WW Freestyle: A Points-Based Approach to Weight Loss

A quick search online about how to lose weight brings up tons of results. One of these results is the WW Freestyle program. It’s essentially a diet plan that incorporates a points system to help you track and lose weight.

The plan focuses on clean, unprocessed food sources. The cleaner the food is, the fewer points it has. Members aim to eat foods with the least number of points to stay on track with their diet.

It’s difficult to recommend the program to everyone trying to lose weight. Some members say that it suits them well. Others feel like it’s too restrictive.

This post delves into how the WW Freestyle points work and whether it’s the right diet plan for you.

WW Freestyle Food List: Healthy Eating That Keeps You Full

The WW Freestyle food list that has zero points has a focus on whole foods that are rich in vitamins. They also include lots of protein and fiber. Not only are these types of foods healthy, but they also help to keep you full for longer.

This is one of the reasons why the WW Freestyle plan works so well for many people. They like the idea of not being restricted to eating zero-point foods. However, eating these zero-point foods keeps you more satiated. Therefore, you’re less likely to overeat and stay in a caloric deficit to lose weight.

You can also eat the zero-point foods in your regular portions. If you’re still hungry, you can increase the portion sizes a little. For example, if you still feel hungry after dinner, you could have another small portion. This level of freedom is what makes people stick to the WW Freestyle diet plan in the long run.

Weight Watchers chose zero-point foods based on the foods recommended by the World Health Organization and national nutritional guidelines. The types of foods you can eat on the Weight Watchers Freestyle plan include the following:

• 0% fat yogurt
• 0% fat cottage cheese
• Fish
• Shellfish 
• Poultry 
• Eggs 
• Beans
• Peas
• Lentils
• Corn
• Tofu
• Tempeh
• Vegetables 

You can make plenty of tasty meals whilst sticking to zero-point foods. There are also plenty of zero-point foods vegetarians, and vegans can use to lose weight and be healthier.

Fully Customized Meal Plans

The meal plans use your specific requirements for weight loss. Your food, activity, sleep, and water intake are all factors that they take into consideration. This allows them to create plans specific to your body’s requirements for weight loss.

This is why Weight Watchers Freestyle works well for people who stick to it. You’re not using cookie-cutter diet plans. You’re using plans that tailor to you.

WW Freestyle: ‘Kickstart’ Your Weight Loss Journey

The WW Freestyle points feature comes with a ‘Kickstart’ guide to food. It comes with a meal plan that you can use to guide you on what types of food to eat. This is great for people who are completely new to dieting.

Nutritionists who are experts in putting healthy meal plans together create these menu plans. There are over 12,000 Weight Watchers Freestyle recipes to choose from. Members also have access to live cooking sessions. These can be incredibly fun to follow along and learn more about cooking healthy meals.

They provide you with a shopping list too. These are helpful in the beginning, and it develops your understanding of how to shop for a healthy diet.

You can also change the serving sizes of each recipe to ensure that you tailor it to your Points Budget. The guide also focuses on other aspects of life other than food. These include Sleep, Activity, and Mindset.

The idea here is to encourage members to make a lifestyle change forever.

Do You Need to Workout When Using WW Freestyle?

Whilst it isn’t a must to work out when following this diet, Weight Watchers encourage it. Their app comes with workout ideas that everyone can try. They want to help you find workouts that you enjoy the most.

Working out burns calories which can help put you into a further caloric deficit to lose weight. If you’re struggling with eating low calories, introducing workouts could be just what you need.

You can receive points for working out, which will increase your total Points Budget. As a result, you can eat more zero-point foods and continue losing weight.

How Much Does Weight Watchers Freestyle Cost?

There are two main memberships to choose from. They include ‘Core’ and ‘Premium.’ Here’s a breakdown of what each plan includes.

The Core membership costs $10 per month if you sign up for 10 months. You’ll pay $15 when signing up for three months. Those wanting to pay per month pay $43 each month.

Core membership:

• 12000 recipes
• Nutrition plan
• Over 200 Zero-Point foods 
• Barcode scanner for tracking foods
• Activity and weight trackers 
• Online Community

The Premium membership costs $25 per month when you sign up for 10 months. It costs $30 a month when signing up for three months. When signing up for one month, you’ll pay $65.

Premium membership:

• 12000 recipes
• Nutrition plan
• Over 200 Zero-Point foods 
• Barcode scanner for tracking foods
• Activity and weight trackers 
• Online Community 
• Support from members in-person
• Coaching on behavioral changes
• Virtual and in-person workshops

Can You Use the WW Freestyle Plan for Free?

For many, the WW Freestyle plan is too expensive. So, are there ways you can get it for free?

Weight Watchers offer a 30-day trial period. This gives you a month to try the plan and see if it fits your dietary needs well. If not, you can simply cancel the membership with zero payments.

Once the 30 days are up, you can apply everything you learn to your lifestyle. This can be useful for giving you a deeper insight into what it means to eat healthily and lose weight. You won’t have access to the points or food tracking features. However, you can use other calorie calculators, such as MyFitnessPal.

There isn’t a completely free way to access the Weight Watchers diet plan. But you may be glad to hear there are several ways you can receive discounts on WW plans.

One of these approaches involves your health insurance provider. You can contact them to see if they can get you program discounts. Sometimes, you may need to lose some weight to have discounts.

You can also speak to the human resources where you work. They may be able to offer discounts. This could be if you and a group of employees sign up together.

It’s also worth checking the Weight Watchers website for deals. The site has regular discounts and deals that can make the plan more affordable for you to join.

Weight Watchers Freestyle: Common Questions

People have some common questions regarding the WW Freestyle diet plan. This section covers the answers to questions that people ask the most frequently.

Is Weight Watchers a 1200-calorie diet?

Yes. The Weight Watchers Freestyle diet will have you eating around 1200 calories, or ‘SmartPoints’ per day.  They take the emphasis off calories and, have people think more about the quality of the foods they’re eating.

The points system hides the caloric content. Many people prefer this as it can feel more like a game. It also means that they don’t need to be meticulous about their calories. All they have to do is stay within their Points Budget.

Do bananas count as zero-point foods?

Yes. Bananas have a zero-point score when following the Weight Watcher Freestyle program.

Can you eat normal foods on Weight Watchers?

Yes. However, some people feel discouraged when eating foods that have higher points. This includes processed foods and foods containing sugar/saturated fats. The Freestyle plan gives you lots of healthy eating options.

Can you eat pasta and potatoes on WW Freestyle?

Yes. Recent changes to the plan mean that it now includes pasta and potatoes as zero-point foods.

Conclusion: Is Weight Watchers the Right Diet Plan For You?

So that wraps up our post on the WW Freestyle plan.

Those who want to shift their lifestyle to healthy eating can use Weight Watchers best. Whilst there are plenty of food options, some aren’t fans of the points system.

The only way to find out is to try it out for yourself. You can sign up for 30 days for free to trial the system. You’ll know by the end of the 30 days whether it’s a diet plan that’s right for you or not.

Hopefully, this post has given you some insight into what the Weight Watchers Freestyle diet plan offers.