does weight watchers work?

my weight loss and one problem i have is that i cant cook to save my life! Seriously I burn water!!!

Everyone can cook. You just have to try. There is no excuse. But I say don't spend money on weight watchers. Use this web site. Stick around, you will learn lots of stuff here. Just make sure you put on your armor and thick skin helmet on because people here are really supportive and sometimes they can be really blunt.

But, it's ALL good.

Weight Watchers works but it can be expensive. MFP is free and works just as well! I have done both and prefer MFP over Weight Watchers. You don't have to cook to lose weight. You just have to eat foods that are within your calories for the day. I very rarely cook and have been successful. There are all kinds of food options available.

So we have a weight watchers meeting at my job and people have talked about it and how much they like or dislike it. I'm trying to get help with my weight loss and one problem i have is that i cant cook to save my life! Seriously I burn water!!! I would say that's probably one of the reasons I am the way I am, that I cant eat healthy!! So I figured maybe try weight watchers, but I hate spending money on something that doesn't work. I tried to Google it and I got mixed reactions to WW. I dont even know how this all works, I mean people were talking about food they provide and how its not very good. Well I get that its healthy food so its not going to be as good as that unhealthy doughnut but I prefer my healthy food to at least taste a little good. So who is ever on WW or have tried it in the past can you shed some light on how the whole thing works. Thanks :-)

I did weight watchers online and had success. It pretty much teaches portion control. There were things I really liked about WW (like the anytime points.) The only thing I wasn't a fan of was their mobile app. MFP's mobile app is by far superior and it's free. If you stick with WW it will work. But if you stick with MFP it will also work.

Worked for me. Without going into great detail, WW gives you points instead of calories. Stay within your points, exercise to earn more, attend meetings or don't... If you want to give it a shot, you can always do the free online trial and I believe your first meeting is also free. If not, MFP is also great tool. Like any program, you get out of it what you put into it. You just need to decide which tool fits your lifestyle best. Good luck!

im not a fan of WW, it costs alot of money to get weighed and listen to someone sell their product. You dont need any of that. MFP is awesome and you can eat whatever you like(so long as it fits in your calories) - when it comes to cooking, you obviously burn water because your not watching the pot. Anyone can cook, stand there, follow the recipe and watch the food so it doesnt burn. Cook on a low heat if you must, but absolutely everyone can cook if they want to

WW is not like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem where you purchase entire meals. The foods that they sell at their meeting centers are things like smoothie powders, portioned pretzels/chips/crackers packs, oatmeal packs, snack bars, little things like that. Their smart ones are available in any grocery store.

You will still have to cook on Weight Watchers.

yes weight watchers works, and so does MFP. I have lost 63 lbs and never once stepped into a weight watchers meeting. Like you I am also a pretty bad cook. Please look at my diary and you can see what I eat that has helped me to lose this weight. I am still losing by the way. I would suggest getting a gym membership and some workout clothes before spending money on weight watchers. Get a really good pair of gym shoes... and for the real way you will change your body... LIFT HEAVY!!!!!

I lost my first 40 lbs or so following weight watchers. I found it very useful in teaching me portion control as mentioned and it still allowed me to enjoy the things I love and nothing was necessarily off limits. That being said, as I got lower, I stopped losing on the points I was allowed, and once I switched to calorie counting and started doing more of my own learning about TDEE and my body, I realized I was eating too low on weight watchers as I got to the lower weight. So does it work? Yes, I think it does...it's essentially an easier way to count calories and learn about eating healthy. I've found my friends on mfp to be just as good for ME to help me with accountability, which is where their meetings come into play. It's all about what kind of person you are, and what will motivate you! Good luck!

Worked for me very very well. The aspect of having to pay wasn't that big of a deal for me. I was saving more than the monthly cost by no longer buying so much expensive 'junk' food. Huge bags of chips, chocolate, goodies.....not cheap....especially in the volume I was buying.

I lost over 60lbs and have been a lifetime member for about six years. We had the meetings at work for about three years and to this day most of the members from each session check in with each other (probably 100 or so of us). Wednesdays we have a support meeting with a few of us who still need to have that encouragement to continue. I know I do better with a cheering section behind me so doing something only online or without 'live and in person' interaction isn't really an option for me personally.

I learned portion control and that was my biggest challenge (still is sometimes). I never purchased any of their foods so I can't comment on that side of things. That was the reason I actually chose to join - I knew I'd have to learn how to eat in the real world...not the world of prepackaged stuff.

And, you'd be amazed by how fun it is to actually learn how to cook!!

weight watchers does work, I've never tried their foods (other than the ice cream bars) but it works the same way as MFP. Instead of counting calories you count points. It's typically 1 point for every 50 calories. I'm sure you can grill a chicken breast (or bake), steam some veggies (or boil), and nuke a potato. Don't try cooking a bunch of fancy stuff...start with basic cooking, and once you feel comortable, you can start making other things. All cooking is, is following directions. Read recipes (basic) and know what temp it has to be and how long to cook. You will find that cooking isn't all that hard. Good luck to you!

Does WW still count fruit as "free"? It's pretty easy to eat yourself into a calorie surplus even if you are within your points.

If it helps you stay on track, it can work. You can get that help for less money, IMO. Even so, that doesn't mean it isn't a good choice for some people.

I lost 70 lbs on WW. I did it for the meetings which at the time I needed. Life got in the way, scheduling changes, etc. So I quit WW and found MFP.

Some people have had a bad experience but I did not. I had an awesome meeting leader and a great group of people in my meetings. I was never pressured to buy their food. They will teach you portion control.

Whether you join WW or not I highly recommend getting a food scale. You will be amazed at the size of an actual portion. Teach yourself to cook. If you can follow directions you can follow a recipe. Pinterest is a great source for recipes of any type including WW friendly recipes.

In a nutshell, WW works but so does MFP. You get out of them what you put in to it.

Good Luck to you :flowerforyou:

I lost 20 lbs in 3 months on Weight Watchers and I'm still going. It's pretty non-restrictive. It'll bring you down slowly in terms of how much you can eat too (it recalculates as you weigh in every week). So it won't start you off on a the equivalent of a 1200 calorie diet.

I didn't know how to cook worth beans when I started WW. I could turn chicken into rubber. Actually, I could turn ANYTHING into rubber (if only I was in the tire business...). But most of the WW recipes are pretty simple (at least the ones I chose). You can also enter any recipe you CAN cook into their calculator (I like the 5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Recipes from Company's Coming - they're surprisingly hard to mess up) - I just make little substitutions. Like if it calls for shredded cheese, I'll use low-fat shredded cheese. If it calls for ground pork, I'll use extra lean ground beef or chicken. Sometimes I use a little less meat and "fill in" with mushrooms.

So it goes to show, you can't cook now but you can learn. Cooking is an acquired skill, not a born talent. You have to make an effort. And you need to just throw it in the garbage if it didn't work! I did that a few times. Restaurant foods are also in their database (though I find I can't always find the restaurant - which is where www.exercise4weightloss.com comes in - they have a fantastic WW restaurant database. They have great introductions to the program too and it's free so you might be able to find out your points goal before even signing up).

I would say that the thing I like most about WW is the fact that steamed and raw fruits and veggies (other than starchy ones like potatoes, corn, peas, etc.) are ZERO points. In other words, it really helps you STOP THINKING about every little thing you eat. You can snack on as many fruits and veggies as you want. It really encourages eating fruit and veggies more than MFP will. Which for me was probably the number one thing I changed which improved my health. If you fill up on broccoli before eating pasta, you won't eat as much pasta (even as a self declared pasta fiend).

When I came on here it's because I was using WW Online which does lack a little bit on the community support aspect. But I've found the MFP has not worked nearly as well as WW has. And it's annoying to try to remember how many carrots or blueberries I ate. WW Online is far cheaper than the meetings version, but it lacks some things too. Although I should probably mention that I went the super cheap route regarding Weight Waters Online... I pay for half of a friends online subscription (which comes to $11 a month) and log my points and weight in a spreadsheet I made in MS Excel that I have saved on my phone... I log into her account using a computer (I plan for the whole day all at once) and look up the foods and exercises, save my recipes with "K" at the front so we know who's recipe is who's. It works well for me since I'm way too cheap (clearly) to pay for data on my phone (But who else do you know who has a phone plan under $30 a month?). With no data comes... no WW or MFP on the go... haha.

But I agree with other poster, MFP, SparkPeople, WW, etc... all of them will work but you must follow it diligently. You're only cheating yourself if you don't. And ALL of them take a lot of effort to get used to because none of them will allow you the freedom to eat like you always have and still lose weight. But that's just a fact of losing weight (sadly).

Edit:

I just wanted to add a major difference between MFP and WW is that WW calculates it's points off carbs, fibre, fat, and protein. Calories are not involved at all. I've noticed that sometimes my WW points will barely bring me to 1000 calories a day but sometimes they will bring me to 1500 calories a day. It all balances out though. I also think that when they convert your exercise to points that they are FAR more conservative than MFP (which tends to over estimate). So it's harder to accidentally eat too much after a workout.

I started out on WW (lost 97 pounds in a year). I liked the program and the group aspect of it.

Just like any "diet" or lifestyle change, you get out of it what you put in. You can sign up, pay the fees, and not lose weight if you don't follow the program. Same thing goes for MFP: you can sign up (free), log your food, and still gain weight because you're eating a surplus. If you can afford it and like having the group, give it a shot. If paying for it or going to meetings as a group won't work, then start logging everything via MFP, and make sure you weigh your food.

As for their foods, they are hit and miss. I loved some of the stuff they sold and hated others. I ate their strawberry and cream oatmeal for breakfast everyday for several months. It depends on your taste and texture preference when it comes to their stuff.

I haven't followed WW for years. About a year ago, I looked up the program. I was not a fan of the new way they calculated points. I decided to stick to MFP since I was better able to see what I was eating and all of my macros.

Weight Watchers can be fantastic. I lost 50lbs on there 12 years ago. I know others that have lost a lot with them as well. I maintained my loss for about 6 years. I gained it back because of my own issues. I tried to go back, but I was sick of counting points, it was expensive and I needed a change to motivate me, which is how I am now here. Like others said, it is what you put in. You will lose if you follow the plan. Good luck to you!