Weight Watchers Points List

Weight Watchers is definitely a constant reminder to those too careless about their body, to buck up and see the sunshine. I mean it when I say that Weight Watchers is a program which has been adored (read worshipped) by people for more than 4 decades now. It has definitely been successful in helping millions of people out of their stupor and led them to start believing in themselves once again. Though the Weight Watchers program has mostly stressed upon the 'perfect diet', it has also included healthy lifestyle changes and exercise regime to lead a healthy, stress-free life.

With the advent of 2012, Weight Watchers has unveiled yet another change in their program PointsPlus 2012, which I am sure, would do good to those who follow it. And, the best part is, this time they have made changes according to the valuable suggestions of their members, which they have been collecting for a whole year.

It has been now known that PointsPlus program has been widely successful among members and has been beneficial in more ways than one. Therefore, perfecting the same idea was what members were expecting in the latest program. PointsPlus 2012 seems to be more flexible and is personalized. This is a great step, as we all know that it is impossible to categorize each person and there is absolutely no chance of two people having same physical structure, mental health and medical history. Therefore, it is but obvious that to personalize the program according to each individual will work very well. Also, the online tools or E-Tools (free for lifetime members) have been enhanced so that members can have easy access to healthy recipes, diet charts and plans, add their views in the comments column, even make changes to the already uploaded recipes and receive help to plan their long-term weight loss goals. For people starting with the Weight Watchers PointsPlus this year, they have put down some very interesting and easy getting started tools. Obviously, with increase in facilities, it is expected that the prices of membership would also increase.

All in all, the new PointsPlus 2012 is working quite well with the members and we just hope it continues to help people manage and maintain their food habits and live healthier lives.

Weight Watchers came up with their new approach in the late 2010, known as the PointsPlus system to keep up with the ever-changing trends of food consumption and lifestyle. Again, with the growth in the fields of science and technology, it is obvious that one must constantly re-invent himself. Weight Watchers has proved to be doing just that. Therefore, it would be worthwhile taking a tour of what exactly was this new system and how much different has it been from the previous approach.

• Weight Watchers approach was calorie based previously where the calculation considered calories, fiber grams and fat, keeping in mind the age, weight, height and activity level of a person. But in the PointsPlus approach, the content of the food has been kept in mind, along with the protein content, carbohydrates, fat grams and fiber.
• Nutritional value of the food is considered more important and thus the points have been planned accordingly.
• Another good thing about the new formula is that with exercise, you can earn more points. You can use these points to consume foods as you have undergone a certain amount of exercise. These "bonus points" have been increased to 49 points a week. This would make people workout to earn these points.
• The person following the diet still needs to consume limited points on a daily basis as before, however, the points for food items have changed. They have also increased the "zero points foods". Since, people were going for foods with low points rather than healthy foods, things like whole grains most fruits and vegetables were given zero points in this new approach.

The people who were already members of the old points system, it was difficult to bring them on to the new system. Adjusting to the new way was difficult, as the new points range was higher and entirely different. The members had to either call or contact Weight Watchers for finding the new points or follow the new formulas that were available only to the members. There are two formulas:

PointsPlus: (Protein/10.94 + Carbohydrates/9.17 + Fat/3.89 - Fiber/12.49)**

The above formula is meant for calculating the food points. However, there is another one which is used in case one needs points for foods along with alcohol;

PointsPlus: (Protein/10.94 + Carbohydrates/9.17 + Fat/3.89 - Fiber/12.49 + Alcohol/3 - Sugar Alcohol/23)**

(**Note: The formulas given above are not the accurate PointsPlus formulas. A member is the only one entitled to get accurate formulas and detailed information about the program. One either has to buy the entire book set of Weight Watchers PointPlus program, make an appointment or take an online subscription or purchase a Weight Watchers points calculator from the market.)