I'm thinking of joining ww very soon. I'm just worried about having to pay a fee....I was on ww previously when I had a bit more money. I'm now living on my own so money is hard to come by. Decisions, decisions....

If you have been a member in the past - you always have the option of digging out your books from last time and following the plan (points or core - whichever is best for you). You can monitor your own weight and follow the plan without attending the meetings.

Naturally - you do not benefit from the group support (but there is a reasonable amount of that on this forum) and WW would not be involved in your motivation.

Many people get motivation from the challenges and relationships that they build on the forum.

Others feel that the personal support that they get from their WW group is so worthwhile that they look for savings that can be made elsewhere in their expenditure.

I love weight watchers! I've been going since February 2008. I highly recommend it. The support meetings are really motivating.

Not trying to correct anyone in here, but WW is not a diet.It's a lifestyle change.

You eat what you want, so long as you count your points. I've come up with lots of tasty alternatives to my old favorite high calorie foods.

My average weight loss has been about 1.3 lbs per week.

The fees are worth every penny when you lose the weight!

I have heard I am a walking WW billboard. I don't feel WW is hard to follow and I love to eat out I just had to learn to change my food choices and honestly sometimes I still choose wrong but who doesn't. I did it all online and NEVER went to a meeting. I tried that way a few years back and was not impressed. Good luck ladies

My first meeting I felt the same way, but then I went to another meeting with a different leader. The members and my leader are really great! They help share ideas and support one another and give you really good tips for the week.

Going to a meeting is like getting a fresh boost of motivation for the week, something many people need. I personally like having my ww friends and getting to see them lose each week.

Sounds like you did fine on your own, good for you! All you have to do is follow the plan and it works.

you know you can do weight watchers on your own for free, right? all you need to know is your daily points allowance and a point calculator. all that info is available online for free, you just have to know where to look. you can even get weight watchers recipes with points values so you never need to buy the books.

I think the key is finding out how many points for the individual. Everyone is different in how many points they get, based on activity level, weight, age, male or female, etc....

Most information for diets is free, available online, or you can get it for free if you really try.

The statistics show that people who attend meetings are far more successful than people who go at it alone.

If you're the type that can't go at it alone, I say pay for the program, it's worth it!

that information is available free online. i've found it and can adjust my points requirement accordingly because i found the formula to do so. remember, weight watchers is a business like any other. they want your money. you have the choice whether or not to give it to them. all i'm saying is that with 10 minutes of internet searching you can save yourself a ton of money and get the same benefits of the weight watchers program.

I don't agree that you can get the same benefits in 10 minutes of internet searching as you do going to weekly meetings and support groups.

If that were the case, we wouldn't have so many people struggling with it alone and weight watchers would be out of business.

The meetings give people accountability, something many people need. When you know you have to weigh in each week, and you see your friends losing each week, that's a much greater benefit than sitting at home alone on the internet, and much more motivating.

Just my opinion.

Sounds like you are one of the people who doesn't need any help. Good for you! You're lucky and must be doing awesome!

i've lost 30 pounds, so yes i am doing awesome.

Congratulations! I've lost 32 on the program also!

I am getting tremendous value for money for having recently joined WW in the latter stages of my project. I joined a couple of months ago and recently got my 10% award. My BMI is normal so I could actually class that as my final weight and go into maintenance - but have chosen to lose a little more weight.

I should get to my final weight before too long.

When I get to my final weight I will stop paying - as long as I keep my weight within 5 pounds of that weight. At that point I will have paid comparitively little money - and the value for money that I get will increase exponentially.

I will get information and guidance on how to maintain.
I will get ongoing accountability in that I will continue to attend meetings and be weighed.
I will get an incentive to maintain as I will not want to start paying again.
I will get guidance regarding new diet friendly products / recipes.
I will continue to be able to buy the magazine at the reduced price.
I will benefit from the motivation that comes from meetings to help me to keep the eye on the ball.
I will get the free handouts from every meeting - which can be quite interesting.
When we relocate to another area (as we plan on doing) I will be able to attend WW meetings there and make friends with no financial outlay. You can even attend more than one meeting a week if you want - just get weighed at one meeting a week. I have spent my life as a very large person and my husband still is one. I actually feel more comfortable with people who are or have been large as I feel that they are not liable to judge me or mine. I envisage that this aspect alone will be amazingly beneficial for me.

Even people who can manage to successfully lose weight by themselves without the benefit of a slimming club meeting can gain many benefits by joining.

i did ww and i want to start again with it. i have a question for you. when i buy frozen vegetables, there is even protein and fat written on. but why the heck should i give me points for eating vegetable ? i always thought that vegetables are for free (means without any points) ... it makes me sad, because i don't wanna lose points just with eating vegetables...

You don't count points for zero-point vegetables, even though running them through a points calculator would give you points. This is true even if you eat multiple servings, whereas for something like the Progresso "Zero Points" soups, you do run the nutritional info for the entire amount consumed through a points calculator, so two servings comes out as 1-2 points, not zero. Veggies in their natural state are the only zero-point foods that you can eat as much as you want without counting, I believe.

i believe either, that veggies out of natural state have points, but for e.g. ... i have one bag of frozen broccoli. i'm sure it is still in his natural state. nothing is addet. but on the bag is written that it has 30 calories per 3/4 cup... how can this be ? ... would you be strict with yourself and count this or not ?