MFP and Weight Watchers Online - Side-by-side comparison

Syspig · February 2011

I've seen a few Weight Watchers threads here, but don't see any that address exactly what I'm seeing. That is...a huge difference in food quantity allowed between WW and MFP. After 4+ months of success on WW (lost 35+ pounds, within 5 of goal weight), I've had my first weekly weight gain - and it came after using MFP for a week. Only 2 pounds, but still...I'd seen steady 1-3 pound weekly losses since beginning WW back in September.

I came here for a somewhat superficial reason. I don't mind paying $17/mo to Weight Watchers for online access, but just picked up an Android device...and there's no WW app like there is for iPhone. Seeing that MFP was available for Android is what sucked me in, but there are other things I like better about this site. The fact that it's free helps as well.

Anyway, after weighing in and seeing the surprising weekly gain, I went back and entered everything from my MFP diary into WW. According to my MFP stats, I didn't have a single day going over on calories, ate pretty healthy, and got my usual 5 days of hour+ exercise. I thought I was eating a bit more using the MFP calorie counts, and after going back and entering the same data into WW my suspicions were confirmed. WW showed me going WAY over, for the same food - an excess of 58 points for the week, almost two days worth of extra points for me.

So - any idea what might account for the significant difference between these two systems in my case?

gentlebreeze2 · February 2011

I will never do weight watchers again... they screwed everyone in our town over. I have lost 45 pounds with mfp... I think it's all personal preference. Do what you need to do, but we are a happy family here and suppport each other.

mjcrothers · February 2011

I don't know how WW works and am still fairly new to this, but maybe your goal settings are different. So, on MFP maybe you need to set your "how much to lose each week" to a larger number and this will reduce how much you are allowed to eat... not sure if this is the problem.

All the best.

TakeOne · February 2011

Hmm...I did the same thing when I left WW and joined here. I entered my food intake on both sites for about a week, but did not see nearly that much of a difference. I was also set at maintaining tho, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it. There are some low cal. foods that carry a lot of WW points tho. Maybe it is the types of food?? Can you pin point some of those things that have a higher point value?

Debtappe · February 2011

My only experience with WW has been that it is far more restrictive calorie wise which leads to rapid weight loss. I have lost a lot rather quickly on WW but gained it back just as quickly. Do both programs allow you the same number of calories?

Phoenyxtears · February 2011

I hated Weight Watchers. The site is horribly designed and too overloaded with information - same with sparkpeople.com. I like it here at MFP because it's more of a communal feel and much easier to navigate. That and it's free. I can't afford $17/mo.

TakeOne · February 2011

My only experience with WW has been that it is far more restrictive calorie wise which leads to rapid weight loss. I have lost a lot rather quickly on WW but gained it back just as quickly. Do both programs allow you the same number of calories?

In my experience, no. WW's cal allowance was just slightly lower, even at maintanance. But I like both sites. WW helped me lose the weight and MFP is helping me maintain : )

emchamberlain · February 2011

Are you factoring in the weekly points? That's the biggest difference to me. MFP gives you more calories/day, but WW gives you more flexibility about when you can use your calories. I used to eat less daily when I was doing WW and saved my weekly points for a big splurge on the weekends.

peteyTwang · February 2011

I dropped ~ 80lbs and reached "Lifetime" Status while doing WW in 2008 [in-person weekly meetings -not online.] I paid for 6 months in advance and made sure I got it done. This was by no means a simple process though. My Dad died before I could complete my goal, but his demise had a big impact on my wanting to get and stay healthy. It was a heavy emotional time. It also took lot of very dedicated hard work and long lasting lifestyle changes. While I am very glad for my WW experience and what I learned while I was there, I realize my weight loss was something that i did FOR and (mostly!) BY MYSELF. The program did not do it for me! I know this because I was one of very few to succeed out of so many I met doing WW and going to meetings at the same time- though of course all the staff have done it & I have met a handful of other folks now who have had the same success. It's certainly not "automatic" or magic though and while it's grreat to get all the support you can -- everybody has to really dig in and do this thing their own way.
One of the big problems talking about WW can be that it's not very consistent. They revamped and changed their system twice since I finished in 2008- and while I was there I got to hear about that SO many times-- how it changed since my Mom was there or what so & so used to be "allowed" to eat. For what it's worth, or by sheer luck when I went their "Points" system was pretty simple, and straight forward and no food was restricted and there were some _excellent_ resources, tips and people -particularly the group leader who I sought out by checking out different locations before finding one I liked. One big bonus-- I really taught myself how to cook while I was there, too and did a _lot_ of outside research that really made it work. On the other hand there were people who had been going for years, and may still be for all I know indulging in WW-branded desert food snacks rather than exercise and healthy eating!
To me other than the most obvious bonus that it's FREE - MFP is even _more_ straight forward, and easy to use though with fabulously friendly & supportive people

wolfchild59 · February 2011

Have you been entering foods into the WW database since they switched to the new points plus system? I heard that the number of points on almost everything went way up so peoples daily and weekly allotments need to be adjusted as well, to accommodate all the changes. Have you made all those adjustments or are you comparing the new point values to your old daily/weekly point goals?

If you have made the adjustments, I have no other theories. I've lost the weight I've wanted with MFP and it's staying off/still going down. All my friends and family who did WW with success while on it have all put the weight back on. One coworker has put about half the weight back on from when she stopped paying for WW last year and is now struggling to figure out how to stop it coming off.

To each their own.

spgabby86 · February 2011

Have you been entering foods into the WW database since they switched to the new points plus system? I heard that the number of points on almost everything went way up so peoples daily and weekly allotments need to be adjusted as well, to accommodate all the changes. Have you made all those adjustments or are you comparing the new point values to your old daily/weekly point goals?

If you have made the adjustments, I have no other theories. I've lost the weight I've wanted with MFP and it's staying off/still going down. All my friends and family who did WW with success while on it have all put the weight back on. One coworker has put about half the weight back on from when she stopped paying for WW last year and is now struggling to figure out how to stop it coming off.

To each their own.

Hello I just want to say WAY to GO on your 45 pounds...I too want to lose about 40 to 45 pounds do you mind me asking, how long has it taking you to lose the 45 pounds.

missygail · February 2011

I'm a reject from WW. I did their only thing for awhile and lost 29 pounds, but proceeded to gain it back. I felt that their online support, forums and such just wasn't very supportive. I lost quickly at first and then lost too much at least for my weekly allotment. When I searched for advice I got merely complaints, I wasn't eating enough of my points and yada yada. Though of course then when I stopped losing weight and was having trouble keeping under my daily points, the support was basically, "Well you paid for it, why not do it right."

I ran away from WW. I tried coming back a few times, but I just never got in to it again.

In 2008 I joined sparkpeople and that place is a lot like WW to me. There's just too much stuff going on. I never got the hang of that site, a friend of mine loves it, but I can't stand it.

Here recently on new years I made an announcement on my FB page that I was making a new years resolution to lose weight. A friend started a FB group to support all of us in weight loss and general support. She sent me to LoseIt.

I liked Lose It, it was a very simple site. Thus far I lost 7lbs on lose it. I like lose it. Still do, but they only have an app. for Iphone. I tried to go back to Sparkpeople, but I was back to hating the site. I want the food diary to be mobile and good online as well.

Sparkpeople is just too much. It's like the myspace of weight loss diaries.

So, I researched my app. gallery for Android and found myfitnesspal, the bonus feature is the barcode scanner. This I've been playing with all day!!!

So after checking out this site, finding it rather similar to Lose It, and deleted the sparkpeople app as well as my account on there and I downloaded this app.

I will say that the per day calories is a little bit less on here than it was on lose it. Not sure why that is, but I'm willing to give it a go. I could eat 1700+ per day, here it's 1300+ per day. I not sure what's the difference, but that's okay by me.

I do know with the point system of WW, there are different factors that make up the points of foods. Calories + fat + fiber + protein. And like someone else said WW leaves you with the 35 points or so to use for the weekend or a little bit over the course of the week. I wonder if you actually went over your weekly points including the 35 extra points.

Anyways, I'd just up your pounds per week to lose up a bit.

wolfchild59 · February 2011

Have you been entering foods into the WW database since they switched to the new points plus system? I heard that the number of points on almost everything went way up so peoples daily and weekly allotments need to be adjusted as well, to accommodate all the changes. Have you made all those adjustments or are you comparing the new point values to your old daily/weekly point goals?

If you have made the adjustments, I have no other theories. I've lost the weight I've wanted with MFP and it's staying off/still going down. All my friends and family who did WW with success while on it have all put the weight back on. One coworker has put about half the weight back on from when she stopped paying for WW last year and is now struggling to figure out how to stop it coming off.

To each their own.

Hello I just want to say WAY to GO on your 45 pounds...I too want to lose about 40 to 45 pounds do you mind me asking, how long has it taking you to lose the 45 pounds.

Thanks. It's something I've needed to do for many years and I have to give total props to MFP for making it happen, I couldn't have done it without. That said, its actually taken me awhile to get to the 45 pound mark. I hit the 30 pound mark after about four months. After that point, I started working out on a very regular basis, so the weight started coming off more slowly but I was still losing inches during that time. And I also took pretty much all of December off from working out and ate maintenance calories instead of deficit calories. But I was down about 41 pounds at the end of November. The last four have come off in the last month since I've been back on deficit calories and working out (before I injured my ankle).

So, the first 30 were easy and consistent. The last 15 have been a much slower pace, but still came off and I'm happy with that.

Good luck on your journey and feel free to message me if you have any other questions.

janesmith1 · February 2011

This is a bit o/t but count me in as another person who hated SparkPeople. I never lost a POUND on that site. I think the interface is way TOO CLUTTERED for my taste. This is a really clean & user-friendly interface and I am now actually...losing weight! It is just way easier to do here, and I feel motivated to do this here, I never did at SP.

jansus · February 2011

I went to SW in the uk and lost weight each time - but then put it back on. It was much more flexible than WW - lots of food you did not have to measure at all e.g fruit/veg/ meat ( if you were on original)

but then they sarted mixing and changing the diets and you end up buying lots of recipes for the points system- and everytime there are new products in the supermarket you need to be a member to get the points value.

its like most things they work while you stick to them. but I am finding MFP easier and quicker each day tbh.

A question though - is there a way you ould save unused calories on here for the weekend ? Ie. by looking at your week and then not feeling guilty if you use them at the weekend?

mrb_9110 · February 2011

I have never tried weight watchers but my roommate and her sister are doing the ww points plus program. All I know is that in one week of doing MFP, I've lost almost three pounds and they've lost none.

pwiggy · February 2011

I hated Weight Watchers. The site is horribly designed and too overloaded with information - same with sparkpeople.com. I like it here at MFP because it's more of a communal feel and much easier to navigate. That and it's free. I can't afford $17/mo.

I agree with the site design of WW, it is sensory overload. It is also a real pain to convert everything to points and then keep track of the points. This cuts out a step and it is free. I also like the community here.

Meggie_pooh · February 2011

I too followed the WW diet (points) and did everything correctly(without even joining) and dropped 35lbs in 4 months...then I plateaued and started gaining. I stopped WW in April 2010. I started MFP jan 2011 and I see that its better that WW x 100! Maybe u plateaued too and thats why u gained!

dlaplume2 · February 2011

I've seen a few Weight Watchers threads here, but don't see any that address exactly what I'm seeing. That is...a huge difference in food quantity allowed between WW and MFP. After 4+ months of success on WW (lost 35+ pounds, within 5 of goal weight), I've had my first weekly weight gain - and it came after using MFP for a week. Only 2 pounds, but still...I'd seen steady 1-3 pound weekly losses since beginning WW back in September.

I came here for a somewhat superficial reason. I don't mind paying $17/mo to Weight Watchers for online access, but just picked up an Android device...and there's no WW app like there is for iPhone. Seeing that MFP was available for Android is what sucked me in, but there are other things I like better about this site. The fact that it's free helps as well.

Anyway, after weighing in and seeing the surprising weekly gain, I went back and entered everything from my MFP diary into WW. According to my MFP stats, I didn't have a single day going over on calories, ate pretty healthy, and got my usual 5 days of hour+ exercise. I thought I was eating a bit more using the MFP calorie counts, and after going back and entering the same data into WW my suspicions were confirmed. WW showed me going WAY over, for the same food - an excess of 58 points for the week, almost two days worth of extra points for me.

So - any idea what might account for the significant difference between these two systems in my case?

My understanding is that with WW you don't count veggies. WIth MFP you count everything. The other thing with WW is they round everything to equal a point so it is not an even exchange.

If you have a salad dressing that has say 25 cal. WW counts it as 1 point. MFP counts it as 25 cal. If you have 3 things that count as 1 point each but only counts as 75 calories you are using up your points faster. I would be really curious to see what the calorie count is on all your point you ate in an average week on WW. It seemed to me that it averages out to about 50 cal a point. I was allowed 27 points which is 1350 calories. plus I had 35 flex points which averaged to 7 points a day which is 350 calories and that is more that than what MFP allows.

I think it was just a fluke.
Please note this was a while ago and I know they just changed the plan a bit.

kao708 · February 2011

I did WW in 2008 and lost 88 lbs in 12 months. I felt it was a great program and worked for me as soon as I stopped using it I gained all the weight back because I quit paying attention.

I think the main difference is MFP looks directly at calorie count. While you can see the intake for fiber, fat, etc MFP doesn't take that information into consideration when calculating your daily calorie count for the day. It's up to you to monitor and control these other NI items.

The WW calculation for points includes calories, fat and fiber so foods will not always match up the same when counting points versus actual calories. Essentially, WW has more leeway for high fiber items than those with low fiber content (up to 4 grams, of course).

There are a ton of people that have had success on each site. I feel like I'm getting the same results on MFP as I did on WW. What I like best about MFP is that it's more REAL. It's helping me understand actual calorie intake versus a point that doesn't really mean anything in the real world. I think it will prepare me more for eating like a normal person.

MFP and Weight Watchers Online - Side-by-side comparison

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