Weight Watchers Points Calculator

The Weight Watchers Points Calculator is an effective tool to help you understand how healthy weight gain is directly influenced by your calorie intake per meal.

Keeping your weight in check can be a daily struggle if not done the right way. Crash diets or simply consuming calories without knowing what the body needs might reverse the process and result in unhealthy weight gain.

Your need for calories depends on your height, weight and BMR along with activity level. Activity level plays an important part in weight gain. Your need for calories changes as per your activity level. More calories burnt, more the requirement. On the other hand, if your intake of calories exceed the output level then there’s need to cut down.

What is Weight Watchers?

Weight Watchers was founded by Jean Nidetch in 1963. What began as a humble weight loss group for her friends soon grew into one of the most desired diet plans in the world. It boasts of helping many celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Hudson, and Tina Fey.

In the 90s, it introduced a points-based system that assigned values to foods and drinks based on their fibre, fat and calorie contents.

Weight Watchers has been constantly revamping the points-based over the years, most recently launching the Smart Points system in 2015 and the latest Free-Style Plan in 2017.

How does the Weight Watchers Points Calculator work?

In the Weight Watchers diet foods and drinks are allotted points based on their nutritional value except for the 200 Zero point foods. Unhealthier (fattening) the food, more the points. Each participant, depending on their weight, age, and activity level, is assigned a certain number of points to use each day in order to lose/ gain weight. The number of these smart points can be modified by various exercises like jogging, walking, going to the gym.

There are a couple of different calculators used in the WW program, such as Weight Watchers points plus calculator or Weight Watchers freestyle points calculator.

Once you insert the Fat, Carbs, Fiber and Protein value of your daily consumption into the calculator, it automatically runs a search through its database and displays the points.

How to Calculate Weight Watchers Points

What is freestyle calculation?

The Freestyle plan has introduced two exciting features- Zero Smart Points Food items and Roll Over Points. While already certain veggies and fruits were in the zero point list, new ones such as sweet corn and starchy ones like beans have been added. For the first time certain lean meats (chicken and turkey) and all sea foods made it to the list, which is what all the rave is about.
The Roll over points help you follow a healthier lifestyle. Here your daily leftover points roll over to the next day.

Smart Points Calculation

With the Smart Points plan introduced in 2016, the daily allowance is individually determined with there being no set formula as each person is different. Once you register, the app will ask question on your lifestyle and food habits. Based on your answers you’ll get your weekly allowance and a unique colour to guide you toward food choices that suit your goal.

Smart Points Food Value Calculation

The Smart Point calculation is quite a simple one.

• For every 100 calories, you need to add 3 Smart Points.
• For every 4 grams of saturated fat, add 1 Smart Point.
• For every 8 grams of sugar.
• Add 1 Smart Point.
• For every 10 grams of protein, Subtract 1 Smart Point.

The formula used for Smart Points calculation is:

(Calories * .0305) + (Sat Fat * .275) + (Sugar * .12) – (Protein * .098)

Calories (0.0305): This component accounts for the total caloric content of the food. Higher calories contribute positively to Smart Points, indicating that calorie-dense foods may be less healthy.

Saturated Fat (0.275): Saturated fat is included to penalize foods high in unhealthy fats. Foods with higher saturated fat content will increase the Smart Points, encouraging choices lower in saturated fats.

Sugar (0.12): This component adds points to foods that contain sugar. Higher sugar content is associated with less healthy food options, so it increases the Smart Points value.

Protein (0.098): Protein has a negative impact on the Smart Points calculation, as it is generally associated with healthier food options. Foods high in protein will reduce the Smart Points, promoting more nutritious and filling choices.

This differs from the previous points pus plan where carbs were used but it didn’t show whether these were good carbs or bad. By using sugar instead of carbohydrates, the values given now guide you to healthier carbs and foods. This, however, led to the increase of food value for certain items. But to our great relief, the daily allowance has also gone up from min. 26 to 30 giving you more freedom to eat healthy.

Points Plus Calculation

The change that happened with the Points Plus Calculation is that the nutritional values use were carbs, fiber, protein and total fat. Previously WW used calories fat and fiber to calculate the values of the food you ate.

The formula used in the points plus system is:

Fat (g) / 3.8889) + (Carbohydrate (g) / 9.2105) + (Protein (g) / 10.9375) – (Fiber (g) / 12.5).

How Many Weight Watchers Points Am I Allowed?

The Smart Points allowance depends on an individual’s sex, weight, age, height and activity level. If you are switching over to the new Freestyle plan then members who were previously allowed 30 points/day will now get 23 points due to the introduction of the Zero Point foods in the plan.

Typical point allotment based on body weight – Reference-

Is the WW diet healthy?

The WW diet is scientifically proven to give you a healthier lifestyle and has been constantly reviewed as one of the best weight-loss programs by millions. At the end of the day they simply guide you to cut down on the unhealthy foods, prepare meals at home and stick to natural healthy food habits in a more systematic way.

What About Zero Point Foods?

Over 200 foods were added in the list specifically because they form the foundation of healthy eating pattern, can serve as go-to foods, and it is quite unlikely that you’d be binging on them. Hence, there are no set serving or portion limits on the zero Points foods. You can easily survive a full day only on Zero-point foods and still be fully satisfied.

What If I Run Out of Points?

So what if you consume all your points despite all the pre-planning. The Zero Smart point list may help you through such days. There are many healthy options of combining zero point foods and getting a solid meal on the plate. You can also refer to quite a few recipe books and videos on the net if you like.

What About My Weekly Allowance of Points?

As mentioned above the weekly points vary from person to person depending on one’s sex, weight, age, height and activity level. Once you are registered the app gives you your unique weekly allowance which will be either 42 or 35 points.

Can I Rollover Any Points?

The Roll-Over points help you reach you weight loss goal easily. Your daily points that you don’t use will now rollover into the next day (up to 4 points). This continues during the week allowing the rollover to go from one day to the next up to 1 week. Next week you start afresh. The only sad change is that you have less points to work with due to the introduction of zero point food in the plan.

Weight Watchers Tips

5 healthy tips to reach your goal on WW.

1. Make conscious decisions and plan ahead before you hit the grocery store.
2. Try to include as many Zero-Point Food as you can in your diet.
3. Redo your recipes (you can check out many WW recipes on the internet).
4. Increase your activity level.
5. The WW app has many features to help your goal.