Programme Basics | WW UK

Many programmes consider just calories. Our system takes it a step further, taking into account a food’s complex nutritional factors, like added sugars, fibre, protein, and saturated fats vs. unsaturated fats, to create a single number: the Points value. ⁣Points take the guesswork out of nutrition.

Your plan will include a Points Budget, and how you spend is up to you. Wine on date night. Sunday brunch. Birthday cake. No food, event, or celebration is off-limits. And if you run out of Points? That’s where ZeroPoint™ foods come in - they’re nutritional powerhouses you can eat anytime without tracking or measuring.

We help you lose weight and build healthy habits, one small step at a time. Fad weight-loss diets can be restrictive, and rarely work long term. We have more than 140 publications that show WeightWatchers’ efficacy to help members lose weight and keep it off, and we’ve been ranked the #1 Best Diet for Weight Loss by U.S. News & World Report for 12 years in a row.††

†† U.S. News & World Report ranked WW the #1 Best Diet for Weight Loss for 12 years in a row (2011–2022).

Our mission is to help you develop healthy habits, rooted in science. To deliver on that promise - and ensure that only the best programmes reach our members - we spent over two years rigorously testing our new programme with more than 6,000 members across the globe.

What does that process look like? We have a science team dedicated to researching the latest in nutrition and behaviour change principles to better understand what might make your journey easier. We used those learnings to update our Points formula and create individualised plans that fit how you live your life. We then tested our new programme with members, followed by a 6-month study conducted by university researchers.

Long story short? We did our homework so you can jump right into the new WW programme, confident that it will help you achieve success.

Points® make healthy eating simple by boiling complex nutritional information down into one easy-to-use number. There are six components that make up a Points® value. Calories are part of the equation; saturated fat and added sugar drive the Points® values up, while fibre, protein, and unsaturated fats drive it down. Our scientifically-proven system is designed to guide everyone towards a healthier pattern of eating with foods that are higher in fibre, protein, and unsaturated fats (the better-for-you fats) and lower in added sugar and saturated fat (the less good-for-you fats).

Yes! No matter where in the world you are, you’ll experience the WW Points® Programme.

On WW there’s one food plan - yours. You’ll get a unique Points® Budget calculated specifically for your metabolic rate and weight goals that you can spend on any food you choose. You’ll also get a ZeroPoint™ food list designed to include your favourites while successfully losing weight. And as always, you can be confident that your plan will guide you towards a healthier pattern of eating, nudging towards foods higher in fibre, protein, and unsaturated fats (the better-for-you fats) and lower in added sugar and saturated fat (the less good-for-you fats).

It comes down to how you feel! Are you finding it very hard to stick to your Points® Budget every day? Do you rarely eat the foods on your ZeroPoint™ list? Are you not losing weight? The WW programme is designed to be flexible and liveable and if shaking it up will help, we’re all for it. After all, we’re here to help you succeed!

The minimum number of daily Points® you might have in your Budget is 14. Everyone’s Budget is personalised to them (based on a scientific calculation of your metabolism, including your age, height, weight, and biological sex) and designed to create an energy deficit that promotes a healthy rate of weight loss (for most people, that’s 1–2 pounds per week, although you may see more at the beginning.)

Yes. Our programme is designed to follow you on your journey, meaning your Points® Budget actually adjusts as your body changes. A smaller body uses less energy and requires fewer Points®. If you've been tracking your weight change in the app, you may see your Budget (and possibly even your weeklies) decrease over time. This is a good thing - it means you’re making progress towards your goals!

Yes! Your Healthy Eating Zone will be personalised to you. The Healthy Eating Zone ranges from 8 Points below your starting daily Points® Budget to 10 Points above it. So if your daily Points® Budget is 24, you can get a blue dot if you track between 16 and 34 Points in a day.

The Healthy Eating Zone is your daily Points® Budget plus a little wiggle room. This range is intentionally designed to reinforce the fact that you don't have to be "perfect" to be successful - sometimes you'll be a little above or below your daily Budget and that's okay!

We established this range (-8/+10 from your starting daily Budget) to give you more flexibility day-to-day. The lower end of the range encourages you to make sure you’re eating and tracking your meals throughout the day (stopping after morning coffee will leave you shy of the Healthy Eating Zone range) and the upper end of the range accounts for your ability to use your weeklies and any Points you earn as you see fit.