Any former Weight Watchers followers?

I think Weight Watchers is a great program; starting in 2002, I lost 135 pounds on it in about a year and a half, although I still hadn't quite reached my goal. I dropped out of the program, thinking I knew the program well enough that I could do it myself and save the $50 or so a month. I did ok for a while, but in the eight years since then I've gradually put 80 of those pounds back on. I knew I needed something to help me keep track of what I eat but I didn't want to go back to paying nearly $700/year for WW. A friend told me about MFP, and so far I like it a lot (although it's only been a week). I've concluded that I will always need to track my food intake, and here I have an easy-to-use way to do that for free.

I too tried WW in the past and didn't find it to be too helpful (to me anyway) I also signed up online and tracked everything via my computer which didn't really give me the pushes I needed on my off days. Atleast with this site everyone is here to support and help you! Good Luck!

I did WW about 2 years ago. Loved it!! Lost about 25 pounds in 4 months. Then recently (after quitting smoking among other life style changes), I gained back about 16 pounds :-( I went to go back on WW, only to find out everything had changed. I hated it! Nothing was the same. I had to re-learn everything. So I switched to this. Seems to work just the same.

I have also tried WW in the past a couple of times. The first time, around 2005, I did great with losing weight. However, the second time when i rejoined in 2012 the program had changed and did not work so well for me. This is my second week on myfitnesspal and so far I am greatly pleased with an 8.5 lb weight loss the first week!!!!!

I did WW and lost 70lbs.. Then I did it again and lost 30lbs. I have slowly gained those 30lbs back and now I am doing MFP. I tried WW again, but I feel I'm at the point where I need and want something different than adding points. Seeing the calories add up works for me and makes me feel accountable. Plus I know that I want to keep my net intake at 1200 calories (give or take) and being able to see that keeps me on my toes.

I always are on and off with Weight Watchers. I loved the support of meetings but sometimes it gets to be the same boring thing so I usually leave. I actually left weight watchers went to a study for weight loss in my state and then from there...they sent me to here. This sight has alot of features like weight watchers and the best part is....yep its free....Keep up the good work. There is alot of stories and pictures and support here...I love it...

Hello! I am currently a memeber of WW. I started in January and have lost 19lbs so far. I joined MFP a couple days ago because I am curious of my calorie intake and want to compare my pro points allowance and with my calorie allowance. My little science experiment.

I had started on here first and then I joined weight watchers while they were having a sale. I never used it. I had the app but because I did not have internet on my phone, i could not access anything. With the MyFitnessPal app, even though internet connection is not available, I am still able to log in and track what I eat. I also noticed that weight watchers seemed to be a little bit confusing as it did not have things that i ate listed in their database. I had to always log on to a computer and create my food. i did not like it especially since i dont like logging on to my computer everyday. then i came to the conclusion that MFP is just like weight watcher except it's FREE!!! So I decided to stick with this and I have lost more weight than I could have on weight watcers.

I did WW and found the old points system better than the new one. Although I was doing well on the new pp, our leader quit and the replacement lady although nice,it just wasnt the same. Weightloss stopped, I got frustrated and decided to quit paying...... I recently joined MFP and really enjoy it. People are supportive, theres great info on here and I'm forced to be accountable to myself. So far so good
L.

I switched last week from Weight Watchers to myfittnesspal because I just felt like I needed a change. So far I really like it and this week I lost 4.2 pounds :happy: I know that is a bit much, but I'm sure it's because it's my first week on something new and the losing will start to slow down. Just curious if anyone else has switched and if so how you feel this is better (or not) from that Weight Watchers.

I did Weight Watchers for 7 months last year and I got SO sick of it, I found it far too restrictive and the more I learned about healthy eating, the more I realised that on Weight Watchers, you can eat any kind of crap as long as you're under points. I quit, I did nothing for a few months, I gained 10lbs because I fell back into bad habits. I absolutely LOVE MyFitnessPal - I've been following it properly now for 3 weeks and I'm down 6lbs already. I had a big loss the first week too, mostly water weight I think, but I love how this encourages healthy eating and exercise and bettering yourself. With Weight Watchers, everything was about that damn scales. I know people who used to starve themselves for two days before their weigh-ins and then hit McDonalds afterwards. How can that be healthy! I'm not entirely knocking it, I did lose 39lbs while on it, but I think it took me a long time to realise that it was ME doing the work, not the class. I used to completely pig out on the weekends using my 'spare' points, and with this, I don't do that because there shouldn't be any spare points. Everyone's entitled to a day off, but I think this is better because it's not actively encouraged every week.

I still have to train my brain to stop pointing everything, but I'm getting there ;-)

Plus, MFP is FREE

Hi, only on my second day on here. But, I came away from WW when it changed to the new points system. I wasn't losing at all and they seemed very unwilling to help me online and there were a lot of women in the same situation as me when I read the forums. I had just had a hysterectomy, on HRT and nothing seemed to be working. A friend of mine recommended using this site after losing over 4 stone. I'm willing to give anything a try! I love the way everything is laid out simply so you can see what foods straight away are letting you down. I've planned an entire week's worth of dinners on here and printed them out so my other half and I can stick to it. A couple of times a week I have 2 tins of G&T as a treat and I'm very unwilling to let this go. Guess I'll be on lettuce leaves and egg whites those days! Good luck everyone!!

I did WW online while also doing MFP. I let my membership to WW run out. I was thinking of joining and attending meetings but I see that so many people lost and then regained weight. What gives with that? Is everyone going back to their old eating habits after WW? I see that someone is a life member. How does that work?

I can't speak for anyone else but personally, when I was doing WW, I felt accountable to my leader. If I had a pig-out day and I knew I'd gained, I'd skip the class that week. The minute I left, I was no longer accountable to anyone and decided to play the "oh I've lost loads, I can afford to take a couple months off "- WRONG!!

I find that MFP encourages me to be accountable to myself every single day and I know that when I look at my food diaries for the first two or three days when I was just logging, they are ATROCIOUS. Now I feel proud of my food and exercise diaries because they show how my attitude to food has changed.

Seriously in love with this site, best invention ever.

Before I start, I want to say that I've never really had a weight problem....10 - 20 pounds is all I've ever needed to lose. I also have no intention of bashing WW - different things work for different people.

I followed weight watchers a few years ago, lost 12 pounds, then gained it all back. I'm sure it works for some people, but not for me. Because I had so little to lose, I only was allowed about 17 or 18 points I think. I found myself starving all the time, and I could blow my extra weekly points in one day. It just wasn't for me. I really love MFP....I love eating better, not worried about how many points something is...watching the calories in and calories out. I think WW might be too much about deficits - which I know some people need. I'm finding that eating more and doing strength training is the best plan for me.

What a great thread!! I'm a WW lifetime member having lost 50lbs 3 times, before my children and then after the birth of my twins and then the birth of my son. I will say I am very thankful I learned better eating habits before I had children as my children don't know anything else other than whole wheat bread, unsweetened applesauce, skim milk etc.

With that being said I got sick and tired of counting points. This is only my second week on this site as a friend recommended it to me and I absolutely LOVE it. I am really enjoying this program and this way of keeping track of what I'm putting into my body!

I switched from WW to MFP because the new PointsPlus system just was not working for me. The P+ calculations just didn't make sense to me like the old Points did, and so I had a very difficult time following the plan.

I am just counting calories now, and I have lost 10 pounds in 4 weeks.

Same here. Hate the new plan. Tried to attend meetings and follow the old plan but it got too frustrating.