Weight Watchers ~ January 2010! - Page 2

[DashsMama]

Hi everyone! I'm trying WW again after a 2 year absence. Last time my milk supply crashed even though I was eating all of my points, including the extra 10 for breastfeeding, the 35 flex, and an additional 10 that I added when I noticed a drop in supply. I ended up leaving program to keep nursing. My little one is now 3, and while he's still nursing, he's old enough now that I don't care if I lose my supply.

I have about 150 pounds to lose, so I'll be here for a long time. Hopefully, some of you women who are getting close to goal will stick around to be an inspiration.

I have a question about the online recipe builder feature. When I am entering a recipe, like stew, that contains vegetables, do I choose the cooked or raw version of the veggie? I've been choosing the cooked version, since the vegetable will end up cooked in the end. For meat I choose the raw option when all the fat is going to end up in the recipe (like in stew again). Does this sound like the right way to do this? The finished recipes look really weird this way because it looks like you're putting cooked carrots and onions in the recipe when really you are starting with raw. Am I making any sense?

I also wonder about broth. I mostly use homemade stock, but I have a hard time believing that it has the same points as a can of watery store bought stuff. I can't find a listing for homemade stock in any WW materials. Any ideas?

Thanks, and congratulations on the weight loss this week!

[rootzdawta]

Originally Posted by DashsMama

women who are getting close to goal will stick around to be an inspiration.

I have a question about the online recipe builder feature. When I am entering a recipe, like stew, that contains vegetables, do I choose the cooked or raw version of the veggie? I've been choosing the cooked version, since the vegetable will end up cooked in the end. For meat I choose the raw option when all the fat is going to end up in the recipe (like in stew again). Does this sound like the right way to do this? The finished recipes look really weird this way because it looks like you're putting cooked carrots and onions in the recipe when really you are starting with raw. Am I making any sense?

I also wonder about broth. I mostly use homemade stock, but I have a hard time believing that it has the same points as a can of watery store bought stuff. I can't find a listing for homemade stock in any WW materials. Any ideas?

Thanks, and congratulations on the weight loss this week!

So this is a question I think about a lot and I asked at one of the meetings. This is how the leader explained it to me. One cup of cooked carrots is more carrots than one cup of raw carrots (and therefore more points). So if you're making up your recipe on the recipe builder, unless you're adding cooked carrots to the recipe, choose the raw option.

About the broth. This is one huge limitation of the e-tools. You can't add one of your own recipes (like a recipe for broth) to another one of your own recipes. If you see my previous post upthread, I gave some ways I get around that. It's not the most accurate but it works.

[erinsmama]

Last night I weighed in & went to the meeting with my neighbor & lost .4 lbs, which brings me to my goal weight of 140!!! Yay! Now I just need to maintain for 6 weeks... At least I can eat 2 more points each day.

[DashsMama]

Congratulations, Erinsmama!!!!

Thanks for the reply, Rootzdawta. The carrot info is interesting. I thought the difference in points value between raw and cooked was because of a difference in the glycemic index. It never occurred to me that it was about volume. Cool, that will lower some of my recipes' points values!

I'm still confused about homemade stock points values though. I would assume that homemade veggie stock would have a point value of 0 because you are not actually eating the veggies but only extracting their flavor, which has few if any calories. With homemade meat broth, while you don't eat the bones or veggies and so shouldn't count them in your point total, you do extract gelatin out of the bones and into the liquid (I apologize if you're a vegetarian and this is too much info). Gelatin has calories and so this should add points. I just don't know how much gelatin is in there. Maybe there isn't enough to really be concerned with. Honestly, it probably doesn't matter in the long run, it's just something that was bugging me.

I've made the commitment to give up sugary drinks this month and see how that affects my weight loss. I'll get my first glimpse tomorrow at weigh-in.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

[DashsMama]

I lost 1.8 #s this week! Staying away from sugary drinks seemed to really help too. I didn't feel as hungry as I usually do, and I was able to get my caffeine from tea, so I was still able to keep my energy up.

I'm trying to focus my mind on weight loss as a slow and steady process. It's hard for me because I want it all to just be gone NOW. My leader mentioned that if we only lose 1 pound a week that we still will have lost over 50 pounds by the end of a year. I have to keep reminding myself of that.

[woodchick]

Originally Posted by erinsmama

Last night I weighed in & went to the meeting with my neighbor & lost .4 lbs, which brings me to my goal weight of 140!!! Yay! Now I just need to maintain for 6 weeks... At least I can eat 2 more points each day.

Nice work!

It will be a long time before I see that day!

[JamieBrewHa]

Hi everyone! Congrats on your successes!

Can I join you?

I lost 40lbs on WW before I got married 7 years ago... since then I've had 2 kids, lost some weight in between and here and there, but am now weigh more than I ever have while not pregnant. I'm getting back on program - first on my own cause we dont have it in the budget, but then I'll be joining at least online (so I can use the iphone app!).

My current issue is that when I lost the weight 7 years ago, I ate a lot of low fat, no fat, sugar free packaged foods. Now, I am trying to avoid packaged and processed foods.. for health and budget reasons and don't know where to start. It shouldn't be this overwhelming but it is! Suggestions?

[rootzdawta]

Well, I cook the majority of my family's food from scratch. It hasn't been so much about changing what I eat as much as changing how much I eat. Take something like plain whole milk yogurt which is 4 points for one cup. Fat-free yogurt is 2 points for one cup but often has all kinds of unwanted extras. I just eat a 1/2 cup of whole milk yogurt which is satisfying.

The e-tools are supremely helpful to me.

[DashsMama]

Welcome JamieBrewHa! I also try to stay away from prepackaged foods. I think what rootsdawta said is right on. Go ahead and eat your healthy, higher calorie, whole foods but just don't eat as much. If you are still hungry afterwards, find some low point foods that you find satisfying that you can munch on when you need. When I need to fill out a meal, or have a snack between meals, I often will eat raw veggies and hummus. I keep a container with sliced veggies in it in the fridge so I can just grab them when needed. I also like the old WW standby garden vegetable soup. And try to keep this around as well.

I don't know if you eat store-bought breads or not, but I've noticed that bread seems to add lots of points fast. A regular hamburger bun often has about 5 points. 2 slices of regular bread can have 4 points or more. I've started eating Oroweat Sandwich Thins instead of my usual whole wheat bread (which had 3 point per 2 slices). The sandwich thins are made from 100% whole grains and are only 1 point per sandwich. I use them for both hamburger buns and sandwich bread and think they are great. Eating these instead of bread can make a big difference in my daily point totals.

Hope these suggestions are useful to you! Good luck!

[rootzdawta]

Dashsmama, that's absolutely true about breads. Even the bread I bake at home is 2 points a slice. Sprouted grain breads (like Ezekiel and Alvarado Street Bakery) are 1 point per slice but 3 points for 2 slices. Granted, the sprouted breads will keep you feeling full longer (higher in protein and fiber) but still a lot of points. I now have most of my sandwiches (including grilled cheese) on whole wheat mini pita bread.

[JamieBrewHa]

Thanks for the ideas. The bread is a good point... I've never had the sprouted grain breads - been meaning to try them. I think I just need to work on my 'binge' mentality.. it's one of the reasons when i lost before, I ate so many super low points foods that I could more of so I was still sort of binging - just staying in my points limit. So now we better whole foods, but I really need to work on sticking to my portions. I *know* in my head waht I need to do, but that doesn't mean I am always successful.