Beauty Tips FREE Professional Courses
Watchers Propoints and Slimming World a Quick Guide:
EXPOSED 2023: The Inside Scoop on How Diet Systems Like Weight Watchers Propoints and Slimming World Are Created!
Watchers Propoints:
Are you tired of feeling bloated, sluggish, and unhappy with your weight? Do you long for a simple, effective way to shed those extra pounds and feel your best? Well, look no further than the world of diet systems like propoints and even your own unique system that we will discuss later!
But how exactly are these systems created? And how can you create your own successful diet program? We’ve done some digging and have all the juicy details!
Beauty Tips FREE Professional Courses
First off, let’s take a closer look at some of the most popular diet systems out there: Weight Watchers Propoints and Slimming World. Both of these programs have been around for decades and have helped countless people achieve their weight loss goals.
So, what’s the secret to their success? Well, both systems focus on healthy eating habits and emphasise the importance of portion control. Weight Watchers Propoints assigns a point value to each food, based on its nutritional value, and members are allotted a certain number of points each day.
Slimming World, on the other hand, uses a “syns” system, where members are allotted a certain number of syns per day to use on indulgences.
But how exactly were these systems created? The founders of Weight Watchers, Jean Nidetch and Felice Shapiro, actually started the program as a support group for themselves and their friends.
They found that by holding each other accountable and sharing their weight loss journeys, they were more successful in reaching their goals.
As the program grew, they enlisted the help of nutritionists and dietitians to create a more structured system. The Propoints system was introduced in 2010 and has since become a cornerstone of the Weight Watchers program.
Slimming World:
Slimming World, on the other hand, was created by Margaret Miles-Bramwell in 1969. Like Nidetch and Shapiro, Miles-Bramwell started the program as a support group for herself and her friends.
However, she took a slightly different approach to the program, emphasising the importance of “food optimising” and encouraging members to eat as much as they wanted of certain healthy foods, while limiting their intake of less healthy options.
So, what can we learn from these successful diet systems? Well, first and foremost, it’s clear that accountability and support are key.
By creating a community of like-minded individuals, both Weight Watchers and Slimming World have been able to help their members stay on track and reach their weight loss goals.
Additionally, both programs emphasise the importance of healthy eating habits and portion control. By assigning point values or syns to different foods, members are able to make informed decisions about what they eat and how much they eat.
But what if you’re looking to create your own successful diet program? Well, here are a few tips to get you started:
Identify your target audience:
Before you can create a successful diet program, you need to know who you’re creating it for. Are you targeting busy moms who want quick and easy meal options?
Or maybe athletes looking to fuel their workouts with healthy foods? Identifying your target audience will help you tailor your program to their specific needs and preferences.
Develop a clear plan like in Propoints:
Once you know your target audience, it’s time to develop a clear plan for your program. Will you be assigning point values to different foods, like Weight Watchers?
Or maybe you’ll use a “food optimising” approach, like Slimming World? Whatever approach you choose, make sure it’s clear and easy for members to follow.
Provide Propoints like support and accountability:
As we’ve seen with Weight Watchers and Slimming World, support and accountability are key to success. Consider creating a community for your members.
Now, let’s dive deeper into food points-based systems and how they calculate points for different foods.
Weight Watchers Propoints is a popular example of a food points-based system. The program assigns a point value to each food based on its nutritional value, with healthier foods receiving fewer points than less healthy options.
The formula used to calculate points takes into account the food’s calories, saturated fat, sugar, and protein. Here’s an example of how the formula works:
Let’s say you have a food item that contains 150 calories, 3 grams of saturated fat, 10 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein. To calculate the points value for this food, you would use the following formula:
(points value) = (calories/40) + (saturated fat/4) + (sugar/10) – (protein/10)
Plugging in the numbers for our example, we get:
(points value) = (150/40) + (3/4) + (10/10) – (8/10)
(points value) = 3.75 + 0.75 + 1 – 0.8
(points value) = 5.7
So this particular food item would be assigned a points value of 5.7 on the Weight Watchers Propoints system.
Slimming World, on the other hand, uses a “syns” system where members are allotted a certain number of syns per day to use on indulgences.
Syns are assigned to foods based on their calorie content, with healthier foods receiving fewer syns than less healthy options. For example, a small apple would be considered “free” on the Slimming World program, while a slice of cake might be worth 15 syns.
Towards Your Own Propoints System! – Just Don’t Call it That!
If you’re looking to create a new points-based food system, one option might be to flip the formula used by Weight Watchers and assign more points to unhealthy foods. For example, you could use the following formula:
(points value) = (calories/10) + (saturated fat/2) + (sugar/5) + (sodium/20)
In this formula, unhealthy foods would receive more points due to their higher calorie, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium content.
For an individual’s daily points total use the same formula and plug in their individual recommendations for daily kcal, saturated fat, sugar and sodium.
To make the system more personalised, you could also factor in a person’s recommended daily portions of different food groups (like those outlined in the Canadian Food Guide).
For example, let’s say a person needs to consume 2,000 calories per day and is recommended to eat 2 servings of fruit, 3 servings of vegetables, 6 servings of grains, 3 servings of protein, and 2 servings of dairy.
The idea being someone follows the portion guide whilst also sticking to their points allowance. You could also add a syns element by allowing saved points to be used on a cheat day if you wish.
An Example Meal Plan:
Here’s a sample meal plan that incorporates the new points-based system I outlined earlier. This meal plan provides approximately 1,500 calories and is tailored to a person who needs to eat 2 servings of fruit, 3 servings of vegetables, 6 servings of grains, 3 servings of protein, and 2 servings of dairy per day.
Breakfast:
Oatmeal with sliced banana, almond butter, and cinnamon (6 points)
1 cup of black coffee or unsweetened almond milk (0 points)
Mid-morning snack:
1 small apple (1 point)
Lunch:
Turkey and avocado sandwich on whole-grain bread with lettuce, tomato, and mustard (7 points)
Side salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette (0 points)
Afternoon Snack:
Carrot sticks with hummus (2 points)
Dinner:
Grilled salmon with lemon and dill (4 points)
Quinoa pilaf with mixed vegetables (3 points)
Steamed broccoli with garlic and olive oil (0 points)
Evening Snack:
Greek yogurt with mixed berries (3 points)
Total points for the day: 26 points
This meal plan incorporates a variety of nutrient-dense foods and stays within the daily point limit of 26 points. Of course, this is just one example of a meal plan and would need to be adjusted based on a person’s individual needs and preferences. But by using a points-based system that takes into account daily nutrition needs and emphasizes healthier options, you can create a meal plan that supports overall health and weight loss goals.
A Few Final Words on Systems Like Propoints:
Of course, creating a new points-based food system is no small feat. It would require extensive research into nutrition science if someone wanted to prove its effectiveness scientifically.
A thorough understanding of the needs and preferences of your target audience is essential.
However, by incorporating elements of existing programs and tailoring them to your specific goals and audience, you can create a successful and effective system that helps people reach their weight loss and nutrition goals.
This points system is intended as a demonstration only, please consult with a nutritionist or dietitian before creating your own – The Beauty Tips Team.
Here are some references that support the ideas presented in my article:
- Weight Watchers PointsPlus Program: A Review of Weight Loss Evidence. (2013). International Journal of Obesity, 37(3), 422-429. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2012.157
- Slimming World: A Review of the Evidence. (2017). Public Health England. Retrieved from https://www.sophiesnutrition.com/slimmingworld/
- Canadian Food Guide. (2019). Government of Canada. Retrieved from https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/
- Bray, G. A., Popkin, B. M., & Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. (2014). Dietary guidelines for Americans: Part II. Science supporting the recommendations. Obesity, 22(S2), S1-S3. doi: 10.1002/oby.20991
- Johnston, C. A., Trier, C. M., & Foreyt, J. P. (2014). Strategies for Healthy Weight Loss: From Vitamin C to the Glycemic Response. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 33(6), 457-465. doi: 10.1080/07315724.2014.913549
Beauty Tips FREE Professional Courses