I hate the new Weight Watchers points system

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sympathy, OP. I lost a bunch of weight with WW under the old system which favored fiber. I could fill up on veggies and shredded wheat, but eat low calorie overall. When I went back after my DD was born, the system changed and things like eggs were unlimited but carrots weren't, which just didn't work well for me. I used LoseIt to build a low calorie diet of things I liked.

On this program carrots are 0 points again. I bet shredded wheat is higher because they really seem to make it easiest if you still to whole foods.

[Anonymous]

It discourages healthy whole grains, too, unfortunately. Hope you find this low-carb incarnation liveable after more than a couple of days. I did not. Also, be prepared for plan changes the week before thanksgiving. They do it every year. Might just be tweaks or might be bigger changes.

[Anonymous]

Ww had the same pros and cons for me as counting calories. It was just tedious, make cooking a chore, led me to more processed foods because the nutritional info was right on the package.

So if you liked the much older system, just count calories instead of points. And if it helps, make veggies free and don't bother counting your carrot calories or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm not advocating eating donuts, as one poster suggested. This also is not about eating less food, because apparently I could eat hard boiled eggs and bananas all day long and it would count for 0 points. I want to eat my gluten free steel cut oats (170 calories) or hot quinoa cereal (130 calories) for breakfast without it taking up a huge chunk of my points for the day. I would like to have brown rice as a side dish without it counting as 5-6 points.

I don't feel well when I eat high protein and eliminate grains -- I have tried low carb and it doesn't work for me.

I definitely come from the days when Weight Watchers wanted you to eat five servings of whole grains. That worked for me and was what I thought I was signing up for. It sounds like there is not a setting I can choose or option to select to go back to the old plan, so I guess I will be canceling and trying something else.

There is no need to eliminate grains. If anything the program makes you aware of what a serving should be and it made me go back to actually measuring. I think what is strategic about some of the no point foods is most people would feel sick overdoing it. It's the rare person who would eat a carton of eggs or half dozen bananas. I find as I age the amount of whole grains I need decreases if I want to maintain a weight or lose-not low carb at all, but cannot handle as much. It makes me more fatigued too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It discourages healthy whole grains, too, unfortunately. Hope you find this low-carb incarnation liveable after more than a couple of days. I did not. Also, be prepared for plan changes the week before thanksgiving. They do it every year. Might just be tweaks or might be bigger changes.

No such thing as healthy whole grains, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK, I don't know how "new" it is - I last did WW when my kids were toddlers and they are starting high school. But I recently signed up to try to shed this perimenopausal weight and the points system is very different than when I did it before. It clearly favors high protein foods, which just does not work for someone like me who needs more whole grains in my diet. Really, 1/4 cup of buckwheat cereal (140 calories) is 5 points?! A cup of cooked quinoa (222 calories) is 5 points?! But I can have two eggs (120 calories) and a banana (110 calories) for breakfast for 0 points?

Are there alternatives that are more like the "old" Weight Watchers?

Why don't you just do what worked for you before and follow the "old" system?
You can probably find the old points lists somewhere if you don't have them or don't remember how you ate back then.
However, I think our bodies (especially female bodies) change so much as we age and different things work at different times. So maybe you could just start simple without a prescribed "plan" and just set some mini goals for yourself to get going? For example:

I'm going to cut-out soda/drink 8 glasses of water every day.
I'm going to walk at least one mile every evening after dinner.
I'm going to move around for two minutes after sitting for an hour/get up an move around during commercials (and don't fast forward through commercials).

I lost 22 pounds the spring of last year (2022) but have been stalled since August '22. The same things aren't working as they did last year. Sometimes we need to do things differently to get the same results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just count calories. The WW system of basing point on nutritional content of food rather than calories is insane. When it comes to fat loss calories are king. Sure you want to eat high fiber and high protein foods and that should be encourage. but you shouldn't be punished and lose half your point for the day because you ate a 250 calorie donut.

I disagree. Maybe calories in/calories out works for some; but focusing on calories doesn't work for a lot of people. What helped me was being diagnosed with diabetes with an A1C of 7.2 and refusing to immediately start medication. I persuaded my doctor to let me at least try "lifestyle changes" first to see what, if any impact I could have without medication. Fortunately, I had already started walking regularly with some neighbor friends and was already trying to implement some changes anyway.

I don't believe it's just about calories. I believe it's about the foods and combinations of foods we eat. Making sure to have protein at every meal; restricting carb counts per meal to maintain more even blood sugar levels throughout the day; moving around throughout the day and "exercising" or at least being active for 10 minutes after eating each meal/snack.

The diabetes nutritionist after my diagnosis limited my carbs for meals to 35-40 and 15-20 for snacks. It was far easier to track carbs and protein than calories and fats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just count calories. The WW system of basing point on nutritional content of food rather than calories is insane. When it comes to fat loss calories are king. Sure you want to eat high fiber and high protein foods and that should be encourage. but you shouldn't be punished and lose half your point for the day because you ate a 250 calorie donut.

But eating a 250 calorie donut is WAAAYYY different than eating 2 scrambled eggs and a piece of toast. Nutritionally they are different, they keep you full longer, your brain works better when you have some protein. I don't see how anyone can eat a donut and think that's better in any way than what WW teaches you to do.

You missed my point.

I am not saying that the eggs aren't a better choice. Of course they are. You are always better eating protein and will feel better, but at the end of the day, when it comes to fat loss calories are what matter. 250 calories is 250 calories. To give 2 things that contain the same calories 2 very different points values is silly. If I have say 20 pts for a day and eat the 250 cal eggs for 2 points where the donut is 10 pts (making these numbers up because it has been a while since i have done WW) then that just punished people for trying to incorporate life into their diet. And leaves then under eating which will likely lead to then overeating and going over points because they are still hungry. Then they feel like a failure.

This is wrong. Where those calories come from is key.
You can't eat a dozen donuts a day and use up your calorie limit and expect to lose weight and be healthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just count calories. The WW system of basing point on nutritional content of food rather than calories is insane. When it comes to fat loss calories are king. Sure you want to eat high fiber and high protein foods and that should be encourage. but you shouldn't be punished and lose half your point for the day because you ate a 250 calorie donut.

I disagree. Maybe calories in/calories out works for some; but focusing on calories doesn't work for a lot of people. What helped me was being diagnosed with diabetes with an A1C of 7.2 and refusing to immediately start medication. I persuaded my doctor to let me at least try "lifestyle changes" first to see what, if any impact I could have without medication. Fortunately, I had already started walking regularly with some neighbor friends and was already trying to implement some changes anyway.

I don't believe it's just about calories. I believe it's about the foods and combinations of foods we eat. Making sure to have protein at every meal; restricting carb counts per meal to maintain more even blood sugar levels throughout the day; moving around throughout the day and "exercising" or at least being active for 10 minutes after eating each meal/snack.

The diabetes nutritionist after my diagnosis limited my carbs for meals to 35-40 and 15-20 for snacks. It was far easier to track carbs and protein than calories and fats.

I should have noted that after 3 months, my A1C went down from 7.2 (diabetes) to 5.9 (low end pre-diabetes). It's not just the calories. It's how your body processes what you eat and glucose intolerance interferes with that processing in ways that makes us retain/gain/not lose weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK it's me the crazy middle age lady who decided to join ww based on this thread. I must tell you now that I am an expert (sarcasm) after 2.5 days...I really like it. This is the most full I have felt on a ww program.

They seem to discourage even "healthy..ish" processed food (I know it's an oxymoron) with higher points. Sugar and saturated fats seem to bring points up while fiber (as usual), protein and lack of sugar-other than natural sugar brings it down.

The 0 points foods are delightful and filling and not something I could binge on (beans, eggs). It has been a looong time since I have had several eggs scrambled in just a wee bit of cooking spray. I used to do one egg and some whites. The unlimited fruit scares me because I can eat A LOT of fruit, but we'll see how this goes. It has forced me to turn to fage yogurt instead of my usual flavored siggis because I use up points too fast with the flavored stuff.

Good for you! Good luck - please let us know how it goes....how you feel, energy, weight loss, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It discourages healthy whole grains, too, unfortunately. Hope you find this low-carb incarnation liveable after more than a couple of days. I did not. Also, be prepared for plan changes the week before thanksgiving. They do it every year. Might just be tweaks or might be bigger changes.

It doesn't. You can have them in moderation. I have healthy whole grains all the time (and bread) on WW and have lost 60 lbs. I don't think you're doing it right if this is what you took away from it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It discourages healthy whole grains, too, unfortunately. Hope you find this low-carb incarnation liveable after more than a couple of days. I did not. Also, be prepared for plan changes the week before thanksgiving. They do it every year. Might just be tweaks or might be bigger changes.

No such thing as healthy whole grains, PP.

Yes, there are. Don't be ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It discourages healthy whole grains, too, unfortunately. Hope you find this low-carb incarnation liveable after more than a couple of days. I did not. Also, be prepared for plan changes the week before thanksgiving. They do it every year. Might just be tweaks or might be bigger changes.

No such thing as healthy whole grains, PP.

Actually, it is recommended and supported by reputable cancer research, to significantly reduce Gi cancers (stomach, colon, intestines, liver, gallbladder) people should consume 90 mg whole grains per day. That is roughly 3 servings.

[Anonymous]

I also prefer the old colors plan (purple worked really well for me) and miss things like brown rice and oats beings 0 pts. But...I get a lot more points to play with--I think had 18 pts previously and now I get 23 a day? So I can account for my 1/2 c oats (3pts) and 1/2c brown rice (3 pts). I think many people abused them; especially the oats by baking them with the eggs and applesauce and bananas having cake every day and calling it free. It's high fiber yes, but I think it became quite calorie dense.

Fwiw I just restarted and I'm hoping for success. I do better with more fat than the zero point foods so I'm trying to account for more fat with those daily and weekly points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It discourages healthy whole grains, too, unfortunately. Hope you find this low-carb incarnation liveable after more than a couple of days. I did not. Also, be prepared for plan changes the week before thanksgiving. They do it every year. Might just be tweaks or might be bigger changes.

No such thing as healthy whole grains, PP.

Actually, it is recommended and supported by reputable cancer research, to significantly reduce Gi cancers (stomach, colon, intestines, liver, gallbladder) people should consume 90 mg whole grains per day. That is roughly 3 servings.

Exactly. PP probably thinks carbs are evil like so many people and it's just not true.