WW vs. Myfitnesspal - WWYD???

Ready to make the committment to a better me and need some advice/guidance. Looking to change the way I look at food ( I am an emotional eater, compulsive eater) and lose 30-40 lbs. Need help deciding between these programs - the pro's & con's of each if you have experience.

Any help would be so appreciated! TIA!

Re: WW vs. Myfitnesspal - WWYD???

i tried both, but i'm just not motivated enough. here's what my experience has been


WW (did online):
cons: costs money, no app for blackberry, had to sit at computer to track points, had to walk to comp to look up points for food, did not have enough "ethnic" foods

pros: lots of recipes to try, more than just points, community feel (support group if you need it)

myfitness pal:

cons: not enough diversity in exercise (no zumba for example on the phone app), slow system (could be my phone)
pros: free, lots of ethnic and homemade foods, on my phone so easy to use when i go out, breakdown of daily fats, proteins, calories, sugars, vitamins, etc.

whichever you choose, make sure you stick to it! good luck

Re: WW vs. Myfitnesspal - WWYD???

I LOVE WW! I lost 60lbs on WW and find its a huge help in changing your lifestyle to eating healthier. It teaches you to make healthy choices, watch portion control, move more, and just overall become a healthier (and smaller) person. The meetings are a huge help. I always went to my meeting for support.
You are always allowed to check out a meeting for free to see if you like it.
I also find between the meetings and weigh ins and there is a lot of accountability. I really needed that when I losing the weight.

Re: WW vs. Myfitnesspal - WWYD???

I have successfully done WWs twice in the past... the first time I lost 40 lbs and kept it off for 3 years (until I got pregnant), and the second time I lost 45 lbs post-baby and kept it off for about 2.5 years, until I made a career change and weight started creeping back on.

I've always been a fan of WWs - I love how no foods are off limits and you can eat what you want within the structure of their points program. I always had success through meetings... As the pp said, I liked the accountability of someone else weighing me in once a week and logging the results. The support at the meetings was great... I always walked out with new ideas, and it helps to know that everyone at the meeting is in the same boat and struggles with motivation.

But the cons are the expense (until you reach Lifetime, you have to pay), and the inconvenience of converting everything to points. I think because I've done it before, I am kind of bored with it, and I also basically know what I need to do to lose weight. Also, the points system was re-tooled a year or so ago, and I know that many people who have had success with WW in the past are finding it a bit harder to adjust to the new plan (me included!). If you do WW online, I have always found the site to be not the most user-friendly (but maybe it's been streamlined since I last used it).

Now, I am trying to lose 20-25 lbs, and I just joined www.myfitnesspal.com (after hearing about it from this site). I tried to do WW again a few months ago, but for the first time, I struggled with it and found it hard to stick to (and I wasn't losing as much). I am really liking myfitnesspal - it's such a simple, easy to use site! The simplicity of having a calorie target versus dealing in points appeals to me. And I like that it's free.

I think if you are the type of person that has a lot to learn about nutrition and what kinds of foods can help you with weight loss, you'd be better starting out with a more structured program like WW that offers more support. Also, if you need/want the accountability of having someone weigh you and want more of a community atmosphere, then I would also do WW. If you are self-motivated and have a good base of knowledge about fitness and nutrition, then I'd give www.myfitnesspal.com a try!

Re: WW vs. Myfitnesspal - WWYD???

I have tried both. WW makes NO sense to me at all. Their points system seems to be very arbitrary and the "free fruit and vegetables" rule is stupid because no matter how healthy they are they still contain calories - some fruits are very high in calories and by stuff yourself full of them you could be in danger of maintaining your weight instead of losing.

For example: I was allowed to have 26 points a day. ONE boneless, skinless chicken thigh is 7 points. That is over 1/4 of my daily points! For one thigh! In calories, however, it's about 180 - about 1/7 of what I am allowed to eat each day.

My Fitness Pal made much more sense to me. I am easily able to track everything I eat, the scanner works really well, and they have almost every food eveer created in their database, including restaurant meals.

I also love how instead of activity points, it gives you a more accurate representation of the calories you have burned during exercise.

I started using MFP in April and have lost almost 22 lbs so far (with a few "bad" weeks of vacation and nights out thrown in there leading to no weight loss).

I highly recommend using MFP!

Re: WW vs. Myfitnesspal - WWYD???

i lost 57 lbs with ww

Re: WW vs. Myfitnesspal - WWYD???

Re: WW vs. Myfitnesspal - WWYD???

I have done both, but I had more success with MFP. I felt like I ended up eating weird diet foods more on WW, since the WW brand foods are so low in points and it seemed like normal, healthy foods were more points than the prepared WW stuff (this was before free veggies and fruits). I really love how MFP has lots more foods in the system and it shows nutrient totals. I also adjusted my calorie percentages to eat less calories from carbs and upped my protein and fat a little.

Also, I feel like MFP is basically the same thing, but more comprehensive and free. I didn't want to go to meetings or anything though. That might change things.

Re: WW vs. Myfitnesspal - WWYD???

WW vs. Myfitnesspal - WWYD???

I have not used either programs for weight loss but just want to add one thing-if you are an emotional eater, you may also want to look into therapy so that you can find other ways to deal with your emotions instead of turning to food. I have not been overweight but I have struggled with eating disorders before and when I have gone through periods of being healthy, I always ended up right where I started because I didn't take care of underlying issue. My mother on the other hand has done WW on and off over the years and only was able to keep weight off when she dealt with real issues behind her disordered compulsive eating. Just a thought because you want to maintain weight loss after you complete one of these programs and a lot of that deals with emotions.

Good luck with whatever you try!

Re: WW vs. Myfitnesspal - WWYD???

I am currently on WW and i have lost 35lbs in 16 weeks and that was with one week of gaining due to vacation where i had every intention on gaining

I have never used My Fitness Pal but I will say besides wanting to lose the weight i think paying gives me more incentive to stick to it so im not wasting my money.