Weight Watchers Points: WATCH OUT!

Weight Watchers. Everyone's using it these days. If it works for you, great. I'm all for any program that helps people eat less, and eat healthier. When it comes to eating, some just don't have a clue.

I found out something from a few of my clients about the point system. The point system is an easy way for people to count calories, but make no mistake - you're counting calories. If you're not losing as much weight per week as you'd like, the culprit could be the handy little point slider you use day-in day-out. You see, you get "rewarded" for eating fiber. That "reward" comes in the form of getting to eat more calories. I'm sorry, but eating more calories as a "reward" is counter-productive and is NOT doing you any favors to help you reach your weight loss goal.

What's the solution? Use the slider appropriately - do yourself a favor and calculate all of your points based upon ZERO fiber on the slider. The slider varies as much as 60 calories for eating anything with 5 or more grams of fiber. That's great for getting fiber, but let's do some math on how much more you could be eating.

Let's say you eat two items per day that have a high amount of fiber. That's two items you get to have 60 more calories of. 60+60=120. Let's now say you do that everyday. So we'll take 120X7=840 calories per week extra that you're allotted to eat. Now, let's take 840 multiplied by 4 weeks. That's 3,360 calories, or almost enough calories that you could have lost a whole pound of unwanted body fat. That's almost 12 pounds a year. When you look at the long-term consequences, the reward just isn't worth it, is it?

I'm going to take this one step further, however. I'm willing to bet people eat just a bit more than the slider allows. That being the case, I suggest three more strategies:

1.) Eat a point or two less than your Weight Watchers counselor suggests.
2.) Overestimate the points that your food contains - especially when you're eating out.
3.) Save all of your bonus points that you earn for a "Free Day" once per week.

Hope this information is helpful. Have a great day, and keep going strong to reach your goals!

Ross