Weight Watchers...Whats Your experiences?

Nothing is free because nothing is free. That is what works.

Go back to the 80,s way of weight loss WW and Richard Simmons...Woo Hoo!! Honestly one of the other posters are right unlimited fruit =sugar, too many calories...you stay here on Mfp and we will be here for you...

a lot of this thread is super old, and even those old replies some people are referring to years ago when they went to weight watchers. I am on weight watchers now, and I am tracking my calories. I actually ate less before I started to track my calories (just using ww points) but now I am doing both and listening to both guidelines and things are going fine.

What I have noticed - MFP seems a bit more fair. What I believe weight watchers is trying to do is give you good habits, by making healthy clean less processed options very low in points and weighting points against what they think is unhealthy quite heavily. For example on days when I have chocolate or candy I usually only have a few calories (maybe max 400) of the high sugar stuff within my allowance - but it makes my ww points sky rocket.

At the moment I am averaging around 1500 calories a day and that equates to about 32/33 weight watchers (360 Australia - which as far as I can tell is similar to the previous version called pro-points in Australia). My allotted ww points is 29, and I eat my activity points and usually use some of my weekly bank of 49points on days I don't exercise.

If I have anything weight watchers thinks is bad - chocolate, cake, candy, duck fat potatos (yum!), beer etc the days points gets to about 45-50 even if the items are still within reasonable amounts and within my calories for the day.

I think the forums here are a bit more active than the weight watchers Australia ones, and I attend my meeting every week and have picked up some good tips from other members as well as great recipe ideas.

Also my leader has hinted to weight watchers decreasing the free fruit rule. Saying that the recommendation (which used to be *at least* 2 serves a day) is now *only* 2 serves a day (so some members have started adding points for every fruit serve over 2 serves) - She also said though that if eating more fruit is not affecting your loss, keep at it, but if it does affect your losses, try sticking to 2 a day only.

Like everything I don't every word my leader says as gospel (or members either). But I do find that meetings and the group dynamics helps me and overall is matching to my calorie goals.

If you are trying to milk the program rules for every free thing you can get, then it's obviously not going to help in the long run, but it did a lot to educate me, and so has MFP.
If I were to choose one over the other I would choose MFP - it's free how can you go passed that? but I think they both have value and if you can afford weight watchers it can be helpful.

WW worked for me before the plan was changed to make most fruits and veggies 0 points. I lost about 30 lbs the first go around. Then I quit because I plateaued. Then, I went back while it was the new Points Plus system and I lost maybe 8 pounds and then leveled out. Fruits and veggies have never been a problem for me so I was eating a ton of fruits and veggies (mainly fruit) which was a bunch of calories but no points. Plus I was eating my regular points. When I did the math, comparing it to MFP, WW just had me eating waaaaaaaaaaay too many calories. I've done a lot better with MFP

LOL @ "points"

I lost 52 pounds in about 6 months on it several years ago- After I stopped the program I gained back about 30 of those. One thing I really don't like about it is that while they teach journaling and portion sizes they do not focus on proper nutrition. That is a major factor in re-gaining for me. I have done much better with a total diet change. Eliminating most processed/ packaged foods and eating more organic and whole foods has made a huge difference for me. At least now when I stop focusing on my intake I only gain about 5-8 pounds back. At the time it was a life saver for me and was a good way to get me to realize that I could make a change in myself so that was a positive. It is a great program for many people so I'm not bashing it at all but just saying you can eat all the artificial crap you want and still stay in your points. The encourage artificial sweeteners- the water mix ins- and such which are known to be catalysts in many health problems. It really just depends on what level of support you need. I find MFP a much better option for myself.

good point -- you can get away with eating more unhealthy food since you don't pay attention to macros on WW. But if you are really struggling with MPF, WW could be a good gateway to this.

I gained weight on weight watchers...so much bad food, it was more than I was eating to start with when I WANTED to lose weight. It didn't work for me, however everyone is different so maybe it will work for you! I wish you luck!

I lost 30 lbs. on ww then they changed the plan. I gained and lost the same five pounds over and over. The new points plus plan didn't work for me. They changed it again only a year later, but that one doesn't work for me either. That's why I'm here. The database is much larger and with more info on MFP. Your doctor is working off of old info.

Same here. My husband and I both lost on the old plan, but the only way I lost on the new plan was by ignoring the "extra" points. I finally realized I was paying for a plan I wasn't even following, so I canceled, put that money toward a gym membership, and started using MFP. I have been pretty steadily losing .5 to 1 lb per week here, and I feel so much more in control. It is hard to calculate WW points on the fly, but lots of restaurants and all packaged foods have the calorie count right there, so I can stay within my allowance without guessing.

I had lost 60+ pounds on WW. I didn't mind the points but as I reflected on how and why I lost that weight this is what I noticed:
I had someone for support who I could call when I wanted to binge, we exercised together regularly- pretty near daily, & we were each others cheerleader....until she up and left the neighborhood without so much as a peep.

What I have learned is I need to figure this out for me, by myself. WW is not cheap & the money you spend monthly on dues alone can be spent on getting a gym membership. This is what I have done and while I am still working on figuring this whole thing out with a crazy life, I feel I have a better grasp on eating healthy. That doesn't mean I don't make bad choices, but I am eating real food- not spray butter, and I do know that portions & exercise are my biggest downfall.

I do think you can get all the support and information you need here on MFP for free. This however is just my humble opinion....

I went to WW several years ago and am currently using their methodology in conjunction with MFP and it’s working rather well for me. I’m not doing the new Points Plus, so I’m not sure about that system. I was never one for meetings, but I know a lot of people like them for the accountability and the sense of community.

I lost 50lbs on WW, then they made fruits and veggies free and I lost at such an annoyingly slow rate. So, I've yo-yo'd for about 2 years. I've re-committed here on MFP counting calories but I also count my WW points too. But what I started doing is giving my fruits a point value to keep my points/calories about the same. And exercising. I've begun to lose again. WW taught me how to eat healthy, control my portions and to never deprive myself. I'll be forever grateful to the program for that.