Question about WW Points Plus

[johnsontrio]

My DD has started working with a personal trainer at our community fitness center. She had a Polar Assessment done and she was given some nutritional guidelines to follow that include kcals and servings per day for each food group. DD is 17 and I prepare almost all her food. The information she was given has very few examples of what constitutes a serving in each food group and only one sample menu. I did WW for about 1 year in 2002-2003 and used the Points plan which basically one point per 50 kcals with a little more kcals per per point if the food was high in fiber.

In order to track what DD is eating and how much she has left each day, I basically converted her plan of 1866 kcals into points (37) and am tracking it that way. It does equal the number of servings she was told to eat per day:

3 cups milk or yogurt
10 grain
5 fruit
5 vegetable
5 oil
3 meats

I made a checklist of each food group with a box for each point to tally up each day.


Can anyone explain to me the changes between the old points plan and the new Points Plus on WW? Also If anyone has a better idea of how I can track what she eats and easily see what she has left and needs to eat for the remainder of the day, I am all ears.

Also, I am wondering if you don't eat all 5 of the oils would you be able to exchange those for say a piece of cheese or extra meat? She only is allotted for 3 oz of meat each day and I remember using more lean meat on WW than that.

She has a little weight to lose and I am eating on her plan with her to support her. Thanks in advance.

 

[PrincessAndrea'sMom]

For the new points plus program, they have removed using calories from points calculation and instead use carbs, protein, fat, and fiber. They do not release the specifics, but more carbs equals more points, while protein has less points. For example, the cereal I eat for breakfast went from 2 points to 3, but skim milk and a piece of chicken have remained the same amount of points. Fiber one bars used to be my go to snack at 2 points, but are not worth the new 4 points to me anymore. One a good note, all fruit and most veggies is now zero points, even bananas! The program kinda forces you to eat better...less sugar and more protein, plants, whole grains. I have been doing it for about 2 months now and really like it. And, we all get more points than before. I used to get 25 points a day, now I get 29.

 

[johnsontrio]

For the new points plus program, they have removed using calories from points calculation and instead use carbs, protein, fat, and fiber. They do not release the specifics, but more carbs equals more points, while protein has less points. For example, the cereal I eat for breakfast went from 2 points to 3, but skim milk and a piece of chicken have remained the same amount of points. Fiber one bars used to be my go to snack at 2 points, but are not worth the new 4 points to me anymore. One a good note, all fruit and most veggies is now zero points, even bananas! The program kinda forces you to eat better...less sugar and more protein, plants, whole grains. I have been doing it for about 2 months now and really like it. And, we all get more points than before. I used to get 25 points a day, now I get 29.

Thank you for the reply. In order to determine the number of points for each food item are they using a slide rule tool and the nutritional information on the packaging like they used to or do you look up each food individually in some sort of WW booklet? They went to Core after the program I was on and that seemed also to focus on whole healthier foods instead of processed foods. I hated the plain yogurt on Core though, yuck!

 

[PrincessAndrea'sMom]

Nope, no slide rule, only a points calculator and books to look up points. Finding points values is way more difficult and time consuming now. They say its a much better program....I hope they are right!

 

[lisah0711]

Have you considered just using the American Dietetic Association exchanges that the trainer provided? That seems a lot easier than trying to convert to old WW points and then trying to convert old WW points to new WW Points Plus, which is hard to do since it is a proprietary formula.

Here is a link to the servings for exchanges from the National Institute of Health http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/fd_exch.htm
This is the system that registered dieticians use. This has a list of what is a serving and links to more info on the same. Probably more than you were given before.

I've done WW, WW Points Plus, exchanges, and plain old calorie counting. There is no one right system -- it's just the system that works for you and your DD (which may change from time to time). I would get discouraged with all the converting myself.

Good luck to you and your DD! It's nice that you are supporting her!

 

[johnsontrio]

Have you considered just using the American Dietetic Association exchanges that the trainer provided? That seems a lot easier than trying to convert to old WW points and then trying to convert old WW points to new WW Points Plus, which is hard to do since it is a proprietary formula.

Here is a link to the servings for exchanges from the National Institute of Health http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/fd_exch.htm
This is the system that registered dieticians use. This has a list of what is a serving and links to more info on the same. Probably more than you were given before.

I've done WW, WW Points Plus, exchanges, and plain old calorie counting. There is no one right system -- it's just the system that works for you and your DD (which may change from time to time). I would get discouraged with all the converting myself.

Good luck to you and your DD! It's nice that you are supporting her!

The initial problem with that is that they provided me only a couple examples of what constituted a serving of each group. I talked with the trainer last night and she suggested that I use the online diary at myfitnesspal.com which does all the calculations for you and tells you what you have left each day. I started using that today and so far, so good. You then have to add in your daily exercise and that gives you more calories to spend. I plan on having DD take this over once we figure out what she needs to eat to hit her nutritional goals and not feel hungry. If I ask her to do it too soon (before we get all that figured out), she will become frustrated and fudge her numbers right and left.

I guess the biggest issue I have is only having three 1 ounce servings of meat per day and no where to put any cheese other than subbing it out for the fats. Since DD isn't a coffee drinker and might not use salad dressing daily, I'm not sure where she will get the 5 fat exchanges. If I sub in cheese or peanut butter the protein count becomes too high. I guess I will put those in for the calories she burns exercising. Next week we will take in her food diary and the staff nutritionist will look it over and give her recommendations.

Thanks for the response! I looked at the website you linked and it is helpful.

 

[Mary976]

There are lots of places online to get the ADA exchange lists, and that might give you more ideas. One thing I would encourage you to ask someone about is if it is only 3 OUNCES or 3 SERVINGS (a serving being 2-3 oz) of protein. Only 3 oz per day seems low, but the person your working with would be the best to advise you.

Good luck with everything,
Mary