Weight Watchers and Clean Eating
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Anonymous
| I'm brand new to WW this week. I don't use sugar substitutes or fat-free dairy. If, for example, I would have to use sugar-free syrup and skim milk in my coffee to meet my points, I'd just drink it black. When the focus is on points, not macros, is it still possible to feel satisfied and not blow points? What are your favorite low-point, whole food snacks or go-tos? |
Anonymous
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I agree there are some things in WW that don't make much sense...and I just ignore them. I think if you treated low-fat like fat-free dairy you'd still see weight loss--try it for a few weeks and see! I like the taste of unsweetened almond milk so for me that's not an issue.
But I won't add an extra point for brown rice, and I do zero points for fat free cottage cheese and for vanilla oikos triple zero (when you type in the nutrition facts it comes out to fewer points than plain non-greek yogurt so why not?). But to your broader point, I do WW blue and I can live within my points and be satisfied. Here are some things I like beyond the zero-point options: * quaker instant grits (3 points/packet--I add some combo of veggies, salsa, egg, beans) * puffed kamut cereal (1 point/cup) * Wasa crispbread (1 point/piece) * air-popped popcorn (1 point/tablespoon of kernels) * oats (4 points/ half-cup dry--I use a mix of water and milk and add fruit and cinnamon; sometimes a little peanut butter...it's a pretty filling 5-point meal) * mark bittman's veggie burger/loaf/ball recipe: it's egg, beans, veggies, oats, and seasoning so 1-2 points per patty. * almond or peanut butter (1 point/teaspoon--good on apples or celery) * miso soup (1 point...I use packets but you could get real miso) * peanuts in shell (1 point/ 5 pieces) * full-fat ricotta cheese (3 points/ quarter cup) * grated parmesan cheese (1 point/ tablespoon--this makes zero-point foods a lot tastier. I do put a half-teaspoon of mayo and a half tablespoon of cheese and some chili powder on corn on the cob for elote and it's pretty good and a one-point side. I've also sauteed white beans and shredded brussel sprouts with garlic and parmesan and that was tasty too). I put salsa, mustard, kimchi, everything bagel seasoning, smoked paprika, or pickles on lots of things for flavor without points. For a lot of things where I'd usually look to potatoes or sweet potatoes, I swap butternut squash, acorn squash, pumpkin, or carrots. I don't like black coffee, so I add 1T creamer (it's one point for the kind my family buys) to a smaller amount of coffee than usual to get it to my desired taste. Drinking a lot of water and unsweetened herbal tea helps too. Or I add an ounce or two of juice or wine to tea or seltzer to make a spritzer and put some frozen berries in there...it feels like a treat for not a lot of points. Hope that helps and that other people give ideas--I would love more suggestions because I feel like once I find meals that work I repeat them a lot. |
Anonymous
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I’m on Green and though I’ve recently hit a slog of barely losing - though still feeling progress - I don’t eat any fake foods or even low-cal versions. My treats are indulgent fruit salads and my daily latte. I save my extra points for wine - but I don’t use my ‘activity points’ - at least on purpose!
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Anonymous
| Thanks. I was feeling a little distraught seeing recs for fat-free, fake sugar ingredients. I just don't eat like that. I stuck with real food today, but, man, I'm hungry. |
Anonymous
| I am on purple and save all my points for added fat-- full fat milk and yogurt mostly. It's almost impossible to eat nuts and cheese and stay under my points, so I only used slivered almonds and a little cheese in salads. I eat oatmeal, brown rice, eggs, seafood and vegetables daily. I'm really boring but am able to stick with it for now. |
Anonymous
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Here are two filling soups. I eat soup everyday for either lunch or dinner mostly because one recipe lasts 4 days, and I have a quick meal on hand. The more I plan the better I'll do.
https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/r/cms/recipe/slow-cooker-lentil-soup/5626a6063d92b3c10eb8b483 https://www.weightwatchers.com/us/r/cms/recipe/asian-mushroom-soup/57c95f3e0e91d7dd1c167fe3 |
Anonymous
This is going to be an adjustment for me. I made the weird banana pancakes this morning and felt like I should have added another protein source instead of more fruit (blueberries). |
Anonymous
Thanks for this. I think soup for lunch would help me stay within my points. If it’s premade, I won’t go off course. |
Anonymous
If you decide to go purple, you can eat no points carbs (legumes and whole grains), and it's easier. The points system does not reward refined carbs, and in the end that's what I need to eat less of anyway. My first two weeks I switched around plans until I figured out what I could live with long term. |
Anonymous
Exactly. Weight Watchers gives you ideas, but you really need to personalize it for what works for you. I need to plan the day before for my entire day's points, then not vary at all on the actual day. If I resort to what I feel like eating, I'll never be successful. |
Anonymous
| So, I know we aren’t technically counting calories, but the points come from somewhere. It looks biased against fats, is that right? I could eat bananas all day and be ok by points, but avocado or nuts are high in points. I’ve associated lower carb with healthier for so long, so this is a little uncomfortable. |
Anonymous
Yes, I think this is true. I'm on week 3 and on the Green Plan. I get 30 points/day. Yesterday I ate 0% fage with berries and honey, a big salad with lots of veggies, black beans, tortilla chips and 1 tbsp dressing, and beans and rice with avocado and spinach for dinner. Fruit for snacks (0 points). I was under points for the day and was full. Over the weekend I had some cocktails, 4 slices of pizza and a bagel with cream cheese and went SO FAR over points I ended up eating all my weeklies over 2 days. TLDR: if you can fill up on fruits and veggies and not eat bread and cheese you will easily stay within points. |
Anonymous
| I can easily avoid bread and pasta and eat a ton of veggies. I am biased against fruit bc of the sugars and cheese is the food is take to the desert island. :p. This is going to be interesting. |
Anonymous
It's biased against saturated fat and sugar (and calories in general), and rewards protein. Certain foods are 0 points not because they really have 0 points (if you put the nutritional facts of a banana into the tracker it does not literally have 0 points) but because they are foods WW wants you to eat and has found people are unlikely to overeat. There are definitely lower-carb/higher protein foods that are 0 points on blue: eggs, tofu, plain yogurt, fish, chicken and turkey breast. I also eat a lot of beans which aren't low-carb but are high protein. You can eat some nuts and avocado but they are high in points. I don't think that carbs are inherently bad or that low-carb is inherently healthier...different people respond to carbs in different ways and within a given food there are a lot of other factors that also determine its nutritional value (protein, fiber, water content, vitamins and minerals, etc.). But WW definitely has a different view of carbs/fat/protein than, say, keto. |
Anonymous
| WTH - Icelandic Skyr with 120 calories, 2 g of fat and 15 g of protein is 4 points?? That's insane, right? |