Opinions on Weight Watchers?

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  • hannahbellelechter
    hannahbellelechter Posts: 79
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    What helped me with WW is the accountability - having someone there to weigh me every week and being expected to show up was a lot.
  • DawnMac85
    DawnMac85 Posts: 18 Member
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    I belong to TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), it is less expensive than WW...I think membership is about $35/year and we pay $2 dues each week. I like the support of the group setting and we have a program each week that has to do with weightloss, exercise or coping with cravings, etc. I have lost 16 pounds in about 10 months since joining TOPS.
  • kerry0521
    kerry0521 Posts: 46 Member
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    WW is a great program. If you are just getting starting learning how to eat well, if you follow the program as written it will teach over time to make better and better choices. The point counting can be cumbersome, but their online tools are pretty good at helping you to get over that. In fact I found it really hard to count calories at first because I was so used to points. The math is simpler once you learn the points values of the foods you mostly eat. (most people don't eat a huge variety of foods). Fruits and vegetables are all counted as zero points, although they do have calories most of us did not gain weight over eating veggies and fruits. But just that idea alone gets people thinking, hmmm should I choose the apple for 0 points or the snack size bag of pretzels for 2 points (same calories)

    The problem with WW is people try to "game" the system by finding low point but not overly nutritious or filling snacks and food. When people say they are hungry on WW it is usually because they are not eating enough fruits and vegetables or eating too many processed foods. I highly recommend the program!

    P.S. The thing that I did not like about WW is that there is a pretty big penalty for fat. I don't eat a high fat diet but more than what is in their plan. Also, if you very athletic or want to lose slowly you may need more points. Calories became easier for me when I was more in maintenance mode and knew what kinds of foods helped me to feel great and stay healthy.
  • kerry0521
    kerry0521 Posts: 46 Member
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    sorry...double post...pls. delete.
  • wilberfamily
    wilberfamily Posts: 111 Member
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    I lost 101 pounds with Weight Watchers and actually worked for them for about five years. Unfortunately a series of surgeries to remove cancer set me back about 50 pounds. That is why I'm here. In high school I lost a bunch of weight just counting calories and that worked for me but the points program worked too. I don't like the fact that you have to buy their calculators now in order to do the plan. It seems like it got too complicated. That is why I'm back to the basics of counting calories. I have my background plus a bachelors in nutrition science so I know what to do it is just a matter of doing it for me.
  • ValFerg67
    ValFerg67 Posts: 27 Member
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    I am a lifetime member of WW but I am currently over my goal weight.... :( I loved the weight watchers points program and found it easy to follow and was never hungry on this plan. I went back last year to WW and found out that the program was changed and was now Points Plus (its changed a bit and I don't like it as much)......so .I decided to do MFP to see if I could get a few extra pounds off............In my experience, WW is great! I just don't want to have to pay the weekly fee since I'm over goal... LOL
  • mlh150
    mlh150 Posts: 28 Member
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    I think its a great program if you are starting off and learning how to eat appropriate portions. What I found though with WW being based on points is that I directed most of my focus to points and not necessarily making better eating choices. When I use a program such as MFP, I'm much more conscious of what I'm eating and eating more balanced meals. I typically would lose around 20 pounds on weight watchers before I ended up getting off track. The "you can eat what you want within points" concept would usually lead me to eventually fall back into poor eating habits.
  • suegenew
    suegenew Posts: 2 Member
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    I was on WW for the last 5 months - and yes, the program works (if you don't cheat). The last month I ran it parallel with MFP and honestly it worked out to the same amount of food for my stats. Activity performed gave me the same basic additional food amounts. So I ended up cancelling my membership. I can save the money for better things.
  • mm3898
    mm3898 Posts: 138 Member
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    WW is a great program. If you are just getting starting learning how to eat well, if you follow the program as written it will teach over time to make better and better choices. The point counting can be cumbersome, but their online tools are pretty good at helping you to get over that. In fact I found it really hard to count calories at first because I was so used to points. The math is simpler once you learn the points values of the foods you mostly eat. (most people don't eat a huge variety of foods). Fruits and vegetables are all counted as zero points, although they do have calories most of us did not gain weight over eating veggies and fruits. But just that idea alone gets people thinking, hmmm should I choose the apple for 0 points or the snack size bag of pretzels for 2 points (same calories)

    The problem with WW is people try to "game" the system by finding low point but not overly nutritious or filling snacks and food. When people say they are hungry on WW it is usually because they are not eating enough fruits and vegetables or eating too many processed foods. I highly recommend the program!

    P.S. The thing that I did not like about WW is that there is a pretty big penalty for fat. I don't eat a high fat diet but more than what is in their plan. Also, if you very athletic or want to lose slowly you may need more points. Calories became easier for me when I was more in maintenance mode and knew what kinds of foods helped me to feel great and stay healthy.

    The whole no points for fruits and veg was weird to me, but I see your point on how it makes you stop and think about what you're doing and I think that is valuable. I think the point system is VERY confusing, especially when you can just look at the nutrition facts and count the calories, protein, carb, etc. but the point system might be simpler to health beginners- it puts things in perspective.
  • mm3898
    mm3898 Posts: 138 Member
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    I lost 101 pounds with Weight Watchers and actually worked for them for about five years. Unfortunately a series of surgeries to remove cancer set me back about 50 pounds. That is why I'm here. In high school I lost a bunch of weight just counting calories and that worked for me but the points program worked too. I don't like the fact that you have to buy their calculators now in order to do the plan. It seems like it got too complicated. That is why I'm back to the basics of counting calories. I have my background plus a bachelors in nutrition science so I know what to do it is just a matter of doing it for me.

    Yeah, the tools that you need to do WW seem extensive, but it really is great that the tools are getting more accessible (iTunes apps, online membership, etc). I also have a background in Nutrition (I majored in that for part of my B.S. before switching to Wellness Management) so I TOTALLY get needing to doing it for yourself- knowledge isn't quite as powerful without action! Best wishes!
  • mm3898
    mm3898 Posts: 138 Member
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    Hm, I'm confused about Quoting or Replying to people on the message boards! I was probably supposed to reply to everyone who I actually quoted. This is my test! Thanks to all replying and giving insight, I hope the people I quoted saw LOL I need to get more message board savvy.

    Best wishes to everyone!
  • VASMA63
    VASMA63 Posts: 19 Member
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    Did WW for 2 years on the flex program and lost 105 lbs. Reached Lifetime and worked for them for a couple of years as a receptionist. What I believe is this: any restrictive calorie diet will work if you do it. The only time I was successful on WW was when I created my own program within the program, i.e. I posted daily in the forums (which was a pain because of the monitoring and censorship), had a group of members that I saw weekly in addition to my meeting, and had an extraordinary leader who had lost a lot of weight (more than the leader loss average of about 25 lbs...).

    Then I entered maintenance which in my opinion is NOT what WW is good at. They make no money as long as I am at goal weight (and am not swayed into buying their products). Then I moved out of State. I started regaining weight, and despite going to meeting after meeting trying to re-create the formula, no luck. I found a bunch of duds for leaders, didn't clicked with anyone in the meetings to form outside running/exercise/social support networks, and they changed the plan every year...So, here I am with only 1/2 of my 105 lb weight loss maintained...So far MFP is a far superior tracking program in my opinion.
  • kanstulpants
    kanstulpants Posts: 20 Member
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    P.S. The thing that I did not like about WW is that there is a pretty big penalty for fat. I don't eat a high fat diet but more than what is in their plan.

    This is why I didn't like it when I tried it (I think it was one of the points plans several years ago). I refuse to buy low fat products, I prefer to just eat real food and I cook mostly all my meals from scratch. It seemed that using 100 calories worth of regular cheese or butter or something used up a lot more points than something that had the same calories but was lower fat.

    So if I stuck with the recommended points, I couldn't even make it through one day because I was starving.

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