Musings of an ex Weight Watcher (very long)

I was thinking last night about the difference between MFP and Weight Watchers and I wanted to share my thoughts here.

First, a bit of background about my battle with my weight.

In the early 2000's my weight was up to 322lbs. I had been overweight my whole life, and badly bullied because of it as a teenager. My mum always fed me good, nutritious food, but I would sneak food from the kitchen, and spend all my pocket money and paper round money on sweets and snacks as I got older. Once I moved out of home I would serve myself portions which were probably meant for 4 people and I would eat until I felt sick. One day something clicked. I was trying to do my boots up and I couldn't reach them because my belly was stopping me from bending over properly. After crying about it I knew I had to do something. So I joined Weight Watchers. I had been a member a couple of times before and lost around 20lbs, but then decided I could go it alone and ended up re-gaining. This time I was in a much happier place in my life and I stuck with the plan and when I got married in September 2007 I weighed 177lbs (I'm 5'10" tall), and I was wearing a size 14 (UK) wedding dress. I couldn't remember ever being that slim. However, over the next couple of years I regained much of my loss. I guess I thought I could relax a bit. I also began suffering with depression and anxiety and spent some time off of work, just sitting and eating, trying to make myself feel better. So come the end of 2009 I was back up to 294lbs. It certainly goes back on alot quicker than it comes off!

I decided to re-joing weight watchers - after all it had worked before, why not again? By now I was working shifts so I jolined online. For the next year and a half I messed aroung losing and gaining the same 14lbs. I tried the new pro points and really didn't get on with it.

Then, a few wekks ago I emailed a friend of mine who has lost over 50lbs and mentioned than I was sick of feeling like a lump (It's how I was feeling). She mentioned MFP so I came to have a look.

Obviously it's early days. But I have lost 12lbs in 3 weeks. I've eaten my calories, i've excercised and I feel satisfied.

So, onto my comparisons.

My first thought is about how Weight Watchers doesn't teach you about nutrition very well. Every food has a point value. I could probably tell you the (old) point value of any food you care to mention. But under the old system that didn't tell me about the nutrients in it. You could eat Mars Bars all day and lose weight if you were within your points and still lose weight, but boy would you be malnourished. MFP encourages me to learn all about what nutrients I should be filling my body with, both with it's guidelines and reading the board posts.

My next thought is about exercise. While WW does mention in its literature that exercise is a good idea it is not really actively encouraged IMO. Here, you can see exactly what your exercise is doing for you in terms of how many calories you 'earn' through working out. I've been really encouraged to exercise, I never was with WW.

Onto the subject of 'free' foods on WW. Looking at my diary now I can easily eat 200 cals plus of food which on WW would have been 'free'. Now, while I know that salad never made anyone fat, an extra, uncounted 1400 cals plus a week is going to slow your weight loss down. I like how I am encouraged to count EVERYTHING which passes my lips here. With the new pro points fruit isn't counted either, so those uncounted calories could be even higher.

Then there is the matter of the fact that WW is a business, it is there to make money and once you get to goal it is in there interest for you to regain at least some weight so that you think "Well, I lost with WW before, I'll go back", and so they make more money from you. That's just from the weekly fee, then there's the books and everything else you could buy. While I realise MFP makes money from advertising, they still make that same money whether you are losing or maintaining, unlike WW who allow you to weigh in for free when maintaining. The support provided for those who have reached their goal is, IMO, sorely lacking.

I'd be interested to hear from any other ex or even current weight watchers on their thoughts comparing WW with MFP.