Slimming World v Weight Watchers

[annettetabs]

Hi Everyone

About 7 years ago after having my first baby I went to Slimming world and lost about a stone, i gave up after about a year as i was to skint to carry on. However 2 more children down the line and having them only 12 months apart seems to have put a halt to my weight loss. I have managed to loose about 6 pounds on my own but now feel the need to join a club again. My local weight watchers opens at a time i cannot make as does my local slimming world. I have now been considering the online options. Anyway what i want to get advice on is who is the best to use? Who has had experience with both and who find which one the best. I need to loose about 5 stone in total. Thanks for any help and advice. :confused:

[hampshirebabe]

Depends which you find easier, to eat lots from a restricted list, or to eat what you like but count points. I prefer ww, I've just started again and if you can plan ahead, I find it quite easy. Then again a freind of mine loves slimming world and has lost loads of weight, but its a bit restrictive for me. I love my cakes and biscuits and can easily work them into ww. I went to my 1st meeting and signed up and got a code, but now I'm going to just do it online and weigh myself, I think its about £7 a month that way. Plenty of codes to for free joining fee.

[consultant31]

The main difference between Slimming World and Weight Watchers is that SW is not regarded as a diet but as a healthy eating way of life.

As the previous poster noted, it's very easy with WW to use your points on food which is of little nutritional value and in my opinion this isn't the way to go if you want to be slim for life. Also I wouldn't regard SW as being restricted - there's absolutely nothing which is banned!

I have done both SW and WW (indeed I was a WW Leader, many years ago and am now a SW Consultant) so I know both plans very well.

However, at the end of the day, only you can choose and whichever you do choose, I wish you well. :)

[pault123]

A good friend of mine lost 4 stone at WW.

[angie loves veg]

Heya! I've done both, and am currently going to Slimming world.

I suppose I would sum them up as:

WW - taught me to eat smaller portions of whatever food you choose - certainly helped me to reassess what I thought a 'normal' portion of pasta / rice / potatoes etc...

SW - is teaching me that I can eat large portions if I am eating the right foods. Also, it is teaching me to 'choose' (what I consider to be) my treats - wine or chocolate, bread or potatoes etc etc rather than believing that I can have it all.

Overall, for me, slimming world is healthier, therefore my preferred plan. I think it is more sustainable long term. My daughter (6 and type 1 diabetic) sees me eating a healthy balanced diet, wheras on ww I think I ate more unhealthily.

All of this said, if you follow the rules 100%, I think both will lead to great weight loss. I lost 3st on WW (put 2 back on over 5 years) and am losing well with SW.

If you are soley comparing the two online plans (rather than the plans themselves), I personally think that the ww site is marginally better (also has a great online community) but it is fairly easy for you to get onto the sites to check them out for yourself.

Dont forget that both plans also have active (free!) support threads here on MSE

[Jo6673]

Rosemary Conley over both of them
http://www.rosemaryconley.com/apps/content/page.asp?itemID=3102

[fluffynit]

Have tried both plans..WW (twice) i put all weight on as soon as I stopped going to class and counting points.

Been doing Slimming World since Nov 07, i feel re-educated about healthy eating and still following the plan 9 months on, says it all..usually i get bored and give up.

We are all different and prob best to try a few plans before you find one which suits your appetite and lifestyle.

fluffynit

[annettetabs]

Hi again,

Many thanks to everyone who replied to me, I am thinking slimming world as i now how it works and could get back into the swing of it easily, however the weight watchers online service does look good with the weight tracker etc, I shall be making a decision over the bank holiday. :j

[Ilovemoneysaving]

Just reading the thread and have made up my mind to join slimming world as well. Hampshirebabe has mentioned joining online and a free code. I have looked everywhere on the site and can't find it. I assume this is to join on line and then you pay each month for the password. Can you tell me where to find it.
Thanks

[Pennylane]

There's a funny bit on Youtube by Peter Kay. He is telling the audience that SW is a bit like WW but a quid cheaper!! It is VERY funny and not unlike our class sometimes! Search Peter Kay Slimming World.

[1012donna]

I've been at SW since November and as you can see from my sig I've lost a fair bit pf weight. I'v never tried WW but SW plan is very easy to follow and you can have the wine and chocolate, etc if you so wish. It has re-educated me to a better way of eating.

[stingylolo]

Just started weight watchers again, after not being able to lose baby weight for 18 months. Doing really well, doing it online, always have the WW point tracker window open in one of the Internet tabs so I am sure I always add my points, because I found that sometimes I couldn't be asked to enter the points in the calculator I had when I was trying to do it on my own.
Had to pay £50 in advance to cover for the first three months, but then it's cheaper than going to the meetings.
Went to meetings last year, the host was just rubbish, you fall off the wagon oh well that's too bad, no good advice or motivation... so put everything back on.
Now my only motivation is seeing the pounds go down on the scales.
I don't know about slimming world and others, but I would say weight watchers do teach you to be careful with what you eat and make wiser choices, and it's up to you, like in any other diets, to keep up with it afterwards.
Moreover, their recipes (even the free ones through their weekly free email service) are really easy to cook and some of them are really really yummy !

[shazrobo]

i ganed a few pounds when i did slimming world, and stuck to it religiously, they said some foods were free, and could eat to feel satisfied, but i gained. did ww and lost 2 stone and kept most of it off, whichever works for you i guess

[VickyA]

Rosemary Conley over both of them
http://www.rosemaryconley.com/apps/content/page.asp?itemID=3102

I agree! I love the exercise part of the class and the food tips are great. Even my DH likes the recipes.

[JVRMac]

Reading this thread has given me a lightbulb moment, went to SW many years ago and eventually got down to my goal weight. Joined WW about 18mnths ago lost 10lbs before sticking then eventually given up the ghost, needed to lose about 2.5 stone. Now after stopping smoking must have about 3.5 stone to lose now and was wondering about going back to WW, although looking back all it ever did for me was to teach me bad habits, like replacing a bowl of cereal with semi skimmed milk for a bacon bun was about a difference of 0.5 of a point so of course I ate bacon sarnies everyday....
Think I'll look up SW again....in addition to my wii fit when I can eventually get my hands on one.

[JoeyEmma]

JVRMac- have you had a look at the core plan from WW? Its very similar to SW but without the pain of green and red days. Basically you have 3 meals a day, made from a list of free foods such as lean meat, fish, chicken, veg, pasta, brown rice etc and can snack on fruit and veg during the day. In addition you can have 21 extra points a week.

[mercurystar999]

Does anyone know if the monthly pass from weight watchers is worth it? £17.95 works out at just over £4 a week, how much is it to go every week if i was to pay at the meetings?

[anna42hmr]

Does anyone know if the monthly pass from weight watchers is worth it? £17.95 works out at just over £4 a week, how much is it to go every week if i was to pay at the meetings?

it is 5.50 per week for meetings plus a one off registration free (unless there is a free registration offer, which seems to be around most of the time) the monthly pass is a good save in my opinion, you not only save the meeting fee you also get e-source which is online access (and costs 6.99 month if you dont have monthtly pass) which gives you access to an online points tracker, online points calculator, weight tracker, receipes, etc

it definatly works out cheaper, and is easy to cancel if you need to (just call their cust services or email) and dont forget when you get to goal you dont pay for ww meetings afterwards as long as you dont go over your goal by more than 5lbs

as for the comments that ww doesnt encourage you to eat "healthily" i disagree with that, yes the points do mean you can eat what you want and arent dictated to with what you can or cant eat, but they do encourage you to eat balenced meals, with leaflets on neutrician etc

[Ted_Hutchinson]

Comparison of the effects of four commercially available weight-loss programmes on lipid-based cardiovascular risk factors. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18647427) shows not a lot of difference between the plans.
Bear in mind that you don't have any ongoing expense with this plan (http://blogg.passagen.se/dahlqvistannika/?anchor=my_lowcarb_dietary_programe_in) nor does Atkins need to cost any money long term.

[mercurystar999]

I have seen that diet Ted, I need carbs though!

[JVRMac]

JVRMac- have you had a look at the core plan from WW? Its very similar to SW but without the pain of green and red days. Basically you have 3 meals a day, made from a list of free foods such as lean meat, fish, chicken, veg, pasta, brown rice etc and can snack on fruit and veg during the day. In addition you can have 21 extra points a week.

I didn't I'm afraid, looked at both options but once I'd started on one found it difficult to change over, just saw what "normal" food I could eat instead of healthy or low fat, hence the reason I stopped losing weight.

I'm trying to get myself geared up to trying again and since I already have the WW stuff then I may give it another go. Struggling with motivation as stopped smoking 3 months ago and not sure if it's too much too soon or if that's just another excuse to pig out.http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/images/icons/icon11.gif

[Ted_Hutchinson]

I need carbs though!Why?

It's the carbs that raise insulin and raised insulin causes fat storage.

Most people find sticking to 40-90g of complex carbs daily is sufficient for low carb maintenance.

I've not bothered with the very low carb 20g daily carb induction stage and I don't see that it was necessary for me.

I think those people, especially women, who have more weight to lose than I did may find an induction stage is very important.

[Skint_Catt]

Ted, that doesn't make sense.

I live on SW green days (unlimited pasta, potatos and pasta) and I've lost 2.5stone. I lost 3.5stone last time I did SW (nearly all green days then too). My blood sugar is more stable than its ever been and I've lost 12inches from the 'fat storage' on my body. :rolleyes:

I love my carbs and I can still lose weight. I don't crave bread anymore like I used to and I have a very balanced diet.

[robster1964]

Hi guys, I have done both... The weight loss on WW was painfully slow, subsequently I lost interest.... SW seems much easier to adapt too, and I do it on and off. A couple of my relatives have lost a lot of weight!!! by sticking to it over a period of months.....

What I would say, for me, is if I stick to the original days, I feel good, the weight starts to come off, 2- 2.5lbs a week, but if I go onto the green days, it drops down to 0.5lb a week.

IMHO I just don't think my body can deal with potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, no matter in what quantities:( And my biggest love is bread!!!!!!

The one diet that I did successfully ( well successful to me! lost loads of weight. )Was atkins. But it is so god damn expensive, and really hard if you love salad and fruit bread and cereals!!!!

Any way girls, I guess we are all different, and what works for one, doesn't work for all! So good luck to us all!!!!!!!!!

Robster xxx

[knight36]

I did WW a few years ago and found it very easy to get bored and found myself very hungry alot of the time. I did Rosemary Connelly and it was great but as my family wont eat the majority of the meals the weighing etc got too much so i stared buying alot of healthy ready meals (i dont like them i like to cook from fresh) so stopped doing this as calorie counting was too time consuming. I lost 2.5 stone on SW after my 2nd child and found that i could eat loads as was never hungry, it encouraged me to eat more fruit and veg. I need to start agian with SW after having my 3rd child and would like to lose that stubborn 2.5 stone again. Does anyone know of a free registration offer anywhere as i dont mind paying the weekly fee but another £10 included is a bit steep as my husband has just been made redundant. Any offers or voucher codes greatly appreciated.

[rockie4]

On the SW webpage there's an offer for the 1st week free, you just pay the £10 - ends 1st August.

I've joined SW loads of times:rolleyes: and from memory the free registration weeks seem to be after the summer hols and then after Christmas.
Do you still have the books? Could you do it on your own for a while?

There's an SW board on here which gives loads of help and there are loads of recipes etc in the recipe index on the OS board :cool:

I'm starting back again (again:D) on Monday and am going to try without going to classes, I've got all the books and I can't afford the registration and class fees either so I'll see how I go for a few weeks.

[magicpotions]

i would recommend SLIMINA diet pill. i assure myself that in 7 days youll see results already.

[consultant31]

i would recommend SLIMINA diet pill. i assure myself that in 7 days youll see results already.


What a load of rubbish. You may assure yourself, but you certainly can't assure me!

Pills teach you nothing about how to control your weight and how to make healthy choices. Once you stop taking them you will put the weight straight back on.

[melda]

I did weight watchers first and quite frankly it destroyed any kind of good relationship I had with food, I was obsessed with points, yes it works, you lose weight, but it really did make me obsessive, it's just like calorie counting in disguise. I ended up putting on more weight than I lost eventually.

I've done slimming world twice I think now, as in going to the groups,being a member and both times have lost about a stone (I've never been overweight when I've joined any of the above groups, just near the top of my 'OK' bmi) and for various reasons, lack of time, moving cities etc I have stopped going, but if I ever found myself back at a weight where I wasn't comfortable and felt stuck in terms of motivation I'd definitely go back to slimming world, I'm trying to lose a few lbs at the moment just by myself and I guess I kind of loosely apply the slimming world eating plan to what I'm eating because I know it works. It'd be easy enough to go back to if I looked over my books and did a food diary for a week to get myself back into it. I think in the long term it's a lot more of a realistic way to maintain a weight loss, you feel a lot less restricted around food and you've just not got to stuff yourself really, be sensible about the portions of free food. I'm also vegetarian, so I was only on the green days. Alot of people seemed to get good results who would do more red than green days a week. But I was perfectly happy with my weight loss generally between 1 - 3 lbs a week. I just feel it's a lot more of a healthy approach, both mentally and for what you'd generally be consuming.

I remember when I was doing WW a fondant fancy was 1.5 points, I could have quite easily eaten 12 of these and nothing else some days hahah. At least with weight watchers you get main requirements like fibre and calcium then build the rest of your day around it.

rockie If you're doing it yourself I'd recommend joining a website where you can post/track your weight. Personally I've been using the adios diet account, it's free and you can type in your measurements...and it makes a little cartoon representation of you almost, and you can change your measurements as they get lower...and same with your weight, and it creates a chart. I know I do much better when I have to record it somewhere.

[Bitsy Beans]

I did WW a few years ago for my wedding. I hated every single minute and all it did was make me focus on food and the stuff I couldn't have.
Am now following Paul McKenna's approach to weight loss and I am eating what I want and still losing weight. And even better i don't spend the whole time thinking about food and what I can or can't have. No food is good or bad, it's just food.

[consultant31]

At least with weight watchers you get main requirements like fibre and calcium then build the rest of your day around it.

.

Just to clarify - I'm sure you actually meant Slimming World here, not WW, didn't you?

[melda]

Sorry yes I did mean slimming world! haha it was a long post I was getting muddled!