MFP -vs- Weight Watcher's points

I still have my WW account (paid for 3 months) and am using MFP. I SERIOUSLY enjoy MFP more. There are things I eat that are listed on here that are not listed in the WW site, I had difficulties using the app for my cell phone for WW too. The MFP app is so easy to use and keep track of both exercise and what I take in. I also dont like the new pts system the instituted on WW, I only got one week of the old pts system and on it I lost 2lbs after they changed it I barely lost 1!

When I was comparing the two programs, my points (w/ the flex system) were almost on target what my range for MFP was. However, I found it was easier to search and log food on here than in a journal or on the WW tools site.

I am interested in what others think too. I moved a year ago and haven't gone back to WW but was contemplating it with the new points program.

I am a veteran WW member. Lost 26 pounds the first time. I just joined again late last year and find I don't like the new points system. I didn't seem to be losing the weight like I did before. Then I happened upon MFP a few weeks ago and I really enjoy it. I love seeing all the nutrients that I need/get. Also, I like being in control of how many calories I want to eat a day. It also doesn't limit my food choices as much. And most importantly, I love reading the community boards and blogs! So I left WW.

My girlfriend was on Weight Watchers for about a year. My mom was also on Weight Watchers and lost around 60 lbs.

I have never tried WW but I have been around it quite a bit so I feel like I have at least a decent feeling for it.

The thing that I love about MFP as compared to WW is that it is MUCH easier to actually SEE what is in everything you are eating. WW not only collapses all of the nutritional information down into a single number, in doing so they create a dependence on their product. As a person who likes to educate himself I love that I can know everything that I am eating and can do some of my OWN research to figure out what is the best way to spend my calories. Sure, I can eat half a pizza and be at my daily calorie intake or I can spread out my meals and make sure I am eating a well balanced diet.

I can definitely understand the appeal of WW. It makes things pretty easy and for a lot of people that is the real kicker. For me, I like to have a little more information than "this food is 1 point" or "that food is 3 points."

Either way, both are good and effective products. MFP IS free of course, which is definitely a big draw. I would just recommend that you do a little research on your own and see which one you think would best fit your lifestyle. Maybe even try both at the same time. Who knows!

Thanks so much to you all. I am having a hard time deciding which one is best. I do believe that WW is a good plan but i do like the details that MFP offers. I don't understand how WW points are calculated without using calories and I feel like i have so many points on WW, like too many (not that i am complaining LOL) but i have only lost 5lbs in 6 weeks and want better results than that.

My friend does WW and she was also confused about how they could calculate Points without calories. It's actually fairly simple: the new Point system takes into account carbs, fat and protein, each of which have a certain number of calories per gram. Fat has 9 calories per gram, protein has 4 calories per gram and carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram.

If you want to test this out, you can grab anything with a nutrition label on it, take the (Fat g x 9) + (Protein g x 4) + (Total Carb g x 4) and you'll get the same calorie count listed on the package (though they do round up and down to the nearest 5).

So actually, the new Points system DOES take calories into account, just in a different way. It wouldn't make sense for them to ask you to enter in the calories when you're already entering the carbs/fat/protein counts. Does that make sense? lol I don't know if I explained it well.

I did Weight Watchers from November of 2009 til around August 2010 (when i hit my goal)...I lost 75 lbs!!

Weight Watchers is great. I personally did the online program and still had great success!!

However, when they switched to the new Pro Points Plan...that's when I decided that I was gonna look elsewhere for a different program.

Then I found MFP!! I like it soo much more!! But I have to give my successful weight loss credit to WW for sure!!!

I'm sure you can't go wrong with either.

Hi, I started out on WW, but not anymore, not once I had tried MFP. It's not even the fact it's free.

I find that WW boards are full of people whining and MFP is much more full of educated (self taught or professional) who will teach you how to lose weight and keep it off.

Read up on some of the stickied posts.........learn why your body needs the fuel to work and perform to it's best. Nowhere on WW will it tell how and why different sorts of exercise are beneficial at different periods of weight loss, or why you should eat MORE as you get towards goal.

I'm not saying WW doesn't work - it does, but just see how many of the people on the boards are "returning" weighing more than when they started the last time. I would say take the opportunity to educate yourself here on how to change your lifestyle and make this a permanant change in your life.