Weight watchers?

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  • bluepoppies777
    bluepoppies777 Posts: 438 Member
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    WW was really the only diet I have ever had success with, but each time I stopped going to meeting I would gain all the weight back. I joined MFP in October and used the $ I would have spent on WW on a monthly gym membership. I am way more successful now than I ever was on WW. Have lost 20 lbs since first week of October! The more friends you add in MFP, the more motivation you will have daily! You will see how many are working out and eating under their calorie goal and you will want to do the same! Feel free to add me as a friend, it helps having a group for support!
  • Shull_rachael
    Shull_rachael Posts: 430 Member
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    bluepoppies777 wrote: »
    WW was really the only diet I have ever had success with, but each time I stopped going to meeting I would gain all the weight back. I joined MFP in October and used the $ I would have spent on WW on a monthly gym membership. I am way more successful now than I ever was on WW. Have lost 20 lbs since first week of October! The more friends you add in MFP, the more motivation you will have daily! You will see how many are working out and eating under their calorie goal and you will want to do the same! Feel free to add me as a friend, it helps having a group for support!

    I was thinking about using that money for a gym also! Maybe I should!
  • kz_dc
    kz_dc Posts: 23 Member
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    I go to Weight Watchers meetings and really like it. I don't do the points plan (I do a keto diet instead) and I use MFP to track my food instead of the WW app. But I like the structure of the weekly weigh-in, and wanting to get a "congrats" from the lady who weighs you and updates your weight in the book. The meetings are pretty corny, but hey, sometimes corny works.
  • kyrannosaurus
    kyrannosaurus Posts: 350 Member
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    I went to WW meetings to keep mysf accountable. Apart from weighing in each week in front of another person, I think the whole program is stupid. It's more complicated to calculate the points than it is too count calories. The points are less accurate too. I got to my goal weight just counting calories here and not counting points despite going to the WW meetings. I was the first person my leader had apparently ever seen get to goal in her meetings and I wasn't even following their program.
  • shelleysykeskeene
    shelleysykeskeene Posts: 110 Member
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    I lost 12 kilograms on WW, I gained it back slowly over the years and after the birth of my son because I stopped tracking.

    The nice thing about weight watchers is you do start to think about everything as 'points' so you do end up tracking in your mind so you are actively thinking about everything you eat and you can 'save' points for special occassions. If you are one of those people who simply cannot do a strict diet like Weigh less it does help you feel like you have more control and you feel less deprived.

    However they don't count certain things like coffee, tea, sweetners, some veg etc which MFP does so MFP is more accurate. I go to meetings but I go for support and for the weigh ins - knowing I have to weigh and my leader is going to see the loss or gain weekly keeps me accountable. It is not a bad diet on the whole, any diet that gets you thinking about what you are eating and gets you started with tracking accurately is a good thing. The problem comes in when you see it as a short term thing - its not. This is a lifestyle change - you will do it daily for the rest of your life no matter what plan you choose.

  • 2essie
    2essie Posts: 2,866 Member
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    I went to WW when they did calorie counting many years ago. I loved it and found it worked for me. They then changed over to points, which I never did understand why. The calorie count was on most foods I buy, but then I had to start converting that to points. I gave up. I Did manage to keep the weight off for many years and it is only the last few years, as I got older and finished a very active job, that the weight went back on. I have been with MFP over 3 years and find it to be working just as well as WW, but it is free
  • OJLight
    OJLight Posts: 24 Member
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    Hi ... I was going to join WW again !!! But thanks for the advice above ! Think I will stick to MFP, although it been ages since I actively started tracking calories !! Will take a bit of getting used to but I really want to lose at 15lbs !!!
  • starspeckled
    starspeckled Posts: 313 Member
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    I love weight watchers. However the past week they have absolutely ruined their app and website. Go to their Facebook page, people are LIVID. I just cancelled my membership and am headed back here. After using the food database on MFP, you will be disappointed by the small database Weight Watchers has.

    Their plan worked (can't speak of the new one they rolled out today), but the tech issues are unbearable. Good luck!
  • booksandchocolate12
    booksandchocolate12 Posts: 1,741 Member
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    starspeckled wrote: »
    I love weight watchers. However the past week they have absolutely ruined their app and website. Go to their Facebook page, people are LIVID. I just cancelled my membership and am headed back here. After using the food database on MFP, you will be disappointed by the small database Weight Watchers has.

    Their plan worked (can't speak of the new one they rolled out today), but the tech issues are unbearable. Good luck!

    This is exactly why I canceled my membership and came here!
  • MySophieSue
    MySophieSue Posts: 1 Member
    edited December 2015
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    I have had success with WW in the past but MFP is great and I like being able to see nutritional values and where I need to adjust.
  • riceflourde
    riceflourde Posts: 58 Member
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    http://www.weightwatchers.com/images/1033/dynamic/gcmsimages/fillingfoodlist_us.pdf

    http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=65271&sc=3002
  • riceflourde
    riceflourde Posts: 58 Member
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    kyrannosaurus wrote: »
    I went to WW meetings to keep mysf accountable. Apart from weighing in each week in front of another person, I think the whole program is stupid. It's more complicated to calculate the points than it is too count calories. The points are less accurate too. I got to my goal weight just counting calories here and not counting points despite going to the WW meetings. I was the first person my leader had apparently ever seen get to goal in her meetings and I wasn't even following their program.

    The online calorie counters have made the points harder than calories. 40 Points would be easier than 1800 calories if adding on paper or in our head but we only have to enter a food's name or check a box in 2015.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
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    See your money and use mfp. Use the money you would have spent on the gym. I did ww with success and mfp with success. Like mfp much better. Not just because it's free. Like the tracking better and no need to buy expensive accessories either.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,982 Member
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    I did WW in the 90s. I had a good group and leader. I think WW's points system made a lot more sense back before MFP was available. Points are a short cut to calorie counting and accounting for things like fiber, and this is not needed when one has MFP.

    I would still recommend WW to people who like the accountability of public weigh-ins, like group support (and can find a good group) and can afford it. If someone had to chose between WW and a gym membership, I'd suggest the gym membership.
  • luvmybee
    luvmybee Posts: 58 Member
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    The new Smart Points is so restrictive. I lost 110 pounds using Points. I honestly am so distraught. Myfitnesspal hasn't ever worked for me (it's just something about Weight Watchers that makes it magical for me although I know it's not). I'm on Day 2 of Smart Points and I ran out of points. It is so restrictive now and you get nailed for eating any treats. That makes me want to go and eat all the donuts. So, I'm thinking of coming back to MFP to count calories.
  • maw2852
    maw2852 Posts: 2 Member
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    Hi totally agree I loved pp but the space is a diet not a lifestyle and way way too restrictive.
  • maw2852
    maw2852 Posts: 2 Member
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    Sorry that should be smart plus
  • icemaiden37
    icemaiden37 Posts: 238 Member
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    Personally - I think WW had their day when it wasn't so easy to work out the calories for everything you ate. Nowadays there are awesome apps like mfp (with the barcode scanner!) which allows you to track your intake if you don't have that inherent "stop eating" signal that stops everyone eating more than they should.

    However, there's a lot to be said for the support network that WW provides, which is said to give participants a much higher success rate in keeping weight off. I find the mfp forums and a couple of likeminded friends enough to keep me on track but if you don't have a few real life people to support you in your goals WW might be enough to fill that gap.
  • socaljackie
    socaljackie Posts: 13 Member
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    I use to love weight watchers. I had 2 different group leaders I went too( depending on which location/time) that were amazing. In '08 I hit my goal weight and even made lifetime. Between, the ww online message boards, (which I use to be very active on and spent many hours during the day chatting with others) and my week lay meetings. The support I received on ww was outstanding. It really helped keep me focused, and able to hit my goal.

    However, when the points programs changed from (calories, fat, fiber) to points plus(I think that was what it was called) . I couldn't Estimate the amount of points everything was in my head, when I went out to eat or even just grocery shopping.... I would spend way to long at the grocery store or at restaurants, pulling out the calculator for every item I purchased.... smart phones, weren't anywhere near what they are today. It became to much of a hassle for me to keep it up.. And I stopped all together. Plus, I found the new program not as effective for myself and many others when that plan rolled out... I should have just went back to previous program, but didn't even think of that options until years later, when I gained 25 lbs back, and was giving ww another go.

    For me I need simple, I find mfp simple and that makes it easy to track and stay on plan
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    I am a past WW member. I absolutely *did* lose weight following their pro-point's plan but I came away from WW around 3 months ago. All 'group leaders' I have met to date have given incorrect and frankly logically RIDICULOUS 'advice' in regards to weight loss. Some gems I've witnessed:

    "Calorie's don't matter - that's not how it works"
    "You've gained weight because you aren't eating all of your 'points'"
    "Make a soup out of vegetables as they are FREE! Then you can eat a big bread roll with butter"
    "You've maintained this week. What went wrong?"

    That's all I can think of at this point - but there have many 'WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT' moment's for me. After dissecting my 'plan' with a nutritionist, we worked out that WW only allowed me to eat around 1040 calories a day. Yes, fruit and veg is 'free' *sigh* but no wonder I was miserable as sin and feeling trapped by my regime.

    My mum remained a member until this new 'Smartpoints' was introduced. She promptly cancelled her membership and has started doing it the MFP way. She's so much happier and losing consistently.

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