Weight Watchers vs Calorie Counting

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ItsLessOfMe
ItsLessOfMe Posts: 374 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I started my weight loss journey Sept 25th 2010. At first I was doing a program called Herbalife. After loosing 20 lbs I decided that it wasnt realistic. SO I pulled out all my old weight watchers info and figured it was more realistic. I lost 13 more lbs and joined MFP about a month ago.

Now I've been tracking calories and points. I just want to do one thing but its hard to let go of Weight watchers. Its like my brain thinks in points. When I see calories I convert them to points. Thats dumb. Everything is labeled with calories and it seems much easier to just look at the calories at face value.

So I want to know what everyone does. On weight watchers I try to eat 5 to 6 pt meals with 3 1 point snacks. I dont know what the difference is and I was wondering if anyone whos done both could shed some light on this for me.

A good example is on weight watchers you assign less points for something with more fiber. But with calorie counting you dont do that. So I'm just scared that I'd be missing out on food by counting calories.Hope this makes sense to someone.

Replies

  • janna674
    janna674 Posts: 410 Member
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    i lost on WW 36 lbs before i was prego and had kids...it was points but back then we got 18-22 pts (depending your weight) ...i would eat alot more and exercise wasnt as important to me...i never exercised with WW ...now i do with MFP...i have lost 22 lbs since Sept...its been alot slower coming off, but I am now an avid walker...and am super energetic...with weight watchers I still had bad fat habits...with mfp I am always conscience of my food choices and calories, plus the wealth of information on nutrition and joining different workout challenges on mfp are invaluable...WW never gave me that ...just a meeting and weigh in. I also feel your more honest when its anomymous here on mfp.
  • Coyla
    Coyla Posts: 444 Member
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    I think both are fine, and both can be beneficial. But calorie counting is free, which is the only reason I like it better. :)

    If you're comfortable with Weight Watchers points, stick with it for awhile. No harm in that.
  • cfinley21
    cfinley21 Posts: 18
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    With the points system it is rounded up. With Calories its exact. You might be able to squeeze in another 60 calorie snack at the end of the day counting calories but with WW that wouldnt be possible! I think converting everything to points is silly. Just stick with the calories!
  • ItsLessOfMe
    ItsLessOfMe Posts: 374 Member
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    I think converting everything to points is silly. Just stick with the calories!

    Thats what I was thinking! But what about the fiber?
  • mewannashrinkalil
    mewannashrinkalil Posts: 4
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    When I did weight watchers I just converted the points I was supposed to have to calories because it was easier that way and not much of a difference.
  • peacehawk
    peacehawk Posts: 421 Member
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    I have not done weight watchers, but I have friends and family who have had good luck with it. I don't want the public weigh in (I've heard some overseers, or whatever you call them can be pretty belittling if you gain or don't lose I need support, not shaming). Also, with pay cuts and higher bills, I don't want to pay the fees for weight watchers. I'd rather get a gym membership when I can afford it again. I like MFP because it makes me think about what I shovel in to my mouth and it helps to motivate me to get off my butt ad MOVE. I feel much better when I do that. I know tha my friends who have been doing weight watchers have been losing weight really well, but they cntinue to be as sedentary as before, and they tend toward prepackaged snacks because they have WW points listed on them. I have a love love relationship with food ad enjoy taking it slow, chopping by hand, growing from seed, inhaling the aromas, using a hand held whip instead of an electric mixer, all of those things cnnect me to my food. Also, MFP does as well because I look at more than calories. I track my calcium, potassium, fiber and fat as well as vitamins with the nutrition tracker. It helps me choose foods in a way I can't imagine counting points would. But, I know ww works for a lot of people.
  • supershiny
    supershiny Posts: 170 Member
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    I have done both and honestly I feel like calorie counting makes me more accountable for my choices. I lost weight on WW, but I wasn't eating healthfully and mindfully. I gamed the system to get the most food from my "points", which you definitely can't do when counting calories. Every bite matters here!

    To ensure you get enough fiber, keep the nutrient counts in mind as you plan your day. Fiber doesn't gain you more calories, but it does fill you up and aid in weight loss :) If you need help arranging your meals around calories and not points, I get 1200 a day and work off ~300-500 calories. I aim for 400 calories per meal with a mix of fat, protein, and carbs and 100-200 per snack. If you need more info on what percentages to aim for, I really like the Mayo Clinic's straightforward advice: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-diet/NU00200

    Hope some of this was helpful :)
  • lyndsaysutton82
    lyndsaysutton82 Posts: 30
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    I've done both, and have learned that it's not just about calories, fiber, and fat. For me, and a lot of women, Sodium plays a huge factor in weight loss. Weight watchers doesn't account for that at all, at least it didn't when I use to use it.

    I also hate the "banking" of unused points. I felt like it gave me the opportunity to cheat on the diet, and ruin all my weight loss. It was there for flexibility, but really it just messed me up. I like the MFP layout, the ease of creating your own recipes, and all of the other stuff that this website has, for free.
  • britachu
    britachu Posts: 157
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    Thats what I was thinking! But what about the fiber?

    You can add fiber as one of the things to track in your MFP diary, and you can adjust the settings based on how much fiber you want (MFP only tells me 14 or so, but I am for 25). Fruits and veggies are high in fiber but low in calories, or you can try a high-fiber cereal for breakfast to get some of that in. I also use Flatout Wraps for some of my meals, and the ones I use have 8 or 9 grams of fiber in them.
  • ItsLessOfMe
    ItsLessOfMe Posts: 374 Member
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    I have done both and honestly I feel like calorie counting makes me more accountable for my choices. I lost weight on WW, but I wasn't eating healthfully and mindfully. I gamed the system to get the most food from my "points", which you definitely can't do when counting calories. Every bite matters here!

    To ensure you get enough fiber, keep the nutrient counts in mind as you plan your day. Fiber doesn't gain you more calories, but it does fill you up and aid in weight loss :) If you need help arranging your meals around calories and not points, I get 1200 a day and work off ~300-500 calories. I aim for 400 calories per meal with a mix of fat, protein, and carbs and 100-200 per snack. If you need more info on what percentages to aim for, I really like the Mayo Clinic's straightforward advice: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-diet/NU00200

    Hope some of this was helpful :)

    Thank you SO MUCH!!! This is exactly what was ripping my mind appart. Okay on to calorie counting YAY
  • supershiny
    supershiny Posts: 170 Member
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    np, glad I could help :)
  • butterflywingz
    butterflywingz Posts: 20
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    I
  • butterflywingz
    butterflywingz Posts: 20
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    I
  • butterflywingz
    butterflywingz Posts: 20
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    I am also a WW well was, but I became so obseed with point values! So I am going to stick to this because although obesity isnt a side effect of fruit I have found in just a few days that being able to break it down to calories really gives me a detailed outline of what I eat. I feel like you, but we have to pick one thing and stick to it, if you do both you will always waiver and with weightloss we have to be steadfast :)

    Good Luck!

    Valerie
  • regentin
    regentin Posts: 60
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    I've also done both.....in fact I just started back on the WW plan today (coming off the 17DD)...I am logging my food on MFP, and in the notes section keeping track of my points. I'm very close to being back to my lifetime member status and once I'm there, it's free. I feel like the meetings are just that much more support for me, plus my leader is awesome. I do like the fact that you can track everything, including sugar and sodium by using MFP. So....my advice is to try both...you are already logging your food, so it's pretty simple to convert to points. Did I mention that I love the fact that fruit is now free!!! Good luck with whatever you decide and feel free to add me as a friend!!

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