[chocolate kiss]

Greetings All.

How are you all doing.

[Kelly_S]

Originally Posted by chocolate kiss

...I have been doing the Sonoma/ Mediterranean diet; I LOVE the food it taste SOOO good; But I still have a problem with my portions. I feel that WW can help with that.

So why not try combining the foods from that into W/W with portions and points control?

Originally Posted by chocolate kiss

...I have a sugar habit and a carb addiction. I am TRYING to stay away from breads and sugary foods. I think I will do better with WHOLE foods and not packaged foods.
I think even WW packaged foods even cause me grief. I have to stay away from it all.

You don't have to eat the packaged foods at all. Personally to me they are nothing but processed junk (just my opinion).

[jadedjane]

My WW leader tells us to avoid the pre-packaged food as much as possible (yes - strange coming from someone that represents the company that makes alot of pre-packaged foods). The reason why:

Pre-packaged foods, even WW's is -
1. loaded with chemicals, preservatives, and sodium
2. convenient, yes, but what do you learn if your diet consists of alot of meals that someone else put together
3. You miss out on opportunities to think for yourself, be creative, and learn what really / realistically works for you.

On the other hand -
WW meals already have the points calculated, are fast, easy, and readily available in just about any store. In a pinch the come in handy - like for an emergency meal (we all have those days - ya know). Sometimes I just feel like having "junk food". I do keep a few WW meals in the freezy - just in case.

A few is okay, but don't rely on the meals so heavily to teach you portion control. Start identifying portion sizes with things you see every day. Meat for instance... one serving of meat can fit in the palm of your hand, or is roughly the size of a deck of cards. A baked potato should be about the size of a light bulb...one serving of nuts fits into a starbucks (tall sized) coffee lid.

One trick I use every day - I use the same plate / bowl / dish every evening at dinner. If you measure your portions out a few times, you get used to seeing how much space your food takes up, and over time it becomes a "no brainer"

I'm so glad you decided to join WW. I was apprehensive about joining when I started too, and I told myself (for 6 months prior) that I couldn't afford it. Now I'm thinking that I couldn't afford to not have joined. That very small weekly fee seems minor in comparison to what they have helped me achieve

Congrats on making a great choice,
Jane

staring weight: 310
current weight: 145 (now in maintainece- 2 whole weeks *yay*)
next short term goal: be a lifetime member
total loss: 165 pounds (in 14 months - on "core")

[Thinfor5Minutes]

Jane -- I noticed your weight loss. You rock! Congratulations!

[mauvaisroux]

Jane- congratulations on reaching your goal
You make some excellent points and suggestions in your post.

Chocolate Kiss - I am sure you could incorporate the mediteranean diet with WW - I did it for a while with the South Beach Diet. Both of these diets encourage cooking and eating fresh food and good carbs. I've always been a big fan of Italian, Greek and Middle Eastern food and these can be worked into the WW plan. I have been trying out lower fat versions of my favorites but I will not cook with splenda or egg substitute so sometimes its a bit of a challenge

My big problem when I joined WW was portion control - I ate relatively well but too much and ate with abandon on the weekends.

What I have done to combat this:

Bought a set of smaller dishes & cutlery and donated my old ones to charity.

I leave my scale, measuring cups and spoons out on the counter where I usually prepare my food that way I don't have to search for them and have no excuse not to measure

I always measure my cream and sugar into my coffee - if I eyeball it I go way overboard.

Any meat that we buy for the freezer I divide up into two person portions for my DH and I before freezing - that way I already have the correct portion defrosted for supper and don't have to think about it.

I pre-cut and put my veggies into storage containers in the fridge for the week to make preparing meals easier.

I never buy frozen pre-fab meals as I just don't like the taste of them, however I do occasionally buy bagged salad or veg just to make life easier - bagged baby carrots and store bought hummus have been a snacking lifesaver for me

[jackie o]

so happy that you are doing well. I last week did not do WW I have a lot to lean with it. so did go back to low carb, like I said I have been doing that for over 7 years now
any way down 3 pounds this week, only have 4 more to go to get back to my goal weight of 155. I have not given up with WW AND WHEN I GET THIS 4 POUNDS OFF RIGHT, NOW THE ONLY WAY I REALLY KNOW HOW TO IT, I will go and try WW again, I just have a hard time with eating to much .on WW ,and some of the food like you all here., you all here with your great help, is really nice to know you all. thanks Jackie o