How many Weight Watchers points does an avocado have? It might seem odd to write a blog post about this simple question, but it’s a popular topic with a complicated answer. Avocados have always been a bit controversial for Weight Watchers (WW) participants. Why? Let me explain!
Unlike most fruits (and yes, avocados are fruits!), avocados are high in fat. They contain “healthy unsaturated fat,” but for a long time, Weight Watchers didn’t differentiate between types of fat. This led many people to eat avocados thinking, “Hey, this is fruit, it must be good,” only to find out they had used up their daily points budget. Many people were unhappy about this.
Everything changed with the introduction of Weight Watchers’ personal points. A big hit with many was the option to add avocados to your list of “free” foods. This means they become a ZeroPoint food if you choose them, allowing you to eat as many avocados as you want without using any points.
However, if you don’t select avocados as a free food item, they can cost you a lot of points. In the current Weight Watchers system, a “medium” avocado weighing 155g is worth 10 points. But if you add avocados to your free foods list, they are zero points.
This is a significant difference, and I discovered something interesting while exploring the app. When I removed avocados from my ZeroPoints list, my daily PersonalPoints allowance increased by 3 points each day. While it’s nice to enjoy avocados freely, it comes at the cost of points you could use for other things.
For me, it’s not a big deal. I eat an avocado (with shrimp and light mayonnaise, making it a one-point meal) several times a week. So, I might “lose” 21 points, but I don’t need to “spend” 20. It’s not a huge difference, but if you choose avocados as a healthy food, you’ll need to eat more than one avocado each week for it to be worthwhile.
The high points assigned to avocados in the weight-loss program have always been controversial, but you can enjoy these fruits without breaking the bank.
