Weight watchers, Dukan, atkins, biggest loser club... Your experiences

I was thinking of joining weight watchers... BUT heard it is point calculated. Would I be better going to a dietician or naturopath?

I want to make a life change not just lose a heap of weight quickly and then back to the way I was before...

I am so confused and as it is not cheap.. worried I will make the wrong choice. So I would like to ask what are your experiences?

I do know that I still want my glass of wine when I want it and I will be back at the gym in 2 weeks.. And yes, aware that diet is 80% and exercise is 20%.

Really want to get this right.

Ps: Only done atkins and shakes before. Lost weight and was full because of the protein but would class it as a "temp" way of living.

Thanks if you can share your experiences. : )

Sounds like WW is for you. It is points based but that is a shorthand and (IMO) better version of calorie counting because it takes into account total fat, fibre, carbs and protein of a food to get the points value. With WW you are free to eat what you choose so it is a "real life" diet (not like a shake-based or restrictive diet one where you add or cut out things while "on" the diet).

WW works. You get support from the meetings (a CRITICAL part of the program) and lifestyle change is an essential thing with it too. You have to keep an eye on fruit/veg, water intake, exercise - the works. It rocks!

I just cancelled my weight watchers, but if you're new to figuring out food and what's good and what's not, I really do recommend it. The new propoints are actually really good, it's a focus on healthy eating so wholefoods and the good old healthy pyramid are the focus. They make a consideration for Bfing mums too, so there's a bigger allowance.

The reason I cancelled mine was simply the cost. I know enough about healthy eating, and really only needed it to stay accountable. I joined up 'online' and found myself not tracking after the second month. I still have the motivation to lose weight, but not track, ITMS?

Calorie King offers a very similar product and is free, so if I feel the need to track again, I'll just go there.

Good luck finding something that works for you!

Hi lilmisspositive

I joined weight watchers after DD was born, spent 6 months on it and exercised religiously. Lost 2kgs :( Probably my own fault, I found that tended to save points to have a treat whether that meant missing meals or not. I did find it hard to constantly add up points online with a small bub too.

8 weeks ago joined Michelle Bridges 12wbt and have lost 3.5 kgs, Im pretty happy with that, especially as I have been doing the diet and only walking about 30 minutes a day and not her intense exercise. In the early days it did affect my milk supply though (not sure of thats an issue for you) so I had to up my calorie intake. The thing I love is that it comes with a meal plan for the 12 weeks and I can continue using them after its finished :)

My mother has been on bodytrim for years and she swears by it, it did work really well for her. Not sure whether its a good idea as a long term solution but perhaps someone else can comment.

Good luck with it :) HTH

Have done Atkins in the past and it is good when followed properly (ie no just eating bacon). Have since followed the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet and it is quite good. Especially if you find increasing your protein and lowering carbs helps. I found it to be a nice middle ground, I try to follow some of it principles now and intend to be better with it. It is based on portions, so 3 dairy, 3 fat, 3 protein, high fibre, fruit etc. There is some room for treats, like a wine or two once a week, or chocolate instead. Certainly a way of eating that it doable for the longhaul.

I can highly recommend Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation. You get the menus, recipes (which are easy peasy), shopping lists and exercise plans for the 12 weeks, including weekly live videos from Michelle and an awesome support network. You learn how to live a healthy lifestyle and it is sustainable for life.

I'm doing the Michelle Bridges 12wbt, we're up to week 8 at the moment of the first round, have to do my week 8 measurements but in the first 4 weeks I'd lost 35cm off my body.

The food is great, all freshly cooked by you.

ETA: Also I can't do WW, it is the quickest way for me to put on weight, to eat either WW foods or the foods they suggest.

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Sounds like WW is for you. It is points based but that is a shorthand and (IMO) better version of calorie counting because it takes into account total fat, fibre, carbs and protein of a food to get the points value. With WW you are free to eat what you choose so it is a "real life" diet (not like a shake-based or restrictive diet one where you add or cut out things while "on" the diet).

WW works. You get support from the meetings (a CRITICAL part of the program) and lifestyle change is an essential thing with it too. You have to keep an eye on fruit/veg, water intake, exercise - the works. It rocks!

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I can totally vouch for this! Before I was married I lost 22kg in 6 months on WW and it is probably the best 'diet' around for teaching you how to *think* about what you put in your mouth instead of being *told* what to put in it. You only really learn by having to work it out yourself - calorie king is good for this as well. It also allows you to keep cooking the food you always cook in your home and be aware of what points all the ingredients are and make modifications etc. Other prescribed diets are probably OK, but how many times would you make a warm tuna and tossed green salad with balsamic dressing for your entire family to eat kwim? I will do it online for a little while and then drop off and the problem is not having a meeting to go to to keep me honest. Not that I 'cheat' when I'm on it, but knowing you have a weekly weigh in gives you something to strive for.

i to am a massive fan of WW!!

i lost 10kg in 3 months when i did it, i made sure i religiously went to meetings, and made sure i planned my meals for the week ( 3 meaks a day and my snacks), i made sure i wrote down every single thing i ate and after a while it was just habit to do it...

im trying to go at it alone at home, but ill prob end up rejoining to drop another 10-13kg in a few months!

good luck!

I too am a WW lover :) and now with their new pro-points system you have bonus points that you could use for your wine. I lost 47kg in 9 months there and I now work for them! hahaha Im hooked!

I used WW to lose 15kg after DD2 and it was very easy to follow. A friend did the Dukan Diet and lost the same but she had to change her eating radically - it wasn't normal at all and although she did well it was really difficult. All she could eat was meat basically.

WW does work but I got to a point I was sick of forking out money each week just to weigh in I couldnt stay for the meetings as I have a family and it was too hard.
My DH is doing Rapid loss shakes and in 3 weeks has lost 11 kilos it works. There is a new healty eating program called the swapit program where you swap something bad for something good. Look in the end all things work and if you are joining a gym then half your battle is over. I had a eating plan devised by my personal trainer just focused on healthy eating 5 small meals a day having carbs for breaky and lunch and a healthy dinner. Cutting out starchy food like white breads rice potatoes peas etc.Just cutting down portion sizes and limit bad foods and exercise and plenty of water. When I was training I went from 128kgs to 109kgs it does work my trainer used to say that alot of his clients like to have a beer etc so they train and eat pure during the week and this allows then at weekends to splurge a little. If you deprive yourself totally you will fail really quickly as I found out and also your mind has to be on the ball to. I hope you find what works for you and good luck in your journey.

I am currently doing WW. The new Propoints system is really good as you have a daily total and also a weekly total of 49 points that you can either use ie split teem into 7 days to give you extra daily points or save them for a special occasion. If you are bf I haven't checked sorry then you get 14 extra daily points if you have started weaning top ups of FF or food then it reduces to 7 extra daily points plus the 49 weekly. If your bf average weight loss they like you to loose is 500gm per week. If you use all of your 49 points you will still loose something.

I like WW because I need to be held accountable I have tried doing it online but there is no one to keep me honest. I stay for the meeting each week and I feel spurred on to loose the following week and the ladies & gents in my class are fantastic. My goal is to loose 16kgs. WW is using real food and learning how to eat healthy for all the family. I have chosen my favourite recipes and added them on to the online recipe building tool giving them all a Propoints value.

So far I have lost 2.8kg in 5wks, I am bf and I have had some weeks where I have had functions and thought I would never loose such as when we had a function with some Indian friends and they make devine curries and you can't say no!. I still lost 300gms.

It's my weigh in tonight and I've been really good so hoping for a biggish loss. It's also my me time with no kidlets. Even though DS1 always wants to come lol.

I could have made this thread myself! Just a few days ago I started looking into WW - it sounds really good and I think the meetings really help people stay motivated - but I just don't like the cost.

Good luck finding something that you are happy with LMP!!

You can do WW online, it's a lot cheaper than meetings.

Also google TOWN club and see if there is one near where you live.

I'm doing round 2 of the Michelle bridges 12wbt starting in may

I have done WW and it is great as a guide to portion size and lifestyle eating. I lost a bit whilst doing online WW after the birth of DS. I still found that I would get so hungry and have really bad cravings in the afternoon. This would make me moody etc. when dealing with a feral kid at the same time - not good! That was my experience and I am sure that it works differently for different people. I do believe in WW principles and if it works for you then that is great :)

I managed to lose heaps more weight seeing a dietitian privately (yes it costs more, but it is great getting a tailored plan to suit your needs). She put me on a low carb, low fat diet and the weight just fell off (well, until I fell pregnant again!!). What worked for me was the way it helped stabilise my blood sugar levels and resultant cravings but cutting out carbs. I didn't have cravings and I certainly didn't have the afternoon exhaustion that I have had on other diets. Weighing in once a month was enough for me to remain accountable. DH went on it with me and he lost heaps without even visiting the dietitian! I will definitely be going back on the same diet she put me on after this bub is born.

Have to agree with Astrid, CSIRO was good for me too. I found it easy to follow. My only problem was when I started living with (now) DH and since he's a bit picky it became more difficult, but if you have a family open to eating most foods (or aren't as lazy as me in making a few adjustments for yourself) then its good. (And I like my meat so the higher protein worked well for me!)

WW really does work - but you have to be "good" about weighing and measuring and then calculating the points. However, if you are like me, and tend to repeat what you eat often, then it's really only a hassle the first couple of weeks - after that, you can just weigh out the portions and take the points from a prior day's list. Also, the weigh-ins do keep you honest - where I go you need to be scheduled (no meetings) and I try to schedule them on a Monday so that I behave over the weekend. WW is a great program because it really forces you to learn what is good for you and filling vs wasted food (lots of points and not filling) - it also teaches you a great deal about portion size which for me is the main thing that needs to be reinforced over & over. I'm doing it now to lose my post-baby weight plus the weight I gained during the 2 years I did ivf cycle after ivf cycle and like others have said, my only complaint is that it is fairly expensive. I did it 6 years ago in the US and reached my lowest weight in 15 years on it - I was thrilled - but I don't remember it costing as much as it does here.

I've also tried Body Trim - my suggestion is that if you pick this method, look on ebay rather than paying full price for the dvd's etc. It does work, but it doesn't really teach you how to eat when you go off the program - in fact, you are never suppose to go off the program. I guess the same is true for WW but the program isn't restrictive so you really do learn.

I personally think Atkins is gross - it doesn't really teach you much about healthy eating and the side effects (from what I've heard) are nasty - bad breath, gas, etc. You would be much better off doing South Beach or CSIRO as I understand both focus on healthy protein, low GI carbs and good fats. Dukan sounds similar to these from what I've read but I don't know it first hand nor do I know anyone who has tried it.

The Michelle Bridges program intrigues me - it sounds great - the shopping list etc. would work for me but I'm going to stick with WW for now.

OH - and I thought of going to a private nutritionist as well but when I really thought about it, a program like WW really teaches you the same thing, it's just not customized to the same level as with a private nutritionist.

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I personally think Atkins is gross - it doesn't really teach you much about healthy eating and the side effects (from what I've heard) are nasty - bad breath, gas, etc. You would be much better off doing South Beach or CSIRO as I understand both focus on healthy protein, low GI carbs and good fats. Dukan sounds similar to these from what I've read but I don't know it first hand nor do I know anyone who has tried it.

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If followed properly it is really very much like South Beach and CSIRO. Most people think they stay on the first 2 weeks the whole time and it does not work that way. Basically you end up swapping bread for salad and pasta for veg. Just like any other way of eating you can twist it to be unhealthy. I am sure there are those on WW and similar diets who rely a lot on the prepackaged food, rather than cooking fresh.

Oh my goodness. You guys rock. Thanks so much for all your info. I am now really swaying towards ww as there is a meeting down the road and I can walk there. I did go last week but got kicked out as ds is 4 weeks and no clue I had to wait till he was 6 weeks. How embarrassing! I am a new stay at home mom. Never done this before and really love hanging at home so maybe ww is a great idea as I have to get out of the house.

I tried the 12wbt with Michelle but did not enjoy it. I was in the first group though and a great deal needed sorting out because it was new. Myself and a few others got our money back.
My girlfriend finished up in Jan I think and she did really well. : )

I think I am now at a point where I need to have someone in person, I think. So in two weeks.... I am off to my first meeting. Thank you ladies and wish me luck!
By the way, do you suggest for those that are on it, should I buy the books from the meeting or on Ebay? I am looking for the pro points pack. *The newest one, I believe.

Thanks again ladies! xx

Good luck!! I hope it works out really great for you xx


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