How do I use weight watchers to GAIN weight?

Question

My gf is starting Weight Watchers Flex program to lose some weight. I volunteered to join her for support, but my goal is to GAIN and maintain weight. I am approx 172-174 lbs and would like to be 180-183 lbs. I am a 25 yr old male, 6'1" and live a fairly active lifestyle, exercising for about 5-6 hours p/week at a high intensity (playing squash, running, swimming, martial arts training, small but regular amount of weight lifting), and I walk everywhere since I don't own a car.

How many points per day/week should I be aiming for to reach and maintain my goal of 180lbs?

Or, even better, how do I calculate the points myself?

Please don't refer me to the Weight Watchers website, since I do not intend on paying for a membership.

Answer 1

That is not the objective of Weight Watchers.

There are several things you can do. One would be to eat as you are already eating and supplement with a meal replacement shake in addition to your food. (SlimFast, Ensure).

Another option is just to increase your portion sizes. If you are only eating 1 cup of pasta, eat 1.5 cups. Add cheese, yogurt, or whole milk products in place of skim milk products.

I had a friend who was needing to add weight as he was too light to go into the armed forces. His doctor told him to add a gallon of milk a week and one pound of bananas to his diet. While he gained a bit, it was not enough. I am kind of happy for him because he could have been sent to Iraq. Be thankful for your blessings, y'know?

Answer 2

You shouold just borrow her little booklet that tells you how to calculate poinbts or whatever, and then just load up on all the stuff that is a lot of points. A friend of mine at work says that you aren't supposed to go over 19 points in one day, so your goal should be to not go over 30 points a day. Also, not from personal experience or anything, but a diet consisting mainly of Taco Bell and beer seems to do wonders for weight gain.

Answer 3

You can use this formula to figure out how many Weight Watchers points are in your foods (using the nutritional labels):

1) Take the Calories and divide by 50 (we'll call this A)
2) Take the Fat and divide by 12 (we'll call this B)
3) Take the Fiber and divide by 5 (we'll call this C)
4) Now add A+B and subtract C

That is your weight watchers points value.

Generally speaking, it takes about 3500 calories to pack on one pound of weight so you need to eat 3500 calories on top of what you would regularly eat to maintain your weight. Once you hit your target weight, then focus on just eating the amount of calories you need to maintain it. (which is approximately your weight in lbs x 11)

Answer 4

1pt= 50 calories roughly