What's the point?

To follow up on my post regarding weight watchers, I wanted to give a better practical idea of how the program works. I posted a sample meal and some insight on the calculations but charting my time in the gym gave me the idea of running down a list of comparisons for a fixed point value. So here goes a list of what weight watchers considers is 5pts.

Food:

• 15 egg whites
• 2 1/2 eggs
• 7 large tomatoes
• A slice of Banana Bread
• 3 1/4 slices of normal bread
• 6 slices of reduced calorie (35 - 45 calorie/slice) bread
• 1 3/4 table spoons of butter
• 1 2/3 table spoons of margarine
• 7 table spoons of Hummus
• 8 table spoons of whipped Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 17oz Apple (about 3 medium apples)
• 1 Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar
• 2 Atkins Endulge Caramel Bars.
• 1 1/2 Kellogg's double chocolate protein bar.
• 1 2/3oz of beef brisket
• 5 ounces of grilled chicken breast.
• 3 1/2oz of Salmon
• 8oz of Tilapia

Points for food are based on the caloric content, the total fat and the amount of fiber contained in one serving. As you can see, a day spent eating tomatoes and egg whites is going to be better than downing buttered banana bread.

Exercise is judged mostly on Calories

• 25 minutes of competitive singles tennis
• 1hr of shooting baskets
• 25 minutes of basketball
• 90 minutes of billiards.
• 25 minutes of cycling (over 12 mph)
• 60 minutes of cycling (under 12 mph)
• 60 minutes of disco dancing
• 25 minutes of hip hop dancing
• 90 minutes of Wii Sports Tennis
• 60 minutes of Wrestling (can't seem to find the points for hitting someone with a chair)
• 25 minutes of Tae Kwon Doe

So what does this mean? The numbers mean whatever you want them to. So if you want a Hershey bar and you don't have any points left over, you can find a hip hop club to dance at for 25 minutes or spend 90 minutes in front of your Wii. In general, you earn activity points through the week and spend them on the foods you love and you continue to lose weight as long as you can strike the balance. Keep it up and you'll be phat in no time ;)