Weight Watchers FreeStyle Overview

Vegetables

We all know that most fruits and vegetables were zero points on Weight Watchers previous plan. The good new is they still are with a couple of new additions.

Sweet corn and peas are now part of the list of foods you don't need to weigh, measure or track. I was super excited about this as sweet corn is one of my favorites.

The other exciting change in the WW veggie world is there are now some starchy veggies on the list. This includes beans and lentils.

Items like chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, and more are now zero SmartPoints value.

If buying in a canned version, make sure it is not canned with added oils or sugars. If so, you will need to calculate the points based on the nutrition information on the label.

If you are not sure, use your WW mobile app and scan the label to find out.

What's not zero point vegetables

While there have been some vegetables added to the zero points list of Weight Watchers Freestyle program, some veggies did not make the list.

This includes any dried vegetables. That's because these are more of a "snack" item and can easily be overeaten. So track your points for these. The same is true for potatoes. These didn't make the list as it is too easy to over consume this food.

Meats

Never before has Weight Watchers included any meats on their list of free foods. So this change is one of the biggest and one of the ones people are raving about. Not all lean meats made the list, but what did make it is chicken and turkey.

With the Weight Watchers FreeStyle plan you can now have lean chicken and turkey breast. It must be skinless in order for it to count as zero points on Weight Watchers FreeStyle plan.

Lean chicken breast and turkey breast thinly sliced deli meats are also have zero value on the points list. You can now have ground lean turkey and ground lean chicken freely as they are also on the list.

If you use these items in a recipe, the WW recipe calculator automatically uses the zero points value for these foods. If you calculate the points yourself, just be sure to remove the nutrition value for the chicken or turkey.

What Meats are not zero

Not all lean meats made the Freestyle list. This includes lean pork and beef. The reason for this is that a healthy diet recommends limiting the amount of red meats consumed in a week. Since the WW freestyle wants to encourage a healthy diet, the red meats have a points value and need to be tracked.

Additionally dried meats (like for jerky) are not free. Because they are considered a snack food, which can be overeaten more easily, they are off the Weight Watchers Freestyle list.

Fruits

There is not much to talk about in this category. In the previous plan the fruits (with a few exceptions) were zero points. On the new Freestyle program they are still zero points. Just like with canned veggies, make sure there are no added oils or sugars.

There are a couple of things worth mentioning. Avocados and plantains are not on the Weight Watchers Freestyle zero points list. This is not a new thing but just wanted to restate it for this plan.

The other thing I want to talk about is smoothies. Even if a smoothie is made with nothing but foods on the list, the SmartPoints still need to be calculated. The reason for this is that in a liquid form, you can consume more of the fruits and yogurt without the feeling of being full. For this reason, you need to track the points.

Other New Foods

Other foods that are part of the Freestyle list include eggs, nonfat plain yogurt (both regular and Greek), tofu and Quorn, a meat substitute.

As with the other new foods, these were added to the list for one or several reasons. These reasons include promoting healthy eating, nutritional benefits and tend to be eaten in moderation.

When grabbing a yogurt off the shelf, be sure it meets WW guidelines for this freebie. It must be plain (unsweetened) and must be nonfat. If it only low fat or is sweetened, you have to calculate and track the points.

What didn't make the list

Items like nonfat cottage cheese (or other nonfat soft cheeses) didn't make the list even though it is similar to the yogurt. One reason is they can be higher in calories. The other reason is that people tend to consume more of these foods than yogurt.

Other Changes

While the new zero points foods are the biggest change, there are others that help you reach your weight loss goals. Your daily points that you don't use will now rollover into the next day (up to 4 points). This continues during the week allowing the rollover to go from one day to the next.

At the end of the week, any of these rolled over points you don't use go away. They are not rolled into the next week. This allows you to bank these points into your extras (along with the weekly points) so that if needed for a certain day, they are there for you to use.

One change that may have your grumbling is that you will have fewer daily points to work with. The reason for the reduced daily points is because of the many Weight Watchers Freestyle zero point foods. The calculation for your daily allowance will still be based on your age, height, weight and gender. You will get this number from your Weight Watchers leader or WW online.