How Many Points Are You Allowed on Weight Watchers?

Weight Watchers has long been a popular method to lose weight. Part of the company's success is due to its simple, user-friendly methods. There are no strange recipes you need to follow or dangerous pills you need to take to shed the pounds. All you need to do is make sure you are staying within your weekly point allowance.

• Lost Weight

What Is Weight Watchers?

• Weight Watchers is about changing your lifestyle, not dieting. According to the website Medicinenet.com, "Weight Watchers does not tell people what they can or can't eat. The goal is to help people make healthy eating decisions and encourage them to enjoy more physical activity, thereby losing weight safely and sensibly. At local group meetings, Weight Watchers members get motivation, mutual support, and encouragement in handling the challenges encountered in the process of changing behavior."

Point System

• Weight Watchers' well structured point system is what sets them apart from other weight loss approaches. Instead of counting calories, each food is assigned a points value based on fat and fiber, as well as calories. When you start with Weight Watchers, you will get a certain point range based on your weight. You are allowed to eat whatever you want as long as you stay within you allotted point range. But if your daily point range is 25, you will probably think twice before you eat a Big Mac, which has 14 points.

Activity Points

• If you exercise, you can get points for being active. You subtract your activity points from your food points. For example, if you are a woman and you walk or bike in a moderate pace for half an hour, you will receive two activity points. In other words, if your daily point range allowance is 25, you can eat foods worthy of 27 points as long as you also get two points worth of exercise.

Does It Work?

• According to the website healthyweightforum.org, "The average weight loss amongst Weight Watchers Points participants 'is not very much in comparison to what people hope they will lose, or what people need to lose in order to reach the desired, svelte self,' reported study author Dr. Stanley Heshka." But an article on CBSnews.com, pointed out this: "Research shows that people who go to Weight Watchers meetings are much more likely to lose weight than people who try to lose weight on their own."

Considerations

• The idea that you can eat whatever you want as long as you do not eat too many points is not great from a nutritional standpoint. On a 25-point daily range, you may lose weight from eating only one and a half Big Mac per day, but you will not get all the nutrients your body needs to function properly.