a question for current and past Weight Watchers members

I am a Lifetime Member at WW and was even a receptionist there for a time.

I did WW many times until finally in 2007 I had enough when I reached an all-time high of 265 pounds. I was able to get to 145 but then I couldn’t get the scale to budge any longer so I switched to maintenance for a few months. Then when the new Points Plus program rolled out I tried the weight loss plan again and again the scale didn’t budge. I started to track calories on Spark and lost 10 pounds.

I think WW is a great program. No, it does not focus intently on exercise however that is because there are so many people at there who either refuse to exercise, or are unable to physically. I always thought this was an area that WW could improve upon. Calculating Activity Points via WW methods was just ridiculously inaccurate.

In my experience the meetings vary from each meeting depending on the leader and the dynamics of the group. A good leader has a feel of the group and knows what will fly and what won’t fly in the meeting. I’ve worked at meetings where there were scheduled walks as a group prior to the meeting. And some centers organize bigger walks for all of the meetings combined. With one group I worked with, we all did a walk together as a group for an Autism Awareness group (one of the member’s son has autism). The main priority as given to a leader by WW is retaining membership. A leader is not going to push exercise if they think their group does not want to hear it. Great thing about WW though if you are not getting what you need out of the meeting, you can switch to another meeting. Even if it is ran by the same leader, the members will be different and thus so are the dynamics of the group.

I worked with one leader who would seriously push products. And yet worked with other leaders who did not. Keep in mind that leaders and receptionists both get a commission on all products sold during their meeting.

I’ve grown from WW now. I sometimes will switch back to counting points, but I seriously do not like the new Points Plus Program. It does not work for me. And I don’t agree with some of the changes they made.

I've been a Lifetime WW member for years, but I track my points using the system I'm famiiar with, so can't speak to the newer plans.

I do recall that for new members, the emphasis for the first few weeks was on food and getting adapted to changing your eating habits. Then the exercise focus began and continued on from there.

I totally agree with the above posters when they say it depends on the group and the leader. Some are better than others. I'm fortunate that I have multiple WW locations in my area, and have found one that is really great. Our particular group is quite focused on walking/running, both on an individual basis and as a group (March of Dimes, Race for the Cure, etc.) There are also group challenges from time to time where members can challenge themselves to complete a certain number of workouts, run/walk more miles, etc. If you're interested in continuing, keep trying until you find the group that works for you.

I would agree that the main focus at Weight Watchers is the food, for sure. I lost 76 pounds at WW and now have gained 20 back. Now on MFP to get that off. I am not much of a fitness buff at my age of nearly 66, but I do like water aerobics and swimming a lot. Also do some walking as well. I am trying to get the weight back down to maintain my present state of health.:flowerforyou:

This isn't a reply this is a question- I am a current ww member and have been for years- Im thinking of switching to this program My question is with the extra calories you gain from excercise- do you have to use them the same day or can you bank them for the weekend for something special?????

their program is more sent on food control which is very helpful
but if your are into working out like i was every day on my elliptical and burn calories
you would have to way up your protein, very frustrated
Working out was great and I was into it but it did not work with their plan. They would never say you are working out too much;
you need to add more protein in to compensate for the calorie you're burning
And yes it would depend on the team leader, try different ww in the area
And yes my leader wanted me to buy their products and stop using other for no reason?

I did weight watchers online several times over the years. I only had success with it once. I lost just over 20lbs. I mainly ate Smart One's and other weight watchers meals. I didn't have much luck in other attempts because eventually I got bored counting points, which is a problem I'm having now with counting calories. I didn't feel like WW didn't stress exercise, I always felt it was important since earning activity points allowed you to eat more. I did feel that it didn't encourage me to eat healthier. I never really changed my habits, I just ate less. I know there are a lot of people who say weight loss is as simple as calories in versus calories out and to a degree that is true, but the quality of those calories is still important to your overall health. On WW I ate a lot of junk. Now I want to lose weight and be healthy too so frozen meals high in sodium and snack cakes aren't in my diet anymore

I am doing the PP online only and I have not bought any WW products or food, with the exception of their string cheese as it was on sale at my store. I bought my food scale at Target. Doing online only, I don't feel any pressure to buy their products.

As for exercise, I already exercised 4-5 times per week prior to June but I wasn't losing or gaining. My eating habits had gotten really poor--including when I realized one day I had not eaten for a day and a half and was subsisting on coke zero. There would be periods when I didn't eat, then I'd eat a whole container of cashews or a whole box of crackers and a bag of craisins plus dinner etc . . .so for either plan, I like how I am tracking what I eat. I think I eat now more than I used to but am losing so that makes me happy. I did low carb several years ago and was successful but could not stay on track for more than a year before I was cheating on carbs and once I'd start to cheat, I went all in.

Even though I log my food regularly for both, I am following WW. I like knowing I will never go hungry--I can always get fruit or veggies if I get a munchie craving. One day the restaurant I had been planning to eat was closed and the nearest place was 5 guys--and for any other diet (including low carb) and mfp, I would've panicked, but I got a burger and half an order of fries and felt fine--I was still on my diet using up some weekly pts.

That being said, MFP has a way better food database--it is awesome and the original reason I joined as I was frustrated with the food database on WW and I like how MFP is free--which makes me think that once I hit my goal, I plan to stay with MFP long term.