Weight Watchers?

I started Weight Watchers, going to the meetings, on Jan 5, and have lost 55.4 lbs! Going to the meetings has it way over doing it online. Everyone at my meetings are so supportive and helpful, and the weekly discussions are great! We have ALL ages there, from high school up. I go on a Saturday morning, and I think that draws a younger crowd. Go to a meeting as a visitor...try it out, you may love it!

I'm in my 50's and I've done WW about 4 times. It's a great program, no doubt. There's something more accountable about knowing you'll be weighing in each week, and you can sometimes find friendships with other members. People also share tips on foods and recipes they've discovered. And the recipes on the WW site are very good, and I still make many of them. You choose a reasonable goal weight (based on their range of what you should weigh for your height/age--it's pretty broad). Once you reach your goal weight and hold that for 6 weeks, you become a lifetime member and must weigh in each month and be within 2 lbs. of your goal weight.

That said, it is almost $40 a month, and their food is pretty pricey (though they have some sales). Much of what I listed above is also available on MFP. Both websites will allow you to find people like you and build the friends' lists, groups, etc. There are pros and cons to each website, but both are pretty good. I found the dealbreaker (besides the $40/month) to be the lack of WW to develop a decent mobile app for the Android phone. Their iPhone app is very good however. I can't remember if they have the product code scan option like MFP has (which is super helpful, IMO).

If you feel you would get an extra boost by attending a meeting in person, with the support and encouragement of the group and the leader, AND the money isn't an issue for you, then check it out. Now that I have gone through menopause, the lbs. don't come off very quickly at all, so $40 a month was just too steep to start over there. Good luck with your decision!

One of the things I said was a bit misleading. The WW food sold at meetings is just snack type things, plus oatmeal, smoothie mixes. You don't eat WW food like some other plans (Jenny Craig, etc.). It's just supplemental and totally optional if you want to buy it. Then there is the WW foods you can buy at grocery stores (which isn't sold at meetings); again, your choice as to whether you eat that.

I did WW about 7 years ago and made it to Lifetime. So the meetings do work. Life happens, things change, weight comes back, old habits creep up - and where I live now the meetings are a LOT more commercial and expensive.

If you need meetings for the accountability factor you should look into TOPS. Here its about $30 for the year, then local dues are about $5 a month. WAY cheaper than WW. You can follow any plan you want so you can still use MFP. The meetings I have attended are always fun and the people are very nice and welcoming. You can check out your first meeting for free. They share a lot of the same things WW meetings do and they also have a lot of games/incentives/prizes to keep you motivated.

http://www.tops.org/TOPS/FindAMeeting.aspx

I have done Weight Watchers in the past, even working for them. I use what I know from that and apply it using MFP for the accountability and support, making sure I get all my fruits, veggies, water and exercise in and go from there.

WW's is a great program. I did online, didn't attend a single meeting, didn't eat a single WW product. I lost 40 pounds. Free fruit yes, WITHIN REASON! I don't know why this trips people up

WW's taught me portion control, and how to eat healthier. WW's set me up to go it alone here on MFP, for an additional 20 pound loss. I stopped WW's because I felt a little stalled and needed to change it up a bit. I felt I had the skills to this, thanks to WW's.

I did WW about 12 years ago. I attended the meetings and reached my goal weight. I kept the weight off until about 4 years ago when I got pregnant. 2 kids later I gained the weight back. I joined WW on-line (couldn’t find a meeting during the times I was able to attend) at the beginning of this year. I prefer the meetings over online for the accountability. I realized that I was paying for the same stuff I get for free on this website. So I quit WW. The program does work and I agree with others on this post that you should attend one meeting and that will help you decide what will work best for you.

I've done both--online and the meeting format. Had success with both. Had as much success as with MFP, accept that MFP is free and I find the people and stories on this site are far more motivating than any WW meeting I ever attended. And again, it's FREE. :flowerforyou:

I had a lot of success with Weight Watchers a few years ago. I enjoyed the meetings and found them encouraging. I usually left meetings feeling empowered and like I could stick with the program for another week.

I chose to leave for two reasons:

1) Our local WW organization downsized and as a result, my meeting ended up getting really crowded. Suddenly it seemed like we were spending half the meeting time or more recognizing people's successes. While I understand how important this is, I felt like I wasn't getting as much personal support and information anymore.

2) The online tools SUCK SUCK SUCK. I was a die-hard online tracker and the whole system often crashed or got crazy glitchy. I wrote to WW repeatedly asking for solutions, help, suggestions, and finally a refund and NEVER did anyone reply to me. That was very frustrating. So I cancelled my membership. (It's expensive too!)

So.... here I am a few years later the heaviest I've ever been and trying mfp. I like it, but I miss the camaraderie of WW meetings.

(P.S. Side note: looking for mfp pals -- feel free to add me!)