weight watchers vs. counting calories

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  • thatdesertgirl777
    thatdesertgirl777 Posts: 269 Member
    vaughn3490 wrote: »
    Hello,

    I am currently on weight watchers and it is getting expensive. Plus I am too busy to make all of my meetings. I want to give my fitness pal a try. Has anyone been on weight watchers, but has had better success with calorie counting?

    I was on weight watchers for many years. I attribute a lot of my old disordered eating habits to that program lol. Counting calories is SO much easier and works better in my opinion.
  • melodyesch
    melodyesch Posts: 49 Member
    I belong to WW and they have the meetings at my job, who will cover up to 6 months of your fees for every 5% lost. But I don't do the points. I log my foods here on MFP. But since I have a good bit to lose and will essentially get it for free I go for the support and for the accountability of weighing in each week. I really like the leader and I am learning a lot about my relationship with food that can only help me. It's been 5 weeks and I'm getting to know others in my company who show up week after week, have the same struggles, and are genuinely happy for each other's success. I do come here for support as well, but it's really nice to have the face-to-face side of things.
  • FLBeachluvr
    FLBeachluvr Posts: 110 Member
    I am also a former WW member. Made Lifetime on the Points Plus system back in 2012. I lost 53 lbs and was very happy with the program and it worked well for me and I consistently lost every week. I've regained about 25 of those pounds though and need to do something. I decided I didn't want to pay for WW and also didn't like their new Smart Points system so I'm trying MFP. So far I think the old PP on WW was easier as fruits and vegetables were free and I didn't obsess so much on how much exercise I got (or didn't get) in a day. With WW I lost between 1-2 lbs. every week. and so far with MFP I'm struggling to lose 1 lb. a week. I also liked the 49 extra weekly points I got and chose to use some of those for cocktails on the weekends. It also seems like more food on MFP. I guess time will tell.
  • rnnursebarb
    rnnursebarb Posts: 12 Member
    I just left WW to come back here. I was not having luck with Smart Points. Feeling hungry and not satisfied. I'm going to give it a go with calorie counting. I had success with WW in the past but so tired of calculating points. I like the database much better on MFP. Wish me luck!
  • jame0529
    jame0529 Posts: 30 Member
    edited September 2016
    Weight Watchers has a little more structure to it, which is why I think I do better with it (I just do it online - can't afford meetings unfortunately). I like the unlimited fruits/vegetables, and having the Weekly points allows me to have balance without feeling guilty that I went over my points/calories. However I love coming on the MFP message boards - they're very helpful when it comes to making good choices and encouragement.
  • honeybee739
    honeybee739 Posts: 66 Member
    edited September 2016
    This is a little older of a question. I have done both. WW always is so frustrating to me. I really don't know why. I like the data base on MFP much better. With WW I feel like my points can easily be blown but Calorie Counting (CC) is more forgiving. MFP is free. WW is not. Also calories don't change. WW does. Every several years they change their program. So if the old way was working for you, then you have to learn an entire new way. I get that the smart points is geared toward healthier choices and you really get dinged for foods containing a lot of sugar and processed junky foods. The new smart points urges you to basically eat more whole foods. Which is great in theory....but I've found that's hard to stick to. I just don't have that level of perseverance. I need more of a balance. A few junky things here and there with the majority of healthy options. Vs. one junky thing taking up almost all of your points when it would only be maybe 20% of your daily caloric intake. I do like the mind game WW plays of making fruits and veggies Free but you can easily do that here by not logging them if you want to.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    melodyesch wrote: »
    I belong to WW and they have the meetings at my job, who will cover up to 6 months of your fees for every 5% lost. But I don't do the points. I log my foods here on MFP. But since I have a good bit to lose and will essentially get it for free I go for the support and for the accountability of weighing in each week. I really like the leader and I am learning a lot about my relationship with food that can only help me. It's been 5 weeks and I'm getting to know others in my company who show up week after week, have the same struggles, and are genuinely happy for each other's success. I do come here for support as well, but it's really nice to have the face-to-face side of things.

    I used to have WW at work and also experienced most of the pluses you mentioned. (It was subsidized rather than completely free.) I think more companies should consider having employer-sponsored WW at work.
  • CasperNaegle
    CasperNaegle Posts: 936 Member
    You can certainly lose weight on WW,they are counting your calories for you and it's a support group. I like fixing my own food and knowing exactly how many calories I get and my breakdown of proteins/carbs/fats.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    edited September 2016
    I absolutely hated WW when I was on it. They put me on the equivalent of 1200 calories and told me I couldn't eat back the 3-5 miles I was running everyday because "well, you were running before you started so those points don't count."
    I obviously lost weight but I was STARVING all the time. When I asked one of the coaches about what I could do about being so hungry I was told, "oh you're eating all the wrong foods, you need to eat clean and weight watchers products only."
    MFP has taught me so so so so much more and I'm definitely not as hungry as I was on WW.

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