Weight Watchers vs Clean Eating

I'm interested in everyone's thoughts on the Weight Watchers approach versus clean eating. I sometimes feel like I'm setting myself up for failure when attempting to eat clean. The Weight Watchers approach feels more normal to me, but clean eating seems to be the thing! Thank you, Happy Friday!

I always wash my crumpets before I eat them

Don't do "clean eating" if it fits your macros or points in your case then eat it. Just focus on proper nutrition and have room for treats (dirty cakes!)

I think weight watchers has more results than clean eating.This is my personal opinion.

Are they mutually exclusive?

I did slimming world and lost two stone, was put on steroids and put half a stone on again :-( now eating paleo/clean living and lost 6 lbs in three weeks! I love it! but do what you feel is best for you! :-)

I lost about 60 pounds with WW Momentum Program 4 years ago. They do encourage you to eat a lot of fresh veggies and fruit. Its eating whatever you want within reason. I quit after I lost most of my weight, tried to go back but I don't like their new program. The free fruit and veggies thing threw me off.

For me clean eating would be really hard. I understand the idea of getting rid of processed food... but I could never keep it up. In the end whatever you will stick with long term is what is going to work.

Can you not eat clean while doing WW?

I have to be honest, I am not keen on WW, mainly because I simply don't understand how fruit and veg can be 'free', and the fact that everyone I've ever known that's been on it lives on their ready meals, which are sodium packed, nutritionally void, tasteless, tiny little things. I understand that's obviously personal choice, but WW are very good at thrusting their products in your face and making you believe they are the way forward.

Personally, I think you should just stick to a calorie allowance, keep an eye on your macros and not worry about the rest, but ultimately, it's whatever works for you.

Eating clean is just eating healthy and doing whats right for your body, and as a result, the average person that lives in a society filled with processed foods, sodas, Starbucks and McDonalds, will loose weight, because all of that stuff isn't good for your body at all. To be healthy and age well, you have to feed it the right fuel.

I began weight watchers in September 2012 and lost 15 lbs. I could lose weight if I met my points, but it didn't work for me to develop a healthy lifestyle. It was just weight loss. WW didn't have a lot of community users who were inspirational because they were already in shape. Most were just overweight trying to lose weight without exercise. I got interested in MFP again in May and decided I would do both for awhile to see which one worked better for me. After beginning MFP, I quickly realized that I was consuming far too many processed foods and my sodium was through the roof. With WW it didn't matter how much processed or fast food I consumed as long as I stayed within my points. Its sort of similar with MFP as far as staying in calories, but MFP tracks not just fat, carbs, protein, and fiber but also other things that promote better health IMO like sugar and sodium. I can stay within my calorie limit while eating fast food and microwave meals, but I will KILL my macros. So in June I "cleaned" up my intake some, incorporating less microwave dinners and progresso soup to include more home-cooked foods with more natural-state ingredients. I started eating a lot more fruit. My exercise has skyrocketed because I lost the "I wanna lose weight" mentality that I had on WW to a "I wanna get healthy" mentality with MFP. As a result, I am in better shape than I have been in my adult life. In sum, WW helped me lose a few pounds, but I'm much happier with my new lifestyle on MFP!

I follow Weight Watchers and on the most part would say my diet is pretty 'clean' (I hate that term) as I cook mostly from scratch but I allow myself little treats every day whether it be a packet of lower calorie crisps or a small chocolate bar or as it's hot today, an ice lolly. I love Weight Watchers- iot gives you a tight enough leash not to go mad but still gives you leeway to enjoy what you are eating. I am looking at this as a lifestyle change and not a diet though.