Weight Watchers Points Plus 2012

With the arrival of 2012, so came modifications to Weight Watchers PointsPlus weight loss plan. The changes this time were modest compared to the whole scale revamp of the Points program into PointsPlus which was launched in November of 2010. All of these changes were tweaks around the edges, and are summarized here on this page for your review.

If you were having difficulty finding success with Weight Watchers Points Plus, do you feel these changes will help you meet your weight loss goals? Are you still struggling with PointsPlus and wishing Weight Watchers would go back to the old Points system? You can give your opinions below and have the chance to hear what others are saying about the Weight Watchers program as well.

This page was created on December 15, 2011 and is the work of the author, sockii. Do not reproduce elsewhere.

Weight Watchers has just rolled out their newest plan for 2013: The 360 Plan. Bid now on these kits available on eBay to try it for yourself! You can also learn more about the program in my newest Weight Watchers review article:

More Changes for 2013

Weight Watchers has just rolled out their newest plan for 2013: The 360 Plan. Bid now on these kits available on eBay to try it for yourself! You can also learn more about the program in my newest Weight Watchers review article:

Weight Watchers 360 Plan for 2013
It's another end-of-the-year, which means changes to the Weight Watchers weight loss plan - as usual. 2013 marks Weight Watchers 50th anniversary, and to cel...

My previous article on Weight Watchers PointsPlus

For more information on the Weight Watchers Points Plus program, including analysis of the formulas and original Points Plus targets based on weight, gender and age, please read the following article first:

Weight Watchers Points Plus: The Problem of 29
Is Weight Watchers' PointsPlus not working for you? The problem of so many people at 29 points On February 9, 2011 Weight Watchers CEO David Kirchhoff took ...

It's no longer Points Plus vs. SFT as full time "either/or" choice

WeightWatchers actually has two plans. One requires tracking what you eat and counting the PointsPlus values of the food you eat (PointsPlus) and the other program involves learning about satisfaction and eating to satisfaction almost exclusively from the list of PowerFoods (called the Simply Filling Technique or SFT). SFT vs. PointsPlus used to be pick one or the other to follow every day. Now you can switch between the programs on a daily basis.Personally, when WeightWatchers first introduced SFT (back then it was called Core) in 2004, I quit. I found the thrust of the program unhelpful for my (over-)eating issues.

That said, conceptually, the concepts behind SFT are sound and rest in the research of Barbara Rolls (author of Volumetrics) and others. Opening SFT up as a daily option, if the meeting leaders can successfully coach people on how to use it, could be an interesting technique for certain situations such as surviving a party at work. E.g.: "Go ahead eat 'unlimited' boneless/skinless chicken at the party because you are doing an SFT day" or some such. I'm not entirely sure of the exact use case, but it seems like it should be along those lines.

29 is no longer the lowest daily PointsPlus target

There is a new Daily Points Target (DPT) for some people under the revised 2012 Points Plus program.

Basically the formula (see their patent) is unchanged, but instead of 29 being the lowest DPT given to a participant, now it is 26. (71 is still the new high under Points Plus). Additionally, Weight Watchers is now encouraging anyone to move their targets up or down by three (3) Points to either increase or slow their weight loss. This change introduces some flexibility into the program and is an acknowledgment that not everyone experiences weight loss the same based simply on their current weight, age and gender.

Weight Watchers moves beyond simply encouraging physical activity

Previously, although exercise was mentioned as part of the Weight Watchers program, it was not heavily emphasized or considered a required part of following the plan. Now every Weight Watchers Points Plus participant is getting an Activity Points Plus Target (APT). For most users, this APT appears to be 14/week or 2/day. The goal is to get all participants to have a baseline level of activity as part of their weight loss or weight management program.

New Program for Weight Watchers Meeting Members

Weight Watchers has a new kick off program called "PowerStart" spread over three weeks (meeting members only) to help teach some cognitive behavioral skills to get better results. The format for the PowerStart sessions is that after the meeting, the meeting leader does the new program orientation for any new members and then does one of the three PowerStart topics (these cycle through every three weeks). The weigh in cards have locations for stamping attendance at the PowerStart sessions; presumably this is to encourage new members to sit through the introduction to the materials three times, too.

Each week the PowerStart topic is accompanied by a booklet on the topic: smart-choices spaces, planning, and powerfoods. The booklet has a fixed menu (26 DPT) spelled out for participants that do not want to have to make choices their first few weeks as well as an introduction to the topic of the week. For example the places PowerStart session encourages participants to think about what they will remove, replace with, and other changes they will make in their kitchen, car, workplace, elsewhere to have more success.

Points Plus value changes, and concluding thoughts

Lastly for 2012, some PointsPlus values for foods have changed.This is not a change in the formula for computing PointsPlus values, but rather reflects an update to the Weight Watchers databases based on underlying changes in the USDA nutrition database they are using. For example, if 1 oz of almonds used to, according to the USDA, have 13 g of fat, but now the USDA reports the same 1 oz of almonds as having 14 g of fat, that might cause the PointsPlus value of 1 oz of almonds to go up.It appears that about 15-20 foods have changed PointsPlus values as a result of this update. For this author, one notable change is wine (now with a lowered PointsPlus value).

That said, the timing for this change seems poorly thought out. It seems like this could have been saved until, say, March 2012 or rolled out back in October to avoid overlapping this change with people learning the new plan.

Looking to give PointsPlus a try? Check eBay for start kits if you don't want to join online or pay to go to a meeting.

If you preferred the Weight Watchers Momentum program, which began in 2008, you can still find products related to it on eBay.

The TurnAround program in 2004 combined elements of Flex and Core with more emphasis on healthy eating and living.

In November 2011, I added a survey to my previous lens on Weight Watchers Points Plus, asking readers for their opinions on the plan now that it's been in place for nearly a year. Over 5,000 individuals have responded as of October 2012, with currently only about 40% expressing satisfaction with Points Plus. 25% say they preferred and switched back to a previous Weight Watchers plan; 12% switched to a different weight loss program (such as SparkPeople), and another 9% stopped trying to lose weight completely. Do you think these modest plan changes for Points Plus for 2012 will improve users satisfaction and success with the program?

Do you think these changes to Points Plus for 2012 are a good idea or a bad idea?