[hungrie]

hi, I am new here. I am 26 yrs. old and I am a stay at home mom. I am 30-35 pounds overweight. I just joined Weight Watchers and feel pretty happy
that I can take the weight off. I have a question. I was looking up some food ideas on here, and I know this might sound stupid, but if it says "serves 5"...how many "cups" are in one serving? How do I know how much food I get per serving? I know that might sound stupid, but this is my first "real" try a anything effective to lose weight and I want to be right on track. I want to stay within my point range (which is 25-25). I usually have 10 points to play with at dinner. I want to eat well at dinner and not feel like I "HUNGRY" all the time....like I do right now.


Thanx!

[MILLIEB]

First off, no question is stupid! If you've never been on an eating plan before, there's lot of confusing stuff and the only way to learn is to ask questions. To figure out a serving size, you need to measure the entire amount and divide it up. I subscribe to Cooking Light magazine, which is a great resource for learning to cook healthfully, and they usually tell you how many cups per serving. For example, they'll say "recipe serves 6, approximately one and one-half cups per serving". To help fill yourself up at dinner, it might help to start with a low point salad or soup, eat that first and then have your main meal. A lot of being satisifed with smaller portions has to do with how slowly you eat, you need to allow your stomach time to know it has food in it. Starting with a salad or soup can start the filling up process and you may find yourself full before you've finished the rest of your food -
Keep asking those questions!

[SanBC]

Hi Hungrie!

Congratulations on choosing the best way to lose weight. I have lost almost 97 lbs on WW and as far as I am concerned this program, including regular moderate activity, is the soundest way to slim down and a healthy lifestyle for anyone.

Something that I have found really helpful for staying within points at dinner time is to have a big glass of V-8 juice while I'm cooking. It takes the edge off my hunger, counts as a vegetable and is 0 points. I spice it up with some Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco and lime juice and it's almost like a real drink! Another thing you could try is starting your dinner with a bowl of the 0 point garden vegetable soup that's in the Week 1 "Getting Started" booklet. It's delicious and very filling.

Good Luck!

Sandi
287/190.6/160

[lighter]

If a recipe says it serves 5 then how do you measure it? If it is a casserole try to bake it in a dish that makes dividing the portions as easy as possible. If the recipe says 1 pound of chicken breasts and 3 breasts make a pound and it serves 5 it is more difficult to divide up. If you weighted the breasts before they went into the recipe and you cut them to divide into 5 servings that makes it a little easier. A meat loaf may serve 5 and that is pretty easy to divide but some times you just have to use your best judgment. Soup that serves 5 is tricky too, unless you put it in a quart measure to see how much you really have in the whole pot. If you have a ladle, fill a measuring cup with water and then pour into the ladle to see how much the ladle holds. One ladle I have holds 1/2 cup and another hold 3/4 cup. My W W class sells ladles and spoons that hold a measured amount of ingredients. That might help with the portions sizes.

Do the best you can if a ladle doesn't work and the item can't be weighed. Look in your W W book 1 Getting Started page 10. There are some guides on serving sizes. I know a deck of cards is surpose to be a portion of meat, poultry or fish.