Changing From Weight Watchers to MFP

As am I. I tried WW for 5 weeks and it's just not working so great for me. I still have a little over a month on my online but I'm doing MFP and I love it!

Hello I was on weight watchers and lost 30 lbs it was great for me, so far this site is decent my issues are everything is a calorie and I dont believe all foods are going to make you fat and not all calories are equal. I think weight watchers is better on the point system over just counting calories because honestly if you just count everything you eat you will be hungry all day. I love the fact on weight watchers almost all fruits and veggies are a 0 point value so you can really use those foods to get you through the day. This site does have a great Data base a heck of a lot better then weight watchers, but all in all weight watchers is a better program but for free this site is great and wonder so welcome I am new myself hope you have a lot of success

i did ww a couple times before when they had the core program and you didnt have to track. it worked for me but the points plus system seems too complicated. this is working and i dont have to pay plus my support system is huge on here now in just a little over four months! i have lost quicker than i ever did with ww because its not all about the number on the scale. one thing i would encourage you to do is measure yourself when you start and find a pair of jeans, dress or whateve rthat you want to fit back into. try it on every week so that when the scale doesnt move, like mine didnt for ove r amont, but you fit back into the jeans, you will realize that pounds dont always matter. muscle does!

btw, i weight the same now that i did at my ww goal weight, but i fit into a smaller size now because of weight lifting! so happy to see abs!

TO ALL WEIGHT WATCHERS, INC. DROP-OUTS:
I am a lifetime Weight Watcher member who continued to do the yo-yo syndrome, i.e. putting weight back on, added even more, take it off again. Went from the original WW program from 1969 to the new one, another new one, ya-ta-ta, yah-ta-ta, etc. All they want is your hard-earned $$$.

This program WORKS but you have to work with it. It's FREE and you can get all the support you would like if you make that first step to connect with other MFP members.

I have copied and pasted here, for your convenience, what I always send to new MFP "friends"; these tips might help you understand your personal responsibility to your health and help you develop ways that you might choose to find out what works best for YOU! We cannot do it for you ~~~ Good luck!


Welcome to my Heart Healthy World
The Making of the New You


Welcome to the beginning of your new, healthier lifestyle. You have embarked on a great program where you are the only one “in charge” of your own personally developed nutrition and exercise program on My Fitness Pal (MFP).

From my age of 18 until the present, more than a 55 year adult life span, I have lost and re-gained from between 30 to 75 pounds in my life so many times (the yo-yo dieting syndrome), if I had not done that I would weigh over 800 pounds (IF I was still alive).

On 15 November 2010, a good friend and I were visiting ladies in our church and I was telling her how depressed I was over my frustration in trying to stop being overweight. She told me how one of her adult sons (she & her husband raised 10 children) had lost a whole lot of weight using this free online food and exercise diary program. I went home that afternoon and checked the web site carefully and said, “YES”! I started the program the next morning.

From that first day, 16 November 2010, I started accurately weighing or measuring (depending upon the food/fluid item), leveling off all excess quantities & recording it all on MFP. You may look at my photos and statistics and scoff while thinking that I didn’t have very much weight to lose. Please consider this, 35 extra pounds on my short, very small body frame is not much different than 75 or even 100 extra pounds on a taller person with a larger body frame. It has taken me more than nine very long, very slow months to shed all but the last 1.1 pounds.

To begin, you should have the proper tools for accuracy and ease of staying with your program. Those are:

A digital food scale
An individual set of 4 measuring cups: ¼ c, 1/3 c, ½ c, 1 c
An individual set of measuring spoons: ¼ tsp., ½ tsp., 1 tsp., 1 tblsp.
A small, straight blade spatula or knife for leveling off all excess quantities

START THINKING DIFFERENTLY but do NOT think “diet”. Use the lighter, lower calorie mayonnaise (that has olive oil). Look at the various brands of lower calorie margarine spreads that also have olive oil. SHOP DIFFERENTLY in the SUPERMARKET. Allow a lot more time when you shop. Do NOT pick up items and put them in the shopping cart until you have carefully READ every single label. REMEMBER THIS: All ingredients are listed in order of highest quantity to lowest. If the first 4 items on the ingredients say: salt, sodium, corn syrup or any form of sugar, dextrose, maltose, or other sugar forms, buy something else. High sodium contents will prevent you from losing weight well & can cause water retention as well as cardiac overload. When we’re packing around all those extra pounds, our hearts are already over-worked. All our body systems work as a team so when one organ system is out of whack, so is everything else. Prepared or frozen foods are nearly always overloaded with sodium and fats. Low calorie is not always low sugar nor low fat. “Healthy” is not always labeled correctly. Once you become an avid “label reading shopper”, you will learn which items work best for you and which ones to avoid.

Beware of well-meaning family members, friends or even co-workers who think they know what is best for you. You are the only person who knows how you feel and what will help you become successful in achieving your personal healthy goal. I believe in your unique ability to be successful. You can and will succeed if you keep following your program faithfully by taking things one meal at a time/one day at a time on a continuous basis. I have had some former MFP users complain about “too much counting”. It does not take me any more extra time to take the proper measuring spoon to level off my single PORTION of mayonnaise or mustard that it used to by just dipping the spoon in the jar and dumping a lump of stuff on the plate, the food or the bread. Then we have, what I call, the “enablers”. Those are the people who consciously or even sub-consciously, are out to keep you from being successful. They’re the “Oh, just one little piece of this dessert I made just for you won’t hurt you”. Or, I made all your favorite recipes for your birthday, Christmas dinner, etc. Just tell them that you’ve developed some difficult ALLERGIES and are under medical supervision (do not tell them anything more than that). You don’t have to tell them that the “allergies” make you “break out in FAT”. Then we have the proverbial, “You’re getting so thin, you’re going to get sick and end up in the hospital” types. They may even try to carry on by telling medical horror stories how someone they knew who ended up dying because of blah, blah, etc. Change the subject quickly and keep the conversation light and comfortable.

MFP tells us how much of each items chosen is ONE PORTION. It is up to us to tell the computer how much of the portion we plan to have or did have. I call this program a “no brainer” because the computer does all the work for me. All I have to do is look up the item in the database and select the correct product. Watch out for all the idiots who’ve monkeyed around with the database by putting in their own screwball versions of many items. As you first begin, keep that product label handy as you do your food diary recording so you can check before you add that item to your diary. As time goes on, you’ll understand how this works better.

You will soon get into the mode of thinking of “eat this…not that” of the items that you enjoy having that are working to help you reach your successful heart healthy ultimate goal.

GOAL SETTING: Please be extra kind to yourself and not set impossible goals. Think in terms of short-term, reachable goals for now. I started by using Dr. Mehmet Oz’s “Just 10” program, i.e. thinking in terms of just reaching the next set of 10 pounds off short-term goal.

I’m personally in this for the “long haul”. That means, I will be doing this for the rest of my life as long as the program is available and I have the capability of using it. If I stop keeping a daily food diary or stop weighing, measuring, etc., I know that I’ll end up piling the fat pounds right back on and never get them off again. Last November, I was in a full-blown DIABETES state and was sick all the time. I refuse to put my body through that ever again.

You WILL be successful because you’re a WINNER. I strongly believe that and believe in your ability to keep on winning.

Remember, you are in charge~~~no one else can ever take your place!

Fitzie63

I have never used anything before MFP so I don't know the comparison, but It's working pretty good for me.
I don't know much about good/bad calories but I don't worry going over my calories if its with fruits or vegetables that's for sure.

I agree hope I didnt sound like a jerk I only did WW Online but all I do is count all my foods outside of my veggies and fruits but I eat 2 apples a day and maybe a banana every other day. If you eat good and work out you will succeed in your weight loss goals, but I do think this site has a great community. I just dont think apples and brocolli are going to make anyone fat all they do is make you really really regular is you eat a lot of them. Just remember its not rocket science and your body will lose weight if you treat it right but be patient and just enjoy trying to reach your goals.

I just switched on monday and have gone done 6 lbs so far. I lost 122 lbs on weight watchers and hit a plateau. It discouraged me and I started to gain weight. Weight watchers is great but I am a different person now with different habits and I feel like I need something new. I have a new found motivation with mfp. I hope you do too

I am a WW dropout too. WW didn't work for me, mostly because there were so few foods I ate in the database and I found I was having to add things almost every time I ate. It seemed like WW only listed produce, processed food and restaurant food. So far I haven't lost a significant amount of weight since I've been on MFP but I have lost a total of four inches off my waist!

I love reading all the post. Thank you for sharing with all of us. I do eat a lot of fruit for the day in my smoothie with my protein powder. I started eating well two months ago and I have lost 23 lbs total. I have started MFP just recently. I love it!
Thanks