weight watchers??

it works of course, I tried that, too. counting points. First time I sat down and wrote down a list of foods I'd eaten that day I was petrified, I ate 55 points and on WW it should have been 22-25 points. So I did it for a little while, lost weight and happily went back to my "normal" eating:) I think it is better just to try to eat healthy and stick to it, you'll get used to it eventually and your body will like the feeling of being healthy.

WW is great for people who don't really know how to eat healthily. WW helps steer you in the right direction of making a healthier choice. I recommend it for anyone trying to lose weight who seems a little lost. There is a lot of information out there and it can get very confusing. Also, WW is a great way to get support and tips on how others lost weight. I did it for awhile and I did lose weight. I only quit because I understand how to eat healthy and make the right decisions and I felt that I was paying for something I wasn't really using. Especially once I started with this program. But, like I said, WW is a great program for starting out. Lots of information and lots of support. Good luck!

I've done WW a few times and was successful, but I prefer MFP because it is not trying to sell any products, and I can find encouraging people here almost anytime day or night.

At WW near me, some of the leaders seem jaded and other employees don't even seem healthy (standing outside for smoking breaks, ugh).

The other thing is, WW is happy to take your money FOREVER whether or not you lose. It's called revenue. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but just keep in mind that they need you to keep coming back, regardless of your actual weight loss. MFP displays ads, of course, but if you ignore them or don't click, you don't have to be distracted by them.

WW costs about $50/month in most markets, and that's unlimited meetings and their ETools site, which does your calculating and logging. If you don't know much about healthy eating, exercise, the emotional aspects of eating and you do well with structure and accountability and group support, it's a great program. You are still counting but the Points system simplifies things. They spend a lot of time teaching you healthy habits. I'd highly recommend it to people who can afford it (who can't afford health?) and who get their info about dieting from this site alone, or here and other internet forums/blogs.

That said, the current program is not restrictive at all, so if you can't lose weight on 1800+ calories/day average, you might have to crank it up a notch. I did it for 8 weeks and lost 2 lbs. But like I said, there was virtually zero deprivation. And I didn't have much to lose- just those last 15 lbs. so I really could've been eating a lot less, especially given my age, height and activity level. I lost 50 lbs. on a WW program a few years back.

Yes it does work - very easy to follow and stick to with the new pro points. I joined for the first time online in Nov2011 and lost 31lbs in about 5 months without any exercise, last few months have been lots of a pound off pound on etc as I lost my mojo a bit and as I get closer to my goal I think I need to up my exercise.
It's counting propoints with extra weekly points to use etc. Pretty similar to calorie counting on here. I converted to this site last week when a friend told me about it. I actually think this site is grreat - it's free and the tools are actually easier to navigate I found. Whatever you choose - good luck