I realize this is probably a common question, I'm just too lazy to search for old threads.
I'm thinking of starting to count points instead of calories, like Weight Watchers. Membership is so pricey, so I'm only just using 3FC for support.
I was curious if anyone out there has been successful using Points Plus without joining Weight Watchers?

Yes! My husband and I have each lost over 20 pounds since late January. We use iPhone apps to track and google anything we can't find. Points Plus Diary is a great app for $1.99.

Thanks for answering! In your opinion, is counting Points as accurate as counting calories? Is it easier? or pretty much the same? Any reasons I should switch to Points?

I am a past member of WW. I still have all my Points Plus 2012 materials, so I decided to do WW again, but without meetings/on-line/eTools. So far I am 1.5 weeks in. My first week was successful, losing 5lbs. I'm not sure if I'm the best person to ask because I did meetings/eTools for a year and a half so I am very familiar with the program. I'm not re-joining right now because of income restrictions.

I'm a big proponent for WW. If you track and count points, you will be successful. I'm not sure how you'd find out how many daily points you get, I used my PP calculator to figure out mine. It goes by your current weight, gender and height.

I find tracking points and tracking foods to be easier than counting calories.

You can figure out your DPA by going to laaloosh(.com) and click on Daily Points Plus Allowance, look at option #2 and click on the link to figure out how many daily points you get per day. You also get 49 weekly points to use.

could I ask: what does "weekly points" mean?

Weekly points are points you can choose to use or not to use. They're there if you want to eat a little something extra, but you don't have enough daily points. Some people can eat all their points and still consistently lose weight (me!), but others have to play around with using and not using weeklies to see if they still lose.

Example: On Wednesday there was cake sitting on my counter. Granted it was a WW friendly recipe if eaten in the right portion, I ate a huge piece with extra frosting. I ended up using weekly points because I went over my daily points.

Other people save them for special occasions, dining out, etc. I normally plan mine ahead of time, but I had some moments of weakness this week...

Your weeklies don't roll over, you start new every week with 49 PP.

@MrsD2008
Since I'm not doing it officially with WW, could you help me with my numbers? There are a few online calculators out there - and they don't all agree with each other.
Male, 57, 65", and 3330#
One calculator said 46 points, another says 59

Which is more accurate, and what would my weekly points be, and how do I calculate my weekly points?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

With the online calculator that I use for finding out daily point allowances is accurate as other WWers have tried comparing it against their WW calculators. I used the online calculator with your stats (57, 65 inches, 330lbs), I got 59.

The weekly points are 49 always and that is for everyone no matter what age, height or weight. Only your DPA (daily points allowance) changes as you lose (thanks for explaining, MsD!) There are no calculations for weeklies.

I think the 46 points you got from another calculator was intended to be for a female. Males tend to get a higher daily point allowance than females.

thanks amandie!!!

No problem!

Oh, I almost forgot, with PP+, most fruits and veggies are considered 0 PP+. A lot of people took that as liberty to go crazy on fruits so be careful with that. This article may help explain better than I can if you plan to use fruits and/or veggies in a recipe. I personally do not count the fresh fruit or veggies in my green smoothies (usually 2 servings of fruit and 1-2 servings of vegetables), some people do.

This is a list of 0 PP+ foods. Hope that helps!

Good luck with WW! Looking forward to seeing how it works for you.

Bigsky, like you I'm doing it without WW. We can't justify the cost in our budget right now. I picked up on great advice here about the Points Plus App for $1.99. Between the awesome people on here and the PPD I feel armed

Good luck!!

@amandie
Yes, when I started investigating WW a while back and saw their "free" foods list I thought they were making a mistake. I am going to count any fruit as 1 point, but will consider rabbit food like lettuce and carrots as zero.

@Lorna F.
I found a pirated online copy of the entire WW Points Plus foods list, but it was such bad visual quality I decided not to use it. Excersie4weightloss has an older legal version before the "Plus" was implemented. It's much better. I'm finally going to trade in my old LG for a real smartphone, and that app will be the first one I download. Thanks!

Yes I lost 60 lbs in 2009 doing WW on my on. I had done the program in the past and had the materials. Now I'm working on losing the 20 lbs I regained, again on my own. I'm doing the older version though, flex I think it's called since I'm used to that.

When I do it on my actual WW PP Calculator that I got at meetings, it says 63PP. I noticed when I enter my weight into the website that amandie posted, I got lower points than my calculator gave me. But I think as long as you're losing at a reasonable weight you're fine.

You can find WW materials on eBay. Calculators, dining out guides, trackers, etc. I am using all my materials from WW Points Plus 2012. The new plan is WW Points Plus 360. It's virtually the same as far as counting points go. No food values have changed this time around.

As for 0PP fruits and veggies, I count them as zero, ever since PP was first implemented and I haven't had any trouble losing weight as long as I follow the plan. Potatoes, peas, corn, avocados and plantains are NOT 0pp. I think there are more, but I can't remember off the top of my head. The rule to remember is 5 fruits and veggies a day. If you're eating more than that you may want to count the points. Some people count points for high sugar fruits.

I hope we're not confusing you and that you're getting the info you need.

ETA: Okay, now I am frustrated because when I entered my new weight at the beginning of the week it gave me 36 PP. Now when I re-entered after taking out BigSky's info, it is saying 33 PP. What the freak?!!!!!! UGHHHHHH. At least if I don't lose weight I will know why!