New Weight Watchers Freestyle Program
Hey y’all, as you may have already heard, there is a new Weight Watchers program rolling out this week called Freestyle. The new Weight Watchers Freestyle program still uses SmartPoints and keeps a lot from the previous Beyond the Scale program, but there are also some major changes you’ll want to be aware of if you’re a Weight Watchers member or are considering joining. I was lucky enough to be given early access to the program materials by Weight Watchers, so I’m excited to share all the details here for you! This post will cover what’s new about the Freestyle plan, what’s staying the same, how the program changes will affect the recipes on my site and my thoughts about the program update.
While the new Weight Watchers Freestyle program rolls out today, don’t be alarmed if you’re not seeing the changes yet when you log in on the site or your app. You will receive the program update on your weigh in day, so you may still have a few more days on Beyond the Scale depending on when you weigh in. I know program changes can be scary (when Weight Watchers switched from PointsPlus to SmartPoints two years ago, many members were alarmed), but I think you’ll find a lot is the same and the changes may actually make the program feel more flexible with your lifestyle. Don’t panic! Without further ado, here are the details for the new Weight Watchers Freestyle program…
What’s New:
- There are more free/zero point foods! On the previous plan, most fruits and vegetables were zero SmartPoints (they still are!) but now Weight Watchers has added a whole bunch of new foods to the “free” list. These foods don’t need to be tracked or measured. Here’s what is zero SmartPoints on the new Freestyle plan:
- Fresh and frozen fruit without added sugar, and canned fruits in water or sugar-free syrup (this has not changed)
- Most fresh and frozen vegetables and those canned without oil or added sugar (this has not changed – excludes some vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, avocados, olives)
- Peas – NEW! (includes chickpeas, sugar snap, snow, split, black-eyed)
- Beans – NEW! (includes black, kidney, edamame, fat free refried, pinto, bean sprouts, soy beans)
- Lentils – NEW!
- Corn – NEW! (includes sweet corn, corn on the cob, baby corn)
- Skinless Chicken Breast – NEW! (includes whole or ground chicken breast – if ground make sure it is breast meat only/98% fat free or higher)
- Skinless Turkey Breast – NEW! (includes whole or ground turkey breast – if ground make sure it is breast meat only/98% fat free or higher)
- Tofu – NEW!
- Eggs and Egg Whites – NEW!
- Nonfat Plain Yogurt – NEW! (includes traditional, Greek, Icelandic, Soy)
- Fish and Shellfish, skinless – NEW! (includes fresh, frozen, canned, and smoked without added fat or sugar)
- Your daily SmartPoints allowance will change. To balance out all the new zero point foods, your daily points will be recalculated (still according you your age, height, weight and gender). It appears to me that many members who were at 30 daily points on the previous plan will now be given 23 SmartPoints per day on the Freestyle plan, but that may not be the case for everyone. If you’re a current member, your daily points will be recalculated this week on your weigh in day.
- Introducing Rollover Points! On the Freestyle plan, you can roll over up to four unused daily points into your weekly points allowance to be used as extras whenever you like for the remainder of the week. For example, if you know you have a big event coming up later in the week, you can bank up to 4 unused points per day in the days leading up to it to make sure you have plenty of points to indulge at your event. To make use of this you’ll want to be sure you’re filling up on plenty of zero point foods on the days you’re banking extra points.
What’s the Same:
- SmartPoints – The new Weight Watchers Freestyle program still uses SmartPoints with the same calculation, so the majority of foods (with the exception of the new zero point items) will keep the same SmartPoints. SmartPoints are calculated based on calories, saturated fat, sugar and protein. Saturated fat and sugar will increase a food’s SP value while protein will lower the SP value.
- Weekly Points Allowance – while your daily points allowance will recalculate to make room for the new zero point foods, your weekly points will not differ based on the program changes.
How will this affect the recipes on Emily Bites?
I will be working hard to update the SmartPoints on all of my affected recipes, but it may take me a few weeks to get to all of them – I have a lot of recipes on here! *UPDATE: all of my recipes now list Freestyle SmartPoints!*
Since the points on the new Freestyle plan will still be called SmartPoints, but will be changing for many of my recipes, I will be labeling the updated points values as “Freestyle SmartPoints.” That way you should be able to easily designate which recipes have been updated and which I am still working on. I will try to get to everything as quickly as I can! Obviously a lot of my recipes include chicken breast, eggs, beans, corn, etc so it likely won’t be overnight. Thanks in advance for your patience, I will update this post with my progress.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, the Weight Watchers recipe builder does not count points for zero point foods. Because of this, the SmartPoints you calculate using the recipe builder will not always match the SmartPoints you get by entering the nutrition information for a recipe into the points calculator. Zero point foods still have calories, carbs, sugar, saturated fat, etc and the nutrition information will reflect this! For this reason, I recommend using the recipe builder to calculate the SPs for recipes.
I didn’t have early access to the Weight Watchers recipe builder, but I have started recalculating a few of my recipes that will be significantly lower in SmartPoints on the new program, simply by removing the new zero point ingredients in the recipe builder. Here are some low SmartPoints recipes to get you started on Freestyle:
- Easy Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken – 0 Freestyle SmartPoints! (perfect for meal prep)
- White Chicken Chili – 1 Freestyle SmartPoints!
- Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken – 1 Freestyle SmartPoints
- Buffalo Wing Hummus – 1 Freestyle SmartPoints
- Ham and Cheese Egg Cups – 1 Freestyle SmartPoints
- Shredded Mexican Chicken – 1 Freestyle SmartPoints
- Corn and Zucchini Frittata – 2 Freestyle SmartPoints
- Baked Chicken Tenders – 2 Freestyle SmartPoints
- The Best Turkey Chili (using 99% ground turkey breast) – 2 Freestyle SmartPoints
- Mexican Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Skillet – 3 Freestyle SmartPoints
- Thai Turkey with Carrot Noodles – 3 Freestyle SmartPoints
- Fiesta Stuffed Chicken – 4 Freestyle SmartPoints
- Chicken Pot Pasta – 5 Freestyle SmartPoints
My thoughts about the new Weight Watchers Freestyle Program:
Overall, I think this change could actually provide increased flexibility as long as you prepare and include the healthy zero point foods in your meal planning. To me this plan seems kind of like a blend of the previous Beyond the Scale SmartPoints program and the Simply Filling plan (where you didn’t have to track “power foods”). It certainly leads you to incorporate healthy, lean (zero point) foods into your diet. Here are some of my thoughts in no particular order:
- Easier for Vegetarians – the fact that eggs, beans, tofu, lentils, plain FF yogurt, etc are all zero points means vegetarians following the Freestlye plan have a lot more flexibility and more filling, low point options/protein sources.
- Planning/Food Prep/Grocery Shopping is Key – making a batch of my Easy Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken, for example, can really set you up for success for the week! Make sure to stock up on the new zero point foods to get the most bang for your buck on the new plan. Since your daily points allowance will be lower, the Freestyle plan will be tough if you are not incorporating some of the new zero point foods.
- Ground Chicken/Turkey Breast vs Ground Beef – I know a lot of you will want to make my ground beef recipes with ground chicken breast or turkey breast now that they are free. I love lean ground beef and am still going to keep using it in recipes, but I will try to also provide an alternate SmartPoints calculation for making the recipe with a zero point meat option. At first when I saw the new plan I worried that no one would eat beef anymore, but then I realized the flexibility of the new program leaves plenty of room for steak or ground beef. If I have eggs and yogurt and fruit for breakfast and chicken with veggies for lunch I could eat a giant portion of steak for dinner and still have points for dessert!
- Easier to Plan for Indulgences – not only do you have the same weekly points to use to plan for a few glasses of wine, a dessert or a special event, but you can now easily bulk up on filling zero point foods to save your dailies and even roll over unused dailies to use later in the week. This is great for planning a night out with friends, a weekend away, a holiday splurge, or whatever you most enjoy. You can also plan for daily indulgences (like full fat cheese or snack foods) fairly easily so long as you incorporate some of the healthy zero point foods into your day.
- Some Fun New Free Options – though I will always wish avocado would be free, I’m excited to see beans (including fat free refried which I love as a side dish), corn, chickpeas, nonfat plain yogurt, corn, edamame, eggs and chicken breast. I love all those things! I wish I was a seafood lover, but sadly it is not for me. It’ll be great for those of you who are though!
As with any new plan I’m sure there will be some growing pains and a learning curve, but as I said, don’t panic! The new Weight Watchers Freestyle program will eventually become second nature once you get the hang of the changes. I will try to get my recipes updated as quickly as possible and will keep you updated on my progress so that you’re able to cook and track all my recipes with ease.
For more information about the program if you’re a member, check in with your Weight Watchers leader or on the Weight Watchers website. You can always use their 24/7 chat if you’re a member who has questions. To follow along with me and make sure you’re up to date with my recipes, feel free to follow me by email, on Instagram or on Facebook!
Since I’m currently pregnant (yay! If you follow me on social media, you probably already know this but I haven’t announced it on the blog until now), I am not personally currently following a weight loss program, but I am still a paying Weight Watchers member with access to the online tools, recipe builder, program materials, etc. I’m grateful that Weight Watchers gave me a heads up about the program changes so that I could put this post together and ease those of you who follow the program through the transition. I hope this helped!
Thank you so much for being here and for following my blog and cooking along with me! Y’all are so important to me. A lot of my readers follow the Weight Watchers program, but for those of you who don’t, thanks for your patience while I explained these changes to the WW folks – I’ll keep listing nutrition information for everyone else! We’ll be back to recipes with the next post. I love you guys!
Emily
So excited to wake up to all this info. Thank u for all u do and many blessings on your new baby. Xo
Thanks Tina!
Thanks for your update! I live on your oatmeal bites so im anxious to see if that changes….and love many of your other recipes too! Congrats – when are you due? I hope youre feeling great. ❤️❤️ anne
I’m excited to see what changes too! Thank you :). I’m due in March. I’m feeling pretty good so far! It’s so weird feeling her move around in there, haha.
Thank you for the WW update; I really appreciate that. I love receiving emails from you. So very happy for you and your baby on the way!
Thanks Jill! 🙂
How lovely to hear you are pregnant!
Congrats and just thanks again for your lovely recipes. Had a Pumpkin and Chic Chip Oat Single for breakfast this morning!
Karen (Scotland)
Thank you, Karen! 🙂
I am so excited for this new Freestyle Program. I think it’s taking the best of Smart Points and Simply Filling to make a better program.
I love your recipes as does my family. Thank you for all your hard work, you do an awesome job.
PS good luck with the new baby.
I agree! Thanks so much Allie, I’m so thrilled your family loves the recipes 🙂
Great post!! Thank you and congrats on your pregnancy. Just a heads up, I saw on the zero points list that roasted chickpeas are not free. They consider it a “snack food”. I’m excited about the new plan. SO many options.
Hi Liz,
I’m assuming they mean commercially roasted ones you buy that way or get in a restaurant because they are roasted in a ton of oil. Mine are just chickpeas, a little cooking spray and seasonings so if you put it into the recipe builder it’s free!
It looks like they may not be, but I’m not sure how to calculate them in that case because when I run it through the recipe builder I get zero SPs.
Congrats on the new baby!!
Thanks for the information on this. I am a little excited for this! Also a bit worried I won’t eat all my points because I am a chicken kinda girl. So I will have lots to eat.
Thanks Kim! 🙂
Congratulations on your baby and thank you for the insightful and positive review of the program AND your recipes. xoxo Arlis. Houston, TX
Thanks Arlis! 🙂
Thanks for all the wonderful information and recipes!
<3
Thank you for the heads up, I’ve been wondering what the changes would be. I’ve been struggling on my WW journey for a couple of months, I think these changes are just what I need to get me back on track! Congratulations on the baby too!
Sounds like perfect timing! Thank you, we’re excited! 🙂
Thank you for this. My weigh-in day is Friday so I have all week to wait. It was very helpful to read your post and have this in my mind all week as I transition to Freestyle on Friday.
It’s so hard to wait! Haha. Glad to hear this helped!
I heard some people (UK) were gaining with the new program. I wondering if the first serving of new free foods is 0 (ie chick peas) but if you have more than 1 serving does it count for points?
Nope, you do not have to count or track the free foods.
Awesome! I love your recipes.
Thank you! 🙂
I’m excited about the new freestyle program. Many thanks for the heads up. Can’t wait to see and hear more on Saturday weight in. Congrats on the baby!
Thanks!
Thank you so much for this blog. I look forward to checking out your recipes because I run out of ideas.
I’m so glad you found me, Susie – let me know what you try first!
Thank you Emily! I’m excited to implement the changes!
🙂
Thanks so much for all the great info on the new plan! I am very excited for it. I need a new jump start. I love the smartspoints program and I think it will be even better on freestyle. Congrats on your baby on the way! Such happy times 🙂
Thank you, we’re super excited :). I agree about the new plan, I look forward to trying it out once I have the baby!
Emily,
I am sure you have so much excitement happening right now with a new baby on the way! Thanks for sticking with us and still rolling out awesome new recipes even with this excitement especially when you aren’t following the program due to your pregnancy! I was a little nervous that it might be too much for some of my favorite recipe blogs to change everything again but you are tackling this with a positive attitude! Weight Watchers needs to be paying you! Thanks for staying with us!!
Haha, thanks Lisa!! This blog is what I love doing, you couldn’t keep me away! 😉 I’ve been working on trying to create extra recipes right now that I can post while I’m on maternity leave, so hopefully you won’t even notice a difference while I’m “out” for a few months. I’m looking forward to trying the new plan myself once I have the baby!
Congrats on your baby and love your website! I was intrigued with your website when I first saw it, because my daughter’s name is Emily. I stayed with your website because it is seriously one of the best for easy to follow, delicious meals. I hate to cook, but I can and will do your recipes. My family loves them. They never know they are eating “diet” food. Again, Congrats and Thank you!!
Thank you so much, Julie, that means a lot to me! I’m thrilled your family loves the recipes and that you don’t mind cooking them ;). Thanks for following! <3
Thank you Emily. I did not even know there was an update until I saw it on your Instagram. (Maybe I missed an email from weightwatchers?) I do like the new zero point foods – corn, chicken and yogurt are really exciting to me now. I wonder if other types of yogurts will be less points now.
I agree with you on the avocado. So much fiber, I wish it was a little easier to have on WW. Oh well. Thanks for the organized and helpful update and congrats on the baby! ❤️
Thank you! I’m excited about the new zero points foods as well! 🙂
What about soy crumbles? And Quorn, a meat substitute made with mushrooms and egg whites?
Soy crumbles and Quorn products still have points
I wish WW had published something just like this a few days ago, would have saved sip many people so much angst, concern and stress, thank you!
I’m glad it helped! 🙂
I may have missed it but what about things like Gardein meat crumbles (not meat at all, soy, I guess) and Boca Burgers? Are they free?
Nope, they will still have points.
Thanks so much for this comprehensive overview, Emily! I am on WW and I love your blog and I’m excited about these changes as I love eggs, fish, and lean protein. I’m excited to see how this plan goes.
@JAYNE LEMLI, Quorn is zero pts on the U.K. plan so I’d count that as zero until I heard otherwise.
Soy crumbles–probably not because they typically contain sugar, oil and flour.
I can’t speak for what’s going on in the UK, but I just searched Quorn in the updated app and every Quron product that came up had points associated with it.
Thank you so much for publishing the information on the new WW program. I know we’ll learn all about it at our meeting this week, but this early heads-up is fun. My husband and I really appreciate all the time and work you put into your site. Our best wishes to you and your family; thanks for sharing your exciting news about your pregnancy.
Thanks so much, Michele!
Roasted or baked chickpeas are not zero points.
From the WW site: Dried forms of fruit and veggies (e.g. popcorn, backed chickpeas and dried fruit DO have smart points.
Okay, thanks!
As a Weight Watchers Service Provider, we do not like to use the word “Free.” Free insinuates that the food has zero calories, rather we use the terminology of “Zero” instead. It would be in alignment with WW to remove the Free verbiage and replace it with Zero. The reasoning behind this is when members hear “Free” they tend to think they can eat as much of something as they want without following their body’s cues of satiety levels and fullness because there are no calories in it. This is not the case at all, these foods still have calories, WW just felt that the risk for overeating these foods is low and the health benefits are higher.
Thank you so much! Congratulations on your pregnancy! Exciting times! Looking forward to your updates and recipes! We are in this to win this battle!
Thank you! 🙂
Thank you so much for this post! I heard the new Free Style program was starting today. I use the online tools and don’t attend meetings, so I was alarmed this morning when I logged into the WW web site and still saw my old daily points value. Thankfully an email with your post arrived in my in box just in time. My weigh in day is Friday, so it was a relief to find out through your post that is the day I will see the program change. Of course so many other thoughts were rolling around my head (will my weekly points value change, will the points value of specific foods I eat change, etc.), and you covered every concern I had in your post. I’m sure I speak for many when I say thank you for sharing all this information!
I’m so glad you found this helpful! 🙂
I honestly use your recipes about 5 to 6 days a week. It’s why I think the lifestyle change works for me. I live your recipes and cannot thank you enough.
Thanks Kathi!
How do you change your weigh in day. My day is Saturday but I will becaway . Went to a meeting today to get the new books. Would like to use the app tomorrow
Weight Watchers has temporarily disabled the ability to change your weigh in day for the week, but usually you can do it in your settings on the website. Maybe they can help at the meeting location?
thank you, I appreciate your insights. thank you for all you do
🙂
Can’t wait till next Saturday when I weigh in. Excited to hear about all the new changes. Thanks for posting, I was kind of nervous about what was coming, but it sounds great!! Congrats on the new baby!!
Thank you! Glad I could calm your fears 🙂
How many smartpoints will a exclusively breastfeeding mama now get?
You add 12 points to your daily budget if you’re exclusively breastfeeding, so it depends on how many dailies you’re assigned!
Thank you so much and Congratulations on the baby!!
I think this is going to be wonderful because I LOVE veggie omelets! It will also gives me the encouragement I need to stop eating out almost everyday, which I know I need to do anyway.
B
I love eating out, I know how that is! Thanks for the congrats and good luck with the new program!
Thanks so much for the great info!!!
🙂
Hi Emily,
Thank you so much for the information! You and your blog are new to me, but will now be a staple. Looking forwarding to learning about more recipes from you and cannot thank you ENOUGH for you breakdown on Freestyle, and your care for us WW folk.
Congratulations on you baby girl! I read from an entry here about how it feels odd to you when you feel her move. I LOVED that feeling (very odd feeling) and miss it… my Daughter is 26. lol. It’s just something that cannot be explained.
Thanks again, from your new fan. Lorri
Thanks, Lorri! I’m so happy you found my site and I can’t wait to hear which recipes you make! It’s so weird and wonderful to feel my little one dancing around in there – my husband finally felt her the other day and it was the best. I think I may miss it once she’s delivered but likely I’ll be too busy to realize it for a few months, lol.
I just want to say that I am a life time member and I got to goal and then quit smoking so now it is time to return. The program looks good and I look forward to using some of your receipes. Congrats and good luck with your pregnancy.
Thanks Cathy! It sounds like this change came at the perfect time for you! Congrats on quitting smoking, that’s amazing. You should feel so proud. Plus, you already know you can do this because you’ve made it to lifetime before! Good luck with the new program, I can’t wait to hear which recipes you try!
Can someone please help me! I am a Lifetime member and will not get weighed until the end of this month. I really don’t know how many daily points and how many weeklie points I am supposed to get. I am 84 years old, 5’3 and 142 lbs. Any help will be appreciated.
Hi Joyce, there isn’t really a way for me to look that up since it’s all personalized and determined by the WW system. I would suggest giving your WW center a call and seeing if they can help you out over the phone in determining your new daily and weekly points. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Thank you and congrats!!!
🙂
Thank you and congratulations!!
Hi. I done even currently do WW but am glad to be up to date on the recent changes and it sounds like a much more “normal” and healthy way of eating.
Congrats on growing a tiny human. Hope you’re feeling well and that your pregnancy dog nose isn’t messing with your eating :-).
Haha, I love this comment. Thank you! I can’t wait to meet my tiny human! I mean, I want to eat ALL THE THINGS but I’ve been reigning it in pretty well so far 😉
Thanks for this very informative post!! I don’t have the new plan yet and I’m trying to work on weekly prep, a have a few questions:
-assuming this means things like restaurant style shrimp tacos, chicken tortilla soup, etc will all go down in points?
-we shop at aldi and their fit & active ground turkey is 97% lean. So close to the cut off! It’s a great part of my routine, can think i can count as 0?!
-is hummus worth less points?
Thanks for such great insights!
Hi Katie,
It’s hard for me to tell whether specific restaurant items have changed in points because I don’t necessarily remember what they were before! You may have to wait until Friday to check on that in the app.
The WW pocket guide says the ground turkey must be labelled “breast” or “extra lean” or at least “98% fat free/2% fat”…with that said, I think that’s a judgement call you’ll have to make!
Hummus, 2 tablespoons is listed as 2 SP in the Freestyle pocket guide.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for this positive, informative low down. I just came back and what perfect timing. I am stoked and really think after reading your take that this will be a wonderful move for all of us on the program.
I just stumbled on you from googling “freestyle” so I look forward to trying your recipes…the crowd says they are good so you must be doing something right. Thank you!
Yay, I’m so happy you found me! I hope you enjoy the recipes and I look forward to hearing what you try first! 🙂
When I go to my WW app on my phone, it wants me to update to the new program. However, updating is not working. If I go to WW on my laptop, it is still listing points for the new items that are supposed to be zero points. Hmm…
I don’t think I am going to do well on this new program, because I need portion control in order to succeed. I am goal and lifetime, but I’m a constantly hungry person! I need the portion control that the points for meat, fish, and eggs provide. Otherwise I’ll eat too much of them, and then when I do want something sweet, like a 2point WW treat, or bread with my lunch, I’ll run out of points very quickly with the reduced point allowance.
I’ll give it a try for a week or two, but right now I’m skeptical from a personal standpoint.
I would give WW support a call, it sounds like your account has some sort of error.
Definitely give the new plan a try and see what you think. WW specifically chose zero point foods that people don’t generally binge on, but if you find yourself going overboard you may want to give yourself a daily limit. I’m sure you can make this plan work for you 🙂
Thxs for sharing this info. I have been stuck for months and needed something to help me get my weight moving along. These changes look really good for me. I feel a sense of hope. Looking forward to trying some of your recipes as I also love cooking and eating well.
Congrats on the baby
Thanks! I’m so glad you found this helpful and are excited about the new plan. Let me know which recipes you try first!
Thank you this sounds exciting can’t wait to try it.
🙂
I rely more and more on your wonderful recipes, and I know you have a lot of work ahead of you re-calculating SmartPoints to include the Freestyle changes. Thank you SO MUCH for all you do! And I join all the others in saying how delighted I am to learn about your baby! Cheers!
I’m so happy you’re loving the recipes, thank YOU for cooking with me! I appreciate all the well wishes, we’re really excited to meet our little one in a few months! 🙂
So excited for you!! Congratulations!
Any fun food cravings?
I am looking forward to the new program because I did really great with simply filling and pointsplus. When they changed it to smartpoints with the random number of weeklies, it was pretty much impossible to have any nonSP foods.
Thank you!! My first trimester I had the same smoothie at breakfast every day, I couldn’t get enough of it. Since then I feel like I’ve wanted Mexican kind of a lot? Also sometimes I just suddenly want something really specific RIGHT NOW out of nowhere, lol. Baby is keeping me on my toes!
This program sounds like a great blend of SF and points. I also personally had a hard time with the switch from PointsPlus to SmartPoints but I’m really excited about this change. I look forward to trying it myself after the baby is born!
Haha – when my mom was pregnant with my older brother Mark she wanted baked potatoes for dinner every night – my poor dad was doing like manual labor and came home like “yum baked potatoes again!” she said later she realized he must’ve stopped on the way home for food because he was way too nice about eating baked potatoes every day for like 7 months.
Hi Emily! I hope I can write this without gushing! My daughter and I absolutely love using your recipes. We have started using lots of different spices and ingredients that are new (to us) and we love that we don’t feel “deprived” while following the Smart Points Plan. Thank you for all your hard work in recalculating the values and keeping all of us on track. We would be lost without you!! So excited for your baby!
Thank you for posting this! I will have to miss my first meeting where the new program is rolled out, so it’s great to have a heads-up on it beforehand.
Emily, thank you very much for taking the time to answer my question.
I’m excited to implement the new Freestyle program. I love all the new zero point items. Thank you for all the hard work! Blessings on your pregnancy!
Thank you so much for all the information about the new plan and all the recipes!!!! So nice of you♥️ Congratulations on the baby news.
Thanks for this. For some reason Weight Watchers never notified me that there would even be a change let alone that my plan changed today. If I didn’t follow you on Instagram I never would have known. Thanks for the detailed info and for continuously updating your recipes to the plan changes.
When I heard that chicken was going to be free my first thought was – OMG the Emily Bites buffalo chicken will be almost free! LOL. Thanks for all your hard work, I’m a comfort food/recipe fan and have tried so many of your recipes, and loved them all. Not sure what I would have done without all this great food to keep me on track!
Congrats on the baby – so exciting for your family!
Thank you so much it helped so much!!! I am so excited love all the new free choices!!!
Thank you so much! You are such a blessing!!!
Ty for all your help with this journey
Thanks so much, Emily. Your blog is amazing. I was just looking for some info on the WW changes as my weigh in day isn’t until Friday. Your recipes look great. I truly appreciate what you do. Thank you! Congratulations on your baby on the way! ♥
Thank you for continuing to post Points Plus values. That system works best for me personally. I will always credit your recipes for a big part of my success in losing weight. Congratulations on the baby!
Thanks for sharing. Tis a tad confusing, and the new daily total was a bit jarring when I saw it online yesterday without having the insight.
Hi,
Does Weight Watchers take into account a Diabetic person’s nutrition needs. I love Weight Watchers but unlimited fruit wouldn’t be good for me.
Thanks,
Hi
You’re site is wonderful. Can anyone tell me how to figure my daily points allowance. I have the 2017 WW calculator, but that’s not going to work for this. I cannot afford to join WW. Please help.
Just curious if the Starkist Tuna Creations packets are considered “free” on the new program? I don’t see any added sugar for the Ranch flavor so technically it should be on the list of free foods?
I looked up the ranch flavor for you and it is 1 sp for the pouch! I assume the seasoning must add a point.
Emily, I have seen posts about the new program, but I really appreciate the organized. specific details of this blog. I joined WW in 1975 when liver and seafood were required foods, red meat was limited to three times a week, and points didn’t exist. This new program seems the best I have seen! Thanks for explaining it!
I do not know. I was doing so good on the old program now with this switch I feel like maybe I will not continue with WW. This new way seems so limiting. The old point program I hardly even touched my weekly point now and am going over.
I wish WW would have give us the option. Unfortunately father quite a few years ago because he had a hard time when they changed the last time. I am going to try but seems like they really should have give us a choice.
I think ground turkey is 97% or higher. Please check your source. My app says 0 for 4oz
one week into freestyle. stepped on the scale at home this morning and gained a half lb. EEks. I didn’t even go out to eat this week in order to be very accurate and was very careful to not overdo proteins too much , just stick to a serving and alternate them a bit. any advice anyone?
I’m having a hard time with this change. I have been doing great on the previous program and wish I had the option to keep it. It’s been bad timing for me to start new program right around Christmas season. Also, my husbands has been I the hospital so I just don’t want to deal with this change right now. I wish they had started it in November instead. At this point, it feels far more like a “diet” then a lifestyle. I really don’t like it at all. I’m not much of a meat eater so getting more meat is not that exciting. I already eat fruits and veggies, but they were already zero points so that doesn’t help. I eat more eggs now, but they were only a few points to begin with. I do appreciate your sweet spirit. I guess I’m a Scrooge on this change.
This post is so helpful, thank you!! I’ve been a little confused about the new program and how to recalculate my WW friendly recipes so this is a huge help! Will definitely be looking into that recipe calculator!!
Thanks so much! Fabulous site! Congratulations on your pregnancy as well.
Thank you so much for posting this information and taking the time to update your recipes while you’re currently with child. Congratulations!!! I pray you have a safe pregnancy and delivery.
I have not been using the WW app for awhile so when I went back to it today, was surprised to see the change. Looking for the reason for this led me to your amazing blog. Thank you for the info and for a fantastic website. I have already downloaded a number of your recipes to my other favourite app – Paprika. Congratulations on your pregnancy!
Emily how do i follow you on Facebook or messenger?
in your option how will these new freestyle points slow the weight loss process?
So excited to hear about the new program! Just found your site by way of a friend, looked at your recipes and I can’t wait to try them!
So glad I found you!
I am going to join weight watchers this week and I am excited!! I think the new program sounds good!! I am looking forward to making some of your recipes!! Thank you for sharing !! Best wishes on your baby!!
Marlot Shook
I am an old, returning, WW member who would like to see your recipes, especially for the Oatmeal bites mentioned above.
Thank you!
All of the recipes are right here on my site! You can visit my recipe index to view recipes by category or ingredient. 🙂
I’m anxious about all of this.
Thanks for the explanation.
Thanks, Emily and Happy New Year!
Congratulations on your baby news too.
You did a great job explaining the new WW FS program as I am a Lifetime member who has slowly put on 20lbs the last 6-7 years, I was familiar with smart points somewhat- so this change makes sense. My issue is I am allergic to dairy, eggs and gluten. As s full time working grandma- it is so hard to plan, track and shop ahead and prep! I am looking forward to a reboot in this area in the New Year!
God bless you and thanks again!
Barbara
Thanks Emily this was very helpful. I’ve a member 40+ years. I love the program through the years of changes
and it has become very progressive
through the years. I’m lifetimes that attend classes at least twice per month. You will reach your goal one day at a time.
Ernie Wallace
Kansas City, Missouri
Thank you for this useful summary. I’d like to be optimistic, but I’m confused and skeptical of the new system. The addition of so many foods to the zero-points list seems like it’s going to be a problem for me and probably others. The zero-points value of so many additional foods sounds nice and will be convenient in terms of not having to track them, but of course those foods still have fat and calories. Foods like beans and eggs could easily be over-consumed. I personally find them to be like comfort foods (as opposed to original zero-points foods of fruits and veggies). It seems like WW is heavily relying on people exercising portion control with all of the new zero-points foods … but if we were all good at portion control, many of us wouldn’t need WW to begin with. So while the changes may be an improvement in convenience and flexibility, for many of us, I doubt that it’ll be helpful in terms of effectiveness.
The change is interesting. It feels like this style would work much better for some people and worse for others. The flexibility is amazing – but it’s easy to see how you could overeat. For people who aren’t good at stopping when they’re full, the style could be an issue.
Hi! I stumbled upon this site when researching the new WW program. What I’m trying to find out is if non/low-fat foods (non-fat milk, non-fat yogurt, etc) and sugar-free are still promoted? I prefer to eat whole fat and use natural sugar options (coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup) and stevia if I’m opting for a alternate to these. I’m trying to see if WW would be a good fit – thoughts?
Hi Ana, I’m not really sure what you mean by promoted, but you can spend your points however you like. If you prefer full fat to reduced fat cheese for example, it will of course cost more points but no one is pushing you one way or another. I hope that helps!
Thank you for your prompt reply. I was looking for the right word and settled on promoted. I did the program years ago and it seemed like non-fat and sugar-free foods were always preferred over whole fat and healthy alternatives to white sugar (not talking equal or splenda but rather natural alternatives). But it sounds like it’s still similar in that more points will go to whole fat foods. Thanks for explaining!
Hi Emily, with the new ‘roll over’ points allowance that’s been introduced, is that instead of the extra weekly points of 35 that we had on the old program or is it both? I’m guessing it’s just the rollovers, rolling over and the 35 would mean a weight gain? It just all seems a bit too good to be true lol….i’m finding this system so much easier.
You still have your same weekly points! The rollover points get added to your weeklies if you don’t use them as part of your dailies. 🙂
I love your site!!! Thanks so much.
I still have my grocery shopping book from SmartPoints program.
Can I still use that book on Freestyle?
The Freestyle program still uses SmartPoints (the calculation has not changed), there are just more zero point foods. You could probably still use it for most foods.
I am so glad I came across your site. I want to be a we member but I don’t know that I can afford it. I lost a lot of weight the unhealthy way. My dad has been sick for the past few months and I gained some weight. My family thinks I look great but I’m very disappointed in myself. My family would actually put extra food on my plate and wait for me to eat it. I know if I step on the scales I will turn back to The unhealthy and could be life threatening. My therapist thinks ww is a healthy way to go. She told me to explain my problem with weighing and see what they can suggest. I want to get back to the Wright I liked myself at,which doesn’t make my family happy. I truly believe you possibly could be my God send. Thank you for the info. I hope I can afford this program. Congrats on your new bundle of joy coming.
Thank you, Vickie! Definitely talk to a leader at your local WW center about your history and see what they have to say. I’m sure they’d be happy to figure something out to make this a positive experience and help keep you from falling back into an unhealthy mindset. Meetings could also be a great resource for you, you may find others there who have similar issues with families pushing food on them or commenting on their weight. It could give you an outlet to talk about your issues if you feel comfortable and get feedback from others. Good luck with your experience, I hope it can work for you in a healthy way. 🙂
Hi Emily, congrats on the baby! I have 3kids and I did WW right after baby#2 and baby#3 and was able to loose the baby weight plus some!
Do you think it’ll be harder to loose weight in the new flexible plan since it’s a lot less restrictive with the new free points foods?
Also, is olive oil now a free points food as well?
Thanks, Rosana
Hi Rosana,
Thank You! I hope I can do the same re: baby weight! Since I am pregnant I have not tried the program myself but I have seen a lot of people have great results so far. Your daily points are being reduced significantly to make room for the zero point foods and Weight Watchers chose foods you’re unlikely to binge on to be 0 points. I am actually looking forward to trying this plan when I’m able! Sadly, olive oil still has points, lol. I wish it could be zero as well!
Anne Smith mentions that she “lives” on your Oatmeal Bites. I cannot find the recipe using that for the search. I do love oatmeal and see that you have many oatmeal recipes. Can you please let me know which may be referred to as Oatmeal Bites? Thank you. Vicki
Hi Vicki, she is probably referring to my baked oatmeal singles of which I have many! If you go to my recipe index and click on “oats” in the ingredients section you will see all of them!
I dont live near any meetings it is about an hour drive so i have been doing this on my own, I have the new list but i need to be able to calculate my new daily points allotment so how can i do this. right now my allotment is 60 47-womzn 5-8 450lb
Hi Johnna,
I’m sorry but I don’t have a way to calculate that for you! It’s all personalized and my account is already set based on my own info. You could definitely sign up for Weight Watchers Online and enter all your details there. Good luck on your Weight loss journey!
Do you know if the point value for hummus changed?
heads up – chick peas are the same as garbanzo beans. they are free on the WW freestyle plan
Thanks for all the great information on the new program. Congrats on your pregnancy! I just recently had a baby exactly 2 months ago today. I am breastfeeding and was wondering if WW can account for the extra calories needed to keep up milk supply?
Hi Sarah, congrats on your little one! Yup, Weight Watchers does have an option for breastfeeding mothers. You just have to check in your account that you are breastfeeding and it will give you a whole bunch of extra daily points 🙂
Thanks for the update and summary. I stepped away from ww for one month and came back to Freestyle. I felt a little lost and didn’t find the information to help me readily available.
Hi Emily. I just purchased dried beets from costco. They say unsulfured. Not fried or baked. How do I know if they are free points? 0 grams of fat but 16 grams of sugar. I assume that’s natural sugar from the vegetable. Thank you so much for your recipes. I love your site.
Hi Fay! Dried fruits are not 0 points so you would calculate them using the nutrition information. You can also always look things up in the Weight Watchers tracker to double check. Happy to hear you love my site! 🙂
Avocado is listed as the core food which is free
Avocado is not zero points on freestyle. Core foods are part of a different program.
Someone gave me the wrong list. I did have the Core food list. I am so confused. But I have the right list and good thing I scan all foods anyway. I am going to be trying some of your recipes this weekend. Cant wait! Love all your recipes.
If I was 26 points on the old system what wil my points be now?
I’m sorry, I don’t have that information. Each person’s daily and weekly points are based on their own personal age, height, weight, gender, etc so there’s no way for me to calculate it for otgers.
I’m sorry, I don’t have that information. Each person’s daily and weekly points are based on their own personal age, height, weight, gender, etc so there’s no way for me to calculate it for others.
I was wondering where I go to find out how many points I’m allowed on the new freestyle program?
How do I get started for the first mouth free
You’ll have to contact weight watchers to sign up and find out about their current offers, I am not affiliated with the company.
Sorry if it’s already been asked…. with over 100 comments (yay!) I got lost in them all. Anyways, Emily, have you used the “SmartPoints Calculator for Freestyle Program?” The reviews seem mostly negative and seem to say that the calculator isn’t accurate for the new Freestyle program. Any thoughts on this product? Any suggestions for good calculator apps (besides the WW app)?? Thanks! Love this blog!
Hi Alie! I only use the actual Weight Watchers app and website for all of my calculations, so I don’t have any experience with the one you’re asking about. I’m happy to hear you’re loving my site! ☺
I don’t like the new freestyle and I want to go back to my old Smart Points plan. Unfortunately I tossed my old pocket guide. Is there a list of the foods and points pre- freestyle?
I don’t have anything like that but there may be somewhere online. All of the SmartPoints are the same except for the new zero point foods, so you’d just need to calculate those.
How much water should we be drinking on the WW FREESTYLE PROGRAM? Is it still 6 to 8 cups or is it more now?
What about oatmeal
I am thinking of joining. Did they put out new points books for the new program?
I want to get started on this program.
I’m just going into my 3rd week of the WW Freestyle Program. My daily allowance points have been set to 23 and my weekly allowance points were set to 35 (for first 2 wks). When I logged in today to start tracking, I noticed my weekly allowance went from 35 to 28. I did not use any weekly points yesterday which is when it reset. I have tried to call and have an online chat with the WW reps but I don’t seem to be getting an answer as to why I lost those 7 weekly points. I’m not sure if this is a system glitch or does the weekly allowance points change as you go along? Any information you have, would be greatly appreciated.
Sherry, your Weekly SmartPoints are adjusted downward as you lose weight. So going from 35 to 28 means you’re doing a great job!
Thank you Emily this is really appreciate all the information you have provided I look forward to getting on the program and doing my best. Looking forward to the recipes and support system that is needed to accomplish my goals.
What factors do you calculate in the Free Style WW… to get point value of food
Hi Emily. I just joined WW today and am excited to begin! I am confused about chicken. In the FAQ section there was a question/answer regarding roasted chicken. WW said as long as the skin is removed the meat is still 0 points. But when I search roasted chicken under food, it gives 5 points. Would you happen to know which answer is correct? TIA and have a wonderful day!!
This new thing Isn’t working for me. Can I go back to the program before this. Imy gaining weight. Do you know a site that might have it? Would really appreciate it. BB.
How can ijouned Ruth t watson
Hi Emily , I am new to WW . How do I make a recipe and know exactly how much to add ..
for example Fried Venison ? i think 4 oz of Venison is 3 sp but i dont know how to count the oil and flour ??
also I love your page ! Such Great recipes .. I am trying the chicken hummus wrap today for lunch and I will be sure to tag you on IG .. Thanks so much !!
Recipes shown here above are really quite exciting and interesting. They just look yummy. Hope same sort of delicious as well as healthy recipes in future too.
Myself Maggie a certified personal trainer, yoga instructor and sports nutritionists, works to empower people to achieve optimal wellness and become the best version of themselves.
If you figure out the points they are different on freestyle than regular weight watchers points. The recipes are not in the guide. Hard to count. What am I doing wrong?
It was easy for me to follow this plan. I managed to lose all the lbs that I wanted.