weight watchers wednesday || 7-20-16

Weight Watchers Smart Points initial review and results.  Plus tips and meal ideas.

Okayyy, I know it's not Wednesday... I got way too busy yesterday to get this post up.  I really wanted to get this series off the ground though, so I'm posting it a day late.

Back story: I joined WW in May and was doing GREAT until we got closer to my son's graduation.  Life became so hectic that I fell off the wagon.  Then we immediately went on a family vacation and I stayed off the wagon until last week.  Now that doesn't mean that I went crazy and ate everything in sight, it just means I didn't track my points or weigh myself.  So I have no idea what my progress was like during that time.  With THAT being said, I have officially lost 20lbs or so!  I can't imagine how great my progress would be had I kept at tracking my points during my "break".

With this series my plan is to share my weekly weight loss [or gain], my favorite WW friendly meals & snacks, and just overall weekly experience.

To get started I'm going to share how my last 2 weeks have been since I've been back on the program.  I created a "WW Planner" out of a spare Happy Planner that I have [image above].  Using my favorite Sweet Stamp Shop stamps, I have created a perfect health & fitness planner.

One of the things that amazes me about WW is that if you're smart with it, you NEVER feel deprived.  I just make sure that I take advantage of zero point fruits and veggies, and lean protein rich food.

||Tips for Inspo||

Take advantage of the "Connect" social media aspect of the WW app.  It's so incredibly inspiring!  There's tons of info and help from real people just like you.

I have found great resources by searching "#smartpoints" on Instagram.  Lots of WW users share images of their favorite low smart point meals and recipes.  I have found this to be incredibly helpful when trying to come up with meal ideas.

Search YouTube for WW specific videos.  There's several vloggers that share their meals daily.  Another great resource!

It has been so interesting to find out the actual nutrition and serving size of things.  Serving sizes has been the most interesting to me, but not in the way you'd think!  I've been surprised by how large a serving size is on some food.  If I wasn't weighing my food with a scale, I'd definitely feel deprived because I'd be under eating my servings.

I enjoyed this 6sp breakfast several times last week.  I'm not a huge breakfast eater, so it's hard for me to force myself to eat something.  I just poached an egg real quick and put it on a toasted English Muffin with one laughing cow wedge spread on it. [technically it was a Happy Farms spreadable cheese wedge.  it's the Aldi version of Laughing Cow]

English Muffins were something that surprised me.  I didn't expect a "bread" food item to be so low in points.  This can be very beneficial if you work outside the home.  You can premake breakfast sandwiches to grab and go.

||Weekly Favorites||

I'm going to be real with you for a minute... I have NEVER had fresh cherries before!  *gasp* I know, right?!  Well my significant other picked up a package of them when I was picking up fruit and veggies.  I tried one and I'm hooked.  Holy cow.  They're amazing!  Who needs candy?  I have a serious sweet tooth and I LOVE candy.  All candy.  Chocolate, gummy, hard.  I couldn't believe how satisfying the cherries were to curb my sweet tooth.

HOWEVER, moderation is key here... Yes fruit and veggies are "free", but that doesn't mean you can eat 3lbs of cherries a day and be successful.

Snack plates for lunch.  I picked up Bolthouse Farms Cilantro Avocado Yogurt salad dressing at the marketplace.  Serving size is 2Tbsp and the serving is only 2sp.  This is great paired with zero point veggies as a dip.  I don't cover my veggies in it obvi, just a light dip to add some flavor zest.  Right now I'm loving grape tomatoes, celery, and cauliflower this way.  Pair that with some low point turkey pepperoni and a Babybel Light for a low point snack plate.

Not so "naughty" naughty snacks.  Aldi has amazing Pizzelle Vanilla Italian cookies.  5sp for 6 cookies!  I like to take 2 cookies for 2sp and make an ice cream sandwich with 2Tbsp of Light Sugar Free Whipped Topping.  This is an incredibly satisfying "naughty" dessert that is only 3sp!

I created a separate Instagram account for WW.  I post meals with points and motivational quotes.  Follow me and let's inspire each other!

If you're interested in checking out Weight Watchers, use my referral link and we'll both get $20 credit to spend in the online shop! Join HERE

Also... If you're on WW, come find me on Connect!