Have a massive amount of weight to lose and not sure which way to go - WEIGHT WATCHERS or METABOLIC RESEARCH CENTER ... I want to see quick results so that I will not get discouraged and give up but at the same time I do not want to put myself in a hole financially ..... Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I like WW because it's easy to follow and doesn't require anything other than some planning. I get great results if I don't try to complicated it or game the system (a lot of people in my meeting would get kind of "stuck" because they were always looking for loopholes or short cuts. There are none). I've only stopped because they eliminated my meeting and none of the other times work for me. I could do it at home, but the meetings really make the difference. I didn't really learn anything from the leader's presentations but I learned a LOT from other successful WWers. I'm loosely following along at home but I admit without the meetings, I struggle. I need the accountability of someone seeing me get on the scale every week, and I love the motivation of other people's weight loss.

Hope you find what's right for you!

I know this wasn't one of your choices but I went to a nutritionist at my doctor's office and got on a medically supervised plan.

It's the best thing I could have done. I see a medical team every week, get blood work as required since I am on a low calorie diet.

I started over 300 last July. This eating plan changed my life, I can't even believe it.

I wish you lots of luck in whatever plan you go with. 3FC was instrumental in keeping me on plan and focused on my mini-goals.

I don't know how MRC works specifically to be able to comment on that. But I would suggest thinking about what works best for you in general terms - do you like a strict plan with a lot of instructions and guidance? Or do you like a lot of flexibility so you can eat what you want as long as you track it properly and make sure you are staying within your points/calories?

Personally, the less I have to think about with food, the better I do. So I'm doing a pretty strict low carb, low fat plan. I have a list of allowed foods and that's what I eat. I don't have to worry about quantities so I don't have to weigh or measure or track (unless I want to, I do tend to usually put my food into Fitday). I also don't have to make choices between what does or doesn't fit into my planned eating for that day, it's either on plan or off plan, very black and white.

I personally didn't do well with WW - it was too much effort, too much freedom for me. But that freedom is exactly why it's a good fit for so many people. It all comes down to the plan that feels right to you and that you can stick with.

welcome and good luck!!

TheSecondHalf thank you for your input ..... I do like WW and I do think the encouragement at the meetings are great! Elvislover324 may I ask what the program you are on is?

April I think I need black and white and someone to be accountable to.

titaniumheart - over the long run, whatever you do, you have to choose something that you CAN do and enjoy for a long term. I would recommend that you give Weight Watchers a try for a month, and commit to it totally and see how you feel at the end of the month.

I say that because I think that Weight Watchers is less expensive than the diets where you have to buy food! You could also explore some of the free/low cost food/calorie tracking apps for accountability, instead.

I am not doing any of the above and have found a balance that works really well for me. However, it may not work for you!

As someone midway through a "massive" amount to lose, I definitely echo the need to do something that you can do permanently. If you need the accountability of a plan I would recommend WW. I've done it in the past, and while I'm not doing it now I give it a good deal of credit for helping teach the proper way to calorie count. The only thing I stress is buy a food scale and measure everything. Don't guestimate. Make sure your 1 point item really isn't 3.

If you want to save the money and still have the accountability, consider a TOPS chapter near you. You can tailor a diet to your needs and still have a scale to face and a support network.

I am on Medifast right now because I was honest with myself after MANY years of telling myself "I can do this on my own, I did it once"...and admitted that I just don't have the self control right now. Medifast makes everything very easy and though it is very difficult..it seems to be working. In a way its easier because its so strict. Obviously its not something I would be able to stay on for life...but its a start. I like the idea of weight watchers and will strongly consider it once I reach my goal as way of maintaining.

Thank you all for sharing!!!

I've been doing WW online since January of 2012. Although I'm more than a bit peeved at their website problems right now, the points system, food tracker and good health guidelines are precisely what I needed to get going. I also enjoy the circle of friends I've developed through blogging over there. I don't do the meetings. I really don't do well in that kind of setting. Besides, the notion of being weighed by someone else...no...just....no.

Anyway, it's worked wonders for me.

I did WW for awhile, as well last year. I figured out how to make it work and how to count, but found after 3 months, I still couldn't figure points for anything unless I added looked it up in my app first (which seldom worked). I've tried several things-- WW, Atkins and calorie counting. Somewhere I keep coming back to calorie counting. It's the most basic, and there's no problem solving in it. No points to count. No carbs to count. But I've found that it all depends on what works for you as an individual. I've read a thousand diets in magazines! "Lose 30 pounds by St. Patrick's day", but we all know they really don't work or are short term solutions to the big problem. And most of those magazine diets involve strange food combinations and things like that. Urghh! Do what comes easy for you.

I have just been using the free "Lose It" app on my smartphone. It is a calorie counter, and you can choose for it to count other things as well. I like it because you can imput your own foods, or scan a barcode and it auto-adds it. So far the barcode scanner has done very well, but since I am eating more "real" foods (meat, nuts, veggies, fruits) I just use the food look up (and once you have used a food it stores is in "my foods" so you can use it again).

I did Weight Watchers about 8 years ago. It worked very well (I lost 60lbs) because I was able to eat whatever I wanted in smaller portions and moderation. If you don't want to cut anything out, but want to cut back on things, WW can work very well. Some people do abuse that though. A couple of my family members for example, would basically eat nothing but green beans and veggies all day, so they could eat a bag of cookies all night. They were technically within their points, but were not losing weight like I was. The food you use your points on DOES matter if you abuse it. Now, in the last 8 years they have changed the way points are calculated to eliminate the urge and ability to try and cheat the system that way.

It's about knowing yourself, what you want, what you need, and what you can handle.

I have been on almost every diet in the world known to man. lol.. At least I think I have. I have always came back to calorie counting. I use the app My Fitness Pal on my phone which is awesome. You can use it on the computer as well. There hasn't been one time that I have looked up in their search for a food at a restraunt and it hasn't been there. Or you just scan it in and it puts it in there for you. It's been so easy for me to do while working, while eating out, or anything. I've always gained back the weight when I've lost with other things. (this is not to say those things don't work) I just needed something I could do for the rest of my life and this I can do. One night I might want cookies, but I only have an allowance for my dinner left. Well, since I wanted cookies I just chose to eat cookies for dinner. I never went over my calories, but got what I wanted. (not saying that was a good idea, just something I did)
You have to find something you can do for the rest of your life. That way when you reach your goal you know you can keep it off because you'll be doing the same thing you've always done.
Oh and I need to be help accountable also so what I did I got a friend, my mom, my sis, and my niece involved and we do a weight loss challenge. Every 6 weeks it starts over. Who ever loses the most % of weight in those 6 weeks gets 10$ from everyone else. It's a great incentive and keeps you accountable.

Good luck.. I hope you find something that works.

I just started but I calorie count. It was the easiest for me. I tried WW in the past and did lose a bit of weight but not a lot but I am not a fan of the the meeting settings. So far with looking up nutrition information and calorie counting in a month I have lost 11.4lbs with mainly just diet modification.
I agree with others with just trying something and sticking with it for a month and just seeing how it works for you. Sometimes we may have to try a few things before we find what is going to work best for us.