WEIGHT WATCHERS!

I have read many more positive things about the group "Tops?" on the site.

The nice thing about weight watchers is that no food is "banned" you just have to allow for it in your daily points and make a smart decision. That is what made it easy for me to stick with it. I still do the same thing with this site. If I really want some chocolate I will eat it, in moderation and just make sure that I log ever last bite so that I am being honest with myself. Are you looking at going to meetings or doing it online? I would reccomend actually finding a meeting so that you can actually get the books and info to have forever. I did online the first time I did it and loved it, but if it is something you plan to do short term I would recommend the meetings. The leaders and people there are great and very supportive. If it wasn't for the money I would definitely still be going!

Why not do both? Follow weight watchers and use MFP to motivate and keep track of your exercise and calories? MFP and help reinforce the positive changes you are making

I agree. I will never regret going the weight watchers online path. And the three month package is great.
Remember though, after the 3rd month, they automatically start charging you per month, so be ON THE BALL, when your 3rd month arrives.

IF you are going the points route, just remember that points seem very very low and I would try and take a mental note of the actual calories of foods that you are eating while on WW for 3 months because to get your points total, you calculate 3 items of the Food Label (more fiber in a product, makes the pts level lower in WW).

So if a food item is, 4 pts - make a note on ow much calories it is.

Does that make sense? I just want your transition from points to calories to be smooth and I don't want to you get overwhelmed or feel like you are doing something wrong.

Points is GREAT for seeing results but remember you will need to maintain your weight eventually by eating right, forever.

I too did WW for a long long long time, many, many times. I think my first meeting I was about 19- about 15 yrs ago...I've been on and off since. I had some success there, but ultimately I needed a change and a more personalized program to deal with my food issues
One thing I can say about WW is it is a corporation out to make money. Plain and simple, you pay pay pay. Whether you lose, gain, not go, have a chocolate breakdown, become anorexic in the process, you still pay. I often felt that it was ALL about the money for them-
I got little to nothing out of the meetings- it depends 1000% on your leader. SOme leaders are really motivational, inspriational and just great leaders all around- other leaders are boring, unmotivating, etc...So many times the meetings are filled with really bad whiners ( I'm a perfect dieter and I cant lose ) or show offs- ( I lost 2 lbs and I ate cookies all week!!) and the bottom line for me is that the meetings annoyed the hell out of me almost every single time. When I hit a long plateau, I got no helpful advice from the leader, just " keep trying " no encouragement from the leaders, generally- I've heard WW is not a good company to work for, so their employees are not all that happy...but I dont know that for sure.

Where i got a lot of support and help was the online chat boards- These are free for anyone, there are dozens to choose from and some awe-inspriring people there, who have struggled and lost, maintained, etc...everyone there is in the same process so like MFP, you can get a ton of support. That being said, however, there are some boards that are just plain nasty people....I think the 30's board ( 30 year olds) was one I saw insult after insult to people...many of the boards are like a giant online clique or sorority, but there is still a lot of support there.

What I cannot stand about WW:
- While they sort of lightly encourage excercise, they concentrate on the FOOD FOOD FOOD. The excercise part is kind of pushed to the back burner. Its not really discussed in meetings, nor is it focused on. The chat boards online there is plenty of advice for fitness though.
- They push their products like mad. Granted, as earlier stated, its a corporation out to make money, but their products are NOT healthy!!! Take a look at the sodium count or sugar count on some of their products....for WW products, mostly its about the point value, not about overall health.
- There are a ton of theories out there in dieting, everyone knows that- however even the theories vary within the WW program....for example a half of a point- counted or not? What 'counts' as water? depending on what leader you talk to, these can vary.

For me personally, I needed something to address the mental side- emotional eating, deeper issues, etc...ww doesnt touch that- I started figuring stuff out for myself after I left through books and articles and such. While I dont expect miracles from WW, I did always wish there was something to help me figure out why I could never ever stick to it.

The one thing I did really like about WW is that there are plenty of larger people there- I never felt like I was out of place, its really a place where one can belong and not feel ashamed.

I dont mean to sound like its all negative- Its definitely not. Like I've said, I had some success there, but seeings as I've started and stopped WW more times than I can count, something was telling me it wasnt working for me.

Good Luck!!:flowerforyou:

I joined WW when I was just 25 and lost my 25 pounds in only 6 weeks. My friend weighed over 350 lbs at the time and I joined with her. She lost weight also. Personally, I think the plan and the support was excellent. I worked with someone who also had great success in losing 80 pounds last year and she loves it. Like anything else, if you stick to the plan, you can keep it off, if you don't, then you won't. I do have a little horror story that goes with it that I'll send in a message in case people don't care to hear it again.

What a good deal if it's only $55 and that the only expense....wow.