I am very new and have a question:

If we are calorie counting why don't we go to Weight Watchers?

Gosh knows we all have been there and done that. I was wondering. Thanks for your replys.

Melanie in Colorado

Personally, I'd rather count calories than to translate them into a point system and then follow that. I like more direct. And I had no interest in the meetings. But it works very well for many people. We're all different.

Well calorie counting is free and Weight Watchers cost money so I prefer the free and if you have to know the calories in what you are eating anyway, then why make it ore complicated? That's just my opinion. Some people need the accountability of the meetings though and I can understand that.

I have to agree with Willow. Calorie counting is free and in my opinion easier to do.

Yup! Don't have the money for WW

Definitely like the free. Plus I don't know about other people but the WW group at my office says that you're required to eat only their food for the first X weeks. I like having more control over my choices than that! Also sooner or later you're going to stop WW and if you don't watch watch what you eat you'll gain it back anyway. Sooner or later WW will mean counting calories.

I think calorie counting is way easier. You have to know the calories to calculate the WW points in something - so why not just deal with calories?

I get the appeal of WW for accountability, but I'm not just losing weight, I want to keep it off. Since I don't plan on doing WW for the next 70 years, I'll end up calorie counting eventually anyway. May as well start it how you're gonna end it. Plus, my grocery bill to feed fresh, healthy foods to three people tops six hundred dollars a month. It's amazing how much cheaper food is when you aren't worried about eating processed stuff. I can't imagine devoting anymore of our househole income to weight maintenance then that.

I've done both. I think weight watchers was good for me to start out on. I learned a lot about how to eat right and what sizes I should be eating. Or you can pick up some books to learn how to eat in a healthy way. I find it easier to do calorie counting than do weight watchers. It's so expensive, too.

WW does NOT ask you to eat their food; you can eat what you want. I tried it for a few weeks a while back, but as everyone has pointed out, you have to know the calories and fiber to get the WW point value, so why not just count calories?

When I did WW, I was always counting the calories, too, because that's what I'm used to and comfortable with. The difference is that in WW items that are high in fiber and low in calories (like veggies) are 0 points; the idea is to eat more of them to fill you up. I didn't find the meetings useful and didn't have time for them. I find coming online to post as motivating, and it fits into my schedule better.

Also, I found some discrepancy in WW. For example, if I ate a Wasa cracker, and it's 35 calories and 2 grams fiber, it would come up as 0 points, but two Wasa crackers would have a point value. So if I eat one at noon and then another at 6 p.m., I would log them as 0 points each according to WW, but really I'm eating 70 calories. It didn't make sense to me.

For me the weight loss is ALL about me. I don't want anything, anything external. I do not want the meetings. I do not want to pay something for a program. On the same note, I do not want meals delivered to my door. I do not want to pay for a personal trainer. I don't want a gym membership.

All I need to make my LIFE work and this weightloss to work is ME--of course being guided by the Almighty.


Plus, all the answers and support one could ever need really is here at the 3FC. OKAY--SO I DO NEED 3FC.

gaarmy wife, I would have written this post myself if I would have thought of it..YES, YES, YES!

I count calories and go to WW! I don't use their points system, I only go for the weekly encouragement and focus I get from the meetings, and to get my "real" weigh-in (they use fancy accurate scales, and my bathroom scale sucks). Plus they give me stickers and a round of applause for every 5 pounds I lose. I love that stuff.

It's about $40/mo, but once I reach goal and maintain for a few weeks, I'll be a "lifetime member", and from then on I'll get to attend meetings for free. I do think it's something I'm going to have to keep doing for the rest of my life (or at least the foreseeable future), cause without it I just lose focus and forget why I need to eat healthy.

I need more freedom than what WW can give. I don't have time for meetings (or the money) Instead of eating their foods I have found healthy ways to cook what I like. I keep a few WW foods in the freezer for those days when I am starved and in a hurry at lunch time. Somehow it seems more like "real" food when I decide what I am going to eat and cook it myself.

I belonged to WW years ago, and lost weight successfully. I skipped out at maintenance, much to my own regret later. I think WW is a great program for those who need support and encouragement, as well as accountability as they go.

These days I use calorie counting. I don't really need the support component the way I did long ago, and I didn't want to have to pay. But, if I needed the support component, I would definitely do it again and pay.

Jay