In order to calculate the Weight Watcher’s points for foods, you must first be able to read food labels. If you have a points calculator, the process is simple and the directions are printed directly on the calculator. These instructions are for calculating the points the old fashioned way… with math.
Step One: The first thing you need to do is look on the label and find the total calories. We’ll say just for practice that the food we are looking at has 310 calories. You will divide the total calories (310) by 50.
The resulting number should be 6.1 for this particular exercise.
Step Two: Next, you need to find the total fat grams and divide that by 12. Lets say our food has 18 fat grams. The Result of 18 fat grams divided by 12 equals 1.6
Step Three: Now you need to add the answers of the previous problems together. Which would be 6.1 + 1.6. The resulting answer should be 7.7.
Step Four: After that is done, you need to find the total fiber grams. Now divide the fiber grams by 5. We’ll pretend our food of choice has 18 grams of fiber per serving. 18 divided by 5 equals 3.3.
Step Five: Now we need to Subtract our resulting fat grams number from the answer we got in step three. This would be 7.7 minus 3.3. The answer you would get is 4.4. This is your Weight Watcher’s points value for our pretend food. I always round off to the nearest number, in this case the result would be 4 points.
Now, I’m going to show you how to calculate the number of points you are allowed per day on the Weight Watcher’s points system. This is called your Weight Watcher’s Points Range.
First of all you need to start by giving yourself 2 points.
Now, if you are a woman, give yourself 2 more points. If you are a man, give yourself 8.
Next, you give yourself points for your age. If you are 17 to 26 years old, you get 4 points. If you are 27 to 37, you get 3 points. If you are 38 to 47, you get three points. Age 48 to 58 you get one point. Anyone over 58 gets zero points. This is because of changes in your metabolism.
Now, you will factor in your weight. You really gotta be honest here. What you need to do is use the first two numbers in your total weight. For example, if you weight 212 pounds. You will give yourself 21 more points.
Next, look at your height. If you are under 5 feet tall, do not add any points. If you are over 5 feet tall, give yourself two more points.
Now, lets look at your activity. If you sit most of the day, you get zero points. If you are standing most of the day, you can give yourself 2 more points. If you walk most of the day, give yourself 4 points.
Nursing mothers should give themselves 10 additional points. Add all of these points together and this is your Weight Watcher’s Points range.
Sources:
Introduction to Weight Watcher’s Instruction Manual
