Weight Watchers

I just joined Weight Watchers at work on Thursday. A lot of people at work have found a huge sucess with weight watchers. I'm sending you a friend request. I'll let you know how it goes.

A number of years ago I joined Weight Watchers with one of my daughters. We both went to a few sessions and then stopped attending. I did continue to use the points calculator and the resources, but paying to attend a meeting and weigh in just didn't make sense to me, when the biggest thing I needed was to watch my food intake. I think I lost about 20 pounds total at that time, but didn't keep it off once I stopped tracking food.

Coincidentally, I was just thinking today that MFP is the perfect tool for me. I can see and learn from others' success and failures, I have an easy and FREE way to keep track of my food and exercise intake, as well as my nutrients, and it's convenient--I don't have to find a meeting time/place that works with my schedule.

I also rationalize the cost of the data plan for my smartphone as being about the same as what I would pay to attend Weight Watchers' meetings for a month. Of course I use my phone for many other things, but even if all I used it for was mobile MFP, it would be cost effective.

I just cancelled my membership to WW, but only because they switched the way the program works and it stopped working for me. Before that, I had lost 45 lbs. I like MFP better because I can track everything I want to, not just see point values for everything.

I did Weight Watchers online from January 2010 - December 2010 and lost a total of 53lbs and most of it was just from changing my eating habits and following the points system. I gained 13 lbs of it back, but I got of program when my husband came home (He was in Afghanistan for the year). It is a really good program and it teaches you a lot about portion control.

I did WW for about 2 yrs, till the program changed. Now that I'm here, I see no reason to do WW. I watch my calories, and workout. It's a good program, teaches a lot about healthy eating. But doesn't focus much on working out. Everything they teach you can learn from friends here. I will tell you that in the almost 2 yrs of going to meetings and weighing in, hardly ever did anyone speak to me. My leader was supportive, as long as I was losing, she even wanted me to be a leader. But soon as I started gaining after the program changed, she seemed to not care. I have had way more support, encouragement and motivation here, and have learned about calories, and much more about healthy eating. Plus I don't have to pay for this.

I use to belong to Weight Watchers on line but I cancelled my subscription. I found that the total amount of points they give was around the same amount of calories that MFP gives me. To me it wasn't worth the money and I don't have time to sit in on meetings. A lot of people have had success with it though so really do what you feel is best for you. :flowerforyou:

I was thinking of joining WW before my daughter told me about this site. I have dieted on Weight Watchers twice: once before I married, so I could look fabulous in my wedding dress, then later, to loose about 40 lbs.

The pros about weight watchers:
Easy to follow diet
Week by week program of information on the details of a healthier diet
The support you get by going to the weekly talk by a weight coach who gives you strategies on how to overcome hurdles in dieting.
I still use the strategies learned.

The Cons about Weight Watchers
It's expensive
You count points, not calories.
I ate the minimum points, lost weight quickly and got to target at a reasonable rate.
Once I stopped, I was STARVED, and could not fill the bottomless pit
I gained everything back (twice).

What I like about My Fitness Pal as an alternative to weight watchers
It's free
You actually see how many calories you are eating
You actually see how many calories you are burning
This enables you to calculate how much exercise you need to burn off calories, and to plan your life accordingly
You get information about the nutrition of the foods you are eating
The strategy here seems to avoid the yo-yo dieting where you lose and gain even more than you lost
The forums are a great alternative to the weight coach, and give you as much information as you could hope to obtain at a Weight Watcher meeting.

However, everybody has to make the decision that is right for you. You might want to follow Weight Watchers to learn how to loose weight, and then use My Fitness Pal to make sure you don't gain it back. For me, this website is better, and I would not go back to WW.

I totally agree with Bonnie, MFP is great for tracking food and exercise. I did not do well on the points system. I like many of the recipes and tips, but the points system didn't do it for me. I like seeing all of the nutritional information on the database and how large the database is.

Joined WW in Feb 2010 and reached my goal last week, so about 18 months to lose 108 pounds. I love my meetings and the cost is worth it to me. Now I have to maintain for 6 weeks and the meetings and materials I receive the rest of the way will be free as long as I am within two pounds of my goal weight.

For me, it is a huge advantage to gather with people in the same boat as me, sharing tips on great restaurant finds, different farmers and fresh market finds. Which grocery stores carry this or that. I've made some great friends.

That said, the last few months I have found tracking to be easier on MFP and will probably continue to do that, but I look forward to my weekly meetings, it's time I set aside for myself, which as a mom is a rarity.