Weight Watchers Changes Point System

I have been on the Weight Watchers system many times in my past and it did work temporarily but all the fat free WW muffins, desserts and fat free cool whip just kept me addicted to sweets. And now I know that all the chemicals and preservatives in all that processed food were not doing my body any good.  Plus, in my opinion as a professional dieter, I have seen that cleansing is the missing link in the weight loss mystery!

Anyone who has been on WW (and who hasn't) knows that things like almonds and olive oil (extremely healthy) are not encouraged because the points are too high (due to the fat). The world of WW is basically lots of artificial sweeteners and with high points for fats like nuts and olive oil.

So news that they have updated their point system to address this was encouraging. An article in today's NYT talks about the changes, they are "based on scientific findings about how the body processes different foods," in other words, processed, fake foods are not as good and therefore are higher in points.

On the old point system, they would consider a large apple (2 points) = to an Oreo(R) pak (2 points).  Under the new point system the apple is 0 points and the cookies are 3 points.

No wonder a lot of people embraced the WW program (including me) - we could eat lots of sugar free pudding with fat free whipped cream, cookies and muffins and think we were in diet heaven.Yes, we lost weight but did it teach us to eat healthy food?  It sure tasted good but had little or NO NUTRITIONAL value.

WW now acknowledges that the type of food you eat will affect energy and feelings of hunger and fullness.  

I have to admit when I was on WW that I thought eating their muffins, cakes, frozen dinners and snacks was too good to be true, I think they have addressed some of this now with the point changes although they still produce lots of processed foods.