Well Weight Watchers, you did it again.  You have changed things up and confused everyone in the process.  Oh, that’s just me?  Well, I’m slowly learning more about this new program called Beyond the Scale including SmartPoints.

What are SmartPoints?

Much like the old PointsPlus approach, SmartPoints are used to calculate what you have been eating each day.  You have a certain amount to consume each day depending on your weight, age, and height – among other things.  The SmartPoints are now able to change your lifestyle and get you to eat less sugar and saturated fats and more fruits and veggies.  That’s obviously a great thing.  It seems that the goal is to make eating smarter and healthier easier for us.

You are assigned a daily target (all women start at 30 SmartPoints as their daily target – I don’t know what men start at, but they have higher daily SmartPoints than women).  The weekly points now fluctuate depending on your weight, goals, and fitness level.  Mine are currently set to 42 Weekly Points, and have been since I started the new Beyond the Scale program.

An Integrated Fitness Routine:

When you sign in to the new program, you go through a holistic questionnaire and assessment to understand more about you and your habits.  Part of this is to understand your current fitness regime.  You now get a fitness goal to meet each day instead of just gaining Activity Points throughout the day like before.  I honestly think this is a great addition to the program since I know that it will keep me motivated to get those Fitness Points in each day.  I’m also really interested in trying out the new app called FitBreak that has videos you can follow at home.  Hello easy workout!

Every 2 weeks, the app will suggest a new FitPoints goal for you (either higher or lower depending on your fitness level).  My goal is currently set at 41 FitPoints, which has been a challenge for me the past few weeks.  Integrating fitness into my routine has been a bit more of a challenge than I thought it would be.  This just means that I need to work harder to achieve my goals each week.

What does this mean to me?

The whole goal, it seems, is to make a more personalized approach to weight loss and fitness.  And Weight Watchers wants you to completely change your lifestyle to be a more fit and healthier you.  Because Weight Watchers has been around for so long, they know how to make this a lifestyle change, not just a diet.  This is to completely change your lifestyle and the choices that you make currently.

Time will tell how the program works for each person, but I like that it’s a bit more personalized than it was before.  Hopefully the transition to SmartPoints will be a smooth one.