Weekly Meeting Topic: The New Points Plus Plan!

As you all know, North America is rolling out the new version of Weight Watchers this week - they are calling it the Points Plus Program. Here, my beautiful friend and fellow meeting member Malaika, shows off the new materials in our meeting tonight (yes, she is tasting the new materials as well...)

So many of you have asked me what I think/what does this mean/what has changed and I'll be more than happy to tell you my first impressions!

First of all, I have heard that many members seem to be having trouble embracing this change, so let me try to drill this point into your heads: You are not going to be eating radically more or radically less - you will just be counting things differently - and perhaps making different choices - healthier & better choices more often than you do now. That's all!

I've been on and off WW for 21 years now. I've seen quite a few versions of Weight Watchers in my time and no matter how they change the wording or the plan or the materials or how you track, they can't change the bottom line: You have to consume less calories than you exert in order to lose weight.  And it would probably help if you ate healthier food than you eat now, and yeah, you should move a little, too.

If you realize all of that, you will not freak out about any of the "points" values changing - "more points for this! less points for that! I'll never be able to lose weight now!" Remember: There are no such thing as "Points". "Points" aren't real - they are just a concept created by WW - a formula and number assigned to foods just to help us easily keep track of what we consume. The same way we used numbers to create time so we can keep control and order in our lives. See? Points are harmless. There is nothing to panic about.

The new Points Plus is just a slightly modified version of the previous Points formula we all know and love. We used to look at a food's calories, fat and fiber to determine its points value. With the new plan, now we look at the protein, fat, fiber and carbs. Calories aren't even a factor. If this troubles you, I assure you it is not necessary to include the calories because since a food's total number of calories comes from the protein grams (times 4) + the fat grams (times 9) + the carbohydrate grams (times 4), the calories are already being accounted for in this new formula. (Note: Fiber doesn't provide calories.) If you want to understand this more in depth or learn more about calories and macronutrients and when the 4+9+4 math doesn't add up, go here.


So what has changed?

• Everyone gets more Points per day, or a higher DPT (Daily Points Target). Most people get 29 points per day now, but I think some members might get more than that. On the surface, that looks like a huge jump for me since I used to get 18 per day *but* some of the points of the food have increased, so 11 points on this plan is not the same as 11 points on the previous plan. I trust their math and I'm not concerned about it.
• Fruit is zero points! Rejoice! Weight Watchers realizes that a large (formerly 2 point) banana (I'm looking at you, Tam!) is a much healthier snack for you than a (formerly 2 point) 100-calorie pack of cookies. And they want YOU to realize that too. So if you were one of those people who opted for packaged snacks instead of 'sacrificing' those same points for fruit (I used to be one of those people!), maybe this will be the gentle push to help you change some of your habits and make some healthier choices. Of course you can still have that 100 calorie pack, but my guess is that it's going to cost you more points than it used to.
• The weekly points allowance/weekly bonus points jumped from 35 to 49. (As always, you can choose to use all, none or some of those.)
• New stickers! My leader Melanie loves to reward us with stickers and now she has all sorts of exciting new stickers to give out. Tonight I scored the first pink sticker! It has a couch with a line through it - I guess it symbolizes that I'm not a couch potato. She gave it to me when I told the group about my Empire State Building Stair Climb event (And thank you to everyone who donated! I can't believe I raised the minimum donation in under 24 hours! You all get to know you helped me get there and will be a part of my journey that day! Thank you!) I am certainly no couch potato!

What has stayed the same?

• Activity Points are still given (that's a relief!)
• Tools for Living are still in full effect
• Good Health Guidelines still make sense and should be followed
• No food is off limits. Have whatever you want, just count for it.

How I'm moving forward/my next steps:

• I'm not resisting the change. Resistance is futile! I'm on board with the new program and you should be too!
• I already went to eTools and noticed some of the foods I had previously created myself need to be re-entered with the additional nutrition label data so the new points values can be calculated. I am doing that as I eat & track them.
• I looked at some of my usual items to see what changed and what stayed the same. Some of the things that I consume on a regular basis that now have higher points values are: beer, whole wheat macaroni, avocado, soy milk, beans, whole wheat pitas. Some that stayed the same are my vegan cheese and almonds. 

What else to keep in mind:

• Please don't abuse the fruit: I am sure it goes without say, but just because fruit is zero points now, it doesn't mean you can consume it in unlimited quantities. Portion sizes should be reasonable. Even though it's a natural & healthy snack, it still has calories. If you eat 1000 calories worth of fruit every day in addition to your other food, I assure you that you will not lose weight. You might even gain. So be smart about it. You know better.
• Do not fear carbs! Just because they are being used in the new equation doesn't make them bad. You may find that a particular bread or cereal you normally eat has more carbs than another one you like, and you might switch. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, I think it's good to become more familiar with what you're eating and make better choices where you can - however, do not think you need to run out and find "zero gram carb" foods. Please do not eliminate carbs!

Other Notes/Suggestions/Reminders:

• As my leader Melanie pointed out, do not try to combine plans - this will NOT work! For instance, don't keep the "zero point fruit" from the new plan while using the old points values/daily points targets of the old plan. As I mentioned, resistance is futile. Accept the new plan and new numbers - the sooner the better.
• Don't think you need to get rid of all the food in your house and buy new food. The first thing I would suggest you do is go through the process of learning the points values of the foods you have in your home and/or currently eat regularly. If you decide you want to make a switch here or there, go for it. But don't think you have to change everything all at once. You may not need or want to change anything, other than how you track your food.
• Give yourself time to get used to the new plan. Learn the new points values. Enter the values into your eTools. Don't get frustrated or upset by this, you'll get used to it in no time.

That's it for my review/opinions for now. Just like everyone else, I need some time to get used to the plan to see if I have any other thoughts on it, but I'm really not worried about it at all. And since I eat pretty naturally anyway, I don't expect many of my choices to change, but it's possible I might make some changes, especially in regards to protein since that's probably the one thing I should probably make an effort to eat more of.

Good luck with Points Plus! Enjoy the new plan :) I'm sure I'll have more to report next week after I'm more familiar with it.