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Please Note: Weight Watchers has changed it’s program again. Click here to learn more about Weight Watchers latest program for 2020.
Some Successful Weight Watchers Struggle with Transitioning from Points Plus to Smart Points
I ran across this post over at Drizzle Me Skinny, where Kate, a successful Weight Watchers Lifetime Member, explains why she made the decision to switch back to PointsPlus after testing out the new SmartPoints Plan for three months.
She basically sums it up with this assessment:
After about a month of getting into the swing of the new point system I noticed my moods at the end of the day were different, and I was finding myself in the kitchen eating all sorts of snacks I normally never would have, a little of this, a little of that and next thing you know I am easily 10-20 points over my daily allowance of 30SP. This is because I wasn’t buying or making the things I was so accustomed to on my points plus journey… because most things were about 1/3 of my allotted daily allowance. This new habit I had picked up was something I never did on points plus and I can sum that up to “restriction.”
A lot of folks left comments expressing similar frustration that was tapping into feelings of deprivation leading to bingeing and weight gain. Not a good thing! And I’m sure not what Weight Watchers intended. Weight loss is such a mental game!
I know being told I can’t have something is a real problem for me. I have this really spoiled inner child that rebels when told, NO.
So, I’ve learned to appease her by telling her that nothing is off limits provided she is willing to plan/budget for it. Most of the time it works.
This is why Weight Watchers is the only plan that works for me longterm. I can’t live without bread, wine, chocolate, sweets, fat, sugar, pizza or potato chips forever. It’s unrealistic for me and the way I want to live.
Other Weight Watchers Are Seeing Greater Success with SmartPoints
Another commenter’s experience was just the opposite. SmartPoints is working for her:
For what it’s worth, PointsPlus is what knocked me off of my goal weight. I loved the old original points plan and I could NOT make PP work for me. I found myself doing a lot of what you were doing and eventually, I quit WW in frustration of not having any good tools. I happened to join WW again just as they were rolling out SP (I had avoided it because I resented the PP plan). SmartPoints is working really well for me. I think the experience of many of us is: we have made one lifestyle change to embrace a program (Weight Watchers or otherwise) that works for us. We have success, and we find goal. If we are summarily pushed to a new mindset, when we like the one we have — and it’s working for us — we probably won’t like it.
I think this is why I still have good feelings about the old WW exchange plan I followed to originally lose weight and achieve lifetime status. It was very restrictive, but the joy I felt getting slim and reaching goal is what I most remember.
Why Do Some Weight Watchers Programs Seem to Work Better Than Others?
As my leader explained during Friday’s meeting: Weight Watchers has been around for more than 50 years and has changed the program dozens of times to stay in alignment with current dietary understanding, which continues to evolve.
Each and every program worked for the members that followed it. Many of us who have been with WW through the decades have witnessed this first hand.
The key is to lasting success is adjusting the program to best meet our individual needs. Question any group of successful Weight Watchers members and you’ll discover that they’re all doing things differently.
We all know what we are supposed to do – eat more fruits and vegetables and avoid sweet treats. The difficulty begins with actually doing it, as Mindless Eating expert Brian Wansink explains in this interesting article about tricking yourself into eating better:
The thrust of his research directly contradicts the prevailing wisdom in nutrition circles—that the way to improve America’s diet is to teach people about the dangers of trans fats, refined sugar, and white flour. In Wansink’s view, that’s a losing battle—if we were rational eaters, the snack food industry would already be out of business. “There are a million nutritionists out there that tell you to eat an apple instead of a Snickers bar,” he says. “I want to meet people where they’re at.”
Here’s another great article that sums up why Weight Watchers is struggling as a business – because sensible eating and portion control can be boring and hard work. It’s not extreme or sexy. It’s not a silver bullet promising unrealistic results!
Can thinking differently help those struggling with SmartPoints?
I recently had this realization… with Weight Watchers SmartPoints, you can never hit your daily target and still lose weight!
Say What? The SmartPoints Target is a number designed to reflect OPTIMAL/NEAR PERFECT HEALTHY EATING FOR WEIGHT LOSS. So, it’s possible to go way over your target and still lose weight…
I Regularly Exceed My WW SmartPoints Target While Managing to Maintain My Weight
When I first tested out SmartPoints, I began by just eating the way I regularly do to maintain my lifetime goal weight and was shocked to discover that I was consuming 50 to 60 SmartPoints per day!
That’s way over my suggested SmartPoints target for maintenance! And I’m okay with that.
I eat a relatively healthy diet of mostly home cooked foods with occasional sweet treats. I enjoy a glass or two of wine with dinner most nights.
I’ve been successfully maintaining for several years now the goal weight I set back when I was 28. Could I eat healthier and meet my SP target most days? Probably. Would I be happy? Probably not. And for me it’s all about me finding my happy/healthy balance.
Remember that your daily SmartPoints is Simply a Target you are shooting for. You don’t have to hit it to be successful! You just keep aiming for it! You can never hit it and still lose weight!!
You know yourself best and you should do whatever you need to, modify the program however you need to, to take care yourself. This is your life and you know yourself best!
The Correct Mindset is Critical to Lasting Weight Loss
Weight loss is a MIND – BODY challenge. It’s as much psychological as it is physical. The correct mindset, thoughts and beliefs are just as important (or maybe more important) than what you eat.
Lasting weight loss happens with little incremental behavioral changes.
It takes awareness. It takes time. It takes patience. It takes practice. It takes creating new habits and changing your environment. It has to be a priority. You have to really really want it. You have to be willing to do the work. You have to be willing to learn from your mistakes and be kind to yourself.
There Are Lots of Ways Other Than Weight Watchers to Successfully Lose Weight
And the truth is that there are lots and lots of ways to lose weight. Heck, here’s an example of a college professor who lost weight and got healthier on the junk food diet! You know yourself best so do what’s best for you!!
Personally, I hate that you can no longer use a recipe’s nutritional information to accurately calculate SmartPoints. Recipes must be run through the WW Recipe Builder to accurately determine SmartPoints which is time consuming.
I’m still a huge fan of the overall Weight Watchers model, with the accountability and support it provides. I believe Weight Watchers success is in their structure as a support network.
For me WW meetings are 30 minutes of sanity in an out of control food world. And I love the new WW Connect feature.
What do you think? Has Weight Watchers gone too far with Smart Points? Is it too restrictive? Or sustainable once you get used to it? Is it easier for new members than for those transitioning from Points Plus to SmartPoints?
Please share your thoughts. I really want to know so I can help be part of the solution to our weight loss and healthy eating struggles!
I’ll also continue to provide both SmartPoints and PointsPlus for all new recipes for those of you sticking with the old plan.
PS – If you are tired of calculating/tracking Points or calories, check out why I’ve shifted to Intermittent Fasting after reading Eat Stop Eat!
I am disappointed with SmartPoints! I did not become overweight eating too much protein! I still need some sweets. The PointPlus allowed me to have my sweet and be within the program. Now, sweets cost so much in SmartPoints that I feel like I am always going over in pints or binging to get them. I also wish they would give members a choice. I lost fairly easily with PointsPlus but have struggled, losing very,very slowly with SmartPoints! Hopefully, weight watchers will listen and make some changes. We need members contacting the company letting them know how we feel.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Robin!
I agree with you.. You know.. I understand that the SP plan is prob the best way to eat. But as a person who is overweight, I love food.. the restrictive nature of SP compared to PP actually caused me to feel deprived and resulted in me gaining weight. A mental thing for sure, but when a person is as heavy as I was, managing food is the key and if its so restrictive that I can’t maintain it, what good is it?
I am so glad I took the time to read this email and the remarks about SP and PP more thoroughly! I also have not taken a liking to SP and have actually gained 9 pounds. I’m in total agreement it is restrictive. For example, even a bit of butter throws the points through the roof. At nearly 70 years old, all this new restriction has made me rebel as well as some of the others stated. The problem is that I LOVE using my iPhone to track, and pay the $45 a month to do so. Guess it’s time to discontinue that plan, save some money and look to go elsewhere for support or resort to tracking on paper. UGH! Another thing, not everyone is a fan of Oprah! And I resent her being the face of woman trying to lose weight. She is not the average woman. She has someone to shop, and cook. I can’t relate to her when she shows up on tv or the WW webpage bragging about her weight loss on SP. so, it’s back to the drawing board for me. So depressing. I need to figure out what I’m going to do, but this SP is no where near what PP was. By going back, I can’t use my phone, won’t talk about it at meetings. So what’s the point in staying with WW.
Hi Marcia, I’m so sorry to hear this! I was reading about a new way to track this week, where you take pictures of everything you eat before you eat it, of course as an effective way of tracking. Have you heard of this or ever tried it???
I lost 84 lbs on pp and my husband lost 130 lbs. I lost most weeks until I started SP. I didn’t lose for 3 months. I switched back to pp and lost 4lbs the first week! My husband didn’t want to learn a new program and bought a pp app. I was also unhappy with sp. I am not a person who eats sweets, yet I developed a craving for them on sp, something I’ve never had before. I also felt that the amount of protein allowed for the points was excessive. Someone on the message boards posted that 2.3 lbs of tuna is the same 800 calories as 1-1/2 ounces of sugar free chocolate. That’s just crazy. And the excitement over getting 77 shrimp for low points after the Oprah call? Really crazy. Since I’ve dropped my weight I don’t have poor numbers on my blood work with regards to diabetes and other things. I don’t want to get into trouble again with that. I miss the camaraderie of the weight watchers community but I’m never going back to sp. My app is cheaper and just as good and even has a meal builder to figure out recipes. Thanks for listening
Hi Susan, thanks of sharing your experience. And congrats to you and your husband for your great weight losses!! That’s awesome! I’ve found that learning to eat in moderation is the best long term solution, Not eating 77 shrimp or anything else in one sitting!!
Smart points gave me more points but less food. My staples have gone way up in points. Yogurt is no longer my go-to protein snack. I know the intention is to guide us to healthier choices but I have trouble with it.
How do the people who have gone back to P+ track online? Online tracking is what keeps me honest with myself. I have no interest in manual Journaling.
Total loss in 4 months is less than 10lbs.
Hi Barbara, Thanks for sharing. There are several Apps available in the App stores, some I know are “Ultimate food diary,” “Itrackbites,” “ProTracker” and “Myscoreplus” They cost less than $5. Hope this helps.
I’ve done every version of WW starting from the original Points program, 1-2-3 Success. SmartPoints has given me back my mojo, because I am finally not 100% in reactive mode to the results of my weigh-in. I don’t find the program restrictive, but I do feel I am not-so-subtly guided to make better choices.
As an insulin-dependent diabetic, this change in eating has enabled me to cut down my evening dose by 25%, which is even sweeter than the Fiber One bars I used to snarf down. By this time next year I could be off all meds for my diabetes, which is very motivating.
Honestly, PP never worked for me. Knowing that many items were low in PPs but not good for my glycemic status made me feel sad, TBH. Eating cleaner is what I need to do, and SP facilitates this. So I’m sticking with it.
Hi Rachel, Thanks for sharing. I’m so happy SP is working for you and that you are getting your mojo back!
This has given me alot of food for thought if you will. I have struggled since day one with the SP and haven’t been able to put a finger on it. It seems for the way I have to financially buy food, I find I am in a deprived feeling most days. I am gathering we can go back and manually calculate PP and see how that works? I realize that sugar is a big key for me, but alot of what I was enjoying like non-fat flavored Greek Yogurt has changed how often I get to eat it because the extra points do add up. I find that even the WW products have changed in taste and I surmize that is to keep the points down, but for the price I am just opting out. What that does do is propel me back into old eating habits, diet mentality, and throwing in the towel daily when I mess up. I wish I could feel more connected. I had lost 53 lbs and I have now gained back almost 30. Really frustated and pondering not doing WW anymore. Ideas?
Hi Mikk, So sorry to hear that WW SP is not working for you any more. I think that it can be helpful to get back to basics when I’m struggling. Choose just one little thing to take better care of yourself. What is one easy thing you could do to feel more in control of your eating???
I have been on the SP plan for about 6 weeks and I am enjoying the plan very much. I like it because I can have fruit without using any of my points. It seemed to me on the PP plan I never had enough points because when i would eat fruit for snacks it used up my points.
Hi Jackie, Glad it’s working for you!
I have been on a plateau ever since the switch to points plus. My inner child actually prefer this more “Atkins” protein emphasized way of eating, but my old tried and true recipes and snacking combinations are now throwing me over my points calculations. My biggest beef (pun intended) is with the way things have to be calculated. You have to buy the calculator or use the app or scanner. There is no longer a way to estimate the number of points by using the calories. That would be only slightly annoying if the app or the website actually worked properly. It doesn’t. Half the time when an item is searched, two different points are shown for “a serving” (so much for weighing and measuring).This even happens with WW own products. The answer we get at meetings is they are working on it. If it wasn’t for my leader and the friends I go to the meetings with, I would be gone and using the Fitbit website more. I am giving them one more month to fix the systems or my money will be going elsewhere.
Hi Cathy, I love my meetings and never plan to give them up. I believe the real value of WW is with the support it provides! Sorry that SP and the app isn’t working for you. I’m in maintenance mode so don’t really track regularly anymore.
Love your website. Thank you so much. However I have still have mixed feelings about smart points. I have been struggling since they have introduced the smart points.
It has been so hard for me to lose weight. Any suggestions? Have been a Lifetime member almost 3 years.
Thanks, Donna. What is the biggest struggle for you with SmartPoints?
I am also disenchanted with SP. It has completely stalled my weight loss progress. I have now honestly given it one hundred percent of my attention for three full months and all I have managed to do is to gain and lose the same two or three pounds. It’s completely frustrating. One thing I would like to point out about the transition to SP is not just the change to the structure of points but my disappointment in the other changes, as well. I am slowly coming to realize that the meetings are pretty pointless because we really don’t talk about anything much of substance but little, minor things. I truly miss the old meetings where there was a large flip board and the hearty, useful discussions that we all had. Everyone was invested in the conversation, there was a pointed subject and great, ongoing information. There were helpful things like ideas on how to rearrange your refrigerator, food prepping, ideas for navigating parties and things like that. Nowadays, the meetings just seem to talk about the same little mundane things and it almost seems like Groundhog Day… The same minor subjects over and over. Another element of why SP’S are not working for me is their app as a whole has completely jumped back into the dark ages and is completely asinine. It makes everything so much more difficult — and for the? They took away a lot of features we liked and found useful. Truth be told, I’m have been using alternate means so as to be able to follow Points Plus which is getting me back on track. I’m seriously considering stopping my subscription to the Weight Watcher meetings because I’m truly not getting anything out of it anymore – not the app, not the meetings and not SPs. It’s really disappointing. It’s completely a whole new program. I can truly appreciate the end goal they were trying to reach but they have seriously fallen short and detoured everyone into the middle of nowhere in the process.
Hi April, Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experiences. I guess every meeting and leader is different. I only go to meetings about once a month to weigh in and usually stay. Last one was a good discussion about using different low points way to use seasonings in your food. And I don’t track much since I’m at goal and a creature of habit with what I eat. So sorry you are finding the new program so disappointing.