What is your opinion of Weight Watchers?

The innovative part of WW was the meetings + logging, everything else is a gimmick.

MFP is a cheaper alternative than WW online, but if you are a sociable person, the meetings and weigh ins could be very beneficial.

I haven't been on WW, but a few friends of mine have and here's my arm's length opinion of it.

Based on your post, you seem to recognize that being active and mobile was a huge component in you losing the weight you previously lost. And you're also making the connection that being in a desk job, where you aren't nearly as active, makes it difficult to keep the weight off.

So your experience plus my opinion: you had a job that was pretty active, and had a physical component to it, and it sounds like you changed your eating habits during that time. Was this change because of WW? Is this a change you could do on your own? WW, to me, is a glorified and expensive MFP. It works for some people, because accountability is huge. But really, you get a specific number of points (you get a specific number of calories per day, too) and if you go over you gain weight. You get extra points for activity (you'll get extra calories for exercise) that you can eat daily. I think if you like the aspect of accountability, weekly weigh ins and chat sessions you can find that in a friend, or even on here. I don't think you need WW especially when you have the basics yourself. Being active after you've been at work all day can be an effort, but you don't need to exercise to lose you just have to eat within your calories.

And about feeling hungry: you might for a couple days because previously with your job you were able to eat a little more since you burned more calories during the day. This will adjust over time and you won't feel hungry on your amount of food. I'd give it like a week, or so.

All in all, you sound like you have a great foundation and could get back on track with a little focus and effort so I don't think WW would be a benefit to you that you couldn't do on your own. Save the money

taluch75 wrote: »

They don't teach you how to eat in a long term.....just about the money$

Respectfully disagree with this. They do teach you how to eat long term, by weighing your food and learning portion control, what a real portion should be. Realizing that if you eat like you always have - which must be too much - you won't lose weight. If you're used to eating an 8 oz steak with a baked potato smothered in butter and sour cream, and not much veggies - that's not a portion that will allow weight loss. But - you can still have the steak, baked potato, butter & sour cream, just smaller amounts.

That said, it is a business. It works for some, not for others. I don't like the idea of the freestyle, but I'm following several people on IG who are working the program and seeing success.

i've never tried weight watchers groups and i don't know what the new program is like, but i've tried using their old diet method and found it recommended too many salty soups. i ended up with high blood pressure and i think that was a contributing factor. so if you try it go easy on the salt. but i do remember having a friend who lost like 60 pounds with them.

My MIL has been losing and gaining the same 30 pounds in as many years with WW. And forking over money to them all the while.

gearhead426hemi wrote: »

I think a lot of people over think the whole diet and workout lifestyle. Keep it simple and stick with the basics. For starters nothing healthy comes from a box. Eat a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, and lean meat. Getting out and walking, running, hiking, kayaking, biking anything that increases your heart rate for a extended period of time is all you need to be healthy. Start off slow with your workouts so you don't over do it right off. Always change up what you are doing to keep it interesting. Walk, run, hike or bike different trails. Kayak new lakes and rivers. The world is you gym and you can change the scenery any time you want. Best of luck!

Great post, you make sense BUT if it was easy no one would need WW MFP ATKINS Nutrisystems etc etc.

I had to learn losing weight is “Simple” (CICO) BUT it’s NOT “Easy”!

BTW I took my first kayaking lesson last year at age 69!

hesn92 wrote: »

I personally don’t Understand why you would consider it when you can use mfp which is free

Because some people find the social aspect of the meetings enjoyable and motivating and find real life support works better for them than online does.

It is not for me but I can understand why others use it.

I'm on WW (online only) and just recently came back to MFP because I missed it (after being gone a year). I'm going to track both for a bit .... I do like WW - I like the online system. I like the points, I like the activity points. For me, it has helped guide me in the right direction of eating healthier. I am going to start to track both to get back in the habit of calorie tracking, and to eventually wean myself off of WW. It is working though .... A LOT of people have not had much luck with the freestlye, because they equate that with being able to eat an unlimited amount of food. Of course that isn't realistic - it's all about having a healthy relationship with food.

I don't like WW because of its inconsistency. They have changed programs so many times! Calories are calories and MFP is consistent and constant. I personally didn't do well with WW because I'm insulin resistant and according to the program I was on a med banana was 2pts but was something like 27 carbs!! So needless to say everyone should find what program works best for them. I've known lots who have lost on WW but not very many of them kept it off.

I am a current WW member but have switched to MFP because the new program doesn't make sense to me.

I couldn't figure out why my weight loss was so inconsistent and why I was alternately satisfied and hangry so I tracked points and calories at the same time.

While sticking to their program and enjoying varying amounts of 0 point foods I tracked days ranging from 900-2700 calories.

If I didn't eat any 0 point proteins that day (chicken breast, eggs, beans, fish) I would wind up consuming less than 1000 calories for the day which is insane. On the other hand it was equally possible to track the exact same number of points while eating 2700 calories a day if I had eggs, tofu, lots of bean salads, chicken breast for dinner.

The zero point foods make me crazy. Food has calories, calories matter. I liked the older programs because they made nutritional sense but this new program was a bad call.

I'm still going to meetings though because I have another 5 months already paid for and I'm only 5 pounds away from my lifetime membership. I want that little gold key because then if WW changes to a program that makes sense to me I won't have to pay to use it.

Hi. I belong to a facebook group of weight watchers devotees. They're nice folk but when I went to their website I discovered that its not affordable for those of us on fixed incomes. WW withholds information to force you into purchasing their product and, while I'm all about a commercial economy, I think if they will be doing that they need to stop making it sound like they are all about helping people. They're not philanthropic.

HOWEVER the members are more than happy to help someone who asks questions in online groups. And you can get a lot of info via Dr. Google as well as youtube videos.

I find the points to be really confusing, and I couldn't add or adjust the calorie counts of food in their system. With MFP I can track calories much more easily and it's not a constant struggle to figure out how much I'm eating.

RachellaJ wrote: »

Since then I have realized that it is a money making business, and a bit of a scam. I feel like they change things to set people up for failure so they have to keep coming back. The way the program is now makes no sense to me. I recently read that fruit is calorie free? How does that make sense?

I too feel like it is a money making scam. I wonder what they will come up with next. I can't believe in 2+ years it has changed three times.

Early 90's I loss weight with WW, I've been back in this last couple years plus a decade ago and they just keep changing so much that they make it harder to follow less flexibility in what you can eat and constantly learn a new system and last 2 times around I felt deprived even though that's not the goal. I'M SURE IT STILL WORKS FOR SOME JUST NOT ME. I've lost 23 lbs with MPF so far. Do what works best for you and what your most comfortable with. Good luck.