost 65lbs on WWs 4 years ago and then gained that plus some back(so did the other 5 people that I worked with once they stopped meetings) when I started maintaining. It is good for losing weight, but if you do not change HOW you eat....only manipulate your food choices to fit points.....then it is not sustainable long term. The best thing is to choose whatever you can continue with successly in the long term and counting points seems like a headache to do forever.

My opinion is that it is a less accurate and more expensive version of calorie counting

ETA: If you think the meetings and support that come from weight watchers from real life people is beneficial then it might be worth it.

So much misinformation in this thread it makes my head spin!!!!!

Ugh. It is NOT just about counting points, and it does not allow you to eat whateverthehell you want as long as you track it, as one poster put it. You have to get all of your good health guidelines in as well - that includes 5 to 6 servings of veggies and fruits a day, 2 to 3 servings of lean protein, 2 dairy, and 1 to 2 healthy oils. If you do this, it's the equivalent of meeting your macros on MFP.

To be honest though, I have never found an instance of on the points system where it does not equal one point for every 40 calories, unless it's something really decadent like a big gooey cinnamon roll. Therefore, instead of using the points calculator, I simply divide the amount of calories by 40 to get the points.

As far as the zero point fruit is concerned, it's there to encourage you to eat an apple instead of a cookie, when the two items have equal calories. It did not hinder my weight loss at all.

I will acknowledge that most people who stop the program gain the weight back. The same goes for MFP. If you quit tracking and begin to eat garbage again, the weight will come back on. That's why I plan on tracking my food for the rest of my life. It's a habit now and it's like brushing my teeth. If money gets tight, I will bite the bullet and switch to MFP since it's free. I'm just used to counting points instead of calories, so I find it easier.

I think it's like any other diet. Try the WW recipes. Search online and its free.

So much misinformation in this thread it makes my head spin!!!!!

It's like banging your head against a wall.