Thanks for all the welcomes. I'm really doing pretty good. I do have a hard time getting all my points in but I'm not used to eating this way with all the things they want you to include in your points. I'm trying though. I'm actually liking eating this way. I havent been home the last couple of days for lunch and we have been going out and I was actually worried about my points and stuff! I cant believe how much it made me think about my choices.
Do any of you rely much on the weight watchers food? I have tried a few and they are really good. Also do you count ice cream as dairy? (weight watchers ice cream)
I find I'm more successful if I dont rely on packaged foods of any kind. You always get more bang for your buck (so to speak... nutritionally, quality, quantity wise) by going as raw as you can.
Do any of you rely much on the weight watchers food?
I keep one or two in my freezer just in case, but I much prefer cooking myself. It's also really easy to make very similar and more filling meals for less points.
I haven't tried any of the WW snacks or meals this time around. I try to eat a lot of whole foods, although Fiber One bbars are a weakness (but those are all gone now from my cupboard).
I started the food plan & exercising at the same time and I think it really helped me. At the least, walking at night distracted me during the time when I would ordinarily be looking for fatty/salty snacks to nosh on. My dogs loved the attention, and by the time I got back, I wasn't looking for food anymore. Plus, it helps my depression to be physically active.
I am really doing well on this plan. There is a center close to me, but because of my commute and the new baby, I like the flexibility of on-line versus a meeting each week.
One bit of advice that has helped me is to have a back-up plan for meals. I usually bring my lunch from home, but I know there are some soup choices I can get at a local place for 5 or 6 points, and a sub I can get for 7, so if I forget to bring my lunch, I can still eat without going too high in points.
Regarding bringing down your grocery bill, I find that if I pick a theme or ingredient of the week it helps. I can buy a family size package of that one thing, and it gets used in a few different meals that week. This week its beans and bell peppers. It makes a big difference cost-wise to do it this way for me.
The other cost thing for me is that my husband doesn't like leftovers, so when I make something, like last night's WW sheperd's pie, I can eat it for lunch for days. So we had dinner, and I will have 6 lunches that I can eat this week, and freeze. It saves me buying lunch foods.
I don't use the WW meals very often anymore. I used to when I worked in an office (now I'm working from a home office) but they have a lot of sodium so its not a great every day option. (Between giving up those and my serious diet coke habit, my blood pressure has come down from pre-hypertension to perfect). They are good to have one or two on hand when you don't have time to cook. It can keep you from doing something like getting fast food when you can just throw some orange chicken or lasagna in the microwave.
The other cost thing for me is that my husband doesn't like leftovers, so when I make something, like last night's WW sheperd's pie, I can eat it for lunch for days. So we had dinner, and I will have 6 lunches that I can eat this week, and freeze. It saves me buying lunch foods.
I always grocery shop with leftovers in mind (but it's just me, so that makes it easy). I cook something on Saturday or Sunday and immedietly portion it out into equal servings that will last me the week, plus some.
This past weekend I made this super yummy and super easy tortilla soup from a vegan cookbook called "Appetite for Reduction." I only work four days a week, so the extra servings that came out of it will get put in the freezer for some other time.
Thats a good idea to freeze stuff. Hadnt thought of that! My husband usually will not eat the same stuff I eat but I did get him to switch to whole wheat pasta. I thought I had him years ago on using turkey in place of hamburger but I had to go back to hamburger lol. I'm really worried about the points. I have 38 points and I average about 10 points left over every day. They dont count fruits and veggies and I eat alot of that and not much else.
I am trying to get my healthy oil in by dumping it on my salads. Its not very tasty. I guess I need to learn to love oil and vinegar dressing. Right now I'm just mixing it with my fat free ranch. Blah lol. I know some people just drink it. Anyway, I guess I will not rely on the frozen dinners too much. I didnt think about the sodium. I dont like to cook but I guess I'll just have to embrace it.
I'm really worried about the points. I have 38 points and I average about 10 points left over every day. They dont count fruits and veggies and I eat alot of that and not much else.
I am trying to get my healthy oil in by dumping it on my salads. Its not very tasty. I guess I need to learn to love oil and vinegar dressing. Right now I'm just mixing it with my fat free ranch.
Consider switching to regular ranch dressing, and try eating full-fat cheeses and milk. It won't add any extra food, but it will help meet those 10 excess points. (And I know it sounds counter-intuitive to eat full-fat dairy and real ranch and stuff when you're supposed to be on a "diet" but I promise it's okay )
Also, you could add nuts to your salads, too. I sometimes add peanuts to my salads for an extra bit of texture and crunch and it helps with points.
Great advice given! Just echoing that if you have too many points left at the end of the day keep in mind some of the higher points healthy foods that are around... peanut butter, an ounce of nuts, full fat cheese or dairy products, avocados or guacamole, hearty wheat breads, etc.
You don't have to immediately jump down to "fat free" or the lower calorie stuff. If it fits into your day... enjoy it!
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Do any of you rely much on the weight watchers food? I have tried a few and they are really good. Also do you count ice cream as dairy?
I do not rely on WW foods, no. I have had some here and there, but (to me) the whole point of weight watchers is to learn to eat with normal foods that I eat every day. So, I try to stick with... normal foods! I do make more things than I used to, mostly because I can control exactly what goes into it.
How do you figure the points for say casseroles and soups and those kinds of things.. Do you have to add all the things in it individually? I eat a lot of soup in the fall and Winter months and would hate to have to count a lot of points for that kind of stuff..
How do you figure the points for say casseroles and soups and those kinds of things.. Do you have to add all the things in it individually? I eat a lot of soup in the fall and Winter months and would hate to have to count a lot of points for that kind of stuff..
Thanks!
Ronnie
The Plan Manager comes with a Recipe Builder. It's very easy. You enter in the ingredients, set the serving numbers and it lets you see how many Points it is.
You can then save the Recipes to reuse them whenever you make that particular soup. They're easy to modify if something changes.
Applestar - you could make your own dressing that is really good and gets your oils in It doesn't have to be just the olive oil and vinegar... you can add seasonings and flavor to it I will echo Tudor Rose as well, sometimes I add sunflower seeds and cashews to my salads
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