WW VS MFP for newly active people?

supertigress007
supertigress007 Posts: 7 Member
edited November 14 in Food and Nutrition
So the past 3 years as a couch potato earned me a 40 lb weight gain and when I hit 209 I decided that was enough. My journey started in September when I restarted horseback riding. Suddenly it wasn't so much about weight as it was about my health... I was really out of shape. So then I started going to the gym (2 mins on an elliptical at the easiest setting got my HR to 180 easily). Alas I had no weight loss because I was still eating junk and started WW in November. The first 2 weeks were great! 7.5 lbs lost despite going about 20 points past my weeklies and fitpoints (yes a bit too much loss but I figured it would plateau after the initial shock). Then the local ski resort opened and I got myself a seasons pass! Since then I have plateaued to about 0.8 lbs lost per week (and no reduction in body fat %). I was eating my weeklies and only fitpoints that I earned past my goal fitpoints (so keeping at least 50 fitpoints not eaten). WW advised me not to eat my fitpoints despite my concern about how active I am.

So i reactivated my MFP account. I've tried MFP in the past with zero luck and usually give up 3-4 weeks in. Counting points seems easier.

However over the past two days (one extra active and one normal day) I've logged both and noticed that WW leaves me with a huge calorie deficit. Yesterday I went skiing for an entire day which burned about 1400 calories. I ate 2100 (I don't think it's sensible to have a salad for lunch when you're exerting yourself that much! Lol) and still had about 500 calories I didn't eat. So a 1500 calorie deficit. I more than doubled my smartpoints (I ate 70) which also used up all my leftover weeklies. Today I went to the gym. I've eaten about 900 calories, burned 400 and can still eat another 700 and still get my 1000 calorie deficit!! I have 1 smartpoint left to ea (I ate 31). Part of the problem is probably the cliff bar I had on my way to the gym because I hadn't eaten any dinner yet and was hungry. Technically I burned up that bar and then some.

WW has helped me eat better. I now notice how much sugar there is in simple things I used to eat like yoghurt (will still eat but now select brands/flavours with less sugar and more protein). However I don't think it's a program I can reasonably sustain and be as active as I am. Or am I just kidding myself? Was that cliff bar 10 points (a third of my daily allotment) because it was a bad choice? MFP has failed me in the past so many times. But I was also insisting on still drinking several large double double coffees and then not eating something with substinance because I was nearing my calorie allotment.

After all, I've definately been having a much larger calorie deficit on WW and will have much more to eat on MFP but even with WW's 1500-2000 calorie deficit I've only been losing just under a lb?

Anyone have experiences with WW/MFP successes and failures that would like to weigh in? (No pun intended! Lol)

Replies

  • chasetwins
    chasetwins Posts: 702 Member
    I used WW years ago and in my opinion..back then ( 2002ish ) the program was far easier and worked! After having twins I tried it again...failed...they changed the program yet again and I tried it again...failed! I liked the original where I could look at a package and calculate the points in my head. I liked counting everything I ate to avoid over eating...they have zero point foods..ummm no! Their new plans also gave me too much food - when i calculated the actual calories I was eating..it was no wonder it was not working! I turned to MFP and never looked back!!! For my more accurate calorie goal I actually use a spreadsheet that was posted on here a long time ago that uses TDEE method. This..works amazing for me. I count calories and nothing else. I keep an eye on my sugars etc only because of my blood reports not to lose weight. I know from using the spread sheet over time what my maximum weekly calorie goals are to lose at least a pound every single week...yes every week. I stick to my calorie goal but kind of go by weekly verse daily. If I work out hard - that day I may have a higher calorie intake yet the next day when I am a bit slower or on the weekends I will have a lower calorie intake. I listen to my body and ensure I stay with my weekly calorie goal.
    One more benefit of MFP vs WW.....MFP is free :)
    Also if you use their meals....DONT they are not filling, never enough veggies and are usually high in sodium. You can make your own meal using the same meat / veggie at home and get more for less!
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    Just curious how MFP has failed you - all it is is a website/app that helps you log you calories, activity and weight. Some people find a system like WW or Jenny Craig easier to follow, especially when doing their prepackaged meal plans. That makes it more difficult to keep up when you're off the program though and many people have to go back in a year or two... and those programs love it when they do.

    My guess is that what you think is a 1500-2000 calorie deficit is really much much smaller. Get a food scale, measure and log everything you eat. If you're not losing, you need to eat less or get more activity in. It doesn't matter to your body or the calories what program you happen to be following when you create the deficit. You'll lose exactly the same amount of weight.
  • supertigress007
    supertigress007 Posts: 7 Member
    extra_medium wrote: »
    Just curious how MFP has failed you - all it is is a website/app that helps you log you calories, activity and weight. Some people find a system like WW or Jenny Craig easier to follow, especially when doing their prepackaged meal plans. That makes it more difficult to keep up when you're off the program though and many people have to go back in a year or two... and those programs love it when they do.

    My guess is that what you think is a 1500-2000 calorie deficit is really much much smaller. Get a food scale, measure and log everything you eat. If you're not losing, you need to eat less or get more activity in. It doesn't matter to your body or the calories what program you happen to be following when you create the deficit. You'll lose exactly the same amount of weight.

    I think I failed before because of the type of nutrients. I was drinking 600 calories a day in sweetened coffee. I was also very sedentary. I worked lots of graveyard shifts where I literally had chips and sour candy for breakfast. I had MFP set to lose 1/2 lb a week to accomondate the calories I needed to maintain this diet. Now I exercise at least 5 times a week for an hour and I find I often on MFP (set at lose 2lbs a week) at the end of the day I still have something left for a little treat. However I would already be long over my WW points. According to my Fitbit I burned approx 400 extra calories at work. On days I don't work I do cardio. In the WW program my goal for fitpoints is 40 but I usually get ~130 fitpoints with my current activity levels. This week I'm following MFP but logging WW points just to compare. I seem to already have lost 1 lbs halfway through. So I wonder if WW was causing such a deficit it was slowing my metabolism?

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    MFP is free, and you can still eat too much on WW if you eat too many veggies or fruit.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    MFP = free; easy

    I'm a cheapskate and like to do things on my own. Therefore, MFP is perfect for me. Been here on maintenance for almost 6 years now. No need for anything else! :)
  • AmandaDanceMore
    AmandaDanceMore Posts: 298 Member
    I tried WW a couple of years ago, and was, as I've been since I decided that I needed to lose some weight, on again off again with it (as I've been with MFP over the last year I've used it). I know the program has changed since I was using it, but I was STARVING on it if I stayed within my points. I was never able to get enough food in me that I did constantly feel ravenous. Now that I've figured out how to use MFP better and have learned to calculate my TDEE, I am finding it easier to stay on track, not starve, and and also still eat plenty of the things I enjoy (without blowing my day or week out of the water).

    YMMV.
  • rldeclercq4
    rldeclercq4 Posts: 269 Member
    That sounds like too much math. I just set my calorie goals at however I'm feeling in that particular season of life, and also for accountability when I'm slacking. I've moved it around between 1200-2000. I don't consciously eat my exercise calorie back. 5'10" 30 year old male - I've lost over 140 lbs in a year that way. Now I'm exercising vigorously about 6-7 hours a week.

    I noticed you also made a note about burning 400 calories during your workday. That's not exercise. Don't eat those calories back.
  • sbrownallison
    sbrownallison Posts: 314 Member
    I have a long (40+ years) history with WW, finally getting to Lifetime in 2005, yay me! Then within 3 years had regained 40 lbs, like many others have. So, in 2011, I went back. That was before Smart Points. Anyway I had fairly good success with the program and was losing about a pound a week. After about a year, I stalled out in a plateau. I joined the YMCA and over time worked my way up to at least an hour a day, five days a week. Also discovered My Fitness Pal and got myself a Fitbit. Those are the tools that got me back to well under my goal weight (and free weigh-ins at WW as long as I'm at or under goal). In comparing MFP with WW, I find MFP logging much easier and more intuitive than WW. I find the WW on-line tools very awkward, plus Smart Points are a total fail for me: I fully understand that for the dieter starting out, they need to "get" the concept of more-healthy eating, i.e. avoiding sugar and high-fat and processed foods. So, good on WW for emphasizing that with charging more points for those types of food. I continue to go to WW at least once a month for my required weigh-in and I enjoy the group meeting and celebrating everyone's successes. But I log food and exercise in MFP. As to your point about trying to balance your SPs and exercise, I have to say: Almost everyone of us UNDERESTIMATES their food intake and OVERESTIMATES their exercise. For the most part, I stick to around 1400 calories a day (roughly) and don't worry about trying to eat back my exercise calories. I'm an older female, so my calorie needs are very modest, and I don't lose weight using this scheme. I watch my macros closely and get very close to what MFP recommends. I don't eat much meat, almost no processed food, very little dairy, and plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit. Good luck to you figuring all this out and finding what works best for you!
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