I used to attend WW meeting in my town with a friend... My friend lost over 110lbs and I lost about 50lbs... We bother really enough the meeting and thesupport you got there as well.
Two years ago WW decided to pull out of my town - not happy so now the nearest one to me is a 6.5hours drive away. :/
I tried to do the online program but it isn't the same... Know two years later I gained all my weight back and them some
I have decide enough is enough... I broke out my old WW books, I found a tracker on my iPhone, signed back up for the gym, discovered Skinnytaste.com (amazing site!) and started the old WW program with my mother. We both join TOPS so that we have a support group that we need! And in the past week I lost7lbs!
Anyways, to answer your question. WW is a good program...the food you eat is Real food. If there is a meeting near you, I HIGHLY recommend going - you'll learn a lot there!
Cheers - happy healthy life

OMG, I LOVE Skinnytaste!

I lost my pregnancy weight through WW. I lost every single week until I reached goal about 1 year after joining. My mom and I went religiously every week. After we stopped going, I gained about 6lbs and here I am five years later with the same 6lbs.

I consider WW and calorie counting to be the same, but WW builds the nutrition into the plan. If you calorie count and already eat balanced meals, you probably would have the exact same journal as someone who is doing WW. If you need help with the balance and accountability via meetings, it would be beneficial.

I found myself really confused at meetings because I had a hard time understanding struggles that other people expressed. To me, I made a meal plan and stuck to it. If it wasn't on the plan, I didn't eat it.

I have no experience with weight watchers, other than trying some of their recipes. I actually found this page today through Pinterest. It provides links to online calculators that do a lot of what Weight Watchers does -- provides your number of points, and figures points for foods. Maybe it will help someone.

I did it and it personally did not work for me. The Lose It! app on my iPhone does. (They have the app for Windows and Android as well).
You can gain calories for exercising and there's no way to "cheat" the system. In WW, you can cheat by eating just under the amount you need to get to gain another point.
I feel like there are free ways to do essentially the same thing, but it has worked for many people and the program is definitely not bad in any way!

Hey All!!

I wanted to check back in with everyone to give you an update. I tried out WW this weekend and I absolutely love it. It's definitely where I need to be right now. I joined despite the money issue - I figured that I don't have to do it forever, but it's worth stretching the budget a little bit right now.

Thank you again so very much for your insight, advice, and encouragement. I wish you all the best in your weight loss journey. Hopefully in six months I'll be in a much better place mentally, emotionally, and physically. We can only hope!

Very best to all

Glad it worked out for you. There is a Weight Watchers forum here that you might want to take a look at.

KK,

Congratulations on your success I completely understand from the financial side of things - I am having to balance finances and what I feel is my need for WW as well. But you are right - paying the membership fee will not be forever.

I have had a lot of success with WW. I've lost over 100 pounds. I am just loving the skills they teach you each week. Sometimes it is stuff I already know, but I would say 85% of the time it is a new skill or perspective. Sometimes I practice the skill that week, sometimes if it's not something that interests me I won't.

In terms of leaders and meetings...I really feel it is a lot how one reacts to the situation. I don't like everyone's attitudes or actions 100% of the time in real life and yes sometimes it is difficult to understand people in real life - a WW meeting therefore would be no different.

I say this to encourage you to stick it out even if someone at the meeting or the leader doesn't click with you/you don't click with them. I personally did not but made the decision to stick it out. I've learned to appreciate my leader and other members for who they are - take from and learn from the good, and leave the bad. Because if you look for it, there are good things we can learn from everyone. I'm glad I stuck it out because now my leader and I have a nice relationship; we respect eachother and I can tell that my leader genuinely cares about my success.

That said, if you ever need it TOPS is an amazing support program as well. It's very inexpensive and if I had the time I would do both for the extra support.

Good luck

Of the eight people I've interviewed on my podcast thus far, four lost their weight using weight watchers. Of those four, three used the traditional program and one used the online program.

I am on my 4th week of WW and it's been a real roller coaster. I lost and then gained, which has put me in a kinda funk. I have been using my tracker app and exercising but gained a pound last week. I do go to the meetings every week. Anyone else gone thru this? Any advice?


Thx

It is sort of a hard question to answer since there can be a variety of reasons for a gain. Doing strength training the day before weigh in can cause a little bit of fluid retention that is temporary. Or having a high sodium meal day the day before weigh in. Or time of month. Or increased carb consumption. So you can just have a weigh in that is a little bit anomalous. That is one reason I weigh at home every day so I can see the little fluctuations.

The other possibility is that you have actually gained. How much zero point fruit and veggies are you eating? And, what kind? Some people get derailed on higher calorie fruit in particular? Do you weigh your food? Sometimes it can help to take in your tracker to your leader (or the tracker app) to look at what you are eating to see what might be going on? Are you eating all your weekly points and activity points? Sometimes people overestimate activity points.

My search is over!! I bought an app for $2.99 that (so far) seems to do everything that WW online does. Ultimate Food Value Diary Plus. I miss doing it on my computer, but for the difference in price, will quickly adjust.