Calculating Weight Watchers Points

Let’s keep it short: Diets ****. You know that. I know that. And you know that I know that. And – okay, you got it.

As far as the calorie balance (energy intake vs. energy consumption) decides about to lose or not to lose weight, you actually have two options:

eat less than you need “consume” more energy


The Weight Watchers Points System is one approach to the first option. By simplifying the concept of counting calories the Weight Watcher clients reduce their daily calorie intake. Depending on your current weight you are given an amount of points you can “consume” every day.

To count your points, complete weight watcher point lists of several foods can be found everywhere. But when it comes to very special food of very special brands, you might get in trouble finding the exact points for your food. In this case, there is an easy formula you can use to calculate the points yourself:

(Number of Calories / 50) + (Fat in grams / 12) – (Number of dietary Fiber in grams / 5)

This means, besides taking calories into account, weight watchers also uses fat and fiber as a factor influencing their point system. Here is a quick example:

Oreo DoubleStuf Cookies do have 70kcal per Cookie, including about 3.5g Fat and 0g dietary fiber. This sums up to: (70 Calories / 50) + (3.5g / 12) – (0g / 5) which is something about 1.7, ie. rounded 2 points. Each double stuffed Oreo therefore has 2 points using the Weight Watcher System (very bad, if you are only allowed to eat 25 points a day).

By: Michael Schran

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