Should stay with Weight Watchers or Leave for MFP

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Tljordan40
Tljordan40 Posts: 61 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been a Weight Watcher for a very long time and it seems like I have lodt snd gailed the same amount of weight. Wgeb I first started with weight Watchers I was excited, and then the honeymoon was over and I realized that counting points started to get a liitle troublesome for me. Especially when your points target would drop as you lost weight. I was always hungry and my mind always stayed on food. A friend told me about MFP and here I am. I have tracked on MFP and I am really enjoying it. I am now trying to decide if I am going to keep the WW membership or do MFP exclusively. Are there any people that have tried WW and if so what is your insight on the program? Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom or beliefs.
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Replies

  • shexy16
    shexy16 Posts: 68
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    I prefer MFP's food database to WW....the WW food database is just bad and current. Plus, MFP is free. I lost 90 lbs. on WW, but gained 45 back. I personally think tracking is the key, whether I do it w/WW, MFP, or on a piece of scrap paper.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    I have never done WW - just couldn't see paying for a program - but have friends who have done both. Personally I could never convince myself to pay for a program. I tried Sparkpeople, used it for a while, but always had the cycle of doing well for a while then life getting in the way. Consistency was an issue. And perhaps the goals I set and my thought process were also problems for me.

    I've used MFP since early this year and its worked well. I'm almost to that mythical (maybe not?) land of maintenance. I think the 'key' is that we have to figure out what works for us individually. For me, its logging accurately & honestly. And there MFP is a wonderful tool. I use the website and the phone app. I have a smart phone, and MFP goes with me. Easy! And no payment needed. My other 'issue' was realizing that if I don't make an effort, my life is very sedentary and lazy. While you can't exercise away a bad diet, I think it is important for me to set activity level goals and make sure to move during the day.

    In the past I always had success initially but never got far enough to really envision a 'final' goal. Now I'm practically to the point of just needing to tone, strengthen and maintain. I'm going to continue logging thru MFP for a while - and then at some point may go off the reservation and just log occasionally to make sure my daily calories fall into my needed maintenance range.
  • unhgoose
    unhgoose Posts: 122 Member
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    I switch back and forth. I do the 3 month deal on WW and then cancel and go back to MFP. I do wel maintaining on both websites, but if I'm trying to push harder and lose weight doing something "fresh" that I can get excited about helps me. It's all in my head, and I like both programs. Just switching back and forth works for me. I've tried doing both at the same time but I'm never interested in logging in both places everyday.
  • kendragetshealthy
    kendragetshealthy Posts: 87
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    I lost 40something pounds on WW too but am enjoying MFP much more. It's free, you don't have to sit in meetings, and the support is better, in my opinion.

    You are in charge of your program with MFP and in my case, I started working out MUCH more later on and therefore needed more calories, not less. I thought WW was too restrictive. I feel much healthier now!

    Good luck! Just track, track track...
  • LeonCX
    LeonCX Posts: 862 Member
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    I absolutely preferred Weight Watcher's online tools, but could not afford it anymore. It has many more features and they fixed problems constantly, unlike here. I loved how WW would automatically recalculate your calories as the weight came off, and I loved the whole concept of weekly points. I do like that it is free here and appreciate the community. Although nothing is really free. We have to put up with the ads and the spammers.:laugh:
  • giggitygoo
    giggitygoo Posts: 1,978 Member
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    I switched from WW to MFP in 2010 when weight watchers changed their tracking system for the millionth time. I was sucesfull with them, but felt like it was too "one size fits all" for me. I wanted more accurate nutrition.

    I prefer MFP, and here's why:

    - FREE
    - Huge database of foods
    - More insight into micro/macro nutrients VS calories alone
    - More fitness minded buddies, love the "wall" system with updates.

    That said, it's not any easier. In fact, more effort is required to make sure you are planning correctly and meeting your macro/micro goals.
  • giggitygoo
    giggitygoo Posts: 1,978 Member
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    I absolutely preferred Weight Watcher's online tools, but could not afford it anymore. It has many more features and they fixed problems constantly, unlike here. That being said, I do like that it is free here. Although nothing is really free. We have to put up with the ads and the spammers.:laugh:

    adblock.com is something you need.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,934 Member
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    I personally feel they're the same thing. If counting points is annoying, so is counting calories....
    I liked the WW online tools better, plus I worked harder at it since it costs money. But in the end I still got annoyed myself at counting point too. I switched to MFP. There's a more active community online here... but counting calories is still annoying :P
  • rgrady33
    rgrady33 Posts: 48 Member
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    I offer my opinion having no direct experience with WW:

    1. I have met several people who have tried it, but I have NEVER met anyone who has stuck with it long enough to reach their goal. That isn't necessarily WW problem, but I have not seen any successes other than in the commercials.

    2. WW was a great way to count intake in an age when nutritional information wasn't readily available. MFP has almost everything (including a lot of the microbrewery beers I drink when I have the calories for it). It is pretty powerful that way.

    3. WW seems more like a "tool" rather than a "lifestyle." In other words, I hear people who say they want to lose weight and they look for someone with a solution (in this case WW). The truth is that the only way you are going to lose weight and keep it off is if YOU become the solution by driving your choices. If WW is the start of that journey, and I understand there are people who do need these tools, then go for it! Just don't let that be the only tool you use.

    4. With all of the nutritional information, and the community boards, there is tons of support and ideas to allow you to make your weight loss your own. Finding ways to be sated in a way that maintains your calorie targets is what this place is all about!

    That's my 2 cents, but I'm just a loser (33 pounds and counting!).
  • tracie_minus100
    tracie_minus100 Posts: 465 Member
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    There are many resources out there so you can do Weight Watchers for free, so it doesn't HAVE to cost anything. (Unless you want the meetings, obviously).
    It really boils down to what works best for you. I did WW for years but just kept losing and gaining, losing and gaining (my own fault, not WW's). So I decided to move over here for something different.
  • hbgirl85
    hbgirl85 Posts: 26
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    Former WW here. I swtiched from WW to MFP about 3 months ago. Lost about 13 pounds on WW but then plateaued and was tired of paying money for losing and gaining and losing and gaining the same 1.2 pounds weekly. I like the community support from MFP along with the fact that it's free and the scanner database has many more foods than WW. I alos like that I'm able to hone in on what I'm eating more specifically and tweak it along with my exercise.
  • Shoechick5
    Shoechick5 Posts: 221 Member
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    I prefer MFP for a lot of the reasons already listed here..but somepeople need the support of meetings, if you do, then WW would probably be better for you.
  • KathyPBiles
    KathyPBiles Posts: 292 Member
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    I have done Weight Watchers a few times, even working for them. So I use what I learned from WW (like getting your fruits, veggies and water in) but use MFP. You get the same support from members here that you do in WW and it's FREE.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
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    MFP is more accurate and it's free. Seems like a no brainer to me...
  • tracie999
    tracie999 Posts: 84 Member
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    I have been doing weight watchers for it seems half my life and guess what i lost weight but gained back more. I now use MFP, changed the way i look at food and have lost 63lbs. I would never go back to WW, i have learned so much about food and exercise in the past year.
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    I switched from WW to MFP in 2010 when weight watchers changed their tracking system for the millionth time. I was sucesfull with them, but felt like it was too "one size fits all" for me. I wanted more accurate nutrition.

    I prefer MFP, and here's why:

    - FREE
    - Huge database of foods
    - More insight into micro/macro nutrients VS calories alone
    - More fitness minded buddies, love the "wall" system with updates.

    That said, it's not any easier. In fact, more effort is required to make sure you are planning correctly and meeting your macro/micro goals.

    These are the reasons why I switched over too, plus the meetings were getting too cheesy for me.

    The deciding thing though was the fitness. There was no emphasis on it unless they had their fitness stuff on sale. It just made more sense to track on here and use that money on a gym membership.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    I lost 32 lbs. on WW and never gained back an ounce. I love the program but love "free" even better so here I am on MFP. Both programs are great but neither is going to work if you don't hold yourself accountable whether it is tracking points or counting calories. It takes me less than an hour to populate my food diary for the week ahead of time. If I decide to change something, it takes less than 5 minutes. My advice is to cancel WW and buy a food scale, water bottles, and comfortable exercise cloths.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
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    WW: Costs money for the meetings and other services.

    MFP: Completely free.

    No-brainer for me. :wink:
  • pjs2780
    pjs2780 Posts: 41 Member
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    I was always starving on WW (did it 3 times) -- I was successful but it was not sustainable (which is why I had to do it 3 times). The weight came off quickly but i found the points system nebulous and hard to understand. I think MFP's database is better and easier to use. It's something I can see myself sticking with for a long time (and I've realized that I will always have to track my calories, even once I reach goal, because I just have no sense of portions any more).

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