Weight Watchers vs. MyFitnessPal

*Updated 4/17/2020

It’s embarrassing to admit, but I am always on a diet. At this point, trying to lose weight and get in shape has been such a part of my life for nineteen years, I fear it is part of my personality. Who would I be if I wasn’t always on a diet? I’d be more fun, that’s for sure.

I have lost a lot of weight over the years. Basically, I have been gaining and losing the same forty pounds since I was 16. In my defense, all of the regain but one was from three pregnancies. All of this to say, I know a thing a two about diets.

Two of the main tools I have used and successfully lost weight with are Weight Watchers and MyfitnessPal. Here is a quick introduction to Weight Watchers and MyFitnessPal.

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*Before We Go Any Further, Let Me Explain Something.

Nothing is more confusing than the weight loss world. There is a mind-blowing amount of conflicting information out there, when it is actually quite simple. The “secret” to weight loss is nothing more than consistently being in a calorie deficit. How you achieve that deficit is completely up to you, and the options are endless.

Take it from me, someone who has tried and failed a lot of diets, that the least miserable way to create a sustainable calorie deficit is by incorporating the foods you love into your diet. But how do you manage that and successfully lose weight? By creating a plan, and becoming the author of your own diet.

Would you believe me if I said you can lose weight, right now, and enjoy the process?

My goal is simple: I want to help you create a weight loss system that is completely personalized. Let me take the confusion of weight loss out of the equation, and set you on a consistent path to weight loss success. But not just any path, not mine or anyone else’s, your own path.

The one you create will be unique to you, and that’s why it works. Let’s get you started today. Don’t wait until after the holidays, or for the New Year. Start changing your life now. Sign up for my FREE weight loss course and find out just how much you’re capable of.

Now, onto what you are here for…

Below is current picture of me. This is after 2 years of working out with the sweat app, many years on WW, months on Noom, and after reading this book. Now I have my own weight loss community and planner to help you get Changes faster than me!

Weight loss is an epic journey!

Weight Watchers

Like a siren song, I always get onto Weight Watchers (they have officially changed their name to WW) at some time or another. My friends all make fun of me, and I make fun of myself, but it works!

In case you don’t know, WW assigns a point value to food and you get a daily allotment of points. The healthier the food, the lower the point value. You want to try to stay within your point range to achieve weight loss.

Weight Watchers recently changed their program to offer three plans: the green plan, blue plan, and purple plan. You get to choose the weight loss plan you would like to follow, and you can switch between them to find what works best for you! There are two differences between the three plans.

Basically it boils down to this: the more zero-point foods you are offered, the less daily points you will have. On the purple plan I get only 16 daily points, but 300+ free foods. (For reference: I’m 35, 160 lbs, a woman, and not breastfeeding). With the blue plan (which is basically the freestyle program they have used for two-ish years) I would have 23 daily points and a list of 200+ zero-point foods. Finally on the green plan, I would have 30 daily points and 100+ free foods (this system is similar to smart points).

MyfitnessPal

Until recently I have really hated counting calories. I think that is why WW always worked better for me. Myfitnesspal (MFP) is a calorie counting app that offers a free version or a paid (premium) version that costs 50 dollars a year. The free version has ads, but it allows you to track calories and macros.

The premium version has no ads and allows a more comprehensive breakdown of macros (such as posting your macros at the top, showing you the macros you have eaten in breakfast, lunch, and dinner, instead of showing calories there).

This is very helpful when you are trying to lose weight, and it is really interesting to learn more about the things you are eating. You can also make more specific goals in the premium version. If you are on a budget, it’s never fun to spend fifty extra dollars when the free version gets the job done!

Related Post: WW 10 Week Update

Why track food?

If you are trying to lose weight, it can be useful to have a tool to keep track of everything you eat. I read a study once that said that people who track their food lose twice as much as those who don’t.

If you are tracking your food, do yourself a favor and purchase a food scale immediately. Otherwise you will go crazy trying to measure everything in measuring cups or spoons.

(If you’d love to lose weight on your own terms, in your own way – check out Live Free! Live Fee can be used in conjunction with MFP. If you want to be part of an awesome weight loss community, check out Mom’s Kids!)

The great thing about WW and Myfitnesspal is that they are online food diaries. Between your phone and computer, you will always have easy access to track your food with these two programs.

Both programs come highly recommended as some of the best weight loss apps available. So, check out my comparison between WW and MyFitnessPal below to help you choose which one is best for you!

Pros of MFP

1. You learn about calories

It has been very helpful to see how many calories things have, sometimes a healthy swap isn’t great for your calories (ex: nuts instead of chips)

(Check out this great tool to help you learn about your calorie intake here)

2. MyFitnessPal can be completely free

The free part of MyFitnessPal is awesome. It has a very extensive food database. Plus, it’s easy to add new foods that you are unable to find in their system.

3. Builds consistency

When you have the same calorie allotment every day, you learn to manage your food intake throughout the day. The only safety net you can turn to if you over indulge is to hit the gym and burn off your deficit. You learn consistency!

4. You can eat your activity

Want to go to a wedding and eat that cake? Go ahead, but you better hit the gym before or after if it’s going to push you over your calorie allowances. I find it mentally taxing to convince myself to go to the gym after I’ve made poor food choices, but it’s nice that this is an option.

5. It builds a healthier relationship with food

If you do go to that wedding mentioned above and eat the cake, that doesn’t automatically mean you will be over your calorie intake for the day if you’ve made wise choices leading up to the event. This is great because you can eat that cake guilt-free! You now understand that eating dessert and pizza doesn’t have to turn into a 4,000 calories “I ate cake so what’s it matter” mentality food binge because they can be worked into a balanced diet.

Pros of WW

1. Flexible points

You can have a bad day without feeling like you’ve blown your diet. On WW you have weekly points as well as daily points. The weekly points are extras that you can save for the days you know will be harder to stay within your point range. You also can acquire 4 extra weekly points a day by eating four less points each day.

This means you can plan for a night out with friends and save extra points throughout the week for a splurge. These extra weekly points are also great because you can eat more on days you are more hungry and eat less on days you aren’t as hungry without blowing it. Instead of daily goals, you have weekly goals, and you will still lose weight. It’s amazing!

2. Changes your habits

WW encourages you to change your habits. The zero point foods are all healthy. The unhealthy things have large points attached so you really ask yourself, “Is it worth it?” before you eat it.

3. It encourages you to be active

You can earn “activity points” that you can save up and eat through the week. This encourages even the mildest of activity such as walking.

4. You can make a fun game out of it

“How many points does this have?” “What healthy swaps can I make to maximize my points?” Believe it or not, it is actually really fun to figure out how you can get the biggest bang for your buck.

5. The financial investment keeps you invested

It costs enough that you will be motivated to stick with it! Sometimes I feel foolish if I invest in something and then don’t use it. That’s what keeps me going; I have to get my money’s worth!

6. The support system

Between online coaches, in town meetings, and Instagram, you can always find someone who can encourage you to keep going. Everyone is on the same journey, using the same system, so they understand your struggle. The community is one of the best weight loss communities out there, but it’s not the best, obviously. That title belongs to Mom’s Kids.

7. You WILL lose weight

It works. Period. Every single time I follow the program exactly how it should be followed, no matter what version of the program it has changed to, I lose weight. Last time I followed the program exactly I lost almost 8 pounds, see? Knowing a program will work keeps me going and trying. I trust the system.

8. The app makes it easy to track

There is a bar-code scanner that is complete with a large database to help make tracking your points as easy as possible.

9. You can turn a bad day around

If you have a bad day, all hope is not lost. You can exercise and eat better the rest of the week to get yourself back within your point range. It is really nice to have all the safety nets on WW so you feel like you always have a fighting chance to turn your week around. One bad day won’t necessarily make you throw in the towel for the week. I know that with counting calories, a bad day will easily turn into a bad week.

10. You can follow any diet on this program

Your diet is simply the foods that make up what you eat. So if you are following Keto, you can do WW and be Keto. I am currently eating a Whole-Food Plant-Based Diet for the health of our family. However, I gained weight when I switched our diet to WFPB. When I started following WW, I lost almost 8 pounds in a month!

Cons of MFP

1.There’s no room for larger calorie days without exercise

You have no zero point foods, no extra points stored, no way to combat the hunger you are feeling without earning extra calories through exercise. I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to motivate myself to exercise when I am hungry.

Plus, a woman’s hormones change frequently and dictate how hungry she is, so it’s hard when you have to deal with the extra hunger knowing the only way to eat more is to exercise more! It’s also hard to make smart food choices when I am starving, and that’s when I ruin my day. When your day is ruined, it can ruin a week, even if you get a clean slate the next day. It just depends on what you are able to overcome mentally.

2. It is free so you can be less invested

While the free part can actually take away your guilt for ruining a bad day, the free part also can give you more freedom to fall off the wagon. When I bought BBG, I worked out because it cost me 120 dollars, and it was too much money to waste. But sometimes I find myself completely blowing off MFP and not feeling any pressure to start again because I have not invested any money. I’m a very complicated person.

3. There is more freedom to eat bad food

You might eat 1500 calories a day in candy bars, and be losing weight, but your body will feel terrible. There is no real habit change which means that you probably won’t have long-term weight loss.

4, You can get in the habit of compulsive exercise to eat more food

If you eat bad for a day, you will have to run that day. There is no grace. This is an unhealthy place to be at with food. Rather than enjoy your food and enjoy your workouts, you will begin to dread and hate both.

5. You have to log everything

Since there are no zero point foods, you’ll be logging grapes, carrots, zucchini, chicken, and all the other foods that are zero points on WW. I found myself weighing an onion the other day in grams and wondering if this was what I was truly created for.

Logging all your food gets so old. It could lead to burn out because you are counting and weighing and measuring all the food all day. Next thing you know, you’re sitting on the couch, mindlessly eating a giant bag of chips. I mean, not me… the other guy.

Related Posts: WW 14 Week Update

6. You can feel alone

There are groups on Myfitnesspal, but everyone is using it to achieve different things. It isn’t just a weight loss centered place where everyone has the same goal. Some people are using macros to lose weight. Some are trying to bulk up. Others might only be counting calories. So, there’s not really anyone to connect with who understands exactly where you are at in your journey. There is support, but it’s harder to reach out and connect.

Cons of WW

1. It can encourage pigging out or binge eating

Since you can save points, you can eat responsibly 5 days a week and then binge on days 6 & 7. You might still be able to lose weight in this cycle, but it isn’t a healthy habit.

2. It costs money

It might make you more invested, or maybe you will get frustrated and end up just wasting your money and feeling like an idiot and then eating your feelings. I’m not speaking from personal experience… no not at all.

3. Your points can be gone when you have actually eaten under 1200 calories

When you eat something decadent on WW, you can blow your day (because that item has been assigned like 20 points) and you feel like a failure because you have no points left and you’re hungry! In this hunger and feelings of failure situation, you can always redeem yourself by eating zero point foods. I never did because of the mental part of it all. I get discouraged, I’d be like, “I can’t eat more because then I will get fat.” (You have to really trust that the system works…which it does.)

If you would’ve just logged the calories you would see your day wasn’t blown. When people feel like they have blown a day, they end up throwing the rest of the day away. It takes a lot of trust in the program and turning your brain off to overcome this cycle. (If you can trust it, you will lose).

4.You can become oblivious to the nutritional value of fruits, veggies, and healthy proteins because it is free

It’s odd, I know, but because those foods have no points, they started to have less priority to be in my diet. I know it can have the opposite effect, which it did for me sometimes, but just saying this because this also happened to me. When I started logging those in MyFitnessPal and choosing them to fuel my body, I felt more in control and full and healthy. I created a healthy connection to the food I was eating.

5. WW can create a disconnect with the nutrition of food

This isn’t science, it is just my experience. I think it is all about calories in, calories out. I know there are many people who will argue with this, the keto people, the high fat/low carb people. Sure, there is way more science than I know about, but from what I have seen with weight loss in all the people who are successful is that they have minded their calories.

On WW I had no idea how many calories I had eaten. I had eaten all my points and was still hungry. I could fill that hunger with zero point foods, but you know how that goes. When I know the calories I have eaten, I understand so much more about the hunger and fullness I am feeling.

6. When you have one of those weeks (or weeks…) where you just want to eat bad, it can be impossible to succeed with WW

Maybe you are a less intense person than me. I either have self-control or don’t. I don’t just want a slice of cake, I want the whole dang cake. On MyFitnessPal, I could not eat the whole cake, but I could probably eat 4-5 pieces and call it a day and move on to eating fine tomorrow.

For some reason the large amount of points assigned to a giant piece of cake would really mess with me. I’d end up in the hole, even with the safety nets and then been discouraged about the whole week.

Whereas on MyFitnessPal, I would see the red for the one day, and the next day I would get a clean slate. Everyday is separated from the last day on MFP, but on WW everyday works together to make a week. This can either work for your advantage or disadvantage.

Near the end, it was a disadvantage for me to have the week work together. Maybe it will work for you, but by the time I switched to MFP, blowing a day and moving forward was working much better for me.

7. The bad foods have very high point values assigned

This is beginning to be the theme of the cons, but it’s true. The unhealthy foods are just penalized too greatly and I believe it enhances a bad view of foods. What I have learned is that there is no bad food or good food, it’s just food. Calories are calories. When you label food as food, you abolish the guilt. Not having the food guilt frees you.

Conclusion

As you can see both WW and MFP are very good options for online food diaries. I have had success using both platforms. I have known many people to have success using both tools. It really comes down to is this:

What will motivate YOU to succeed?

Do you need a large support system of people on the exact same path as you? Will investing money cause you to be accountable? Does the idea of not counting every calorie and having free food appeal to you? If so, weight watchers is the route to go.

If you feel like neither of these programs will fit your personality, check out Noom. They offer a trial to see if you like it before you commit. You will learn about the psychology of weight loss. It is a calorie counting program that color codes food to help you make smart choices. It’s the most expensive option, but it can’t hurt to try it for just 2 weeks. I’m using the trial right now at the same time as WW and I love it. Check out what I have to say about it here.

If you’d rather try something free, learn about the nutrition of food, have a bit more freedom to eat junk, or need to be consistent daily, MFP might be a better option for you. It just comes down to your personality and goals. Only you can decide what is best for you because you know yourself best.

Just Do Something!

Either way, I hope you take this first step towards a healthier future. The first step is the hardest, and actually the second too…pretty much all the steps are hard (hahahaha) and it sucks…. but KEEP GOING, don’t quit, and believe it or not, you WILL get there. You just have to start.

Have you done WW or MFP? What are some of the pros and cons for you? Which do you prefer/have the most success with? Comment below I’d love to see what you guys think!

If you need support with your weight loss journey, join Mom’s Kids. It is run by someone who understands how you feel 100% – ME. Hope to see you there.

UPDATE 3/28/20:

After I rejoined WW in May, I lost 18 pounds. My weight has stayed the same for many months, so I decided to give Noom a try. So far I have lost another 6 pounds with Noom.

Update 11/8/20:

So far I lost 20 more pounds since joining Noom (down 65 total now). I even ended up creating a chill weight support group and a weight loss planner to help others replicate my success. It can be used with any calorie counting app, not just Noom. I just use it with Noom because I love the tracker and weight graph.

In fact, even though I am using it with the Noom tracker, I don’t do their suggested calorie amount. I eat 1800-2000 calories and lose weight. When you buy the planner, I will figure out your custom calorie range as well, just shoot me an email with proof of purchase. (spoiler alert – it will be more calories than you have ever lost weight with, no 1200 calories here.) You can read more about that here, or just click to the product page to purchase it.

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