Ex-WW members thread

Schwiggity
Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I've seen a lot of posts of other people who quit Weight Watchers, and figured I'd make a thread to talk about some of what you thought about it (seeing as saying anything derogatory to WW in the WW forums tends to result in mods getting butt-hurt and removing your posts).

Personally, I lost a good amount of weight on it (most of my current lost weight, though it was with the flex/momentum plan, not much with Points Plus).

So what were your thoughts on the plan(s)?

For me, I liked it, except the fact that it was easy to create loopholes if you were any kind of mathematically minded (difference of a point between 120 calories and 130 calories? Alright, I'll just eat 120 calories of this brand of yogurt, and another 120 of another brand of yogurt). Also, the free fruit thing was ridiculous to me, and still is. I kept getting the "just trust us" explanation and that just pissed me off more. I don't trust Heinz. I trust myself.

What was the most annoying/your favorite thing in meetings?

While I did have a pretty good meeting leader, the fact is that I had done the program for over 2 years with the same leader, and I kept hearing the same information over and over again, and it got to be a chore to go to meetings sometimes. Also, it sounds kind of bad, but seeing people go "lifetime" after losing a month or two worth of weight loss over and over again just got on my nerves.

I did like the support system I found though. I swear if MFP wasn't designed with the friends and news feed being so fundamental to the website, I wouldn't of made the switch. Having people who shared your food dilemmas and journey and having someone to talk to when you had problems with it definitely helped.

Replies

  • NatalieWiley
    NatalieWiley Posts: 147 Member
    What I did like was that it worked! I lost 20lbs in 3 months time and time again. What I didn't like was that I had to figure out points for everything. MFP is way easier and straight forward!

    I also did not like going to meetings with such a wide age range. They should have had a 30 years old and younger meeting like once a week. i would have much rather gone to that.
  • FallonMCal
    FallonMCal Posts: 27
    I had a hard time losing weight on WW. I work out a lot and if I ate my earned points from working out I wouldn't lose weight. I know it works great for some people, but it never did for me.
    I have been on MFP for 1.5 weeks and lost more weight then I did on WW paying for 3 months!

    As for meetings. I went to one and never went back. The leader was talking about snack options. She said an apple was worth 2 points and some WW snack was only 1. So, you should eat the WW snack because it was left. That rubbed me the wrong way. Over-processed crap food is never better than a fresh apple. Sorry, I will never believe it.
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member

    I also did not like going to meetings with such a wide age range. They should have had a 30 years old and younger meeting like once a week. i would have much rather gone to that.

    Definitely agree with that. I was the youngest person in the meeting until some kid in high school started coming with her mom.
  • Jeneba
    Jeneba Posts: 699 Member
    I am still sooooooo angry about the way "they" changed the plan! I originally lost 25 lbs & pretty much kept it off. But once "they" recalibrated the points, I couldn't keep track of ANYTHING any more! I began to see a few pounds creeping up which is why I had to lose 5 lbs when I 1st came to MFP. I have a friend who is about my size who gained 13 pounds on that stupid new plan! I never attended meetings, just did the online thing. But I found some of the ppl on the so-called community were just plain EVIL - talked about me in 3rd person to each other as if I couldn't read their posts, said I had an eating disorder (which I DON"T) said I was so thin that I made them want to throw up.... Well - GOOD RIDDANCE CREEPOs! I am soooo glad I am outtat there and am no longer shelling t any money for that nonsense!!! THANKS for letting me vent!!!! :grumble:
  • leftymac
    leftymac Posts: 169 Member
    I quit WW as well when I found this site. I liked the accountability of weighing in every week at a location. The meeting topics do get recycled, though. That's understandable because most people attend for just a couple of months, and I guess there's only so much you could talk about.


    What I disliked the most is that the topics tended to cater mostly to women. That's understandable, but it didn't suit me very well. The online program for men also tended to treat men as if they were some cavemen who didn't know their way around the kitchen. That's what I felt about the articles they provided.

    I liked the structure of the program and the online tools. When I saw I got the same tools here on this site, I decided it was time to leave WW.
  • spaingirl2011
    spaingirl2011 Posts: 763 Member
    Well, I was never a huge fan of the points. In the real world food isn't measured in points.... It's measured in calories. I also didn't like the fact that it claimed to livable, but when you get so many points taken away from eating a scoop of ice cream, it makes it seem as though there are off limit foods. And the point system, though taking into account fiber and fat, basically starved me. At 21 points I was eating 900 calories. No wonder people put weight back on after the leave the program. How is that sustainable?
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
    I am still sooooooo angry about the way "they" changed the plan! I originally lost 25 lbs & pretty much kept it off. But once "they" recalibrated the points, I couldn't keep track of ANYTHING any more! I began to see a few pounds creeping up which is why I had to lose 5 lbs when I 1st came to MFP. I have a friend who is about my size who gained 13 pounds on that stupid new plan! I never attended meetings, just did the online thing. But I found some of the ppl on the so-called community were just plain EVIL - talked about me in 3rd person to each other as if I couldn't read their posts, said I had an eating disorder (which I DON"T) said I was so thin that I made them want to throw up.... Well - GOOD RIDDANCE CREEPOs! I am soooo glad I am outtat there and am no longer shelling t any money for that nonsense!!! THANKS for letting me vent!!!! :grumble:

    Which boards were you on? I found people on the 20-somethings to really be like a high school clique all over again. Say one thing wrong, and they'll harp on you about it forever. Also, the whole "you can't say anything about points on the forums" I found hilarious.
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
    I quit WW as well when I found this site. I liked the accountability of weighing in every week at a location. The meeting topics do get recycled, though. That's understandable because most people attend for just a couple of months, and I guess there's only so much you could talk about.


    What I disliked the most is that the topics tended to cater mostly to women. That's understandable, but it didn't suit me very well. The online program for men also tended to treat men as if they were some cavemen who didn't know their way around the kitchen. That's what I felt about the articles they provided.

    I liked the structure of the program and the online tools. When I saw I got the same tools here on this site, I decided it was time to leave WW.

    Yup. All the articles acted like every man is the sitcom stereotype who lives to sit on a couch and yell for beer. I did like that their science section actually cited sources though.
  • JustBill
    JustBill Posts: 93 Member
    I lost a lot of weight on WW... from 275 to 211. It was fantastic. But then I plateaued hard and never recovered and got tired of paying money every month with no results. I never went to meetings and only did the online thing. Once I was off WW the weight creeped back on slowly but surely. I was considering going back to WW when a friend recommended this site, and I loved it immediately. Everything I loved about WW without the hefty price tag, and much more customizable and friendly.
  • captnesshowdy7
    captnesshowdy7 Posts: 61
    I loved WW! But I HATE PointsPlus. I think they ruined a great thing. Free fruits? What is that? If I could control myself and eat fruits in a reasonable amount, I wouldn't have weighed over 350 pounds. I lost more weight in 2 weeks on MFP than I did in 4 months on the PP program. I really liked the old momentum program and would still follow it but I had so much faith in the new program that I threw out all the old material. I just feel like they only changed to make some money because the old system is plastered all over the internet.
  • temptress75519
    temptress75519 Posts: 35 Member
    WW meetings felt like Church....Church is boring....thus meetings were boring. They didn't celebrate everyone's achievements like MFP.
  • jenny95662
    jenny95662 Posts: 997 Member
    what i liked is it worked and was not hard i lost 80 pounds on it when i was 21 (on the 1,2,3 success plan think that was the name lol) then got married and pregnant at 23 (kept it off till then) then lost all of the weight with it again from having my daughter on the flex plan then after my son weas born in dec of 09 i went back on it and was not staying consistent then my dad passed away after being in the hospital fr half the year and i just kinda gave up then when i got back on it i was "cheating" like i found loopholes and just used my flex for all bad foods and i just was not losing and also could not afford it so i am on mfp and doing well.
  • CharlieBarleyMom
    CharlieBarleyMom Posts: 727 Member
    I used WW 10 years ago and I lost 93 pounds and loved it. When I quit going to meetings because I believed "I could do it myself" I started putting the weight on in small amounts... then after 5 years I decided to do it by myself and lost 40 pounds in about 6 months just by following the program at home - not using the online tool...

    But this time around I debated going back because of the cost and then because they had changed the program so much. I got so used to figuring my points that I could look at a nutrition label and know how many points it was... with the new system that would never happen... I had trouble with a calculator! LOL

    I was searching for something in the Android market (I don't even know what now) and I found this app... oh my, thank goodness because I just love this. It has all the accountability, socializing and support that I NEED! And I'm doing great and not feeling hungry, deprived or lonely!

    Edited to add: After a few weeks on here I took a day and figured out the old Points system and the new Points Plus system and found that my day fit into the old Points system just fine and I was a couple over on the New System... after that I knew that I'd be just fine right here!
  • slimmer189
    slimmer189 Posts: 135 Member
    I lost 20lbs on the old - 3 yrs ago - I started putting some back on and went back to WW - I haven't had any big scale numbers under the new program - 4lbs - I also find the website difficult to use. I really like this site - stay tune to see how the first week ends up
  • Jeneba
    Jeneba Posts: 699 Member
    WORD, Captness!!!! "FREEE FRUIT????" ROFL!!!! Hahahahahaha! What kind of idiots do they think we are???
  • TheSarahHill
    TheSarahHill Posts: 185
    It was their food that I didn't like - rip off!

    I like MFP because it's free and it actually encourages you to eat properly and change your life style by watching what things you put in your mouth instead of working out point with calculators that cost stupid amounts.

    I don't miss it - it did work though I can't take that away from it, just all about money money money! Grr.
  • tenas
    tenas Posts: 121
    I started WW back when the Flex plan first came out and had lost over 60 lbs on it. I think a large part of my success had to do with having a great leader and a group with a good support system. When that leader left and was replaced my someone who wasn't very good at all most of the people in the group left, including me. I tried on my own and rejoined several times over the years but never had that kind of success again, regaining the 60 i had lost with an additional 40 on top of it. Many of the people who were working the scales on my last few attempts were very condescending towards people who had struggled and gained weight. On MFP I have a great support system that rivals the one in my original WW group so I'm here to stay.
  • mrshickey
    mrshickey Posts: 239
    I lost over 3 stones with WW a few yrs ago and it was great, this was on the old points system. I found maintenance really hard (Which I know isn't WW specific), needless to say I piled the weight back on- and more. The meetings became a little inconvenient and repetetive so I tried to re-join online. This may make me sound really cheap but I couldn't justify paying to follow the online plan.

    The leader called to see if I was ok as I had stopped going to the meetings, I explained the above and she told me about a scheme in my area for people who had a BMI of 32 or over which offered 12 free sessions as a kick-start. I was over the moon and signed up.

    Then I discovered Propoints. WTH????? The stupid circle thing confused me (luckily the scheme came with a free propoints calculator). I found the extra weekly allowance was good, although that was because I used it to binge at the weekends. It was Ok cz it was within my points, right?? Wrong!!

    After meeting with my leader (who advised me that she saved her weekly points for vodka, pizza and/or chocolate at the weekends) I still lost very little weight. So little in fact I stopped going, even with a few free sessions remaining. This may sound ungrateful but after several weeks of being told 'the loss will come, everybody is different' I became annoyed and felt misguided.

    6 weeks of following MFP (with the odd binge, mishap and not as much exercise as there should be,) Ive lost 11.5 pounds. Much happier here, its free, its supportive and I don't have to work out the propoints for everything!!! Food packaging shows calories, fat, salt, etc, not propoints!!!!
  • veggiepug
    veggiepug Posts: 82
    I LOVED Momentum. I lost 35 lbs between 2009-2010. Then I moved, life got crazy and I started gaining weight. I re-joined WW about 2 months before they rolled out the PointsPlus program. I had some mild success with PP at first, but it didn't stick. I played around with the same 5 lbs for months until I finally quit after discovering MFP.

    I was always a meeting member, and found my old leader (before I moved) to be very helpful and motivating. Once I stared going to meetings here, I just couldn't find a decent leader. Meetings became so boring.

    I feel like they messed up a good thing by getting rid of Momentum. PP just isn't as livable as Momentum. You can't guesstimate points (which you shouldn't make a habit of, but being able to guess the points within a point or two on the old program really helped when out at a restaurant or grocery shopping without your calculator). I just find counting calories to be so much more simple. You don't need to input a bunch of info to generate a points value. The MFP database is also MUCH more vast than the WW database. I also like that I'm able to track my fat, protein, sugar, etc. I had no idea how much sugar I was consuming until I started using MFP. Oh, and best of all, MFP is FREE :)
  • KHaverstick
    KHaverstick Posts: 308 Member
    I did WW online 7 years ago, and lost 20lbs. I really liked it back then...at the time, the idea of tracking online was pretty novel (to me, anyway), and seemed so convenient. Also, at the time I felt like paying the $14.95/month would keep me accountable. It did work for me. BUT...like many of you, I found that the changes over the years have only confused things, not made it better. Several months ago I decided to give it a try again, but I didn't stick with it very long. One thing that I really didn't like was their mobile app--until just recently, they didn't even have an android app (not an official one, anyway). And the mobile version of the site is crap. Even their internet site is a bit too busy & complicated for me. Their food database isn't as good as MFP. I was always having to add in foods--very annoying. So recently a coworker recommended MFP, and when I checked it out and saw how user-friendly it is (LOVE the barcode feature), how big the database is, and the fact that is is FREE, it was a no-brainer. Cancelled my WWonline account, and here I am.
  • MrsFarrow
    MrsFarrow Posts: 326 Member
    I quit right as they rolled out the "new" points plan. And as Jennifer Hudson came out as the spokesperson because if I have to hear her ONE MORE DAMN TIME I'M GOING TO FLIP. WE GET IT. GOOD GOD.

    Anyway.

    I lost a good 25 pounds in close to 3 months, so I can't complain about that. But the forums? Forget it. Bunch of bitter old hags. Hated them all.

    I also didn't like the aspect that they just gave you points. Period. Eat these points. No, teach my how to eat. Which is why I switched to MFP, it teaches :)
  • spaingirl2011
    spaingirl2011 Posts: 763 Member
    I quit right as they rolled out the "new" points plan. And as Jennifer Hudson came out as the spokesperson because if I have to hear her ONE MORE DAMN TIME I'M GOING TO FLIP. WE GET IT. GOOD GOD.

    Anyway.

    I lost a good 25 pounds in close to 3 months, so I can't complain about that. But the forums? Forget it. Bunch of bitter old hags. Hated them all.

    I also didn't like the aspect that they just gave you points. Period. Eat these points. No, teach my how to eat. Which is why I switched to MFP, it teaches :)

    Haha! And then they brought on her family members -- as though Jennifer Hudson alone wasn't enough!
  • kandrews24
    kandrews24 Posts: 610 Member
    I think WW is a great program and I lost quite a bit of weight with them. What I liked most was all that I learned. I really learned a great deal of fundamental sound stuff that has stuck with me (regardless of implementation). What I liked least was that it got stale and though you can go to as many meetings as you like, a week is a long time to go in between meetings. I never really got into the WW on-line program. I assume that's good, but MFP is perfect for me now. I don't need to pay for it or drive anywhere. It is not stale. It is as fresh as we make it and I can get support just about anytime.
  • MrsFarrow
    MrsFarrow Posts: 326 Member
    I quit right as they rolled out the "new" points plan. And as Jennifer Hudson came out as the spokesperson because if I have to hear her ONE MORE DAMN TIME I'M GOING TO FLIP. WE GET IT. GOOD GOD.

    Anyway.

    I lost a good 25 pounds in close to 3 months, so I can't complain about that. But the forums? Forget it. Bunch of bitter old hags. Hated them all.

    I also didn't like the aspect that they just gave you points. Period. Eat these points. No, teach my how to eat. Which is why I switched to MFP, it teaches :)

    Haha! And then they brought on her family members -- as though Jennifer Hudson alone wasn't enough!

    MY GOD TELL ME ABOUT IT.
  • veggiepug
    veggiepug Posts: 82
    I really learned a great deal of fundamental sound stuff that has stuck with me (regardless of implementation).

    I do have to agree with this. I did WW for the first time when I was 18 and didn't have the SLIGHTEST clue to what healthy eating was. WW taught me the basics. I became accustomed to drinking tons of water, eating almost all whole grains (minus rice), and learned to love fruits and veggies. Even in the many times that I quit (sometimes a couple years at a time) I still stuck to these basic principles. I have WW to thank for at least teaching me the basics.
  • hbrekkaas
    hbrekkaas Posts: 268 Member
    I tried WW after it had switched to the new plan, and hated it. I joined on-line. I had 29 points a day and had a very very hard time sticking to it. After my homemade whole wheat/wheat germ berry muffin took up a huge chunk of points, I was done. Exercising for extra points wasn't always an option. It was winter and -30, and I had 3 kids at home to take care of. Couldn't just go to the gym or throw in an exercise video. So it was either go over points, go hungry or find a better way to do things.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories