Weight Watchers compared with MFP

caddir · January 2015

I went to WW for two and a half years and lost 4st 13lb (69lb) with them. I know that they are successful and wouldn't want to criticise the work they do, but I have now moved over to this site and wanted to give my first impressions and possibly ask a question or two.

The reasons I gave up WW were twofold: firstly I felt that I could do better, in order to get a more accurate idea of the calories I was eating, by including the fruit and veg and counting the exact number not just multiples of 40. Secondly I felt that I could do this for free instead of paying for the privelege. The acquisition of a new set of bathroom scales helped too!

My first thought is that I like the look and feel of the site, and the community seems vibrant and helpful. The real bonus point to me is the app - wow! So far I have only found one product that the barcode did not find, and coming from WW where the barcode rarely matched anything, this is an absolute marvel.

I feel that this is because WW is a long established, pre-internet organisations trying to adapt to the world of IT, whereas MFP has its very roots in IT.

So far I feel motivated and find the tools on the site and the app are keeping me extremely motivated and the community are doing so too. I have three friends now and would welcome others (especially women who are fifty+ and not fit at all yet).

I feel I have learned more about nutrition in one week from this site than I did in the past year!

I did have an issue with the logging of sugar - until I found a thread which suggested that I should perhaps ignore the goals set for sugar, but just watch my sugar intake. This is what I am doing. Is there any way to hide the sugar goal?

Sued0nim · January 2015

Welcome, good luck and yes - swap it out for something useful like fibre

go to settings - diary settings (I think that's what it's called) and there's drop-downs for what you're tracking

Liftng4Lis · January 2015

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings. I have fiber there as well as the rabbit

Laurend224 · January 2015

I found the WW forums to be incredibly snarky. And, I don't like to pay for anything I could do on my own, for free. Welcome, and congrats on the loss, it's impressive!

WalkingAlong · January 2015

Yeah, WW internet presence is pretty bad, including their foods database and forums. $500M in annual revenue from the site alone... you'd think they could do better.

af_wife2004 · January 2015

I used WW for years. I like their site; however, the apps continuously crashed on me. When I first started in 2003, I loved their message boards. There were so active. Now it seems like the same thing over and over with little encouragement and interaction. I was also tire of paying the high cost.

cdfitness200 · January 2015

I used WW successfully from 2008 though 2011 and would go back to it if I ever got track, but ever since the plan changed in November 2011, to where you didn't count fruits and vegetables and had a higher points goal, it never worked the same for me. I switched over to MFP then, and agree, the app has been awesome! It works. I was also inspired to start running a year ago, and this year completed several 5Ks, a 10K, a 13K, 18K, and a 1/2 marathon. I love being able to sync MapMyRun with MyFitness pal, and it automatically enters the calories I burn. This year, I am looking to learn more about nutrition and eat smarter. I am hoping these boards will help. Welcome to the community!

earlnabby · January 2015

My main reason for preferring MFP over WW is that, with MFP, you can set and follow your macronutrient goals better. I need to limit my carbs to a max of 180 g. a day per Dr's orders and it is so much easier with MFP. I don't mind paying for something if it gives me what I need. With WW, I had to use a separate website to track my macro and micro nutrients so I was entering my food twice and was a pain in the backside. Here, it is one and done. MFP even sends my food info over to the Fitbit site.

RoyBeck · January 2015

Personally, I wouldn't like to be told which foods I can/can't eat or what to avoid. This is a great site you'll do well here.

caro123shepp · January 2015

Bravo!!

leggup · January 2015

Welcome to MFP. I haven't done WW, but I love MFP and have been using the site and app religiously for almost 1 year. One of the things I love about the app is that you can see a pie chart of your Protein, Fat, and Carbohydrates. I also love the forums, but you have to have a tough skin about you to venture into some topics (and know which topics to just plain ignore- never mention the word "clean" ever ever ever).

earlnabby · January 2015

RoyBeck wrote: »

Personally, I wouldn't like to be told which foods I can/can't eat or what to avoid. This is a great site you'll do well here.

WW does not tell you what food you can or cannot eat. It is a calorie counting site, just like MFP except it assigns point value to count calories instead of calorie and macronutrient value.

LeslieB042812 · January 2015

cdfitness200 wrote: »

I used WW successfully from 2008 though 2011 and would go back to it if I ever got track, but ever since the plan changed in November 2011, to where you didn't count fruits and vegetables and had a higher points goal, it never worked the same for me. I switched over to MFP then, and agree, the app has been awesome! It works. ..... Welcome to the community!

Ditto! I lost 35 lbs with the old WW at work and loved it. Of course, doing it with all my coworkers definitely helped. However, their new PP+ plan just doesn't work for me. I actually gained weight following it. That's when I switched to MFP and couldn't be happier. It's a great tool and free! I agree that WW is based on an old model that isn't as internet friendly.

sssgilber · January 2015

Laurend224 wrote: »

I found the WW forums to be incredibly snarky. And, I don't like to pay for anything I could do on my own, for free. Welcome, and congrats on the loss, it's impressive!

The forums were the main reason I switched to MFP. I like to read them for encouragement and ideas but many WW on-line members are confrontational, especially to those who don't have thousands of posts. Much better atmosphere here on MFP. Thanks, everyone!

tekwriter · January 2015

i lost my first 35 with weight watchers and the rest with MFP. I have lost 71 pounds. It could have been more but i was out of it for a while. This app is great and the people are wonderful. It is far better than a weight watcher's meeting. A lot more support and someone is always around. Add me if you like too

jbee27 · January 2015

I know that people have a lot of success with Weight Watchers, but I went to two trial meetings a few years ago, and it was definitely not for me.

In my experience, the user population of WW tends to be skewed towards middle aged women. Almost all of the women in the meetings complained about people in their life sabotaging them with "foods they can't have" like cake or sweets. Even when I was at my heaviest, I understood that it was from my choices, not anyone else's actions. Also, weighing in was something I was NOT prepared to do mentally.

I think the community here has more diversity in terms of age, lifestyle, etc, and the fact that I am accountable to myself, not to any "coach" or other member, fits my personality much better. Also, its free, and I don't have anyone pushing me to buy branded food!

maxit · January 2015

I did online WW membership from the end of Jan, 2014 until the end of Oct. It was helpful & I lost weight steadily at 1 to 1.5 lb a week. But I started double tracking with fitbit to keep track of macros especially during the time I was lifting heavy, and it was getting to be a pain so I switched over to MFP/Fitbit and am continuing to move toward my goal (at a slower rate, as I am now at the top end of healthy range for me). Plus, it appears to me that I am getting better information regarding protein, carb and fat ratio.

GingerLark · January 2015

I lost 35 pounds with weight watchers 14 years ago and have kept it off. The plan was better then. After the last change, I don't find it as "lifestyle" as it was before. Also, they don't really have a great plan in place for maintenance support. It was frustrating to go to meetings and weigh in and have the clerk tell you "no loss this week"..... well, I wasn't trying to lose, thanks for the encouragement!.... I also found a lot of ladies there for the 2nd or 3rd go 'round because they couldn't keep it off. MFP is so much more than I think WW is. WW doesn't teach you fat carbs and protein. You just learn their points system and have to trust it. This is a great forum with mostly helpful people. Glad you are here!

CM9178 · January 2015

I lost 80 lbs with Weight Watchers years ago and loved it. I kept off the weight for about 2 years until I slowly started gaining it all back. I did it again eventually and lost 40 lbs. Then I decided to try MFP. I stopped WW once I started inputting my food into MFP and realized that I was eating WAYYYYYY too low a number of calories. I'm talking like 900 calories per day. But yet I was meeting my points.
I realized that I gained back all the weight after doing WW because it never really taught me WHAT to eat. As long as I was meeting my points goals, I didn't care what I was eating. Now I realize I wasn't eating properly and as a result I majorly screwed up my metabolism. I hit a plateau for 6 months once I started eating right and have been struggling for the last year to lose any more weight. I will never again do WW, that's for sure. And I used to be a HUGE advocate for them. Yes, their program works, I just don't like the way it works.

HeySwoleSister · January 2015

WW is at least better than the more gimmicky programs out there (drink shakes! buy premade food! Don't eat any food that is Yellow!) , but I do think the recent "improvements" have it heading in a more fad-diet direction.

That said, I have a neighbor who lost over 100 pounds on WW and still uses the point system to maintain. It's a useful tool for her, and I won't argue with success! (She also walks 3-5 miles a day and lifts weights, so she's gone beyond WW, which I think plays a huge role in her continued success.

I tried following the "points" program as recommended for a few days and compared it to my MFP log...I was going OVER calories on my MFP and UNDER WW points. Their "free" food has calories, as does all food!

I don't even remember what the default nutrition trackers are, LOL. I dropped sugar and one other (although I do still periodically get a warning that I am approaching my "goal" for sugar for the day) and now track Carbs, Protein, Fiber, Fat, and Calcium.

cwolfman13 · January 2015

You will get out of it what you put into it with either program. Some people benefit greatly from in person meetings and support with programs like WW...also, the point system is easier/faster math. My mom had a lot of great success with WW years ago and has kept her weight off going on 15 years now...62 years old and she's still out there doing triathlons. I don't know if they still do it or not, but when my mom did WW, they basically had meals you could buy which is pretty much a non-starter for me...but I suppose it is helpful for many.

I personally prefer MFP and understanding the actual calories vs assigning points. It is my understanding the WW gives free points for certain things while inflating the point values of others to compensate...for my money, I'd rather just know how many calories are in what and practice proper portion control. I would also get little benefit from group meetings and whatnot...I really don't care for groups of people in general.

Weight Watchers compared with MFP

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