I know quite a few people have talked about the new WeightWatchers SmartPoint system, but I’ve been following it since Christmas day and I feel like weighing in (hah!).

If you’re not familiar, I’ve been successfully maintaining a 50lb weight loss that started with WW in 2010.  Whatever combination of eating and running I have been doing over the past 5 years has worked pretty well for me.  But winter and stress and a bunch of trips to Florida were slightly eroding my happy weight cushion, so I freaked out a little and joined WW again on the spur of the moment on Christmas day.  I knew they had a new points program that wasn’t sugar-friendly and I was okay with that.  In fact, I welcomed it.

However, after a month on the program, I think it may be time for an early break-up, despite my 3-month pre-payment.

There are so good things about the program for sure:  I really like that fruits and veggies are now ‘free,’ even in recipes.  The ‘points’ vs calories mentality works for me.  There is a really lovely community and some great blogs that focus on WW-friendly food.

But for me, there are a few negatives that I can’t seem to overcome.  Mainly that the way the points are weighted, I cannot eat even close to my normal diet without going over points for the day.  And those are on days when I eat in a way I consider to be healthy and balanced.  Like today (not today, but the day I wrote this).

2016-calories-vs-smartpoints

I mean, it’s certainly not a perfect diet, and I could use a little more fruit and veg in there, but it’s not bad for me.

However, the thing that I find untenable is that if I eat this way, I’m going over my daily points by a few, meaning there is very little wiggle room for something like a big lunch out or a margarita (or two).  And that’s not sustainable for me.

I’m also under 1000 calories for the day and while I try not to get super caught up in that, if I’m eating decently and feel full, but that’s on the low end, even for weight loss.  And I’ve tracked my points vs my calories over a few days, and it generally shakes out this way.

I’m currently down a few pounds and back into my happy zone and maintaining.  I would still like to lose a bit more, so maybe I should try to eat WW’s way, but honestly, I’m probably not going to.

So there you go, the most boring WW/calorie comparison review on the internet today.