Eat what you love, freestyle!  

Hello All,

I’ve been getting a lot questions about the Freestyle program (and Points®). Here’s the skinny:

If you follow Weight Watchers, you are undoubtedly aware that Weight Watchers newest program is called WW Freestyle™. Like the previous “Beyond the Scale™” program, the new program was designed not only to encourage weight loss but better health and well-being.

Similar to the last program, the new program also uses SmartPoints™. The biggest difference is that with the freestyle program instead of simply fruits and vegetables being “0 points” or “free,” there are now 200+ zero point foods including the addition of chicken and turkey breast meat, fish and seafood, eggs, nonfat plain and nonfat plain Greek yogurt, legumes, beans, corn, peas and more.

Here’s more to know:

Freestyle “SmartPoints™” are still calculated using calories, saturated fat, sugar, and protein. Calories, saturated fat, and sugar raise point values while protein lowers them.

Foods that are free or have 0 points add 0 points when used in recipes. When using the freestyle recipe builder, all zero point designated foods add 0 points (unless used in a blended beverage). As such, a salad made with roasted chicken breast meat (without skin), vegetables, beans, an egg, salsa, and nonfat yogurt may have a nutritional value of 270 calories, 35 grams of protein, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 5 grams of sugar – but it calculates as 0 points.

Here is where it can get confusing. If you plug the full nutritional analysis values for the same salad (as above made with chicken breast, beans, corn, etc….) into a smart point calculator as a food item, it will compute 5 points. Why? Because the calculator does not know if there are free foods in that food item or not.

For example, a salad made with lean beef, potatoes, veggies and beans with the same nutritional profile as the chicken salad would also compute as 5 points. For it, that would be correct.

Then how do you calculate points or make the conversion from old to new? 1) If there are no “free” foods in the recipe, the full nutritional analysis facts will yield the correct number of points in the calculator. 2) If there are zero point ingredients in the recipe, the values for the cal, protein, sat fat and sugar for those items need to be backed out of the analysis.The remaining values can then be put into the calculator. 3) The weight watcher recipe builder can be used. (Caution: take note when selecting ingredients as point values can vary considerably.)

The Smart Point Comparisons in the paperback edition of EWYL Quick & Easy are Freestyle. Every single recipe has been recalculated to ensure comparison values match the new program.

The best news is that because my recipes have always been low in calories, saturated fat and sugar, and generous in lean protein, they are a great fit when going freestyle!

All the best to you!!

*Weight Watchers, WW Freestyle, SmartPoints, and Points are registered trademarks of Weight Watchers International. Comparison points have been calculated with the most current information available and do not imply endorsement or sponsorship by Weight Watchers Inc.