[shrinkinglizzy]

I went out for dinner last night, and really didn't feel like basing my order on whether or not I could estimate the points. Well, I just have no idea. What I can say is that I was not overly full, I didn't finish, all in all, I did pretty well as far as restraint goes. But spinach artichoke fritters? pork tenderloin with spanish bleu cheese? i don't know! I think I might already be getting tired of counting...

S

[Rosegarden]

go check out dotties site dwlz to see if any of the restaurants have a similiar item and get a guessitmate of the points. After you've been at it awhile, you'll realize how productive it is to go back to a splurge night and figure out exactly what you ate. It does stick with you and you can use it as a reference for the future.

We all get tired of counting pts. If you need to, don't hesitate to switch to core for a bit. It usually pulls me out of the points doldrums

[Meridee]

I agree, it really is good to try and figure out what you ate. You might be really off with your guess, but at least you tried to figure it out.

If you have the latest WW getting started book, they have that section on portion sizes. From there you can get a ballpark guess of wether or not you had a cup of something or a half cup or just an ounce. DWLZ is a great suggestion for dining out, but that getting started book has a lot of suggestions for point values as well. Also, another thing to think of is that everything was probably cooked with some kind of fat, unless of course you had things grilled or steamed - so don't forget to add a few points for oil or butter.

Try looking up similar things, or breaking down the foods to their basics - Pork tenderloin, forget the sauces and extras, just estimate how much you had. Spanish blue cheese - well blue cheese is pretty much the same wherever you go, its a semi soft cheese. Artichoke fritters, try potatoe pancakes? Artichokes aren't all too many points (1pt for 1 cup), add a few points for what you think the binder was, and for any sauces.

I have tried WW in the past and have failed because I didn't even try to figure out my points for things. Write everything down - even if you had 100pts one day, also write what was going on, a birthday, bad day at work, new job offer..all these things are good to reflect on.

Good luck!

[suitejudyblueeyes]

Don't get too wrapped up in it, SL. Make an educated guess and move on. A handful of points aren't going to make or break your weight loss, and when in doubt you can always give yourself a couple points worth of wiggle room.

When I have absolutely no idea I try to find something close to what I ate, or I guess based on foods I do know. Of course it's not going to be exact, but it's the best way.

As another mentioned, do go try Core for a while if you don't dig the counting thing. That's another good thing about WW, it even has the 'I hate counting' plan built into it

[overit]

in the past i've just tried to look for similar items online or even go to the restaurants website and see if they have the nutrition info on it and figure out the points. I'm in South Korea and it is hard to figure out the points on food on the economy.

[Tendalaya]

Just thought I'd share a few sites that I use for reference sometimes to help me derive points values in what I eat.

This is a good site to find nutritional information when using your pointsfinder, they have tons of grocery store brands: (http://caloriecount.about.com/)

This site has the points already totalled for you for tons of foods, although I haven't looked to see if they're completely accurate. (http://quiddity.cc/rachel/diet/wwfoods.htm)

Good sites for restaurants: (http://www.dottisweightlosszone.com/restaurants.html)
(http://www.coheso.com/nutridata)

Hope this benefits someone

[shrinkinglizzy]

oh wow thanks for all the good advice!!
s

[kelijpa]

I agree with Suite, (go figure ), I accept and move on if I can't or don't want to figure. Every once in awhile I go on a "practise maintenance" week where I try to get by without counting, maybe just doing a day or two would be enough to refresh you. It sounds like you did the right things, didn't get overly stuffed, left some food you didn't feel the need to eat. You probably did some activity, too.

Best of luck