slimming world v weight watchers
- Thread starter housie
- Start date
I've been offered 12 weeks free membership of a slimming group today and I'm not sure which one to do. Hoping someone can advise on which may suit my circumstances better.
I'm cooking for myself, hubby and three kids and my biggest worry is food spend in all honesty as I have a limited budget right now to get all of our shopping and I have to be able to cook for all of us in one go and not separate for myself. My other thing is I always struggle with is hunger and I wondered if one plan was better than the other for costs to stick to plan and also combating hunger? Any advice would be appreciated as I'm a total newbie to both plans, thanks
I think they both work but for me sw offers more variety and more normal food
Starlight
Gold Member
Most of them aren't 'people ' though they're bots so its not an accurate comparison of the 2 diets. Besides WW has its own forum where SW doesn't and people tend to find SW more confusing when they start
If you ask on WW you'll get told its best
. It really depends on what you want in a diet. I hated SW when I did it. Found it too restrictive for me but I love WW for its flexibility. People on SW will say they were always hungry on WW but that's down to bad choices. The most common complaint on the WW board is still having loads of points left.
Id try and work out what suits your lifestyle better and go for that
Starlight
Gold Member
Slight exaggeration. It may have been commented on once or twice but that's down to ad choices. I think you'll find far more people have the opposite problem. Stuffed and loads left. There's no reason to be starving if someone is then its down to them not the diet. If your friends had a stir fry it's her choice
She could easily have an all day breakfast if she chose to. There's a thread posted only hours ago on here with one one saying they're hungry on SW so it's not a reflection on the diet
Realistically we're all going to say our diets best
. Cos if we didn't think that we wouldn't be doing it
Last edited:
The Caretaker
Silver Member
I have to say that SW to me is the only way to go I love cooking now its given me a purpose I cook for my whole family now, they love the food just as much as me. And I have to say I love the whole process, from buying the food to prepping it, to cooking it, its an amazing journey so far.
cat yoyo greaves
Gold Member
i too am a foodie and love to cook and i definately love sw for that theres just so much to weigh point and count on ww that it takes the fun out of cooking hence the reason im on sw
cat yoyo greaves
Gold Member
yeah about the only things are hi fi bars and scan bran but there are lots of hifi alternatives ie alpen bars and cheaper aldi benefit light bars and scan bran is never pushed in fact i think its vile stuff its like eating cardboard only worse have to say it does get things moving if your bunged up tho lol
craigmtc
Full Member
Most of them aren't 'people ' though they're bots so its not an accurate comparison of the 2 diets. Besides WW has its own forum where SW doesn't and people tend to find SW more confusing when they start
If you ask on WW you'll get told its best
It really depends on what you want in a diet. I hated SW when I did it. Found it too restrictive for me but I love WW for its flexibility. People on SW will say they were always hungry on WW but that's down to bad choices. The most common complaint on the WW board is still having loads of points left.
Id try and work out what suits your lifestyle better and go for that
What are bots please?
Potato
Full Member
I joined WW years & years ago & I found it good; I enjoyed good loses. If weight watchers were in my town I probably would have joined it rather than SW; however I just *get* slimming world; it's easy to eat out, the meals are really delicious, I have no kids but my nieces and nephews love my SW dinners. I find it is a more sustainable plan & it's just a bit more fun to follow. Both plans work well as long as you stick to the plan- why don't you ask to sit in on a class before you commit to anything?
TheOnlyPink
Full Member
I dont think you are going to get an unbiased answer here, but we can tell you our experiences.
I did weight watchers just after they switched to the new propoints. I wasnt starving, but I wasnt learning about the right types of food for my body. It was a nightmare cooking for my family because I had to point everything that went into it, then divide the portions equally, and with a small child (have since had a second) and a husband with a big appetite, it wasnt easy to get equal portions.
I didnt lose weight very quickly either. It might have just been the way it worked out for me, but it took me 17 weeks to lose 10lbs. I have lost 4lbs in 2 weeks on SW. I think the reason is that with weight watchers I was grabbing a biscuit or a chocolate bar when I was hungry or in a rush cos I would just point it, instead of reaching for the fruit bowl.
It is a very good way to lose weight because you can literally eat anything you fancy. But for me, with 8 stone to lose, eating what I fancied is what got me here in the first place. I need to learn moderation. And syns is teaching me that. I can still have treats, but they are on top of good nourishing food. Not instead. So as mentioned above, it was my choice to reach for the bad stuff. But I have food issues that SW seem to be helping me control. Weight watchers were very much "eat what you want" based, which while it was what I wanted, it wasnt what i needed, iykwim.
As for the budget aspect, I thought it would be more expensive too seeing as I have to buy so much fresh fruit and veg. I have a strict budget every week, and for the past 2 weeks, I have come in at €20 under budget. It does take a bit of planning, but its been so worth it for me.
I did weight watchers just after they switched to the new propoints. I wasnt starving, but I wasnt learning about the right types of food for my body. It was a nightmare cooking for my family because I had to point everything that went into it, then divide the portions equally, and with a small child (have since had a second) and a husband with a big appetite, it wasnt easy to get equal portions.
I didnt lose weight very quickly either. It might have just been the way it worked out for me, but it took me 17 weeks to lose 10lbs. I have lost 4lbs in 2 weeks on SW. I think the reason is that with weight watchers I was grabbing a biscuit or a chocolate bar when I was hungry or in a rush cos I would just point it, instead of reaching for the fruit bowl.
It is a very good way to lose weight because you can literally eat anything you fancy. But for me, with 8 stone to lose, eating what I fancied is what got me here in the first place. I need to learn moderation. And syns is teaching me that. I can still have treats, but they are on top of good nourishing food. Not instead. So as mentioned above, it was my choice to reach for the bad stuff. But I have food issues that SW seem to be helping me control. Weight watchers were very much "eat what you want" based, which while it was what I wanted, it wasnt what i needed, iykwim.
As for the budget aspect, I thought it would be more expensive too seeing as I have to buy so much fresh fruit and veg. I have a strict budget every week, and for the past 2 weeks, I have come in at €20 under budget. It does take a bit of planning, but its been so worth it for me.
To be honest I think both plans are fairly similar these days but with the extra free foods (of meat, potatoes and pasta) on sw but the extra points for nights out on WW.
Personally I prefer SW but that's because I went there first, I knew the plan and when I tried WW for a bit I couldn't get out of SW mode. SW has always worked for me (apart from when I stop going!!!!) and I think the groups are great (didn't go to one when I did weight watchers so can't comment on those I'm afraid).
As for jars etc, I was a jars and packet girl before SW but it's shown me how easy it is to cook from scratch so now I almost always do that (even when I haven't been following the plan) and it's really easy to adapt 'normal' recipes to a SW way.
When I tried WW, mostly because I didn't really get it and couldn't get out of SW mode, I found it all too easy to just buy the ready meals and all the WW branded stuff which is far more expensive.
Whatever you decide, good luck with your journey and enjoy it.
Personally I prefer SW but that's because I went there first, I knew the plan and when I tried WW for a bit I couldn't get out of SW mode. SW has always worked for me (apart from when I stop going!!!!) and I think the groups are great (didn't go to one when I did weight watchers so can't comment on those I'm afraid).
As for jars etc, I was a jars and packet girl before SW but it's shown me how easy it is to cook from scratch so now I almost always do that (even when I haven't been following the plan) and it's really easy to adapt 'normal' recipes to a SW way.
When I tried WW, mostly because I didn't really get it and couldn't get out of SW mode, I found it all too easy to just buy the ready meals and all the WW branded stuff which is far more expensive.
Whatever you decide, good luck with your journey and enjoy it.
Gallifreya
Full Member
I love SW, it's the easiest and most sensible diet plan I have ever been on and that includes WW, albeit many years ago. My daughter does SW too and she has a hungry hubby and three kids to feed and she says it's wonderful for a family on a tight budget. The whole family eat 100% normal family meals, all cooked the SW way and her formerly tubby hubby has already lost a stone, without even noticing that he has been on a diet! No one need ever go hungry on SW, because it's all about choices. My memories of WW were all about what you COULDN'T have, but I think to be fair, that things may have improved a wee bit since then! The main thing I like about SW is they don't have loads of products to push, so you feel you are getting the real deal. Good luck with your journey though, whichever path you choose.
alwayssunshine
Full Member
Having done both WW and SW, they are both good plans. If you follow either of them 100% then you will lose weight as they are both designed so you burn more calories than you take in.I think the plans are more similar than they used to be too. You don't have to count ProPoint if you opt for the WW Simply Filling plan (or whatever it's called) which has much in common with the SW Extra Easy Plan. It's just a case of which you think will be a better fit with your lifestyle. Quite honestly, when I decided to lose weight this time (after having a baby), I was all set to rejoin WW. It was only when I got a SW leaflet through the door that I realised that SW was more than a £ cheaper each week than WW, plus a closer venue at a more convinient time. That's what swung it, really. Having said that, I've lost over a stone so far and am finding the SW plan far easier to stick to than I thought I would.
I was always a weight watchers girl (in fact when I first joined you had "selections" for carbs, proteins, fat and fruit - was a very hard diet). havent done the new points system but did the old points for quite a while (off and on). Its a good eating plan BUT you can eat more crap on it which isnt always a good thing (though I think fruit is now a free food which is better as I hated "wasting" points on fruit when I could have a biscuit instead)
I love sw as I like cooking from scratch and am never hungry. But I'm so so glad that I did ww first as it really taught me portion sizes which I dont think sw does. At the end of the day they're both probably 2 of the healthiest eating plans you can do and it all depends which suits your lifestyle best. I would never knock ww even though I'm now a sw girl
I love sw as I like cooking from scratch and am never hungry. But I'm so so glad that I did ww first as it really taught me portion sizes which I dont think sw does. At the end of the day they're both probably 2 of the healthiest eating plans you can do and it all depends which suits your lifestyle best. I would never knock ww even though I'm now a sw girl
Also meant to say - what put me off ww in the end was the fact that I was constantly thinking about points (how many was in that, how many did I have left, if I had that for x points then tonight I could only have that for x points etc) so it meant I was constantly thinking of food. It took a good 6 months for me to get points out of my head once I started sw!
Similar threads
