If you have switched from Weight Watchers to calorie counting only, what made you switch?

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  • starfruit132
    starfruit132 Posts: 291 Member
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    Agree with other posters. WW ruined a good thing by switching to a food police program that requires you to eat healthy foods or else you starve for the day. Lost weight with it years ago but after trying over and over on the newer points, it just did not work for my lifestyle. Too bad they lost their way from weight loss because it was a fantastic program for many years.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    If any of you are interested in the wedly accountability thing I've a weekly weigh in group here http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/118368-friday-weigh-ins-2017

    Although it's called Friday weigh ins, the thread is open all week in case people have another preferred weigh in day and I have a progress thread in which I post stats for the month - Weight/Target Weight and Total Lost/Maintained/Gained.

    I wish there was a biweekly group :( sad lol
  • aschroeder2749
    aschroeder2749 Posts: 172 Member
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    For me, it was simple. I like the concept of Weight Watchers, but they don't have the option to import a recipe in the recipe builder like MFP. I don't have time to sit there and input all the ingredients of a recipe each time. I'd like to simply be able to import it from a website and have the ingredients populate. I can't believe they haven't added this feature yet!
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,138 Member
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    Verity1111 wrote: »
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
    If any of you are interested in the wedly accountability thing I've a weekly weigh in group here http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/118368-friday-weigh-ins-2017

    Although it's called Friday weigh ins, the thread is open all week in case people have another preferred weigh in day and I have a progress thread in which I post stats for the month - Weight/Target Weight and Total Lost/Maintained/Gained.

    I wish there was a biweekly group :( sad lol

    @verity1111 You are more than welcome to post twice in a week, it's whatever suits. I weigh in daily, but only post up my Friday weight.
  • SarahLascelles1
    SarahLascelles1 Posts: 95 Member
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    MFP is free.
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
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    I did points a few times - never paying (I don't pay people to tell me I'm fat :D ) but using my mum's guides and buying a calculator online. I lost weight, but it was not sustainable because WW portions are so tiny you need loads of free foods to fill you up, then once you get back to "normal" eating BAM it all piles back.

    I've lost 3 stone on MFP, put back a couple of lbs because I looked too old and scrawny and maintained (with an odd few holiday lbs) now since Jan 2014. If I put on a lb or two I just scale back the calories til I'm back to goal weight. I weigh pasta, cereal etc and have logged for over 1500 days continuously. WW doesn't really give you any support programme as far as I know once you've reached goal - probably because people stop paying!
  • Dabbadooey
    Dabbadooey Posts: 10 Member
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    starfruit132 wrote: »
    Agree with other posters. WW ruined a good thing by switching to a food police program that requires you to eat healthy foods or else you starve for the day. Lost weight with it years ago but after trying over and over on the newer points, it just did not work for my lifestyle. Too bad they lost their way from weight loss because it was a fantastic program for many years.

    I agree the Points Plus was a great program. Now they will no longer discuss it in meetings. Smart points was way too restrictive. I don't know what made them go in that direction.
  • dovnkels
    dovnkels Posts: 25 Member
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    I have done WW for years and MFP for years. In my opinion, a perfect blend of the two programs would be staying in your calorie allotment while only eating whole, unprocessed, sugar free foods.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
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    dovnkels wrote: »
    I have done WW for years and MFP for years. In my opinion, a perfect blend of the two programs would be staying in your calorie allotment while only eating whole, unprocessed, sugar free foods.

    And for me, that sounds like hell. LOL. Yay for flexibility~ :smiley:
  • dovnkels
    dovnkels Posts: 25 Member
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    Agreed. That is why I had to leave WW. Just saying that if you were choosing between the two programs, there is essentially a way to do both.
  • KM0692
    KM0692 Posts: 178 Member
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    Thanks so much everyone (and I will of course continue to read replies left here). I have been tracking both my calories and WW points since Monday. So far, I am over my WW points each day while staying below 1,700 calories. Today, I am at 700 calories so far, but I have just 8 WW points left before dinner. :-/
  • cndkendrick
    cndkendrick Posts: 138 Member
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    aschroeder2749 wrote: »
    For me, it was simple. I like the concept of Weight Watchers, but they don't have the option to import a recipe in the recipe builder like MFP. I don't have time to sit there and input all the ingredients of a recipe each time. I'd like to simply be able to import it from a website and have the ingredients populate. I can't believe they haven't added this feature yet!

    It certainly is ironic that a FREE app is WAY better, technologically speaking, than a program people through millions at each year.
  • KettleTO
    KettleTO Posts: 144 Member
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    I've lost weight on WW (early 2000s) and MFP.

    Left WW and will never go back because
    -the MFP app is superior to WW tracking in any form.
    - WW meetings did not help me. As other posters have said WW/meetings/attendees seemed obsessed with low point synthetic food. The coping strategies they suggested always tended to plan ahead and restrain yourself rather than earn some big activity points, eat well the rest of the day, earn activity points the next day while eating very well, etc. They removed the joy from food and eating in social settings.
    -THE COST!!!!!

    I think free access to great online tools has made WW irrelevant for all the but the few who find meetings supportive.
  • choppie70
    choppie70 Posts: 544 Member
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    I did WW for a month with the new points system.

    I felt like I was beginning to go back to my old negative relationship with food. I felt that by giving points to food, they were in effect labeling foods good and bad. The fact that my morning granola bar was 7 pts. (180 calories) and two bananas were 0 points (about 180 calories) just didn't make sense to me. It also felt so restrictive, I cannot imagine eating like that for the rest of my life.

    I ate so much fruit, because they were no points , that I had to leave work one day because eating all that fruit caught up to me! I profusely apologized to the custodian, as I left the building naked from the waist down (thank god I was wearing a dress!).
  • RosslynP
    RosslynP Posts: 8 Member
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    I lost quite a bit of weight with Weight Watchers over 10 years' ago. It worked in that I lost the weight pretty quickly. However, it didn't encourage me to eat whole foods or look at ways to sustainably live healthily. It seemed more interested in me buying their "food" - processed low fat things like WW ready meals and sweets. I never felt satisfied as I was eating a lot of low fat junk that fitted into my points.

    Once I reached my goal weight, I started to put the weight back on and eventually ended up bigger than my start weight in the end. This happened to nearly everyone I knew in the group. There were quite a few who were serial members of WW - they would join, drop weight, put it on again, rejoin etc. A never-ending cycle as they never learned to transform the process from a diet to a lifestyle change. This is pretty much how WW makes their money - after all, if everyone kept the weight off, that's would be seriously bad for business, wouldn't it?!

    For me, keeping track of what I eat on MFP, while eating proper food and a good balance of nutrients, as well as a bit of junk when I really fancy it (and take it into account on MFP), works much better. Weight loss is not as quick, but it fits into my lifestyle - not just a diet that mentally comes to an end when I hit my goal!
  • robinhager3998
    robinhager3998 Posts: 45 Member
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    WW is too restrictive and I wasn't losing weight on it anyway. I didn't like using up a half day's points on a bagel! MFP has a great database, and I find it much easier to count the calories. I do try to eat a balanced diet and watch my portion sizes.
  • MissMaggieMuffin
    MissMaggieMuffin Posts: 444 Member
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    I successfully lost weight with WW quite a few years ago - probably around 1999/2000. At that time, it was all about '0' point foods, which included both vegetables and fruits. In theory, that's fine, but the reality for me was that I learned to eat copious amounts of those foods and, guess what, I slowly gained about half of the weight lost over the past 15 years. They may have 0 points, but those foods definitely have calories.

    During those 15 years, I did go back to WW several times but, as others have mentioned, found the program too restrictive. As well, the meetings in the community I live in all depend on one leader (occasional subs for vacation, etc.), so no choice. That leader really hasn't changed/updated meeting style in the 20 years that I've participated. And, as others have also mentioned, the meetings are all about how to work the program to 'allow' one to 'have' a facsimile of a restricted food. Subtle, but so much emphasis on good/bad, allow/punish, etc.

    Much happier with the MFP and CICO, eat whatever I want within my calorie bank. I have come a long way in terms of being honest & accurate with my food logging, accepting weight fluctuations and committing to this lifestyle.

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