Weight Watchers uses their patented points system to help members achieve their weight loss goals. On the Weight Watchers plan, points take the place of calorie counting. Each food has a points value and each member receives a personalized points budget, according to the Weight Watchers website. Your points budget determines the number of points you can spend on food each day and still lose weight.
Daily Points Budget
You are allowed a certain number of points daily based on your age, weight, height, gender and activity level. Even though you can eat anything you want as long as you don't go over your daily points budget, you get to eat more when you make low point choices. To determine the number of points you can use each day, total your score from each category of the Weight Watchers points quiz, which is available on the Just Diet Now website.
Spending Points
Everything you eat gets deducted from your daily points budget. The points value of each food is based on its calorie, fat and fiber content. To determine the points value of a food item, divide the number of calories by 50. Then divide the number of fat grams by 12 and the number of fiber grams by 5. If a food item has more than 4 grams of fiber, use 4 in the formula. Add together the answers from the calorie and fat gram divisions and then subtract the answer from your fiber gram division.This will give you the points value of the food. Weight Watchers provides its members with a convenient "Points Finder Slide" that makes these calculations much simpler.
Earning Activity Points
You can earn extra points to spend on food by exercising. Weight Watchers awards activity points that are calculated by factoring in your weight and the intensity of your exercise. Based on the Weight Watchers "Points Booster Slide," if you weigh under 160 pounds, you can earn one additional point if you exercise for 30 minutes at a moderate intensity level. You can earn two points for the same workout if you weigh 160 to 260 pounds, three points if you weigh 260 to 360 pounds and four points if you weigh over 360 pounds.
Flex Points
You automatically get an extra 35 flex points to spend on food each week. This is in addition to your points budget and any points you earn through exercise. The 35 points can be spent on any food during the course of the week, and can be spent all at once or in increments. You can choose not to use these extra points, but you can't save them and add them to another week's points budget.
Considerations
Once you lose a considerable amount of weight, you should consider taking the points quiz again to determine whether you need to adjust your daily points budget. Activity points you earn can be spent on food anytime during the course of the week in which they're earned, but you can't save them to use during a different week. Weight Watchers is most effective when you attend the program's meetings.
References
- WeightWatchers.com: The Points System
- "Points Booster Slide;" Weight Watchers; 2004
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