[Enginerd]

I'm considering Weight Watchers or E-diets, and was wondering what everyone thought about them.

I'm a college student so I can't do anything really expensive (like LA Weightloss). I'm kind of a picky eater, so I need to have a little bit of freedom to choose. When I'm at school (I go back in September) I go to the gym every morning, so I would like to work on changing my eating habits. I have tried on my own quite a few times, but I think I need a little guidance, support and someone to hold me responsible for my actions so I can't cheat!

Lisa

[Suzanne 3FC]

Hi Lisa, welcome to 3fc

Weight Watchers might be a good option for you, but you should check the rates in your area to see if you can afford it. It's not expensive at all, and you are not obligated to continue if you find it's not for you. But I remember being a college student and it wasn't always easy to come up with the $13 a week, or whatever the rate is. However, when I was in college, we had a Weight Watchers group on campus that made use of the WW "At work" program. You prepaid for 6 weeks at a reduced rate, and the meetings were on campus. They may not offer that everywhere, though.

WW offers the most flexibility, so it's great for picky eaters. In my personal opinion, the key to WW success is the weekly support meetings, and their online version didn't live up to it because their message boards are so poorly designed. Of course we have WW forums here, lol, so you are more than welcome to stick around

eDiets is also a great option because they make it easy for you. They have a ton of diet plans to choose from, and then they generate menus, recipes and shopping lists based on your choice. If you don't like the menu they create, you can click a link to browse other meal options and select those instead. The recipes for each meal usually serve 1 person, so it's great for the single chick. Their message boards are not included in the base rate, and you have to pay extra for them. A lot of our members use eDiets for the menus and come here for support. Even I go there for menu ideas sometimes

If you are more interested in changing your habits, you might even consider something like Change One. It's a diet program by Readers Digest and it's unique because it teaches you to change your habits, one at a time. For example, this week your goal would be to eat a better breakfast. Nothing else matters, you just work on breakfast. Next week you'll add lunch. The program covers 12 weeks and helps you change your habits for meals, snacks, exercise, attitudes, and more. They have an online subscription, but all you really need is their book which can be found at most libraries.

Good luck!

[Enginerd]

I like the idea of the weight watchers meetings. A friend (who is moving in with me in sept when school starts) did weight watchers and it really worked for her. I thought between the meetings and having her for advice at home I would have lots of support. I feel like that will help because I will have more than just myself to answer to.

[Suzanne 3FC]

That would be so great to have someone in the "real world" to do it with you! When I did WW (many moons ago) I joined with my mother, and we had a lot of fun going to the meetings together, planning our menus, etc. I lost about 40 pounds. Then I decided to save my money and do it on my own, which obviously failed for me. I regained much more than I lost. Mom, on the other hand, reached her goal a long time ago and still goes to the meetings every week as a lifetime member. She loves it.

[jillybean720]

If the money is an issue, you can see if there's a TOPS chapter near you (Take Off Pounds Sensibly www.tops.org). They are non-profit, so they are MUCH cheaper than WW, LAWL, and others. I think it's less than 50 bucks for the whole year and then maybe a dollar a week or so depending on the chapter. You can follow any diet plan you want--they are mostly there for support and to have weigh-ins once a week, so if you're looking for accountability, you will have it there. You can even follow the WW plan while going to TOPS--there are people in my TOPS group who do WW, calorie cycling, low-carb, you name it! My mother bought all the WW Points materials off ebay, and it was much cheaper, so now she has the info from WW and the support from TOPS. Just another suggestion

[GreatBigMonsterMomma]

As for eDiets...I have to say that many of the things Suzanne mentions as features of the program are what made it unworkable for me. I almost never liked their first option, so I'd have to go and dig for something I did like, and I noticed several times when they'd give me a meal featuring one of the options I'd specifically selected to not be included. Their shopping list was a joke, as all it did was generate a list of the ingredients for each recipe. I dare you go to go the store and buy a teaspoon of vanilla extract. (I also don't remember it combining things, either, so I'd wind up with the same thing listed two or three times). While the program itself is relatively cheap, you pay 3 months up-front at a time, and more to the point my grocery bills skyrocketed. (This always happens for me when I plan my menus off of recipes.)

I don't have any experience with Weight Watchers meetings--I'm not the sort of person who plays well with others IRL--so I can't really comment on those. But I have Weight Watchers at Home (which requires a hefty up-front investment, but it's at least a one-time cost) and I like the program a great deal. Well, Flex Points. I don't like Core, mainly because fat free dairy products are nasty.