I'm a prisoner of Weight Watchers - How do I break free?

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  • penelopepittstopsmam
    penelopepittstopsmam Posts: 67 Member
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    You lot are the reason that WW's share price is tumbling........

    I for one don't miss paying them.
  • penelopepittstopsmam
    penelopepittstopsmam Posts: 67 Member
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    http://www.wsj.com/articles/weight-watchers-swings-to-loss-1424989009
  • trina1049
    trina1049 Posts: 593 Member
    edited May 2015
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    crazyjerseygirl wrote: »
    MizLayla wrote: »
    Hello Friends,

    I was obese for the first 25 years of my life; I remember weighing over 200lbs as a 12 year old girl. In 2008, I started Weight Watchers and over the course of two years, I lost 100lbs (hooray!). My weight went from 270lbs to 170lbs. For the past five years, I've maintained this 100lb weight loss (with a lot of fluctuating between 170 and 180). The lowest I've managed to get to is 160lbs, but I haven't been able to maintain that weight.

    So long story short, I've continued to use the WW program for the past 5 years with no further results (other than maintaining my 100lb loss). I'd like to lose 20 pounds more; I'm currently holding steady at 170lbs. Even 10 lbs would be nice! I think I need to try something new if I want to lose my last 20lbs, but I'm so used to weight watchers that I'm almost terrified of quitting. I weigh my food and count my points religiously. I realize that My Fitness Pal is a great program, but I get exhausted at the thought of having to track all of my fruits and veggies... that's a lot of food I haven't had to worry about tracking for a long time. I'm also concerned about not having "bonus points"... I rely on those for my social life.

    Beyond weight tracking, I've been doing weight training at my gym for the past two years. I LOVE weight training - its an end in itself. It makes me feel fantastic and strong. I also avoid refined sugars and processed foods (or have been for the past few weeks at least). Despite having improved my diet and increased my physical activity, I haven't seen results over the past few weeks.

    I don't want to become so obsessed with food tracking and weight loss that I become a hermit just to avoid being around food. I say that because sometimes, I DO get really obsessive about it and I turn down opportunities to hang out with friends because I'm terrified about being around food I may not know the point values of. Given my history, I obviously have a hard time saying no to food.

    I'm not seeking perfection. But I want to lose at least ten pounds. I'm serious about my health and I don't want to give up weight watchers without having something else to go to instead. Heck, I'd be ok with myself even by just maintaining my current weight... but I shouldn't have to pay WW in order to succeed at that. There has to be a better way.

    Anyway, thanks for reading. I know this is a big dump of poorly-organized information, but if you have any experience or advice to share, I'm all ears. It felt good to vent about all this.

    I don't want to speak ill of the fruit, but the fruit is what plateaued me in WW. Logging here is pretty easier, it's the same as WW just with bigger numbers!

    Same for me on WW. I've been successful on every weight loss program I've been on (lifetime WW member here) but always regained. Now over a year and half into MFP I've lost 47 lbs. Too many "free" fruits and vegetables of the wrong types (I need low glycemic fruits & veg) caused me to plateau. I educated myself about calories in/calories out, macros, etc. and have been very successful on MFP, it's free, and I've learned so much about nutrition and maintaining my weight loss. MFP is much more educational for long term success if you study and apply all the good info. here.
  • VoxSapiens
    VoxSapiens Posts: 6 Member
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    One thing that you stated
    MizLayla wrote: »
    It felt good to vent about all this.

    This is the healthiest thing of all. Being frustrated or having stress (especially about the weight loss strategies we're using) can add extra challenges.
    MizLayla wrote: »
    Beyond weight tracking, I've been doing weight training at my gym for the past two years. I LOVE weight training - its an end in itself. It makes me feel fantastic and strong. I also avoid refined sugars and processed foods (or have been for the past few weeks at least). Despite having improved my diet and increased my physical activity, I haven't seen results over the past few weeks.

    Again, like I stated before, I don't know much about the Weight Watchers program, but this bit that I just quoted struck me.

    You achieved a weight loss using the dieting strategies, and maintained it, but then you added weight training during the past two years. This means that you've added some muscle mass which will add to your weight, but not to your body fat. This also means that losing that extra 10 or 20 pounds is even harder. You've conditioned your body differently through the training—in terms of how your body metabolises whatever food you eat.

    I have found that it can be beneficial to "shock" my body by changing the exercise strategy every few months or so because when you do essentially the same routine (even with incremental increases in resistance, repetitions, or duration), your body becomes "settled in" on that and the results become slower.

    I would recommend tracking your body measurements—in addition to weight; a feature in myfitnesspal. If you do find that you're not losing weight, but you are getting smaller measurements, you've got an answer there.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    I like the advice to try mfp at the same time and then see how it goes.

    On the other hand, you're happy with your current lifestyle. You enjoy the social aspects of eating, variety, You like that WW accommodates that. You could do that here too, obviously. BUT: Cutting cals will obviously change that, whether you do it here or there.

    Personally, I'd rather increase activity than cut food. How much are you doing now? An hour of cardio a day, which is the amount recommended for health, might help with those ten pounds and give you additional health benefits besides
  • cdcllcga01
    cdcllcga01 Posts: 71 Member
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    Maintaining your weight loss for 5 years is a very significant accomplishment that shouldn't undervalue. So kudos for that. Given the duration of your maintenance, I understand the security you feel with WW. However, after 5 years of trying to lose more - it's time to make a change! MFP has a great many features that save a great deal of logging labor. Consider logging and calorie counting a skill you have to learn just like WW point counting - at first it's a challenge, but gets to be second nature over time. And you can still have a social life - you just need to plan a little (i.e. making room in your budget for the extra calories).
  • moautry
    moautry Posts: 12 Member
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    Sweet fruits are nature's candy. They are really nutritious, but need to be monitored similar to the m&m's. Try switching up your fat/carb ratio, and see if that doesn't breath new life into your progress. I did WW three times: the first time was a great success but the 3rd time was a complete failure despite following everything to the letter. MFP guidelines didn't work for me either. I'm mid 40's and I think a lifetime of dieting "broke" me somehow. But the last year or so I've been low-carb and love it. I don't worry about the calorie count, just the fat/carb ratio. High fat and fiber + low sugar and carbs. MFP gives you your percentage of fat/carbs/protein in the mobile app versions. I maintain at 20% carbs, and lose if I go lower than that.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    @MizLayla that's fantastic you lost 100 lb with WW. Well done.

    Thanks for starting this thread. It's been a fascinating read for those of us (like me) who haven't been a member of WW.

    My thoughts are that you are assuming MFP will lead to obsession. But you say you already "weigh my food and count my points religiously", so MFP wouldn't be any different.

    Think of MFP as being a more scientific, more accurate WW. That's what WW hasn't given you. It's dumbed things down and hidden things from you that you need to know.

    You don't need to obsess about your micronutrients. (For me, that's where MFP could possibly get obsessive.)

    Just my thoughts. Thanks for reading.

  • KettleTO
    KettleTO Posts: 144 Member
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    I also did WW before MFP. I did not WW meetings supportive. The weigh in was good, but that was not enough to keep paying them. They were pretty inflexible about the meeting costs. It's been 10 years since I did WW online so it isn't fair to compare, but MFP's food database is excellent. The only things I've had to enter are my own recipes. Some from popular cookbooks are already entered.

    Give MFP a try and stop wasting your money.

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