Hi everyone, I'm hoping one of you can help. Can you please tell me how many points a baked potato is? I've always thought it was only 2 points, but my dining out companion says Wendy's baked potato is 5pts.
I have no idea where I got the 2 point number, and we can't find it in the food companion.
WELL IN THE "WELCOME" BOOK OF WW 10 OZ. UNCOOKED OR 8 OZ. COOKED OF A WHITE OR RED POTATOES IS 3 PT. THEN YOU HAVE TO ADD WHAT YOUR TOPPING ARE. FOR A TOTAL OF YOUR PTS. HOPE THIS HELPS
Momof2: Yes, a 10 ounce baked tater is 3 points (same for sweet or white). Wendy's and the other fast food chains that bake potatoes roll them in oil (usually) to keep the skin from drying out before they foil them and put them in the ovens. The amount of oil they use is close to 2 teaspoons... That is why. Sort of sucks.
imaleader, Actually you are wrong on Wendy's they don't use any oil or butter on the skins however the potatoes are usually larger than 10 ounces uncooked. However, some of the other fast food places who have baked potatoes do put butter or oil on the skins.
Weight Watchers claims (and I have to work from the informationthey provide us) that most of the FF chains oil their skins. Only reporting what I am told. don't shoot the messenger :-) Are they specific about which ones do and don't? No, but we have to err on the side of caution, and let people know what the likelihood of this being the case is.... so that's our story and we have to stick to it. :-D
Don't know if you ever make baked potatoes at home, or if you're only looking for fast-food numbers. Anyway, since few potatoes weigh 10 oz. exactly--the ones I buy are anywhere from 6 to 16 oz.--I count a point for every three ounces when I'm making them at home (I don't use any oil or butter). I sometimes overcount the points a little bit that way, but I prefer that to undercounting.
I eat at Wendy's all the time and have never ever had a large baked potato. I keep a food scale both at home and work and I have weighed my taters so many times and they are always around 8 ounces. Only a couple of times they were 9 to 10 ounces. Seems like for 5 points you would get a really big potato and the Wendy's down here in Texas (and I have eaten at Wendy's in different cities all over Texas) serve a 3 point potato most of the time. Just my 2 cents on this...
imaleader, No one was shooting you I was just informing you that you were wrong on the Wendy's. If you read the rest of my post I did say most places do add butter or oil!
I don;t eat the skin on a Wendy's potato becasue they never look completely clean (got a mouthful of grit one time - yuck!), so I count mine as 3 pts. If they do oil the skin, since I don't eat it, it doesn't matter to me (I don't believe it soaks into the potato). I have weighed many a potato from Wendy's and never gotten one that was over 8 oz cooked. They ususally fall between 6.5 and 8 oz.
I used to work at Wendy's, and we poured a thick liquid margarine over all the potatoes before foiling them and baking them. This helps them keep in the warmer longer, I guess. Granted, I worked there about 13-14 years ago, but I bet they probably still do it. Either they've stopped oiling them, or the Wendy's website is calculating them without the buttered skin. Anyway, I used to eat at Wendy's all the time when I was on WW before and always had a small chili on top of a plain potato for 7 points - 4 for the chili and 3 for the potato. I didn't eat the skin (because I prefer the skin to be baked with salt and without foil so it's crunchy) and never had any problems with losing weight counting it that way.
I've worked in several restaurants and many of my friends continue to do so. You'd be amazed at how much extra fat is in your restaurant food - steaks are brushed with butter and oil, swirls of butter, oil and cream are used to finish dishes, the mayo and salad dressing are twice as fatty as what you have at home, etc. I wouldn't rely on the nutritional information completely, either. If the food is not prepared exactly according to the formula, (e.g. an extra swipe with the mayo or dressing) the fat count can double quite easily. If you're worried, order your food simply prepared with sauces on the side, so you can control it.
I had a SD who worked at Wendy's not but about 2 years ago and a friends D who works there now and they don't coat the potatoes any more or at least at the ones they worked at. They are fairly large potatoes (much larger than the 10 ounce raw ones I get at the store).
I have no idea why they are listed as 5 points in the book. Kelly S said they are much larger than the 10 ounce potatoes she gets at the store, so apparently Wendy's potato size is not consistent from town to town and state to state. We have discussed this many times at my meeting and even my leader agrees that the ones we get here are smaller and we are definitely not eating 5 points of potato.
Baked Potato?
