Thinking about starting Weight Watchers...any advice??
dianad0205
Posts: 5
Hello everyone.I currently weigh 240 and would like to get down to around 160 starting off.This is the largest I've ever been and at the most I've weighed at around 150-155 before this weight gain. I tried HCG but all it did was having me starving and lose weight fast,but gained it all back..I looked into the Herbalife thing but changed my mind because of different reviews.I'm really thinking about going with Weight Watchers since it has a variety of food I can choose from,but I have some questions:
1.Is it better to log in the calories through MFP or use their point system?
2.What is the amount of calories I should be eating each day while on it?
3.Anyone have any success while on it or have any helpful advice?
Any information will be helpful.Thanks!
1.Is it better to log in the calories through MFP or use their point system?
2.What is the amount of calories I should be eating each day while on it?
3.Anyone have any success while on it or have any helpful advice?
Any information will be helpful.Thanks!
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Replies
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Hi. If you plan to use the MFP site during your weight loss, I suggest you count calories instead of points because you will get more help here with your diary and logging than if you use WW points. There is no reason you can't follow the basic WW guidelines however, in making food choices and portion amounts. Its entirely up to you.
Have you entered your stats into the MFP setup process and come up with a goal and weekly loss goal? If so, you are ready to go -- as soon as you buy a food scale, of course.
I'm glad you are going to just eat regular food instead of going with Herbalife or some other concoction that replaces part of your meals. You can do this. Just eat what you normally eat, within reason, learn to weigh out proper portions and log them very carefully. You will lose weight.0 -
i've had great luck logging all calories. first i did it in a book, then discovered MFP.
you don't really need to eat weight watchers, but anything - including weight waters - will work as long as what you eat meets your caloric and nutritional goals.
what's your height?0 -
Weight watchers is just a complicated form of counting calories. Why not cut out the middleman and use mfp which is freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee????????????????????????0
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I lost 30 pounds with WW online over 2 years ago and have kept it off. I liked doing the online program because I have no time or desire to go to meetings or to have others weigh me (ick!). The point system took me some time to get used to but then it was pretty easy, especially if I ate out at a chain restaurant - I'd look up the points before I went and know exactly what to order (and to avoid). For me, I had wanted to lose 10 pounds (I'm 5'8" and was 159, size 10/12, age 41 at the time), and it took me about 2 1/2 months to lose my goal, but then I really started to get momentum and within 5 months I was at a weight I'd never been as an adult. I've stayed right around there ever since. I'm about 132 now, size 2.
Here's what worked for me - having the app and a smartphone meant no excuses about tracking. I signed up for the 3 month promo and told myself no matter what, I was going to do it for 3 mo. I also told myself that I could eat WHATEVER I wanted as long as I was honest with myself and tracked it. Also I used the app to track my measurements, which was so helpful whenever the scale number stuck.
The first two weeks were hard - I was pretty hungry, I didn't realize how much I'd gotten used to eating. I had to change the way I ate, and once I did that, I found my groove. They have "quick start" plans that I used in the beginning so I'd know about what to eat - and I always used my extra points (you get about 26-28 points per day, and then 50 or so extra points for the week). I tried not to use all of my extra points but sometimes I did, and sometimes I went over.
It's not fast, and it's not easy, but it was worth it. It changed my life. I couldn't run before because I had a bad knee - now I'm getting ready for my third triathlon this fall. It's just a sprint tri, but hey, I'm the only one keeping track! I love to run and do yoga and workout about twice a week but I walk everywhere and I'm super careful of what I eat. I worked too hard to get to where I am and I won't go back to that. I feel more confident not because of the weight that I lost but because I set a goal that meant a lot to me and I did it.
It works for a lot of people - what do you have to lose? GL!0 -
Just to add - I have no idea how many calories I was eating, but now that I'm maintaining, I eat about 1500 calories a day (gross, not net). I was probably eating about 1350-1400 only because fruits and veggies were "free."
Also, I found the online community awesome, I never bought special WW foods except what's in the store (I still love their rye bread and mini chocolate cakes). PM me if you want me to share with you a typical day's menu for me.0 -
My heights is 5'5....I first looked at WW online and I'm not about to spend money for a monthly membership when i can just use MFP for free!! (lol)...My main concern was with them being on a point system would it make a difference if i just tracked the calories instead. I know how to use the calorie counter on here (so easy) and I already have a food scale,plus a fitness bike.I'm planning on starting Monday but wanted to make sure I was making the right decision before buying different foods.You all are giving real good advice!!0
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And also, should i eat the required MFP calories per day or a little more?0
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My heights is 5'5....I first looked at WW online and I'm not about to spend money for a monthly membership when i can just use MFP for free!! (lol)...My main concern was with them being on a point system would it make a difference if i just tracked the calories instead. I know how to use the calorie counter on here (so easy) and I already have a food scale,plus a fitness bike.I'm planning on starting Monday but wanted to make sure I was making the right decision before buying different foods.You all are giving real good advice!!
I was just about to tell you to save your money because the tracking tools on here are so much better than over on the WW website. I did WW last year and was surprised to see how much was missing from their own database, including a lot of their own products.0 -
I really like WW, I'm still doing it, while transitioning to a free site as I approach my goal. The biggest thing I like about it is that using spoons and cups to measure works just fine whereas people here frequently say unless you weigh it, you're not going to get the right number of calories.
Message me or friend me if you want to talk or have any specific questions
I started at 155 and got to 135 (from Oct. 1 to about Dec. 15) Christmas came and I stopped for 4 months. I'm 5' 5.75". My friend has had great success too.
ETA: Look at aww.exercise4weightloss.com it has lots of free info on Weight Watchers. Note that Weight Watchers 360 does NOT use calories AT ALL in the equation. I'm hitting about 1200 cals with 26 daily points though (your starting points will be higher than that, it reduces as you lose weight). You then also get 49 points to use however you want during the week. You get points for exercise too.
ETA2: MFP is better for fitness advice.0 -
My 2 cents...
Whatever program you choose to follow, if you follow it and are honest...it will work. The basics of the program is tracking. Studies show that tracking what you eat (honestly and accurately) will get you 2x weight loss as not tracking.
WW gives the extra motivation and accountability. the meetings are great...if you can afford it. If you need help getting started and have the money, join for 3 or 6 months. See how it works...then you know. I will say that having a good meeting leader will make or break the program. (my experience.)
I was a member for over a year and lost 25#. Doesn't sound like much but being Hashimotos and Hypothyroid it was awesome to have that kind of results. Due to financial reasons, I had to cancel my membership and am trying to do it myself with help of friends. I invested in a Fitbit and use MFP to track. WW has an activelink which is basically the same as a Fitbit. but with their gadget you pay a monthly fee. Fitbit is a one time purchase.
Only you know what is right for you. Whatever you choose, totally commit for 3 months and see how you do. You can always make changes later.
* trust your instincts...they are there for a reason.0 -
Save your money! You can track calories on here instead (the database is better anyway and reflects the real world, the real world does not operate on a point system), get some great MFP friends to help keep you accountable, buy a fitbit to keep track of your activity and you're good to go.
I really don't like WW because of their ridiculous "fruits and veggies are free" policy. The amount of calories you can rack up snacking on fruits and veggies in a day is not negligible and they should be tracked. It was definitely a marketing genius and not a nutritionist that invented that policy.0 -
Weight watchers is just a complicated form of counting calories. Why not cut out the middleman and use mfp which is freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee????????????????????????
^^^this^^^ +infinity0 -
Hi, newbie here but a LONG-TIME Weight Watcher so I'd like to throw my two cents in. First off, Weight Watchers is a great way to lose weight. I lost a lot of weight (50#) a while back , became a Lifetime Member and kept most of it off for several years. I've always been a slow loser, and now that I am once again trying to get rid of 20 pounds I just can't justify the $18.95/month to do WW on-line, or the $12/week to go to meetings instead. It gets frustrating to fork over the money when you are losing the weight a half pound per week at a time. That was probably the main reason I switched from WW online to MFP.
I've only been on MFP about a week now and I really like it. I don't feel that counting calories is any harder than counting points, in fact it is EASIER since there is just a calorie count to find instead of the various protein, fiber, carb etc. numbers you have to find for a food before you can calculate the points for it. MFP's food database is much, much, larger....I have not had to manually enter a food yet since I have found everything already listed on the database here. I was always manually calculating foods on WW online.
The Weight Watcher online message boards are free and open to anyone, even if you don't follow their programs. They can be very off-topic and social (not my cup of tea, but that's just me) but the people there also have lots of good info that could also translate well to counting calories instead of points. In fact, there are a lot of people on the boards who don't even follow Weight Watchers anymore, there are counting calories here or on Sparkpeople but still are extremely active on the WW boards.
Personally, I would just save my money, give this a try at My Fitness Pal. If it doesn't work out wait for a special at Weight Watchers and give it a try.
Sandi0 -
As others have said, if you're going to log your food with MFP, you really don't need weight watchers in my opinion.
I at one point in time thought about signing up for WW as well but discovered MFP is basically WW without fees.
Counting points is the same as calories, although to me counting calories is much easier.
Just find a target amount of calories you plan on digesting and then take it from there.
Cook your own meals in advance and ration them off for the week so that it's easier to plan your caloric intake. Or if you're in to microwave meals, I'd suggest healthy choice which comes in nice sized portions with low calories.
Basically what I'm saying is to create your own system and save on any fees that WW may charge.0 -
I lost 35 lbs on WW several years ago, so I won't discourage you. The community aspect and weekly weigh-in were really useful for me in building accountability. I didn't want to be the person at the meetings who didn't have a loss week after week, so I did great sticking to it. The one thing I regret about my WW experience is that I didn't track on a calorie-counting website like MFP, so when I found myself needing to lose weight again (after having a baby and losing a gall bladder,) I have had to start fresh. My WW amounts worked well, at roughly the same starting weight, and I didn't feel deprived. It would have been nice to be able to translate that directly into my macros here.
So that's my advice - if you do WW, track on their site, and track here - eventually you will gain the ability to drop WW and stick with MFP and save yourself $40 a month.
Good luck!0 -
I lost 2st with weight watchers I have got to my lowest weight with weight watchers I was ww biggest fan for 4 years and swore nothing else worked for me. Then I tried mfp, in my opinion mfp is better because
* you can Eat anything you want WW ye allows you to eat free fruit veg and salad BUT it gets brining you want a chocolate bar no points left I will have a large banana for same calories you could probably have a crunchie!
* you go out for a meal up you have to find out and calculate the points in the meal you want, most menus have the calories on them no need to calculate anything
* mfp is free with a good support online system! ww cost anything up to £22 a month
I have lost weight so much quicker since using mfp then all the years of doing ww each to there own but I would never to back to ww and have even sold all my ww stuff recently x0 -
Hi All
I have tried weight watchers and all the other diet plans, shakes, diet pills etc.... yes they all work if u stick to it but I found that I was either thinking about food all the time or that im constantly hungry.a friend of mine told me about a weigtloss coffee, yeah right.i thought another product that doesnt work and for £9.99 plus £6 p&p I thought it was too good to be true.
so I said NO!!,but my friend gave me a 250g bag of this coffee for free and told me, try it, what u got to lose.so I had a cup after breakfast and lunch,everyday for a week, tasted very nice as I love ground coffee anyway.so I ate reasonably healthy, couldnt be bothered to go to the gym that week, so thought this wont work.i weighed myself after drinking this yummy coffee and couldnt believe my eyes, lost 9 pounds in one week, without doing any exercise, just could not believe my eyes0 -
MFP is free. :flowerforyou:
Everything I've learned in 2 years...
Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice.
-Wayne Dyer
It's about moderation not deprivation. There are no good/bad foods, only bad eating habits. Do or do not, there is no try. You have to want it, you have to work for it, you have to realize that only you can do it.
Read these:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1346163-change-your-mindset
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here?hl=so+you're+new+here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1217573-so-you-want-to-start-running
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13
TL:DR the link right above this one then ->http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet
Excuses??? http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2014/06/02/the-no-excuses-play-like-a-champion-challenge/
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal
Want to lift heavy things?
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
Stronglifts Summary
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary
Stronglifts Womens Group
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women0 -
Hi
I have belonged too weight watcher and slimming world several time and gained back all the weight. I hated going to those groups and when you don't go you still ahev to pay for the weeks missed.
With MFP it is free, you get lots of support, the time you spend at a weight watchers calls can be spent logging everything you eat and drink on MFP and log any exercise. I ahev been on MFP for nearly 10 months, i never stuck to anything this long before and with weight watchers and slimming world my weight was going up and down all the time. On MFP my weight loss has not been exactly speedy but it is always going down- i am really pleased with MFP and i am going to stick with it, its free and all the advice you need with some really good supportive friends.
all the best with your decision and jounrey0 -
I personally, think MFP is better.
It's free
It at least gives you an idea of the macros you should be hitting rather than eating a packet of biscuits for your dinner because you have the 'points' to do so.0 -
Hi,
I was a member with WW Pro Points (and still). I reached a plateau for quiet some time became disheartened and fell off the wagon. I found this fab site whilst looking for a calorie counting app. Been on here almost 2 months and absolutely love it. :bigsmile:
It keeps me motivated via my friends on here although I do have "bad" days. I'm not saying don't do WW but I find this easier, supportive, informative and above all fun. I have lost weight again and hope to continue the scales moving to lower figures LOL 
Good luck on your journey which ever you choose to follow XX 0 -
Several years ago, I tried WW for a couple of months. I was somewhat successful - lost about 10lbs, but I didn't like the idea of paying almost $50/mo to listen to the group leaders sell the latest WW products and foods to be found at the grocery store. I also didn't like that fact that I was merely putting a "point value" on food. I wasn't learning anything about nutrition, making better food choices and the physical aspect of health (exercise for fitness) was sorely lacking. As for the "group support" aspect of WW, MFP has that beaten hands down!!
I have lost an average of 3lbs/mo during my time on MFP. For free. I love spending that $50/mo on my gym membership and cute workout clothing.
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I personally, think MFP is better.
It's free
It at least gives you an idea of the macros you should be hitting rather than eating a packet of biscuits for your dinner because you have the 'points' to do so.
This is true. I like to see my ratio of carbs/fat/protein etc. and I like to keep my sodium levels in check . You can do all that here (for free), can't do it on Weight Watchers. They do stress eating within healthy guidelines but all you can keep track of is points.0 -
I went to the store and got a few things today along with some WW meals...im planning on just counting the calories through MFP and not using the point system.What is the ideal calorie intake?0
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I can get the point for some people in joining real life WW instead of MFP - namely the support and encouragment of real people at meetings in your local area - that group support thing does work well for some people and the social aspect of doing things together and motivating each other and learning tips specific to your local area - like low calorie options at local eateries.
However cant see any advantage to online WW vs MFP - both systems work well if you follow them properly and both are long term sensible eating plans, not silly fad ideas - but the system here is free and the forum provides online support and social community.0 -
my advice is that you dont need to pay ayone to manage a healthy lifestyle. you can, with support and informed knowledge from a great community, do it yourself on here for free.0
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My friend used WW and lost quite a bit of weight -- I'm sure you would as well, if you're honest about it, since any diet plan that reduces calories will help you to lose weight. However, WW is more complicated than necessary (points are just a roundabout way of tracking calories). It also costs money. Why not just use MFP?0
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I lost 25 pounds using Weight Watchers in 2009 and still have kept the weight off. I don't know anything about their new points system (I count calories now), but they have a lot of good information in addition to food advice - like using visualization techniques, changing your environment to be successful, utilizing group support, etc. I think it is good to try for that information at least. I only went to the meetings for 4 months - but I'm glad I did it!0
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I did Weight Watchers on my own.. just used the free tools online (calculator, recipes, etc) and I had great success. I hit a plateau so I joined MFP so I could start exercising/tracking.0
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when it comes to exercising (doing cardio) a few times a week,how many calories should i eat since some of that would be burned off through excercising?I will be using MFP to count my calories,im not doing the points system0
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