Practical: with on-line journals, calorie counting is easy and universal.
Neurotic: I like to be precise. Calorie counting allows me to account for everything I eat down to the gram. There's no worries about what a "portion" is. As me if something is "the size of my palm" and I freak out: whose palm? It's not the right shape. How thick can it be?
Snobbish: calorie counting seems more hard-core for me: points is like calorie counting for people who were intimidated by math. It simplifies the data, and destroys part of it: you don't know how much protein/carbs/fiber/fat you are getting. It seems almost sexist to me, like women can't handle real facts, they have to be cutsied up (I know this is irrational)
Less flattering: I know it is a weight watcher's mantra that no one ever got fat on free foods, but I bet I could stay fat on free foods. I could certainly lose much more slowly. I am capable of overeating anything.
Even less flattering: on some level, I am so deeply ashamed of my weight that the idea of going somewhere public and talk about it . . .I could, and this is no exaggeration, more easily talk about my bowel movements and my masterbation habits with strangers than I could talk about my eating or (horrors) weigh myself in public.
I am doing a dual program. I am doing Weight Watchers and Calorie Counting.
I started my weight loss journey with WW and then got bored-plateaued for awhile then started back on my journey this past may.
I like to do the dual program, that way if i don't have my ww calculator with me, i can fall back on the calories. I'm not sure if I will eventually switch to just one program or not, so far what I am doing is working.
I do the WW at home, I do not have the money to spend nor do I want to go to weekly meetings about it.
It gives me a sense of control. The idea of "Free Food" would lead me into a bit of deception. I would eat the "free food" in abundance and it would seemingly carry over into everything. So for me it's better to track everything and I have gotten good results.
I tried WW a many years ago and dropped out because they wanted me to be somewhere all the time. I'm not really good at that with the exception of work...it has an immediate payoff.
I've tried to lose weight several times over the last couple of years. Lost 90 pounds calorie counting, regained it when I stopped. Tried WW online earlier this year, lost interest in part because of the lack of precision and the fact that I felt tied to my computer because even after 2 months I felt like I hadn't really learned how to estimate points the way I know how to estimate calories. I'm starting over with calorie counting on Fitday.com.
I did WW years ago and was very successful. I tried getting back to it a year or more ago and had no success. I started calorie counting in April and have had great success. One thing that has help me is counting EVERYTHING. Nothing is free - I count my salads, fruits, veggies. All of it. With WW there is ways to play games to get 0 point snacks. I could easily space these out during the day and add 200-300 additional calories to my day.
I've found an online site that is very user friendly -- its an easy way for me to keep on top of it all. HTH
I count calories because to me it's just easier. Nothing new to learn. The calories are on the package or easily available for common stuff like meats and veggies. Where as with WW, I'd have to learn which foods are worth such-n-such points. I do use some of the WW products and some of the info is easy to apply to my calorie counting. But at the end of the day...for me, it's just easier to use what I know than learn a whole new system.
I like to be precise and CC because I know exactly what I'm putting in Granted, I do buy some WW stuff from the supermarket, but I count the calories into my day, not the points.
I count calories this time around because I want to be precise and I have a tendency to estimate too much with WW points. BUT I think there are a lot of misconceptions about WW. It does take fat and fiber into consideration -- that's how the points are calculated, along with the calories. You don't have to buy any special foods or learn the points values of everything. You get a slide that makes it really easy to calculate. Also, when I did it before, I often estimated 50 calories to a point when I didn't have a slide handy, and that worked to help me lose 110 pounds. Also, you don't have to go to meetings and you don't have to do the online program. If you get your hands on a slide, you're all set. You can estimate the rest. I didn't go to a single meeting when I was losing that 110 pounds. At that time, I found it easier because it was what I got used to. But I'm finding it harder to lose the weight now that I regained with pregnancy, so I'm finding that I need to be really precise with my calories. One thing I have to watch with calories, though, is that I often do NOT take fat and fiber and all that into consideration, which I did when I was counting points.
cheaper and more convenient. I'm a single mom, and I'd not only have to pay for WW meetings, I'd have to find and pay for a sitter for my son when I went. Plus I work full time and don't really want to take another couple of hours away from my kid for a meeting each week, if you add in the time spent getting to and from a meeting. Yes, I could do WW online but I am finding that 3fc provides just as much support and accountability for me.
I don't remember for sure, but I think this is the longest that I've ever stayed on plan (with a few slips but never completely just giving up). And that's in large part because of 3fc and the people I connect with and learn from and make me challenge myself to keep going.
I use Fitday to track my food and I also splurged on a Gowear Fit to track my calorie burn.
I like CC because this isn't a diet, it's for the rest of my life. WW means diet to me and I know my mindset would be "okay, the weight's gone and I'm done". I'm not a yo-yo dieter and don't want to become one. I'm too old for the yo-yo. CC has been all about learning about what foods are healthy and what works for me and what I can live with and without and I figure if I practice this for over 100 pounds I'll have the knowledge and good habits to carry me forward.
It does take fat and fiber into consideration -- that's how the points are calculated, along with the calories.
Right. IT takes them into consideration. YOU don't. Correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I know WW doesn't give ME any way to track my fat or fiber and decide to increase it or decrease it. I am sure it can work for many people. I just like to have ALL possible information, myself.
I agree with you, Shmead -- I'm trying to be more accountable this time and that's why I'm doing calories instead of points. I just think a lot of people believe the points have absolutely nothing to do with fat or fiber, and that's one of the MANY misconception (the biggest one, though, is that you HAVE to go to meetings to count points -- I don't know where that comes from. Obviously, WW would like us all to pay instead of using their ideas for free, but that doesn't always happen! ) Foods have higher points values when they're higher in fat and lower ones when they're higher in fiber, and for some people that helps to keep their fat and fiber intake regulated somewhat. For me, for example, I don't have time to use Fitday or any other site to track my nutrients, so I end up focusing on just a calorie total. If I didn't have a tendency to estimate points and slack on accuracy, then points would be better for me in that sense.
As far as WW being just a "diet" instead of a lifestyle, it can be that, but so can counting calories. It's the same thing.
I guess even though I'm not counting points now, I always come to the defense of WW points because they helped me lose 110 pounds and I see that so many people have completely the wrong idea about the program. I think it's great when people can go to the meetings, if that's what works for them, but that wasn't what I needed. I used 3FC for support, and that was wonderful, of course! But 3 years ago, it worked for me to count points instead of calories, and that really was the only difference.
I'm on with Vladadog. Calorie counting, which becomes intuitive, became a lifestyle for me and I'm losing slowly but surely and is easy for me to maintain. I could never see Weight Watchers as a lifestyle, though, and I think it's really crucial for everyone to understand that you can't just "quit" losing weight. If you want it off, you gotta keep working to keep it off!!
WW worked for me in the past, I lost 80 lbs with it. I did it with my mother, on our own, not going to meetings. Since then I've tried going to meetings and never found them to be that one piece that really made 'this time different'. It was okay, but not worth the $ in my opinion. I guess it was because weighing myself in front of someone didn't make me feel any more accountable than if I weigh myself in my bathroom alone.
For some reason my more recent attempts w/ WW just didn't 'stick', I felt like I was being punished for being fat. That I 'had' to eat this way, and coudn't have that. It was discouraging, even though it was all in my head.
I've only recently turned to CC, mostly because it's free, and nothing is off limits. SOme foods that would be high in points, to the point of not being practical, are manageable in terms of calories.
As someone else said, cc is easier to accept as a way of life for me, easier to integrate in eating situations where I do not have as much control over the food choices. It could just be that my mindset is different.
WW is a good program, and yes, A lot of folks misunderstand it...you don't have to eat thier food/use thier products, alhough some people find it easier to do so....
Calorie Counting vs. Weight Watchers
Melanie in Colorado
Granted, I do buy some WW stuff from the supermarket, but I count the calories into my day, not the points.
) Foods have higher points values when they're higher in fat and lower ones when they're higher in fiber, and for some people that helps to keep their fat and fiber intake regulated somewhat. For me, for example, I don't have time to use Fitday or any other site to track my nutrients, so I end up focusing on just a calorie total. If I didn't have a tendency to estimate points and slack on accuracy, then points would be better for me in that sense. 
