Leaving Weight Watchers ...

I am currently on WW and really hate the new plan. I need to track and know more about what I am eating. They rave about the new 0 point foods, but zero points doesn’t mean zero calories. My current plan runs out in January and I want to have an alternative well in place before then. I am hoping this program is as easy to track as the old WW program. Any thoughts?

I am glad to see this post! I am not a fan of the new program so I am tracking here as well.

MFP is a completely different 'animal' than WW ... with WW they want you to focus on the types of food you can eat plentifully and the kind you need to stay away from or you blow your points. With MFP, you need to track EVERYTHING you eat ... (measured for liquids, weighed for solids works best) ... and you need to search out the database until you build up your foods lists.

I have a 'beef' with the food lists ... it's supposed to 'renew' as new stuff is added and older stuff is not repeated ... but it doesn't work that way for me. I'm constantly having to flip past food I ate just one time that stays on without dropping off and having to search for foods that I eat often but DID drop off because i added something new to my diary. ... Also ... when you do select foods from the data base ... be forewarned that it is a user developed database, so anyone can add to it or change the nutritional information ... which makes it something you need to be on the watch out for. Those are the negatives of it. Everything else I like a lot.

So my advice is to be selective of the food you add to your food lists when you add something new because it will be there for a while.

I'm a big fan of MFP.

I love MFP. I did WW way back in the day (at least 12-15 years ago I'd guess) and used the FlexPoints program - it was EXCELLENT - and it worked, I just couldn't afford it and I had to give it up and even lost more weight on my own doing the WW system without being in WW. Then life happened, I forgot about it, lost my points calculator, etc...

A few problems though with WW then - I was always hungry because I was always trying to focus on eating foods with as few points as possible - in spite of the leader saying you need protein and fat, I figured I'd just get to a healthy weight first and then worry about nutrition...big mistake. I always felt tired, hungry, hangry - another reason why I abandoned it. MFP really makes it a priority for you to see what your overall nutritional goals need to be. When I follow MFP's guidelines for nutrition with regard to how many grams of fat, protein, fiber, and my basic vitamins/nutrients - I feel terrific. Eating higher protein/higher fat foods sticks to your ribs longer too.

MFP is TERRIFIC - first because it's FREE and 2nd because it's SIMPLE TO USE! You should read some of the pinned threads though that will help you - the foods database is tricky in that there are many inaccurate entries in there - you MUST verify your foods (I use the USDA Nutritional Database if I don't have the food packaging to go by).

You also really should weigh your solid food on a food scale, and measure liquids - even with foods that come in individual servings - the item may actually weigh more than the serving size the calories was calculated for. For some foods this won't matter, and for a lot of people it won't matter until they are getting closer to their goal or are experiencing problems losing. For some foods however, calorie-dense foods like peanut butter, it becomes VERY important. A tablespoon of peanut butter may actually be significantly more than you think. So weigh, weigh, weigh!

I love MFP and will probably never use anything else as long as MFP is here for me to use.

How often, do they; change plans? Didn't they, just introduce "Smart Points" {or whatever, it was labeled as}; approximately a year ago?

I'm here too! I just am tired of gaining weight with the new WW plan. I am a person that needs to be accountable for EVERYTHING I eat. WW worked for me prior to the plan switch, but I've done nothing but gain weight now that so many foods are free. Clearly I'm over eating those free foods, but I'm scared to leave WW behind because it monitors the quality of my food. Sigh.....