Weight Watchers

I have to agree with most of the above statements. I lost a good chunk of my weight on Weight Watchers. However, like others have said, you are kept in the dark on how many calories you are actually eating. You are learning portion sizes, but you don't know calorie intake. There are ways to figure it out but not 100% accurate. Bottom line, for me, Weight Watchers got me to where I am at, but I could not do that for a lifetime. I needed to learn about calories and macronutrients. I needed to learn about TDEE and BMR. The things that make it all work. WW keeps you in the dark on all that. They tell you what to do and you are just supposed to take their word for it.

Right. You can learn portion control right here tracking your calories. Get a scale and weigh out all your food, that will teach you portions. You certainly don't need WW for that.

I started Weight Watchers in March and have had much success. I've lost a total of 37.2 lbs so far. And I'm one that doesn't like many fruits or veggies!

No, I'm too cheap to pay for stuff like that.

I was on and off WW for about a decade. Yes the program works if you stick to it, as will any program with a caloric deficit. They have great recipes and while they strongly promote healthy foods, you can eat whatever you like within your budget.

When I started dieting, WW was the only tool I knew of that focused on normal eating habits. I didn't want to do any fad diets, pills or shakes. That's why I opted for WW.

But I never reached a healthy weight let alone goal weight on WW. I could do it for several months at a time and then just be so sick of it. In 2009 I lost a good amount and the following years I yo-yoed only a little bit, because I could fall back on my WW tool easily and keep it more or less under control. All-in-all my weight trend line kept going down.

I went off program in April this year. That's when I added in exercise, and that's when I actually reached a healthy BMI. WW does not really promote exercise, they advise it, but why would you when you can lose without working out? That was me for several years. When I reached that healthy BMI and looked at my body, I can see that I still carry a lot of fat. And I knew that I was not fit, did not have any stamina whatsoever. I now wish I had realized sooner that weight loss and exercise should always come in one package.

That said, I'm now eating more than I ever did on WW. On WW I was allowed the minimum daily points, and that turned out to be around 1000-1100 calories. On days when I stuck to my daily points I was often hungry. I'd usually have some weekly points about 3 days a week, around 10 extra. I remember I often felt a bit guilty because I ate so much on the weekend, turns out that was only 1400-1500 calories. I love to make chicken fajitas (chicken+veggies+spices+tortilla wrap+bit of sour cream). A healthy dish imo, yet it cost me over half of my daily points. To make up for that, I'd eat a meager breakfast/lunch. Now when I make the same dish and log it on MFP, it's only a little over 500 calories, actually a bit on the low end for a typical dinner for me. This did shock me, on WW I thought I was having a high calorie meal (since it was so high in points), when it's not that at all. Same goes for little things like a tablespoon of salad dressing. Seriously, 1 point for 29 calories worth of dressing?

I felt that with the new program a lot of women are under-eating. I frequented the WW forums in my country and there were always lots of messages by women who were afraid to use any weekly points. On top of that, they're also afraid to use their exercise points. WW says you MAY use your weekly points, but you don't have to, promising a weight loss of 2lbs per week if you don't use them. So no wonder a lot of women won't touch them. Often when they do use them one week, they'll gain, panic, and won't use them again. I noticed that the women who consistently used most of their weekly points and were not afraid to eat back some exercise points, were the ones who had the best results and were the ones to not only reach goal weight, but also maintain it.

In hindsight, I'd say MFP is a much better tool to lose and control weight. It's free, it has a huge database. And it's so much easier to tweak it to your own needs. I calculated my TDEE and try to eat at a -15% deficit on average. Some days I might eat at -10%, some I might be at -20%. But still, I can look at the numbers and know exactly what I've taken in. With WW you have your 35 weekly points and you have to figure out yourself what to do with them. If you eat them all, what does do for your weightloss? If you spread them out evenly, what does that do for your weightloss? I could never figure out the amount of weekly points that worked for me.

I just recently started Weight Watchers and was wondering if anyone knew any good low point recipes for dinner. I am using the smart ones however it is getting pretty expensive and I would like to find a more cost effective way for dinners.

I did WW for a few months last year, I lost a few lbs, my friend had more to lose and he lost 80 lbs.

I found a few things:
- monthly fee is too expensive
- points values are cryptic and too much work
- WW doesn't promote heavy exercise and as a result, it was hard for me to figure out how much energy I was burning during exercise and how to eat more for it. The meeting leader had no answers neither did the website
- I think it's best for people who have really bad eating patterns because it's good to learn how to eat better

I say MFP is a better site and FREE!!
good luck!

Would it be easier? No, you still have to figure out points values for every food you eat and you have to track it. Same as here, except here you will have a better understanding of how many calories your body needs and how many calories you are consuming each day. WW keeps all of that a big secret.

I have been on WW before and I did have some success. However, WW is all about a points value and they don't work in the real world. You don't learn to eat right per say, you learn to find foods that are low in points which again, doesn't apply in the real world.

^This

The esoteric points system is not going to help you in the world that is measured in calories not points to macros ratios.

I don't think it would be easier since the point system isn't universal and calories are. Every label will tell you how many calories are in something but I'd hate to have to work out the points value too. Also fruit and vegetables are "free" and I can tell you from experience that i can rack up a nice surplus eating free bananas and broccoli. They complicate things so you think you need them, you don't.