Weight watchers or unislim?

foxy06

Which have you boardies tried and how successful have you been. Would love to hear some success stories.

neuro-praxis

After years of trying to deal with my weight, I have tried every diet, and they all work! The problem is me - I can't stick to them as many of the changes required are unsustainable with my lifestyle.

What I have succeeded in sticking to however is the Weight Watchers program. It has helped me stay motivated and encouraged me to overhaul my eating habits once and for all - I have never eaten such a consistent supply of fruit, vegetables and lean protein in my life! Nobody at work can understand why I am losing weight as I am constantly eating. The main thing for success with me is sticking with the meetings. I have far more energy and am getting up off my arse most evenings for a bit of exercise too.

After five weeks I have lost 15lbs with WW, and although I have a ways to go, I am excited and motivated, especially about varying my diet as much as possible. I am doing it with my Mam and my sister-in-law and we are all seeing excellent results. Highly recommended! Whenever I reach goal I might reveal my start-and-end weights to the internet.

foxy06

Well done neuro-praxis. I hope you get to your goal. I have tried both but must say ww is the best as it is less restrictive. unislim have gone low GI recently and while I am sure this will work, I find that I have cravings and I am less likely to stay on track if I have a set menu. With weight watchers you can eat what you like and still lose weight once you stay within your points.

ambman

hey foxy

my wife tried all of those and more diets and nothing worked for her.
then she tried the system 10 diet. and she has lost 5 stone since last november and has gone from a size 20 to a size 8:D

yet weight watchers told her every week she was gone down a size her clothes never got to big for her.

any she is happy and i couldnt be happier with her new sexy body;)

foxy06

Think I know where this is going but what is the system 10 diet?

LivingDeadGirl

Went from 162lbs to 130lbs on WW, never went to the classes just used the points system. Ultimate goal is 126lbs, but I'm not too pushed about it atm, you need a break every so often as counting can become an obsession.

ali.c

neuro-praxis wrote:

After years of trying to deal with my weight, I have tried every diet, and they all work! The problem is me - I can't stick to them as many of the changes required are unsustainable with my lifestyle.

Ditto, I have been there, overly restrictive diets are utter crap because you need to be able to sustain any new eating habits you create. Plus they usually not healthy

I think both are good tbh, the classes provide a great support system for people trying to lose weight. And this is just from my personal experience, overhauling your eating habits is considerably easier what you are surrounded by like minded people with similar goals who are supportive of your efforts. Actually i think this is one of things alot of people need, somewhere to be accountable and to be supported.

Low GI diets on the other hand are actually quite sustainable, it just requires you to find low GI foods that you enjoy eating and IMHO its a better approach from a health point of view, as not only is it reducing your calorie intake it also reduces the amount of processed sugar intaken.

Now as too which one works best, i think its personal preference really. Neither of them suit my goals currently, so i tapped into the support that is available on the web for people with similar goals to me. it was like all of a sudden i was finding reasons to stick with my eating plan whereas previously i was finding excuses for not sticking with it. That really was the difference for me between a being in a supportive environment and not being in a supportive environment.

Jaysus i waffled on a bit sorry

neuro-praxis

Not waffle at all!!

ali.c - at my meeting almost every food recommendation is low GI so functionally I enjoy a low GI diet...I just find it so helpful to have the freedom to eat foods outside of this category - for example when other people feed me - and not worry, and still lose weight.

neuro-praxis

ambman wrote:

yet weight watchers told her every week she was gone down a size her clothes never got to big for her.

Delighted for your wife - that's a massive achievement.

But the above sounds like nonsense. At Weight Watchers you are weighed, not measured. Only I know when I drop a dress size - and that is likely to happen every 10-15lbs - which will take you anywhere between 5 and 15 weeks of hard work.

If my leader informed me every week I'd gone down a dress size I'd think she'd lost her marbles...

misswex

I've just started in Weight Watchers. The reason being that I'm getting married in 09 and want to look amazing and to lose all the extra weight I am carrying.

I lost weight before on my own and I was successful, but I've started to put it back on so this time I need the push and support to lose as I'm feeling under pressure with the wedding and I'm finding the meetings a help and I'm getting used to the points system. Fingers crossed I can do it.

Sorry I've never used Unislim. In fact WW is the first time I've ever actually gone to any of these type of things.

McGinty

I joined unislim in May of this year and so far I have lost 25lbs, and it feels fantastic. I did try ww's many years ago but didn't stick at it, but for me unislim works, and I like the low GI because they keep you fuller for much longer. What is ideal for me is that I don't feel I am too restricted, I still have treats but not as many and the biggest eye opener is portion sizes and foods that appear to be healthy but are in essense very high in units/calories. I feel I am being re-educated in food, before I went on to unislim, I used to have four pieces of bread (usually white) lashings of mayo and salad, thinking it was healthy but the mayo was enough to feed a person in a days units. I think that is where I have benefited most, for me it appeals to the miserly side of my nature, I won't use mayo anymore because I begrude the 4 units for a tablespoon when i could have so much more for that, damn I can have four glasses of wine for that. I found the same with pasta, rice, potatoes, basically eat far too much of it, and I feel that portion sizes have become huge. Also convienance food is horrifically high in fat and it doesn't suprise me that so many people have weight issues, when you look at calories/unit content in take away sandwiches, dried fruit/nuts, never mind the burger, chips or takeaway.

neuro-praxis

That is a brilliant achievement McGinty - both in numbers and in your new-found acceptance of yourself. Well done girl.

McGinty

Thanks a million for the support neuro-praxis,

keano_afc

As a bloke I was very sceptical about WW. But I went and I've lost 12lbs in 5 weeks. Chuffed altogether. I'm gettnig married next year and hope to lose a cople of stone more. Can recommend WW wholeheartedly.

neuro-praxis

keano_afc there are loads of men at my meeting and they are getting thinner by the week! Well done so far and good luck with the rest of it - don't give up! And congrats on the engagement too. I only wish I had done this before my wedding!

keano_afc

neuro-praxis wrote:

keano_afc there are loads of men at my meeting and they are getting thinner by the week! Well done so far and good luck with the rest of it - don't give up! And congrats on the engagement too. I only wish I had done this before my wedding!

Cheers. Have to say the future Mrs keano_afc is on it as well and she's been a great encouragement. It really teaches you so much

Sangre

do either of these focus on healthy eating or is it just based on calorie counting?

keano_afc

Sangre wrote:

do either of these focus on healthy eating or is it just based on calorie counting?

From my experience of WW it defintiely focuses on health eating. When you examine food and see what it contains it really does make you think about what you eat. The points system in WW helps as well.

McGinty

do either of these focus on healthy eating or is it just based on calorie counting?

I can't speak for WW but they do run along the same lines as unislim, but I know for a fact that unislim is focused on healthy eating according to the world food authority, and they even changed their food plans to keep in line with their recommendations, so for instance they advocate 3 meals, 2 snacks based on the food pyramid, and now instead of saving units/points for treats they now advocate you earn them through exercise rather than cutting back on the food pyramid, and also to have no more than four units a day of treats, as anything above that is considered binging (that includes alcohol) and no more than 14 units per week of treats. They do this so they can keep their focus on healthy eating rather than faddy dieting, which they warn against. Hope that helps. Also they promote a healthy weight loss of 1 to 2lbs a week, anymore than that is dangerous.

TScul

I'm a weightwatcher. Been a member 4 times, lost a stone the first 3 times and was so pleased that I lost my motivation, felt a stone was enough for now, etc. Then the weight slowly started creeping up and before I knew it I was a stone and a half overweight. Then I got pregnant and just couldn't shift the weight afterwards. Went back to WW when junior was 8 mths old, size 16, pushing 18 (should be a 12). Never so motivated in my life. That was Aug 06 and by Jan 07 I had 35lbs gone and a new size 12 figure and my gold card for reaching my goal. I'm now 33 weeks pregnant again, with what I think is a huge bump, and get this, I'm still 5lbs lighter than I was when I joined WW last year. So when this one is 6 weeks old I'm back to classes and have 6 mths to get back down to goal before I lose my gold card and 'no fees' privileges. I joined with a friend and then my sister in law joined too, she lost 2 stone too and is a fab size 10 now. For me it's not a diet, it's a way of life. The lack of restrictiveness is what appeals to me. I can have an indian takeaway if I want, as long as I plan for it, but I know what it'll cost me so they're few and far between but nothing is banned outright. I now eat so much fruit and veg and drink so much water, exercise and feel so much healthier. And for some reason I've found that if I stay for the meetings, even the boring ones, I tend to do better.
I can't comment on Unislim cos I've never done it but I do consider them pretty similar.

fridaysgirl

IMO, both WW and Unislim have improved alot in the past few years and the focus now is on healthy eating and re-educating people about a healthy diet.

I would steer well clear of any of the WW or Unislim foods. They are full of processed crap. I don't know if they try to endorse them at the meetings or not but when I used to go to WW they certainly did.

I agree with the posters about convenience food. People have become so lazy now that they would rather pop something into the oven or microwave rather than take 20 mins to cook a nice dinner. Sometimes waiting for the 'thing' to cook in the oven takes longer than cooking something yourself.

IMO, Irish people eat far too much. Our portion sizes are getting bigger so our waists are increasing. WW and Unislim educate people on what is a normal portion size and what foods are high and low fat.

I've heard good things about both companies so which ever works for you. Just as long as you aren't surviving on water and lettuce to lose weight its all good.

moco

i just started weight watchers yesterday. i lost weight counting points 3 years ago but never went to meetings that time. Then I relaxed after I got to 8.5 stone and slowly put the weight I'd lost on again, plus more.

This time I realise it doesn't end when I've lost the weight and I'll keep on going as a gold member. In general I think weight watchers is great!

angeldelight

I started WW 3 weeks ago today and have lost about 11 lbs so far... I do expect this to change as I have a lot of weight to lose so usually falls off at the start but I love the fact that I'm not restricted and can plan to have things etc. The other thing is I've started cooking homemade things more because I can account for all the points, e.g. last week I cooked lasagne from scratch including a low-fat cheese sauce and that would have been unheard of a month ago! I'm enjoying it so far.. not going to meetings, just an online member but fine that the site has so many resources it's really worth the money

annmarie124

i went to ww meetings at the back of jurys hotel it was opposite the pizza place. does anybody know where other meetings are held? anywhere near the ennis road? id appreciate the help:)

Dudess

Yeah, those WeightWatchers "low-fat" treats are actually full of sugar. But yes, it is a good system if you use it properly. As in, don't just eat what you like until you've used up your points for the day and then starve yourself for the rest of the day (which is what some people do). Spread your points out by eating healthily.

Shockin Stockin

annmarie124 wrote: »

i went to ww meetings at the back of jurys hotel it was opposite the pizza place. does anybody know where other meetings are held? anywhere near the ennis road? id appreciate the help:)

Here's the best place to find a class (mods, if this link isn't allowable, I apologise and will remove)

http://find.weightwatchers.ie/Index.htm

I've been going to a great meeting this last year. I did really well for a few months, then lost motivation, but recently got back into it and reached my goal weight. I get my gold card today

I don't use their ready meals more than once in a blue moon, as I find them tasteless and unsatisfying.
But I learned to love cooking, and found new ways to prepare favourite dishes without loosing the flavour.
Best of luck to all on their journey!

moco

Shockin Stockin wrote: »

Here's the best place to find a class (mods, if this link isn't allowable, I apologise and will remove)

http://find.weightwatchers.ie/Index.htm

I've been going to a great meeting this last year. I did really well for a few months, then lost motivation, but recently got back into it and reached my goal weight. I get my gold card today

I don't use their ready meals more than once in a blue moon, as I find them tasteless and unsatisfying.
But I learned to love cooking, and found new ways to prepare favourite dishes without loosing the flavour.
Best of luck to all on their journey!

I find the readymeals are nice with 2 potato waffles - 3 points.