What do you guys think about Weight Watchers?

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 lost 50 pounds with weight watchers and then gained back 30.
Their focus is more losing the weight and points counting than fitness.

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.

Yeah but one point isn't actually just 40 calories. Points are derived from calories to fiber to fat calculation. As another poster pointed out, a lot of people -- when they get close to their goal - have a hard time either getting there or maintaining -- there is a reason for that. The points system is NOT as accurate as actually counting calories.

And I personally know at least 7 people who went from steadily losing 1-1.5 pounds a week with the old system to losing .5, if they were lucky. Making fruit zero points and telling people it was to encourage better eating habits is laughable. Who benefits when weight loss slows from not counting calories?

I am not saying it's a horrible program -- but it has its flaws.

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.

Yeah but one point isn't actually just 40 calories. Points are derived from calories to fiber to fat calculation. As another poster pointed out, a lot of people -- when they get close to their goal - have a hard time either getting there or maintaining -- there is a reason for that. The points system is NOT as accurate as actually counting calories.

And I personally know at least 7 people who went from steadily losing 1-1.5 pounds a week with the old system to losing .5, if they were lucky. Making fruit zero points and telling people it was to encourage better eating habits is laughable. Who benefits when weight loss slows from not counting calories?

I am not saying it's a horrible program -- but it has its flaws.

That didn't happen to me, but then I started my WL journey with the Points Plus program. When I hit my goal weight, I was still losing 1 to 2 a week. I changed my points to their recommended maintenance, which is 35. I lost 10 more pounds. Slowly, I increased my points to 43, and finally stopped losing. I also make a point now to eat all my weekly points so that I do not lose any more.

WW changed the minimum last year to 26 points instead of 29, which if you include the free fruit equals roughly 1200 calories. There are dozens of threads on this board as to why 1200 is not enough in most cases, and I will agree with that. I started out with 34 points at 215 pounds and went as low as 29 points, which equaled roughly 1400 calories.

I know WW states that the points are based on fiber, fat, protein and carbs, but again, I have yet to come across where one point doesn't equal 40 calories when doing that calculation. So I just make it easier on myself, divide by 40, and make sure that I meet all of the good health guide lines.

I'm sure it does have it's flaws here and there - no diet is absolutely perfect. However, when I look at my old eating habits, they were atrocious. I'm talking McDonalds and Burger King daily with real soda. Sometimes even twice a day. I remember having ice cream for dinner once. No wonder I was overweight. I had no idea what a healthy diet looked like.