by R.J. Nestor

Created on: March 06, 2011

On November 29, 2010, Weight Watchers® introduced their new PointsPlus® system. PointsPlus incorporates advances in food science by calculating fat, carbohydrates, protein, and fiber separately. Since the old points are no longer valid, this article will teach you how to estimate PointsPlus when eating out.

The PointsPlus system has one major drawback: it is more complex to calculate. Fortunately, with a little rounding, you can quickly tally a PointsPlus estimate in your head.

* Estimating PointsPlus *

- If you have all the nutritional information -

To calculate PointsPlus, you need the total fat, carbohydrates, protein, and dietary fiber, all in grams. Most chain restaurants have this information available online, in the restaurant, or both.

If the nutritional information does NOT include all four components, go to "If you're missing some information" below. If you've got everything you need, you're ready to estimate.

Divide the fat grams by 4. If that sounds daunting, just divide it by 2 twice. If the total fat grams are 26, dividing by 4 gives you 6.5 (or dividing by 2 twice gives you 13, then 6.5). Round to the nearest number, and we get a PointsPlus fat subtotal of 7.

For both carbohydrates and protein, divide the total grams by 10. In the actual formula, carbs divide by a little less and protein by a little more, but rounding both to 10 will balance in the long run.

Dividing by 10 is easy. Just stick a decimal point between the final two digits (and if there are more than two digits, you probably shouldn't be eating it!). If there are 42 grams of carbs and 15 grams of protein that's 4.2 and 1.5. Round to 4 & 2, and we have a PointsPlus carbs and protein subtotal of 6.

Add the subtotals and we get 13. Now we meet your best friend, fiber. Fiber REDUCES your PointsPlus total. Unfortunately, you rarely find fiber totals high enough to affect the points, but it's nice when they do. Divide total fiber by 10, and subtract it from your total so far. If your meal has 8 grams of fiber, that's 0.8, which rounds to 1. Subtract from 13 and we have a PointsPlus estimate of 12.

That's all there is to it. All you have to remember is "fat 4." Everything else divides by 10. It may take a little getting used to, but the math isn't difficult. If you have a hard time keeping the subtotals in your head, keep a pen and paper handy to tally your results.

- If you are missing nutritional information - 

Many chain restaurants, as of this writing, don't

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