Weight watchers???
mummyadele84
Posts: 22 Member
ive lost 4 stone so far and I'm really struggling with the last two stone thinking of joining weight watchers anyone had any good or bad experiences??? Thanks
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Replies
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Well done on losing so much. I'm not a fan of weight watchers because the amount of "free" foods would just encourage me to eat bowls full of them. It's also quite expensive. However, some people do benefit from knowing they'll be weighed in front of people to stay motivated but if you speak to your local GP surgery it may be something they can do through their nurses.0
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I prefer free diet/exercise programs (Oh look, we're on one!)
WW really isn't any different than counting calories other than:
a) they build in more room for error with "free" foods (if it ain't water, log it 'cause its got calories)
b) they charge an exorbitant amount
c) they have in "class" or one-on-one meetings for a price
I suppose, if you need that in-person support, maybe it's worth it? My mother (who is still obese) has done WW on and off her whole life, so as a child, so did I. I never lost weight on it because the reality is, I like fruits and veggies and a lot of those were considered "free" foods. If I just didn't add up all of mine from a normal diary day, that's typically 400+ calories I wouldn't be counting. My daily deficit it about 400 cals now, so I just wouldn't lose weight. Ever.0 -
I did WW 6 years ago... I did lose weight but I was ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS hungry. I kept telling them I thought they had my points wrong but they kept telling me it was science and there was no way they had my points wrong I was just eating the wrong things. On MFP I'm rarely hungry and I understand my calorie intake more.0
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i lost weight on WW years ago and it is one of the best weight-loss programs if you want the structure of a program. What seems to help is the support and encouragement you get. Figuring points made me crazy, though...all I did all day is think about food, points, etc. i would try it and see if it helps. Can you join an introductory program where they waive the initiation fee?0
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Thanks everyone yeah I've found a coupon for free registration and first meeting so might give it a try although I'm a bit skeptical0
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I did WW a few years ago and lost 50 pounds. I really liked it and truly, the only reason why I'm not on it now is because I found it difficult to go back on it after I stopped the first time. It's strange because it's not that much different than counting calories (other than free fruits, which for those of you who think you'd abuse it, WW kinda assumes you will and gives you your daily points based on that). So, you could try it, but the difference between MFP and WW is mainly price. I'm seeing similar loses now that I did 3 years ago on WW.0
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I had great success in the old WW plan (2009), the new plan, not at all.
I've had great success on MFP so far.
The only thing I would recommend WW for would be for the weekly meetings and weigh ins. If you need encouragement and accountability, this is the place for you. However, it's hard to find a good leader, so try a few before you commit. Good luck!0 -
mummyadele84 wrote: »ive lost 4 stone so far and I'm really struggling with the last two stone thinking of joining weight watchers anyone had any good or bad experiences??? Thanks
What's wrong with MFP?0 -
I do slimming world and have lost 3 stone on that? I struggle On weekends though and this app helps as I calorie count rather then do slimming world0
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I know people who have had success with it, but I haven't met anyone who's had lasting success using weight watchers. I've seen more last success using just MFP.0
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I used to be a member. The meetings can be very helpful. There was a good variety of people at the meetings: people who were brand new, people who were struggling, people with 100+ pounds to lose, people who had reached their goal and kept it off for years. My best friend lost over 50lbs with weight watchers, and has now been a lifetime member for 7 years. So it can definitely work. But I decided not to go back because of the cost, and because I prefer counting calories rather than points.0
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Everyone I've met in the real world that has done weight watchers lost a little weight and then immediately gained it all back.0
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I think WW is a great program. People who freak out over the "free" foods aren't doing it right.
First of all, the only "free" foods are fruits and non-starchy vegetables. It's not like ice cream and cocoa puffs are "free".
Second of all, those that actually learn and follow the program correctly understand that no foods are "free"; they are "zero points". And yes, there is a difference. The zero point foods are not a free for all. You are not told that you can eat as much as you want. You're told to eat "to satisfaction", which is a good skill to learn.
As someone said up-thread, the zero point foods are factored in to your point allowance. WW gives you a lower amount of points than you should really be consuming, to compensate for the fact that you will be eating zero point foods TO SATISFACTION, not gluttony. I lost 35 lbs on WW eating a veggies and fruits (even high calorie bananas) and not logging them.
Now, the downside: While I don't find the online program to be "exorbitant" (I was paying $20 a month), if you go all out and want to go to meetings (which I did back before there was an online program, and found them pretty useless) it will be more than twice that, and yes, that is a lot to pay for a weight loss program. Especially since, I'm told, the meetings have turned into little more than a sales pitch for WW products.
The real problem for me, and the reason I canceled my membership and switched to MFP, is that the website is terrible. Very glitchy and antiquated. The site is constantly down for "upgrades" but no one ever sees the results of these upgrades. When I starting getting kicked off the mobile app virtually every time I tried to get on, I knew it was time for a change. I'm not going to pay for something when the tools that are supposed to help me rarely work.
The switch to MFP was easy and I'm doing well (and saving money, which is always good).0 -
I tried WW, love all the resources, but HATED figuring out the formula, counting calories is way easier for me. And I felt so restricted, ALWAYS hungry n ALWAYS thinking about food while on WW. Not at all while counting calories.
Good luck in whatever you do! 0 -
Any program works if you stick with it WW worked for me I would lose at least fifteen pounds before I fell off, I got tired of counting points and just being accountable. I say if you can afford it the online portion is ok, but MFP is better and free. I went back to WW last year and was turned off by how things are done now and by the fact their meeting location you can see inside from the street, very intrusive. And also by the leaders who've become pushy to get you to talk in group when your not ready and the sells pitch factor for things you don't eat or want to use. You don't need everything they sell to lose weight, the meetings used to be more genuine and helpful back in the day. Although I did find a leader or two was more than helpful to go out of her way to help members off of the weight watchers clock. Best of care whichever you choose.0
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booksandchocolate12 wrote: »I think WW is a great program. People who freak out over the "free" foods aren't doing it right.
First of all, the only "free" foods are fruits and non-starchy vegetables. It's not like ice cream and cocoa puffs are "free".
Second of all, those that actually learn and follow the program correctly understand that no foods are "free"; they are "zero points". And yes, there is a difference. The zero point foods are not a free for all. You are not told that you can eat as much as you want. You're told to eat "to satisfaction", which is a good skill to learn.
As someone said up-thread, the zero point foods are factored in to your point allowance. WW gives you a lower amount of points than you should really be consuming, to compensate for the fact that you will be eating zero point foods TO SATISFACTION, not gluttony. I lost 35 lbs on WW eating a veggies and fruits (even high calorie bananas) and not logging them.
Now, the downside: While I don't find the online program to be "exorbitant" (I was paying $20 a month), if you go all out and want to go to meetings (which I did back before there was an online program, and found them pretty useless) it will be more than twice that, and yes, that is a lot to pay for a weight loss program. Especially since, I'm told, the meetings have turned into little more than a sales pitch for WW products.
The real problem for me, and the reason I canceled my membership and switched to MFP, is that the website is terrible. Very glitchy and antiquated. The site is constantly down for "upgrades" but no one ever sees the results of these upgrades. When I starting getting kicked off the mobile app virtually every time I tried to get on, I knew it was time for a change. I'm not going to pay for something when the tools that are supposed to help me rarely work.
The switch to MFP was easy and I'm doing well (and saving money, which is always good).
Well to be fair, MFP has all sorts of glitches and issues as well
One of my sister's have had great success with WW and has been maintaining for several years now, still using their online option. I've never really looked into it, but after reading the other WW thread last night I did some searching online and I was able to find all the info about how to do the program, as well as all the calculators I'd need to do it, for free. I also ended up on their website and they have tons of info there, like printable lists and such, so really it would be pretty easy to do the program for free.
I want to lose 5 vanity pounds for the summer, and I'm thinking of trying it just for the heck of it, to see what all the fuss is about
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Sarasmaintaining wrote: »booksandchocolate12 wrote: »I think WW is a great program. People who freak out over the "free" foods aren't doing it right.
First of all, the only "free" foods are fruits and non-starchy vegetables. It's not like ice cream and cocoa puffs are "free".
Second of all, those that actually learn and follow the program correctly understand that no foods are "free"; they are "zero points". And yes, there is a difference. The zero point foods are not a free for all. You are not told that you can eat as much as you want. You're told to eat "to satisfaction", which is a good skill to learn.
As someone said up-thread, the zero point foods are factored in to your point allowance. WW gives you a lower amount of points than you should really be consuming, to compensate for the fact that you will be eating zero point foods TO SATISFACTION, not gluttony. I lost 35 lbs on WW eating a veggies and fruits (even high calorie bananas) and not logging them.
Now, the downside: While I don't find the online program to be "exorbitant" (I was paying $20 a month), if you go all out and want to go to meetings (which I did back before there was an online program, and found them pretty useless) it will be more than twice that, and yes, that is a lot to pay for a weight loss program. Especially since, I'm told, the meetings have turned into little more than a sales pitch for WW products.
The real problem for me, and the reason I canceled my membership and switched to MFP, is that the website is terrible. Very glitchy and antiquated. The site is constantly down for "upgrades" but no one ever sees the results of these upgrades. When I starting getting kicked off the mobile app virtually every time I tried to get on, I knew it was time for a change. I'm not going to pay for something when the tools that are supposed to help me rarely work.
The switch to MFP was easy and I'm doing well (and saving money, which is always good).
Well to be fair, MFP has all sorts of glitches and issues as well
Yes, but you're not paying between $20 - $50 a month for the privilege of experiencing those glitches.
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booksandchocolate12 wrote: »Sarasmaintaining wrote: »booksandchocolate12 wrote: »I think WW is a great program. People who freak out over the "free" foods aren't doing it right.
First of all, the only "free" foods are fruits and non-starchy vegetables. It's not like ice cream and cocoa puffs are "free".
Second of all, those that actually learn and follow the program correctly understand that no foods are "free"; they are "zero points". And yes, there is a difference. The zero point foods are not a free for all. You are not told that you can eat as much as you want. You're told to eat "to satisfaction", which is a good skill to learn.
As someone said up-thread, the zero point foods are factored in to your point allowance. WW gives you a lower amount of points than you should really be consuming, to compensate for the fact that you will be eating zero point foods TO SATISFACTION, not gluttony. I lost 35 lbs on WW eating a veggies and fruits (even high calorie bananas) and not logging them.
Now, the downside: While I don't find the online program to be "exorbitant" (I was paying $20 a month), if you go all out and want to go to meetings (which I did back before there was an online program, and found them pretty useless) it will be more than twice that, and yes, that is a lot to pay for a weight loss program. Especially since, I'm told, the meetings have turned into little more than a sales pitch for WW products.
The real problem for me, and the reason I canceled my membership and switched to MFP, is that the website is terrible. Very glitchy and antiquated. The site is constantly down for "upgrades" but no one ever sees the results of these upgrades. When I starting getting kicked off the mobile app virtually every time I tried to get on, I knew it was time for a change. I'm not going to pay for something when the tools that are supposed to help me rarely work.
The switch to MFP was easy and I'm doing well (and saving money, which is always good).
Well to be fair, MFP has all sorts of glitches and issues as well
Yes, but you're not paying between $20 - $50 a month for the privilege of experiencing those glitches.
True 0 -
I lost 80 pounds on WW before they introduced the free foods idea. I honestly think its strengths are for the beginning weight loss, which is already behind you, not reaching goal at the end. By the time people are in your position, with 2 stone left to lose, they're plateauing and hungry all the time and talking about how much they're struggling in meetings. A lot of the lifetime members in my neighborhood only lost 20-30 pounds before hitting "goal" which is a different struggle than people who have 100 pounds to lose.0
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Asher_Ethan wrote: »I did WW 6 years ago... I did lose weight but I was ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS hungry. I kept telling them I thought they had my points wrong but they kept telling me it was science and there was no way they had my points wrong I was just eating the wrong things. On MFP I'm rarely hungry and I understand my calorie intake more.
same here. I did it as a really young teen and i did lose weight but i was hungry a lot as well. I dont feel ww is a permanent solution. Mfp is more permanent because you actually learn to know how to calculate your own bodys needs... And its free which is a bonus lol0 -
I tried WW, lost weight okay, but I was always hungry too. Plus, I've got a blood disorder that makes me tend toward anemia. The extremely limited protein diet sent my PCV into a tailspin. Had to quit, per doctors orders.0
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Weight Watchers is an extremely limited protein diet?0
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Okay, badly phrased. It's just that the proteins eat up so much of the points, I, at least, wasn't getting enough.0
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This is purely anecdotal, so please take it with a grain of salt, but I have found the people who have the best results on WW are the ones who need to lose 50+ pounds, so around 3.5 stone? If you have a coupon to sit in on a meeting, by all means go and see how you like it. Then you can make an informed decision whether or not WW is worth the price. I believe if you do meetings AND use the online tools it costs more, but if you're attending meetings at a location that also has a WW store then you can purchase one of their Points calculators. Me, personally? I did lost while doing WW, but as others have said I was always starving. I would also plateau around the 20lbs lost mark, even after tweaking my points.
If you do anything, avoid their Simply Filling Technique. It gives you a whole list of food options that are "free" (aka, "Power Foods") and you only eat from that list and you never weigh, measure, or track your food intake. You just "pay attention to your hunger cues". Now, for someone like me with a past filled with various eating disorders, hunger cues are not a good thing to rely on, so I found myself eating unlimited portions of "free" foods and then eating the other foods and using up all of my daily points on sweets and whatnot. That's not WW fault, but it does seem a bit dicey to just give people a list of food and say, "eat your fill of these and never keep tabs on it".0 -
I did Weight Watchers in the 90s and found it helpful to bring mindfulness to my eating. We had a great location - at work - and great leaders. I liked the support and the accountability of a weekly weigh in. However, I felt a lot of their nutritional advice was bad.
Would I do it now? No. Might it help you? /shrugs/0 -
I found their exchange information (former program) very useful. Lost about 40 pounds, maintained a while, got tired of spending so much time figuring out food, gained it all back.
What I've seen of the points system convinced me that it's easier to figure out basic nutrition info on my own, so I'm trying this place.0 -
I had some short-term success with WW a few years back. The old points system was easy. It really boiled down to calorie counting with a bonus for eating low fat and high fiber foods. Eat low fat / high fiber = eat more.
Points Plus was the end of it for me. The points became more of a mystery, alcohol was way too penalized, and my local meetings really started piling on the cookie sales. Towards the end, the last 15 minutes of almost every meeting we were given a sample of the latest WW treat (and the opportunity to buy some.)
Luckily, my employer paid for the meetings.0 -
Jaxxie1181 wrote: »If you do anything, avoid their Simply Filling Technique. It gives you a whole list of food options that are "free" (aka, "Power Foods") and you only eat from that list and you never weigh, measure, or track your food intake. You just "pay attention to your hunger cues". Now, for someone like me with a past filled with various eating disorders, hunger cues are not a good thing to rely on, so I found myself eating unlimited portions of "free" foods and then eating the other foods and using up all of my daily points on sweets and whatnot. That's not WW fault, but it does seem a bit dicey to just give people a list of food and say, "eat your fill of these and never keep tabs on it".
Agree 100%. I never even attempted SFT, because, even though, like fruits and veggies, the foods on the list are not "free" and are to be eaten to satisfaction, I knew that I could waaaaay overeat on some of the power foods. I have a hard time with hunger signals and have no off switch. While I personally find it hard to overindulge in fruits and veggies, I could easily overindulge in fat free popcorn, light English muffins and brown rice, all of which are power foods.
Some people don't struggle with hunger/fullness cues and they swear by SFT. But I'm not one of them.0 -
Everyone I've met in the real world that has done weight watchers lost a little weight and then immediately gained it all back.
Yup me too. I used WW a few times and each time I lost between 20-40 lbs but couldn't stick to it longer than 4 or 5 months. I eventually gained the weight back each time (and more).
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mummyadele84 wrote: »ive lost 4 stone so far and I'm really struggling with the last two stone thinking of joining weight watchers anyone had any good or bad experiences??? Thanks
You've lost weight doing what you've been doing, so why fix something if it ain't broke?0
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