New Weight Watchers Freestyle or Myfitnesspal?

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  • Jingsi84
    Jingsi84 Posts: 127 Member
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    angelb1983 wrote: »
    I keep bouncing back and forth on programs. I have lost over 20 pounds but sometimes feel deprived on weight watchers. I have a fitbit and I always struggle wondering how much to eat. I need to give it a chance when set to sedentary for it to tell me how much I burn. It is just so scary trusting a program. What has worked for you all? Obviously if you are here, maybe its MFP for you. Do you eat your fitbit adjustment?
    Has anyone else tried the new weight watchers? Whats your opinions? I just feel so stuck....even though Im losing, it is taking forever because I seem to have a week on and a week off because when I don't allow myself to eat certain foods I end up just binging.
    I think starting tomorrow I will set MFP to sedentary and eat exercise calories and see if that actually works. Sometimes Im skeptical that I can eat that amount and still lose because sometimes it is 2000+ calories when I am very active.

    As I understand it, the MFP active/sedentary settings are for your activity level outside of working out. So if you are at a desk job, you should most certainly set MFP to sedentary. Next, people usually only eat about 50% of their exercise calories because most people find that MFP and their fitbits overestimate these calories out. Hopefully that will help you determine how many calories to eat. I also like to look at losertown.org to play with how many calories I need to eat, and what activity to engage in, to lose at my desired pace.

    WW worked well for my Mom until she fell just outside of maintenance and didn't want to pay for the meetings and let all the weight and then some crop back on. MFP has been great for me to lose 25lbs in three months. I can't understand why you would want to estimate calories with points instead of estimating by measuring when it is more accurate and free. Group meetings might be good for you though, but weights can vary especially for women during their TOM and what happens when weigh ins are on a high weight day? I personally prefer an online presence which is great here and the WW online community was snarky to newbies according to my long-time WW following sister. Just things to consider.
  • brznhabits
    brznhabits Posts: 126 Member
    edited January 2018
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    I'm am MFPer and before that I used caloriecount. I've never tried WeightWatchers, probably because I'm frugal ;-) But also, the math of CICO really works for me. I like Excel spreadsheets :-) And last but not least, I'm a fan of building new skills for a lifetime, using WW (temporary fix) wouldn't support that goal (I'm not judging anyone who uses WW).

    In terms of MFP (and your fitbit) working for you...

    All of these things are estimates. You have to trial and error to find a more accurate "truth" (for your body/lifestyle).

    Don't feel like you have to choose between sedentary and lightly active. Through trial and error I know I fall right in between so I override my setting. My weekends are activity heavy so I log extra then.

    Yeah, I don't recommend staying away from foods...because then you binge...but instead I recommend building better habits. That said, trigger foods are another story, I won't keep those in the house.

    Every one has off days but the degree of overage (100 cals vs. 600 cals) and how often makes the difference. Personally I try to stay within 10% of target 5/7 days AND I try not to ever go over my maintenance cals. If I'm consistently missing those goals I know I need to reevaluate and adjust to something more sustainable, including looking at my macros.

    That said, if you are having up/down weeks keep in mind that "every good day is better than a bad day", keep at it until it gets easier.
  • lovielou522
    lovielou522 Posts: 5 Member
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    labblb86 wrote: »
    I've been doing WW Freestyle for a few weeks, and it has been working great. However this week I seem to be hungrier, even with the extra protein. I have rolled over points a couple days, and used 28/35 of my weeklies. I checked my calories on MFP today, and some days this week I was only getting 850 - 900 calories! Way too low!! I did have a couple days of 1700 & 1300, but my overall week average is 1150. Still too low given that I work out 3x/week. I won't be rolling over points anymore and will eat all my weeklies. It will take time to get adjusted, I guess. I did awesome on Smart Points, losing 55 pounds in 2016 and have been at goal for a year. Just working now towards my personal goal weight.

    Thank you for bringing this up! I've been trying to do WW Freestyle, and I've had the same issue of coming in WAY too low on calories, yet still being over my daily WW point allowance. I've been double tracking on both WW and MFP just to make sure i'm not coming in below 1200 calories on any given day.
  • dena789
    dena789 Posts: 164 Member
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    I went to WW in the 1990's. I recently found my books while clearing out some paperwork. I did lose weight but gained too. In a period of about 3 years, there was only about 5 pounds difference from when I’d started. Back then, WW tracked servings dividing foods into protein, starches, vegetables, fruit and fats. You were given books outlining the serving sizes of all foods. Well, I suppose I learned about what a serving size of many things were and how to balance meals but there wasn’t the choice to have anything that wasn’t listed. I think that was just too restrictive for me at that time so I just kind of gave up. My weight just kept creeping up.

    I discovered MFP in 2012 and by tracking what I ate was able to lose 60 pounds in less than a year. Maintenance wasn’t as easy for me so I was up and down and up over the last few years. I came back to using MFP seriously again in December and have started losing again.

    For me, MPF has been the tool that helped me most.
  • yvonne_beavis
    yvonne_beavis Posts: 39 Member
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    I lost 50 lbs with WW but left when they changed to flex ( might be what is called freestyle in the US). Like other posters, I found the messages it was sending out were too mixed and confusing. I find MFP easier and less restrictive because it doesn't privilege any particular food group, or demonise anything, but of course a lot of people like the meeting side of ww, and the community site was helpful. To be honest, I think you can lose weight in a lot of ways, and what suits you at one point in the process may not do do at another time.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,403 Member
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    Fitbit grossly overestimates my calorie burn. Using those numbers I would gain more than half a pound per week.
  • iamunicoon
    iamunicoon Posts: 839 Member
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    I used to do WW and was successful with it. I'm also successful with MFP. So it's a tie for me except MFP is free and WW isn't.

    The thing for me is that I don't struggle with understanding how it works. If you explain CICO to me, I can follow that. If you explain WW's point system to me, I can follow that, too. The problem is sticking with it and not lying to myself and that's something I have to work on, regardless of what I'm doing to lose weight. People have brought up the WW meetings as a great way of keeping yourself accountable but that never worked for me and I didn't gain much motivation from them either. It's probably down to your local group of people but what I found here was a group full of stay at home moms whose daily struggles are very different from my own, so we could encourage but not really help each other.
  • tymjennings
    tymjennings Posts: 11 Member
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    I lost 50 pounds with Smart Points and since freestyle was introduced back in December, Ive actually not lost. I have gained and lost the same 5 pounds so I decided to track MFP and WW. Once I get the hang of MFP I will probably cancel WW as I do see why I need two programs.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    angelb1983 wrote: »
    I think starting tomorrow I will set MFP to sedentary and eat exercise calories and see if that actually works. Sometimes Im skeptical that I can eat that amount and still lose because sometimes it is 2000+ calories when I am very active.

    ^^ Yes, this is what you should try. MFP way works :smile: I am petite and was able to eat around 1700-1800 cals a day and still lose.
  • jrochest
    jrochest Posts: 119 Member
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    There's a bunch of threads discussing WW's new Freestyle program; I found them all when I had the same question a couple of months ago. I dislike it enough that I dropped WW entirely and started with MFP instead -- Freestyle is both too restrictive and not informative enough, the worst of both worlds. This is actually sensible: a calorie is a calorie. And it's free.
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
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    Back in April 2011, I was introduced to MFP by a bariatric surgeon’s office - went to see them about surgery that I ended up not having becuase i was losing weight pretty well on my own. I joined WW a few months after that, and using their math, I got more food than what the Dr.’s office wanted me to have....so I used that as my range.

    THEN Freestyle and things came along. I don’t know much about the program other than what my sister’s told me about it. I’m going to go next week to a meeting to see what I can find out. I tried logging my food with both MFP and WW today. I’m under calories on MFP by just about 100 calories. and I’m under points on WW by 14 points.

    My sister said that all lean protein is free. She’ said that even if you go to the deli for turkey or something, it’s very low points. She said it seems like they’ve “padded” other things to make them “more expensive”. If you’re going to make things like lean protein’s free, I guess you have to make up that loss somewhere.

    Personally, I think that points is not something to really focus on. Logging food on MFP gives you data you can do something with. POints don’t tell you how much fat or carbs or protein you’ve had in a day. To be honest, when I’ve focused on those things (fats/carbs/protein/fiber), I’ve done SO MUCH BETTER at weight loss. I feel like it almost takes a nutritionist certification to lose weight anymore. BUT if it works, it works.
  • slw37
    slw37 Posts: 85 Member
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    cebreisch wrote: »
    My sister said that all lean protein is free. She’ said that even if you go to the deli for turkey or something, it’s very low points. She said it seems like they’ve “padded” other things to make them “more expensive”. If you’re going to make things like lean protein’s free, I guess you have to make up that loss somewhere.

    That is incorrect; ALL lean proteins are definitely NOT free.
  • choppie70
    choppie70 Posts: 544 Member
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    I tried freestyle and I gained 6 lbs. I only used my daily points, never my weekly points or my fit points. Since I was doing the online version only, I went to a meeting to show my diary to someone there and they could not understand why I was not losing weight.

    I knew why - free point foods still have calories. I can eat a banana for 0 points or eat a 100 calorie milky way bar for 5 points. They are still the same amount of calories.

    I also found that WW was giving me a negative attitude about food and I was starting to feel guilt when choosing something that was a lot of points. I personally felt that it demonizes some foods - especially carbs. That negative mindset about food was what got me to the weight I am.
  • lbryans929
    lbryans929 Posts: 42 Member
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    Hello, everyone! I am new here- I think it is Day 5. I really like it. I reached WW lifetime in 2010 having lost 32 lbs and was a leader for a few years until I returned to my career after my son went to K. Long story short I struggled on both Smart Pts and Freestyle ('17-'18). I finally realized that with the points system always changing I will keep paying and it won't always "work for me", whereas MFP is free and consistent. I like logging my food and not judging myself if I choose a sweet or a carb as long as I am in my cal limit. I love how I can put in a recipe URL and find the calories. What a great feature! This seems like a supportive thread. Thank you and I wish you all success and peace on the journey.
  • brandy_losinit
    brandy_losinit Posts: 21 Member
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    angelb1983 wrote: »
    I keep bouncing back and forth on programs. I have lost over 20 pounds but sometimes feel deprived on weight watchers. I have a fitbit and I always struggle wondering how much to eat. I need to give it a chance when set to sedentary for it to tell me how much I burn. It is just so scary trusting a program. What has worked for you all? Obviously if you are here, maybe its MFP for you. Do you eat your fitbit adjustment?
    Has anyone else tried the new weight watchers? Whats your opinions? I just feel so stuck....even though Im losing, it is taking forever because I seem to have a week on and a week off because when I don't allow myself to eat certain foods I end up just binging.
    I think starting tomorrow I will set MFP to sedentary and eat exercise calories and see if that actually works. Sometimes Im skeptical that I can eat that amount and still lose because sometimes it is 2000+ calories when I am very active.

    I have done both. Free style is good, but i think their 0sp list is a little much. Bananas and apples are good for you! Yes, but because they are 0sp and i am having an issue with my sweet tooth i may have 3 bananas. This is not good. Too much sugar, and calories at the end of the day. Plus ww costs are quite high. I did enjoy the meetings and i learned so much about myself. However, i am back here. It is free, and the daily nutrition label sheds great insight on a day's intake. I found myself eating enough sodium for a week in one day on ww. I have several cookbooks of theirs. Not many recipes have less than 600 mg of sodium. So, to answer the question... i use mfp and eat part of my fitbit/exercise adjustments. I learned that it figures your calorie goals with a deficit based on your normal daily activity/lifestyle and before exercise. I have a sedentary job, so my goal is just under 1300 calories daily. I had a much more active career when i joined before and my goal was 1600 cal per day.

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