WW online vs. MFP

Options
misshpn
misshpn Posts: 70 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys.
In january 2012 I started on WW and I lost 65 lbs in 14 months! When my progress started to slow down, I decided to switch from WW to MFP. MFP hasn't been good for me at all, as I became obsessed with my diet, in a way that I didn't with WW. It has been a lot harder than WW too, since you need to track EVERYTHING, and even after all the hard work, I only lost 2 kg in 4 months. I'm really active and my net was about 1300-1400 in the 4 months.

After some warning signs of developing a seriously bad relationship to food, I've decided to take a break, and return to WW which was once successful for me. I'm kinda nervous about it now though. I was down to having a net of 1350 kcal a day, and I still didn't lose weight, so I can't see how I'm gonna lose weight by eating MORE - 39 pp(well over 2000 kcal) a day seems so extreme!! Also, not counting pp for vegetable and fruit seem so ridiculous after being on here.

I just wanna see if anyone can give me any thoughts about WW online, and about my decision. What do you think? I don't mind the money, because I know that it works(or has worked once at least). I'm just worried that I can't lose weight by eating after the WW plan, when I couldn't lose weight by counting kcal.

Replies

  • Live4theLift
    Live4theLift Posts: 329
    Options
    Do what will work best for you, I like MFP because it adds a certain "Freedom" to a diet that i feel others restricts
  • Carmenbraun55
    Carmenbraun55 Posts: 50 Member
    Options
    I would find IPOARM here on MFP and figure out how much you need to eat. It looks to me that you did eat way to little. :flowerforyou:
    After I was down to 1200 cal a day and didn't lose anything for month I found it in the forum and it worked like a charm :)
    Good luck :smile:
  • sbrownallison
    sbrownallison Posts: 314 Member
    Options
    I'm an older female and found (after years on WW, with success off and on over the years but always gaining it back), that I was unable to lose weight anymore, even with the lowest number of WW daily points. Then two years ago I quit Curves, joined the Y and got serious about exercise. The other different thing I did this time was quit eating bread. Got back on WW, and found immediate success losing weight, and had a steady one lb. loss each and every week. As I lost weight I became more capable of doing more exercise. In December, I reached my Lifetime WW, so no longer need to pay (unless I am over my goal or skip a monthly meeting). In the meantime I joined MFP and got a Fitbit, both of which I find more motivating than WW ever was. Both of them really point out and make crystal clear the importance of staying active and the relationship between what you eat and your activity level, giving you data that makes sense -- again in a way that WW does not do. Over the years I did try out the WW online stuff but did not find it very intuitive (not like MFP). Maybe it's improved now but I don't even bother to check.
  • markpurdon165
    markpurdon165 Posts: 1
    Options
    maybe im wrong but how many people get fat eating fruits and vegetables??ive been on WW 4 4 weeks now lost 8lbs and i have been going over my points.WW works.do the online program its only $18 a month.WW is the number 1 successful
    weight loss plan in the world
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
    Options
    I prefer MFP because when you do eventually reach a point where your goals shift more from "weight loss" to "fitness" MFP makes that transition go seamlessly. WW, since it is for weight loss only, does not.

    WW's system didn't work for me because the whole points system is based around trying to get you to make vegetables and fruits comprise a larger portion of your diet. And that was never my problem.
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
    Options
    I like MFP because its free and I'm poor :drinker:
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Options
    If you're sedentary and losing pounds of any type is your primary goal, WW is fine. But if you're active and working out is something you're doing on the regular I find WW to be severely deficient. It doesn't find a way to consistently get enough calories and protein
  • sarahslayer
    sarahslayer Posts: 32 Member
    Options
    I would find IPOARM here on MFP and figure out how much you need to eat. It looks to me that you did eat way to little. :flowerforyou:
    After I was down to 1200 cal a day and didn't lose anything for month I found it in the forum and it worked like a charm :)
    Good luck :smile:

    new here. Can you please link me to where I can figure out IPOARM?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
    Options
    See I am the complete opposite...I did WW 2 or 3 times and found myself obsessing over the points...I could look at a label and know the points after a while...I took my point finder everywhere...that to me is obsessive.

    The other thing Weight Watchers is exactly that WEIGHT WATCHERS......

    Take me for example they have my goal weight at 128 to 160....I will never weigh 128 again...I was there once...not a good place.

    And at my smallest in size (size 6) I was 158lbs....and still a bit softer then I am now...

    They are more concerned about weight not health or fitness...and as I watch my sister in law struggle to loose weight using WW I am reminded time and time again why this way is best......
  • mrshudson813
    mrshudson813 Posts: 128 Member
    Options
    I have been successful with WW and MFP. However, I feel like I have more choices by following MFP. With WW, you don't log fruit and vegetables. They say that the reason is this: If you have the choice of eating an apple and eating a cookie, you will choose the apple because it has zero points. However, I would choose the apple and the cookie. LOL. And then another apple afterwards. One great thing about WW is that it teaches you how to eat healthy foods because "junk" food has way too many points. With MFP you can eat whatever you want as long as you stay under your goal. I think that 1300 calories is probably not enough calories for you. Were you eating back your deficit from exercising? I find that if I don't eat back the majority of my calories then I have zero energy and do not lose as much weight. Either way, do what works for you. Everyone is different.
  • mlhay81
    mlhay81 Posts: 4 Member
    Options
    About a year ago, I did a side by side comparison of WW and MFP. For me, MFP won hands down. I have a very hard time getting my protein intake every day and tend to eat too much fruit sugars (yes, I know "healthy sugars" but none-the-less still sugar). On WW, I was much more likely to just hit my points and not pay attention to what nutrients I was eating. I did lose some weight but I felt awful. It was harder to do my workouts. With MFP, I hold myself accountable for my nutrients and fat/sugar/protein ratios. It is much more realistic for me than WW ever was. I also enjoy the usability of MFP's app vs. WW (ww didn't have an android app when I tried it. do they now?). The addition of foods with bar scanners and the wide range of fresh produce additions by grams is awesome on MFP.
    Every person has to find their own way. Sometimes you just have to change yours up a bit to make your body respond!
  • NicoleCooney92
    NicoleCooney92 Posts: 43 Member
    Options
    Link to ipoarm (in place of a road map)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    I. Love this. I get to eat more, have more energy, AND I'm still losing weight. Give it a few weeks to allow your body time to restore itself. You may think you're gaining weight but it's just your body getting back to a healthy equilibrium. (Others explain it way better than me. )
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
    Options
    maybe im wrong but how many people get fat eating fruits and vegetables??ive been on WW 4 4 weeks now lost 8lbs and i have been going over my points.WW works.do the online program its only $18 a month.WW is the number 1 successful
    weight loss plan in the world

    You just dropped in to tell us this on your *very first post*?

    :-)


    I've used both. I prefer MFP because it emphasises and appropriately manages exercise, and enables you to see more clearly the nutrition in what you eat.
  • trackmyday1973
    trackmyday1973 Posts: 393 Member
    Options
    I don't enjoy HAVING to track 4 things on WW, and the monthly fees, and the meetings did nothing for me.

    MFP I only track calories, it's free, and the support system is amazing here.

    To each their own though.

    Best of luck on whatever road you choose.
  • sarahslayer
    sarahslayer Posts: 32 Member
    Options
    thanks!
    Link to ipoarm (in place of a road map)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    I. Love this. I get to eat more, have more energy, AND I'm still losing weight. Give it a few weeks to allow your body time to restore itself. You may think you're gaining weight but it's just your body getting back to a healthy equilibrium. (Others explain it way better than me. )
  • jenniferjeanne84
    jenniferjeanne84 Posts: 17 Member
    Options
    I have been on WW a number of times, including rejoining about a month ago.

    I noticed on one of the post over there that someone mentioned using MFP every now and then to see how much they consume including fruits and veg... so I took a look over here and it was a much better fit for me.

    I really enjoy seeing food a whole and not as a point, I don't eat a whole lot of meat,and I've always been conerned about the amount of protein I get, which with MFP I realized that I do get enough of (I do love my hummus).
    in addition, I havn't yet stumbled on something that wasn't in the database making it much faster for me to record. The app for my blackberry works great, as opposed to WW which I never got to work.

    For me though, there wasn't a huge change in my diet from one place to the next, what I ate on WW is about 1400-1500 calories a day here. I pay over 21CAD a month at WW.... this is free.
  • GingerLolita
    GingerLolita Posts: 738 Member
    Options
    I used weight watchers just before my freshman year of high school and I lost a lot of weight, weighing my skinniest ever! However, in the next few years, I put back the 20 pounds and lost and gained another 20. WW is effective for weight loss, but many WW users struggle with keeping the weight off. If you decide to go with WW, maybe return to MFP to maintain after.
  • QuilterInVA
    QuilterInVA Posts: 672 Member
    Options
    A WW point is about 40 calories so 39 would be 1560 - far from 2000. Then you have the "free" fruits and vegetables that really do have calories. And you get to pay for it! The you can eat anything approach doesn't work in the long run.
  • MrsTits
    MrsTits Posts: 44 Member
    Options
    I've tried WW and I've tried Slimming World (think it might be UK based?) and whilst both work to some degree...I found some of their "rules" to be quite strange and restrictive. With WW I found having to "point" everything a pain, especially as most foods don't have point values on them unless you eat WW branded stuff, and with SW some of their "free food" calorie contents were massively high, whilst the likes of a fresh fruit smoothie had to be "synned" or pointed. Didn't make sense to me.

    Calorie counting, whilst a pain, is much easier. I don't have to buy books or attend classes to find out the "points value" for everything, I don't have to worry about eating too many "free foods"...if I want to know the calorie content, it's there on the packet. Plus it doesn't cost an extortionate amount of money.

    I don't think I'd use anything bar MFP now.
  • Minks_esposa
    Minks_esposa Posts: 54
    Options
    There is a way to track both cals and points. There was a link on how to track points while using MFP and you can do this for free. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/822197-how-to-track-weight-watchers-points-on-mfp

Categories