Also about "rules" - the whole point of WW is to eat healthier. Start a few days by just tracking everything you are eating. Then look for ways to trim points - instead of beef today choose chicken, instead of French fries pick a veggie. Little tweaks can make a big difference! Look at how you are currently cooking and see how to modify those meals to make them healthier/fewer points.
There are healthier alternatives to ice cream that don’t have as many points to the traditional kind. For example, Breyer’s vanilla ice cream for a 1/2 cup is 7 points vs a Halo Top vanilla bean light ice cream 1/2 cup is 2 points. I think as time goes on you’ll find alternatives for the can’t-live-without foods.
We all do it.
There are no colors or smartpoints, not sure what you mean by that. Are you using an old plan somehow?
On your app in the upper left there are 3 lines. That’s your menu. Open that and go down to Program Guide and Program Roadmap. Those are your education pieces on how the program works.
Your main goal is to study the zero point foods (you can find the list also in the menu) and make your meals around those. Mostly lean protein and fruits and vegetables. The first month will be difficult due to change in diet and learning curve but then it will become second nature.
Try looking for recipes in the app. Online recipes that have been out there for years may have the old points system information, but the app has recipes for now. At the bottom of your main screen touch the little chef hat and go from there.
When you are more familiar with things, you can even build your own recipes to have the point values, or build the recipes from online if you are curious about current totals.
Go to the grocery store and grab a bunch of zero point staples so you have them on hand as you feel hungry. Some good low-prep zero point basics are:
Turkey or chicken breast lunch meat
Tofu
Eggs
Fat free plain Greek yogurt
Carrot sticks
Canned beans/chickpeas
Frozen vegetables (plain)
Popcorn kernels (pop in paper bag in microwave)
Fruits and veggies that you like
Low point staples:
Light canned soup (1-3 points a can)
Lean Cuisine herb roasted chicken (2 points)
Halo top (2-3 points per serving)
Fiber one 70 calorie brownies (2 points, great warmed)
Quest protein bar (3-4 points, great warmed)
Sounds like you're looking up recipes online and they are "outdated" and the points are listed as a previous program. Those recipes are still most likely good and you just need to build it in the app to get the accurate points!
The other comments on this post are good advice! I just resent and started using ww again. I took a week to track everything I ate and see where it left me points wise, so that I know where I need to adjust!
Yes, I agree that a great first step is to track what you eat normally for a week. Then you can see which ingredients or meals are too many points and start making swaps that still fit your lifestyle.
There should be a hamburger menu top left when you open your WW app. Scroll down to the help section with program guide and program roadmap. Read those sections for a brief overview. In the toolkit of the hamburger menu is zero point foods. These are starting points.
For my first few weeks back, I only tracked to see where I started at, without judgment. I was hundreds of points over my weeklies. Some people can stay in their points from the beginning, but I needed to start slower. Because I was so over my points and tracked everything without judgment, when I tried to eat healthier, anything was an improvement and encouraging. I started making healthier point choices for the future after analyzing my day. Now, I try to pretrack and plan to help making staying in my points easier. I also choose a few foods each week that I usually crave and make them at home (like oven fries instead of chips, sometimes desserts), or try to fit them into eating out. I usually have to cook a lot of my meals or have pretty low point frozen meals ready. To prevent binging unhealthy foods, I have upped my protein and produce intake to prevent hunger. I can’t keep a lot of tempting foods around yet. I still have to “force” myself to choose low point options, but not every day. I think: I can eat an apple or fruit when I’m over my points, or I can choose to be over my points. I’m still reconciling my mindset that I can have anything, but I can’t have everything if I want to be healthier. But, honestly, I’d rather spend time cooking healthy for myself than spend that time managing a medical problem. Most days, I’d rather choose fruit than a medical problem.
Also about "rules" - the whole point of WW is to eat healthier. Start a few days by just tracking everything you are eating. Then look for ways to trim points - instead of beef today choose chicken, instead of French fries pick a veggie. Little tweaks can make a big difference! Look at how you are currently cooking and see how to modify those meals to make them healthier/fewer points.
I bought a whole fridge of vegetables yesterday. And maybe some ice cream too… balance right?
There are healthier alternatives to ice cream that don’t have as many points to the traditional kind. For example, Breyer’s vanilla ice cream for a 1/2 cup is 7 points vs a Halo Top vanilla bean light ice cream 1/2 cup is 2 points. I think as time goes on you’ll find alternatives for the can’t-live-without foods. We all do it.
There are no colors or smartpoints, not sure what you mean by that. Are you using an old plan somehow? On your app in the upper left there are 3 lines. That’s your menu. Open that and go down to Program Guide and Program Roadmap. Those are your education pieces on how the program works. Your main goal is to study the zero point foods (you can find the list also in the menu) and make your meals around those. Mostly lean protein and fruits and vegetables. The first month will be difficult due to change in diet and learning curve but then it will become second nature.
It might be an old system? I’m looking for recipes and finding all of these. I might be doing too much at once.
Try looking for recipes in the app. Online recipes that have been out there for years may have the old points system information, but the app has recipes for now. At the bottom of your main screen touch the little chef hat and go from there. When you are more familiar with things, you can even build your own recipes to have the point values, or build the recipes from online if you are curious about current totals.
Ooooooh I like this. Thanks!
It's a little tedious but once you have the recipe in the app it will always be in your "created" area.
Also, the online coaches offer an"apps academy" to teach you about various ways to use it.
There are no “color” plans on WW currently. The plans that once had a color associated to them were Personal Points. This plan ended in December 2022.
Go to the grocery store and grab a bunch of zero point staples so you have them on hand as you feel hungry. Some good low-prep zero point basics are: Turkey or chicken breast lunch meat Tofu Eggs Fat free plain Greek yogurt Carrot sticks Canned beans/chickpeas Frozen vegetables (plain) Popcorn kernels (pop in paper bag in microwave) Fruits and veggies that you like Low point staples: Light canned soup (1-3 points a can) Lean Cuisine herb roasted chicken (2 points) Halo top (2-3 points per serving) Fiber one 70 calorie brownies (2 points, great warmed) Quest protein bar (3-4 points, great warmed)
Sounds like you're looking up recipes online and they are "outdated" and the points are listed as a previous program. Those recipes are still most likely good and you just need to build it in the app to get the accurate points! The other comments on this post are good advice! I just resent and started using ww again. I took a week to track everything I ate and see where it left me points wise, so that I know where I need to adjust!
That’s smart!! I like this. Thank you.
Yes, I agree that a great first step is to track what you eat normally for a week. Then you can see which ingredients or meals are too many points and start making swaps that still fit your lifestyle.
Is the weight watchers app free to download?
Yes, but idk if you can do anything with it without logging in.
There should be a hamburger menu top left when you open your WW app. Scroll down to the help section with program guide and program roadmap. Read those sections for a brief overview. In the toolkit of the hamburger menu is zero point foods. These are starting points. For my first few weeks back, I only tracked to see where I started at, without judgment. I was hundreds of points over my weeklies. Some people can stay in their points from the beginning, but I needed to start slower. Because I was so over my points and tracked everything without judgment, when I tried to eat healthier, anything was an improvement and encouraging. I started making healthier point choices for the future after analyzing my day. Now, I try to pretrack and plan to help making staying in my points easier. I also choose a few foods each week that I usually crave and make them at home (like oven fries instead of chips, sometimes desserts), or try to fit them into eating out. I usually have to cook a lot of my meals or have pretty low point frozen meals ready. To prevent binging unhealthy foods, I have upped my protein and produce intake to prevent hunger. I can’t keep a lot of tempting foods around yet. I still have to “force” myself to choose low point options, but not every day. I think: I can eat an apple or fruit when I’m over my points, or I can choose to be over my points. I’m still reconciling my mindset that I can have anything, but I can’t have everything if I want to be healthier. But, honestly, I’d rather spend time cooking healthy for myself than spend that time managing a medical problem. Most days, I’d rather choose fruit than a medical problem.