How Do I Calculate My Points?

I have gotten the question a couple of times now of how do you calculate your points for a meal you are fixing.  Here is how I calculate my points:

Let’s say you want to fix spaghetti for supper.  You start off with using 1 lb of meat.  You will need to look on your container of meat to find the calories, fat and fiber (this info will vary depending on what type of meat you get).  Usually the packaging will give the counts per serving…so you will need to find the number of servings per container (assuming you have a 1 lb container) and multiply your calories, fat and fiber content by that number to get the total number for that full container of meat.

Then let’s say you use a full box of spaghetti noodles.  You will want to do the same thing with this…find the nutritional information on the box…find the magical # of servings per container on the box and multiply the calorie, fat and fiber content by that number. 

Then you would do the same thing for your sauce.

Then you would add all those numbers together to get your total number of calories, fat and fiber for your dish.  If you are going to divide your dish into 4 servings then you can divide those numbers by 4 to get your amount per serving.  Then you can calculate your points per servings.

Clear as mud??  How about I help you out!  Here is a link to an Excel file that has a calculator that I have set up for you to enter your information!  I have set it up for a recipe that has up to 8 items in the recipe!!  (the first sheet is just the simple calculator and the second sheet is the recipe calculator). Hopefully if you have more items than that you can figure out what to do from there.

Please let me know if you have any questions on the calculator!

Remember, if you are wanting points for restaurant menu items click here for a pretty extensive list of different restaurants!!

How To Calculate Your Daily Points Value

Disclaimer -  I follow the Weight Watchers points program but I am not an official member of the Weight Watchers system.  I have never joined the weight watchers program.  I do not pay dues and I do not attend meetings. 

So information that I share on this blog is from research I have done on the internet mostly, with information I have gained from other friends who have been members of the weight watchers program.  There may be times when what I am doing is not exactly how it should be in the program, but it has worked for me, which is what counts (I have lost 35 pounds in the past 4 months and I am still going).

I found this calculation online.  I cannot verify that it is the official formula for the weight watchers system.  But it has worked for me and that is all that counts – right?!?!  Here is the calculation:

To find your daily points allowance, give yourself the number of points listed next to the option that fits your situation best:

Your sex:
If you are female- score 2 points
If you are male- score 8
If you are nursing- score 12

Your age:
17 to 26- score 4
27 to 37- score 3
38 to 47- score 2
48 to 58- score 1
Over 58- score 0

Your current weight:
Enter the first 2 digits of your weight in pounds. If you are 175 lbs for example, you would enter "17".
Your height:
under 5'1"- score 0
5'1" to 5'10"- score 1
Over 5'10"- score 2

Your activity level on most days of the week, how do you spend your day?:
sitting down- score 0
occasionally sitting, but mostly standing- score 2
walking most of the time- score 4
doing physically hard work most of the time- score 6

Add up all your scored points- that is your daily points target.
As you celebrate your birthday, increase your daily activity, or as you lose weight, you will need to keep retaking this quiz to most accurately figure your points allowance.

How I Use Weight Watcher Points (regarding fiber cap)

Let me start out by saying that I follow the Weight Watchers points program but I am not an official member of the Weight Watchers system.  I have never joined the weight watchers program.  I do not pay dues and I do not attend meetings. 

So information that I share on this blog is from research I have done on the internet mostly, with information I have gained from other friends who have been members of the weight watchers program.  There may be times when what I am doing is not exactly how it should be in the program, but it has worked for me, which is what counts (I have lost 35 pounds in the past 4 months and I am still going).

In my research I have found a lot of information on how the program uses fiber in the point count.  From what I have read there is an old way and a new way on the fiber count.  Originally weight watchers let you calculate up to 10 grams of fiber per serving when calculating the points, but, apparently a large portion of the weight watchers population didn’t realize that there is a limit to how many calories can be wiped out by fiber and started abusing the system by thinking they could eat lots of calories as long as they ate lots of fiber, but they were not losing weight.  So weight watchers decided to modify the point system and only allow 4 grams of fiber to be included in the points count per serving.

I have been following the 10 gram fiber cap and have not had a problem with it…but I only count fiber if the recipe, or the food item contains that much fiber.  I do not add extra fiber to my recipes to lower the point count.  

So in all my recipes on this blog, along with Kellie’s Healthy Recipes, I calculate points according to the 10 gram fiber cap (and frankly it is not that often that there is a recipe that c0ntains that much fiber).   But if you are wanting to use the 4 gram fiber cap I do strive to provide the calories, fat and fiber content per serving so you can recalculate the points if the fiber count is above 4 grams.