For the past several weeks, I have been having lunch on Tuesdays with a bunch of losers. That’s because that is the day I attend my weekly Weight Watchers meeting.Actually, I’ve been attending weekly meetings since 2000, when I joined and eventually became a lifetime member. Once I reached my weight goal, I weigh in once a month to be sure I’m not above two pounds of my goal weight. Success in this department means I have a month of free meetings.For me, attending meetings regularly has been the key to weight management.This past week when I popped in for my meeting, I was flabbergasted by the crowd. Usually, holiday-season meetings are lightly attended. Then, in January, the meetings are brimming with old and new members on track with their resolutions to trim down.The meeting leader had been telling us there was going to be a new Weight Watchers program announced after Thanksgiving based on new nutritional science. We learned that the former Points Program had been given a makeover. Obviously, from the mobbed room, members were eager to hear about the new system.It’s called PointsPlus, and I think it is an improvement over the old one. I’m glad to have the information before heading into the next goodie-laden weeks. I’m thinking of it as an early Christmas gift.Here are some of the changes.First the new motto: Eat Right — Be Active — Repeat!It’s as simple as that. To help you eat right, the PointsPlus has changed the way to calculate food points. The points formula is now based on how nutritionally sound the food is. Instead of calculating calories, fiber and fat grams like we did for the old program, now we will calculate protein, carbohydrates, fiber and fat grams.Think of it this way: If you have a 100-calorie apple in one hand and a 100-calorie pack of cookies in the other, you might be fooled into thinking they were the same point value. They’re not.This was a criticism of the previous Points formula, because it did not accurately differentiate between nutritionally dense foods and empty calories. This was due to the heavy weighting of calories over other nutrient measures when points were being calculated.Next up, there are new point ranges for everyone to target each day. That’s because with the new calculations, the points on foods went up. For instance, my old target was about 18 points per day. Now I get 29. Thank you, Weight Watchers, for another gift. I get to eat more.To be sure that I’m staying within my points target, I will still use my journal to track my food. Most of the foods have been calculated for me in my new PointsPlus Pocket Guide. But for some foods not listed in the guidem I bought a new PointsPlus Calculator so I could be certain about my daily points.In the food-points department, another big change is that almost all fresh fruits and veggies are zero points, including bananas. I love bananas but rarely indulged since, on the old program, they counted for two precious points of my allotted 18.I’ve really liked the Weight Watchers program. I took off a few pounds and have been able to be “free” most months. It helps me keep in mind portion sizes when I’m dining out, as is often the case. And, it’s easy to follow. I think this new, improved program will be even better.Bottom line: I’m looking forward to my lunches with fellow losers and seeing less of them each week.Visit weightwatchers.com to find a meeting schedule and learn more about the new program.—Reach Farney at 636-0271. Hear her “KVOR Table Talk” radio show noon to 1 p.m. Saturdays on 740 AM.

Photo by