Weight Watchers Zero Point Foods Green Plan
A Brand-New Weight Watchers Tool.
Here you'll find all myWW's ZeroPoint Free Foods (plus links to recipes!) for Weight Watchers' latest green, blue and purple weight loss and diet plans. The simplified lists include all of WW's most recent free foods and no-point ingredients formatted so that it's easy to compare what's currently free on each of Weight Watchers' most recent color plans.
WW Is Special
Many Weight Watchers love that we can "eat what we want" so long as we count points.
The powerful combination of "unlimited food choices" and "limited portion size" remains a fundamental feature of Weight Watchers' new program for 2020, the individualized myWW green, blue and purple plans that Weight Watchers introduced in late 2019.
Other eating regimes and diets work great for people. Me, I cannot imagine giving up bread, rice, potatoes and especially fruit. Why does an apple or a carrot belong on an "eat occasionally" list?
The fact that Weight Watchers has no food restrictions is one of WW's best features!
But ...
Weight Watchers does nudge our food choices toward what the diet program once called "power foods" – and in fact, depending on the chosen color plan, has identified up to 300 foods that count as zero-point "free" food.
This is a good thing, training our palates and our bodies to choose and enjoy healthy foods in healthy portion sizes. Change is often good. So is focus!
Big News! Introducing myWW, Weight Watchers' Newest Weight Loss Program
In late 2019, Weight Watchers introduced myWW for 2020 and I think that many people are going to like the new version – make that versions because for the first time ever, Weight Watchers is letting each of us select our own approach to weight loss and healthy eating!
myWW has three different color-coded plans, green, blue and purple. Each one has different different daily point allotments and different "free" foods. And on the app, you can switch any time from one version to another.
The New & Current Plan myWW replaced the Freestyle program, which replaced the first SmartPoints program, which replaced PointsPlus, which replaced ... yeah, Weight Watchers tends to launch a new program every couple of years. :-)
SmartPoints Are the Base To calculate points for myWW, Weight Watchers continues to use its SmartPoints algorithm which incorporates total calories, sugar, saturated fat and protein to calculate points. The lower the calories, sugar and saturated fat (and the higher the protein), the lower the points. The higher the calories, sugar and saturated fat (and the lower the protein), the higher the points. It's balanced, right?
So SmartPoints are the base of all point calculations. But for each of the three color plans, certain foods/ingredients are left out when doing the math.
Here's an example. Let's say you make a tomato-rice salad with some fresh herbs and Greek yogurt. In all three plans, the tomato and fresh herbs are left out when points are calculated. With two of the plans, the yogurt is also omitted, so long as it's non-fat yogurt. With the third plan, the rice is also omitted from the calculation, so long as it's brown rice.
Sound complicated? In practice, don't worry, it's really not. Whichever plan you choose, it takes a couple of weeks to figure out how things work and then it becomes almost automatic. Really!
Want some proof? Just scroll down this page. I've build the free food lists for the three plans so that it's super-easy to understand what foods are free on each of the three plans.
Which WW Plan Is Right for You? The myWW program offers members three different plans. Each plan has its own daily point budget and its own zero-point food list.
This is exciting! For the first time, Weight Watchers is offering (and best of all, supporting on its mobile app) incredible choice and flexibility.
For example, Freestyle just didn't work for my sister but she's loving the brand-new Green Plan, she's dropped a pant size in the first month!
But let's say it turns out that the plan you chose just isn't working for you. It's simple to switch, just like that! In a few seconds, bam, convert to a different plan. Decide you want the first plan back? Bam, convert again. Thank you, Weight Watchers, this is so supportive!
The Green Plan is brand new! It has the most generous daily point budget (30 points) but also has the most limited zero-point foods (100+), what most of us call "free" food for no points. Only non-starchy vegetables and fruits are zero points in the Green Plan. Source: Weight Watchers Green Plan
The Blue Plan is the new name for what Weight Watchers last called "Freestyle". Anyone who's used to following the Freestyle program and who's memorized the points of favorite Freestyle free foods, good news, nothing's changed.
It's that simple: the Blue Plan is the same as the the Freestyle program!
The Blue Plan has a moderate daily point budget (a minimum of 23 points) but has a generous free food list (200+) including fruit, nearly all vegetables (exceptions are potato, sweet potatoes and parsnips) and adds numerous healthy foods to the free food list. My favorites are eggs, chicken breasts, fish, seafood, dried beans and non-fat Greek yogurt. Source: Weight Watchers Blue Plan
The Purple Plan is brand new! The Purple Plan has the smallest point budget (a minimum of 16 points) but an enormous list (300+) of free foods, including oatmeal, potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole wheat pasta and even popcorn! Source: Weight Watchers Purple Plan
On Weight Watchers, Can You Only Eat "Free" Foods?
No!
Weight Watchers changes how it counts points every couple of years. It even changes which foods are designated as "free" or "zero point".
But one thing that hasn't changed? Weight Watchers does not exclude any foods. Let me say it again. Weight Watchers excludes no foods. It puts nothing off limits. It keeps no "never eat this" food lists.
With Weight Watchers, you can eat anything you want .
You might wonder, How is it even possible to lose weight eating anything I want?
And that's the crux of Weight Watchers.
Eat whatever you want but not as much as you might want. Translation? Portion size matters.
Certain foods are designated as "free" to point our food choices in a healthy direction so that we don't use up all our points on cake or rice or even baked potatoes. When we plan our food choices and menus around free foods, it's just easier to lose weight. It just is.
How to Use the Weight Watchers ZeroPoint Food Lists
- Grocery Shopping Fill the grocery cart with your favorite free foods. That way, a healthy meal is always no further than your fridge.
- Cooking In Plan menus and meals around the free foods.
- Battle Hunger Short on points but still hungry? Choose zero-point foods, especially protein.
- Counter Balance a Splurge or a Binge Over your point budget? Get back on track, use no-point foods for the next meal or two or three.
- Meal Prep Prep and cook free foods ahead of time, then put together impromptu meals almost without thinking.
- Focus Recipe Searches When looking through cookbooks or food magazines, focus on recipes that include the free foods.
- Follow Weight Watchers-Friendly Food Blogs WW bloggers use the free foods often! Plus you'll have instant information to the number of points.
- Find Your Favorites Build a recipe repertoire for each favorite free food, recipes you'll be happy to repeat often.
- Eating Out Order foods that are free, fish and chicken breasts, say. You know what I eat at a fried chicken joint? A chicken breast, no skin. So good!
- How do you use the zero-point food lists? Share what works for you, it could work for others!
myWW Zero-Point "Free" Foods
ZeroPoint Vegetables, Legumes, Grains & Other Plant-Based Food
- Most vegetables are free in all three plans.
- All three plans exclude avocados and olives.
- The Green Plan excludes starchy vegetables, notably corn, parsnips, peas, plantains, potatoes and sweet potatoes.
- The Blue Plan includes corn and adds healthy, plant-based proteins, notably quinoa, lentils, split peas, chickpeas and other dried/canned beans, even tofu.
- The Purple Plan further adds grains, oatmeal, potatoes and sweet potatoes, even popcorn.
Acorn Squash
Artichokes Arugula Asparagus Bamboo Shoots Bananas Beets & Beet Greens Bok Choy Broccoli Broccoli Rabe (Raab) Brussels Sprouts Butter or Bibb Lettuce Butternut Squash Cabbage Pimientos Carrots Cauliflower & Cauliflower Rice Celery Collard Greens Cucumber Eggplant Endive Escarole Fennel Frozen Stir-Fry Vegetables Garlic Ginger Green Beans Iceberg Lettuce Hearts of Palm Jicama Kale Leafy Greens Lettuce Kohlrabi Leeks Mixed Greens Mushrooms Mustard Greens Napa Cabbage Nori/Seaweed Oak Leaf Lettuce Okra Onions & Green Onions Pea Shoots Bell Peppers Pickles Pico de Gallo Pumpkin Radishes Red Leaf Lettuce Romaine Lettuce Rutabagas Salsa Either Green Salsa or Tomato Salsa Sauerkraut Scallions Shallots Spaghetti Squash Spinach String Beans Summer Squash Swiss chard Tomatillos Tomato Puree & Sauce Tomatoes Turnips Water Chestnuts Wax Beans ZucchiniAmaranth 1
Ancient Grain Mix Without Seeds Barley Bean Sprouts 1 Couscous 3 Farro Freekeh Kamut Kasha (Buckwheat) Millet Oatmeal 4 Parsnips Pasta 3 Popcorn 5 Potatoes 6 Rice 7 Rye Berries Sorghum Grain Spelt & Spelt Berries Sweet Potatoes 8 Taro Teff Wheat Berries Wild Rice Yucca NOTES aka
The Devil Is In the Details
0 Packaged foods (frozen, canned, etc.), are zero-point only if there's no sauce, no added fat or added sugar.
1 Alfafa sprouts, amaranth and bean sprouts may belong in all three plans but this page reflects's WW's own lists.
2 For dried beans, home-cooked dried beans are free, so are canned beans. Weight Watchers specifically includes adzuki, cannellini, chickpeas, Great Northern, kidney, lupini, navy, pinto and non-fat refried beans but any dried bean is likely also free so long as it's without oil or sugar.
3 For couscous, the couscous must be whole wheat. For pasta, traditional pasta is not "free" but several pastas are, including lentil pasta, pea pasta, quinoa pasta, soy shirataki noodles, soybean pasta, whole-grain and whole-wheat.
4 For oatmeal, all versions qualify, steel-cut, rolled, old-fashioned, quick and instant so long as unsweetened.
5 For popcorn, the kernels must be air-popped and without oil or sugar.
6 For potatoes, specific kinds and forms of potatoes are "free" so long as they're cooked without fat. Weight Watchers specifically mentions these forms: baby, baked, fingerling, frozen, Idaho, new, oven-roasted wedges, mashed, purple, red, white, yellow and Yukon gold.
7 For rice, only brown rice is included, not traditional white rice. Weight Watchers mentions these specifically: brown instant rice, quick-cooking brown rice, Thai brown, wild rice, wild rice and brown rice blend.
8 For sweet potatoes, the sweet potatoes must be cooked without fat and sugar to qualify. Weight Watchers specifically mentions: baked, canned, Japanese and oven-roasted fries.
ZeroPoint Meat, Fish, Seafood, Eggs & Dairy
- The Green Plan has no free foods in this category.
- The Blue and Purple Plans add eggs, non-fat yogurt, chicken and turkey breast, fish and shellfish, including smoked fish to the list of free foods.
No Free Meat, Fish, Seafood, Eggs or Dairy in the Green Plan.
No Additional Meat, Fish, Seafood, Eggs or Dairy in the Purple Plan.
NOTES
9 For Chicken and Turkey, only skinless breast meat is free. For ground chicken and turkey, only 98% fat-free ground meats are zero points.
10 For Fish and Seafood, smoked fish and seafood are both included. Weight Watchers specifically mentions abalone, anchovies in water, arctic char, bluefish, branzino, buttefish, carp, catfish, caviar, clams, cod, crab, crayfish, cuttlefish, Dungeness crab, fish roe, flounder, grouper, haddock, halibut, herring, King crab, lobster, mahi mahi, monkfish, mussels, octopus, orange roughy, oysters, perch, pike, pollock, pompano, salmon, sardines in water or sauce, sashimi, scallops, sea bass, sea cucumber, sea urchin, shrimp, smelt, smoked haddock, smoked salmon, smoked sturgeon, smoked trout, smoked whitefish, snails, snapper, sole, squid, steelhead, striped bass, sturgeon, swordfish, tilapia, trout, tuna, turbot, wahoo and whitefish.
11 For Yogurt, both Greek and plain, must be non-fat.
12 For Quark, may be up to 1% fat.
Fresh & Dried Herbs
- Fresh and dried herbs are free in all three plans.
To add flavor to dishes with minimal calorie impact, use fresh herbs generously! This is why Weight Watchers lists many fresh herbs as "free foods" without points. They specifically list basil, chives (my favorite herb!), cilantro, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, tarragon and thyme but if you're a fan of other fresh herbs, it's safe to assume that they are also free.
To find recipes that use one of these herbs, use the search box at the top of every page and search for "basil" or "fresh basil," say.
Weight Watchers Zero Point Foods Green Plan
Source: https://www.kitchenparade.com/2020/01/weight-watchers-zero-point-food-lists.html
