Sammy: I have never been to a WW meeting. But coming from a family, where most are morbid obese I have heard about some of their experiences. I also understand that WW have more programs and ways to loose weight than they did earlier. Over the years it has been a constant struggle for me to keep my weight down. (6 month of mindless eating and I have gained 50 pounds!!!). Over the years I have studied treatment of obesity, both because of my personal interest in keeping my weight down, but also because of my former profession (I was a medical doctor ... had to stop because of brain damage that caused complex partial seizures). It is not loosing the weight that is hard!!! Any change in ones diet and exercise habits that causes one to be in energy deficit will make a person loose weight. Many sort of diets will make people loose weight. Some are more healthy than others. But all research shows that more than 98 percent who looses weight on any kind of diet will gain it all back + more. So yes people can loose weight ... but keeping the weight off is the problem. If Weight Watchers can help you to loose the weight and make the lifestyle changes needed to be constant vigilant about eating and exercise habits I certainly support people going there. Many do however only go to WW meetings to loose weight. Maintaining the weight loss is really important and for most it is a life long challenge. Many mention the social support going to meetings provide. It does help during the weight loss phase, but remember that most will need to keep up the lifestyle changes the rest of their lives. Getting more knowledge about nutrition, physiology and exercise will help. But even those who know it a lot about these subjects will become overweight anyway. Knowledge do not necessarily lead to action ..... People over eat for many reasons. Psychological, sociological and cultural factors also play their part. It is highly individual what will help different people to loose weight and keep the weight of. A good place to look for online support is this forum: http://weight-loss.fitness.com/ I also recommend learning to use this site: http://www.thedailyplate.com The sad truth about many of our efforts to loose weight is that the body actually try to counteract these efforts. Many who want to loose weight eat way too little and loose too much lean body mass and actually ends up slowing their metabolism down. Many loose weight but they actually only become smaller softer versions of what they look like now. I am not saying that people necessarily should strive to reach their ideal weight. I hate that term ... ones ideal weight is highly individual. Some can carry more weight than others and the "Ideal weight" as 25 yo is different than 50 yo. The most common mistakes in loosing weight are: - People eat to little ( the body will counteract that by slowing the metabolism down) but the worst part is that people do get enough nutrients (macro and micro nutrients). It is important to get enough protein. - People are not exercising enough and in the right way ( Aerobic exercise and weight exercise). I think I better end my rant here. There are many ways to loose weight that is for sure. Keeping the weight off and actually live healthy and build a better body is the real challenge. I sure wish all of you well in your pursuit of your goals to loose weight and get in better shape. And gardening is great exercise!!

Hi Ellen and welcome! I have counted points using the Weight Watchers method, but never actually joined the program. I was able to lose to within 3 pounds of my goal weight. Then I got off the program and haven't been able to make myself get back! I have only gained 6½ lbs back, so that makes me around 10 lbs more than I would like to be and I think all 10 lbs are in my stomach! I hate that!!! I always had a flat stomach until I hit around 47 or 48 and then the weight decided it liked my stomach area. I didn't do any exercising while counting points, but I have started an exercise program of my own the past week and plan to keep it up. Hopefully I can get toned up and build some muscle so that I can get rid of the ab flab! Buglady, thanks for the nice words about my website! I just put info there that really helped me while I was counting points. If you come across more helpful info just let me know and I'll be happy to add it to the webpage. My biggest problem is that at age 55 I still eat like a teenager. I love junk food! I guess I'm really fortunate that I haven't gained more than I have considering my eating habits. MaryAnn (who just finished off some ice cream and a few cookies, and feel like it all went straight to my stomach!)

I was a member online up till about 3 months ago and I loved it. But when I got to my goal weight and then onto "lifetime" member, I didn't feel I needed to keep paying to be an online member. I do, however, go in monthly to weigh in, since it's required to maintain lifetime membership. With all that said, I loved having access to the online tools. Having been a member, you know how they encourage tracking everything you eat? I never could get into writing down everything I ate, but keeping track of it online was easier for me, and the neat thing is that as soon as you record a food online, the points, etc. are automatically figured for you. Another thing I like is that after your weekly weigh-in you can come home and record your weight online and it'll show you a graph of your losses, how much you have left to get to goal and all kinds of other good info. You could always cancel it if you really don't like it too. Good luck!

I did do Weight Watchers. I paid a small fortune to lose weight. Then I stopped weight watchers and gained it all back. So I went back to Weight Watchers, lost the weight again and low and behold, I gained it all back again. The winner? Weight Watchers. I did Keto for four years. I lost 50 pounds and kept it off. I got off Keto (long story, but I'm back on keto now) and gained back 15 pounds in 2 1/2 years (I gained my WW's weight back in a few months after quitting). Keto price? $0.00. Who won? My bank account. With any new way of eating, you will gain it back if and when (and I do mean WHEN) you stop that way of eating. How much money you want to lose to the diet plan, depends on what you can afford and how long it will take to lose that weight. They're counting on you to fail, but regardless: they have your money. Keto works best for me. No points to count. And in all honesty: I don't track. I just avoid processed food, sugar of all forms (white, brown, honey, agave [what the heck is agave anyway?]) with the exception of a little artificial if and when I want a diet pop, which I don't drink often. It's mostly a vegetable and meat diet, and some berries for fruit. About the only sugar Keto'ers eat. The problem I had with WW's is I was always hungry. And the message was confusing. They would say fatty foods are bad for you, don't eat them. Oh, but sugary foods are really bad too. Don't eat them. What does that leave? Not a lot. Yet when you walk into ANY WW's office, the first thing you see is all their low point highly processed chemical laden treats that are really expensive. With Keto, because it's a high fat, mediocre protein and low carb way of eating, you're rarely hungry. Some people even forget to eat. (not me, I like food). Good luck, and I do mean that sincerely.