Happy Sunday all! My Weight Watcher’s meeting this morning was awesome. Before starting on our weekly topic, our leader took time to address the whole zero points+ fruit, calories versus points+ issue. I am sure I will not explain this as well as she did, but, here it goes…..
She started off asking us if we all knew how many calories it takes to lose 1 lb (3,500). Then, divided that over 7 days, then, 3 meals. If you shaved off 167 calories off each meal based on 3 meals, you would lose 1 lb a week.
She then walked us through an example of making up a fruit salad to start your day. In this salad, you cut up 8 different fruits and toss them together. Throughout the day, you add in this fruit to every meal and/or snack. Before you know it, you have eaten an extra 501 calories and are wondering why you are maintaining versus losing.
She explained the concept of while Weight Watchers goal with 0 points+ fruit is to gently nudge you towards making a healthier choice ~ picking the fruit over the Lay’s potato chips. However, it is really important to be mindful of how you use the 0 points+ fruits.
It really puts it into perspective when you think about it like that and think about the fact in one day you could easily eat 8 pieces of fruit or 501 calories, yet, they were all 0 points+.
I am glad to report that my hard work DID pay off at the scale and I lost another 1.6 lbs!!!
Speaking of 0 points+ fruit, I brought a banana to have for breakfast at my meeting 
I actually thought we were going to head back home after the meeting but, we decided to do a little shopping instead. When we got back into the car, I was STARVING so I stole one of the Chocolate Pretzel Blast Bars that The Husband bought for him.
These totally taste like a candy bar ~ salty, sweet, crunchy, chocolately and only 2 points+.
LUNCH!!! We headed over to Hisui for Sushi just because I was rambling on yesterday about how it’s been too long since I’ve had sushi. The Husband also is for the first time ever trying to fit some seafood (other than shrimp lol) into his life.
I started off with Miso Soup (2 points+)
Crispy green side salad with that dressing that makes you want to lick the bowl (3 points+)
Joe’s Roll ~ Shrimp, Spicy Tuna & Crab, AVOCADO, Seared Tuna & Albacore, Tobiko
I totally dunk each piece into a container of Srirachi, then, another container of soy sauce mixed with all the wasabi they give you. (13 points+)
Dinner tonight was totally “built” around these Beer Battered Onion Rings we picked up at Trader Joe’s awhile back.
I kinda LOVE that the 2nd ingredient is BEER!
4 points+ for 6 rings, but, make sure you weigh them because some are bigger than others.
We decided to “Build" Almost Fast Food Burgers to go with our Beer Battered Onion Rings for the total Pub Grub meal. These burgers are one of my all time favorites for only 7 points+.
Start by toasting up the buns then topping with the “secret sauce” and a big pile of organic mixed greens.
Add a delicious 96% lean Cheeseburger and top with thick tomato slices and pickles.
Put on the Burger Hat….
Then, add in all those crunchy, sweet, beer rings!
Round out with big salads for more crunch power topped with Trader Joe’s Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette and a few crunchy won ton strips (3 points+)
YUM! (I totally thought of the Red Robin commercial when I saw this LOL).
HERE IS WHAT IS ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
- BBQ Pork Ribs, Creamy Dill Macaroni Salad, Green Beans or Salad
- Teriyaki Chicken & Veggie Bowls with Brown Rice
- Slow Cooker Veggie Chili
- Shrimp Scampi over Fettuccine with Salad
- Other ideas that sound delicious that could make the menu: Taco Salad in tortilla bowls (I got the pan to make them!), Nachos!, BLTA’s
- Lunches ~ I made up a big batch of Butternut Squash Soup to go with veggies/ranch or salad.
- Snacks ~ yogurt parfaits, fruit/string cheese/nuts
- Breakfasts ~ Sausage Eggwiches, yogurt parfaits, protein pancakes
Q’s
What is on your menu this week? Name one thing you are excited to try.
Night all!
Great work on your week. Your WW fruit explanation was also informative . Menu looks yummy. How do you cook the BBQ ribs?
HI Sally,
It is SO EASY. We buy center cut pork loin cut into “rib” shapes to make “boneless pork ribs”. We sprinkle with salt and pepper then grill for 20 minutes basting with BBQ sauce during the last 5 minutes give/take.
Danica
I sense that you will be a WW leader in the future – you love to share the interesting/inspiring things that you learn in your meetings. I’m also a fan of the recipes that you share (have made your squash polenta twice and am craving it just mentioning it!) and tried the granola you make just yesterday. Yum. Thanks for sharing & inspiring!
Did your leader have suggestions on how to determine the amount of fruit to eat on PP? So confused now!
Yeah! So if we are hungry, and normally go for fruits – what do we do? Ideas? Suggestions? I love fruit so much and enjoy eating it all day. What is a good limit?
I wonder if it’s better just to put the fat/carbs/fiber/protein for fruit into a PP calculator and factor it in? I calculated the PP for the above fruit salad:
1 medium orange: 2 PP
1 medium peach: 1 PP
1 cup whole strawberries: 1 PP
1 medium kiwi: 1 PP
1 cup grapes: 3 PP
1 medium banana: 3 PP
1 mango: 4 PP
1 medium apple: 3 PP
So all together it would be 18 PP 🙁
HI Christa,
You are doing exactly what you are supposed to do by grabbing fruit when you are hungry. I posted more thoughts on this today.
http://danicasdaily.com/more-thoughts-on-the-0-points-fruit-talk
Please let me know if this answers your questions. If not, I’d be glad to discuss more.
Danica
Thanks for the additional info. I guess I just will need to be mindful to not eat too many fruits and veggie calories if I want to continue to loose. I wonder how you came to the conclusion that you gain weight if you eat too many bananas? Is it just because it has more calories than other fruits? I think I am going to track calorie intake on the side of my p+ to see what calorie range I am in. I just want to do it right!
HI Christa,
Every person is different so you may be fine with the amount of fruit you eat. For me, when I ate more than 2 bananas a day I maintained and/or gained.
I am sure you are doing fine with the fruit you are eating. If you are losing weight and at a rate you are happy with, then, keep doing what you are doing because it is working. The above example was really for those who have plateaued and/or are gaining weight.
Danica
HI Erica,
I posted more thoughts on this today to help answer your questions. Here is the link.
http://danicasdaily.com/more-thoughts-on-the-0-points-fruit-talk
Please let me know if you are still confused. Hope this helps,
Danica
Everything on your menu sounds delicious for this week! We are going to be having BBQ chicken one night and I’m more excited for the macaroni salad I’ll be having along side the chicken 🙂
When I was still attending meetings, a huge part of why I stopped attending one was because I could not stand the bickering and arguing with the leader from certain people who were so angry they weren’t losing weight even though they were having 1-2 cups of fruit with each meal. The leader tried explaining that the reason they weren’t losing was because she was eating too many servings of fruit in a day and this woman would not stop arguing and fighting with her.
OMG, no wonder I have not been losing. I eat a piece of fruit with my meals and maybe an apple for snack. It makes sence that you really are still eating calories with your 0 points fruits. Thank you. I have been so frustrated with my maintaining and not losing weight.
Can I come to your house for dinner next time you make these burgers??? HA…kidding of course, but YUM! (and don’t you love special sushi rolls like that????)
Looks like a great weekly menu Danica! I’ve been counting fruit points for the last few months…I was SURE that was why I wasn’t losing for a while there…your leader sounds great!
I made easy shrimp tacos tonight. Used Kroger frozen popcorn shrimp and baked it up. My husband had his on regular tortillas with cheese and sour cream. For mine, I had multigrain Ole tortillas. I skipped the cheese and sour cream and drizzled the shrimp with Frank’s Red Hot Wings sauce, then topped my tacos with a slaw I made up. It had about 6 ounces slaw mix, one sliced green onion, 1/4 c light sour cream, 1 tbsp light olive oil mayo, 1 tbsp barbecue sauce, about 1 tbsp of lemon juice, and salt & pepper. The shrimp/slaw tacos were so good!
I had leftover slaw so I mixed in a drizzle of the wing sauce in and stashed it in the fridge. Then I marinated some sliced tempeh in wing sauce for about 20 minutes and cooked them for about 5 min per side in 2 tsp canola oil in a nonstick pan. I have enough tempeh, slaw, and tortillas for buffalo tempeh tacos twice for lunch this week, yum!
LOVE your blog! What the heck kind of burger rolls were those?? I have a hard time finding rolls.
HI Kristin,
Believe it or not they are just the store brand buns. They are 3 points+ and totally delicious.
Danica
Informative post. A great reminder to be aware of how much 0 Points+ fruit we are eating. I personally can’t imagine ever eating more than 2 to 3 servings of fruit a day, but I’ve been at this Weight Watchers thing for decades!!
I’m gonna have to keep my eyes open for those onion rings, haven’t seen them yet! Last night I made super easy stuffed peppers on a whim and they were surprisingly super tasty 🙂 Other meals for this week include: chicken teriyaki, meatloaf muffins, breakfast…
Yum Danica! Your posts always make me hungry…but in a good way ! 🙂
Happy Tuesday !
I think that the USA is really geared up for WW. We don’t have any of these delicious WW foods here in SA….I wish somebody would start importing them.
You know your weekly menu is always my favorite 🙂 Can’t wait to try the Oatmeal Protein Pancakes!!