I was planning on joining ww online (when I get the money a week from Thurs.) but then I thought about doing something a bit cheaper to start like ediets and found there is a huge difference in the plans. I have gone over my older ww stuff and figured out I should be eating around 30pts a day and then I looked on ediets and it says to stay between 1200-1300 calories. Well with 30pts I'm closer to 1800/2000 calories so I'm all confused and am not sure which is the better way to go. Any advice?

A little other info since I'm still "new" here:
I have exactly 100lbs to loose and my first goal is to loose 30lbs within the next 3 months. Thanks in advance!

There are quite a few calorie counters here who've done a remarkable job with weight loss. If it's something you feel that you can do for the rest of your life (maintaining looks just like weight loss--we're in it for the long haul), then you might give that a try. If you have 100 lbs. to lose, however, I would go more with eating 1800 calories to start, then moving that down as you lose. Starting out at 1200 calories often leads to burnout and binging, IMHO.

Weight Watchers has a great reputation and has done a lot of research into weight loss. Their points system has taken all the guesswork out of calorie counting and making sure you get enough fiber and nutrients. Again, it's got to be something you can live with for the rest of your life.

I'm a calorie counter now, but I had great success with WW's and their points system in the past. And my understanding is that WW's recently changed their points calculation so it's quite possible that they would be recommending more than 30 points a day for you. I personally think that you will have greater and a more long term success if you start out at a higher calorie range than 1200 - 1300, but sometimes when you start you have to play around to find what works for you. Which ever you decide will be better than doing nothing.

Melissa

There are also several websites out there where you can enter your foods and not have to pay for the program. (I use fitday.)

WW is a great program but like everyone else has said, you need to do what you are comfortable doing. I do WW on my own because I don't have the money right now for meetings. I also use Spark People, which is free, easy, and very informative.

I went from calorie counting with fitday, then moved to WW. I like weight watchers online a little better, primarily because there is a much greater variety of foods and restaurant foods.

In addition, the structure of WW is nice. It has given me a plan for how much to eat in order to lose. Over the last three months, I have lost an average of 1 pound a week. Nice, steady loss. Good luck!