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Nov 08
119

New WW Program 2021/2022: PersonalPoints

New WW Program PersonalPoints

Hello, friends! As you may or may not have already heard, beginning today there is an all-new WW (formerly known as Weight Watchers) program called PersonalPoints. I was fortunate enough to get advance information about the program straight from WW, and since I have a lot of readers who follow the WW program, I wanted to put together a post outlining all the details of the new plan. PersonalPoints has some pretty big changes from the previous programs, so if you are a WW member or are considering becoming one, definitely read on for more information! If you’re just here for the tasty lightened up comfort food recipes and not interested in WW, don’t worry, I’ll be back to posting recipes soon!

Let’s dive into the new program.

A whole new points calculation: PersonalPoints

One of the biggest changes coming your way with the new program is an entirely new way of calculating points. WW has changed plans a few times in the past six years, but has been using SmartPoints algorithm (calculated using calories, saturated fat, sugar, and protein) as their points calculation since December 2015. As of today, SmartPoints are no longer the unit of tracking for WW members. This is a major change!

The new points are called PersonalPoints, and are calculated using calories, fiber, protein, added sugars, saturated fats and unsaturated fats. The algorithm behind PersonalPoints is intended to help guide you toward foods higher in healthy fats, fiber, and protein and lower in added sugars and saturated fats.

Because of this change to the points system, if you’ve been doing the program for a while, you will notice that the points values of many foods will be different. You’ll also see differences between say, white pasta (4 PP per cup of cooked penne) and wheat pasta (3 PP per cup of cooked whole wheat penne) which may encourage you to make a higher fiber choice.

Everyone’s PersonalPoints Program is Unique

This is another huge change! Two years ago, WW went from having one plan that all members used to introducing three different plans you could choose between. This time, they’ve individualized things even further, and everyone’s plan will be a little different. How is this possible? While all foods will use the same PersonalPoints calculation to determine their points, your zero point foods list will be completely personalized.

When beginning the PersonalPoints program you’ll be given a quiz where you answer questions about what types of foods you like to eat, your eating patterns, and your activity level. WW will use your answers to give you a personalized list of ZeroPoint foods along with a daily and weekly PersonalPoints budget. Don’t be afraid to tell WW what you like to eat in the quiz, they want to put the healthy things you enjoy in your ZeroPoint foods! You will be able to take this quiz again if you’d like to switch up your ZeroPoint foods, though WW suggest trying a plan for at least a week or two to give it a chance and see how it fits your lifestyle. To re-take the quiz you’ll just go to Profile > Settings > Food Settings > Food Plan and re-answer the questions.

The possible ZeroPoint foods available are:

  • non-starchy vegetables (the only group that will be ZeroPoints for all members)
  • fruits
  • avocado (new!)
  • fish and shellfish
  • chicken and turkey breast
  • tofu and tempeh
  • eggs
  • plain, nonfat yogurt and cottage cheese
  • oatmeal
  • potatoes
  • corn
  • beans, peas, lentils
  • whole-wheat pasta
  • brown rice, quinoa, other whole grains

It’s important to note that while ZeroPoint foods lists will be different, the PersonalPoints calculation will be the same for everyone. So, while you may have potatoes on your ZeroPoints food list and another member may not, if a food does have points for both of you (say, an ounce of cheddar cheese or a slice of bread) it will be the same number of points on all PersonalPoints plans.

Because of this change, recipes will likely not have the same amount of points per serving across the board between members. It’s quite possible for a recipe to have many different points values per serving depending on a member’s individual ZeroPoint foods list. Eek! I’ll speak more on that and what it means for my recipes later in this post.

Ways to Earn More Points

That’s right, there are now three ways you can earn more PersonalPoints to use throughout your day or week. Who doesn’t want more points? Here’s how you can add to your points budget:

  • Eat Your Veggies! For every cup of non-starchy vegetables you track you’ll get 1 PersonalPoint added to your daily points budget. This is an unlimited earn, so if you track three cups of veggies today you’ll get three extra points in your daily points budget. If you’re wondering what non-starchy veggies include, it’s basically the vegetables that were zero points on MyWW Green. So, yes to carrots and butternut squash, no to peas, potatoes and corn.
  • Drink Water! Tracking 60 ounces of water in a day will earn you one PersonalPoint added to that day’s budget. This earning is limited to once per day.
  • Get Active! You can also earn PersonalPoints by tracking activity. How many you earn will depend on the activity as well as your height weight, age, etc. You’ll be able to track activity manually or passively using a compatible fitness tracker, same as previously. These points can be earned on an unlimited basis and will be added to your weekly points budget rather than your daily budget.

What’s The Same/Change is Hard

I know a lot of things are changing, and change is hard. I totally get it. If the WW plan you’ve been using is working for you, the prospect of changing to something else is scary. Throughout the past couple WW program changes, the points algorithm stayed the same (SmartPoints), so if you knew the SP value of your favorite bread (or whatever), that stayed the same. This time points values will change, daily and weekly points budgets will change, and there’s going to be a learning curve.

My advice is not to panic. Give the new program a shot. The points calculation may be changing, and your points budget may look different, but the overall method is still the same.

  • Various nutrition information from each food item is turned into one simple number, making it easy to evaluate the food’s overall nutrition and track it in the app.
  • You’ll still get a daily points budget along with a weekly points budget to use as you like.
  • Rollover points will also stay the same, so if you don’t use all of your daily PersonalPoints one day, up to four unused points will be rolled over into your weekly points budget.
  • There will still be ZeroPoint foods that you can use to make sure you never go hungry. You can use these foods as a base for meals, eat them as a snack, or add them to meals that need a little bulk.

Remember, the new program will be assigning you ZeroPoint foods based on what you like to eat, so it will be customized to your preferences. Also, there’s (potentially) ZeroPoint avocados! I am interested to try out the new PersonalPoints program myself and see how it works for me.

WW PersonalPoints FAQs

Okay, the program is brand new today, so nothing is a frequently asked question yet. This is a list of questions and answers based on questions I had or anticipate you having that I haven’t covered above.

  • Can I stay on my current SmartPoints plan instead? Nope. When WW introduces a new program, they commit. The WW site and app will no longer offer the previous programs. Additionally, since I calculated SP for my recipes using the WW recipe builder, I no longer have a way to calculate the SmartPoints for my future recipes. I will keep the SPs listed for currently posted recipes.
  • Can I re-take the quiz? I mentioned this above, but in case you missed it, yes! To re-take the quiz go to Profile > Settings > Food Settings > Food Plan and re-answer the questions.
  • Will the recipes and foods I added in the WW app automatically convert to PersonalPoints? Yes, though you may have to do a bit of maintenance. Since PersonalPoints uses some added pieces of nutritional information, there may be ingredients that are missing this info and will require more information. WW assures me a banner will appear on those recipe pages prompting you to add the needed info, so I hope that’s true!
  • Is there a specific Diabetic plan? I had heard some rumblings about a diabetic-specific plan before getting the new program details from WW, so I wanted to include this question. The answer in my opinion is…sort of! If you’re living with diabetes, you will be on the same PersonalPoints program as everyone else, but your ZeroPoint foods list will take your health condition into account. The quiz you take at the start of the new plan includes the question “Are you living with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes?” and if you answer yes that will factor into the customization of your plan and which foods will appear on your ZeroPoint foods list.

How will this affect the recipes on Emily Bites?

I’ll be honest, when this new program was explained to me I panicked hard. How the heck am I supposed to list the points per serving for my recipes when they will be different for everyone? I’m pretty sure I actually said the words “oh, so my blog is doomed” on the video call with the WW team. I can be a bit dramatic, but seriously, listing the WW points is one of the reasons a lot of y’all come to my site and make my recipes. I’ve been blogging about WW-friendly recipes for eleven years. It’s a big part of my life. It’s now my career. I depend on y’all to come to my site and cook with me.

WW was very nice and super encouraging about members still using my site, but they didn’t really have any suggestions for me on how to make this work for my recipes. I freaked out and spiraled for a few days, but managed to formulate a solution that I think will actually work out really well! WW has assured me that it should work in reality the way it does in my head, so that’s a good sign.

Here’s my solution: I use the WW recipe builder to create all of the recipes I post here on my blog. Moving forward, I will include a link in each blog post that says something to the effect of “Click here to determine your PersonalPoints per serving!” The link will take you to the recipe I built in the WW recipe builder and if you’re logged into the WW site/app it should automatically show up with your PersonalPoints calculated. Easy, right? You can then save or track the recipe into your account and once you do that you’ll be able to edit the recipe within your own account.

Not only will this show you your individual PersonalPoints per serving, but it’ll make the recipe easy to track within the WW app, and easy for you to make changes. Using a different cheese than the recipe specifes? Once you track or save the recipe in your WW account, you can make edits based on your changes.

This does mean that I won’t be able to post points per serving within the blog posts or on social media, because they will differ based on your ZeroPoint foods list, but it should be easy for WW member to just click on the link to view their PersonalPoints and track from there. Whew! Once I figured this out and confirmed that it should work with the WW team I felt so much better about being a helpful resource for those on the WW program moving forward.

Updating my Recipes

I will definitely be updating all of my current recipes with WW recipe builder links so that they can be tracked using the new program. Because I’ve been at this for eleven years, I have well over 700 recipes posted on my site, so it’s going to take me a bit. Please be patient with me as I am only one person! I will definitely make the updates as quickly as I’m able. I plan on working backwards chronologically so that my most recent recipes will be updated first, but if there are certain recipes you want me to get done sooner rather than later, feel free to comment on this post and I will do my best to accommodate your request. I will post updates here and on social media (Instagram and Facebook) as I continue to add these links to my recipe posts.

In Conclusion

I haven’t had a chance to use the new program myself yet, but I’m interested in trying it out and seeing how I feel about it! When I’ve done the previous MyWW program I used the Green plan, so I feel like having more ZeroPoint food categories and less daily points will definitely be a change.

So…what about you?? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the new PersonalPoints program. What are you excited for? Nervous about? I want to hear what you think! Give me a comment below. Also, if you don’t already, make sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, or by email to get updates and tons of delicious WW-friendly lightened up comfort food recipes!

Thank you so much for being here and for following my blog and cooking along with me! You are all so important to me. A lot of my readers follow the WW 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 promise. Love you guys, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Emily

119 comments on “New WW Program 2021/2022: PersonalPoints”

  1. I am so happy you have found a work-around for determining my personal points for WW. Your recipes have been so helpful on my WW journey. I like the fact that I don’t have to spend all the time entering your recipes in the WW recipe builder. {Ain’t nobody got time for that 🙂 } It just seemed so senseless for every member to have to manually enter recipes, when so many were using the same recipes. I have so many favorite recipes on Emily Bites that it is hard to choose. Taco Wonton Cupcakes (and all her cousins, LOL) may be my favorite. But I am sure if you start updating the most popular recipes first, it would be great. Thank you for all you do to help us eat healthy.

  2. When I saw the change I also panicked about how the bloggers would handle it! We love your recipes so much in my house. I think I’ve been cooking along with you for most of those 11 years! I make something from your blog at least twice a week. 
    I’m looking forward to having links to click and customize! Manually doing it is always such a chore. Will you still post nutritional info as well? 
    Thanks for all you do! 

  3. I am so relieved to read this! I use your delicious recipes weekly so I am glad that you are able to work with the new program. Thank you!!!

  4. Thank you for all this information! I don’t mind change, but WW Blue has worked well for me. So, I’m a bit nervous. I’m so glad you have found a way to make this new change work for your blog! Your recipes are favorites in our household! Thanks for all you do!

  5. Thank you so much for this summary and for updating your recipes. Change is hard and this is no different but like all the other plans it will become second nature.

  6. Thanks for all the info Emily!
    I actually think that your plan to post the links is genius and makes it so much easier for people moving forward to have their favorite recipes update automatically as WW tries to re-evaluate their programs every few years to stay up with the latest science.

    Good luck with the updates! I’m sure that makes it busy for you heading into the holidays 🙂

  7. Thank you for figuring out how we each can calculate our points.

  8. I agree with the above posters. I’m so glad you found a work around that will tell us our individual points! I use LOTS of your recipes… I’m from Buffalo too, and was so happy to find your blog!

  9. The only trouble with new program is, it only works on a smart phone!
    I don’t have one and I only use a Kindle.
    Things won’t change for me.

    • SORRY!!
      I went to the WW shop to see if they had a new program book (and they do!).
      The quiz button popped up and I was able to take the quiz and then it returned me to my WW page!
      I don’t know how much of the new program will work on a Kindle but I do have my WW page back.
      I’m so bad at technology!
      Some day I’ll make myself get a smart phone!

    • I’m glad you got it to work!

    • Help,I don’t have a phone,I have a ipad,but can’t get the new program to come up,can you help?

  10. Emily!
    I LOVE you! This is a dream come true. I have been entering your recipes in MY recipes(always giving you credit 🙂 ) on the app for several years now wishing there was a link or a bar code so I didn’t have to do all that work. This is terrific! Sorry for all the work YOU are having to do, but thank you.

  11. I absolutely love your recipes and found this article so interesting.  Will be attending a WW meeting this evening but was so happy to see your breakdown of the program.  Thank you.

  12. Thank you for posting this review! I love your site and would not stop using your recipes for anything…as long as you have the calories we can use a calculator. Keep doing what you are doing!

  13. I really appreciate your very clear explanation of the new plan. I am very pessimistic about it, though. The last time they made a big change, WW stopped working for me. Then when you could pick your own plan, I was able to go back to the old (Green) plan and went back to getting results. I do wish they would give us a choice. Although I am Lifetime, I find that I still need to track and stay (mostly) on Program to maintain.

    • I only chose non-starchy veggies, fruit, and chicken/turkey as my zero point foods, so my PersonalPoints plan isn’t that different from the Green plan. I love that I can earn points by eating veggies and drinking water. So far as a former Green member, I really like it!

    • I understand your frustration because I am in the same situation. Under the Green Plan I reached my goal and have maintained my weight. When I did the assessment for the new PersonalPoints Plan, (and I tried it 3 times) I couldn’t get the points close enough to the Green Plan and still enjoy the foods I’d grown accustomed to eating. Offering extra points for eating non starchy vegetables, drinking water and being more active would not work with me because I don’t eat enough vegetables or drink enough water, nor am I interested in making this change. In fact, if I were to follow the new PersonalPoints Plan, I would eventually start to feel deprived and start eating more and gaining weight. Fortunately I have kept copies of all my favourite recipes and have a record of the SmartPoint values of the food I’ve been tracking under the Green Plan for the past 17 months. So I have therefore cancelled my membership and plan to continue tracking my food based on the Green Plan on my own. Sorry WW but you went too far this time, at least for me.

    • I’ll be keeping the SmartPoints listed on all my current posts, so you should still be able to find your Green points there!

  14. I so appreciate your explanation!  The entire WW system has overloaded and members are frustrated!  As a previous Coach, I support change and encourage patience but I am frustrated with the system as of this morning!  I love your recipes and do appreciate the hard work you have put in!  Please keep posting….I am a faithful follower ❤️

    • I agree, regarding the WW system today. It’s a mess! New members would be smart to hold off a day or two and let them iron out the kinks. It’s very frustrating. (Of course, they had no problem putting my credit card through! 🙂

  15. Thanks for sharing this information with us Emily! Your recipes are a part of my healthy eating plan every week! Looking forward to trying the solution you’ve worked out!

  16. Thank you so much for putting all of the work into making this a success for all of us!!

  17. I am so glad you figured a way to still do your recipes. I have to tell you, you are my go to, to find recipes. I am relatively new to WW and I love your recipes. Everyone I have tried so far has been amazing. Thank you for what you do. I know my waistline appreciates you.

  18. I am not going anywhere! Your recipes are so helpful and I look forward to learning this new WW plan together with you. 

  19. Thank you so much for such a comprehensive explanation – and taking your followers’ needs in consideration! The addition of a link to calculate and track is HUGE!! OMGosh thank you!!!!!!

  20. Nervous! I am SO busy that this is about the last thing I need right now and I’m always on autopilot just trying to get everything done in a day…..run, run, run! Not too happy about the change but going to give it a chance – what else can I do? Thanks so much for your recipes – I love them and you are always my ‘go-to’ place to do my weekly menu. Thanks so much for finding a solution for your recipes – you are amazing!!

  21. Blogs like yours was one of my first thoughts/concerns with this new plan. Personally I love change, so I was good with it for me, but I really like your site and know how hard it is to update. This will actually be easier for you hopefully!

    I personally like the very little I have seen from it so far. When it comes down to it…this plan (like all others) will work if worked correctly. When I decide to not track cheesecake weekly….that’s not the fault of the plan 🙂

    Congrats on coming up with a new way to calculate – can’t wait to try it!

  22. As a former WW Facilitator my reaction was, oh no, what a nightmare for all the wonderful WW bloggers who has given us so many recipes to use along the way. I am happy that there is a work around for you and look forward to watching the updates for the WW followers. I have already chosen a few recipes and checked how the points were going to differ, and so far, they are minimal. What I don’t like is having to choose which foods I want in my personal plan, I previously followed Blue, and found it hard to make that decision, so thank you for explaining how we can go back and change how we follow this Personal Plan.

  23. I’m overall excited about the plan. Well I was until I took the quiz. Haha! My daily went down by 2 points (no biggie) but my weekly literally got cut in half. I added potatoes, but that’s all, and went from 43 to 21 weekly points. I regularly go over my weeklies now so I’m not sure how half as many will work. Unless I start eating a lot of potatoes. Haha  

    • You can always re-take the quiz and ditch zero point potatoes if you don’t eat them frequently to get some daily points back. I was also worried about having less weeklies, but I’ve found that I’m eating more vegetables and earning points that way (which is keeping me fuller) so it’s working out for me!

  24. Thank you so much for the update! I jumped ship on WW a few years ago. I use the ITrackBites app. because I prefer and love the Points Plus program. I’m grateful you’ll still be posting the nutritional info so I can calculate the points on your recipes. Good luck and I look forward to more recipes!!! 

    • Which plan on healthi is points plus? I use that app also and am following better balance but points plus was my favorite!

  25. My family, friends, & I love so many of your recipes & hope that you’ll continue to provide the nutritional information for those of us that don’t do WW points.  I feel very fortunate that I found your blog years ago.  Your recipes are delicious!!

  26. So glad to hear that I will still be able to use your recipes. I love your site and use the recipes a lot!
    Thanks for helping us through this new change.

  27. Such a relief! Thank you SO much for taking the time to walk us through everything and for the extra work you’re putting in to provide us with links to your recipes on the WW app. I was really nervous about this updated program because I almost exclusively rely on your blog and one other similar blog for my meal planing and recipes. Your blog has brought an ease to this weightloss journey that I believe has been essential to my success so far. I wasn’t ready to lose that! Feeling much more hopeful now! 

  28. Thank you for helping us with this change. I just made the beefy goulash with whole wheat pasta. I was on purple and now the pasta has points.
    Thanks again.

  29. Thank you Emily… you are fabulous!  I think we all panic just a bit when WW changes, but with change comes new challenges and motivation.  Love your recipes, and am so very appreciative for all that you do.  You are a huge part of my success!
    Thank you 

  30. Thank you for this information, Emily! It’s so helpful! As for specific recipes, if you have any “thanksgiving or Christmas specific, would you mind updating them in the first batch? That way we’ve got something to help when holiday planning.

  31. Thank you for all your hard work, I use your recipes so much in my daily meal planning , so happy there will be a way for you to continue to be successful and help all of us you follow you

    Barb

  32. Oh my gosh, reading your post is making me feel better about everything. I panicked this morning; I was sitting down to meal plan for the week and get my grocery list together and opened the app and EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT. The cynical part of me can’t help but point out that WW changes every few years so that we all have to keep buying new cookbooks and subscribing to the app…you can’t just take what you’ve learned and run because it all changes. I’m feeling pretty upset that all my favorite recipes and go-to snacks are now potentially different. I’ve really gotten into a healthy eating routine and that’s been working with me. I like that there are new options, but I wish you could elect to stay on the old plans. Blue was working so well for me! But seeing your article Emily made me feel better that I’m not the only one who panicked at first. Hopefully, like you have, I’ll adjust and this will all turn out. Either way, I will still be visiting your site frequently because I love your recipes and consult your blog often. Thanks for your input and all your hard work to make this new plan work for all of us.

  33. Hi my name is jamie I love your website it’s great I am making the chicken And stuffing slow cooker this week so I was wondering if you could update that for me I love that meal it’s the best ❤️

  34. Thank you so much for clarifying a few things! I’m always be exited to spice up my ww plan (keeps me on my toes!). I’ve already been frustrated by having to log onto the website to then build a recipe for dinner planning purposes today, so I can only imagine how much of a headache it’s been for you! As always, we appreciate you and your yummy food!

  35. That is just awesome how you care about your followers!  Regarding the new program?  A little scared or apprehensive, after all, no one likes change.  I’ve followed ww for years and eventually you get used to a change if you give it a chance.  I appreciate what your trying to do for me and everyone!

  36. I was very nervous in the beginning, after reading the materials I am excited. There really hasn’t been that much of a change for me, I was doing the blue plan. I am going to give it two weeks and see if it makes a difference.

  37. I am so glad you found a work around.  I love your recipes and use them so often. Good luck with the revisions. 

  38. Thank goodness you have a work around. We use your recipes at least twice a week and I wasn’t planning on stopping just bc WW changed their program. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate your clear explanation- so much easier than what was on my app. Your recipes are fantastic. Thank you so much for all you do!

  39. I really hope the link from the recipe to WW app will work! Even tho I’ve made a habit of copying into recipe builder in the past the biggest pain was having to enter ingredient. No problem with cut & paste for directions & notes but it’ll be nice to have all there in the app to save & tweak as needed. I hope the other bloggers i follow will be able to do the same. Thank you for this update!!

  40. I really appreciate this GINORMOUS task you are undertaking for you readers.   My plan switched over today and I clicked on the slow cooker chicken and stuffing recipe, hit the link to figure my personal points and it popped right up in my WW app with the correct points for me.   I really like this a lot.  Thank you so much

  41. Thank you for all your work you put into updating the points for recipes. A favorite of ours is the Spicy Taco Gnocchi Skillet (which I just made tonight).

  42. Thanks so much for sharing. I went into total panic mode when I read about the changes too because I love your recipes! I feel so much better after reading this post. 
    Would love to have the points for the Best Ever Lasagna and also Pizza Casserole, both regulars on my menu. Thanks for all your hard work 

  43. Thank you for all your work!  Please continue to post nutritional info for family members not on WW, thank you!  That nutritional info helps keep the whole family happy! 

    • Yup, the WW changes have nothing to do with my posting the nutritional info – that will always continue!

  44. I’d like it if you still listed points, but the most possible points instead of none.  I usually look at the points before I’m willing to read a recipe to see if it’s worth it. (That being said, I know it’s a lot of work for you, so I understand either way) Just a suggestion. I like that you’ll have them link to WW. Either way, I’ll still come here for recipes!

    • I don’t really have an easy/practical way to do that right now, but if that changes I am happy to add it!

  45. Emily. Please help!  I can’t seem to get it to work for me. Can you please explain once more how to do this?  Thanks in advance. 

  46. Emily, you are the absolute best! Thank you for all you do to support your followers. I use so many of your recipes and love them all. I’m still following Points Plus and appreciate that you have continued to post the Points Plus values. We love and appreciate you!!

  47. I love how your recipes transfer into the WW app!  I enjoy your recipes very much and love trying new ones.  I like to keep all my recipes in the WW app so now I don’t have to enter them into it. Thank you!!!!

  48. Thank you Emily for all of this information.  I panicked when I read they want to personalize WW because I have been successful on Blue due to bloggers like yourself, I love and depend on your recipes.  I am glad you found a way to make it work, we will all have patience, we know that it is a huge endeavor for you.  Again, thank you for everything you do.

  49. Omg!  I just tried the link to track one of your latest recipes and it worked!! This is a game changer. Honestly how has this not been available forever.  You are amazing!  And you have the most family friendly healthy recipes anywhere.  I can always count on you to deliver. Thanks for your hard work and I couldn’t love this new tracking option from your blog better.  Great job!

  50. Thank you for that information! I think as we l settle in and adjust to the new norm it won’t be so scary. I’ve gone through many of these plan changes always disappointed to lose my tried and true, but always end up coming around. I love what you’re doing with you recipes. One of my biggest concerns was related to all of my ww recipe Pinterest folders!
    Thank you for what you do and for giving us less to worry about!

  51. Thank you so much!! I spent some time today reading the articles on the app but your explanation was by far the clearest and easiest to understand

  52. Thanks for the information. Love your recipes and recommend your site often. Blackened chicken bites and Korean style turkey are two of my favorites. All the chicken bites are awesome.

    (I honestly thought you were going to give us points for all non free items and then points for each item that might be free….and let us figure it out….seemed like that might be a little painful)

    • Oof, I’m so glad for both of our sakes that I don’t have to do that, lol. I just updated both of those recipes for you!

  53. Thank you for all the information, very helpful!! And so glad you are able to help us all with points and recipes! I love your Ruben muffin cups, those would be one I would like to see converted! They are sooo good! Thanks again! 

  54. Great solution to getting our personal points for your recipes!   Thank you for sharing!    I love the new plan – something about earning points for veggies and water excite me ‍♀️.    Your recipes are great and many of them are now staples in our house.   Thank you!!  

    • I agree, it’s already making me eat more vegetables than I used to which is keeping me more full. I really like the new plan so far!

  55. Your recipes are by far my favorite WW friendly ones. So appreciative of your hard work finding a way for the points to be calculated with the new ww plan. 

  56. FIRST OF ALL – THANK YOU – I wish being able to click on your recipe, and having it load into my builder was done from the beginning!!! This is going to make this transition so much easier since I rely on many of your recipes as well – I cannot wait to see how much of the “Fried cauliflower rice” I get eat now LOL!!!!!!!

  57. You are definitely the best! Thank you so much for all your hard work! I’m a former Weight Watchers member and a 10 years Lifetime member, I will keep coming to your blog and trying your recipes since you’ll keep posting the nutritional information. I’ve been on the blue plan since it started and it worked for me, since I don’t have the app I’ll continue on blue. Again, thank you so much for for all of your hard work and dedication. 

  58. Thanks for going above & beyond to keep us supplied with good recipes that help along the WW journey. Your efforts do not go unnoticed!

  59. I don’t know how many out there this applies to but, as I see it, those of us who have not subscribed to the (in my case) very pricy ww app will not be able to bypass using ww without their app. They have found a way to do the pay or else. Fortunately, we frugal fannies can still plod along with the old Smart Points materials we have gahered all these years and go that route or revert to the always the same never changing calorie counting.

  60. I don’t like that I can only have fish or chicken/turkey as a zero point food.  All the other changes are ok. But I never use my exercise points so I don’t  think I will use the additional points for making good choices to add points to my day. I’ll stick to my dailies.  

  61. Thanks for finding a work around! Just tried with your Split Pea soup recipe… and it worked perfect, opening it up in my app! It doesn’t seem like other bloggers are as advanced…. So you will now be my first go-to for yummy WW recipes! Thanks for the extra effort!!!!?

  62. Thanks for finding a work around! Just tried with your Split Pea soup recipe… and it worked perfect, opening it up in my app! It doesn’t seem like other bloggers are as advanced…. So you will now be my first go-to for yummy WW recipes! Thanks for the extra effort!!!!?

  63. Unfortunately, as a WW Canada member, I’m having the same problem with your recipes as I’m having with my other favorite food bloggers…the link in your recipes doesn’t work for us in Canada. The link goes to the US WW site and it doesn’t recognize our sign-in credentials.

    Perhaps the next time you have a chance to communicate with WW, you can mention this to them as I’m sure I’m not alone and maybe they can find a solution? Maybe they can combine the US & Canada sites into a North America site?

    In the meantime, I guess I’m going to have to use the recipe builder for every American food blogger I follow in order to figure out my Personal Points value…might need to quit by job in order to find the time! LOL

    • I did reach out to my WW contact to see if they can come up with any solution for my Canadian readers. While I doubt they will combine their international sites for me (lol), I’m hoping they’ll have an idea. Fingers crossed!

  64. You are brilliant Emily! Thank you! I clicked the link to one of your recipes and it transferred into my WW app seamlessly with the correct Personal Points for my plan! 

  65. I feel like even though you can’t display points now since they are more targeted to each individual your blog is still so valuable because we know that you are building recipes based on the point system and therefore it’s unlikely to be far off from each individuals point budget per meal. 

    The one thing that WW could (and in my opinion should do) is add a recipe feature that allows you to import recipes from a website like my fitness pal does. That would eliminate some of your concerns and make it easier for everyone to use recipes across the web as many do. I just rejoined for the new program, so it’s possible they’ve done this and I just haven’t investigated enough, but if it isn’t it would streamline recipe input for everyone. 

    I’m a chef, so I love rebuilding old fav recipes and I have always enjoyed your blog as you’ve made so many comfort food staples more approachable on a weight loss journey, and I think you’ve probably taken a lot of kitchen novices under your wing and showed them how much more freedom they have when preparing their own meals as opposed to carry out or preservative laden frozen or boxed meals have. So I am really happy to hear WW has been communicating with you directly because your blog is probably one of the most comprehensive companions to the program through all of its various changes.

    I love your blog and I hope that with these changes you see even more growth!

  66. When I read about the new plan I also panicked about what this would mean for the Emily Bites Recipes that I love and make often.  I’m so glad that you’ve found a workaround. I have also been following the Green Plan. I like the structure and point counting and fewer free foods. When I took the quiz I didn’t choose any free foods and one the one free protein choice that’s required, I chose tofu which I very rarely eat. This left me with fruits and vegetables as my free foods (and the tofu of course) and my daily points are now very close to what they were on green. Because some foods I eat often have come down slightly in points as well, I’m finding that my Personal Points plan is pretty much the same as my green plan. One critique I gave of the app is that my activity points only show up in the weekly points and not daily. I try not to dip into my activity points too often but I like seeing them in my daily points as I earn them. 

  67. Thanks for the info! Some of my go-to recipes that I would love to see updates for soon:
    Chicken Tamale Bake
    Deep Dish Taco Casserole
    Zuppa Toscana

  68. Thanks Emily! I am mixed….now I have points for fruit (where I didn’t before), but………eggs are ZERO! Woooo hoo! As well as brown rice/quinoa (based on my plan). You have to be careful in the store though. Some brown rice comes up as having points (I am assuming it is slightly processed), I searched and scanned until I found brown rice/quinoa that came up as zero. Kroger has a 90 second brown rice that came out as zero. Same happened with cooked frozen shrimp (with no seasoning), some brands came up as zero points, others did not. Oh…my air popped popcorn is now zero points (I’m thrilled!) only have to count points if I add olive oil or grated parm.

  69. I just went and looked at some recipes and see you’ve already added the links and OH MY GOSH! I love this!! Not only does it make tracking your recipes easy, but I can now favorite them on my app. Thank for all you do Emily! Your recipes are my favorite and really help me through this journey!

  70. Since you are not affiliated with WW , can you still leave the older smart , points plus points , etc . on your older recipes . Many of us use the ” I TRACK BITES ” app ., which uses the old plans .

    I appreciate all of your hard work .

  71. Ahhh!!! I thought of you when the new plan came out! I would have been in the fetal position in the back of a dark closet for days if I were you. I’m excited about this new planned and I’m thrilled you found a solution!!!!

  72. This is exactly why I joined Noom and started counting calories! Ten years ago I joined Weight Watchers and lost quite a bit of weight and was close to the maintenance phase when they changed the program. I slowly started gaining weight and then went on and off WW over the years. The constant changing plans was confusing and exhausting. One day avocado toast was a great breakfast, the next day it was half my points budget!
    Noom is SO much better. There is a calorie goal and you follow it. There’s no opportunity to switch things up. Calories in, calories out. They encourage healthy eating but you’re not penalized if you don’t like brown rice.
    Emily, I’m so sorry, this new WW plan sounds like a nightmare. Your recipes are so consistently good and I am so grateful you include the calorie count. I hope your solution works but don’t worry, I’m sure WW will change again, hopefully sooner than later!

  73. Thank you so much for laying this out and working toward a solution for sharing recipes on this new WW program. Cheers!

  74. I love your website – it has been a game changer on my WW meal prepping journey. Thank you for finding the work around – it works perfectly! Could you add the chicken pot pasta to the top of your work around list? It’s a fan favorite in my house!

  75. Hi! I love all your recipes! When I click on your link in recipes to get the personal points, it takes me to my daily food log and I don’t get the points for your recipe. Would you maybe know what I might be doing wrong? Am I looking in the wrong place?

    Thank you!!

    • Are you possibly outside the US? Unfortunately this method is not working for Canadian and other international WW members. I have reached out to WW to see if they have any suggestions or solutions that might work for everyone, so fingers crossed!

  76. Hey Emily!! I loved this review and I’m so excited about how easy it is to log recipes now. My only question is if there’s a way to make it so you can alter the ingredients to the recipes in the app? Sometimes I don’t have the same exact ones or swap something out, etc. Any advice? Thanks so much. 

  77. Emily, I LOVE your recipes!!!  Thank you for all that you do!  I can tell that a lot of time and effort goes into each and every one of your amazing recipes!!!

  78. This post made me less anxious about the new program. Thank you!!!

  79. Hi!!!

    Love your site so much. Thank you for all your hard work, your recipes have made our weekends the past few years!

    Can you add the WW link to these 4 recipes?

    Cajun Beef Bake
    Chicken Cordon Bleau pasta bake
    Cincinnati chili bake
    Chili cornbread bake

  80. Okay, I seriously hate this for y’all. I actually said that too — lots of people want the “group” support that being in a similar plan helps you develop. :/ I still haven’t figured out this navigation so I’m like… screw it.. I’ll jump back in after the holidays when I have the mental bandwidth to figure it out. I hate not being able to search for 4 point this or 6 point that. Totally jacked up everything…. bleh!

  81. I just recently re-joined WW. I was a little taken aback by the changes, but I feel I wil do fine with it. My only real concern is that finding recipes and products on line will be difficult. Meaning I can no longer search for “WW purple plan recipes”. So we’ll have to see how that goes, kind of a bummer.

  82. I love your blog and your recipes! I won’t stop coming here! 🙂 

    I am NOT impressed with the new WW, however. First of all, I personally hate tracking via an app. I don’t like using my phone for this purpose (numerous reasons, but I really prefer using a laptop), but I also am concerned for people who do not use smartphones. This requirement puts WW out of reach for them, because if you use a computer instead, you don’t get activity points nor can you earn points for non starchy veg or water. It’s exclusionary in that way. My mother was going to join, but she doesn’t own a smartphone and she’s not about to buy one and learn to use it just for WW.
    Second, I don’t like not being able to input my activity on my own. I don’t like having to sync another personal device (which, some people may not even own) in order for my activity to count. 
    Third, I’m finding I’m ending up in an echo chamber of food choices due to their algorithm, much like how Facebook only provides you with more content that is similar to what you’ve already looked at. 

    I have to decide what I’m going to do.

  83. I’m so happy you found a way to work the new plan with your blog. I was so upset with WW over this change. The cynic in me thought they may have done this to make it harder for influencers to monetize the program. Sounds like WW worked with you.  Glad to know I was wrong. 

  84. Bluntly? I gained seven pounds since it was introduced, following it faithfully. I was LOSING on WW Blue. I despise this, utterly despise this, but don’t know what else to try.

    • Hm, that’s definitely frustrating. Have you tried re-taking the quiz to make your plan similar to what you had on blue? I would recommend only selecting the zero point foods you used to have on blue and eat almost daily. You should be able to make this plan very close to what you lost with on blue. You may have a few less dailies/weeklies, but once you drink water and eat a couple veggies they come right back.

      I was on green before and had 30 dailies. Now I have 27 on PP and my zero point foods are non-starchy veggies, fruits, and chicken/turkey breast. The only new one I have is chicken/turkey which I eat often. I lost three dailies but I get them back easily with water and veggies every day and not having to count chicken, so it ultimately isn’t very different for me.

      I think you could follow this new program very similarly to what you did on blue! I’d suggest taking the quiz again. I hope that helps!

  85. So is it possible to purchase a booklet listing points for each food item, as before? I still don’t quite understand this new Personal Points business! 

  86. Hi Emily – I just re-joined WW after being off for about a year. Actually I quit shortly after Covid hit. Anyhow, I’m so glad I discovered your blog. I didn’t even realize there was a new version. I pretty well had smart points figured out! I just downloaded a PDF of “my” personal Zero points – and there are a lot! I only get 19 points a day, so I’ve been blowing through those way too fast. I plan to follow your advice about taking the quiz again. I look forward to enjoying your recipes in the near future. Thank you for being the Queen of WW Recipes!

    • I’m glad you discovered me too! I would definitely recommend that when you re-take the quiz you only choose ZeroPoint foods that you eat almost every day. The more ZeroPoint foods you add, the fewer dailies you get, so if you’re not eating those ZeroPoint foods often you may find you feel deprived. If you loved your previous color plan you can always try choosing similar ZeroPoint foods to the ones you had then. For example, I was on Green before (non-starchy veggies and fruits were zero) and had 30 daily points. Now on PP I have non-starchy vegetables, fruits, and chicken/turkey breast as ZeroPoint foods and get 27 daily points. By the time I drink water and eat some veggies my daily points turn out about the same, and I get chicken breast for 0 on top of it, which I eat almost every day. You can definitely make this work for you!

  87. Hi , I must be doing something wrong – when I click the link in the recipe it doesn’t take me to the recipe in my WW app. I have the app open and signed in, I tried searching g for the recipe and that didn’t work either. Help please

    • Hi Erin,
      Are you outside the US? Unfortunately because WW uses a different website in each country, my link to the WW app only works for US accounts. Trust me, I wish there was a way around this! I’ve reached out to WW about it before and they said they’d look into it but I never heard back. :/

  88. Love your recipes Emily! Would you mind updating the Pumpkin Tortellini skillet for the new program? Thank you so much for your hard work!

  89. Up until today I can see my added points for eating vegetables. Today it didn’t show them. I had 4 cups and it didn’t add 4 points for those cups. Is the site have issues? 12/13/2022
    Heidi Bailey

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