I have considered joining WW in the past and I had spoken with someone about the cost and what is involved. I know that many people are on the WW program, 2 gals that I work with actually are on it. I know that I was told the cost of the program each month would be $50. I know that is not that much each month but with so many other bills that I have and with Christmas breaking my wallet I do not have enough info about how it works or the success to justify joining. I know that I see the commercials and it seems that celebs have had success but do regular people have success too? Is it really that easy to stick too? Are you allowed to have sweets or icecream or even eat out?

Hi there. I joined WW in January of this year. I only do the online portion so my monthly cost is about $19. I'm just not a meetings kind of person. I found WW relatively easy to use, particularly at first. The big secret to WW is tracking what you eat and drink. After a month or so, that became second nature to me.

There are no restricted foods on WW. However, I found that living within my points budget (WW counts points instead of calories) caused me to make different choices about what I eat. Treats are allowed. I've worked chocolate into my daily routines.

I eat out quite a bit. I'm very successful with picking what to eat in resteraunts but not so successful in any buffet-type environment although I know people who have conquered that too.

I would suggest actually going to the website and poking around a bit before making a decision. www.weightwatchers.com

This article was also very helpful to me in making my decision:

http://health.usnews.com/best-diet


While I started at WW, I also use MyFitnessPal. If you're into calorie counting, MFP makes it very easy and it's free. Many people have a lot of success there too. http://www.myfitnesspal.com

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Thank you for the information. I will def check out the links that you supplied. My, I am getting so much useful information today. Everyone has been so helpful!

Any time! Community support, both here, at WW and from friends and family has been a huge help to me. Huge. I do try to pay it forward and so do many others here.

The message boards on the WW site are free to anyone.You might want to check it out.

I am also online only...I tried the meetings, but A) online-only is cheaper, and B) the only meeting place/time I could go to that didn't interfere with work was full of people who didn't rejoice in what they'd lost, rather people who complained about what they couldn't eat. If I don't see or hear about something, I don't think about it (food-wise, anyway), so the meetings were just not going to work for me.

2013 is WW 50th anniversary. If it didn't work for ordinary people, it wouldn't have lasted this long and been rated the #1 weight loss plan for the past 2 years. I fully justify the $43 - and I live on social security - because losing weight helps me stay healthy now and in the future...and I'm worth it and deserve it.

YEAH!!!!!

They have free membership drives going on a lot - especially in January. And they also might let you sit in on a meeting to decide if you like it. I know ours does. Also, you can pay that weekly fee every week instead of a monthly fee, so if you are short on cash you can do it that way. I do the Monthly Pass and I pay $45 a month for complete online access and the meetings.

And yes, you can have ice cream or what ever you want, as long as you eat within your 'budget'. There are no forbidden foods, so you can play with your menus and make it the way you need it to be something you can live with. You also get a weekly allowance that you can use for splurges - planned or unplanned - if you need them.

Hello. I'm new here but not to WW. I had made lifetime in 2003 but unfortunately put most of my weight back on. This was not because the program didn't work. I allowed the committee in my head to take over and run the show. Well, as you probably have figured, my mind is a bad neighborhood and no one should hang out there. The new 360 really has helped me to get a better grip on my program. I'm one that needs meetings and online. However at this point I do not subscribe to etools. I go to sites such as this for reinforcement. Thank you all for your interesting feedback. It helped me to read your posts. Always Fluffy

Hi Fluffy, welcome to 3FC! I use the online tracker (mostly on my phone) and the recipe builder. Those are invaluable - but I don't use their forum at all. It's huge, and moves too fast for me.

I just saw a commercial that indicated WW etools has a scanner for bar codes.. Like FitPal does... Can anyone confirm

Ayup. I've got the bar code scanner on my Droid.

I signed up last January when they were having free sign-ups, lasted 2 1/2 months before falling off the wagon and gaining back the 20lbs I had lost. I restarted in mid-Sept using the same program, books, and calculator on my own and am down 30lbs. The program works if you're committed and I definately am this time.