My husband and I need to lose a stone of two, so we borrowed an old points booklet from a friend and use it to keep our meals within the number of points allowed for our weight. It works beautifully and so far we have lost around 21 pounds each, for free!

Fabulous! Well done both of you x

Congratulations, butters! I did something similar a few years ago with a friend and we both lost quite a bit of weight at first. When we plateaued, that's when we saw the need for meetings because we needed some guidance as to why we were plateauing.

I suppose we might well reach a time where the weight loss ceases and we feel frustrated, but I'll cross that bridge when we get to it! It's amazing that my husband has been able to stick to it this far so I don't want to rock the boat. Thanks for the congrats though, both of you.

Well done

I've never had much to lose so begrudge paying the prices for slimming world/weight watchers etc

Well done! My mil goes to the meetings, but I don't understand it personally cos I begrudge the thought of having to pay to get weighed but I know some people need it for the motivation!

Slimming world changed the way I ate etc but once you have the hang of it it's so easy to go it alone on diets like this!

Well done to you both

Smart thinking!

Weight Watchers charges for their website too. A friend's daughter joined, but they share the log in information between the two of them, so I guess you can say they paid half price.

Once you know how many points everything is worth, it's fairly easy to do and I should think that once you become familiar with any slimming plan, it's the same. Certainly using a website with a group of friends all paying a share would be a great idea!

I have done Weight Watchers on my own and by attending meetings. Both ways work but doing the program with others is always more fun.