Weight Watchers? Opinions?

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savinggrace84
savinggrace84 Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everybody! I am just beginning my journey at 330IBS. I want to lose a total of 200 (although, that is not my immediate goal, my immediate goal is to weigh under 300 and then move down from there. I am working out 3-6 days a week and tracking all of my foods (under 1700 calories). I am thinking about joining weight watchers but am not sure if I want to make the time/financial commitment. I am a 27 year old wife, mother of two, Master's students, and full time teacher, so time is a huge issue. So, I was just hoping to get opinions on whether or not Weight Watchers PointsPlus new program is really worth it?

Thank you!

Grace
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Replies

  • licialose100
    licialose100 Posts: 2
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    I am thingking about going back to WW also but online only.
  • lowash67
    lowash67 Posts: 33 Member
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    I am currently doing WW and MFP and love them both. i am doing mine online which is pretty reasonable. You should give it a try.
  • AlyRoseNYC
    AlyRoseNYC Posts: 1,075 Member
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    I think MFP is a better version of their online program.
  • cmayfield3
    cmayfield3 Posts: 176 Member
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    Other than free fruit I don't understand the advantage of WW over MFP. MFP makes it so easy to count calories that you don't need points. JMHO, save the money you would be spending on WW and use it to reward yourself for reaching fitness or weight loss milestones.
  • labtracks
    labtracks Posts: 108 Member
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    I did WW about 4 years ago and did loose weight, but I didn't really attend the meetings I just went to weigh in once a week and did the rest online. It really depends on what you would use WW for. If it is the meetings, support and face-to-face "accountability" you think would be helpful to you then I would say definitely go for it! It might be helpful to meet others in your immediate community in the same position.
    If you are joining for other reasons outside of that I honestly think that MFP is a better resource for tracking your calories and exercise and even for learning about weight loss techniques and getting support and inspiration/motivation as long as you are active on the community pages and make friends.
    I joined MFP because someone happened to mention in it in a FB thread from someone asking if they should join WW online. I just gave birth so was going to join WW, but came here first and never looked back. It's only been a month but I love this page and the people here so much more than I did with WW. And as off as it sounds it's been so much easier to be honest about my shortcomings and open up to the strangers that are my friends on here than it ever was face-to-face at WW.
  • savinggrace84
    savinggrace84 Posts: 6
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    Thank you everyone for your opinion. I am looking for the support and accountability, but have finally been able to get my family on board with me, so I am not choking down a salad while they eat hamburgers, which helps. I think I will stick with MFP for awhile and try to become more active on the community boards and see if I am getting the results I want, and if not try WW. Again, thank you all for your opinions!
  • nay1228
    nay1228 Posts: 64 Member
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    Other than free fruit I don't understand the advantage of WW over MFP. MFP makes it so easy to count calories that you don't need points. JMHO, save the money you would be spending on WW and use it to reward yourself for reaching fitness or weight loss milestones.

    ^ My sentiments, exactly! I did WW for years...and I mean YEARS. The money I spent on my montly pass could've paid for a nice vacation. LOL

    The program works, if you are dedicated. I did have success, but always got tired of all the logging and would yo-yo- up and down.

    The new program seemed like even more counting to me, do I dropped it. I found MFP and I couldn't be happier.
    For me, it is far easier to fit the calorie counting into my life than having to calculate all the things you do on WW.

    Whichever you choose, best of luck to you. If you are determined, you will get results!
  • mon696
    mon696 Posts: 64 Member
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    I chose MFP strictly because it's free. For me, money talks and I can hold myself accountable if that means saving money.
  • HauteT
    HauteT Posts: 16 Member
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    I've not done it but my research into it did not ake me want to do it. Also, others i know that have tried it seem to do it for a while lose some weight, get off of it, and gain more weight. I guess their points system is supposed to make calorie counting easy but it seems to frustrate people esp. at parties. I just think there is already a measurement out there to use - calories and switching it up to points just seems redundant. Tho' I have to say that I do believe that anyone that is serious about a lifestyle change can use anything to get there.
  • JasonGinMI
    JasonGinMI Posts: 40 Member
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    I am not a fan of the new Weight Watchers program. It is too much of a pain in the butt in my opinion. I do like the old plan however and lost 60 plus lbs with it. My Fitness Pal app. on your smart phone is so much easier and it is free. Good luck.
  • AmeChops
    AmeChops Posts: 744 Member
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    I tried WW a few years back and just didn't get along with it. Maybe give logging on here a go first and see how you get along?
  • Mathteacher35
    Mathteacher35 Posts: 32 Member
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    I've been a member of WW since June of 2011. I have lost all the weight following the WW plan. I recently started logging in the food into both. I want to transition off WW as I hit maintenance. I was really interested in how the number of calories compared to the number of points in WW. I have found both mfp and ww to be helpful! I have been a WW online member only. Good luck. Feel free to add me if you have any other questions,
  • liz342
    liz342 Posts: 5
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    Weight watchers is also very good and uses a point system but is quite expensive to have the online tracker. there is an ap called my ultimate value diary which is better than the weight watchers and is really cheap but MFP is free and fabulous
  • ohthatbambi
    ohthatbambi Posts: 1,098 Member
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    I've been a member of WW since June of 2011. I have lost all the weight following the WW plan. I recently started logging in the food into both. I want to transition off WW as I hit maintenance. I was really interested in how the number of calories compared to the number of points in WW. I have found both mfp and ww to be helpful! I have been a WW online member only. Good luck. Feel free to add me if you have any other questions,

    I recently started logging in my WW points and my food intake here...I like seeing how they compare. Once you do WW long enough you know what things are worth what points. I have not tried the new WW that rolled out this year but the points plus and I really like the freedom it gives me to eat moderately!
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
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    a lot of people really like it.
  • oldfieldm
    oldfieldm Posts: 14
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    Good Luck Grace. You can add me as a friend if you want. I have done WW, I agree with all the other comments. It works but so does MFP and MFP is free. I suggest adding lots of active friends and making your diary view able to your friends and then weigh in to your online friends once a week.
  • DeanneLea
    DeanneLea Posts: 261
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    I got to goal on the old WW plan and loved it. I learned a lot about eating right, etc that yes I could have learned elsewhere but at the time, It was worked well for me. I didn't attend meetings but had lots of support online. Once they switched to the new plan, I tried it over and over and wasn't able to lose weight consistently so I finally stopped overall and started MFP. The new plan has worked for a lot of people so I think it's worth a try.

    Also, I know people don't understand the advantage of free fruit and veggies. I gained weight due to a mental attachment to food, binging, emotions, etc. so being able to slowly ease out of that with the free items instead of snacking on crap, I started to enjoy eating healthy. I learned that I didn't need the junk to make me feel better if that makes sense. It helped me in a lot of ways and now that I'm calorie counting, I know how to do it in a nutritious way thanks to ww.

    Good luck & do what works for YOU.
  • formersec
    formersec Posts: 233 Member
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    I lost my first 50 or so pounds on Weight Watchers, so the program did work for me. It did teach me to eat sensibly. I was able to eat out, attend parties and so on, without feeling guilty. I also learned not to cut out food groups, but instead, to eat from all food groups. And I didn't have to starve to lose weight. In fact, unlike most diets, Weight Watchers encourages you to eat -- literally that you have to eat to lose. Weight Watchers is highly regarded by the medical community. In fact, it was my former doctor who suggested WW to me. He lost weight on the program and kept it off.

    The big reason why I had to quit was the money. I had to cut back on expenses and WW was one of the first casualties. An advantage to MFP, besides that it doesn't cost anything, is that you are encouraged to count everything. Where Weight Watchers had gone wrong, IMHO, was to make certain foods zero points. Just because something is zero points doesn't mean that it doesn't have calories. Fruit, for example, is zero points. But if you eat 3 bananas at 100 calories more or less each, you are consuming 300 or more calories. The calories don't magically disappear because the fruit has zero points. Just seemed a wrong move by WW.

    One last problem with WW is its recent arrangement with Dr. Oz. Not significant right now, but I fear WW will become an outlet for Oz's quackery. Next we will see African mango pills or raspberry ketonrs bring peddled at Weight Watchers meetings. Weight Watchers will turn into another fad diet.
  • Meaganandcheese
    Meaganandcheese Posts: 525 Member
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    There are pros and cons to both. I did WW for years and only recently transitioned to MFP. It all comes down to whichever clicks for you and whichever you can do consistently.

    For me, I liked WW for the meetings, but when i was no longer able to go, the cost didn't make sense. I've started to find other advatnages as well. I like having to earn my extra calories (WW's extra points were allowing me to binge/yo-yo but still be "on plan" technically). I like being able to look at food labels without a point calculator and just know if it's something I want to eat or not. I like the iphone app and the community (thought I still participate on WW's message boards). I really miss the free fruits and veggies. That's something I am struggling with at the moment, and just need to refocus now that I have to count them. I like WW's emphasis on the Good Health Guidelines, but that's also something I can easily adapt on my own.

    It's worth a shot to try it (or MFP) and see which you like best. Either way, you're taking steps towards your health and that's great!
  • julesg100
    julesg100 Posts: 109 Member
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    I liked WW years ago when they used food group exchanges. That is what my nutritionist does and it's very effective in teaching portion control. I log my exchanges in a food journal and log on MFP as a double-check against my calories. I've been seeing the nutritionist for a month and have lost 5 pounds. I am a lifetime member of WW and have also done the points program, but I stopped tracking points because I got tired of it and of course, the weight came back!

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