Weight Watchers or Slimming World

I've been doing weight watchers for over a year now-It does work- however you will find that the food amounts vary quite a bit with this program. I'm not sure which one works better. I've been at the same weight for ELEVEN MONTHS, so I thought I'd give My Fitness Pal a try a little more effort. ( But I'm still trying to count points as well to make sure I'm still on track somewhat)

The biggest thing I dislike about WW is that its a corporation out to make money- I can honestly say they do not give a hoot about actual health- ONLY weight loss. This is plainly apparent in the foods they sell- LOADED with sodium, sugars and other bad stuff....Sure it will make you lose weight, but for overall health, forget it.
While the meetings themselves can be good, some are downright painful- you get people in the meetings who eat like twins and then whine and cry about not losing weight- there is not any kind of one on one counseling available, so figuring ou the 'mental' side of overeating is pretty non-existent. Its kind of a 'cookie cutter' based program-so if youre anything like me, the program is there, but the counseling/mental side is not. The meetings CAN be informative, but I 've recently been to one where we spend 30 minutes discussing different kinds of butter- all for a guy who doesnt even eat the stuff...so sometimes they are poitnless for me- but I do know others go to meetings many times a week- in order to get motivation and stay on track. The staff is sometimes helpful, friendly and what not, however, at my last weigh in, I showed frustration of being on a plateau for so long, when I'm working my butt off & not seeing any results on the scale( losing inches, but not pounds) and the receptionist said to my face " well it's obviously something your doing wrong" I havent been back since. :sad:

The best thing I can say about WW is that they have an awesome community like here on their website- although BEWARE- some boards are very mean and nasty to newcomers- and even old timers too.

I have no info about slimming world, so i cant help ya there...good luck.

I think you can just simply log what you eat on this site and keep to 1200 Calories per day etc. depending on how heavy you are and how much you want to loose. I have been on SW and WW and to be honest its all the same formula, stick to a certain amount of calories each day and you should loose. I like the fact I can eat anything but I have to be accountable on my planner.
Cheers and good luck!
Lyn

I have used WW a couple of time and I wholeheartedly endorse it. The key: They teach you how to eat in the real world. Not a diet world. If you follow the formula - low cal and low fat - lots of veggies and fiber, the weight will come off. If you really want it to work, however, you must exercise vigorously. That means 4-5X a week doing cardio and/or weight training.

Sorry, I'm just getting involved in this conversation.

I have recently joined the At-Work program for WW. 12 weeks of meetings. I don't think they are expensive - $12/week is not a bad investment in your health. Currently, I am doing the Flex Plan (counting points), which seems easier for me. I initally lost 9 pounds in 7 weeks. However, I cheated last week at AppleBees and ended up gaining back 1.8 pounds. For me, the meetings are very helpful. My group is very encouraging and so is our leader. Each week, you are awarded for losing weight - even if its 1/2 pound. If you gain, like I did this week, you are encouraged to get back on it. There is also the core plan, but I haven't tried it yet. I like that I am not limited to the WW foods. I like lots of the food, but like the option of eating other things. I eat Southbeach diet foods, 100 calorie snacks, Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, etc. I just determine the amount of points for each item. And the key to WW is making good decisions. I think MFP can also assist in that, since you are counting the calorie count, etc. One other benefit of WW is the journals. Tracking your food intake (points/calories) is a great way of knowing what you are eating each week. This helps a great deal, since we sometime eat and don't realize or even remember what we ate the day before.

So, I wouldn't discount WW. If you can be motivated on this site, then go for it. The whole idea is not to "diet". Dieting to lose weight is great. However, maintaining the weight loss requires a behavioral change. If you eat because you are bored, or depressed, etc. then losing weight is not going to fix it for you - you'll gain it back. But if you change your behavior, you will continue to be successful.

Here is an exercise from my WW meeting last week:

Sit down in a chair. Clothes your eyes. Stretch a few times. Think about what you do when you are home and feeling bored. [do you go to the refrigerator?]. Think about something that you can do instead of eating [read a book, watch tv, sew, exercise, call a friend, etc.]. If you plan ahead, then you will be successful when the situation arises.

Hope this helps someone to become a "BIG LOSER". Good luck on your weight loss goals!

I'll speak up for Slimming World. I'm in the US, but from the UK - and not many people over here have heard of it.

I went home to visit last month and my best friend had lost 50lbs on slimming world (and had kept it off for 3 years and counting), so I was intrigued and she told me a bit about it.

They don't have meetings over here (well, they do in Texas, but that it), so I joined online. Your consultant does call you, though, and you get one-on-one advice and encouragement. I spent an hour chatting to her last week. The online tools are helpful, with trackers, support, recipes. It was $65 for 3 months with the books (which is what I did), or $45 without. You don't need the books - the info is available on the site - I just wanted a print reference to be able to show people here who haven't heard of it.

What I like about it is: no counting, it's not geared towards omnivores with vegetarians as an afterthought, and it's more of a lifestyle change than a diet. There are no special foods to buy - the family eats what I do (well, I give them real meat and I have a substitute).

I'm a vegetarian, and a also have PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome) - one of the side effects of which is a slowed metabolism. My endocrinologist told me that for every 5lbs a normal person would lose, I would lose 1lb.

So, the "diet":
Most things are "free". Lean meats, chicken, fish, pasta, rice, potatoes, beans, legumes, eggs, soy products, fat-free yohurt. You can eat as much of these things as you want - AS LONG as you fill one third of your plate with a "superfree" food - these are all fruits and vegetables. That's basically it - you eat a lot more veg and fruit.

In addition, you have 2 Healthy Extra A and 1 Healthy Extra B a day. A is milk and cheese (for example, one A is 1.5 cups of skimmed milk - I use that through the day in my tea and coffee). The other A is 1oz of cheddar - I'll use that on my baked potato and salad later. Healthy extra B are breads or crackers. I usually don't end up using them - I should really try, but I'm still in that shocked this-is-too-much-food phase after restrictive dieting for years.

You also get 5-10 "syns" a day. So you can have some wine, or use some fat in cooking, or have a little chocolate.

What they really stress is health, balance, moderation, and thinking long-term. If you have a blow-out weekend or overdo it on vacation, no big deal - will it take you longer to reach goal? Yes - but you're in it for the long haul and a couple of weeks isn't going to matter in the grand scheme of things. Failing and guilt and giving up and the usual negative feelings associated with "dieting" are not supposed to apply.

For all diets, I know, the first week is normally the biggest weight loss. However, before it would take me 2 months to lose 5lb - and that's with really slogging at it. I lost 5lbs the first week with SW - that has not ever happened to me. 2lbs the second week. It's something I can stick to - and because carbs aren't the enemy, I can actually eat real meals. It's really just a common sense diet. Once the kids go back to school I'll be able to get back to the gym 5 days a week and then I think I'll see even more improvement.

My final verdict goes to MY FITNESS PAL.. i shall not waste my money into WW or SW.. thank you all...

Good choice, though I have no real problem with Weight Watchers.

If you're going to lose weight, you might as well learn the value of a standard unit of measure like a calorie, and pick up a few lessons on proper eating along the way. Weight Watchers simplifies and demystifies things very well, but doesn't leave you with a very deep toolkit to keep it off unless you keep paying them.