How Do I Calculate Fiber On Weight Watcher Flex Points?

The Weight Watchers system is based on assigning a point value to each serving of each food you eat over the course of a day. These points are tallied and subtracted from a weekly bank of points. Eating foods worth equal or fewer points than your weekly allotment will result in weight loss. Though Weight Watchers provides manuals containing the point values of a variety of popular food items, individuals may find it necessary to manually calculate a food's point value. Because fiber reduces the point value of a food, you must incorporate this value into your calculation.

Step 1

Determine the grams of dietary fiber in the food you are about to eat. This information is available from the packaging of the food item or from the restaurant serving you the food.

Step 2

Divide either the number of grams of dietary fiber or 4--whichever is smaller--by 5. For instance, if the food contains 3g of dietary fiber, divide 3 by 5 to arrive at 0.6. If the food contains 6g of dietary fiber, divide 4 by 5 to arrive at 0.8.

Step 3

Subtract the number you calculated from the food's base point value. Calculate base point value by dividing the number of calories in the food by 50. For instance, a 300 calorie food with 2g of dietary fiber would have a base point value of 6. Then, subtract 2 divided by 5, which is 0.4, from the base point value to arrive at a modified point value of 5.6.

Step 4

Round the modified point value you calculate. If the number after the decimal point is 5 or higher, round up to the next highest number. If the number after the decimal point is 4 or lower, round down to the next smallest number. For instance, round 5.6 up to 6 and round 3.2 down to 3. This is the total number of points that food item is worth.

Tips and Warnings

To make it easier to divide fiber by 5, think of it as doubling the amount of fiber and adding a decimal point in front. For instance, 2 divided by 5 is 0.4, while 3 divided by 5 is 0.6. Don't forget to add fat grams into your calculation. Divide grams of fat by 12 and add the result to the total number of points.