Replicate WW with MFP?

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  • amandaksbrewer
    amandaksbrewer Posts: 5 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.

    I'm doing weight watchers meetings and myfitnesspal tracking. I just seem to need the accountability. But the tracking is so much easier on mfp.

    Anyway, I track fruits and vegetables, and then for my extra 49 pts (my favorite part of ww), I eat some of my earned calories. It's going ok for me. I'm ok with a slower rate of loss though. 0.5 to 1 lb a week.

    Good luck!

  • areallycoolstory
    areallycoolstory Posts: 1,680 Member
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    i was trying to do some kind of mashup when I was on ww. it was a while ago, but i was trying to use the database on mfp to figure out how many calories in a point or something. sounds like you figured that out:-) but it sounds like the main feature you are looking for is a splurge day. you could always just eat under your mfp cals to save some for a weekend meal. or just not log one day per week and eat whatever you want. or use the calorie formula you came with, and keep doing what works for you. that includes not counting fruits or veggies. you can always adjust if it doesn't work. there are lots of things that some folks find essential and others find unnecessary. weighing food is a good example. some swear by it, others don't bother.
    goodchapman wrote: »
    ... 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.

    Nothing wrong with an experiment:-) hope it works:-) good luck:-)
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    I did Weight Watchers for 4 months and I lost 25lbs - but after a while, things stopped making sense. The leaders refused to tell me the calorie value of my 'daily point allowance' - instead telling me to fill up on fruit and veg as it's 'free'. Alarm bells started ringing for me there. After picking it apart with my trainer, we worked out I wasn't consuming any more than 1100 per day including my fruit and veg (as per their recommendation). They shun calorie counting even though scientifically, logically and historically - you need a deficit to lose weight - instead they simplify the process with 'points'. In fact, what they are doing is covering up an ENORMOUS and frankly, hugely unsustainable deficit. They do allow you 49 extra points per week to 'cheat with' - this is probably down to the fact that we are under eating per day that those optional 49 are there to keep us sane and functioning.

    I never once used my 49 'cheat points' because I'm not a fan of the term 'cheat'. I stuck to my daily points, lost a good amount of weight which I'm greatful to them (but mainly myself) for but then burnt out completely. I know I'm probably a very rare case but I just wasn't eating enough and these daily 'points' ruled my day.

    I found MFP and my whole outlook on weight loss has totally changed. I am so healthy and physically strong now I eat at a really sensible and sustainable deficit.

    If anyone has luck with WW - Please understand this is MY opinion. I am not stating this is the case for everyone. If it works for you then fantastic and good luck with it. IMO, MFP is the best yet :)
  • NoIdea101NoIdea
    NoIdea101NoIdea Posts: 659 Member
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    goodchapman wrote: »
    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.

    You are making this pretty confusing. It really doesn't have to be.

    Enter your stats into MFP. Take that number and add what you need nursing. Eat whatever you want ensuring that you are weighing all of your foods and keeping a log so that you know you are not going over that number that MFP, plus nursing, has given you.

    Either that, or go back to WW. If you make things more complicated than they need to be, of course you are going to get frustrated! And unfortunately it may lead you to giving up.
  • kittengirl1983
    kittengirl1983 Posts: 14 Member
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    Just to say - a point is closer to 40 calories than 50. Otherwise you'll be adding extra calories vs what you were eating on WW.

    I followed WW for a long time too and got to goal weight once (sob) - I have a spreadsheet now that allows me to look at average calories for the week, as I still like the WW flexibility of having more calories for the weekend. I look at my average calories over the week compared to my average calories if I were doing WW (29 daily points + 7 weekly points allowed per day x 40) = 1440. As a challenge at the moment I am trying to eat an average of this or less although I am MFPing my fruit and veg and with WW that would be allowed over my 1440 per day.

    I hope that makes sense!
    Basically, calories are going to be a lot easier once you convert to them instead of points, I just compare them for fun/challenge :-)
  • unigirl143
    unigirl143 Posts: 126 Member
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    I combine the daily log on mfp with a counter like http://www.webmilhouse.com/pointcalc.php to calculate my points. The mfp log lets me see the calorie intake I have (i still cant shake looking at calories) and my other calculator keeps me on track with points. I calculate the points for meals I regularly eat and just plug them into my diary.
  • Mezzie1024
    Mezzie1024 Posts: 380 Member
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    Just food for thought: I logged 535 calories in fruits and veggies today. If I gave them to myself for free -- even if I gave myself an extra 350 calorie deficit per day to allow them -- I'd have gone over.

    As far as extra weekly points go, I eat at maintenance regularly for breaks or treats. I rarely save up for a day of indulgence, though I do if I know it's going to be such an indulgence that I would otherwise go over my maintenance calories for the week.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Eating as many fruits as I can is a recipe for maintenance for me, personally.
  • Daisychain65
    Daisychain65 Posts: 161 Member
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    If I understand correctly the problem is that you don't want to fiddle about logging individual veg and fruit. I'm the same. My solution was to add three a new foods which I didn't make for public use but I can pick up easily, mixed veg, mixed salad and mixed fruit. I just added together the calories etc for the things I generally eat and got an average number. That way if I have a salad etc all I have to do is measure the total weight. It's obviously not as accurate as doing them individually but I'm 60lbs down so it's been good enough
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    goodchapman wrote: »
    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.

    The more you track on here the easier it gets because you are adding more items to your recent and frequent food lists.

    What has helped me a lot is saving meals. My salads are usually the same so the basic things like the veggies and chicken that I put in them are saved as a meal so it only takes one click to add multiple items to my diary. From there I just adjust the portion sizes as I add them into the bowl.

    I did WW before and when I switched to MFP it was a real eye opener to see how quickly those 'free' foods added up when I weighed and logged them on here. They aren't limitless either. Their recommendation is 5 servings (1 serving is 1/2 cup for fruits and veggies, 1 cup for leafy greens) a day.


  • katharmonic
    katharmonic Posts: 5,720 Member
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    Daisychain65 wrote: »
    If I understand correctly the problem is that you don't want to fiddle about logging individual veg and fruit. I'm the same. My solution was to add three a new foods which I didn't make for public use but I can pick up easily, mixed veg, mixed salad and mixed fruit. I just added together the calories etc for the things I generally eat and got an average number. That way if I have a salad etc all I have to do is measure the total weight. It's obviously not as accurate as doing them individually but I'm 60lbs down so it's been good enough

    Yes, this is what I would do. Just log one thing for the salad as a whole if you don't want to log individual veggies.
  • stephaniemarie2
    stephaniemarie2 Posts: 39 Member
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    Weight Watchers has increased point values in some foods to account for your "free" fruit and vegetables. I agree with counting everything. I think MFP has salad or the like in 2 cup measurements. I dont' think anyone ever got truly fat eating vegetables, but it gives you a ball park and accountability. Plus a cup of cucumbers is less than a cup or carrots or snap peas. WW doesn't force you to count for bananas either, but they can easily be 75-90 calories. Just some things to think about.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,981 Member
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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.

    Yes, I think this will work. I would personally start from the other end - log my fruits and veggies for a week or two, get the average daily calories, subtract that from my MFP calorie budget, eat those fruits and veggies and not log them.

  • goodchapman
    goodchapman Posts: 26 Member
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    I'm having a long time MFP user friend help me with a "get started" routine. She told me that in order to prevent milk loss, I could set my goals to be a 1/2 lb per week loss, sedentary, with 40% protein and 30% carbs & fats, plus 500 for nursing. That puts me at 2080 calories per day, and she says track EVERYTHING, like so many of you have said, if only to benefit from seeing proteins, carbs, fats, fibers etc.

    But I'm going to save up my activity calories for a rainy day.
  • Janice4945
    Janice4945 Posts: 39 Member
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    There is a great app that is based on WW calculations. It gives you 3 choices of plans; New Bites is equal to PP, Classic is equal to old Points, and Calorie counting. It is called iTrackbites and is at the Ap Store. A small fee to purchase and no monthly fee at all. I recently DL it and am tracking there and here. My 27 points is equal to 1200 calories. Working great for me.

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