Howdy!

I'm doing WW at home so all the information I have is what I find on the net. I've found 2 lists and there's a couple of differences on them that I was wondering about.

One list says you can have ff skim milk or the 1%, the ff cottage cheese or the 1%, and ff cream cheese. The other just says ff on the milk and cottage cheese and no mention of the cream cheese.

Also I was curious about the ff-sf chocolate pudding. Is this the Jello pudding in a box or is there another brand?

Oh yeah, one more , one list has that it's okay to eat ff yogurt w/fruit. I'm used to having a Yoplait Light FF Strawberry/Banana yogurt for "dessert" after lunch at work. I know I could eat it and count the points, but was curious if it is or isn't Core?

TIA

I am curious about these qu too! I have FF/SF yogurt, would it be Core? And where do you find FF cheese and cream cheese?!?!!?

I would say that if you want to eat fruit flavored yogurt-go with one that is sugar free as well as fat free-like Blue Bunny Lite 85-and that should be okay. There are a lot of fat fre/light yogurts that contain sugar-so they are not Core. Yoplait Light for example is fat free-but not sugar free-and the point of Core is to eliminate most sugar and refined starch from our diets-except for the 35 flex points we are allowed.

So...I would say as long as it is fat free AND sugar free it would be fine...but you gotta check the labels.

The f-f s-f pudding is in the boxes. You can get Jello brand or a cheaper store brand-either way is fine.

I have absolutely no clue about the cream cheese.

It's my understanding (don't have my book here) that ONLY ff plain yogurt is Core. You can add stuff to it, but flavored yogurts are not Core. Likewise, I think that only FF milk and cottage cheese are Core - but frankly, I'm still using 1% milk I doubt that any cream cheese is core. The jello is instant in a box. There have been discussions, on other boards, about making SF cook 'n serve jello pudding with FF milk and having it be Core. I'd have to look at the Food Companion. Pudding is a take it or leave thing for me, so I don't make it much anyway.

I ate Yoplait Lite all the time on points and never checked for sugar since it said it had artifical sweetner in it but it has 14 G of SUGAR! I have some in the fridge but I'm tossing it today. Why would they put BOTH sweetners in a product? I know there is a ff cream cheese because I used to use it for dips at Christmas. Same brand as the regular. But it doesn't show up on my Core list of Dairy & Eggs so I guess it's not Core. Sorry!

Yes you can only have f/f s/f PLAIN yogurt on core. The flavors are not included unless you use WPAs.

Cream Cheese is not a dairy product. However I know that f/f Cream Cheese is a core food.

Only f/f cheeses and milks (other than 1 brand of 1%) is Core.

Kelly- How do you find these things out? I just asked about the ff cream cheese because someone had a yummy sounding recipe including it.
I see most of you live in the US, is ff cheese of all kinds common there- ie) cheddar, mozza, etc...? All we have in my small Canadian city is ff cheese slices!

Online (I belong to e-tools), meetings (meeting materials and asking my leader questions).

Thanks for the responses ladies!

We always have skim and 1% on hand, so I'll stick with the skim.

Aphil, thanks for the info on Bunny Lite-85. I had gone ahead and bought my usual but hubby likes them as well, so I'll get some BL today.

SaksieMom, do you have Philadelphia cream cheese at your store? Maybe you could ask them to order some of the ff for you?

I hadn't heard back from anyone just yet before we went shopping (thus my usual yogurt purchase ) but I did find the ff sf jello. Not only does Walmart have their own brand but when we got home, I found that I now have about 10 boxes. Turns out I'd bought some for my youngest son who just had a tonsillectomy (18 is NOT a nice age for such things ). I just hadn't realized the pudding was sf as well as ff. I love chocolate pudding, so I'm stocked

Thanks again to all of you for the info!

Yes-but the REASON why flavored f-f yogurts are not Core is because most widely used brands contain sugar. I think WW wanted to make it simple and just say plain so we wouldn't have to worry about the labels and what has sugar and what doesn't. They wanted to keep it simple.

ALL dairy products contain a few grams of natural sugars in them anyhow-so checking the grams of sugar/carbohydrate on the label isn't the answer as far as seeing if a brand contains sugar-you have to read the actual ingredients and check for sugar, corn syrup, fructose, fruit juice, etc. It is the ADDED sugar that you are checking for.

If you do want to use flavored yogurt-I say check the labels and go for a sugarless one. WW is just trying to find a way to "pare down" the list and simplify things-but a totally sugar free fat and free yogurt that contains a touch of vanilla and Splenda is the same to me whether you buy it that way or mix it yourself.

You have to think about the point behind the rule...why they made the rules and the food list. It is the sugar/refined carbohydrate avoidance. There are many WW members used to eating fat free yogurt that has sugar in it...and they are trying to get away from that on Core/South Beach/SugarBusters/other no white flour-no sugar diet plans.

As a moderator I have read the books on a lot of these very similar plans and the research behind them-and why you are allowed this and not that. It is about reducing the refined carbs and sugar in our diets...the "trigger foods" that tend to cause overeating. The WW list is very simplified to make it easy for everyone, that's all.

Blue Bunny Light 85 is a brand that is fat free and has no added sugar or juice to sweeten it. It is sweetened with sucralose/Splenda only.

I am saying-that no matter what the list says-that as long as the flavored yogurt contains no added sugar in any form-then I am considering it Core. You can do the same if you want, and if you don't want to-then don't. My stepfather is a former pro-bodybuilder, my mother is a nurse and has worked in the dietary field for EONS...and I was a gestational diabetic (diabetic when pregnant) and had to watch sugar in all forms during my pregnancies. I know what I know.

WW just doesn't want us all avoiding sugar and refined carbs in most other forms thoughout our day, and then be eating them in our Yoplait Light and not realizing it.

JMHO,
Aphil

I can only find the ff cheese in slices also. Thanks for the info on sugar grams on the label. I understand what you are saying, just never thought about it before. Makes sense. Well, I'm having beans and cabbage for supper. Don't have to worry about any hidden sugar there!

Evening Ladies and Gentleman

Lisa, fat free cream cheese is not a Core food (pg 20 of the Complete Food Companion).

Thanks, trilium . I saw where Kelly had said ff cream cheese was a core food, thus my suggestion to SaskieMom. Obviously it's not though .. darn it .. lol

Lisa, darn it is right!! But I'm sure it's one of those "trigger potential" foods that we may overeat....and maybe because it's commonly eaten on bagels!

Hmmmmmmm e-tools showed it the other day that it was...I'll double check.