Hey friends! It's good to back after a busy weekend! I won't be posting
my complete food logs for the next week because our church is
participating in a corporate partial fast, which we do annually at the beginning of each year. Basically, we're denying our physical
appetites in order to deepen our appetite for God. John piper echos our reasons for doing so,
"Between the dangers of self-denial and self-indulgence is this path of
pleasant pain called fasting... If we don't feel strong desires for the
manifestation of the glory of
God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is
because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is
stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great... If we
are full of what the world offers, then perhaps a fast might express, or
even increase, our soul's appetite for God."
So you'll only be getting snippets this week, but I hope to be back next week with more complete food logs!
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| This is a salad I made over the weekend. I adapted it using this recipe. It was 6 PPV. I really loved the flavored tuna, but it was really expensive so I think I'll just season my own from now on! |
Today I wanted to share a couple of really good questions that I've gotten from readers recently about Weight Watchers. I think these questions are probably really popular with people interested in the program so I thought it would be helpful to share my answers with others who may be interested. (P.S. If you have any questions, please Facebook message me (https://www.facebook.com/bcelestin), and I'll be happy to answer! They may be featured on the blog, but I'll never disclose your personal identity!)
So with no further adieu...
Q: Do you find it's [Weight Watchers] easy? How do you deal with making food from "scratch" and having to have all the ingredients out and adding it all to the tracker? I did it before, but for some reason I found it extremely hard to track those pestering point.
A: I have to admit when I first started Weight Watchers, it took a
little getting used to. We pretty much ate the same things over and over
again for a while until I felt more comfortable venturing out. The
weight watchers phone app allows me to save my favorites so that I don't have to look things up all the time. If you don't have the app,
you can keep a little notepad in the kitchen to write down all of the
regular foods you eat and their point values. It's like a cheat sheet!
As far as cooking
from scratch, I don't find that Weight Watchers makes me cook any more
from scratch than I was already doing. We try not to eat a lot of
processed food, but we also don't eat elaborate meals. We also don't eat
a lot of casseroles, which are probably harder to calculate. Also, I've
found lots of recipes online that have the points already calculated.
Our typical dinners include:
**Baked fish with a side of rice and veggies
**Tacos or Fajitas (these are our favorite tacos: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/12/slow-cooker-chicken-black-bean-tacos.html)
**Slow Cooker Lasagna with a side salad (I use the weight watchers recipe: http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeId=135321)
**Red Beans or White Beans and Rice, which is pretty easy to calculate)
**Hamburgers (http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeId=115221) on a low calorie bun with a side of chips
**Pulled chicken sandwiches (http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1284) with ranch roasted potatoes (http://www.laaloosh.com/2011/01/24/ranch-roasted-red-potatoes-recipe/)
**Baked fish with a side of rice and veggies
**Tacos or Fajitas (these are our favorite tacos: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/12/slow-cooker-chicken-black-bean-tacos.html)
**Slow Cooker Lasagna with a side salad (I use the weight watchers recipe: http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeId=135321)
**Red Beans or White Beans and Rice, which is pretty easy to calculate)
**Hamburgers (http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeId=115221) on a low calorie bun with a side of chips
**Pulled chicken sandwiches (http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1284) with ranch roasted potatoes (http://www.laaloosh.com/2011/01/24/ranch-roasted-red-potatoes-recipe/)
**Asian Chicken (http://www.bethcelestin.com/2011/10/asian-chicken-recipe.html), Easy Fried Rice (http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeId=182921), & Veggies
Q: I am so glad you are blogging you Weight Watchers food log! I am just beginning
to try to follow Weight Watchers, but can't afford to join right now so I'm a little
lost. I only get 26 points a day and have yet to eat less than 29! I
usually have a serving of fruit a few times a day to...my coffee cup is
a struggle and so is breakfast because we eat big breakfasts. Any tips? I'm
not much of a fan of diet foods with artificial stuff.
A: I lost all my weight eating 29 points per day. Weight Watchers changed the point system a
few months ago, but I stuck with 29 because I was successful with that number and felt hungry eating less. Plus you get 49 weekly points
that you can use however you want. I always used most of mine, and still
lost! Some people add 7 points to each day, and some people save the 49
for special occasions. It's totally up to you. As far as breakfast, you
can save some calories by choosing lower calorie breads and butters.
Nature's Own makes a wheat bread that's only 1 point/slice (http://www.naturesownbread.com/products/ReducedCalorieBreads/40CalorieWheatBread/) . Also, Land O' Lakes makes a light whipped butter (http://www.landolakes.com/Products/Custom/15116.aspx)
that's only 1 point per tablespoon. When I buy things like this, I
strictly use them for Kevin and I's meals. I buy the regular butter and
heartier breads for the boys. Eggs are two points per egg, but you can
get 4 egg whites for only 1 point. You can either put whites in with
your whole egg or mix in plenty veggies with your whole egg. It helps to
fill you without many points. I use NuStevia (https://nunaturals.com/product/122)
in my coffee. I order it in bulk from iherb.com because I get good deals and
coupons from them. It's a zero point sweetener. It's PERFECT for lemon
water as well- no aftertaste with the lemon water. There's a slight
aftertaste with the coffee, but it doesn't take long to get used to.
Almost any flavored creamer will be 2 point for 2 Tablespoons. I use
those sometimes, but if I want a lower-point cup, I use 2 Tablespoons of
evaporated milk (the regular whole kind- not low fat) for 1 point. Or
even better 2 Tablespoons of whole milk for zero points! You can buy the
small little bottles of whole milk and use it just for coffee. We also
like turkey bacon. You can get 3 slices for 2 points. Other grab-and-go
breakfast ideas are a banana with peanut butter or a granola bar. We
hardly ever eat oatmeal or cereal for breakfast because we prefer an
eggs-and-toast-type breakfast. I hope this helps!
And I hope it helps you to!
