what's on the menu?

You may wonder what one eats on the Weight Watchers FLEX PLAN. I myself wondered some 4 weeks ago. To satisfy your curiosity, let me just share with you what I ate today, March 4, 2005.

Breakfast: 1/2 c Fiber 1, 1/2 c FF (fat free) milk, 3/4 c strawberries
Mid morning snack: 10 baby carrots
Lunch: Weight Watchers meal, Dannon light yogurt (lime)
Mid afternoon snack: apple
ANOTHER Mid afternoon snack: 22 FF Pringles (not the norm)
Dinner: Weight Watchers pizza, salad, dressing

Note: Fiber 1 is the lowest point cereal I have found, and I like it. It is only 1 point and 1/2 IS 1 serving. The 1/2 c FF milk is 1 point. Curiously enough, someone at the Weight Watchers meeting last night pointed out that 1% milk and FF milk have the same point value so I'm going to check into it and see if there is any advantage to the 1% as opposed to the FF.

I try (and Weight Watchers encourages you) to get in 5 servings a day of fruits and/or vegetables. Not all fruit though - that would be too much sugar. So, thus the strawberries in my cereal. Some days I do banana, some days I drink OJ instead but the banana and OJ are both 2 points and the strawberries are 1 1/2 c for only 1 point! On the days that I do strawberries, I usually try to have 3/4 c on my morning cereal and the other 3/4 c at night with some FF Cool Whip (1 point) except today, I only had 3/4 of strawberries left. 5 servings of fruits and/or vegetables goes a long way to curb the hunger. I try to do a fruit in the mid afternoon, this gives me a sugar boost.

Another thing that curbs the hunger is the water. Weight Watchers encourages you to drink 64 oz of water a day. This was no problem -- I drink a lot of water any how. I actually invested in a HUGE Weight Watchers insulated mug that holds 32 oz. So, I fill it up twice every day. Actually, I usually end up filling it up more than twice. However, I try not to drink any after dinner so that I don't have to get up during the night. Fortunately, at work, the ladies room is just across the hall :~) I read this week that most Americans are dehydrated and that if you don't get 1/2 your body weight in oz. of water each day, you will be dehydrated and that too will slow your metabolism. What I mean by 1/2 your body weight in oz. of water is lets say you weigh 150, you should get 75 oz. of water a day. Now, that SOUNDS a little much to me but who am I?

I normally don't have 2 Weight Watchers meals on the same day. It was just a freak thing that it happened that way today. Actually, I usually don't have one at all.

I eat a lot of chicken -- I like it grilled. Sometimes I have it left over the next day, cold and sliced over a salad.

Oh, the carrots are FREE, no points. I love FREE stuff! The salad is free too.

I found a WONDERFUL FF Raspberry Vinaigrette at Target, it's actually their generic brand and I like it a lot -- it's 1 point.

Apples are 2 points, the yogurt is 2 points and the 22 FF Pringles are 1.5 points - they're not all that bad.

I get to have 22 points a day and some days I find myself at the end of the day LOOKING for things to eat to fill my 22 points. They told us at Weight Watchers that we HAD to eat all of our points. They say if you don't, your metabolism will slow down. So I get those points in. The points are associated with your weight, the more you weigh, the more points you get. I am actually looking forward to the day when I drop down into the 20 point category.

I know this has nothing to do with, "what's on the menu" but I walk 3 miles a day on the treadmill and I think that too helps with the metabolism, it boosts my energy, gets me going in the morning and I know ALL the news because I see an hour of it, over and over and over again :~)