Weight watchers vs MFP plan

PrettyLight111 · October 2018

Yes its all about basic of calorie in and out, energy balance. Indeed WW is a business, like all businesses have a way of structuring their sell. While MFP is free, it post tons of ads in order to be so, in hope you click or go premium for a Fee if one wishes to pay. WW like any weight loss plan indeed has it pros and cons.

For me, Justin714 mentioned above, the in person meetings and weigh-in's where of very of great value for accountability in the beginning. Wonderful support in helping you along in changing behaviors and ideas's shared, at least at mine, a positive experience for me.

Example, Sharing with others about being a "Caregiver" at one meeting and how to handle the stress eating one feels when so alone, was of so valuable to me. The support others give me and shared their caregiving experience and relationships with food was priceless. We all learned a lot that day. A true sense of love and care, is a wonderful thing to have in person. So one great attribute WW has I feel to their credit, that I am grateful for.
I do believe no matter what "gimmicky wrapper" (as Danp wrote above " companies wrap themselves in, I feel whatever plan you choose once you have good balance habits formed one should to follow what works best for them indeed.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful input!
Great success & happiness to all~

ShayCarver89 · October 2018

I don't want to pay anymore than I have to to lose weight. And WW is just a fancy way of counting calories. MFP is free, there's no contest! Its free and it works.

Elphaba1313 · October 2018

carolpollina wrote: »

I am back on MFP following a run with WW. The new Freestyle worked for me in the beginning but when I did both WW and a trial with MFP, I found out that the point system was putting me way over the 1200 calories I needed to lose successfully. It works for some but it did not work for me. After the first 6 weeks the scale was not moving. So, here I am. On my own again.

Almost nobody needs to eat only 1200 calories to lose weight.

anna_b1 · October 2018

I have been doing WW since mid July and have lost 25 pounds to date. A slow, but steady loss. I also track on MFP which is so much more meaningful for me than the points plan. Nevertheless, I do find the personal and community approach in meetings beneficial. MFP alone worked for me in the past, but I find the connecting I do via the meetings to be invaluable. I am, however, thinking of quitting once my 6 month membership expires and just sticking to MFP.

whatsonmymind88 · December 2018

I first lost all my weight just with MFP and a gym called Koko fitness. Then I moved and gained it all back and then some. Kept trying to get back into the swing of everything on MFP but I wasn’t honest with myself and didn’t keep myself accountable. So after a long on and off struggle trying to lose by myself, I signed up for WW. Lost 16 pounds so far. Woot woot. I do the group meetings and having someone else weigh me in, keeps my focus and accountable more so than by myself.
Yesterday I decided to start tracking on MFP along with WW. I like seeing the calorie intake and what calories I have left.

daphnekoonce · December 2018

I have gone back and forth. There are aspects of WW that I like, primarily the “free foods” however nothing is really free is it? I did loose weight because my friend held me accountable. She has gone off the wagon now and I am bored with WW so it is no longer benifiting me. I gained back seven pounds. I never met my original goal. MFP is definitely the most accurate in that you can monitor the percentages of dietary requirements.

flschwartz · February 2019

PrettyLight111 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I have been doing the weight watchers plan this past year somewhat successfully, lost some weight. I still have a few more pounds to go and I am thinking of using just the MFP plan only now. I started MFP a Month ago for I felt my points and so called Free foods they allow was keeping me from losing, I lost only 2lbs in 6 weeks prior, yes great to lose but felt it should have moved a little more. So when I stared MPF a month ago and kept the calories, excerise, etc in check, I lost 5lbs in 4 weeks.

So, my question; Is there anyone here who left weighters and has used the MFP plan and achieved successful results? Do you like it better? What are your tips for using mfp?

It’s time for me to renew my WW plan there soon and not sure I want too, cost etc. For I feel I do have a good handle on portion control now, excerise, so not sure it’s working for me anymore and need a change. Seem to be having positive results here thus far. What are your thoughts?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Wishing everyone continued success with there weight loss & fitness journey.

I’m about to drop WW after 10 months gaining and losing the same 10 pounds with no insight from them as to why. Did WW years ago and it worked. Made lifetime and gained 90 pounds. Now have about 5O to lose. Good luck to you and me too hopefully.

tashytales · February 2019

I just moved from Slimming World, which is pretty much the same as Weight Watchers, to mfp and I am finding it so freeing. I was in a cycle of doing well on it, feeling restricted and leaving, returning a month later to find I had put all the weight back. I did this for about a year and a half and in that time I was only 5lb lighter than when I started.

I also found the competitive side of who could lose the most exhausting. I've learned since being on here that it isn't necessarily healthy to lose lots of weight in 1 week, yet there you're rewarded with free food, certificates and shiny stickers if you lost the most that week

skytuner · February 2019

I had great and rather unexpected success (lost 40 lbs and made lifetime) with WW circa 1999-2000. I was able to keep it off for a couple of years, but gained again. I liked the program where I lost weigh originally. Probably for me it was really more of a simplified calorie counting program, points based on fibre, fat and calories with only greens and other non-starchy vegetables being "free" not fruit. The nutritional guidelines were built in, as I think they always have been, with number of serving requirements for veggies/fruit, milk (!?!), water and so on. I was already in those days an avid exerciser.

In more recent experience with them, around 2006/7 I struggled for a long time to lose ten pounds (dealing with menopause), and then they completely overhauled their system (I found tracking much more complicated) and I drifted away (and put on more weight).

It is easy to get sidelined by "new studies" and popular diets. I think these can be misleading. Yet, somehow, I know in my heart of hearts that too much of eating chocolate, potato chips, and drinking wine and behaving in a sedentary way. With most people I doubt that a lack of understanding about nutrition and health is the problem.

MFP is CICO (Eat less, move more).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKs0oEIVOck

chilli41 · February 2019

I was also getting stuck with the 0 points foods and couldn't understand the reasoning behind it - I mean an egg is 'free' at WW but it's 70 cals. That cannot be right. Now on MFP and feel like I have a better grip on what's going into my mouth.

Early days but I am excited!

Yes yes yes this is exactly how i feel. I did WW yeeeeears ago when absolutely everything had a points value and i lost weight EVERY week. The new system i find much more restrictive even with "free" foods. I paid a subscription to WW just before christmas so i'll see it through but im using MFP to keep me in line.

WynterDreaming · February 2019

I can only give you my personal opinion and I personally don't think Weight Watchers is worth it. I was a member as recently as about 6 months ago and I cancelled it as soon as the promotional contract I had signed with ended. The Freestyle Program, for as much as some people rave about it, I feel is too restrictive and in some cases might even be a bit shaming when choosing a less healthy option. This isn't even including their "free Zero Point foods". Unless it's water, no food or drink you put in your body is ever really free.

I've lost 10 pounds in the last 30 days here on MFP and I am personally so much happier here than I ever was on WW. And not just because I'm no longer spending money I can spend on something else, like my protein bars.

ryando · February 2019

I lost about 30 pounds on ww and lost interest for some reason. I think ate too much O points and was paying. I figure this free and calories are not gonna lie. Not too bash weight watchers though, I’m sure it would of worked if I followed it harder, I just wanted to change it up and this is free.

mychance123 · February 2019

Weight watchers has also helped me lose weight over the years. It is a very easy program to follow and many are successful when they follow. I did not reach my goal while on the program. I think after time I got comfortable, and ate what I wanted as long as I was close to my points. The difference with weight watchers and My Fitness pal is that with WW you have points for foods and that's all you need to know. MFP gives you a recommended calorie amount and tells you how much should come from carbs fat & protein to be successful and follow a healthy balanced diet. I think if you pay attention to that, you are actually learning more how to eat healthy and why you should choose the foods that you do. I personally think that adding as many calories to your day as they say you can for exercise slows down results.

Dawnchrx · February 2019

I did years ago. Started WW at 398. Got down to 300, quit, and got down to 197 with My fitness pal. I gained a lot of it back though. Tried signing up for WW freestyle and hated it. It's way too restricting and found myself eating way too many zero point foods so I wasn't getting anywhere. I tracked food on WW and MFP; while I was staying in my point range on WW, I was eating close to 2,700 calories a day. That's why I'm back here again. Glad WW worked for you!

jessackerman21 · February 2019

PrettyLight111 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

I have been doing the weight watchers plan this past year somewhat successfully, lost some weight. I still have a few more pounds to go and I am thinking of using just the MFP plan only now. I started MFP a Month ago for I felt my points and so called Free foods they allow was keeping me from losing, I lost only 2lbs in 6 weeks prior, yes great to lose but felt it should have moved a little more. So when I stared MPF a month ago and kept the calories, excerise, etc in check, I lost 5lbs in 4 weeks.

So, my question; Is there anyone here who left weighters and has used the MFP plan and achieved successful results? Do you like it better? What are your tips for using mfp?

It’s time for me to renew my WW plan there soon and not sure I want too, cost etc. For I feel I do have a good handle on portion control now, excerise, so not sure it’s working for me anymore and need a change. Seem to be having positive results here thus far. What are your thoughts?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Wishing everyone continued success with there weight loss & fitness journey.

I am in the same exact situation. I have lost a lot of weight with WW over the years, but since they changed their program it doesn't work. I did it for about 3 weeks and saw no change, then I switch to MFP and I have lost 8 pounds in 5 weeks or so. I think the new WW is meant to keep people on it for life. When they say you can have chicken for zero points, that's just a bunch of BS in my opinion. I won't go back to wasting my money on WW.

jessackerman21 · February 2019

Danp wrote: »

Weight management is very simple (but not always easy) thing. It's an energy balance. Supply more energy (calories) than you use, your body will store that excess energy as fat. Supply less energy than you use, your body will begin to burn those excess energy stores.

MFP makes this transparent, clear and straight forward. It calculates your targets, lets you log your energy intake and expenditure and does the math for you. It's free and using the app will educate you about nutrition and teach you how to manage your food directly.

WW takes the same energy in/energy out equation. Puts a gimmicky wrapper around it to hide how it all works and sells that gimmick. Because it hides and obfuscates whats actually happening in the background you can't learn how to do it alone and therefore become reliant on their system. The entire thing is designed to give you a temporary fix that works while you're paying them. As soon as you stop, you're back to square one because you haven't learned anything except their system. You regain the weight and think 'Oh WW helped me lose weight last time I'll do that again' and spend more money.

WW is designed to keep you on the hook with a lose-gain cycle. They're in it for the money. Selling people a 'plan' makes money through repeat business. Teaching people how to do it them selves doesn't. I've watched friends and family members yo-yo on WW for over 40 years. I asked some of them why they keep going back and they all said the same thing 'Oh it works. I lose weight when I'm on WW'. If it really worked, they wouldn't have had to keep going back periodically for four decades.

THANK YOU! finally, someone who tells it honestly how WW is now. This is why I got off WW.

takuwinds · February 2019

I am WW dropout. I decided to stick with MFP. I was eating way too much 0 point food and would lose and gain the same 5 pounds for the last 3 months. At least when I see I'm out of calories to eat, I have to stop eating. With WW, I could eat more 0 points food and not see any change in my weight. I'm sure it works for some people, but I couldn't make it work for me.

Weight watchers vs MFP plan

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