Weight Watchers Points Plus Calculator

In 2010, Weight Watchers™ restructured their entire pre-existing points system and revealed their PointsPlus™ innovation. With PointsPlus, Weight Watchers introduced the concept of zero point foods with fruits and vegetables (non-starchy) costing 0 points.

Although the WW points system and overall programs have been modified since 2010, the Points Plus system is still a valid recipe for a healthier lifestyle and will fuel better eating habits.

The WW™ points plus calculator uses protein, carbs, total fat (saturated and unsaturated), and fiber to determine the point value of a food or drink. Like SmartPoints, the Points Plus number is combined with two separate allowance metrics:

1. Daily Point Allowance

• Between 26 and 79 Points Plus pts

This is calculated using a person's gender, height, weight, age, and activity level. If you’re interested in your daily points allowance, you can visit our allowance calculator page which can quickly provide this value for you in addition to running through examples and an explanation of how it’s calculated.

2. Weekly Point Allowance

• 49 Points Plus pts

This weekly point allowance is a static number that may be allocated freely to foods and drinks of your choice throughout the week.

The Weight Watchers Points Plus program focuses on the nutritional aspect of food rather than a raw calorie count with saturated fat and sugar modifiers such as the new SmartPoint system. Its primary purpose is to promote the consumption of foods with higher protein and fiber content due to their innate nutritional content (these options typically include many fruits and vegetables) and their filling nature.

By sticking to the recommended foods and your daily points allowance, not only will the participant reliable lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, but also transition themselves into healthier eating habits and a better overall lifestyle.

There are 2 possible methods to calculate the Points Plus value of a food or drink. The equation we use in our calculator and a short-hand mental math option. We’ll quickly run through both options using an avocado in our examples.

These are the nutrition facts for an avoacado, which represent the values we'll be using:

1. Points Plus Calculator Method

This is the well-known, mathematical equation to calculate the Weight Watchers Points Plus value of a food or drink:

Now, lets plug the nutrition values into our equations:

Then, if we round our result to the nearest whole number, we end up with:

As you can see, a single avocado is not quite worth 9 points even though that is the official and accepted Points Plus value from Weight Watchers. Although we lost a few tenths of a point in this example, rounded points can also work in the participant's favor.

Thus, unless you eat the same exact foods that continually round your point values up, these will eventually even out in the long run. We can also take advantage of these relative values in order to use a short-hand, mental-math approach that can assist you in a pinch if you don’t have time or access to use a calculator.

2. Points Plus Estimated (Short-Hand) Method

This is the simplified short-hand equation we'll use to estimate the Points Plus value of an avocado:

Now, we if once again input our nutritional values for an avocado and simplify our equation a bit so we can do some mental math:

Finally, if we simplify our mental-math result to the nearest whole number:

Nice, we've arrived at the same result as our calculator and now have a means of determining Points Plus values anywhere and anytime!