Has anyone had success with Weight Watchers? How does it work?

Then invest in your health, hire a proper coach who can support you properly.

These weight loss groups are run by people with no qualifications so all you get is generic advice.

They can be a good support network for people, but they simply don't compare to hiring a qualified coach who can build you a Bespoke plan based on your needs

I have been on Weight Watchers for the best part of 8 years (until around 2 months ago..)

As you know, they work on a 'points' basis. Your 'leader' will allocate you your daily points allowance based on your height and weight. I was given 26 points (If you break it down, it works out to around 1200 or a little less). You are given an extra 'cheat allowance' of 49 points per week to use for high calorie meals should you choose to. I think the reason for the 'cheat points' is because of the HUGE deficit they have you eating at in the first place.

I will not dispute that this works - it does. I lost 25lbs on Weight Watchers but it is also such an unsustainable 'diet plan' - hence why I stopped. The leaders have no scientific knowledge in regards to losing weight. I maintained weight one week due to it being 'time of the month' and the leader suggested I up my vegetable intake and work-out more. Depite my 'diet' being immaculate and working out 4 times a week. The following week, I dropped 2lbs and was told "See I told you it would work!". I didn't up my vegetable intake and I didn't work out more *rolls eyes*.

WW is primarily a money-making scheme. You shouldn't have to pay a fee per month to get weighed and have a 'leader' tell you you're eating too much. MFP is FREE and I've learnt more here and gained a lot of knowledge and healthy habits that were deemed unthinkable by Weight Watchers.

Wishing you the best of luck in whatever you choose!

> Has anyone had success with Weight Watchers?

The stock holders.

booksandchocolate12 wrote: »

I wouldn't call WW a "money making scheme". I would call it a business. It's a healthy weight loss plan that works. I did WW for a long time and was successful on it, but decided that I didn't want to pay to lose weight. However, I didn't feel "taken" or like I was the victim of some scheme. (Thinking about it, I guess gyms are "money making schemes" because you can exercise at home without paying for it. And nail salons are "money making schemes" because I can do my own nails at home. See where I'm going with this?)

WW is about as sustainable as doing CICO. What's the difference? If you continue to weigh, measure and track your food on WW, and eat within your points allowance, you'll lose. Just as with CICO, if you continue to weigh, measure and log, you'll lose. The only difference is the money, and if someone can afford and wants to pay WW indefinitely, then it's sustainable.

As others have said, it's just a simplified version of CICO. If you can do that, you can do MFP and not have to pay for it. Some people join because they like face-to-face interaction with people in their situation. Some people insist that they need the "accountability" of being weighed in front of someone else, and that's why they join and go to meetings. I've never understood that, feeling that I am only accountable to myself, which is why I belonged to the (cheaper) online program.

Whatever the case, the point (no pun intended) is that you can eat what you like as long as it fits into your points....just as with MFP, you can eat what you like as long as it fits into your calorie goal.

If you're looking for a structured program where they tell you exactly what foods to eat, WW is not for you

Fair points - I suppose 'business' is the word I really needed to use as you're absolutely right.

Also, I agree WW is a simplified CICO but I find the whole weight watchers experience kind of intimidating. I maintained my weight one week due to it being 'time of the month' and the leader disinterestingly looked at the scale and said "Where did you go wrong this week?". I said "I didn't". She told me to up my vegetable intake and work out more despite having an immaculate diet and working out 4 times per week. I went back the following week having dropped 2lbs and she said "See I told you! Always listen to me! I know what I'm talking about" *Rolls eyes*.

I just think people who deal with such a sensitive and complex topic such as weight loss should be qualified to dish out the advice. A lot of what they told me to do 'do' was totally unhealthy and unrealistic. Perhaps I've just had the wrong leaders. WW's was great in the sense that it helped me lose weight, but in my personal opinion - not great in the long run.

Well done to those that can sustain with WW. Good on you

MarziPanda95 wrote: »

booksandchocolate12 wrote: »

WW is about as sustainable as doing CICO. What's the difference? If you continue to weigh, measure and track your food on WW, and eat within your points allowance, you'll lose. Just as with CICO, if you continue to weigh, measure and log, you'll lose. The only difference is the money, and if someone can afford and wants to pay WW indefinitely, then it's sustainable.

I think the reason that it's not as sustainable (other than the cost) as MFP might be is that it doesn't teach you anything about calories. It teaches you about points, but that's not the same thing. It can be harder to figure out how many points something has, as opposed to just how many calories are in it - as that information is more readily available. It also has vegetables as point free, and used to have fruit free too though I may have read somewhere that they changed that, so I'm not sure. Vegetables have calories too. It's hard, but possible, to overeat on vegetables. It's quite easy to overeat fruit.

I found WW very simple in certain areas but very vague in others. I'm not denying it works, it sure does!
The 'points' plan does indeed make it all a lot more straightforward. But I also had no idea what nutrional values and calories were in ANYTHING at all. After asking my leader how many calories I would be consuming on average per day on WW, the only answer she supplied was a very snappy "We don't do calories here". My response? "I'd just like to calculate how large my deficit is". All she said was "Just trust in WW, it works".
Not helpful!

PinkPixiexox wrote: »

I just think people who deal with such a sensitive and complex topic such as weight loss should be qualified to dish out the advice. A lot of what they told me to do 'do' was totally unhealthy and unrealistic. Perhaps I've just had the wrong leaders. WW's was great in the sense that it helped me lose weight, but in my personal opinion - not great in the long run.

I have to agree with you there. Like I said, I was an online member, but reading the WW message boards gave me an idea of what the leaders could be like. Many of them do their own "tweaks" to the program--which is fine--but then they present these "tweaks" to new members as if they were gospel, leaving the newbie confused as to what they really should be doing, what they should expect, etc. And I've also heard that meetings are becoming mostly a sales pitch for new WW products: one of the pitfalls of being a part of a weight loss program that you have to pay for.

booksandchocolate12 wrote: »

PinkPixiexox wrote: »

I just think people who deal with such a sensitive and complex topic such as weight loss should be qualified to dish out the advice. A lot of what they told me to do 'do' was totally unhealthy and unrealistic. Perhaps I've just had the wrong leaders. WW's was great in the sense that it helped me lose weight, but in my personal opinion - not great in the long run.

I have to agree with you there. Like I said, I was an online member, but reading the WW message boards gave me an idea of what the leaders could be like. Many of them do their own "tweaks" to the program--which is fine--but then they present these "tweaks" to new members as if they were gospel, leaving the newbie confused as to what they really should be doing, what they should expect, etc. And I've also heard that meetings are becoming mostly a sales pitch for new WW products: one of the pitfalls of being a part of a weight loss program that you have to pay for.

Reading the WW message boards is NOTHING like what going to a meeting can be! oy... Some of those WW message board folks are vicious. Kind of like here. Or on any message board, come to think of it.

I attended WW for awhile and lost a lot of weight. That was some years ago and gained it back. That wasn't the fault of WW of course, that was on me. My leader was excellent and I learned a LOT from attending. Mostly I stopped because I couldn't afford it (two kids in college now), and then they changed the meeting time of the meeting close by me and I didn't want to drive to get to another at that same time slot.

But I think WW is a good program, and sustainable if a person makes the effort. It teaches nutrition -- at least mine did -- and the value of exercise to be healthy. Again though, I think it depends on the leader.

I'm on Weight Watchers, even though it's only been recently that I started counting points again for meals. I like going to meetings because it's a good place for accountability, support, and you are among others who want to lose weight. At meetings they give you pamphlets to read centered around the topic of the week. I like the points system because it's a quick way of seeing if something is good or not, especially with processed foods. Something that may "seem" okay may not be that great.

I think the key to WW is having a leader/meeting that has a similar mindset as you do. if you are an athletic person, a meeting where no one talks about exercise would not be the meeting for you. At the center that I normally go to, one of the leaders had lost over 100+ lbs and organizes a yearly 5k walk around a local park (relative to the center).

The leader that I used to have would tell us her adventures of taking up more exercising classes, even though most of the participants were half her age. She said how she gained 5 lbs eating around 1 lb of grapes a day, and how too much of a good thing can lead to a gain. I felt that was important because even though the program is built to allow for "free" fruits and veggies, we are not supposed to abuse it.

As for the sales pitches, I guess that is their way of getting as much money as they can from the members without them going elsewhere. Want those candy bars? Buy it from WW. Need a scale? WW has that too. Serving spoons and chips? Got those. But I believe we are all adults - you don't HAVE to buy that stuff. My leader was good for letting us know that she was told to bring X product up, and told us which ones she liked in particular.

I lost 40lbs with WW and started by going to meetings. That didn't last long, I hated queuing up to be weighed and it was very cliquey. The last straw was when the 'leader' started a once a week 'fish and chips' night for people who had lost over 2lbs that week. To my mind rewarding someone with the most fad laden meal on the planet is totally counter-productive. I went online from then on. I didn't want to go back to WW because of cost - why pay £13 per month to go on their website when I can come on here for nowt!

I did WW 6 years ago and I was sooooooooooooooo hungry all the time. and they told me I couldn't eat back my exercise points because I was exercising before I started WW and they wouldn't count. When I told them how hungry I was they always told me it was the food I was eating not that I wasn't eating enough. I think they had me on the equivalent of 1200 calories a day (I was 24 years old, 5'9" and 170 pounds... there was no reason I should have been that low) It did work but I was sooooooo hungry and in the end I gained it all back by binge eating. MFP is MUCH better for me because everything is explained so much better. I average 1800 calories a day (And half my exercise calories) and I'm still losing.