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New My WW 2020 Program Changes: Rumors and Social Buzz
It has been more than six months since Weight Watchers launched its new Freestyle Program with its greatly expanded zero points food list, so it seemed like a good time to step back and do a review.
Is WW Freestyle successful? Too free? Too restrictive? Just right? That all depends on who you talk to….
Just take a look at some of the comments I’ve read:
Weight Watchers Freestyle Member Reviews…
“The new freestyle plan is right up my alley. I’m someone who already eats eggs, chicken, and beans and now they count as ZERO SmartPoints. Freestyle is cleaner. The less packaged processed foods is better.”
“I joined WW back in February 2017 so far I’ve lost 50 lbs. I really like the sp system but with this new system I just don’t know. As someone mentioned before I like being able to track everything and with my points decreasing to 23 I’m not sure I will continue to be as successful. I don’t really eat much eggs, beans and chicken. So this wasn’t really a hit for me.”
“Love freestyle. No longer feel punished by eating healthy foods – instead, I feel rewarded! Freestyle pushes you to eat healthy foods but leaves room for indulgences. I ate a 6-course dinner at a French restaurant, including 2 glasses of wine for New Years and didn’t gain—-because I planned for it and have been adjusting my other meals/activity for the week accordingly. I never feel hungry. If I’m out of points for the day and hungry, I can eat fruit and yogurt, white bean chicken chili, chicken salad, or tofu veggie stir fry for zero points. What?! it’s crazy awesome. I love it.”
“I love Freestyle. I have had no problem switching to it and in fact find it easier. I love that I can add peas and corn or chickpeas to my salad and not have to count those points. I really feel I am eating better than I was before and the rollover points saved me during the holidays. I actually lost weight.”
“I don’t like Freestyle. I am already sick of chicken, chicken, chicken, eggs, eggs, eggs. I can’t afford fish or sea food more than once a week, tops. I have not lost any weight on this plan, despite careful measuring and tracking. It is super boring. There is no “fun” in it. I feel like this narrow way of eating is being forced on me. Instead of teaching a healthy way to eat and then letting us adapt it to our own culture and way of eating…we are given ultra limited choices…chicken….and vegetables and fruit. I can barely swallow these foods already, I am so sick of them. I just want a glass of MILK! I want a HAMBURGER! Once in a while, I want something SWEET! I want VARIETY! Maybe some PIZZA or a TACO! I could do all of things when I was at 31 points. I can do NOTHING at 22 points. I just want to give up.”
“Not liking it, too much like Atkins. I am eating more fruit, than with the old system, and I like the eggs, but not the beans. Honestly I just feel like I’m starving all the time.”
“LOVE the new plan. Lost 7 big ones so far! (started in late November) I am a vegetarian and love legume-based dishes, so this is just in my wheelhouse, and most seasonings don’t add points. No deprivation or cravings. Big love!”
Why Are Some Succeeding on WW Freestyle While Others are Struggling?
How can it be that some people are struggling with Weight Watchers Freestyle while others are succeeding? Some love it. Others not so much.
The truth is that there is no one way to lose weight that will work for everyone. Lasting weight loss requires finding habits and behaviors that you can commit to for the long haul, a lifestyle and way of eating that work for YOU and YOUR LIFE.
The best way to lose weight is the way you can stick with! You need to lose weight your way.
For many people Weight Watchers is the way.
Weight Watchers has been around for more than 50 years. During that time, the program has changed drastically and vacillated in its degree of restrictiveness.
The original WW Program from the 1960s was extremely restrictive and became gradually more flexible as an exchange based diet, reaching it’s pinnacle of freedom in 1997 with the introduction of original Points Plan, which was essentially a proprietary way to count calories.
In 2010, the PointsPlus Plan introduced a new calculation, the concept of power foods, and Zero Points fruits and vegetables.
Many members struggled with the transition from Points to PointsPlus and again in 2015 with the transition from Weight Watchers PointsPlus to SmartPoints, when the points values of foods high in sugar and/or saturated fat went up.
Suddenly, for many members what had been a manageable way of eating felt much more like a DIET.
With all these different WW Programs/Plans some have thrived while others have floundered. Why?
Abstainers & Moderators Require Different Approaches to Weight Loss
Then it hit me. I thought back to a post I wrote back in 2013 after learning about the difference between Abstainers and Moderators and why it is a key to weight loss success.
Some people – Abstainers – do better with firm dos and don’t. Others – Moderators – do better with freedom and choice.
So a Moderator tends to do better managing the occasional sweet treat and resents the excessive SmartPoint price assigned to it. While an Abstainer may do better giving up certain sweet treats altogether.
A Moderator may do well managing an expansive list of zero points foods, while an Abstainer may do better with a plan defining exact portion sizes.
This helps explains why some people are thriving on WW Freestyle and other people are struggling and why on one weight loss program is never the solution for everyone.
Please share your review of WW Freestyle
Love it? Hate it? Why???
WW Freestyle 2019 Program Changes
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I am a lifetime member, getting back to goal. This is the first program in 17 years, for me. So I am comparing it to a much different program. I am so happy on this one and I can live this way forever! I love to cook and love both chicken and eggs. I an learning to love beans and lentils. I started in January and have lost 51 pounds so far. I think it has to do with our attitude. I started this
program expecting success. I have learned to eat more zero point foods, so that I can indulge in the other foods. This way, nothing is off limits, I just have to plan. Because I love to cook, I see recipes in a different way. My solution is to convert them to “Weight Watcher” friendly recipes. This is my life, even after I get to goal!
I like it. I have been with WW since the mid 1970’s, on again off again for years. If I gained the weight back each time it was my fault not the program. I have lost 25 lbs since the First of Feb. Yes, it is slow, I figure I am losing about 1 lb.every 10 days or so, but that is ok with me and I don’t feel deprived. Be sure to eat your 23 points everyday, and dip into you 35 weeklies too when needed. Steady wins the race!
I love Freestyle and have been extremely successful with it, losing 42 pounds since 4/4/18. I was ecstatic to see all the zero point foods and how I could use them to make wonderful, satisfying meals that my husband and son enjoyed as well. I think with anything relating to food you have to use common sense, i.e. Can I eat 8 bananas in a day? Yes. SHOULD I eat 8 bananas in a day? Um, well, I don’t think I’d like the result and I’m not talking weight loss (or gain) here! I’m learning how to balance all my daily requirements while staying mostly within my 23 daily points. There have been only a couple of times I have borrowed from my weeklies and I’m still satisfied. And I track everything. I think the phone app was genius and it’s the greatest tool I have incorporated into my life. I have thoroughly spelunked your website for recipes, as well as many other blogs that post WW-friendly recipes, and I never lack for variety! And I still manage to eat out in restaurants 3-5 meals a week, whether it’s a salad from a fast food restaurant with LF dressing, or pizza and a salad, or steak and all it’s trimmings (albeit within reason). I find as long as I plan out my day, or my week if something special is on the horizon, I have managed to maintain a steady consistent weight loss. But more importantly Freestyle is slowly helping me learn about how I relate to food and how I use it for fuel as well as emotional comfort. I understand we all lose weight differently, and our bodies need different combinations for it to be successful, so I feel strongly that each of us just have to figure out how to use Freestyle to our own best advantage. Personally I have loved the restrictions being removed because I have been able to eliminate any guilt associated with whatever it is I choose to eat, whether it’s a hamburger or a piece of chocolate cake; and YES I have found Freestyle friendly versions of both that are tremendously satisfying! Bottom line, this program is life-changing for me personally and I can forsee it being the basis of how I choose my lifestyle for (hopefully) a very long and healthy life.
I love the new Freestyle program, I love the fact that you get roll-overs if you don’t use all your daily points. That allows me to have burgers, pizza and other high point foods toward the end of my week. I am careful not to over do the zero point foods because they do still have calories. I have lost very slowly but this is a program I can live with unlike the smart point program.
I LOVE the new Freestyle program. I have been on WW many times during my lifetime, and I think that this is the easiest plan to follow so far. I love all of the foods that are “free”. The only thing I have to watch is the amount of fruit, which is “free” that I eat because I am a diabetic. So far I am doing well on the Freestyle plan and hope it sticks around for a while.
I didn’t do well with smart points, I felt like a failure all the time always recommiting on Monday. I found it just too restrictive. I lost 50+ lbs. On points plus, and on a previous plan in 1994 (don’t remember the name) my issue with weight watchers is everyone knows there isn’t a one size fits all plan, so it doesn’t make since that they don’t let members decide or do the plan that worked or works best for them. They would be helping alot more people to achieve their weight goals if we were given a choice and access to the plan that suits us individualy.
I am not a fan of free style. I like most all of the zero point foods but I wish they would assign points if you eat 2 servings instead of 1. I gained about 8 lbs until I learned I still had to measure my servings. I am maintaining now but would like to lose the 8 lbs I put on. It seems to me that it is very much like simply filling and I did not lose on that either. I wish we had a choice.
I recently gave up on WW because I thought it was too “Free.” I lost 30 lbs with the original points program but the two revisions after that, the Smart Points, and now Freestyle, were just too liberal for me. I wasn’t losing at all anymore. I think the zero points on fruit should be reevaluated because I think it can mean eating too much sugar, even though it is natural sugar.
I joined Weight Watchers the first time in 1972. I lost 38 pounds, kept it off for several years, became a WW leader, and then stopped when my personal circumstances changed.
I’ve gone back a couple of times since then, and have never been successful. Decided one more time and the success I’m having on Freestyle is amazing. Which is kind of odd, as it’s so completely different from the original plan.
If I plan for it, I can eat anything I want. I’m active, but have yet to eat any Activity Points and only a couple times have I used any Weekly ones. I guess it’s just a good fit for me.
I really enjoy your website/blog/recipes. Inspiring and helpful. Thank you.
I have not lost on the new freestyle system..I have actually gained and my cholesterol has gone up. Therefore, I cannot eat the eggs. I am so totally bored with chicken. I did well on Points Plus and Smart Points but I cannot handle the 23 points I am supposed to be eating now even with the “free” foods. I don’t eat beans so making that “free” wasn’t a plus for me. I just find this one way to difficult to handle and I am always hungry. I gave up and just eat what I want now…and surprise surprise…I was so used to Smart Points and Points Plus that I am now maintaining a comfortable weight because I think I am just absentmindedly doing that. I still should lose 30 pounds but right now I am not fretting over it. I do look forward to when WW changes the program again. They seem to do it every two years.