How does Weight Watcher points convert into calories?

SuniHouse
SuniHouse Posts: 2
edited October 17 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm new to MFP and am also counting Weight Watcher points. I'm allowed 31 points a day and on My Fitness Pal it says my goal should be 2200 calories a day. That seems like a LOT of calories. I'd like to know how many WW points that equals. Any idea how to find out? I've been successful with WW in the past- I lost 90 pounds, but sadly i stopped eating right and gained it all back. I want to lose the weight again.
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Replies

  • bugtrain
    bugtrain Posts: 251 Member
    I tried WW earlier and when I logged my food,it was usually around 1000-1200 calories.....my points allowed were 27.You might Google it......wish I could have been more help :)
  • dthmedia
    dthmedia Posts: 1 Member
    It's not exact, but it's about 50 calories per point. That's what I figured out after being on WW a couple times.:embarassed: MFP works best...
  • SuniHouse
    SuniHouse Posts: 2
    Thank you. :smile: I did think to Google it after I posted the question, and now I don't know how to delete the post. lol
  • skbarton
    skbarton Posts: 141 Member
    Under the new Points Plus program, it is closer to 40 calories per point.
  • MrsRawwwr
    MrsRawwwr Posts: 166 Member
    I did WW and MFP for awhile, I'm not sure how well you'll be able to meet both goals. With 31 points you may have a tough time meeting your calorie goal. I found WW wasn't giving me enough to eat, so I'm only on here now. But, many have had success with WW as well. Best of luck!
  • LottieLou13
    LottieLou13 Posts: 574 Member
    1 ww point = 40 calories

    My ww allowance only gave me 1200 a day, which left me grumpy and headachey all the time. Found MFP, and now eat at 1550 a day and have cancelled my ww subscription. More food for me and its free too. (And I'm losing just as much weight)...win win win!
  • lowash67
    lowash67 Posts: 33 Member
    Its ok the question can be helpful to someone else
  • lowash67
    lowash67 Posts: 33 Member
    I was doing ww also. I switched over to MFP about a month ago and already have taken off 5lbs. MFP really does work. I still talk to my ww friends because they encourage, motivate and inspire me. I also like to check on the progress of some of my friends. But I no longer pay for a membership. This is free and it works just as well and I can eat whatever also, as long as I am counting my calories. I love it.
  • blacksagephoenix
    blacksagephoenix Posts: 22 Member
    I use MFP to log my foods and count my calories, but I also eat a weight watchers diet, without the "program". I don't see the point in paying for the membership when all the information is available online. I found a website that converts whatever food I am eating into points and just keep track of my points. But use the MFP diary to log daily meals. So far, doing both is working out great for me.

    For those that say WW didn't provide enough food, maybe you didn't eat to the WW point advantage. I eat three meals a day, with two snacks. About 2-4 points for breakfast, 6-10 points for lunch, and about a 12-15 point dinner. I am allowed 32 points. If I ate at the max amounts I give myself, that would be 29 points. A snack is easily 3 points, and fruits and vegetables don't count, so you could have grapes or something as a second snack. Also, you are given a weekly allowance for extra points, 35 for the week. You could split them up into 5 extra points a day, or save them for a fun carefree weekend. You can also GAIN points with exercise. I usually do a short 10 minute work out atleast twice a day, and that gives me an extra 3 points a day. I don't tap into my weekly points, just workout for the goodies I want. I look at it like my reward for the fitness.
  • stephie4111
    stephie4111 Posts: 118
    the weekly allowence is actually 49. im a ww lifetime member now so i really have only been doing mfp but since i have stayed under ww goal its free for me
  • sherunk
    sherunk Posts: 1 Member
    in Feb 2012 I started doing 26 Weight Watchers points on the Points Plus diet and lost 50 pounds very easily and quickly in 3 months and have kept it off. On Jan 1st of this year I started the WWPP again at the 26 points and have only lost 5 pounds and I am going on 24 days witout any cheating and sticking to the daily points and sometimes going under by 1 or 2. I started the MFP along with the WW log sheet to see actually how many calories some items were because a friend was using MFP and turned me onto it. MFP says I should be eating 1800 calories a day and if I have done the calculations correctly according to the info given here then WW points at 40 each for 26 pointes is 1040 calories. How can they be that different??? I haven't had the same weight loss experience that I did last year and want to know if I should reduce the points plus values to get some results but 1040 calories doesn't seem like much at all. Any ideas?:grumble:
  • xtrout
    xtrout Posts: 193 Member
    Under the new Points Plus program, it is closer to 40 calories per point.

    This...the old plan came out to 50, under points plus, it is now 40. Rough estimate of course but generally speaking, 40 would suffice if you don't have the exact calorie count of a meal or food item.
  • But think of the savings if you use fitnesspal, its free and still has the same information, and more or less the same simple message, do more, eat less rubbish and keep a good balance.Why put money into a profit making organisation like ww when my fitness pal does exactly te same, for FREE!!
  • kmgt
    kmgt Posts: 24
    Keep in mind the 49 weekly points you get and you can also eat your activity points. Break down the 49 to 7 and that's an extra 280 calories a day (7*40).

    FWIW: - My WW points (when converted to calories) almost match exactly my MFP caloires. .
  • cupcakes1107
    cupcakes1107 Posts: 12 Member
    I was doing WW but, MFP works better for me. I like the app on my phone. WW is a rip off & plus they advised me to eat to few calories, I was alwayyysssssssss hungry.
  • cupcakes1107
    cupcakes1107 Posts: 12 Member
    It's off my couple but, you are right, it just about matches so why not go with MFP & save some money.
  • tracykate24
    tracykate24 Posts: 3 Member
    Weight loss is all math. 1 lb - 3500 calories. So, you need to create a deficit in your calorie count in order to lose weight. 1800 calories per day for me, would result in very slow weight loss. MFP has me at 1310 calories and weight watchers has me at 27 points. WW will probably result in a faster weight loss if I stuck to only those daily points. I find the 1310 calories much more easy to stick to, but I love my weight watcher leader and the support you get from the meetings, so I'm doing both, in a way. I work out 3 - 4 times per week burning at least 300 calories each workout. I'm down 10 lbs and need to start tracking on MFP again. I like that better. Plus the food database is so extensive. I find it funny that weight watchers foods are easier to fin in MFP than on the weight watchers site.
  • KJCrowder
    KJCrowder Posts: 1 Member
    what is the name of the program that you found that convers points to calories or vice versa. I have been trying to find one but have not been able to. Thanks.
  • honeylissabee
    honeylissabee Posts: 217 Member
    I love WW, but I cannot afford the program. I am considering merging MFP with WW by following that whole 40 calories per point to figure out my calorie target, and then I'll track like I would on WW with fruit and veggies being "free." I figure it's essentially the same plan. I also have my Fitbit and a heart rate monitor, so I'll allow myself to earn extra calories to eat if needed (similar to eating Activity Points and wearing an ActiveLink).

    As far as a weekly allowance, I have one night a week where I allow myself to eat whatever I want for dinner and dessert with no restrictions on calories. (Basically, on WW I would be using up any remaining daily points, all my weeklies, and any remaining activity points.) I've done that in the past, and it's worked wonderfully for me.
  • UrbanLotus
    UrbanLotus Posts: 1,163 Member
    The old plan I did (I think Points Plus?) around 2005-2007 was :

    1 point = 50 calories OR 12grams of fat. And you would subtract 1 point for 5 grams of fiber. So if something was 300 calories & 12 grams of fat, it would be 7 points. If it had 5 grams of fiber, 6 points.
  • gigglesinthesun
    gigglesinthesun Posts: 860 Member
    Back when I did WW they also had some fruit and veggies that had 0 points, but if you log your cals you really need to log everything that goes into your mouth. :smile:
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    The new 360 program, when I was using it in March, the point value varied by the make up. If it was a high protein / fiber food the point value was lower than if it was a higher carb / fat food. The calories could be the same, but one product would be 5 points and the other would be 3.
  • To convert calories to Weight Watchers points, add up all of the calories from the foods you have eaten and divide them by 50.

    For those of us on the Weight Watchers diet, does anyone have any good method for converting points to calories?

    http://www.reducciondeestomago.net/
  • kateglen15
    kateglen15 Posts: 15 Member
    I am struggling with the same thing lost a lot of weight on WW but it has stopped! I am training for a half marathon and work out every day! I am having trouble with the amount of calories it says I need, bc on WW I was only eating 1200 calories and not eating exercise calories
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    I'm new to MFP and am also counting Weight Watcher points. I'm allowed 31 points a day and on My Fitness Pal it says my goal should be 2200 calories a day. That seems like a LOT of calories. I'd like to know how many WW points that equals. Any idea how to find out? I've been successful with WW in the past- I lost 90 pounds, but sadly i stopped eating right and gained it all back. I want to lose the weight again.

    The big difference between MFP calorie allowance and WW points plus is that you get free fruit and certain free veggies with WW. Therefore WW sets your calorie goal lower to allow for the extra calories from those foods. While using MFP, make sure you track everything including those fruits and veggies to get a more accurate calculation.

    Also WW leaders don't always pass on the information about the earned exercise calories. If 40 calories is approximately 1 PP then I would think burning 80 calorie would give you 2 activity points but you may want to check with your leader to find out for sure.
  • lizcairo82988
    lizcairo82988 Posts: 2 Member
    I am thinking that one of the reasons the calories on WW are lower than what you get on MFP is because of all of the "free" and 0 point foods. All of them have calories even if not very many so they do add up. So the points converting to being a few hundred less calories is probably to give a cushion for all of the "free" foods
  • Thank u have done the same thing i had to say bye to weight watchers also and i finding myself not having mood charges and I also lose 4 pound in one week with my in take at 1590 cal intake per day.
  • trisha1298
    trisha1298 Posts: 51 Member
    Hi everyone!

    I'm doing both MFP and weight watchers PPV. I've been doing PPV since october, and just started entering my foods into MFP on top of Weight Watchers. Did some quick calculations.... here are some of my findings on how calorie counting converts to PPV.

    A weight watchers PPV is roughly 40 calories, depending slightly on nutrition. The produce I ate was about 45 calories/PPV, and the rest of the food I ate averaged to 38 calories/PPV.

    When I calculate the PPV of my total nutrition form the day as totaled by MFP, leaving out all zero-point fresh fruit and vegetables, it comes within 2 points of what the PPV summary is of calculating all items' PPV individually. Adding in those fruits and vegetables adds more points (today it was about 10 points).

    Using the 40 cals/PPV, my daily calorie intake before zero-point fruits and veggies is about 1280. That's too low for me, (my MFP goal is 1570) so that leaves room for more calories from fruits and veggies.

    So, if I eat about 300 calories worth of zero-point fruits and veggies each day, the two plans are roughly equivalent. Tadaa!

    I also have my fitbit pedometer connected, and MFP gives you way more credit! Today I got 12k steps, and MFP called that 623 calories. I know there is a lot of debate whether you should eat those calories back or whatever, but weight watchers converted 12k steps into 6 PPV. Multiply that by 40 calories and that is 240 calories earned back from exercise. That seems more reasonable to me as an amount of calories I should add to my diet. Don't eat everything I burned, but eat a little more to account for the exercise.

    Maybe I will do a more complete study... but I've always wondered how WW really breaks down...

    I'd love to be friends with other WW-ers! I promise not to annoy you with more math
  • Hi Trisha

    I'm trying MFP from WW and have found the same about exercise - MFP gives you a higher calories burn!

    I'm really confused about how many grams of fat I should be eating.

    I was on 26 points and I'm on 1200 calories a day which gives me 40g of fat - but I think on WW this would be WAY lower - any ideas on a guide?!

    Thanks!

    Anna
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