Weight Watchers vs. FPal?
LRYAN31
Posts: 5 Member
Hi friends! I have been doing Weight Watchers since March and I've lost about 10 lbs and dropped a pants size. I also had lost a lot of F Pal awhile back and I just love to try new things. Thinking about going back to FPal but would love to hear from people who have done both - did you lose more on here? And why? Thanks!!!
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Replies
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I do lose weight while using the tools on MFP. I'm a numbers girl. Weight watchers never really clicked for me. Too touchy feely and the whole idea of points just didn't make sense. And that's back a few years, I hear it;s crazy now. But I did come out of it with a great Taco Soup recipe.7
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WW is helpful if you want to go to a weekly meeting weekly for support and a check-in. My wife and I did it many years ago, and I liked it. MFP is really just a tool for recording food and activities. It's free, so you could do it with WW, if you like. (Although, I expect WW wants you to use their tracking system.)
The best thing is to find a friend or friends who wants to diet and exercise in parallel with you. I've done weight loss and exercise challenges through work with pretty good success.
Best of luck!1 -
myfitnesspal is based on eating a calorie level of your base metabolic rate (the calories you require just to breath all day) plus exercise calories (the calories you burn throughout the day doing stuff) minus a deficit of 250-750 calories (1/4 to 1.5lbs per week). BMR + Exercise - Deficit
Weight watches is based on points that may or may not correlate directly to calories, macros, or any other factor dictated by a group of people trying to "gamify" a sensible diet.
Both approaches have merit. Weight watchers is good if you respond well to the gamification of eating. Myfitnesspal is a better approach if you are a little more pragmatic.
Just my opinion.
The best diet is the one that you stick with.6 -
It sorta depends on your goals. MFP is pretty transparent: calorie based. YOU decide what other things you want to work on. WW decides for you (now) what you want to work on. That would be frustrating for me. Their goals are not necessarily my goals....3
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i have done weight watchers online since January ive lost weight but i feel forced to pick certain food choices because of the points system which is why a lot of weight watchers eat zoodles spaghetti squash and things like that i get it they are trying to steer you towards healthier food choices also i feel like weight watchers doesnt differentiate between healthy and unhealthy fat and just makes all fat high in points and i think healthy fat is important for a balanced diet the database is also really lacking i did my fitness pal before to and for a free app you get a wayyyy better database and they now have a scanner to its just easier to look up foods it is also easy to go crazy with the free foods especially the fruit im giving my fitness pal a go again to see if i still lose weight the things i did like about weight watchers oprahs weekly videos the connect app you do get a sense of community you also have the options of meetings which is good for some people for that face to face interaction i like that there new motto is beyond the scale an they really focus on your mind set not just the food4
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I agree with what Angel says above. I did WW, and I did lose quite a bit of weight. But, I did find myself eating the same foods over and over because I knew the points. since the way the figure out points is proprietary, it can be a little harder to guess point totals of foods when out. I hope just logging calories more sustainable for me. I also agree that they do not encourage eating healthy fats, which I think is a problem with their system. I know it's undergone some revisions since I last did it a handful of years ago, so maybe it's better now1
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I have lost more with MFP because the premium version has helped me control every aspect of what I want to eat. I am more educated with macros as well as calories. WW made me feel like it was a diet that worked, but not a diet plan that would last in the long run, as i didn't get the same education. That was 5 years ago, though.2
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I needed to break up with WW, too expensive, too strict and I wasn't working it well. MFP and I are working well together.
MFP truly helps you learn how to eat better when you log and it has the helpful hints to make a better choice for your next meal.5 -
WW does not teach you your new lifestyle it calculates your calories in and out. WW sells you the food you never really know what your eating. A great deal of people gain weight back after thry stop following WW, Jenny Creig and the rest of those money grabing fad diets.
They all follow the same thing ,basic calories in < Calories out simple3 -
I've did both but for me I had more success on MFP. I did enjoy the in person meetings with WW. The socialization was nice. Also some of the WW recipes are amazing! We have the chili a lot. But for free MFP all the way.2
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Hi! Follow up on my original post - MFP wins hands down of being better! I feel better and am not eating a ridiculous low amount of "points" that I didn't realize I was doing on WW. Never looking back and MFP for life!5
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chelseahatch24 wrote: »
It's almost more a chili than soup This is the basic recipe. It's very simple. Vary it as you like.
For example sometimes I use beef, sometimes turkey.
Try using Rotel instead if tomato sauce if you like it thinner... It's all good.
Vary up the bean mix. Like more black beans? Use two black and only one chili bean.
You get the idea.
My only requirement - Do not drain the beans. Throw all the goodness in.
http://www.food.com/recipe/weight-watchers-taco-soup-213785?ref=amp2 -
I did WW back with the points system.
I lost 17lbs...gained back 25-30
I start MFP in June 2013 lost 55+ lbs...and have maintained since.
However I don't think it's what I used to count...it's the fact I got educated and it was time and I was ready.3 -
I did weight watchers for years.i always gain the weight back so fast. Everything has calories..I like mfp it to really helps.0
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I've used both separately and together. Right now I'm only using MFP because it's free. I lose slower with MFP but it works so that's all that matters. With Weight Watchers you lose quicker but I always gained it back it seemed.1
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I did weight watchers for years.i always gain the weight back so fast. Everything has calories..I like mfp it to really helps.
I think it's hard to maintain the weight loss with WW, unless you continue to pay and go into "maintenance" phase with them. there is no way to figure out the points, because the formula for how they calculate points is secret (which I get, they are a business and they want to make money). I guess that's why I prefer MFP--I can always figure out the calories, and I know approximately how many calories I should have in a day.
I do think that WW is healthy overall, and they encourage all foods, no food is off limits, etc. they are not pushing some crazy diet, or requiring you to buy super expensive food. but I just am not sure it is great for long term weight loss.0 -
I lost 50 pounds on WW and have kept that weight off for over 15 years. I might still be doing it if I had done it using actual meetings. I did it using WW online, which doesn't offer lifetime membership; basically once you hit goal and maintain within a 5 pound range you don't have to pay to go to meetings. I liked it for teaching me portion control.0
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I lost 60 pounds on WW last year, have kept it off. But WW is not good for maintenance, esp if you add in exercise. I am now double tracking WW smart points (since I am a Lifetime free member) and MFP calories to get a more accurate assessment.1
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I like some of the WW recipes. But MFP is less expensive. Cost wins for me.1
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I started WW a couple months ago and have since quit. The number of points I started out with translated to barely 1000 calories (I refuse to eat low fat) and I was punished with inflated point values for eating out. I am finding mfp to be a much more sustainable system since it actually allows me to eat what I want within my calorie limit (1900). Why pay to starve yourself?2
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