Hello all,

I was wondering about everyones opinon on this matter. I know Im sure if I did some searching Id see some things on this matter.

I am currently following the new points plus system and love the fact that fruits and veggies are free. Yes I know to only eat them in moderation and what not, so I usually measure out all of my servings and just stick to that amount. I have read a couple of places that people count calories as well as their points. Are those of you who are doing that find that it made a diffrence in their weight loss? and if thats what you are doing, why pay the fees to do weight watchers? I guess I am starting to second guess paying the montly fee to get weighted in. I stoped staying for meetings at my old location because I didnt find it very helpful. I think Im going to start staying again since I have now switched locations, and see if its any diffrent.

I guess Im just in a slump right now, I havent seen any weight loss since December with the points system and I dont feel or see anything that Im doing wrong. Just didnt know if I should be counting my calories as well.

Thanks for any insight on this matter!
~Pink.

It really comes down to the WW personnelle to make the meeting worth staying for, I get a lot of motivation and tips from my leader. If she isn't doing her job report her, I'm sure there's someone else who can motivate people and would love the job!

There have been quite a few threads about PP and CCing lately so if you scroll through a couple of pages of threads, you'll find more opinions and info. I think a lot of people (myself included) are finding the CCing helps with controlling the amount of zero point foods. I could eat a lot of calories in fruit! However, I continue to pay for WW, count my points and go to meetings because I value the structure, accountability and support I receive. Plus I am so close that I am determined to achieve Lifetime status!



I think reporting someone who just isn't a good fit for you is a little harsh. That leader may be perfect for other people and just not right for the OP. Different personalities appeal to different people.

Neon, I'd suggest trying a couple of different meetings/leaders and seeing if there's one that does click with you.

Thanks for the input guys!

I am going to stay for a meeting tomorrow at my new location. I wouldnt report the leader, I just dont think she was a good fit for me.

I did try cc and pp yesterday and just felt like it was to much. I think I will be fine if I stick to the 5 servings a day of fruits and veggies and make sure to measure out all of my servings. I was full all day yesterday and barely used any points! but kept to the specific servings for each 0 points item.

I think Ill stick with it for a little bit longer and see what happens. Just stuck in a slump I guess.

I just recently (2 months ago) dropped WW because I could not financially justify it. I switched to calorie counting, use Fitday.com for tracking etc and I have to say, I will never go back to WW. I have been far more successful doing the calorie counting than anything else I've tried. This is just my personal experience though. Good luck!

I do calorie counting and WW. I get different things from each ones. The WW points system is not quite the same as calories as 2 items with the same calories can be different points (not usually hugely different) but different. It is easier to remember points for foods than calories (a 1 or 2 digit number is easier than a 3 or 4 digit number).

On the other hand with calorie counting I get more nutritional info where I post it (livestrong Daily Plate) so I can see where I am on sodium and how much protein, etc. I am eating.

But why do WW and not just do calories? For me a couple of reasons.

Most important is that going to WW meetings works for me and not going to meetings doesn't. I did WW online only for awhile and miserably failed. I need that external deadline that organizing the week for me where today I'm thinking about tomorrow's weigh in. Let's say I get the urge to go out today. I'm unlikely to do it unless I'm traveling since I know I will weigh in tomorrow. With doing calorie counting it is just easy to go ahead and eat out today and then eat too many calories for the week.

The other thing I don't like about Daily Plate is that calories are done per day. That is, let's take the other day when I ate out. On Weight Watchers I used some weekly points for that. I am well within my weekly points for this week.

On Daily Plate though, it just shows that I exceed my calories for the day by X number of calories. I don't like that since for the week as a whole I'm fine. Every day on Daily Plate has the same calories to be eaten (except on days with activity). There isn't any concept of keeping some calories available to be eaten extra on some days. Maybe some other calorie counting sites do allow for this but if so I haven't seen them.

I am not doing a WW program as I can't afford it right now, wish I could for the experience and help but just not an option. I am following PP as much as I can on my own though, using calculators and stuff and find it's working well and I really seem to click with it. I have not tried doing calorie counts on top of it for a few reasons, my points are coming from really healthy, nutritious meals and I'm losing weight, so I find it's working ok at whatever level it is. Also, I had previously done calorie counting before going to ww type eating, and found I got a little over zealous with cutting and it was not healthy and I ended up gaining all the weight back.

That being said, I don't discourage CC. All I am saying is that CC did not work for me, as WW does not work for others, so it becomes a question of WHAT you like and WHAT works for you. It sounds like doing both is not fitting into your schedule and comfort. Have you thought about doing points one day, then the next day doing the same food and exercise and counting calories and seeing which one you like best? Also, I think it's great you are willing to try another meeting before giving up. Who knows, you may go to this meeting as well and not like it, and then that's a sign that meetings just aren't something that is of help to you.

I'm just a big proponent of finding what works for myself as I want this to be a forever thing. I can stick anything out for a certain time, but after a while, if it's not working for me, I know it won't be a forever type behavior.

This is probably my main gripe with the CCing sites, too - I use Sparkpeople and it's the same way. Same with entering exercise goals: it asks how many minutes of activity I get per day and applies that figure to all the days, whereas some days I may run for 30 minutes and that'll be it, and then the next day bike for 2 hours. I wish we could customize a bit more.

In fact, I think I'll post this question on the CC board and see if they have any input/info to offer.

I track my food on sparkpeople as well as etools. I want to know when I have a good week, when I have a bad week, how did I vary in calories, protein, carbs, etc. Plus if down the very long road ahead of me I decide WW isn't working as well as I hoped still, I'd like to have a record of my food/exercise somewhere I can continue to track.

Sparkpeople does a decent job, though it does complain at me a lot that I should be upping my calories after I add my exercise. And what Litchick said, I wish I could put in my exercise minutes goal individually by day.