Weight Watchers compared with MFP

I have had success with WW in the past so I checked their website to see how much it costs now. I was thinking of a 3-month deal. I went to a WW meeting and was told that they could not match the internet price for meeting plans. Do you mean to tell me that the corporate driven pricing is not honored by the franchises. Ridiculous, everyone looks at the internet before they go to places in person now. WW needs to get with the times or the only clients they will have will be little (big) old ladies. I'm saying this and I'm 57! I REALLY like saving money. I walked out the door, plan never to return. MFP fits my lifestyle, crossing my fingers it works.

I did WW. I had some successes with it, but I never really felt comfortable there. I have done both online and meetings. I found the meetings too cultish for me. I'm not a "rah rah" type person. I'm very private and don't like sharing this journey, at least not until I'm on my way and comfortable in my skin/mind. And by comfortable, I mean the psychology of losing weight.

I felt, they had 2 choices of plans, one was count your points, no foods are off limit, but to make it work you needed to use "lite" and "low fat". The other was their "lifestyle" and they had off limit foods, and still needing "lite" and low fat". Neither were sustainable for me.

I have adopted following calories (man was that an adjustment from thinking in points - I have struggled with it a bit actually), from there I have discovered eating clean, which has lead me to watching my macros and seeing what works. And then seeing how really exercise fits.

Once I got over myself and those "points" I'm really loving the control I have simply using my calories. Calories in < Calories out. I understand it. I can make it work. I can use it to impact my health and the side effect is that I can lose weight thus even better impacting my health.

Plus the barcode reader of mfp rocks!

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.

You must not read the forums on here much.

I'm not using Weight Watchers anymore but it still bugs me when people think you have to eat their food. It's a point system there. You can eat any damned thing you want.

Really, the only difference between WW and MFP is that you pay for WW and you get to pretend some foods don't have any point value.

WW works well for many people. I love the bank of recipes! Especially the series called A Cut Above. But having said that I find the point system dumbed down. I like knowing whats in my food. It helps me make positive changes. The other problem I have is that the members I've met attend because they "have" to lose weight. I don't experience any excitement about getting more fit. Some of the meetings have a stodgy atmosphere.

I've done WW meetings and on line had some success with meetings a little with on line. For me the key is tracking, whether it is points, calories, macronutrients, whatever. (I still in my head sometimes think about points). As someone else mentioned, I like the forums. I don't often comment, but find these very motivating. Still get e-mails from WW to come back - I check it out once in a while curious if they have lowered their rates of what is different. I see that WW now has a live-chat available on line - I guess that is how they justify charging. Again can come on MFP and pretty much get a conversation going at any time of day. Again, MFP is great, I've also used Lose-It (non-premium) and I like it too and both are also available mobile.

I did Weight Watchers for 1 year (2005-6) but I then lost my job so I couldn't afford to go every week, then we calculated that I spent a total of £240 to be told I had lost total of 67lb in weight....

Here I've lost 164lb & spent £0.00 - job or no job, this site wins over for me....

Wonderful information and review about WW. I am currently a WW member and have been a member for years now. I have come over to my MFP and I love it. The food database is awesome and the people on this sight are awesome. I have realized that I do not enjoy the message boards like I do on MFP. I think that I am going to do MFP exclusively and save my money that I spend on WW monthly.

I did lose 30 pounds on WW years ago. I did not like the meetings because I'm a private person and if I gained a pound one week because of sodium or female issues, I didn't like the whole, "what did you do wrong?!?!" shriek of the leader. So much for dignity and privacy during the weigh in! Also, I followed the points but also walked five miles/five days a week and never ate back those points. In other words, it was more about creating a deficit, which I think I can do on my own, for free. But WW does make a lot of people happy, and I commend them for taking the time to find what works for them.