Weight Watchers and MFP

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lulupallooza
lulupallooza Posts: 48 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I need some advice please. I've recently started Weight Watchers and am using their on line tools along with MFP. There is a little bit of a discrepancy. For instance, you don't count "points" for veggies and fruits (most of them), but I still put them on MFP and let it count the calories for me.

So I wonder for those of you out there in my position, which to do you follow more closely? Do you use them together or just use one? Any suggestions on successfully using both sites?

Thanks a bunch!!

lulu

Replies

  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
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    I don't know about Weight Watchers but I would add everything you put in your mouth.
  • chauncyrenayCHANGED
    chauncyrenayCHANGED Posts: 788 Member
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    My mom does both WW and MFP. If she eats a lot of fruit, she'll add it. If she's only munching on some here or there, she won't add it. For her, she enjoys the freedom and options she has. She has been very successful doing it this way instead of MFP only. :)

    I think you are going to have to find what works best for you and stick to it. :)
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
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    I really don't understand why anyone would do WW, especially if you use MFP, which is free and more accurate. WW seems to take a "babys first diet" approach, giving you points to spend instead of actual calories. whereas MFP is a more accurate, micro/macro helper.

    Plus anything that says some food is "free" is totally flawed anyway imo.
  • purpleipod
    purpleipod Posts: 1,147 Member
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    You can't really expect to combine WW with a calorie counting website. They're two fairly different things. I would follow one or the other, probably WW since you have to pay for it. I would only use MFP to see how many calories you're eating compared to the amount of points you get, just as a curiosity.
  • BranMuffin21
    BranMuffin21 Posts: 157 Member
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    I gained weight when I started WW new program, and then when I saw this site and saw how many a calories a banana has, and I was eating 3 a day as it kept me full I just about has a freak out. I never lost weight on the new program, I actually gained.

    Stick to one, not do both.
  • meglep
    meglep Posts: 47 Member
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    hi!!:) I do both Weight watchers and MFP and have been since January.... I track everything i eat on here even the fruits and veggies which cost 0pts for weight watchers. I just don't get all worked up if I have gone over my calories for the day on here because of fruits or veggies! I have lost over 50 pounds using Weight watchers and i absolutely love it.
  • Stacyanne324
    Stacyanne324 Posts: 780 Member
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    I signed up for WW a few months back despite my SIL trying to warn me that MFP is both free and better. I really thought I like WW at first but in the end it got to be too tedious. I hated having to figure out the points of every single thing... especially at the grocery store. It's easy to look at several brands and compare calories but having to compute every single one into WW points and then compare was a pain.

    Since starting MFP I cancelled my WW account and have been SO much happier. And I really love the Facebook type status updates and interacting you can do with your friends on here. I wouldn't go back to WW even if it were free.
  • Stacyanne324
    Stacyanne324 Posts: 780 Member
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    I gained weight when I started WW new program, and then when I saw this site and saw how many a calories a banana has, and I was eating 3 a day as it kept me full I just about has a freak out. I never lost weight on the new program, I actually gained.

    Stick to one, not do both.

    I was shocked about bananas too! I ate a lot of them on WW because they were free so I wasn't prepared for the actual calorie count when I had one on MFP.
  • Boardergurl
    Boardergurl Posts: 206 Member
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    People use WW for accountability.. going to a meeting and having that person weigh you... It helps alot! I have lost 75 pounds on ww and still go while using MFP... They are the same thing and go hand in hand...

    As for the free food comment... NO ONE ever got fat eating fruits and veggies... Yes they have sugars and carbs and such.. But its natural and your body breaks it down... This is how they use the fruits and veggies as free..

    I have watched both and they are almost on par with one another.. I log the fruit and veggies in my fitness pal just cause the option is there.. You will find that you dont go over your calories...and if you do its minimal and like I said above! NO ONE got fat off eating fruits and veggies!
  • annejuju
    annejuju Posts: 111 Member
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    I did Weight Watchers online only from April to October and it was FANTASTIC for getting me started with my diet (well, not diet-lifestyle change). But, I became frustrated with the points system because I had to do all the calculations before I could eat and it drove me nuts. I did both WW and MFP in October and officially switched over after that. I find working in real numbers has really helped me but I have to focus to eat my fruits and veggies more since they 'count' now. Also, I'm much more motivated to work out on MFP than I was on WW. I think it would be easier to just pick one and go with it. WW is much easier to keep up your accountability but I find MFP fits my life and needs better.
  • Bubs05
    Bubs05 Posts: 182 Member
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    I really don't understand why anyone would do WW, especially if you use MFP, which is free and more accurate. WW seems to take a "babys first diet" approach, giving you points to spend instead of actual calories. whereas MFP is a more accurate, micro/macro helper.

    Plus anything that says some food is "free" is totally flawed anyway imo.

    I don't necessarily think it is fair to knock WW over MFP. It is just a different approach. I do MFP and have been successful whereas for my sister, MFP didn't work but WW does.

    The key is to find something that works for the person as an individual. As long as it isn't unhealthy, and works for someone you can't call it "flawed".
  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
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    As for the free food comment... NO ONE ever got fat eating fruits and veggies... Yes they have sugars and carbs and such.. But its natural and your body breaks it down... This is how they use the fruits and veggies as free..

    No one you know maybe. Someone earlier in this thread said they gained on WW due to the "free" fruit, i.e. bananas.

    Fact is, all fruit and veg has calories, so they can never be counted as "free". You hit your target "points", and throughout the day you have a few bananas....bam, you're over your calories.
  • gal_amy
    gal_amy Posts: 47
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    hi!!:) I do both Weight watchers and MFP and have been since January.... I track everything i eat on here even the fruits and veggies which cost 0pts for weight watchers. I just don't get all worked up if I have gone over my calories for the day on here because of fruits or veggies! I have lost over 50 pounds using Weight watchers and i absolutely love it.

    I would love to drop etools. I'm definately going to try it out, but I have decided not to add the fruits. How do I figure out how many calories I need????

    Amy
  • Stylie
    Stylie Posts: 29 Member
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    I do both WW and MFP, I think they can work in coordination. I like to keep track of the calories and MFP has an exceptional food Database, especially compared to WW.
    WW keeps me honest cause I " paid " and MFP keeps me accurate because I track everything that goes in my mouth!
    Hoping for resolve and dedication now.. the tools are in place.. its on ME!
  • dcdickerson2
    dcdickerson2 Posts: 65 Member
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    I had trouble on WW when they switched to the points plus system and I was no longer accountable for the quantity of fruits and vegetables I ate. I would caution that even though zero points, you need to learn a reasonable portion, especially for fruits. They made them zero points so that you would depend more on fruits and vegetables to fill up rather than low point snack and "diet" foods with less nutrition. The meetings, discussions, support and weigh-ins all help keep you motivated and accountable and give you fresh ideas when you need a change, so it is still a great program, in my opinion.
  • lulupallooza
    lulupallooza Posts: 48 Member
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    I want to thank everyone for all of their comments. I'm enjoying doing both.

    Although fruit is considered "free" on WW they do still tell you not to over eat them. Just because something is "free" doesn't mean you can eat a million of them.

    That being said, since I started WW I've eaten a lot more fruit which has kept me from eating other sweets. I'm guessing that's the actual goal of it all.

    A banana every morning (which I was doing before WW when I started MFP) and two or three cuties (tangerines) a day are just what I need to curb my appetite for sweets.

    If I need a chocolate fix - I grab a "No Sugar Added Fudgsicle." 1 point or for MFP folks 40 calories for one.

    Thank you again, everyone, for your input. For now, I'll still be doing both. Unfortunately, I need the accountability of WW right now. Not to mention, I've met some pretty fun people at the meetings!!!

    lulu
  • Cath138
    Cath138 Posts: 60 Member
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    Thank you for this topic! I will be starting WW with my mom this wednesday and I wanted to see if people did both, because I am kind of afraid of the 0 pts food! Thank you for sharing your positive experience :)
  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,803 Member
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    I don't know about Weight Watchers but I would add everything you put in your mouth.

    This
  • nissit
    nissit Posts: 3 Member
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    hi im doing weight watchers with mfp, my propoints allowance is 50 a day & mfp im on 1,740 cals.. does anyone know if the cals are roughly the same as my pp allowance?

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