Calorie Count or Weight Watchers?

What do you think?

When I first resolved to start losing weight recently I considered joining WW online for a moment but decided against it because...well, it costs money and CC is free.

I know there are lots of people who have had great success with WW and stay on it for life but CC also has a lot of success stories too. The WW points system is different from straight calorie counting too. I have decided to stick with CC but I'm just wondering if anyone has compared the 2 systems.

One counts calories, one counts points.

One costs money, one is free.

Your choice not too different!

Weight Watchers is a great program, provides support and teachies you alot.  This website also provides alot of information and support.  if you are someone who needs to have weekly meetings and weighins for accountability I would highly recommend WW.  If you are acountable and committed to losing weight, CC provides all the resources you need free of cost.  For me CC is the way to go.  I have friends on here who check and my progress from time to time and provide better support than WW.

Good luck with wichever choice you make.  Even if you choose WW, CC is available for extra help.

I've done both. I'm still in the process of losing weight, but I prefer Weight Watchers because it helps me keep my fat intake in check. I found when I just counted calories, my fat intake would get too high...so I needed the points system to help me with that. At the same time, sometimes my daily points aren't enough food for an active day and I eat a little extra when I need to. Either way, losing weight is about calories in and calories out, and both programs focus on that...it was just a matter of trial and error for me.

ps- I don't go to meetings or pay any money to follow the program. I just researched everything on the internet (how many points I need, general info, etc) and I use fatsecret.com for my food diary because it calculates and monitors WW points as well as calories.

I've done both. I prefer calorie count because I can't afford ww, but byebyepounds had some great ideas! I like cc better because it gives me the breakdown, to where I know exactly what I'm putting into my body and what I'm doing wrong. With WW, my fat intake may have been fine but my sodium intake was SKY HIGH because I ate a lean cuisine meal every day for lunch. Now I know all my basic nutrients, my fiber, my fat, my sodium, cholesterol, etc. It's a better deal if you're willing to do the math, write it down, and check the notes against your analysis every day.

I lost about 25 lb using WW online two years ago. It was great for a while, but I got to a plateau and couldn't lose any more. WW was no help - they just said to keep going and the plateau would break, eventually. Well, no deal, it didn't, and I ended up gaining back about 12 lb. , was very frustrated, and stayed away from the scale for almost a year.

With calorie count, the emphasis is not just diet, but total caloric intake/spending, which includes exercise too. This may have been the missing key from the WW program. They do talk about exercise, but it seems optional.

Plus, CC is free, and their site is not as cumbersome as the WW online site, I find.

Hi, I am a life time member of WW,  I had always gone back to weight watchers when the numbers creeped up, that is until this year.. I did the points, and counted the points with NO weight loss, I joined this site and discovered I was actually under eating with weight watchers, so I started counting calories and lost the 25 lbs  I wanted to lose.

IF I had a choice, it would be cc because it is free, and always here. !

weight watchers is good, don't get me wrong it changed my life, it just didn't work for me any more.

I've never tried WW, but I have heard people say that when they totaled the calories of what they were supposed to eat under a WW plan, they found that it had them undereating. Because of that (and that it has a cost) I've stayed away.

I went to WW in the '80's, before the points system.

I lost weight on it.  But it got expensive and I could not afford it anymore. 

If c-c wasn't free I probably wouldn't be here either.

I did WW meetings and lost 2 pounds in 2 months.

I switched to CC, ate more calories, and lost 8 pounds in 1 month.

That's reason enough for me to say hell no to WW.  I've heard others say it works for them but I think that this site is much better.  Plus, converting everything to points is a pain in the ass.  The calories are right on the box or bag for what you eat.

Many years ago WW was calorie counting! I had joined a long time ago when I needed to loose 15 to 20 pounds and it worked.  I personally love this site and the tools!! I joined WW last year and I am sorry to say but at our meetings I didn't learn a thing about how to eat.  The point system to me was a green light on WW ice cream and other junk food.  I lost some weight but it was hard!!

I love this site.  It teaches me the nutritional value of everything I eat and anything I am considering eating.  It is teaching me how to eat healthy!!! I so needed this.  You see when I did not get the results I needed I went to Atkins and lost 23 (temporary) pounds.  A few years ago I had lost 35 on Atkins.  But I can not bear the thought of Atkins anymore.  I also noticed on Atkins I craved sweets like crazy - but on CC I do not.  That speaks volumes to me!!! I was craving sweets because my body was starving for nutrients. 

But back to your question - I have tried both and if WW was still calorie counting I would have joined them.  I would not have found this site. I am so glad I did find it!!

I did weight watchers and had success but far too much work in comparison to counting calories.  When you count calories, the numbers are right there on the food label.  On weight watchers, you have to use the point slider and figure points, fiber, fat, etc.  Forget it!!!!  Just go for the calorie counting - much, much easier and less work.  I've been doing it for about 3 weeks now and I'm down 9 pounds on 1500 calories/day.  I am eating better than ever and I don't have to worry about figuring out points!!!

Question...???

i have done weight watchers for a while, lost 30 pounds...but i knew how the system works and then i didn't pay for it, i did it on my own, i got a points calculator, i have books that tell me the points, there's also a generic weight watchers website free so i keep going for free...if you guys have any questions i can help if you're doing weight watchers. now CC i dunno how it works for sure for example there are calories, but doesn't CC keep track of fat grams and dietary fiber...some food can have the same calories but different in fat grams, doesn't that count or just the calories? in WW that counts...i just wanted to know because i am confused.