I am thinking about it, but I'm not sure if its for me. I am currently using fitday to track calories. I've been doing this for about two weeks, and I've lost 5lbs. A friend of mine is doing ww and is doing great. My mother has the books and such, and I thought about just following the plan with out actually joining. I am a SAHM, and I can't really afford to be a member at this time. What you ya'll think. can I do it with out actually joining?

I found the meetings helped me although I don't attend now...I do fall back to some of the basic info I learned and I am a member of WW online. The books are helpful however and eye opening!! When I started looking at the number of points I was allowed and the different ways to make those points happen...it was a shock to see I was eating my points for the day just at one meal due to poor choices. Even just the books and initial info can be a great education on this journey!

you can if u have enough wp. soime ppl do some dont. like me

It really depends on how accountable you are to yourself. W/W has several different ways to join: 1) meetings (registration fee with a couple times a year for free registration plus weekly fees); 2) online (registration fee with a couple times a year free reigstration plus only monthly fee which is equivalent to about what 1 week would cost <maybe a little more>); and 3) the at home program (one time fee of about $100-you get all the materials you'd get at the meetings, plus a few extras and I believe <check the W/W> some phone support).

If you have all the materials and are accountable you can do the program (it would be the equivalent to the at home program) and be successful.

I guess what I'll do is get out the books, and continue to watch my calories as well. Besides, I am interested in seeing how it all lines up. I know that the points consider calories as well as fiber.

I learned a lot at the meetings and weighing in each week made me very accountable (I needed that). If you can't afford it, try the plan. I think you'll get some benefit. Maybe you and your friend who is doing WW could support each other.

hi!!!!

I've done online, meetings and on my own. I too am a SAHM and for a long while the cost of the meetings and the drive to the meetings (I live in a rural community) were too much. So I can really relate!! I had previously attended meetings so I had the books, sliders ect. So I did it on my own from September until December of 2004. In that time I was able to lose 30 pounds. I got sick in December and had surgery, and fell off program. I now am able to attend meetings (my little break from the kiddos). I love the meetings and HIGHLY recommend them if you can. But if you can't then doing it on your own is an option.

I am not fond of online, but many people love it. The big thing with meetings is support, and you can find that right here!!!!

I have fitday as well. WW points is calorie counting. If you look at. I like points better b/c the numbers are smaller. I am terrible with math and counting 24 points is way easier than 1500 calories. I found that some stuff with fit day counted towards my daily calories (ie broccoli), that WW would let you have for free. I did both fitday and WW too to see how they compared and found I was out of WW points before I was out of calories if I didn't use my 35 flex points. I usually save those for the weekend.

When I did WW on my own I created a journal in excel, so I oculd have something to write on when I was away from the computer. It was based on the WW journal. If you can get a copy of one it may help. I may still have the file around, if you want it PM me and I will see if I can find it. I also set myself up with an "official" weigh in day and time. I charted my weight changes, but I am a scale addict and weigh myself everyday, so I only counted the "official" one.

The program works if you work it. So if you have the information, doing it on your own can be successful.

I'm a big fan of WW. I used it to lose 75 lbs. a few years ago, and it took me a little less than a year. I tried calorie counting in the sense of adding up the calories of what I ate, and using a program like fitday or nutridiary to track it. I lost weight that way, but I had a tendency to get many of my calories by eating crappier foods with no nutritional value. With the points, the better foods have lower points values, so naturally you're going to want to eat those. It just is more "do-able" for me than strictly counting calories. When I started WW, I was in college, low on time and on money. I saved up enough to get the at home kit and all it involved. Now, most of it's on my palm pilot which makes journaling easy. I'm one of those that didn't get much out of meetings, I find that I'm mentally accountable to myself even if I don't want to admit it. I'm the only one eating this food, right?
There are many ways to do WW,and this forum is great for answering questions or getting support.

I really recommend WW.

Here is a general idea of what each point are is in calories. It will vary a little with fat and fiber content though:

20 points = 1150 calories
22 points = 1250 calories
24 points = 1350 calories
26 points = 1450 calories
28 points = 1550 calories
30 points = 1650 calories
32 points = 1750 calories
34 points = 1850 calories
35 points = 1900 calories (Weekly Points Allowance)
36 points = 2050 calories

Remember this is not always true but a good guide and DOES NOT include the 200-250 calories a day W/W built into the program for free veggies.

Hmmm, Thanks for the great response. One of my concerns is that on fitday, I have added a lot of custom foods, like the special k bar that I have in the morning, and on ww I would have to calculate it myself, and write it on paper (lazy i know) On ww online, do they have something like fitday?

At this point, I am using fitday, and counting calories. Using the knowledge I have gained from body for life, South Beach, and my friends that are bodybuilders, and have advised me in the past when I was heavy into weight training. I am also referring to ww for things like the best fast food things to eat, and wonderful recipes. Also, I consider the difference in how the score different foods.

I think I will kinda ease into ww.

WW online has an online journal, complete with precalculated points for THOUSDANDS of foods, many of them by specific brand. Way way more are available online and in the WW books than I foudn in Fitday. That annoyed me about fitday. You can add custom foods as well as custom meals to WW online. When I did it I had "Cereal Breakfast" as a custom recipe or food and I just hit the drop down and chose that and it already included points for my cereal and milk combined.

There are some high points of online and some places they could improve. I am online ALOT almost all day off and on, I bank online, shop online, it's about the only way I keep in touch with my sister, but I HATED ww online (I've tried it at least twice maybe three times hoping they had improved it's flaws). The first time I did WW online (1999) was before I was a meeting member so I had no printed materials and at the time no lap top, everything was on the computer. That is really annoying when you're standing in the kitchen and you have to run in the office to calculate the points on your icecream. The printable journal is not of the same caliber as the printed one you get for free at meetings and that annoyed me. Which is why I made my own. I think you should get an option to buy the trackers, sliders and books when you become a member online. I use my slider in the grocery store to see which brands and products suite me best...can't do that if all you have is a computer.

But after a few weeks on WW you get to know the points of your favorites pretty quick. I jot down the points of favorite recipes on the recipe cards. Things taht I don't use recipes for like chicken and rice, I jot down the servings size and points in the back of the books. Or I also use Master cook...cheaper than WW online recipe builder...I use the nutritional anlysis and note the points in the description of the recipe. Also I use a marker and write the points on boxes of things like rice and pasta that I don't use that frequently. That way I only have to calculate it once. The "Complete Food Guide" is very handy. I am on my second one b/c I wore out my first.

I love the program. It can be time consuming when I fiddle with recipes b/c I try my hardest to get the most bang for my points buck so to speak. But for me well worth the effort when I stick to it

sounds like you got it down pat. I am just so unorganized I'm just proud of myself for keeping my check book strait. We'll see though, sometimes I suprise myself