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New WW Changes for 2020

November 17, 2019   63 Comments

WW (formerly Weight Watchers) has made some big changes for 2020. WW always changes their program a little bit so 2020 is no exception.

New WW Changes for 2020

What happened to Freestyle? For the last two years, members have been following one program called WW Freestyle see New Weight Watchers Freestyle Review. Don’t worry Freestyle lovers - it is still here but has been rebranded as BLUE.

I will explain what blue means below.

What is the big WW Change for 2020?

CHOICES!! I wrote last year about the consensus from my readers that they wanted choices see: WW Program Choice. Members loved the old Simply Filling plan or thought PointsPlus was the best. Each of the plans had different strengths and weakness depending on what worked for you. Now, you can choose a plan (and even change it when you find it isn’t working).

All of the plans use SmartPoints (same as always) and Zero point foods BUT you get different numbers of SmartPoints and Zero point foods depending on which plan you join.

WW asks you many questions to help you (about food and exercise) to try to determine what plan is best for you but I think it comes down to these questions from the WW app:

What are the plans?

GREEN is the old SmartPoints plan for the folks who likes tracking and measuring most foods because you only get 100 Zero point foods. How many SmartPoints do you get? Well that depends on you, but I got 30 SmartPoints per day on this plan.

BLUE is Freestyle and it is for those who like having a long list of go-to foods and are willing to do some tracking. This plan has 200 ZeroPoint foods and I received 23 SmartPoints per day on this plan.

PURPLE is like the old Simply Filling. You get 300 ZeroPoint foods (wahoo!) but I only received 16 daily Smartpoints. Not a lot of tracking BUT you got to stick to the ZeroPoint foods.

Here is an example recipe for Chicken and Wild Rice Soup that shows the difference in the SmartPoints values for each plan:

Green counts the chicken and wild rice, chicken broth and milk. The rest of the ingredients are zero points. Blue allows chicken to be zero points but it counts the wild rice, chicken broth, and milk. Purple only counts the chicken broth and the milk. Check out this delicious Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup.

Does this make sense? More free foods = less points BUT you get less points in your daily allowance (PURPLE). Less free foods equals more points for the recipe BUT you get more points in your daily allowance (GREEN).

Can you change plans? You can change plans when you want but WW suggests that you try a plan for two weeks before you switch. People used to do Simple Filling and then switch to PointsPlus so it makes sense that you might want to change.

What about Lifetime?

Lifetime is still alive and well at WW (even though they threatened to end it).

A Lifetime membership means that you can attend WW workshops for free once you get to your goal. Lifetime is attainable only by Workshop members. Obviously, if they can't see you then they can't verify you are telling them the truth - sorry online members.

You become a Lifetime Member after reaching your goal weight (a weight within the WW Healthy Weight Ranges or one determined by your physician and is at least 5 pounds less than your first recorded Workshop weight). After a six weeks Maintenance period that ends with you within 2 lbs (above or below) of your weight goal you are a Lifetime member. Obviously, you have to stay at that weight to keep going to meetings for free.

WW Pricing Changes

The biggest change is that if you sign up for 3 or 6 months for the pay-by-the-month Digital membership there is a charge to cancel - An early termination fee of $39.95 applies if you cancel during your 3-Month OR 6-Month Commitment Plan.

READ THE FINE PRINT PEOPLE!

The same goes for the Workshop & Digital offer but the number is $64.95 to cancel.

For coaching and digital there is no annual contract and they don’t charge you to cancel. I don’t know how they come up with these policies.

I would have liked to get a look at the cookbook that they are offering free with a 6-month contract but, alas, they were sold out. I will try to get my hands on it to review it because it looks good.

Some other cool WW features

You can use your Apple Watch, Fitbit, Withings, Misfit, Garmin, MapMyRun or Daily Burn to upload your activity into the WW app to get credit for your hard work at the gym (or walking around your block).

Wellness Wins is continuing as a way to help motivate the people who like to get stuff that support their healthy lifestyle (no boxes of chocolates).

There are memberships to some of Aaptiv’s features and Headspace as well. Aaptiv is a fitness app and here is my Headspace review.

What does this mean for Snack Girl?

I am going to try to update the favorite recipes as soon as possible. It is not an easy task (as you can imagine) because I have so many posts and there are THREE points values involved. ARGH!

If there are any recipes that you want me to recalculate sooner rather than later please let me know in the comment section.

Are you looking for a way to make following WW plans a breeze? Purple, Green, and Blue specific meal plans with the points included, delicious recipes, shopping lists, etc. You can sign up here - Slender Kitchen Meal Plans for either $8 per month or $48 for the year ($4 per month). Both subscriptions include a 14 day money back guarantee.

Snack Girl has an affiliate relationship with SlenderKitchen.com and receives a percentage of sales.

What do you think of WW changes for 2020? Please share your opinions.

Get Free Email Updates! Yes please!

63 Comments:

I am a lifetime member of WW. Four years ago I was diagnosed with celiac. I wish WW would come up with a little help for those who must avoid gluten.

I used to love Simply Filling and did well while on it. So, I will try the Purple for the requisite two weeks and see how it goes. I miss my grains and oatmeal. Sure, I could factor them in on the Blue, but oatmeal was "expensive" FSP-wise if trying to reign in! Grains, too. I mean, brown rice was more than white rice! Go figure. And, Snack Girl, please don't stress yourself during the holiday season - that has enough stress already! We can calculate so long as you can include the nutritional info. This Thanksgiving (and always!) I am grateful for your wonderful information, support, and good humor you give to us. And, you are one of us - a busy Mom, wife, and regular person. Blessings to you and yours always!! Peace and Love!

Is Lifetime still free if you are at your goal? Does WW still do free Lifetime?

I am excited about the changes. I selected the green plan-smart points worked best for me and having more structure helps me. Was surprised that so many people in my group were sticking with blue but I guess having a choice is the point!

I joined Weight Watchers on SmartPoints and even worked for them for several years. SmartPoints worked for me. Everytime they changed the program,they stopped supporting the old programs that worked great for some so it made it hard to stay with it. I gained when it changed and more each time it did. So did others. It would consider rejoining if they support the old programs.

I wish ww would admit that they're in this for the money! Charging people to cancel us crazy! And they also offer little to no support to us lifetimers (because we don't bring in any money.)

Just want to clarify that the early termination fee is if you sign up for the LTC (Long Term Commitment=paying monthly). If you pay up front in full there is no termination fee for any of the plans.

Thanks for all your hard work. You are amazing!! WW Guide

Hi Snack Girl from Ireland ☘️🇮🇪☘️

Thank you for this update - and you’ve maybe guessed I’m going with The Green Plan.

I love the new possibilities and choices.

Me? I’m sticking to Freestyle. I’m continuing that love affair with Blue.

But, I love it that I can change any time I want. Well done, WW. You listened.

I have been a WW member for decades (what does that tell you?). So have ridden the roller coaster of many programs as they follow the latest research. Recently, as in 2016, when then introduced Smart Points, I was tremendously successful losing 40+ pounds in 4 months effortlessly. Then in combination with getting "cocky", major life changes including two moves, and WW going to Freestyle I fell and fell hard. I mean if I could "freestyle" my food and handle it I wouldn't need to be a Weight Watcher. So, I am thrilled to have Smart Points (Green) back and am happily tracking my 30 points. Since my return to the fold on Tuesday, I have shed 4 pounds!! GO GREEN....

For me, using points plus got me to goal weight. I’m not sure which color that syncs with.

I agree with Sheryl and Johnnie above. I worked WW on SmartPoints and did beautifully until they changed things up (again) and went to Freestyle. I also had a problem with disjointed, repetitive and boring meetings. I ditched WW, app and all, and moved to the ITrackBites app which has a program very similar to SmartPoints. ITB is also much more affordable, you can weigh when you like, and there are no monotonous meetings. WW almost felt like bait/switch since they had me on one program, upset the cart, and didn’t bother to continue to support the initial successful plan. Even mentioning a previous plan at a meeting was discouraged. Now SP is back as Green. Too little too late for me. WW left a bad taste in my mouth.

Yes WW still does free lifetime weight watchers. As long as you were a once a month are no more than 2 pounds above your goal. I get the free weight watcher app because I am at goal

Thanks for the comments and questions! I am updating the post above. WW has many moving parts so I didn't cover everything - but I am trying to make up for it.

I have been LT since 1994. Freestyle and menopause hit at the same time and did not do me any favors. I am thrilled that Green allows me to use my beloved Points Plus plan again and hopefully lose the 10 pounds I had gained.

I’m glad smart points are back. I will now go back to WW. I was at lifetime for two years. I stopped with free style and gained back half my weight loss. Hopefully now I’ll get back to lifetime.

Thank you for summarizing the plans. Please don’t stress about changing the recipes.

Bring back smart points because it worked for me. Bring back all the other programs and let the customer's pick which one is right for them. And I think you should also loose the cancelation fee if you cancel to early.

Snack Girl! You are awesome!

According to the WW recipe builder, the soup recipe is zero points on the Purple plan. But regardless of what plan you’re following, this soup sounds delicious!

For those asking about lifetime, you need to be Meetings + Digital. For those that are doing Digital only, that means that once you are close to your goal (last 5 lbs to lose), you would need to attend meetings and have the Workshop + Digital plan.

Directly from the WW site (Nov 17, 2019):

A Lifetime Member is a Workshop + Digital member who has achieved a weight goal that’s within the Healthy Weight Ranges (or above the weight ranges if a note from a physician has been provided) after a 6-week Maintenance period, where they remain active paid members.

* After that, they must remain within 2 pounds of that goal weight and weigh-in at least once per calendar month.

* If the member is not within 2 pounds of their ultimate weight goal on week 6, they can continue their paid membership until they are within 2 pounds of their goal weight.

* If the member chooses to adjust his/her goal weight during the 6-week Maintenance period, s/he must restart the 6 weeks of Maintenance.

* In selecting a goal weight, all adults regardless of age, can choose a weight between the minimum and the maximum weight for adults.

*Lifetime membership is only available to Workshop + Digital members. A Digital member wishing to become Lifetime must lose at least the last 5 pounds in the meeting room and complete the 6 weeks of Maintenance.

I noticed that on my cell, any of my recipes were recalculated automatically. I can change plans with a few clicks on my Account and then go to the recipe to find the recalculated information. Of course, that means that if you were using freestyle (Blue) when you added a My Recipe, you would have needed to add all zero point foods in your calculation for it to recalculate accurately for Green or Purple.

I'm on freestyle. Do I still get the weekly 35 points

@Millie - if you chose the Blue plan - nothing should change because Blue replaced Freestyle. Thanks for your question!

SO happy that a points option is coming back.

I love the fact that WW gives people the choices to follow the program the way they feel. I only wish they would bring back pointsplus or introduce a low carb or keto program. They give people options however they can always give more.

I'm so glad they've restored SmartPoints - I need structure and accountability. I've been with WW since the early 70's - up/down, up/down...the last time I lost 60 pounds to reach LT - and now am at around 40 pounds lost - so I have some work to do..and SP's did it for me before and I'm hoping it'll do it again! Looking forward to 30 whole points per day! And those extra points on the weekends for a little treat :) Thanks for sharing Lisa!

I am happier that we have a choice - I am back on the green plan - I need the most flexibility. I even went back to tracking.

This is the first time I am on the app - I am a LT and was wary of how my weight was going up. I am glad that they have written trackers (I am a baby boomer) with my old calculator. I hope they will come out with a Shopping/Dining guide.

Of course, the 1st week is tough because I wasn’t so aware of certain point values that I have to learn to face, have less of etc. I worry about being hungry and have a sweet tooth towards chocolate.

For myself, I eat the most on the weekend, and sometimes use up my weeklies easily, especially when I have a lot of parties.

It is hard for me to know how much to eat when I do not have weeklies. At least, I know I can not get over OCD wise, and need to be sensible with without binging. I also have too many things to do now at the same time while relearning the program - it is getting me tense.

I am grateful with the WW app for the various recipes as well as Snack Girl. This is a big help. I also can look up food on it also. I know I have to give a learning curve for the app. I prefer to track on paper.

I know it is hard for me to see things since I am in the picture frame not outside.

I am happier and more nervous, at the same time. I do not want to gain weight.

Anyway, any feedback is welcomed please to give me a better perspective.

Jane

Thank you for clarifying the different plans. I am on the Green Plan so far I like it. Eighteen years ago, I did WW Points which was good for me.

Are the changes available now or do they start in 2020?

@Sheryl - Everything is available now. They roll out the changes for 2020 before January so they can start the marketing campaign for the new year. Thanks for your question!

I wrote to them begging them to bring back the Points Plus plan. Simply Filling didn’t work for me. I’m overjoyed, and I will be rejoining in 2020 on the Green plan!

I'd appreciate your thoughts on WW without a smartphone. Is it possible?

I maintained at my goal weight (actually a couple of lbs below) on WW for over 2 years. Over this past summer 5 or 6 lbs snuck back onto my body. I've been trying desperately for the past 3 months to get it back off, to no avail. I've tried what always worked for me on WW (Freestyle) and nothing is working. I switched to purple one week ago and my weight has gone up instead of down, even though I've only added in 1/2 cup of plain oatmeal and either a sweet potato or baked white potato of the "new" zero point foods on the purple plan. I've kept with 16 daily points and not touched my weekly points. Something is going on with my body. I believe I have entered perimenopause because my cycle has been all out of wack, I am getting migraines, an increase in PMS symptoms, etc. I wonder if that is why WW is suddenly not working for me? How do I break thru the hormonal changes my body is going thru to lose weight again? Any advice would be great!

Thank you for the summary of the "new" plans. I have done WW over the years and am pleased that they now offer options. I made Lifetime last year but the burden of monthly weigh-ins, vouchers and timing were too cumbersome to get free online membership. I gladly pay $14.95 a month for the app. And everyone is correct when they say Lifetime gets little support.

I lost 50# in 5 months when I started PointsPlus 7 years ago, gradually losing over 80 altogether, only to regain more than half.

Much as I've balked at adjusting to plan changes over the years, I appreciate having options, but am sticking with BLUE. Most of the foods I prefer are zero points, and once the novelty of learning how to use the app wore off on PointsPlus, I felt in bondage having to weigh & measure every little thing. On BLUE, I don't have to track everything, just be mindful of portions.

Ginny (and anyone else joining WW), if you use this link to join, we will each get an extra month for FREE!

https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/checkout/iaf/?iaftoken=73…

@Sahron - I don't use a smart phone and I use WW on my computer. Great question!

I decided to return. Based on the questions they asked I was put in the green plan.

Dr Beth - Hope you are still content, but to my eye green looks more like smart points to me than points plus. Points Plus was also what I was hoping would return, but I had doubted it since that would require even more calculations on their part. If you think about it freestyle (blue) is an augmented smartpoints (which I believe is green). Hope/wish I am wrong. I think I might stick with my fitness pal which, when I pay attention, has been successful for me.

I lost about 45 pounds on whichever program was in effect in 2015 (Points Plus? Smart Points? Can't remember). Because I had gotten to my goal weight and WW was switching to a new program in 2016, I discontinued my membership. Have done pretty well these past 4 years but gained about 10 of it back. Does anyone know which 2020 program corresponds to whatever program was in effect in 2015? Green? And what was the program in 2015?

Smartpoints came out in December 2015. It was Points Plus prior to that. IMO green is smartpoints and not points plus, but I could be wrong. Blue is freestyle. I don't really know what purple compares to.

It takes a Philadelphia lawyer to figure out all the colors and points!

Need to simplify! Way too confusing!

I disagree. It is easy to follow. You answer questions based on your tracking preference and they tell you the program best for you. You follow it and it is easy. I applaud them for giving a choice and supporting it.

Thanks for the replies. I must have been on the Points Plus plan, which most likely equates to Green.

I was thinking of rejoining, but am discouraged that if I join digital only, I wouldn't have an actual printed booklet to refer to with guidelines and recipes, etc. I work 40 hours a week on a computer and don't want to spend any extra time on my computer or my phone to access information. I guess I'm just old school, but I want materials that I can hold in my hand. I know I would get those if I joined workshops, but it would be a waste of money for me, as I'm disabled and it would be too hard for me to get to meetings on a regular basis. When I asked WW on a FB post if there was a way for me to get the program parameters in a printed fashion, I was told IF they happened to have the materials in their office (ha - like they wouldn't happen to have their own materials available) maybe they could mail me the information on a 1-time basis - but it was available in a digital fashion. YES, I know - that was the whole problem! They have good ideas, but obviously their bottom line (I guess to be expected from a multi-million dollar corporation) is money. If they send me printed materials, then others will request it also, and then they might lose money. Sorry about the rant - but it is these kinds of stupid policies that make it nearly impossible for people like me to join. Guess I'll find another program where they actually want to help.

This message is for Debra from WW

Re LT members: You have a lot of Senior Citizens who are not computer savvy and do not have internet.

How can that person do the digital part of the program?

Jane

Wonderful. I will be going back to SmartPoints. Are they going to sell those little calculators/points books again to match the Green Plan?

WOW! You explained it perfectly. I'm a LT member started in Aug 2010. I started I little before the old Smart Point (green) were introduce, but ; don't remember what it was called; perhaps Points Plus???

Thanks again. Love getting you emails. Blessings to you and yours.

Mozelle, I am not familiar with ITB, but agree with some of your comments: "Too little; too late." If Weight Watchers wants to become WW (with a healthy moniker instead of being known as a weight loss program) that's fine; but I wonder, isn't that sort of leaving some of us behind...because I am of the opiinion that Weight Watchers has always had an emphasis on keeping ALL programs within healthy guidelines while still losing weight (which is why most of us join "Weight" Watchers in the first place: weight loss). I believe they need to make up their minds about what kind of program they want to be known as, and I guess they obviously have. And, with my thinking, I don't believe they should render all previous programs obsolete. I'm still a Points Plus Gal which worked for me (minus 25 lbs.) and I still felt like I was living my life within "healthy" guidelines. But, as you point out, you are not encouraged to even "mention" PP at a meeting! I know for certain that attending meetings is critical support for success in sticking to a program, so I no longer have that (PP) support. I have not been to a meeting recently (the "bad taste") even though I am LT, and I don't necessarily "get" where the Green Program is like Points Plus?! I probably need to investigate, which means joining again ($$), but even with 30 daily (healthy-choice) points, I still need to have the assurance of those weekly points, and what will they be? I am not necessarily against the new WW program, just pointing out some of my concerns. To be fair, I should mention the Freestyle Program did work for me, got me to goal, but when life got in the way of getting to (LT) commitment weigh-ins, I fell off the program: started missing the carbs I'd been without for so long, felt deprived, etc., and now find myself at a crossroads: is anyone else in this same boat? Anyway, all for now, and thanks to all for listening!

Hi Snack Girl, thanks for parsing the new plans. I tried to figure it out at WW site to perhaps rejoin, BUT required adding CC info when all I wanted was info. My "best" performance was on Momentum, and I know it was due to a good plan and an exuburrent leader who motivated every member in her meeting; she was nothing less than amazing! Moreover, she was a 2 time "big loser" of 100 lbs so knew exactly what it felt like to slip back down the slope. Sadly, she needed to leave WW leadership due to teens w/raging hormones who were making her and her husband's lives hell. Since then, there have been no leaders of note at my center. My kitchen shelf is full of WW plans, so I think I'll just use what resources I've already paid to own, follow you more diligently, and rely on our great community! Happy New Year! Your friend, Jeanne in Boston

I lost 55 pounds with Points Plus. Just as I got really into the program losing and feeling really good about how I was doing then Weight Watchers changes everything again.As a senior, I need a program that I can do and enjoy the foods I like.I miss the meetings but until Points Plus is offered again, If ever,I will continue on my own.

Blue plan looks perfect! How do you assign a point value to a food to use your daily points and do you have to use them. Thanks

@Karen - you can enter the food into the app and it will give you a SmartPoint value. You can also buy a WW calculator and do it yourself if you have the nutritional information. You do have to use the daily points but I believe some can roll over. Great questions!

Thanks, I found my points calculator and I am going to try this all again. Good luck to all of us starting over again

I have not done weight watchers
It is very confusing to me and
Keeping track and counting Is not for me
They do t have senior rates
And I can’t afford weight watchers

Just for the record, the GREEN plan is the original SMART POINTS plan (calories, saturated fat, sugar, protein). So all of you hoping that it is like Points Plus(Carbs, Fat, Fiber, Protein) will be disappointed. BLUE is Freestyle and PURPLE is almost like Simply Filling but not quite.

If you're interested in signing up for a 6 month or 1 year membership (digital or meetings) you can at 50% off the normal monthly rate here: https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/promos/2020-vision

Again...since this is long term, you will be charged a cancellation fee if you decide to quit early; and remember at the end of the term, WW will automatically switch you to a regular price month to month membership. Remember to cancel if you don't want that!

It's all in the fine print!

So....I am Lifetime, but quitting WW. I joined when WW switched to Freestyle. I was very successful. Lost 25 pounds, 4 pounds under my goal, eventually. I maintained for 10 months. Now, weight is creeping on and I can't lose those pounds. It has been 18 months since I made goal and now 4-5 pounds over.

I switched to Green for three weeks and gained 4 pounds.

It is NOT worth the stress once a month at weigh-in. My daughter says I have become obsessed with weight and she blames WW. Is WW really healthy? Wouldn't it be better to count or watch macros instead? And, really, some of the WW posts and comments on FB have a slight passive negative tone. There's no real help there, either. I have two leaders and one of them is wonderfully understanding. But, my stress levels are too high with weighing in. Say what you will, but it is no longer a successful program for me, physically or mentally.

Thanks for letting me spout.

Pantry must haves for healthy weight conscious or not I found in today's email.

https://www.forksoverknives.com/emergency-covid-19-grocery-…

I’m a lifetime member and just completed my first month on WW. I am about 25 pounds away from reaching my goal weight - again. I love this program so much more than any previous weight watchers program I followed. It’s a bit more forgiving; I don’t have to suffer the rest of the week if I have 1 indulgence. Sure, it might set me back in my points bank, but if I track everything, I can usually go from a negative balance after that indulgence to a zero sum by the end of the week and still lose weight. So it makes me stick with the program instead of giving up because it was too strict. I love that I can sync the WW app to my ifone to automatically log in all my steps from walking the dog. And the app is sooooo much better. I love the social media and fitness - meditation videos and such. This one’s a keeper.

Hi all, I'm Munir and I've been suffering with weightloss problems for years. I have recently been recommended a number of times a new innovative weightloss supplement. Could you guys check it out and reply here what you think? If I should invest and start using this supplement?

Munir,

It already sounds to me like a classic pyramid scheme.

My only suggestion is “be very careful.”

Munir, You forgot to mention the name of the product. No one can "check it out". That said, IMO Travers is likely right in warning you to be careful.

Good morning. What are the changes for 2021? This article is for 2020!!

I hate the video meetings. I also know this is the only way it could be done for the time being, but we are being told that in our area, which is 70+ miles from cities, live meetings will not start until probably Aug. Our coach got fed up and decided to retire. Almost everyone in the area QUIT. Only a couple of us including our coach still belong. The few of us were meeting together and WW told us we were too small, had to join a larger group, so we did. Got absolutely nothing out of it. So that failed. A whole screen full of people does not cut it for me. Also, because our coach retired, WW lost an amazing employee. We had sooo much fun. We would have potlucks, where everyone had to bring a dish, copies of the recipes, with the points and the couldn't be WW recipes. (they have too many items not available to us). We would laugh and cry together and everyone took part. I want to lose weight to I need the structure of WW but I really am upset. And I am not the only one.

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