WW vs my fitness pal

amjmortensen48 · July 2021

Which program is better for weight loss weight watchers or my fitness pal?

Lietchi · July 2021

Whichever suits you best... Personally I prefer calorie counting, I eat what I want within my calorie goal. Works perfectly for me.

wunderkindking · July 2021

it really does depend on what works for you. That said I will always choose the free option without a veil of mystery over method - but I have a serious hate on from the weight loss industry/profiting from selling weightloss and acknowledge that's a me thing. WW can establish some really good habits and direct folks toward more balanced eating.

At some point though, IMO, you need to understand things like how many calories you need and calorie content of various foods you eat often. WW doesn't teach that, so at some point I'd either track calories along side points or just spend some time in early maintenance to track and learn.

KiwiAlexP · July 2021

I’ve just signed up for a WW account (for a clinical trial so free) but so far it seems complicated and apparently lean chicken breast is a ‘free food’ which seems weird. I need to spend some more time on the site but don’t like it much

amjmortensen48 · July 2021

Thank you all for this information! I sure appreciate your input!

yweight2020 · July 2021

Weight watchers worked for me years ago before they kept changing the program, it got so bad I hardly had any points and felt like I wasn't able to eat enough of what I like to lose weight.

Now Myfitnesspal is what works for me counting calories is for me and I can still eat enough of a varied diet and I have lost 50 lbs as of this month.

The most I ever lost with WW was about 15lbs because it seems like when I was with them, they kept phasing in a new system and just constantly making to many changes, it became a turn off. Calorie counting will never change.

Use what works best for you.

Plasicage · July 2021

wunderkindking wrote: »

it really does depend on what works for you. That said I will always choose the free option without a veil of mystery over method - but I have a serious hate on from the weight loss industry/profiting from selling weightloss and acknowledge that's a me thing. WW can establish some really good habits and direct folks toward more balanced eating.

At some point though, IMO, you need to understand things like how many calories you need and calorie content of various foods you eat often. WW doesn't teach that, so at some point I'd either track calories along side points or just spend some time in early maintenance to track and learn.

I think WW was leaning more towards emotional support. And group accountability which may work for some better than doing it solo.

Also I'm certain WW is also based on macro eating, but they don't break it down that simple. They turn macros into points or colours... been a while, so don'tknow theircurrent system.

It may work for some, but it's not cheap.

EyeOTS · July 2021

MFP counts calories, WW counts points which is (calories plus consideration for things like fiber? I think). Some people find it hard to count all calories accurately. Some people find WW counting isn't quite accurate and don't want to spend the money. Try it and see what works for you.

DD265 · July 2021

WW taught me a lot, but like a previous poster I had better success on the plan before they changed it so much. In the last couple of years I felt like I needed to get everything perfect, and became very 'all or nothing' with it - more often than not, it was nothing.

I've taken what I've learnt from WW and created my own plan counting calories with MFP. It feels sustainable and I'm doing really well.

I also know people who've gone back to WW when meetings etc reopened in the UK and they're loving their results. Each to their own.

goal06082021 · July 2021

My experience with WW was in the early aughts, before all these colors and "customized plans" and stuff - IIRC "Flex" points were the hot new thing around the time I did it. I don't remember anything about how that worked, but I think it was basically calorie cycling? Like you had X points per day plus Y "flex" points that you could use throughout the week to add a couple of points to your daily allotment if you wanted. All I remember is that we got a "points calculator" tool at one of the meetings, it was a little paper doohickey where you turned the dials to the amounts of various macronutrients in a food (fiber did enter into it but I don't remember exactly how), and it would spit out a points value for it.

My thing is, WW and all of the other name-brand weight loss solutions, they don't teach you anything about how to actually eat and maintain your weight loss. They sell the concept of weight loss as a temporary thing you do for X amount of time until your body is an acceptable size, without ever following through and showing you how to transition from loss to maintenance. And why would they do that? If you pay for their program, lose the weight, go back to how you used to eat (because you didn't learn anything about nutrition), and gain it back, they can get more money out of you when you come back to try losing it again. That's why I'm leery of the newer WW system, with the colors and whatever, it's even less transparent than the late 90s-early aughts "flex points" system, and the way they calculated your points budget was already pretty opaque. If points are easier for you to wrap your brain around than calories, if you like the social/support group aspect of the meetings, if you can afford it...by all means, do WW as long as you like. Just, maybe do some research of your own, learn how the program actually works and how weight loss actually works, prepare yourself for eventual maintenance because WW won't. Chicken breast is obviously not 0-calorie, even though with the current system at least some users are being told that they can eat unlimited amounts of it on their plan (as @KiwiAlexP has discovered). It's very possible to overeat if you stick to all of the "free" foods and don't keep track of how much you're actually eating.

snacker127 · July 2021

Full disclosure: I am a 55 year old female in what most would say is really good shape. I have three pounds that come and go and while it is bikini season I am concentrating on it going.
I am, at this moment, using both WW and MFP apps. I do not go to WW meetings and never have. I would like to share my observations but am in no way a diet or exercise professional. I am back on MFP (started in 2012) because, due to a combination of genetics, age and stress, I now have high blood pressure and would like to watch my sodium. WW does not have an easy way to track macros. So, for a while I am using both. I may cancel WW, not sure yet. I have learned with MFP which foods I eat almost daily that contain too much sodium and that has been helpful.
WW assigns a point value to foods and then based on how much you weigh and your weight loss goals, gives you an amount of points to eat each day. You get a few extra to eat during the week as you choose, and you can eat less and bank a few. Foods that are low calorie, low fat and high fiber are lower in points and tend to be healthier. Foods at the other end of the spectrum are higher in points. You can eat anything you want. But if you eat a few doughnuts in the morning, that might be all you get for the day. On the other hand you can eat lots of “free” or low point foods and eat a lot instead. So it helps you pick healthier foods. Mentally I like the idea of “free” food because I don’t have to be careful about measuring it. When you are counting calories on MFP you technically should measure/weigh/count the food to see how much you are eating. Let's face it, most people don’t over eat grapes, or cucumbers, both free on WW. Both apps use the camera on your phone and the barcode for nutritional info, both have a recipe builder. The biggest hurdle in both cases is being honest about how much you eat. You really can’t eyeball how much oil you added to the pan regardless of the plan. For either to work you have to be honest and focused. It’s that simple or hard depending on how you look at it.
I also exercise 6 days a week and I can not stress enough that while exercise alone isn’t going to get you to your goal weight, it will help. In my opinion some exercise is always better than none. Exercise is also a huge part of my self care and stress management.
If you choose WW, make sure you get a free month or some discount to get started.
Good luck.

revclc · July 2021

I am a long-time dieter -- most of my life, but on and off like a lot of us chronic dieters. I have used WW several times with good results but never got further than about halfway to goal (and my goal is a LOT of weight to lose). Then I'd stop and, over time, regain the weight. I know this syndrome is not particular to WW.

I've used another free program, much like MFP, also to good effect but I'm still needing to lose weight. I decided to try WW one more time just about a week ago. First, the current iteration is quite confusing if you're used to using a program like MFP which you just put in the foods and get back calorie & macro counts. Switching to the use of many "free" foods was disorienting too. I have lots of emotional reactions to certain kinds of food restrictions (from having been put on very low calorie diets AND amphetamines around six and eight years old, respectively). For me, the current WW brought up a lot of the worst of "diet-y" feelings, which become pretty anxiety-provoking for me.

I use the term "diet-y feelings" in contrast with language like "healthy eating." I can handle programs that help me attain and sustain the latter, and yes, that help me lose weight, but more organically than having to center my whole life around learning and conforming to the present WW plan.

I quit WW within 48 hours of re-joining.

Another huge benefit of MPF and other similar apps: They're free. WW is not.

paperpudding · July 2021

I get that the support of others and social aspect of meetings works for some people.

But if you are just doing the on line version, I can't see any advantage to WW

Chanda7799 · July 2021

I am a WW member on the blue plan. I’ve been on it for a year and a half. It did work for me but because I am a digital member I can’t achieve “lifetime” status for hitting my goal (only those who go to in-person meetings can do that) so I will always have to pay to continue using the app, tracking points, and maintain my weight loss. Yes, it’s only $20 a month, but that adds up after some time. The blue plan was a lower carb plan (not keto). I began tracking my net carbs simultaneously while tracking points and found I was eating about 130-160 carbs a day. So…. I’m trying that theory now with MFP so I can hopefully stop paying the monthly WW fee eventually. WW is a great plan, but it teaches you to depend on it since it’s difficult to decode their point values.

WW vs my fitness pal

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