WW Math-what Wiki says about points
Written by
april485
on
7/28/2011 7:24 AM
After reading many posts on the message boards about Points v. Points Plus and how many of the people who began WW prior to the introduction of Points Plus have gone back to the old Points system for various reasons I was intrigued by it all.
Several veteran WW have stated that if you don't really change the way you eat, the programs are identical. It is a pain to have to memorize the new Points for the various foods for sure, but other than that, the programs are the same. You get more points but the point values for the foods are generally higher. I have no basis for comparison since I have only been following WW since January when Points Plus was in full swing.
The formula for calculating how many points per day a person gets is based on these four factors (source Wikipedia) Height, Weight, Age, Gender. This has often baffled people. Whenever I tell anyone on the boards that I have been assigned 29 Daily Points (which has been my number since Day One) and that my original goal was to lose 105 pounds, they are very surprised by that. Since 29 is the lowest points anyone is ever assigned on the Points Plus program, the plus side to this is that I will never know the joy (or agony) of losing a point after dropping pounds. Most people start with many more points than this on the 100+ to lose board where I hang out.
I know why I have been assigned this point total. I am older, (56) I am short, 5'0", I am female and my starting weight was under the threshold (225 lbs) for an assignment of more points. According to Wikipedia, the points of a specific food are the equivalent of anywhere from 35-45 calories for each point assigned while the Points program assumed 50 calories per point, give or take. The points assigned to anyone, which could be from 29-71, according to Wikipedia are based on creating a 1,000 calorie per day deficit. So, 29 points equates to around the minimum daily requirement anyone should ever eat while dieting which is 1,200 calories, give or take based on the formula of 35-45 calories per point.
As anyone knows, exercise burns calories and so racking up AP's allows you to lose weight a bit faster and also will allow you to eat a little more. The Weekly points add anywhere from 245 to 315 calories a day, based on dividing those 49 WP up at 7 per day. This is still a low amount of calories coupled with the approximately 1,200 that WW assigns to me with the DP value of 29. That is why you can generally (everyone is different) eat those Weekly Points and still lose weight at the safe rate of 1/2 to 2 pounds per week. Especially if you add in activity to your week which of course creates a further calorie deficit.
Whichever program you follow, you can lose weight safely and steadily on this program WITHOUT sacrificing the things you love. WW just changed the formula to encourage people to eschew those 100 calorie snack packs in favor of eating more fruit and vegetables by making them 0 points (most veggies, not all as corn and peas and all starchy veggies have point values) They are 0 points, not 0 calories.
This tends to be where people get a bit confused. They wish to encourage the consumption of these fruits and vegetables as studies have shown that people would rather snack on cookies if there is a point value assigned than an apple or a plum. All things being equal in terms of points on the old point system, who wouldn't? But, the caveat here is that as I said above. Fruit is 0 Points but is NOT 0 calories!
If you eat 15 servings of fruit a day, you can and often do gain weight. It can also render you too full to eat your Daily Points Allowance which is the minimum you should be eating in order to realize optimum nutrition! If you are following the Good Healthy Guidelines of the 8 items, such as fruits and veggies, liquids, healthy o
ils, dairy, protein, whole grains and your daily vitamin, you are eating a balanced and sensible diet that will allow you to lose no matter what your Daily Target is.
Math class over!
Categories:
Food, General, My weight loss
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