Weight Watchers vs. Calorie counting

I'm not sure how Weight Watchers works now, but a few years ago when I was on WW, Points was a calculation based on calories, fat grams, and carbohydrate grams. The kit had a slide calculator so you could look at the Nutrition Facts on an item and determine its points. If two items had the same calories, but one had considerably more fat or carbs (or both), it had a higher point value.

Hope this helps!

WW uses the point system, and gives you credit for high fiber, high protein, and low fat foods. It's a little easier to keep track once you learn the points system, but some people get caught eating too many calories because of the credit for high fiber and exercise. Overall, it's a good system. I have been more successful just counting carbs...they are the enemy for me. Good luck!

My mom couldn't really get with calorie counting, but has found major success with WW.

I remember someone once saying, all diets work. You just have to pick one that works for you and stick to it.

I'm a firm believer in that statement.

I agree. It's about whatever you can and will do 100%. Both WW and MFP support bigger picture lifestyle changes. Both have tools to learn new habits. It works if you work it.

my friend does WW and i do calories on MFP, i find my way so much easier, but we have both lost weight successfully.
its easy to see the nutrition on something from the package which i use, but she has to carry a WW calculator to convert everything into points which would drive me nuts lol
also i refuse to pay for somebody to weigh me every week when i can do it just fine for free with all my lovely MFP friends :-)

I have started and quit WW more times than I care to admit. I successfully lost about 40 pounds the first time I did it, but every time after that I just couldn't stay motivated to stick with it. I like MFP better because I can see more easily where my weight loss is coming from (calorie deficit) and I don't have to rely on WW to give me a points value for my food. I can look at a food label and make a judgment immediately as to whether or not I have the calories left to eat it. And I like that MFP has more of an undertone of health and fitness than just weightloss.

I think it's kind of the same thing. I've done both and had success with both. I think MFP is easier for sure and less gimmicky. What I mean by that is I believe WW did it that way to confuse the issue and create a reliance on their system. MFP is free and you can self-regulate without having to pay someone to tell you how many points something is.

You may want to try a modified version of Weight Watchers PointsPlus that you can use on myfitnesspal: You don't count unsweetened fruits other than juice and non-starchy vegetables as calories since they count on points on Weight Watchers. You would set a calorie goal lower than you would otherwise set. However, by not counting those foods, you're encouraging yourself to eat more of those healthy foods. By getting into the habit of eating fruits and vegetables, you are getting into the habit of eating right. Even after you're no longer counting calories, you'll be eating the right type of foods. This doesn't fully track the Weight Watchers approach: Under Weight Watchers, foods with higher fat content count more in points than a food of the same number of calories with less fat. Also, higher fiber foods has carry slightly less points than foods with less fiber. And Weight Watchers tells you how many points to use.

I just started using Weight Watchers online a few days ago. However, I do miss the much larger food database of myfitnesspal.

I would never go back to WW, because calorie counting here on such a great tool as MFP is totally FREE!!! Plus I heard our database is better then the WW one!