WW vs MFP ...for those who know about WW

Choose whichever way works for you. I tried WW several times in the past. I just didn't like that feeling of being deprived and not being able to eat the things that I really like because of the whole points system. Counting calories works for me because I can eat whatever I want as long as I stay within my calories for the day. Figuring out points for everything was just a pain. I can figure out calories in my head to keep myself on track even when I'm not home.

I was on WW. For a year... Lost over 50 lbs before coming here....I love MFP because I love how you can track your food and on the bottom of your food page, there is a place for notes, I figure out my points from my macros for the day. Get out my calculator and put the total in the notes area. I give myself 29 points because I log all my veggies and fruit. Hope this helps.... Take a look at this recipe site...... www.slenderkitchen.com. Tons of recipes with points. Best to you either way... This also has such a great data base..

i was die hard about weight watchers last time i was on it. i had a lot of success. but then they changed their points plan again and started giving "free" points for things, i found myself stuck at a plateau much sooner. also i was frustrated at the horrible layout of the website, the boring and tedious nature of the forums, and also the slowness of the ww app. i was annoyed because they didnt use calories in the equation anymore and i couldnt guess from a label how many points something was anymore. i found myself spending an hour in the grocery store having to scan everything to check... furthermore, i was paying 20 bucks a month for something they couldnt even bother to program well (a website)

the day i found MFP i played around on here for about an hour, and cancelled weight watchers immedietely. it took a while to find my groove here but i love the layout and ease of use soooo much better. i like that people actually read your blog, that people in the fora talk vibrantly (albeit argumentatively), and you can quickly build a support group of all kinds of people and they talk to you every day for the most part. i have been successful, and feel much freer about the control i have over my own program, and much more knowledgeable ablout what i am doing, whereas with weight watchers i felt like they didnt really want you to know HOW just follow the points and keep paying.

that said, in college i found weight watchers because in nutrition class i researched many popular diets and found that one to be the most parallel to what people should be doing anyway. healthy eating. it seemed more a long term lifestyle change and less like a crash diet. but... this is the same thing here. only free.

i guess it really depends on what you want for yourself. sometimes i am motivated by having to pay too... so yea. hatever works for you.

(i should add i am much much more likely to stick with this site because i have immersed myself so much in the social aspect of it.)

I did WW back in 2007. I gotta say I prefer MFP. The points system of WW now seems like a convoluted gimick compared to the simplicity of MFP. MFP is simple calories in calories out. The database is awesome as well. No "bad foods" on MFP either. Just budgeting and planning. Basically on MFP you end up building your own evolving plan. You adjust it as you need it. You set your pace and make the rules. And it doesn't cost me $40 per month.

I did WW back in 2007. I gotta say I prefer MFP. The points system of WW now seems like a convoluted gimick compared to the simplicity of MFP. MFP is simple calories in calories out. The database is awesome as well. No "bad foods" on MFP either. Just budgeting and planning. Basically on MFP you end up building your own evolving plan. You adjust it as you need it. You set your pace and make the rules. And it doesn't cost me $40 per month.

yes! the database here is sooooo extensive i almost never have to add new foods almost everything is in here no matter how obscure! you just have to double check it sometimes. and its really cool that a lot of things are listed both by weight or by measure or count.

I did WW back in 2007. I gotta say I prefer MFP. The points system of WW now seems like a convoluted gimick compared to the simplicity of MFP. MFP is simple calories in calories out. The database is awesome as well. No "bad foods" on MFP either. Just budgeting and planning. Basically on MFP you end up building your own evolving plan. You adjust it as you need it. You set your pace and make the rules. And it doesn't cost me $40 per month.

^ this

I had been on WW since they switched to the new points system - shortly before 2012. I did lose some weight on it when I was super diligent. But I found calculating the points to be more of a hassle, and since the points system only vaguely takes into account things like protein & fibre, I got frustrated with it. The other thing I didn't like about WW was that it really only focused on weight loss. I was going to the gym - had a personal trainer for a while - and building muscle. So I wasn't losing a lot of weight, but I was getting smaller. But at the WW meetings they didn't care about that - only the number on the scale. WW works if weight loss is really the only thing you're concerned with, but they don't really get into fitness much. And I did like it for a while because it was something new & different & interesting. But it stopped working for me, personally, and MFP has a lot more to it if you want it. Plus it's free. :laugh:

Many years ago (after my 10 year old daughter was born) I joined WW and in a year I lost 30 pounds. However, when I reached goal, the leaders warned me that it might be hard to maintain that number given my height, age, etc. And they were right. Adding to it was that I never participated as a "Lifetime Memeber" and I think that may have helped. I gain about 20 of the 30 pounds back and tried to go back to WW, but it wasn't the same. Plus, if I didn't lose weight, the "leaders" at the scale would make comments. So then I found MFP. It's free, and the main point to both sites is logging your food accurately (meaning weighting and measuring). I thought WW was a bit too complicated - trying to calculate points, etc. Plus it was hard to get to the meetings and sometimes there was attitude... I did learn alot with WW, and I still carry those lessons with me...., but I have to say, at this point, I prefer MFP.

MFP over WW hands down. I joined WW more times then I would like to admit. I would lose and gain it back. For me MFP is more motivating for exercise. I also have a fitbit and enter other exercise into my diary. Seeing the extra calories I have earned is very motivating. If you get involved in challenges and get some friends it's more social then WW. I hate to think of all the money I wasted at WW.

I lost nearly 40 lbs on WW over the course of 4 months . . . then, they switched to Points Plus and I spent the next 2 years losing and gaining the same 7 lbs. Frustrating is an understatement!

I found the MFP app and started logging my food in both MFP and WW. I wanted to figure out exactly how much I was eating . . . I knew *something * had to be off somewhere because how is it possible that I wasn't losing weight when I was following the plan to a "T"? Turns out, staying within my daily points values meant I was, on average, consuming 2000 calories per day, a ton of carbs, and a huge amount of sugar. 3 servings of "free" fruit alone is an extra ~300 calories per day. After 3 weeks of cross-logging, I quit WW.

Unfortunately, at that point, I wasn't yet motivated to commit myself to MFP and the self-accountability it requires. The WW meetings had been a crutch . . . even though I wasn't losing weight, it kept me committed. Once I quit that, I easily gained back 25 lbs. In January of this year, I found myself ready to commit to my health and to MFP.

The money I've saved from not paying a monthly WW meetings is put towards a membership at a kick-*kitten* gym

Ok,

You are asking this on MFP...so, do you think WW will be the hands down recommendation?!???:noway: Obviously, those that are here are likely to favor MFP. But you should select what works for you: what you can and WILL follow. Personally, I think the "Free" fruits and the point system as currently constructed is nonsensical. In the end, it is calories in and calories out. Fruit have calories....

The last time I did WW was before they changed to PointsPlus (2010). I'll admit I didn't give the new plan a real try but from what I did see, I'd basically have to redo my whole way of eating (foods that were 3 points were now 6, etc) and that seemed pretty rediculous. Anyway, that's about the time I found MFP and it was like the clouds parted and a heavenly light shone (shined?) down - this was exactly what I needed!! Real food tracking, no tricks or manipulation to get just the right # of points, etc.

OP, you have to do whatever works for you but I think MFP is more realistic and flexible. You can still manipulate your days, it may just take a little extra notation or something so you can track it accurately. Say you come in under your calorie goal by 100 Mon-Fri, that gives you 500 extra calories for happy hour or the family BBQ. Or save some of your exercise calories for your weekly splurge.

The only thing I miss about WW is the meetings. Not just for the social aspect but I learned something new every week

I did WW for several years - I lost 60 pounds and then got stuck and nothing I did made that scale move. When I asked for help from the leader all I got was "just keep at it" or "you are exercising too much". I am very active and I think WW doesn't really accomodate that very well. I finally got so frustrated I quit last year and gained back 18 pounds

This spring I joined here and have lost 13 of the 18 pounds I gained last year. It is slow going, but at least the scale is moving down. I too hated that WW only focused on the scale, at the rate I was going I would be paying forever (which, I realize is what they want). At least here if I gain one week I don't stress out about the extra money I will have to spend to lose it. I also hated that you couldn't figure out your protein, carb and fat numbers without tracking separately - they have all that information so I am not sure why the tracking program doesn't show it.

My advice is pick one and stick with it for a month - when I started here I struggled with trying to incorporate WW into MFP and it was just overwhelming. That being said, I believe there is a way to add points to your MFP diary - there is something out here on the boards that you can download that will allow you to do both calories and points.

I had done weight watchers off and on for years. I found I did the best with the online tools, just having a chance to record and be accountable. I really like the point system and those extra points for the week! Also love the structure that encourages high fiber, low fat and whole foods. HOWEVER. I had gotten my fattest yet during one of my "can't afford to use weight-watchers now" periods and realized that I had to start recording and being accountable using a lower cost tracking tool. I think I found mfp with a google search. NOW: love this community (you learn to avoid the forums that are full of haters and trolls), have met some great supportive people, find the articles more helpful than the WW ones. I've lost 13 pounds in around 60 days and have lots of support for staying on the path. LOVE that the food data base is huge including all those name brands and restaurants. SO GREAT. I like the encouraging works that are automatic and how easy it is to track everything. I have no excuses now and intend to reach my goal weight in 2015.