Weight Watchers.... I can't really gasp my mind around it

Just like counting calories, you can eat whatever you want within your range...granted, it's probably not best to just eat candy bars all day but if it provides a deficit a person could still lose doing it.

The extra points are because on their own, the daily points add up to only around 1000 calories.

I don't know about Weight Watchers, but I've seen people on MFP who lose weight eating 1200 calories of junk food. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. It's about making a change that is going to sustain you for life. If you eat 40 points of garbage, then when you stop watching points, you're just eating garbage. If you eat 40 points of healthy food with the occasional indulgence, then when you stop counting points, maybe you've learned how to eat better. Maybe not. It's still a good idea to learn portion and moderation. But I imagine all she is learning to do is eat less, not eat better.

Weight Watchers also has the health guidelines (I forget what they are called) where you're supposed to have so many servings of dairy, fruits and veggies, healthy fat, etc. By the time I got in my protein, fats, fruits, veggies and dairy, I had no points left for snacks or treats. A lot of people follow the points but not the health guidelines. You can do the same thing with MFP...you can eat 1400 cal worth of junk or you can eat 1400 worth of good clean food.

40 points a day is a lot for a chick. I'm pretty darn obese and I only got 29.

My understanding is it is pretty much the same as it is in here. One 'weight watchers point' equals 50 cals. Same as MFP, you are allocated a number of points based on your current weight, and a deficit is figured in. You can eat anything on weight watchers, within your points budget, just like you can eat anything here, within your points budget.

The weekly points are the equivalent of a sort of 'calorie cycling' thing. Like, if you know you are going out to dinner on Saturday night, you might eat 100 cals a day under, to make up for the excess on Saturday night.

And eating back exercise cals, well, that's the same as in here too!

It's really not that different or hard. It's like US being being stuck in the dark ages with imperial measurements, while over in more civilised lands we use metric! You say 200pounds or 2000calories, I say 91kg or 9000kJ!

The biggest difference is this way is free!

It's true you can eat whatever you want BUT, WW advocates you should choose high protein that's lean, high fiber, healthy fats, lots of water, many fruits and endless veggies. It's just like counting calories. Yes, you can eat a piece of chocolate cake worth 300 cals but you SHOULD choose 300 cals of something healthier with nutrients. If you choose healthier options, you get more food and you are training yourself for a healthier lifestyle. I did WW for a long time and lost 90lbs. I've since gained weight and now I'm counting cals. Both systems work the same but it's up to the user to choose healthier options for a long term, healthy life.

WW is just like counting calories you can use them to eat what you want but you have to make good choices. MODERATION is key . I can eat 1300 calories of 100 calorie packs but that is not nutritional. WW encourages you to eat healthy fruit, veggies, dairy, etc... So you should set aside so many a day to fulfil those basic needs..then after that make good choices. I have done weight watchers before and it did work but it is just liek counting calories takes commitment. So that is why this time I decided to go the free route

I used to do weight watchers but found that MFP actually works better for me. Just like MFP, when you exercise you can either choose to eat extra to compensate or not. I think everyone else here is right - I would not necessarily recommend a "diet" that includes fried chicken and candy bars as I think that sets you up for failure. Once you reach your goals, you will just go back to eating all that same stuff without moderation. I like to think of this as a lifestyle change and not a diet. I am eating more clean and healthy foods so that when I do reach my goal I will be able to maintain without much effort.

Personally, I think MFP and Weight Watchers are about the same (they both give you a daily goal and tools to track your food intake and exercise to ensure you are meeting that goal) except MFP is free, and I certainly like that better! I have actually been more successful on MFP than I ever was on Weight Watchers.

I started weight watcher in 2006 back when you got a set number of points for your age range plus 35 extra points for the week. Back there points for food were based on calories, fat, and fiber. I did very well with that and lost 65lbs and 8 months.

I started having issues with it when they switched over to the new points system that had a whole different way of calculating points for both target points and food points. I've seen a lot of people that this system worked for, but I struggled it with. Another reason I struggled with it is because I got A LOT more active. I always had trouble grasping how calories burned equated to activity points.

Their basic premise is that you eat can eat anything in moderation and move more and a couple other catch phrases and you'll lose weight. It's the basic calories in calories out premise. They just do it with points.

The giant bucket of fried chicken is super high in points and they may take up most of her points per day. It all comes back down to energy density of food. Would you rather eat a box of chicken for 15 pts (totally making that pt value up), or some grilled chicken, and apple, some whole grains, more fruit, and cheese for 15 pts (again making that up, but it's probably pretty close).

I have nothing against weight watchers, my leader was the most amazing woman and still one of my closest friends ever after she moved away. I am not a fan of the new corporate WW that changes programs and pretty much forces clients to purchase the new products (calculators, books, etc) every time they change.

To each their own.