Helpful Info for Moving From Points to PointsPlus

Here are some things to read or think about as you make the transition from our old Points system to the new PointsPlus system.

Weight Watchers Product Info

Did you buy a calculator, scale or pedometer and need some help using it? You will find User Guides for those products at the link above. You'll also find a list of PointsPlus conversions from our last 5 cookbooks - no need to recalculate those recipes, we've already done it for you. Maybe most importantly, you can see the corrections we've already identified to the Pocket Guide and Complete Food Companion food lists. Yes, we know there are some typos and errors - this consolidates those changes for you.

If you are an eTools user, you have access to a ton of information. Go to "Your Plan", and you will see some tabs - eTools customizes the information it shows you based on how many weeks you've been a member. Since this is a new program for ALL of us, you have the option for looking at earlier weeks, which might give you more basic information to help your understanding of the new plan.

I've already been contact by a few people who notice that when the Recipe Builder is used, things that should have zero PointsPlus values (your fruits and veggies) start adding up. Why is that? Here's the official answer from our Program Developers:

When 0 PointsPlus veggies and fruit are used in a recipe in the eTools recipe builder the nutrition information is used to figure PointsPlus values...just like it was with veggies on Momentum.

Read page 42 of the Getting Started book on options of how to do recipes. If you feel that you have a tendency to abuse certain 0 PointsPlus value foods, you can use the nutritional information for all ingredients, sum them and input them into your PointsPlus calculator or Recipe Builder online. If you choose to exclude 0 PointsPlus foods, you can use your recipe builder, excluding 0 PointsPlus value foods, or use Simple Recipe Math. As always, let your weight loss be your guide, and work the plan that works best for you.

It has always been our policy at Weight Watchers to incorporate the nutrients of vegetables (and now fruit) into recipes. Why? A few reasons.

1) Vegetables and fruit add fiber and other nutrients, and without including them it can impact the Points value.

2) Our recipes are often featured in articles and magazines nationally and as a result we need to disclose this info to ensure the appropriate calories and nutrient content are displayed if evaluated by organizations outside of Weight Watchers.

3) Since many non-Weight Watchers recipes include nutritional information these days, we want our calculations to match those you may do for recipes you find in other places. We don’t want to unfairly advantage our own recipes.

4) Once you start combining vegetables and fruits with other foods, you change the experience of eating them. Few people “over indulge” on carrots but might on carrot cake. To ignore them in recipes would place our member at risk for abuse potential.

Got any other questions? Bring them in to the meetings this week!