Myfitnesspal vs Weight Watchers

I enjoy WW and this site. I use them together. I enjoy going to the meetings and getting ideas from WW. I enjoy logging on this site and reading about how others are doing and how they are reaching their goals. I do not eat WW meals. As was mentioned earlier; I have learned how to rely on vegies and fruits and the proteins, etc. without all the processed stuff in it. I think whatever works for you is the path to take. I am developing friendships here on this site as well as WW.

I recently quit WW after trying it (online only) for the first time last October. I did lose weight on it; it seems like a fine plan, but not for me. I get too hungry on a low-fat diet; can more easily stick with higher fat/lower carb. After about a month, I started simultaneously tracking my calories on MFP and discovered that, while I was eating all my points, I was coming in too low calorie-wise. I could've gotten some advice from the forums there, but as others have mentioned, they seemed a teensy bit too snarky for my tastes. Didn't seem worth the bother, since MFP is free (and the food database is amazingly comprehensive!), and I can track individual nutrients here--like carbs and sodium.

Also didn't care for the way they track exercise--it only counts if you do ten minute intervals. So if you're working away on the elliptical and you poop out after 25 minutes, you don't get to count those last five minutes, which is nuts.

I will say that I've learned to eat many more veggies on WW than I ever had before--definitely a good thing!

Thanks for asking the question, I was just wondering if I should join WW too. I haven't had great success previously with WW however I really want to make progress.

I have done Weight Watchers (WW) with their Points Plus system in the past and was quite successful. I was about to sign up for WW again, when a friend told me about MyFitnessPal.com. Now instead of doing WW, I am doing MyFitnessPal and really liking it. I am finding that MyFitnessPal easily helps me keep track of what I eat during the course of the day. It is so easy with MyFitnessPal. I found that it was much harder for me to keep track during the day with WW. I believe that being aware of what you eat is he key to short and long term weight loss success. It is really the key to changing long held habits. Only when you see how you sabotage your real objectives can you know what to change so as to attain them. Maybe your experience will be different, but I love MyFitnesssPal and believe it will be a super help to me in losing weight and keeping it off by changing my eating habits.

I lost almost 50 pounds on WW. MFP and WW basically allowed me the same amount of calories.
Some people don't use the program correctly and try to "save" points for a desert instead of reworking it to fit in, and some people use it correctly. Just because it's low points doesn't mean it's good for you. I mean sure, you can have pizza, ice cream, pasta, chocolate, etc. because if it's within your daily point allowance you can...but you can say the same thing for MFP. You can have all of that crap as long as you are within your calorie limit. The point is to learn what's good for you and learn that you can still have those things in moderation. They teach you that a bagel and cream cheese may be this amount of points but you will be hungry again in no time. They show you that a protein packed breakfast is the same amount of points as the bagel and cream cheese but you will stay fuller longer.

I think for me it was the support at the meetings and the accountability. Someone else weighs you every week so at least for me, that was a little extra incentive to work hard and eat right. I mean, I don't know the people who weigh us in, but I feel like I would be disappointing them if they had to tell me I gained or didn't lose.

I like the support at meetings and the real life results. I think when you can actually see and hear someone who had results, it gives you more hope that you can do it yourself.

I cried along with several other members when a woman hit a 150 pound loss. She was so grateful for all of her workout buddies that she met at meetings, our leader, and the program. Seriously she was on her knees in tears when it was announced and everyone stood up cheering for her.

I started with online and it just didn't do it for me. The meetings did it for me, but everyone is different. Some people don't like the meetings and want to do it on their own.

I don't have a lot of real life friends who are ready to lose weight. They just haven't gotten to that point where they know they need to.

I guess it just depends on the type of person you are. I like MFP for tracking and the support online is great, but I just like going to the actual meetings and having to face the music every week.

I did WW for a number of years, worked for them for 14 years and absolutely HATE their new program! Veggies and fruits add up calorie wise and having them unlimited defeats the purpose. I think they really messed up changing what was working in the past. And as my doctor said....the only thing that matters at the end of the day is the calories you've eaten.

MFP is FREE!!!

And as long as you can hold yourself accountable........you'll do wonderful!!!
Good luck!!

I'm a newbie this just today as a matter of fact done weight watchers twice and lost a total of 115 pounds together. Does this really work m just want some encouragement!

Yes this does work. Take a look around the site and see all the people it is working for. For encouragement add some friends. People here are very encouraging.

For myself, I am having a lot more success with MFP than I did using WW. I've joined WW four times and had little success, I've been using MFP for 40 days and have lost 25lbs, counting calories & exercising. I really like this site.
Good luck!

I did WW for a number of years, worked for them for 14 years and absolutely HATE their new program! Veggies and fruits add up calorie wise and having them unlimited defeats the purpose. I think they really messed up changing what was working in the past. And as my doctor said....the only thing that matters at the end of the day is the calories you've eaten.

It is true that fruits and veggies add up. It is also true that I do like MFP more than WW. BUT in their defense, when I was on their core program, almost ALL core foods could be eaten in unlimited quantities provided you ate when you were hungry and stopped when you were full. The only points I had to count were the ones that were not core foods. Everything else I freely ate with no limitations (except for the couple exceptions. Even certain oils (ie. olive, canola) didn't have a limit set on it. I lost A LOT of weight there in half a year. People just have to release that unlimited fruits and veggies means: when you are satisfied, you stop eating. It's not meant to be unlimited until you are so full you feel like you are going to explode.

I do WW but I don't pay for a membership, so it's free (just like MFP), except for the fact that I bought a booklet and a calculator. Neither of these are necessary though because there are good websites you can use and well as smart phone apps for the calculator. I actually like WW better because it helps me keep better track of my protein, fat, fiber, and carbs whereas MFP is really only looking at my calories. I basically use MFP as a guide, just in case I'm eating too few/too many calories with WW. In college, when I did WW, I lost 25lbs in 3 months.

I love MFP.
This is the first time in my life I have keep a true record of what I have ate. I love the database of foods and the support. I have been in weight watchers off and on for years. I like the fact you had to be accountable to weight in. I have found another group called TOPS Take Off Pounds Sensibly. It is very economical $28.00 a year and that includes their magazines 6 a year. They have a small monthly dues our chapter is $5.00 and weigh in is .25cents and the biggest loser wins the pot. If you are looking for a in person meeting check them out. You can attend the first for free. Check them out online also.

I have done WW and Slimming World, but I would reccomend MFP over all other diets, it is free, it is always there, and there are loads of friend to help encourage and support, it also makes you more aware of what you are eating, i.e the content, rather than just counting points, it is good for the long term.

I still use the old Flex Plan system and use MFP to help me track fat, fiber, protein, and sodium along with calories. Plus, I like the exercise tracker here better than activity points. So for me, it's a no to the new WW Points Plus and a yes to combining both the old WW Flex Plan and MFP programs for a 60+ lbs (and counting) weight loss.

I'm actually taking advantage of both MFP and WW at the same time. I use WW to guide portion control, count points, and learn new recipes. I use MFP to keep track of my total calories/vitamins/protein/fiber/etc. consumed.