Convert from Weight Watchers

Well, hello everyone. I just cancelled my membership at Weight Watchers because
1. there was no meeting in my neighborhood or locality that I could get to (and I live in Pittsburgh, hardly a small town)
2. the point system masks the amount of calories I'm eating
3. the tracking system does not keep track of nutrition information.

So, I could be on an all-beer diet and still be under my point quota, but have no idea about what kind of food I am eating, how many nutrients, fats, sugars, salts, carbs, and proteins I'm getting each day. .

Also,
4. you can't easily track exercise along with food as you can here of myfitnesspal, and the little device you're supposed to keep on your body falls off so easily that I kept losing it.

and finally,

5. I found it was too easy to "cheat" with the point system because there are so few foods listed in its database.

So, I'm starting over with myfitnesspal, and this time determined to stick to my plan to lose 2 pounds a week by eating a limited number of calories.

I'm looking for friends, and here are a few facts about me: I'm 52, about 30 pounds overweight (something I never thought would "happen" to me) and struggling with quite a bit of stress in my life.

Hoping to hear from some of you.

Warmly,

Kimberly

I lost 30 pounds on weight watchers. It was great. But I learned nothing about nutrition. Just learned how to work the system so I could still eat crap and stay under my points. Shock of all shockers, I regained all the weight back, and then some. For all the reasons you listed (points system masks true intake, doesn't give nutrition info, etc.).

Welcome to MFP. We are all losing weight differently (some are doing low carb, or clean food, or vegetarian, or whatever), but getting similar results. As I recently read, the secret to weight loss isn't a secret at all. Eat less. Move more. Preferably both.

Enjoy the forums, but grow a thick skin because sometimes folks are a little harsh on here. But largely the people I've come across are honest and genuine in their desire to help.

And take the suggested macros/calorie totals suggested in MFP with a grain of salt. For example, fruit has tons of sugars, but not all sugars are equal. And 1200 calories a day for a woman isn't necessarily what's best. I suggest you find out your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) numbers and create a calorie goal based on TDEE minus 15 or 20%. You will find calculators online.

Or, you could ignore everything I say and follow your own instincts. That's what I love about MFP. We're all doing it differently, but WE'RE DOING IT!!!!

I'm a convert, too. I am through with the points system. Anything that encourages me to seek artificial sweeteners and fillers for fat-free food to stay under a seemingly arbitrary daily goal is not for me. I lost weight on it a few years ago, but now I know more about eating REAL foods and not the fake stuff. I have given up all sodas, as much HFCS as I can track (better for my kids' behavior, too), and fat-free for the sake of being fat-free. I don't even like the way that stuff tastes anymore. I do still use Crystal Light/Mio more often than I'd like to admit, but I use a packet designed for 20 oz. of water in about 75 oz., so I'm cutting that, too. I'm trying to switch to just lemon/lime juice this summer. One step at a time.

If you like flavored-water-type things, you should try brewing iced herbal teas. They have lemon ginger or lemon lavender. Most, if not all of them have health benefits -- especially green tea!

To me it just wasn't practical to pay money for something that I can get for free if I am willing to count calories rather than points. Certain aspects of it I enjoyed like the free fruits and veggies and the meetings. At the same time sometimes I hated getting up on saturday morning and driving across town because that was the only time my favoritie leader taught. I think it is a healthy plan and you get what you put in. If you like sweets and have a tendency to binge eat it is hard to stay on track, at least for me, because the weekly points allowance made me feel like I had some leeway and then I would binge and it would all be gone in a couple of days and then I would binge more out of a panic. Now I know that if i eat over my daily calories I can start over tomorrow and just know that it is my daily choices that add up to weight loss. With WW I felt that if I had screwed up my weekly points I couldn't start over until my weigh in day so the rest of the week would become a free for all. It just wasn't feasible for a person like me, although I know it works for a lot of people.

Weight Watchers 5x- lost 70lbs- gained it all back and then some.
Jenny Craigs 1x - worked well....actually lost weight and my hair along the way. My body went into starvation mode.
Atkins x1
Slimfast x 3

so far, THIS is working for my perfectly. I'm learning healthy ways of eating, about my daily intake and how exercise effects your body in regards to how it uses calories as fuel. I really think that this is it and I'm never going back. It's like a light bulb that went off.

Always looking for friends. Feel free to add. Have a great weekend!

I'm a convert too -- for all the same reasons! I started educating myself about the "right" kind of foods and even though they may be higher in fats or sugars, they're still good for you! - i.e. low fat cream cheese and sugar from fruits.

I struggled a lot with WW allowing "lower points" on foods just because they were "fat free." That never made those kinds of foods better for me. In fact all the sugar-like chemical additives made them worse!

I'm using MFP now to support my clean eating efforts and really track my calories in and out.

If you're not on a multivitamin, I'd recommend taking a daily one ASAP so you get all the other vitamins and minerals you need. It really helps meet that weekly quota!

Best of luck to all those coming over from WW country!!!

^^ that! I tried WW last summer and got really tired of it - I was still losing weight, but I hadn't really changed any of my habits because it was way too easy not to. I think MFP is far superior because it gives you a breakdown of food consumed, not just points.

I myself have done WW many times. I would tend to lose 30 pounds and then think I could do it by myself without the meeting. Suprise, suprise I would gain it all back and then some. I just started MFP on Wednesday, through a recommendation from a friend who was also a WW member. I'm 37 years old, have more than 30 pounds to lose, work full time (very stressfull right now), 2 kids (6 and almost 11 going on 20), and a husband who travels for his job (alot).

I am a weight watchers drop out. I have tried so many times, never really lose any weight that stay off. I love myfitnesspal, it track everything and ths great. So much sugars in fruit that I thought was free "points" but as some one said in an earlier post, there are ways to cheat. Feel free to add me as a friend and we can be an encouragement to each other.