How Do Weight Watchers FitPoints Work?

Weight Watchers (now known as WW) is one of a number of programs that can help you set goals for weight loss and align you with healthy eating habits. One of the methods that Weight Watchers offers to help guide your food choices is their SmartPoints system. SmartPoints apply to your PersonalPoints budget. This budget is what helps you assess the kind of food you are eating and how much as you work towards your weight loss goals.

Essentially, the higher the food is in calories and saturated fat, the higher the SmartPoint value will be. If a type of food is higher in lean protein, the SmartPoints will be lower. Weight Watchers moved away from calorie counting in favor of this updated system because calories tell an incomplete story. For example, 100 calories in a cookie will have a different value compared to 100 calories of healthier food like turkey or tofu (per Weight Watchers).

Samantha Cassetty, a registered dietitian based in New York City, told Today that the SmartPoints system helps you build an awareness of calories, fiber, and protein in foods that also provide satisfaction. Feeling satisfied with what you eat is how you reduce your calorie intake, she added.

However, what you eat is also only part of the picture. How active you are can also impact your weight loss and overall well-being. As a result, Weight Watchers launched FitPoints to encourage healthy fitness habits.

Since the 1960s, Weight Watchers has continued to evolve ways of encouraging healthy eating habits and lifestyles. To that end, the company began the FitPonts system to further personalize the Weight Watchers experience and help you track your physical activity. Tracking FitPoints ultimately impacts what kinds of food and how much you should eat based on your goals, per PopSugar.

FitPoints are personalized to your body and lifestyle. For example, a brisk 15-minute walk for you may have a different FitPoints value compared to someone else. If you meet the Weight Watchers daily minimum threshold of three or four FitPoints — or roughly 3,000 steps — you get more PersonalPoints, which gives you the option to eat more. But according to PopSugar, you don't have to convert your FitPoints into food points. If you only want to track your daily activity, you'll be still eligible for prizes through Weight Watchers' WellnessWins program.

FitPoints may seem confusing at first. But thankfully, you can easily track them through the Weight Watchers app or internet calculator. Whether you decide to convert your FitPoints to food or not, the important thing is that you engage in regular physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle.