Hello! Welcome to WW. You are at the right place... these forums are very lively and friendly. You mentioned you had picked up a food companion book from 2008. I think that would be of a different version of WW. With points plus, I think all those numbers in that book would be wrong now for 2011. My only advice for you when you start the program is to give it a chance, dont stress about the numbers moving, cause they will. It will seem like you are eating a lot of food to lose weight, but have faith in the program, it really does work. Also, i cant stress enough about the journal and making sure you write down everything you eat. It is so important.
Good luck and welcome to our humble abode!