Replicate WW with MFP?

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goodchapman
goodchapman Posts: 26 Member
edited September 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
Has anyone successfully replicated WW using MFP? I did WW 2 years ago and dropped 35 lbs, but I found MFP and I love the extensive database and tracking calories versus those complicated points. I also loved NOT having to track fruits & vegetables with WW, and would love to be able to replicate that with MFP, along with the "weeklies" given on WW for a splurge meal for a party or days when you go over. That aspect of the WW program kept me feeling motivated and like I was doing ok.

I was thinking this: on WW I would get 33 points/day (I'm a nursing mom trying to lose 2 lbs per week). At roughly 50 cals/P+, that puts me at 1650 calories per day not including fruits and veggies, because I don't want to track them and because WW doesn't count them against you. So that, plus 49P+ would be another 2500 calories to use throughout the week as I need them or if I want to relax for a dinner out or something.

Does this sound like it will work?
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Replies

  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    Sounds overcomplicated to me. And why don't you want to track fruits and veggies? They still have calories, fruit in particular can be very high calorie and easily lead to unwittingly over-eating.

    I'd just plug my stats in and see what MFP gives me, add a bit more for nursing and done. If you want to splurge at the weekend then eat less during teh week. I take a weekly view of my intake for this purpose (and is available under the nutrition tab).
  • goodchapman
    goodchapman Posts: 26 Member
    edited September 2015
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    I don't want to track them bc sometimes it's a huge pain to track every vegetable in a large salad, and I'd rather eat the healthy foods freely and not worry about them so much. It was my favorite part of WW, that I could eat limitless veggies and fruits and still lose weight. It helped me stay on track, so I wanted to see if anyone else has success doing something like this.

    MFP gives me 1200, plus if I add 500 for nursing I'm at 1700. When I did this a few months ago and tracked all fruits/veg, my supply dropped significantly and I gave up. So I'm thinking if I eat healthy veg/fruit freely it might help. I'm guessing here.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited September 2015
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    Apples & oranges. WW doesn't have you track fruits & veggies because their "point" allotment is lower calorie (to make up for fruits & veggies you will be eating). If you could "guesstimate" a daily allotment for fruits & veggies (alone)....just lower the value MFP gives you.

    Here's a link to a WW group - info might be helpful....but it's not really active

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/10133-weight-watchers-360-old-points-of-mfp
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    if you had success with WW, then do WW

    MFP is set up very different.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    I think mixing and matching your favorite parts of various programs doesn't lead to success. Each program has their benefits but are made to work as is. When you start drastically changing I think you lose a lot of the benefits. Just my personal opinion. I am doing WW right now because I eat like crap just doing MFP and I really like the focus of WW that I should eat less chocolate and more veggies. Currently I'm tracking in both places - it's a little bit of a pain but I'm at a stall right now and am trying to see where I need to adjust (other than the fact I need to eat about 1/2 of what I currently do! That part is obvious! LOL!)
  • goodchapman
    goodchapman Posts: 26 Member
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    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    if you had success with WW, then do WW

    MFP is set up very different.

    The WW app is terrible compared to MFP. When I did WW before, I didn't know about MFP's app. There is no comparison. I actually signed up for WW today, tried the app, became super frustrated in trying to find foods, and canceled my account.

  • goodchapman
    goodchapman Posts: 26 Member
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    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    because I eat like crap just doing MFP and I really like the focus of WW that I should eat less chocolate and more veggies.

    Exactly. I'll eat a 200 calorie candy bar instead of an apple and a banana. I'm trying to give myself some incentive to pick healthy things.


  • Owlfan88
    Owlfan88 Posts: 187 Member
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    You could try logging the fruits but not the vegetables. Most of the vegetables are low calorie enough to not matter that much, but really you don't have to log every vegetable in a salad. A generic salad entry will be close enough. I was using a generic one I found and wondered if it was really accurate. So one day I individually weighed out everything in my homemade salad. Yep, pretty close - and if it's off by ten calories I don't really care.
    Good luck and don't cut so much that your supply suffers. I was lucky that I lost weight easily (without having to really try) while breastfeeding, but maybe it was because my kids liked to fall asleep on a walk. So I was taking 30-60 minute walks twice a day pushing a kid in a stroller.
  • goodchapman
    goodchapman Posts: 26 Member
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    Yeah, I don't have that luxury. I work FT. But today I started a 30-minute walking club at my office, so at least I'll have that!
  • VykkDraygoVPR
    VykkDraygoVPR Posts: 465 Member
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    It sounds like it would be a good way to accidentally overeat.

    It shouldn't be hard to count a salad. If you make them yourself, just add it as a recipe or meal. If you make it pretty much the same each time, it should be close enough. If you buy them pre-made, just scan it and log it that way.

    As for fruit, it just takes a few seconds to pop it on the scale and log it.
  • goodchapman
    goodchapman Posts: 26 Member
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    But can you really overeat vegetables? I get the fruit thing.

    Anyhow. Thanks! No one seems to be enthusiastic about a WW/MFP mash-up.
  • VykkDraygoVPR
    VykkDraygoVPR Posts: 465 Member
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    goodchapman wrote: »
    But can you really overeat vegetables? I get the fruit thing.

    Anyhow. Thanks! No one seems to be enthusiastic about a WW/MFP mash-up.
    It all depends on the vegetable, or what you are counting as a vegetable (such as fruits like tomatoes, or avocados). For example, the 103 grams of baby carrots I ate today were close to 109 gram Gala apple I had (42 calories versus 57 calories). Not a lot of calories, but enough to make a difference at the end of the day. :)

    If you don't want to log stuff like lettuce, I don't think that would matter too much.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    goodchapman wrote: »
    The WW app is terrible compared to MFP. When I did WW before, I didn't know about MFP's app. There is no comparison.

    I totally agree with this. When I did WW before and didn't know MFP the WW app was great. Now I know MFP and the WW app drives me nuts. I actually log some stuff in the MFP app and then use the numbers from here to calculate there because their database is so very limited. But if you're mostly eating whole foods or the power foods as they call them then it has everything you need. Once again it's pushing you to eat a little healthier because it is so much easier to log that stuff.

  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
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    goodchapman wrote: »
    not including fruits and veggies, because I don't want to track them and because WW doesn't count them against you
    goodchapman wrote: »
    But can you really overeat vegetables? I get the fruit thing.

    It's very hard to overeat vegetables, but it's easy to overeat if you don't count vegetables.

    I include treats in my daily plan. But I also have vegetables with my lunch and my dinner. The vegetables I eat in one day equates to roughly 120-160 calories. If I didn't log my vegetables, my goal would say I still have 120-160 calories left in a day and I would either bank those calories for the weekend or I would have a treat. Then I would actually be OVER my goal and would either a) slow my weightloss or b) put me into maintenance.

    So while the vegetables are fantastic and low calorie, it's not the vegetables that are the problem. You need to hit your goal that MFP gives you (it's not a limit) and if you don't log everything you won't know how close/far away you are to the goal.
  • Dan_Runs_In_Sandals
    Dan_Runs_In_Sandals Posts: 6 Member
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    I've done WW before and almost got to my goal weight (within 5 pounds) on it, but stalled out and regained, which happens all the time. I almost joined WW again mainly because the meetings help me feel accountable, but as soon as I started using the MFP app I found it so much better and easier, and it enabled me to track nutrients like fiber and sodium. Now I can look at my fiber and sodium intake on most days and see if I'm on track, since there is no fiber in meat, cheese, fat, etc., and most processed/fast food is high in sodium. If you track your fruits and vegetables on MFP, the reward will be to see your nutrient values balance out, especially fiber.
  • goodchapman
    goodchapman Posts: 26 Member
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    These are all really good points. I'm going to try it anyhow, setting MFP to 350 cals lower than it tells me to, and then allowing the resulting negative/red amount to reach 2500 for the week and not tracking my fruit/veg. If this doesn't allow for some weight loss, I'll do MFP strictly speaking. It'll be an experiment.
  • barryplumber
    barryplumber Posts: 401 Member
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    They set you up for failure, so you'll go back for more after you hit goal on thier under stated calorie food. After you hit goal and start eating at what you think is maintenance. The fruit and veggies you eat will put you on a calorie surplus. Failure.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,994 Member
    edited September 2015
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    goodchapman wrote: »
    These are all really good points. I'm going to try it anyhow, setting MFP to 350 cals lower than it tells me to, and then allowing the resulting negative/red amount to reach 2500 for the week and not tracking my fruit/veg. If this doesn't allow for some weight loss, I'll do MFP strictly speaking. It'll be an experiment.

    Give it a try and see if it works for you.
    I actually think the bigger problem may be if you are nursing now and weren't when you were on WW, you may be creating too big a calorie deficit. I don't think your supply problem before was because you were tracking fruits and veggies; I think it was because you were creating too big a deficit.

    ETA -- Never mind -- didn't add anything.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    goodchapman wrote: »
    But can you really overeat vegetables? I get the fruit thing.

    Anyhow. Thanks! No one seems to be enthusiastic about a WW/MFP mash-up.

    Yes. I go as far as weighing my spinach. I eat hundreds of calories of vegetables per day, and my deficit is only 300 calories.
  • goodchapman
    goodchapman Posts: 26 Member
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    When I did WW I was also nursing (baby #2) but lost my supply bc it came off too quickly. So yes, ok, definitely too much of a deficit then.

    This time, I'm trying to avoid messing up my supply by eating tons of fruits & veggies. But now that I re-read all these comments and my rationale, Am I setting myself up for losing my supply just simply based on my daily calorie goal of 1650 plus 350ish in veggies/cheat foods? That's still 2000 calories/day. Trouble is, I have no idea how many to eat. It's some mysterious number. If MFP tells me I need 1200 calories, plus I add 500 for nursing, so I eat 1700, I'm going to lose my supply. If i eat 2000, I'll lose my supply. If I eat more than that, I won't t lose weight.

    This is frustrating. I just want to fit into my clothes. After 3 kids, my body just wants this fat off my abdomen.

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