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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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15 years ago I lost 32kg on WW points plan. It was great, I never felt hungry, I could save up points and eat things I liked. It never felt like a diet. Have just joined again and can’t say I’m enjoying it much. I’m sick of eggs and chicken! Milk and bread consume your points stash and you can never have a sweet treat once in awhile. Feels very diet-y, thinking of cancelling….wish I still had my points book from all those years ago!
I am a lifetime member since 1980 so I have seen and experienced many new plans and I too hate the new Freestyle Plan. I’m a person that needs more structure, an exact number of points to stick to each day and the freedom to eat whatever I want. You can eat all the chicken, eggs, and beans you want, but nothing is truly “free”. Those food items all have calories in them and take in to many and you’re going to gain weight. This new plan reminds me of the old Fit and Fiber Plan that was a total bust! I wish they would listen to members and leave well enough alone.
I also don’t love Freestyle but for those of you who have done the old plans like myself, you know what to do. You either have the old books or just remember how many points. I go to WW for the motivation and the meetings and have the choice of doing the old plan if I want. Just do the old plan! You don’t need apps and all the new computer stuff. Just count the points on a piece of paper. I am trying the Freestyle and not overdoing the free points. I don’t find anything restrictive here. 23 points is not that much different than 26. If you lost on the old plan and not losing now, you’re having too many “free” points. That said, I do think they should never have changed the plan and everyone would be happy!
I’m very disappointed in freestyle. Definitely feel like I’m on a restrictive diet. I lost weight successfully tracking calories with myfitnesspal before so I’ve been comparing my freestyle points with myfitnesspal calories. I’m not consuming a healthy number of calories per day when I stick to my points. Sometimes we want a little carb or sweet, but the points assigned to them are so excessive that there is no fun in this diet at all. Not a realistic lifestyle, a restrictive diet.
I hate freestyle quite a bit. I lost 80+ pounds on SmartPoints and then during maintenance (the 6 weeks between goal and lifetime) they switched to freestyle. I was able to make it to lifetime and eat the way I had been on SmartPoints for a few weeks to get a few more pounds off. But soon when freestyle was in full blown motion, I started slowly gaining weight back. I have maintained lifetime but my cushion isn’t nearly what it once was. It’s very frustrating that I can’t seem to get back to my lowest and feel almost forced into double tracking (calories and points). It’s by far the most restrictive plan I’ve ever been on and it’s been a tough year.
I’m a lifetime member who has been very successful with WW smart points. I was going for almost a year weekly when freestyle kicked in. I tried it for months and it just didn’t work for me so I stopped. Mainly because I got bored with chicken, eggs and beans. With SP I would plan out my week. It’s what worked for me. Please WW bring back the old program and make freestyle a thing of the past!
I lost stacks of weight on Smart Points – 20+ kilos — but switching to Freestyle was disastrous. I struggled for 6 weeks to lose one measly kilo, and felt confused, hungry and frustrated all the time. Totally gave up and will never return to WW again until they allow members to use the old SP system that worked so well.
These plans are great if you have the budget for them. To my mind it is best to join a free forum or download a calorie counting app to start off with. As they are free you can take your time, find out what works for you and build your motivation. Also you are not restricted, I use Yazio (https://www.yazio.com/en/calorie-intake-calculator) to track my calories and I eat whatever I want, as long as I stay within my ideal intake. This way if I eat out or want to eat a cheat-meal I can work around that 🙂
I met my goal on Smart Points. It was totally doable. I still got my sweets and ate plenty. Two weeks on freestyle and I hate it. WAAAAY to restricted, all I eat are vegetables and chicken. 23 points are not enough. Let’s face it. If we ate like that already, we would not be on Weight Watchers. The adjustment is too much. So I found an app that would track food on the Smart Points plan and I switched. Feel happier already.
I am quitting WW (meetings and everything) this week. I HATE FREESTYLE! I’ve been following this for over a year so I’ve given it a fair trial. I lost 75 pounds fairly easily on SP and made it to my goal. I was happily maintaining at 128 pounds on 38 points a day. Then, during the 2017 holidays I gained 9 pounds, just around the time they introduced FS. Guess what? I never lost those 9 pounds and have been gaining even more. They cut my points down to 23 which is an impossible number for me even with the free food. I LOST 15 POINTS! I’m tired of paying $45 a month for a plan that isn’t working for me. I’ve found an app that will let me switch back to SP and I won’t miss the meetings because I’m so tired of hearing “Rah rah Freestyle.” I feel totally and completely betrayed by WW.