[ctychick]

Wow - the website has gone through some major changes! I feel like they sacrificed functionality for aesthetics. I really miss the traditional "dashboard", where right up front you could see your daily remaining points, water intake, food diary, etc., in an at-a-glance grid-like format. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but I have some questions.

1. Is the traditional message board format totally gone? The new Instagram-like comminity is beautiful, but it certianly doesn't serve the same purpose as a tradtional forum. The message board was one of the keys to my success in the past, especially when I switched from meetings to the online plan. I assume 3 Fat Chicks is an answer to that change? What other WW message boards do you recommend?

2. Water tracking. Did they eliminate that from the online tools? If not, where should I be looking?

3. Recipe search - Is there any way to search by Points value? If not, that's a real loss and would probably drive me to 3rd party diet friendly recipe websites.

3. Points calculator app - Any recommendations for an Android ww calc that is easy to use, no bells and whistles? Again, the new app is pretty, but very laborious to navigate when you're trying to check points or your diary on the go.


4. Is the online plan even worth it? As I type this, I'm wondering if WW might not be the best choice for me this time around. I'm very pro-meetings, but my lifestyle just doesn't allow for that plan right now. If the online tools and especially the recipe search have been so signifcantly pared down, I wonder what I'm really paying for. Just thinking aloud here.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[rachel2writer]

I hope someone on WW can answer - those are the same questions I have. I'm looking for an active WW message board, so let me know if you find anything - this one seems somewhat slow.

[Koshka]

Welcome ctychick and rachel2writer. I hope we can help here.

1. Unfortunately the WW message boards are gone. I also liked them. But, there are quite a few WW members here so maybe we can help. Connect (the WW twitter like thing) is fine, but I agree it lacks some of the things you get through message boards. Like this one!

2. I don't think there are checkboxes any more for water. You can, however, record 8 ounces of water (or a different amount) as a 0 point food. Just search on the tracker and record water. From that you can look and see how many servings you have had each day (I would record it as a snack so that I could see the total servings I have had at a glance.

3. On the mobile app, you can go to recipes and then SmartPoints and you can see the recipes in a range of points: 0-4, 5-7, 8-11 or 12+. I am not sure if there is any way to do that on the browser.

3. Don't know. I have an iPhone. I don't find the WW calculator to be bad. Remember you only have to fill in the calories, sat fat, sugar and protein. You can leave the other numbers blank.

4. It depends. I personally did online years ago and didn't do well without meetings. I like the meetings a lot and find that a huge part of the value. I think it really depends on if you value the SmartPoints calculation or not. If you basically just want to count calories, then I don't know that online WW adds much value especially if you don't plan to use Connect a lot.

That said, SmartPoints is a lot more than just counting calories. Protein reduces points, while sugar and saturated fat add points. For example, let's take 3 different 120 calorie foods.

Skinless chicken breast - 1 SmartPoint. The protein reduces the point count.

Kay's Cinnamon Almond Cookie Bites Protein Snack -3 SmartPoints. I love these snacks. They are fairly high protein for that many calories but are low in sugar.

Sheila G's Brownie Brittle - 6 SmartPoints. I also love a single serving back of these. But, I get 30 daily points. This tiny bag that I can all but inhale is 20% of my total daily SmartPoints! Now there is a reason for this. The Brownie Brittle has a lot of sugar and 3 grams of saturated fat and only 1 gram of protein. It is very disadvantaged under SmartPoints. And, it should be since it is not a very healthy food and is one I shouldn't eat all that much of.

SmartPoints is meant to encourage us to eat more of the chicken breast than the snacks. And, I have a snack then SmartPoints exists to encourage me to eat the Kay's snack rather than the brownie brittle. And, I think the protein snack is I think better for me.

If you agree with the food philosophy of SmartPoints and it helps you to eat in a way that is conducive to weight loss and healthy eating, then paying for online WW may be worth it to you. If you don't agree with that philosophy and just want to count calories then it may not be worth it. I personally think joining for meetings is worth it in either event, but you have indicated meetings aren't in the cards for you right now.