Points systems and coaching apps: the points are a gimmick. The accountability isn't.
WeightWatchers turned calories into points. Apps turned food into colours and coaches into chat bubbles. Underneath, it's calorie counting with a support group, and the support group is the part that works.
The short version
- What it is
- Commercial programmes that simplify calorie counting into points, colours or scores, and add weigh-ins, groups or a coach.
- Good for
- Structure and accountability. People who do better with a weekly check-in and someone noticing.
- Bad at
- Teaching you to eat without the app. Cheap, it isn't.
- Evidence
- Moderate. Some big trials, often co-funded by the companies.
- Our take
- They beat doing nothing. We're a competitor, so read the evidence, not just us.
What points systems and coaching apps actually are
The oldest is WeightWatchers (now just WW), founded in the 1960s around weekly group weigh-ins. Its points system gives every food a number based mostly on calories, nudged by protein, sugar and saturated fat. You get a daily budget. Some foods are "zero points" so you can eat them freely.
The newer generation lives on your phone. Apps like Noom sort food into colour groups by calorie density, add daily psychology lessons, and pair you with a coach you message. Others are basically a calorie counter with a chatbot.
Strip away the branding and every one of them is the same three things: a simplified way of counting calories, a way of nudging you towards less dense, more filling food, and a reason to check in every week.
How it works in your body
There's no special biology here. Points are calories in a costume. You lose weight because you eat less than you burn.
The interesting part happens in your head. Weekly weigh-ins and logging create self-monitoring, which a systematic review found consistently linked to weight loss.5 Groups and coaches add social accountability: someone expects you back next week. Zero-point foods steer you towards vegetables, fruit and lean protein without calling it a rule. And the points maths itself makes it tiresome to spend your budget on a muffin, which is the point.
What you eat, what you don't
Eat
- Whatever fits your points or colour budget
- "Free" foods: usually vegetables, fruit, eggs, beans, lean fish and chicken
- Soups and salads to stretch the budget
- Wholegrains in measured portions
- Water, tea, black coffee
Forget it
- Nothing is technically banned
- In practice: sweets, pastries and crisps eat the budget
- Soft drinks and juice
- Branded "diet" snacks sold by the programme itself
- Saving all your points for the weekend binge
A week on a points app, honestly
By day ten, most of the effort goes on two things, logging food without a barcode and deciding what to do on Saturday night. The people who do well usually settle into a routine:
- A few repeat breakfasts and lunches saved as favourites, so logging takes seconds.
- One weigh-in a week, same day, same time, and a short note on how the week went.
- The weekly coach or group check-in actually attended, especially after a bad week.
In Singapore: hawker food is the logging nightmare. No barcodes, sauces you can't see, portions that vary by stall. Pick a handful of go-to dishes (fish soup, yong tau foo, economy rice with vegetables and one protein), log them the same way every time, and accept that it's an estimate. Ask for less rice and sauce on the side.
In Austria, Germany and Switzerland: supermarket labels make scanning easy. Bakery rolls, a Brotzeit plate or a Sunday roast at the in-laws' don't. Log the rough portion and move on. The trap is the "light" aisle: low-fat quark is fine, low-fat biscuits are still biscuits.
Alcohol on points systems
OK, now and then
- A spirit with soda water and lime
- One glass of dry wine
- A spritzer: half wine, half soda water
- A light beer
Eats the whole budget
- Cocktails and cream liqueurs
- Several pints of beer or cider
- Anything mixed with juice, cola or tonic
- "Saving" a day's points for a night out
50 Club: one spritzer or one light beer, counted.
Every programme counts alcohol, because alcohol is a lot of energy with no fullness. Skipping dinner to "afford" drinks is the worst trade in dieting. All the details are in our alcohol guide.
What it's good for, with proof
Better than doing nothing
A systematic review of 45 studies found that, after 12 months, WeightWatchers participants lost at least 2.6% more weight than people given only education or nothing. Jenny Craig, which includes prepared meals, did a bit better at 4.9%.1 For someone weighing 100 kg, that's 2.6–4.9 kg beyond what doing nothing would get you. Real, not dramatic.
Better than standard doctor's advice
In a trial with 772 adults in Australia, Germany and the UK, people referred by their doctor to WeightWatchers lost about twice as much weight in a year as those given standard care: about 5 kg against 2 kg.2 Worth knowing: the trial was funded by WeightWatchers through a grant to the UK Medical Research Council.2
A later British trial with 1,267 adults found that a 12-week programme beat brief advice, and a 52-week programme beat both: about 6.8 kg lost at one year, against 4.8 kg and 3.3 kg.3 Longer support, more weight lost. That's the accountability effect in one number.
The diet doesn't matter much, the sticking does
A meta-analysis of 48 trials found that different named diets gave similar weight loss, and that behavioural support added to it.4 Whichever programme you can stick with is the one that works for you.
The uncomfortable truth
"Zero-point foods mean unlimited." A banana has the same calories whether a company gives it zero points or not. Zero points is a nudge, not physics. Eat ten and see.
"The app taught me to eat." Often it taught you to follow the app. When the subscription ends, the points go with it, and many people regain. The trials mostly stop at one or two years, so long-term results are thin.1
"This app is backed by science." Often that means the general ideas are (self-monitoring, behaviour change, eating less dense food), not that the app itself was tested in a proper trial. The review of commercial programmes found good-quality trials for only a handful of big brands, and many newer apps had little or no trial evidence at the time.1 Ask to see the trial, not the testimonial. Ask who paid for it, too.
The risks
- Obsessive tracking. Calorie and fitness trackers are linked to more eating-disorder symptoms in some users.6 If the app makes you anxious, it's not working for you.
- Diet food dependence. Many programmes sell their own bars, snacks and shakes, which are often ultra-processed.
- Cost. Monthly fees add up over years. So does the feeling that you "failed" when you cancel.
- Coaching quality. App coaches aren't always dietitians. Medical questions belong with your doctor.
Allergies: watch the staples
Programmes don't have fixed staples, but their branded products often contain major allergens.
| Common staple | Allergen (EU list of 14)7 | Swap |
|---|---|---|
| Branded bars and shakes | Milk, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, cereals containing gluten | Real food: eggs, fruit, plain yoghurt; check labels |
| Zero-point eggs | Eggs | Tofu, beans, chicken |
| Zero-point fish and seafood | Fish, crustaceans, molluscs | Chicken, lentils |
| Fat-free yoghurt | Milk | Soy yoghurt |
| Light bread and wraps | Cereals containing gluten | Corn tortillas, rice, potatoes |
Don't do a points or coaching programme if you…
- have ever had an eating disorder
- are pregnant or breastfeeding
- are under 18
- take insulin or other diabetes medication (ask your doctor first)
- find weekly weigh-ins make you miserable
Healthen me asks about all of these and gives you a different plan if any apply.
How we use points systems in your plan
We don't. These are our competitors, and we'd rather tell you what they do well than pretend they don't work.
What we take from them: structure, and food that fills you up for its calories (our volumetrics building block). What we do differently: no points, no colours, no logging. The calorie maths happens in the background, and the plan teaches habits that work without an app, like eating slowly (see mindful eating) and fasting as long as you comfortably can.
This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have a medical condition or take medication, talk to your doctor before changing how you eat.
Sources
- Gudzune KA et al. Efficacy of commercial weight-loss programs: an updated systematic review. Annals of Internal Medicine 2015;162(7):501–512. doi.org/10.7326/M14-2238
- Jebb SA et al. Primary care referral to a commercial provider for weight loss treatment versus standard care: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2011;378(9801):1485–1492. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)61344-5
- Ahern AL et al. Extended and standard duration weight-loss programme referrals for adults in primary care (WRAP): a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2017;389(10085):2214–2225. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30647-5
- Johnston BC et al. Comparison of weight loss among named diet programs in overweight and obese adults: a meta-analysis. JAMA 2014;312(9):923–933. doi.org/10.1001/jama.2014.10397
- Burke LE, Wang J, Sevick MA. Self-monitoring in weight loss: a systematic review of the literature. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2011;111(1):92–102. doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2010.10.008
- Simpson CC, Mazzeo SE. Calorie counting and fitness tracking technology: associations with eating disorder symptomatology. Eating Behaviors 2017;26:89–92. doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2017.02.002
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers, Annex II (the 14 allergens). eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/1169/oj