How is WW different in its effectiveness from calorie counting?

Thank you.

WW doesn't publish it's success/failure rates, but there've been a few studies comparing the effectiveness of various dieting methods.

One recently published found that not-for-profit weight loss groups were just as effective as WW (groups like TOPS, OA, and the bible study group First Place).

but comparing a group to on-your-own is a little different.

Years ago, I read a book - The Unofficial Guide to Dieting Safely by Janis Jibrin

It compared the effectiveness and safety of many weight loss plans. It's out-of-print, but you can still get copies at amazon.com (it's been on my wishlist for some time, as I really liked the book).

There is a thread about "why not cc" here that talks about people's experiences with WW & CC.

I think the thing that will be most effective for a person is whatever they can sustain for the rest of their life.

I wasn't having luck calorie counting- still to much bread and rice which wasn't filling me up, and days would go by without a vegetable... The scale wasn't budging after a few weeks so I joined weight watchers. I'd had great success with it in my 20's so I know the structure works for me.

And the new plan works too. Vegetables are once again the foundation of my meals (this seems like a "duh", but I needed the push to do it) and my rice servings have gone from a cup at lunch and dinner to 1/2 a cup. Small changes to the healthy foods I was already eating have made a big difference.

I haven't searched for any scientific studies on the effectiveness of WW because I know it works if I work it. Like any program.