Weight Watchers is an international company that offers various dieting

Dieting

Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese. Some athletes, however, follow a diet to gain weight...

 products and services to assist weight loss

Weight loss

Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue...

 and maintenance. Founded in 1963 by Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

 homemaker Jean Nidetch

Jean Nidetch

Jean Nidetch , is the founder of the Weight Watchers organization.An overweight housewife with a self-confessed obsession for eating cookies, Nidetch had experimented with numerous fad diets before, in 1961, following a regimen prescribed by a diet clinic sponsored by the New York City Board of...

, it operates in about 30 countries around the world, generally under names that are local translations of “Weight Watchers”. The core philosophy behind Weight Watchers programs is to use a science-driven approach to help participants lose weight by forming helpful habits, eating smarter, getting more exercise and providing support.

The term weight-watcher, in the same sense, had circulated publicly for several years before the company was formed.

Approach and Philosophy

Weight Watchers' core approach is to assist members in losing weight by forming helpful habits, eating smarter, getting more exercise and providing support. No food is off limits; however, the newest plan is "taking a stand for unprocessed foods" and has adjusted the cost of items while retaining the fundamental "counting, budgeting, and planning approach" that has been the hallmark of Weight Watchers plans since the introduction of Points-based counting systems. Thus in contrast to other diets that might provide a list of foods that must be, or should never be, eaten, Weight Watchers has no directly comparable requirements on its primary plan. Participants lose weight by creating a calorie deficit, the PointsPlus system provides a framework for creating that deficit. Accordingly, Weight Watchers is generally compatible with other diet approaches and/or food intake restrictions, e.g paleolithic diet

Paleolithic diet

The modern dietary regimen known as the Paleolithic diet , also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a nutritional plan based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various hominid species habitually consumed during the...

, South Beach diet

South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is a diet plan designed by cardiologist Arthur Agatston and dietician Marie Almon as an alternative to low-fat approaches such as the Ornish Diet and the Pritikin Diet advocated by the American Heart Association in the 1980s. Although the original purpose of the diet was to...

, provided you use the Weight Watchers framework to measure and limit the quantity of food consumed while using the other diet plan to dictate the range of acceptable food choices.

There are two primary ways individuals can work with Weight Watchers: in-person meetings and an online-only program. Both programs use the same basic materials and computations. For in-person meetings, Weight Watchers encourages members to select a goal weight that results in a body mass index

Body mass index

The body mass index , or Quetelet index, is a heuristic proxy for human body fat based on an individual's weight and height. BMI does not actually measure the percentage of body fat. It was invented between 1830 and 1850 by the Belgian polymath Adolphe Quetelet during the course of developing...

 generally accepted as healthy (18 to 24.9), although a member may also establish a goal weight outside of that range after providing a doctor's note to that effect. In the United States, in order to join Weight Watchers, one must weigh at least 5 pounds (2.3 kg) more than the minimum weight for his or her height.

Once a member reaches his or her goal weight, he or she starts a maintenance period. For the following six weeks, the member gradually increases his or her food intake until the member no longer loses or gains weight. If, at the end of six weigh-ins during the maintenance period, the member weighs in within 2 pound (0.90718474 kg) of his or her goal weight, he or she becomes a "Lifetime" member. A Lifetime member may attend meetings free of charge as long as he or she weighs in at least once per calendar month and, at any weigh-in, does not weigh more than 2 pound (0.90718474 kg) more than his or her goal weight. If the member weighs more than 2 pound (0.90718474 kg) over the goal weight at a weigh-in, he or she will be charged the weekly fee until he or she again obtains a weight within the target range. As long as a Lifetime member weighs in each month and stays within the target range, there is no fee for attending meetings, and the member may attend for the rest of his or her life. Unlike with new members, there is never a registration fee for Lifetime members, even if they regain weight or fail to weigh in every calendar month. Weight Watchers’ eTools is a Web-based service for members that includes access to support materials and tracking tools. The service is available for an additional fee for members who pay as they go, and is included in the fee for members who opt for the recurring "Monthly Pass" membership plan. In some areas Weight Watchers meetings are operated by a locally franchised organization rather than by Weight Watchers International.

Additionally, a fully online program is available via the Weight Watchers website. Online and meeting memberships are entirely separate and online-only members are not eligible for "Lifetime" status. The support system for Weight Watchers Online is a message board where members can post support and share advice. The message board (but not the other support tools) is available free of charge to the public; in an attempt to limit access to the essential plan information to its members, Weight Watchers prohibits the posting of Points or PointsPlus values for foods on the boards. See Weight Watchers#Criticism.

In the United States

The primary, current plan offered in the United States starting in November 2010 is called "PointsPlus". Touted by Weight Watchers as incorporating a decade of science compared to the prior Points-based plans, the focus remains on assisting members in creating a calorie deficit to lose weight using a reformulated calculation approach for computing target daily points (e.g. approximately how many calories per day should be eaten) and the costs of food (the PointsPlus values of food).

The calculation of the daily points targets is based on creating approximately a 1,000 calorie/day deficit ( [0098]-[00109] and accompanying equations 16-19). This in turn means that members are assigned a daily point target in the range of 29-71 PointsPlus to consume each day. Additionally, members are allowed 49 PointsPlus each week, or weekly points, that they can spend how they wish throughout the week. Physical activity earns activity points that, like weekly points, can be used to supplement the daily points allowance.

As compared to prior Points-based plans, the main change is the direct computation of PointsPlus-values from macronutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrates) vs. calories and fat. Both formulas used dietary fiber information when it was available. The formulas are country specific based on the information on nutrition labels in a given country. The patent provides equations for different country labeling techniques.

This change allowed Weight Watchers to change the relative cost of the different macronutrients. Specifically, the relative weight of fat appears to be unchanged vs. the Momentum calculation; however, carbohydrates are "more expensive" and fiber is "less beneficial" and protein is only modestly changed. This increases the PointsPlus cost vs. the Point cost of a number of foods that were specially designed to take advantage of the old formula, e.g. muffins loaded with fiber to stay at 1 Point. The range of calories for one PointsPlus point is approximately in the range of 35-45 calories, in contrast one Point had a broader range of approximately 25-80 calories. However, because the approach for computing the daily points target has been refined ( [0098]-[00104] and accompanying equations 16 (male) and 17 (female)), most people have significantly more PointsPlus available as part of their daily points target than on the prior Momentum plan. For example, under the Momentum plan 18 was the minimum number of points; now 29 is the minimum number of points. Additionally, irrespective of the underlying nutritional information, on the PointsPlus plan, fruits and most vegetables are considered to have a PointsPlus value of 0.

As an alternative to the PointsPlus plan, participants can use the Simply Filling Technique. On the Simply Filling Technique, participants are intended to eat from a designated list of foods without the requirement to track. Categories of foods on the list include: most fruits and vegetables, whole grains, non-fat dairy and dairy substitutes, lean proteins,and a handful of other items. For items that a person eats that are not on the list, a weekly points allowance of PointsPlus points is available to be used and the value of that item must be tracked. Because the plan does not require tracking, participants must be mindful to "[e]at portions that feel right for [them]. Not so much that [they] feel too full, and not too little that [they] still feel hungry."

Momentum

Weight Watchers implemented the Momentum Plan on December 7, 2008. The cornerstone of the plan is the proprietary Points formula, which allocates each food a value based on its calories, fat, and fiber. Members are allocated a certain number of points each day based on their height, current weight, age, and activity level. Members are also allowed 35 optional Points each week. Finally, members earn additional Points through exercise. These "Activity Points" are calculated based on the member's weight and the duration and intensity of the activity. Activity Points previously had to be consumed on the day that they were earned or they were lost; with the Momentum plan, they can be eaten on any day during the week.

The Momentum Plan encourages members to choose foods by meeting the "Good Health Guidelines." These include eating lean protein and whole grains, meeting target servings of fruits and vegetables and dairy or soy products, taking a multivitamin, exercising, eating healthy oils, drinking adequate liquids, and limiting sugar and alcohol. Additionally, the Momentum Plan encourages members to remain satisfied while dieting by focusing on eating foods identified as Filling Foods, which include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy and soy products, and lean proteins, but this is not required. The effect of this is that the member is not prevented from eating any specific type of food, but he or she must consume foods only with his or her allotment of points. This stands in marked contrast to approaches such as the South Beach

South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is a diet plan designed by cardiologist Arthur Agatston and dietician Marie Almon as an alternative to low-fat approaches such as the Ornish Diet and the Pritikin Diet advocated by the American Heart Association in the 1980s. Although the original purpose of the diet was to...

 or Atkins diets, in which some foods are completely forbidden and others are permitted in as great a quantity as the dieter likes. The member also has the choice to exercise — which will entitle him or her to consume more food — or to eat food of lower Points value if he or she prefers not to exercise.

Many (but not all) of the Filling Foods also have a SetPoints value that allows members to eat a reasonable portion of the food and track the SetPoints value, rather than having to measure and calculate the exact Points value of the portion eaten. The Momentum Plan also includes an option that allows members to eat from the Filling Foods list without tracking Points values at all. This option, known as the Simply Filling Technique, is very similar to the former Core Plan. Members following the Simply Filling Technique do not receive a daily Points allowance, but eat to satisfaction from the Filling Foods list. They do, however, receive the 35 weekly Points, and are entitled to eat any Activity Points that they earn. The weekly Points and Activity Points may be used for foods that are not on the Filling Foods list.

Many Weight Watchers proponents enjoy the tracking option of the Momentum Plan precisely because no food is out of bounds as long as it is eaten in moderation. (In the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Weight Watchers advertises under the slogan “Where no food is a sin”; this is a reference to its chief competitor Slimming World’s

Slimming World

Slimming World a UK-based weight loss organisation. It holds groups around the UK, led by consultants, who are self employed. According to the company, over the past 40 years more than five million slimmers have attended its groups....

 system of giving some food “syn” values.)Many Others, however, dislike the record-keeping that the plan requires of participants, who must keep track of the Points values of everything they eat; they prefer the Simply Filling option or other plans that place restrictions on types of food rather than quantities.

TurnAround

In August 2004, Weight Watchers introduced the TurnAround program, incorporating parts of the Flex and Core food plans, but intended to assist people in developing an overall healthy lifestyle. Aside from encouraging healthy eating and providing member support, the program encouraged participants to follow eight Good Health Guidelines.

Historical Plans

Jean Nidetch, the founder of Weight Watchers, wrote a book in the early 1970s The Memoir of a Successful Loser The Story of Weight Watchers that documented the original Weight Watchers plan.

That original plan was supplanted shortly after the book with materials bearing a 1972-73 copyright: “Weight Watchers(R) Program Handbook for Ladies”. This plan was similar to the original plan.

By 1989, the plan had switched to an exchange-based diet. The document's subtitle and copyright dates make determining the exact date difficult, “The Quick Success(R) Program” with the subtitle “New for 1989” has a copyright date of 1987, 1988.

By 1997, the original Points-based program was introduced.

In the UK

In the UK during November 2010 the Points plan has been replaced with ProPoints. This is similar to the Points plan only the calculation now takes protein, carbohydrates, all fat and fiber into consideration. The following main changes were made from the Points to ProPoints plan:

• Change in formula, so the majority of foods now cost more ProPoints than Points
• Daily ProPoint allowances were increased however you are no longer allowed to carry your daily ProPoints over to the next day
• Most fruit and vegetables are now zero ProPoints
• All participants also have a weekly ProPoints allowance of 49 ProPoints which they can chose to use as they see fit throughout the week

In Ireland and Australia

In Ireland there has recently been a new plan launched called ProPoints Plan.Traditional weight loss plans are based on the calories on a food label. But the new ProPoints system incorporates the latest science that shows there is a more accurate way to assess the impact a food has on weight loss. ProPoints values are calculated using 4 macronutrients: fat, fibre, protein and carbohydrate. There is also a new weekly ProPoints allowance and zero ProPoints values fruit and veg.

Ireland www.weightwatchers.ie
Australia www.weightwatchers.com.au

Effectiveness

Weight Watchers claims that “Research shows that people who attend Weight Watchers meetings lose three times more weight than [those who diet on their own].” However, the results of the study were that the mean weight loss of Weight Watchers participants was 2.3 times more than (3.3 times as much as) the self-help group at one year, and essentially undefined at two years. Weight Watchers also claims that members who both use Weight Watchers’ Web-based eTools and attend meetings lose half again as much weight as those who only attend meetings, but it fails to cite a study to back up this claim, instead only referring to an unspecified “12 week study comparing people who were instructed to attend Weight Watchers meetings and use eTools to people who were instructed to attend Weight Watchers meetings alone”.

A clinical study involving Atkins

Atkins Nutritional Approach

The Atkins diet, officially called the Atkins Nutritional Approach, is a low-carbohydrate diet created by Robert Atkins from a research paper he read in the Journal of the American Medical Association published by Gordon Azar and Walter Lyons Bloom. Atkins stated that he used the study to resolve...

, Ornish, Weight Watchers and The Zone

Zone diet

The Zone diet is a diet popularized in books by biochemist Barry Sears. It advocates consuming calories from carbohydrates, protein, and fat in a balanced ratio.- Theory :...

 diets, published in 2005, reported that among the Weight Watchers participants the average net weight loss in a one-year period was 3 kilograms (6.6 lb). However, the study only included two months of “maximum effort”, letting the participants decide their level of adherence for the following ten months. Weight Watchers was the third most effective diet in terms of weight loss, and those that continued to adhere to any of the diets significantly decreased cardiac risk factors.

Price

Like many other weight loss programs, Weight Watchers frequently offers promotions ranging from free registration to discounted fees if paid in advance. Members are required to pay the fees for missed meetings before a “weigh-in”, but a member never pays more for missed meetings than the amount of the new-member registration fee; if a member misses several consecutive meetings, he/she need only pay either the sum of the fees for the missed meetings or the new-member registration fee, whichever is the lesser.

If members are insured with particular insurance companies there are agreements that may reduce the member sign up fee or weekly weigh-in fee. However, Weight Watchers does not accept debit cards that participants receive with Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

FSA debit card

An FSA Debit Card is a special type of debit card issued in the United States to access tax-favored spending accounts such as flexible spending accounts and health reimbursement accounts , and sometimes health savings accounts as well. All such cards to date bear the Visa, MasterCard, or...

. Instead, participants must submit claim forms to get reimbursed for payments made to the plan. Also, the companies who administer FSA plans usually require a letter from a doctor be submitted with the claim detailing why the participant needs to lose weight; these letters must meet very specific criteria.

In corporate locations in the United States, members may pay $39.95 per month for a "Monthly Pass" that entitles them to attend meetings and provides access to eTools. In return, members agree that the monthly fee will be automatically debited from a debit or credit card and the pass mailed to them each month. Members can also pay with cash or check on a weekly basis at the meeting location; the weekly rate is $12. Weight Watchers also offers an Online Only option, which forgoes meeting attendance and this rate is $17.95 per month but varies along with the company's sales specials.

Spokespersons

The current spokesperson for Weight Watchers is actress/singer Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American recording artist, actress and spokesperson. She came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of American Idol coming in seventh place...

.
Prior spokespersons associated with the product were actresses Lynn Redgrave

Lynn Redgrave

Lynn Rachel Redgrave, OBE was an English actress.A member of the well-known British family of actors, Redgrave trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962...

 and Jenny McCarthy

Jenny McCarthy

Jennifer Ann "Jenny" McCarthy is an American model, comedian, actress, author, activist, and game show host. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for Playboy magazine and was later named their Playmate of the Year. McCarthy then parlayed her Playboy fame into a successful television and...

, and Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson

Sarah, Duchess of York

Sarah, Duchess of York is a British charity patron, spokesperson, writer, film producer, television personality and former member of the British Royal Family. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, whom she married from 1986 to 1996...

.

Criticism

The WeightWatchers.com bulletin boards use the rubric of violations of intellectual property to attempt to enforce a prohibition against posting PointsPlus values for foods in the message boards. While Weight Watchers can legitimately impose rules on the use of its forums—including prohibiting posting of PointsPlus values—casting the restriction as a violation of intellectual property is misleading. In the United States, formulas standing alone cannot be subject to patent protection. See Gottschalk v.Benson. Formulas are similarly not subject to copyright, because they are functional as opposed to expressive in nature. Similarly, the fact that Weight Watchers has not sued ConAgra Foods

ConAgra Foods

ConAgra Foods, Inc. is an American packaged foods company. ConAgra's products are available in supermarkets, as well as restaurants and food service establishments. Its headquarters are located in Omaha, Nebraska...

 for labeling packages with Points values, highlights the weakness of any trademark related intellectual property arguments—the usage of the Points trademark on the packages is a nominative trademark use that is protected under US law.

Corporate history

From 1978 until 1999, Weight Watchers was owned by the H. J. Heinz Company

H. J. Heinz Company

The H. J. Heinz Company , commonly known as Heinz and famous for its "57 Varieties" slogan and its ketchup, is an American food company with world headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Perhaps best known for its ketchup, the H.J...

, which continues to produce packaged foods bearing the Weight Watchers brand (and with point values clearly identified). Weight Watchers was acquired in a leveraged buyout

Leveraged buyout

A leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...

 in 1999 by Artal Luxembourg  and went public

Initial public offering

An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...

 in 2001. Artal continues to own over 50% of the shares of Weight Watchers as of 2010.

Corporate governance

The members of the board of directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 of Weight Watchers are Philippe Amouyal, John Bard, Raymond Debbane, Marsha Evans, Jonas Fajgenbaum, Linda Huett, Sacha Lainovic, Sam K. Reed and Christopher Sobecki.

Formulas

Weight Watchers has not provided official confirmation of the Points or PointsPlus formulas and has aggressively sent cease and desist letters to websites and a number of third party tools that claimed to provide Points, or PointsPlus, calculations. See, e.g. Nonetheless, some companies such as ConAgra Foods

ConAgra Foods

ConAgra Foods, Inc. is an American packaged foods company. ConAgra's products are available in supermarkets, as well as restaurants and food service establishments. Its headquarters are located in Omaha, Nebraska...

 have computed values for their frozen meals, Healthy Choice

Healthy Choice

Healthy Choice is the name of a brand of refrigerated and frozen foods owned by ConAgra Foods, Inc. According to ConAgra's official corporate history, it came into being after then-ConAgra CEO Charles "Mike" Harper suffered a heart attack in 1985...

 brand, without Weight Watcher's consent. See Weight Watchers#Criticism.

Additionally, as shown in Weight Watchers patent applications, the formulas are adapted in each country based on the information regularly provided on nutrition labels within a country.

For each program there should be three groups of formulas: a formula or chart to compute (daily) target consumption, a formula for computing the cost of foods, and a formula for computing the value of activity under the program to earn extra consumption. These formulas are present in Weight Watchers patents and are presented from those patents here.

Food Values

In November 2010, Weight Watchers in the United States announced that its Points system was being replaced by a new PointsPlus system. The old system was based on a calculation based on calories, fat, and fiber content. The new PointsPlus system is based on protein, carbohydrates, fat and fiber:


or


where all units are grams. This formula is Equation 10 of with the preferred weightings for the macronutrients entered. Additionally, while not confirmed by Weight Watchers it is an empirical match to the Weight Watchers calculators.

Some foods such as fruits and fresh vegetables are treated has having a PointsPlus value of 0 by Weight Watchers standards despite having a non-zero value if entered directly into the Weight Watcher's calculator using the Nutrition facts label information.

Alcohol and sugar alcohols (sorbitol, malitol, etc.) are exceptions to the above formula. See at Equation 12 (paragraph [0090]) and Equation 14 (paragraph [0094]), respectively for specific formulas for those items. As a shorthand, you can enter alcohol grams as fat grams and sugar alcohols as carbohydrates grams in the formula provided. The reason alcohol is weighted more heavily than would otherwise occur is due to two reasons, see at paragraph [0089], (a) "based on the principle that alcohol is metabolized in the same pathway as fat" (treats alcohol as having 9 calories per gram) and (b) "based, in part, on the desirability of discouraging consumption of alcohol, due to the ill-healthy effects associated with this nutrient" (weights alcohol more than other sources of calories). This latter explanation is in spite of evidence linking moderate alcohol consumption to reduced incidence of coronary disease. This may have been done because of the inelastic nature of the point system, which is unable to distinguish between occasional and heavy drinking.

Food with Alcohol and Sugar Alcohol

or after simplifying so sugar alcohols which are included in the carbohydrate count on US nutrition labels only appears once:

Daily Points Target

For 2010 PointsPlus, the formulas in Equations 16-19 of show the basic calculation of daily points targets for adults age 19+:



Where and represent the total energy expenditure (in kCal) for men and women, respectively, on a basic day. Weight is provided in kilograms and height in meters.

The is adjusted for foods treated as having a PointsPlus value of 0 despite having a caloric content:


Finally, the daily target can be computed:


Note that the patent also suggests that 3000 might be the upper kCal limit as opposed to 2500 kCal and 500 might be the lower limit rather than 1000 kCal. The results of these patent-provided formulas produce a range from 29 to 71 matching the high and low range reported by Weight Watchers members.

The above would not account for the 49 weekly points, or 7/day. Nor would it account for comments on the Weight Watchers boards discussing the patent and identifying an additional constant offset from the patent by a value of 11 in the middle of the points range, or 7 + 4. In order to remain in the 29-71 range and account for this constant offset, the target formula would be:

Activity Points Under PointsPlus

The prior system described in at Col 6, lines 14-61, provided one activity point for approximately every 100 Calories expended vs. 1 Point of food having approximately 50 calories. The formulas used under the PointsPlus system must still be identified; however, if the same ratio of exercise to additional consumption is maintained, then each new activity point would correspond to 70 Calories expended vs. 1 PointPlus of food having approximately 35 calories.

ProPoints (UK, Nov 2010-)

Aside from differences in nutrition labeling resulting in a slightly different calculation of ProPoints from the label, there is no evidence to suggest the ProPoints system and PointsPlus systems are significantly different as of December 2010.

Food Values

In the UK during November 2010, Weight Watchers announced that its Points system was being replaced by a new ProPoints system. The new PointsPlus system is based on protein, carbohydrates, fat and fiber:


or


where all input units are grams. This formula is based on Equation 10 of and taking into account that the carbohydrate line on nutrition labels in the UK do not count the fiber. The formula also has been empirically compared with a third party ProPoints calculator.

Food Values

The formula for calculating the value of a specific serving in points is described in :


where is the number of points, is the amount of energy

Energy

In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...

 in Calorie

Calorie

The calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...

s (1 Calorie (Cal) ≡ 1 kilocalorie (kcal) ≈ 4.2 kilojoules (kJ)), is the amount of fat

Fat

Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...

 in gram

Gram

The gram is a metric system unit of mass....

s, and min{,4} is the lesser of the amount of dietary fiber

Dietary fiber

Dietary fiber, dietary fibre, or sometimes roughage is the indigestible portion of plant foods having two main components:* soluble fiber that is readily fermented in the colon into gases and physiologically active byproducts, and* insoluble fiber that is metabolically inert, absorbing water as it...

 in grams or four. The value is always an integer

Integer

The integers are formed by the natural numbers together with the negatives of the non-zero natural numbers .They are known as Positive and Negative Integers respectively...

, with fraction

Fraction (mathematics)

A fraction represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, we specify how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, five-eighths and three-quarters.A common or "vulgar" fraction, such as 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, etc., consists...

al values rounded to the nearest point. An alternative version mentioned in the patent and used on some Web sites rounds values to the nearest half-point.

Patent Based

Various versions of the prior Points-based programs have used different approaches to calculate the daily target points (and then providing 35 weekly points). Keep in mind the new PointsPlus program is different, see Weight Watchers#Daily Points Target (49 weekly points provided on PointsPlus plan).

According to at Col. 5, lines 4-16, the points targets were assigned based on weight bands and ranged from 18-35 Points per day.

Survey Based

The above, patent-provided daily Points targets are not well correlated with the energy requirements of typical males or females. Accordingly, in one of the later incarnations of the Points-based plans (there were several: 1-2-3 Success, Winning Points, Flex, Turnaround, Momentum) Weight Watchers switched to a survey-based approach that provided a range from 18-44 points together with 35 weekly points:

10% of your weight in pounds

PLUS

2 points for females

8 points for males

PLUS

4 points if you're between 17-26 years old

3 points if you're between 27-37 years old

2 points if you're between 38-47 years old

1 point if you're between 48-58 years old

0 points if you're over 58

PLUS

0 points if you're under 5' 1"

1 point if you're between 5' 1" and 5' 10"

2 points if you're over 5' 10"

PLUS

0 points if you spend most of your day sitting down

2 point if you spend most of your day standing

4 points if you are walking most of the time

6 points if you are doing physically hard work

PLUS

10 points for mothers who are solely breast feeding

5 points for supplementing breastfeeding with some solid foods or formula

The sum (bounded below by 18 and at the top by 44) is the daily target.

Activity Points

According to at Col 6, lines 14-61, the formula for computing the additional consumption (extra Points) available for activity is described. Analysis of the formulas indicates that 1 point for activity is earned for approximately every 100 Calories of effort. Given that 1 Point could be approximated as 50 Calories, consuming activity points would still create a calorie deficit.

Food Values Outside the United States

Outside the United States, Nutrition facts labels are markedly different from those in the United States; in particular, energy is usually expressed in standard kilojoules (kJ) rather than Calories (kcal), and labels in some countries may not show fiber content. The points formula for some markets is based on energy (in kilojoules) and saturated (not total) fat. This formula is also described in at Col 3, lines 10-33 and Col 7, lines 10-20:


Where is the number of Points, is the energy value (in either kilojoules (kJ) or Calories (kcal)), and is the amount of saturated fat in grams. The constants and are weights used in the formula. A practical implementation of this formula for a kilojoule-based calculation appears to be as follows:


or the following for a Calorie-based calculation:


The resultant value is then rounded to the nearest half.

Note, the calorie based-formula is provided directly in Col 7, the kJ formula is a close match to the calorie based formula based on 70 kCal = 292.88 kJ.

Food Values, Alternative Calculation

An early version of the points system did not limit the fiber “credit” to four grams. Another variation, which may be explained by rounding, is that the “points finder” slide-rule distributed at Weight Watchers meetings does not reach a value of 1 unless an item has at least 70 Calories (292,880 J), rather than 50 Cal (209,200 J) as the formula indicates. As a result, point boundaries are 20 Calories (83,680 J) or 4.8 grams of fat higher than might be expected.

More recent versions of the program, such as that described in , take exercise and physical activity into account to grant additional points in the daily allowance.

Calculation Aides

Members can either use Weight Watchers' published books with the PointsPlus values (or ProPoints values) for a variety of foods or they can use a Weight Watcher's calculator designed to accept the inputs required to compute PointsPlus values. The calculators sell for approximately $12.

Weight Watchers also sells small paperback books that list thousands of foods sold by fast-food and full-service restaurant chains as well as generic restaurant foods, e.g. “Mexican: refried beans, ½ cup” (120 mL), and corresponding point values. This is useful in cases where precise nutritional data are not available. These books are available for purchase at meetings and to online members via the Weightwatchers.com website.

Former Calculation Aides

Prior to PointsPlus, members were given a cardboard slide rule to assist in calculating point values of foods. Because the new program has more inputs, the slide rule approach is no longer feasible. By reading the nutrition label on any food package and quickly adjusting three slide-rule scales for energy, fat, and fiber, the point value is easily determined by inspection of a fourth scale. Weight Watchers also sells an electronic calculator that performs the same functions.