Home / WW Food and Point Issues

More Fat = Less Points +

#1

doinit200 , 05-13-2011 10:36 AM

So not sure if this has been discussed but I was recently eating my Chobani yogurt and I had done the calculations before and got 3pp but decided to just put it in again and got 2pp. Looked at the difference and the low-fat was only 2pp while the non-fat was 3pp! Isn't this weird? Is this true with other foods? Has anyone else noticed?

Reply
#2

Koshka , 05-18-2011 02:21 AM

Yes, points plus are not based just on calories. Fats and carbs are "penalized" a bit in the equation.

Reply
#3

LisaP916 , 05-18-2011 09:38 AM

Low fat products usually have more sugar and therefore more carbs. That's why it's better to check the labels and see which product is actually better for you. Not all fat is bad. :-)

Reply
#4

stimkovs , 06-03-2011 01:56 PM

thats really wierd- i know checking the labels is important, and i have been doing ww for about a year and a half now (with great results) but could anybody provide examples of other low fat/regular fat foods that the points are actually lower in the regular foods?

Reply
#5

Somni , 06-06-2011 01:23 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by stimkovs
thats really wierd- i know checking the labels is important, and i have been doing ww for about a year and a half now (with great results) but could anybody provide examples of other low fat/regular fat foods that the points are actually lower in the regular foods?
I know a couple of weeks ago someone in my meeting mentioned some pb brand she had been buying, she found out that the regular fat pb was actually 1 pt lower than the low fat stuff the family had been buying. I went home and crunched the numbers and she was right. But I don't remember what brand it was and not sure if that's typical for most pb.

Reply
#6

luvmyfam , 06-13-2011 01:43 PM

I'll concur with what everyone else is saying. It's probably additional carbohydrates. PP+ seems to weigh carbs pretty heavily, and it's a tough adjustment for me to make. I was so used to something like a bowl of cereal or FiberOne bar as a lower-point snack.

I have noticed changes like this as well. I tried WW 2 other times before now, back when it was Flex/Momentum. Things like coffee creamers...I don't think it matters anymore if you use FF or regular. Good news for me, since I'd rather use those "real cream, milk & sugar" creamers than the kinds that are made with vegetable oil & corn syrup.

Good news with the PP+ points changes is being able to indulge in maybe higher-fat/more naturally flavorful foods than before. Bad news (for me, anyway) is that in the past, healthy carbs like brown rice, whole wheat pasta, shredded wheat, etc., cost you fewer points than they do now.

Reply
#7

QuilterInVA , 06-14-2011 11:18 AM

You have more points to work with so what is the good carbs cost more. If you read the science behind the program, you will see that carbs from any source are the easiest thing for the body to digest and store as fat. They also store 4 grams of water for every gram of carbs. They just aren't snack foods for a good reason.

Reply
#8

luvmyfam , 06-14-2011 01:17 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by QuilterInVA
You have more points to work with so what is the good carbs cost more. If you read the science behind the program, you will see that carbs from any source are the easiest thing for the body to digest and store as fat. They also store 4 grams of water for every gram of carbs. They just aren't snack foods for a good reason.
This is my 3rd try with WW. I'll re-introduce myself and give my WW history in a different thread. But I only get about 2, maybe 3 more daily points on PP than I had on Flex, and at least one of those extra points is because my starting weight went from 218 up to 220.

Yes, you now get 14 more weekly points than before, but I always tried not to dip into those too, too much. I'm not sure it all evens out -- increase in daily & weekly points allowed and increase in points values of certain foods. In the "old days," I would occasionally have a bowl of Frosted Shredded wheat as a treat. 3 points for the cereal, 2 for the milk. Now the same exact food is 6 points for the cereal, 3 points for the milk. I noticed that the healthy carbs increased a lot as well.

I am sure the science makes sense, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm having a hard time adjusting to PP. I never really abused the points on Flex. I understood early on that I could get more bang for my points buck with certain "filling" foods versus junk. So I never got sucked into buying all the 100 cal. snack packs or anything like that. But each time I was on WW when it was still Flex, it was very easy for me to get started. According to my WW account I'm in my 7th week since re-signing up, but I still haven't managed to get back on-track. I was never a fan of Atkins at all, and I made two failed attempts at South Beach. The attempts at SB I didn't even make it a week each time. When I realized that with PP Weight Watchers is shifting to more of a low/reduced carb thing, I think I put a wall up.

The advantage that PP has over both Atkins & SB, is of course the fact that instead of having to restrict even fruits in the early stages, fruits and veggies are zero points. But it is going to require a lot more planning for me than when it was just Flex. With Flex I could pick high fiber, low fat & low cal foods, just plug them in later and generally be okay. I could have a whole cup of brown rice with a healthy stir fry and be in good shape. But now I have to redo my thinking completely, and try to consider low carb options. Like stir fry with no rice. Homemade spaghetti with 1/2 a serving of whole wheat pasta or Barilla plus.

I LIKE that most coffee creamers are just 1 pt/1 Tbsp. I LIKE that I can have a a big bowl of strawberries with a LOT of fat-free RediWhip, for about 1 point. But it would be a lie to say that I'm finding it easy to reduce healthy carbs in my meals, and buy low-carb alternatives, because any carbs are now twice as high in points as they were before. I just hope I can make the adjustments soon.

Reply