Weight Maven

So, I’ve been tardy to the party, but apparently Weight Watchers has come out with a new PointsPlus program. The folks at Diet Blog report that the WW points formula is:

Well that’s one way to figure out points (in this scheme, a Big Mac is 14.71 points), but in the spirit of Darya Pino’s How To Find Real Food At The Supermarket, here’s the Weight Maven’s EZpoints formula:

In my EZpoints scheme, the goal is to eat a balanced (paleo works great) meal with healthy fats, avoiding industrial foods (especially wheat, sugar, and veggie oils), and as far as points, the lower the better.

Computing EZpoints

Here’s a comparison between a day eating paleo and a day eating industrial, processed food:

Alas, EZpoints isn’t exactly easy when you’re eating processed food (see below) … but of course, that’s precisely the point.

So if you haven’t, give whole foods a try! And at the very least, consider paying attention to just how many ingredients you’re consuming. And especially to how many of them are actually food!

Update, 2/15: The NY Times’ Freakonomics blog has an interesting review of the new WW points system, suggesting their new tag line shouldn’t be “Because it works” but “New PointsPlus, because it doesn’t work any worse.”

Appendix

Here are the ingredient lists I used for the sample SAD menu. I counted each ingredient only once.

• Starbucks cranberry orange scone – flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, buttermilk (milk, condensed skim milk, salt, buttermilk culture), butter (cream [from milk]), whole eggs, cranberries, dried cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil), palm oil, powdered sugar (sugar, cornstarch), heavy cream (milk, mono- and diglycerides, carageenan, polysorbate 80), natural flavor, orange zest (orange peel, cane sugar, citric acid), orange juice, baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, cornstarch, monocalcium phosphate), rice starch, water, sea salt, emulsifier (mono-glyceride, citric acid), corn syrup, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), lemon juice, icing stabilizer (gum acacia, xanthan gum, modified gum acacia)
• Starbucks DoubleShot Energy coffee – Starbucks coffee (filtered water, coffee), reduced fat milk, skim milk, sugar, natural flavor, maltodextrin, dextrose, taurine, cellulose gel, l-carnitine, panax ginseng root extract, cellulose gum, inositol, sodium ascorbate (vitamin c), guarana (paullinia cupana) seed extract, calcium phosphate, niacinamide, sucralose, ascorbic acid (vitamin c), tricalcium phosphate, caramel color, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin b6), riboflavin, vitamin a palmitate, cyanocobalamin (vitamin b12), vitamin d3
• McDonalds Big Mac – 100% beef patty, Big Mac bun [Enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, enzymes), water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated soybean oil, contains 2% or less of the following: salt, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, wheat gluten, ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, datem, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated monoglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, enzymes, guar gum, calcium peroxide, soy flour), calcium propionate and sodium propionate, soy lecithin, sesame seed], pasteurized process american cheese [milk, water, milkfat, cheese culture, sodium citrate, salt, citric acid, sorbic acid (preservative), sodium phosphate, artificial color, lactic acid, acetic acid, enzymes, soy
  lecithin], Big Mac sauce [Soybean oil, pickle relish [diced pickles, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, vinegar, corn syrup, salt, calcium chloride, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate, spice extractives, polysorbate 80], distilled vinegar, water, egg yolks, high fructose corn syrup, onion powder, mustard seed, salt, spices, propylene glycol alginate, sodium benzoate, mustard bran, sugar, garlic powder, vegetable protein (hydrolyzed corn, soy and wheat), caramel color, extractives of paprika, soy lecithin, turmeric, calcium disodium EDTA], lettuce, pickle slices [Cucumbers, water, distilled vinegar, salt, calcium chloride, alum, potassium sorbate, natural flavors, polysorbate 80, extractives of
  turmeric], onions
• McDonalds French fries – Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor [wheat and milk derivatives], citric acid), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate, salt; vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid); dimethylpolysiloxane
• Coca-cola – carbonated water, sucrose, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors, caffeine
• Dominos cheese pizza – hand tossed crust {enriched flour (wheat flour, iron, thiamine mononitrate, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid) water, vegetable oil (soybean), sugar, salt, yeast, vital wheat gluten, less than 1% dough conditioners [sodium stearoyl lactylate, whey, enzyme (with wheat starch), ascorbic acid, l-cysteine, and silicon dioxide added as processing aid], corn meal}, hearty marinara sauce {tomatoes, tomato puree (water, tomato paste), carrot puree, onions, celery puree, romano and parmesan cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), sugar, salt, garlic, butter, spices, chicken base (chicken including natural chicken juices, salt, chicken fat, sugar, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed corn gluten, dried whey, natural flavoring, yeast extract, turmeric for color), olive oil, citric acid, and xanthan gum}; provolone cheese (pasteurized milk, cultures, salt, enzymes), nonfat milk, sodium propionate
• Doritos – whole corn, vegetable oil (contains one or more of the following: corn, soybean, and/or sunflower oil), salt, cheddar cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), maltodextrin, wheat flour, whey, monosodium glutamate, buttermilk solids, romano cheese from cow’s milk (part-skim cow’s milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), whey protein concentrate, onion powder, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, corn flour, disodium phosphate, lactose, natural and artificial flavor, dextrose, tomato powder, spices, lactic acid, artificial color (including yellow 6, yellow 5, red 40), citric acid, sugar, garlic powder, red and green bell pepper powder, sodium caseinate, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, nonfat milk solids, whey protein isolate, corn syrup solids
• Oreos – sugar, enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid), high oleic canola oil, palm oil, canola oil, soybean oil, cocoa, high fructose corn syrup, cornstarch, leavening (baking soda and/or calcium phosphate), salt, soy lecithin, vanillin, chocolate