Saturday, October 1, 2011

weight watchers update

I'm in week four now of Weight Watchers and I am still really enjoying the program. I love the revamped system--you have plenty of points to "play" with and you never have to feel hungry. That was my problem before--feeling starving and deprived all the time. This new version is much more flexible so you can make room for your real life. Love it.

So far I've lost 4.6 pounds all together. That feels pretty good to me--I feel healthier and lighter. I'm going to keep going at this slow(ish) pace because I truly want to make a life-long lifestyle change and not just be faddy about it.

I thought it would be fun to have a little weekly "roundup" of what I've been eating and recipes I've been trying. Maybe you'll find a little tip that you like.

weight watchers:  "danish pastry"
I found this suggestion for "Danish pastry" by scrolling through the WW app on my phone. It's been my go-to breakfast all week. What I love about it is that it's kinda sweet and the protein from the cheese holds me all morning until my snack (I have to eat a 10am snack daily). Basically it's just a piece of cinnamon-raisin bread, toasted, topped with 1/4 c. of cottage or ricotta cheese mixed with 1 t. brown sugar, a bit of vanilla extract, and sprinkled with cinnamon. It's yummy with my morning coffee and something quick for work days.

a brown bag lunch
This lunch was my other good discovery this week. I take the ingredients separately and combine them at school. Toast a piece of whole wheat bread in the toaster, smoosh a quarter of an avocado over it, and then break up two sardines over the top of that. Super yummy! The top part of the Planet Box is where I transported the two sardines and the quarter of an avocado. That's the empty shell of the avocado that you see in the top. I also bring the usual fruit and veggie sides (and two tiny oatmeal cookies from Trader Joe's that I counted as 1 point).

a favorite brown bag lunch
Another favorite lunch on the program: a bagel thin, toasted, spread with 1 teaspoon of Earth Balance, and layered with turkey or ham. There is something about the toasty, buttery fragrant bagel layered with the lunch meat that is nicely satisfying. I serve this with 3-4 cornichons, some raw veggies, and fruit. You can also see two small animal crackers in the photo. These are the Trader Joe's oraganic ones--they are barely sweet and not rich or buttery in the least so I don't count them for any points.

yogurt parfait:  to go
Another work take-along: 1/2 c. whole milk yogurt, one teaspoon honey, some blueberries, and 1 tablespoon granola. This works much better with fresh rather than frozen berries. The frozen berries add too much liquid. I sometimes eat this for snack. (My other, more frequent, snack is a string cheese with lots of apple slices).

weight watchers:  coconut curry shrimp
I also tried several of the Weight Watchers recipes for dinners. This is the Coconut Curry Shrimp from the recent Weekly. I loved this. My curry powder was a little bit spicy, which added some nice flavor to a light dish. I served it with glazed carrots.

a solution to tuesday night??
A possible solution to our unhealthy Tuesday nights? We order pizza on Tuesdays. This week I piled on a bunch of veggies on the side and was feeling much better about the whole situation.

weight watchers:  paprika chicken with noodles
Another WW recipe: Paprika Chicken with Noodles. This was a bit bland, but I loved the cabbage mixed in with the noodles, and the best part was that my little boys ate it up enthusiastically. I love when that happens.

Anyone else doing the program? What did you eat this week?

16 comments:

Rain said...

What great ideas! I'm going to try the faux danish. I've been thinking about joining WW to lose all the extra baby weight! But I'm still nursing, so I need to see if this would work for me right now.

Mary Beth said...

Rain-- I've done WW while nursing before (with Rainer) and they give extra points for nursing mothers. I think you'd like it!

Jennie said...

I also did WW while nursing and it was great!

Thanks so much for sharing all of these yummy ideas. I especially like your breakfast ideas. I tend to get stuck on that meal and just eat the same thing every day. Is that an Everything bagel thin? Love those!

One lunch idea I do enjoy is bean tacos - just spread two small corn tortillas with refried beans and a little cheese, heat them up, and top with salsa. A hot lunch always feels good, and who doesn't live Mexican food? ;)

Mary Beth said...

Jen05--I love that idea! I'm going to try it.

Meredith said...

Oh, you look like you're eating well! I love the flexibility of WW. I lost 40 lbs. on it (also while nursing) and I think it's just great!

tracey (aka rainbowmummy) said...

Hi. I'm a quite but long time reader. It's like you read my mind, I was hoping for some of your healthy foody ideas/photos! It all looks so delicious! I'm going to try and hunt down the recipe shrimp curry, I won't ask you to post it (unless you're "allowed too, I never know with copyright).

Cabbage is such a great alternative for noodles/pasta. We have really thinly shreaded cabbage with blognese sauce. So good!

Thanks for the inspiration :)

Jars of Giggles said...

What is the weight watcher app you use that gives recipes??

Jars of Giggles said...

Oh ps you inspired me I started last week love love love the roundup!!

Jars of Giggles said...

Hmmm dropped my original question when I posted again....

What app did you use for recipes? :)

Sarah said...

Thanks for the planet box ideas. I'm using the planet box too! The bagel thins fit nicely and I love sardines, so I will definitely be trying that one!

Softie said...

Thanks for sharing these ideas. They look so good! I would love to see you do this again. Do you find the meetings to be really important for your success or do you feel online would work just as well for a first timer??

Chris said...

oh the "danish" looks great - maybe i will try it with plain whole wheat bread and just stir some raisins into the "cheese".
do you have an avocado tree? i think i would eat them more often if i grew them myself, but i love them on bread, sometimes with just a squeeze of lemon and some salt. (not sure about the sardines, but i imagine the saltiness is spectacular with the smooth creaminess of the avocado.) thanks for sharing!

Fiona said...

These all look yummy. Our pizza night is on Saturday and we make a big bowl of salad to go with it. It feels really healthy and now we eat a half pizza instead of a full one each.

Rachel said...

Hi Mary Beth, I also LOVE ww, I've been doing it for almost 4 years (with a pregnancy in between) and will be a lifelong member even once I get to goal (soon! just a couple pounds to go!). Anyway, thanks for the great ideas. Last week we had zucchini pizzas...delicious. grilled zucchinis from the garden with tomato sauce, basil, a few pieces of pepperoni, and lowfat mozzarella...so good! satisfied my pizza craving without all the points.

eyelandgirl said...

Loved this post! Plan friendly meal ideas with pictures really inspired me. I'm a WW Lifetimer who has been on maintenance for more than ten years, and I'm still always looking for new (to me) food combinations.

Lulu said...

I'm in week 3, right behind you! Love your ideas so far. Thanks for sharing!