WEIGHT WATCHERS- Beyond The Scale, SmartPoints, Meal Prep

My thoughts:  (Scroll down if you're looking for just recipes and meal prep ideas for SmartPoints)

Soooo Weight Watchers, the reason I ever lost weight in the first place, my part time employer, and leader in the weight loss industry rolled out a new program this week called BEYOND THE SCALE. This program is designed to help us focus on not only the number, but our true health and happiness- which no scale can measure. The THREE F's are FOOD, FITNESS, and FULFILLMENT. In short, you can't get there without making the right choices, you gotta move more, and you should do things that make you happy. Sounds good right? Weight Watchers has had our backs for 50+ YEARS. We can trust them. I've been recovering from this dang leg injury for 7 weeks now and I was able to lose a few lbs even through delicious Thanksgiving.

People don't like change. I get it. And everything changed. Unfortunately, the online apps underwent a huge overhaul and many people couldn't access Etools this week. I think now that everyone has access to the new program, we should be up and running for good. I went to a meeting this morning and all the computers were down and I felt bad for everyone who was truly left in the dark. I've had access to this program for a couple months and I can tell you it will forever change how you look at food.

On PointsPlus, the old WW program, the points value of a food was derived from FAT, FIBER, CARBS, and PROTEIN. With carbs, protein, and fat driving up the value. People would eat this way, and wonder why they weren't losing weight:  Coffee with creamer and mocha, banana, sugary yogurt. Salad with chicken, fat free dressing, fiber one bar. Burger no bun, rice, zucchini, large frozen yogurt.  There is not much HEALTH in a day that looks like that. People (myself included) would hoard all their points for things like quesadillas and mudslides.

We now get SMARTPOINTS from CALORIES, SATURATED FAT, SUGAR, and PROTEIN. And finally, protein actually helps lower a points value. So chicken was once 1 point an ounce. It is now 7 ounces for 4 SMARTPOINTS. Praise Jesus! For real.

Things like fudge bars, little candies, frozen drinks at Starbucks, and breads have all gone up. Some doubling or tripling in points. People are pissed. Well, SMARTPOINTS helps us realize that those things are poor choices. They offer our bodies no valid nutrition. Can we still eat them? SURE! But it's about balance.

SO, let's have some fun. After the meeting this morning I made a menu for the week. Alex will be switching jobs Monday and home for dinner now (WOO!) so I get to cook again. It's almost my birthday as well and I'd like to lose a few lbs first.

I get 32 points a day to eat now, and 25 a week. That extra 25 is for me to spend HOWEVER I want. EVERYONE used to get 49 a week. But let's think about that...How can I get 49 if my powerlifting, male husband does too? I shouldn't be eating the same amount as him on cheat day. Make sense now?

If you have no idea where to start. If you want to lose weight in a community that's here to support and inspire you. If your doctor is saying your health requires you to lose weight. Don't wait. There are thousands of people enjoying life and doing WW. Oh yeah, and losing a ton of weight too. Try it.




MY MEAL PLAN FOR THE WEEK

Breakfasts:
Egg whites, avocados, hot sauce
Protein Shakes
Bananas
Frozen Berries

Hello, amazing avocado sale. Truly a Christmas miracle of God. 

Lunches:
Grilled chicken with zucchini noodles
Spaghetti squash with sauce and reduced fat parmesan cheese
Veggie stuffed peppers

Snacks:
Hard boiled eggs
Plain Fat Free yogurt with sugar free chocolate pudding mix (YUM)
Apples
Clementines
Celery and Peanut Butter

Dinners:
Monday- Chicken Caesar salads
Tuesday-Dinner with a friend- Baked Eggplant Parmesan Cutlets
Wednesday-Steak, peppers, onions, sweet potato fries
Thursday-Shrimp stir fry


Some photos of meal prep below.

I can't recommend enough getting a meat scale.
And multitask! Have the hard boiled eggs going while the spaghetti squash bakes.
Have the chicken grilling while the peppers bake. Etc. etc. etc.

I like setting up a table to see all my goodies. 

This spiralizer from Amazon is the best thing ever.







Spaghetti Squash (0 SP)  1/2 cup Ragu Marinara (3 SP)
4 tsp grated parmesan (1 SP)  6 oz chicken (4 points

STUFFED PEPPERS:

I cooked tomato and zucchini in chicken broth and basil. Added S&P. Cooked in peppers with 2 TBS plain fat free yogurt (1 smartPoint), spices, and 4 tsp reduced fat grated cheese (1 SmartPoint)- Total 2 yummy points. Holla. Greek yogurt is probably tastier in this situation and you can flavor however you'd like.