That sounds really tasty. Almost as good as the real thing.
I’d have the raw vegetables with hummus. Healthier than salad dressing and more filling.
At the end of the day, when it comes simply to weight loss, diet and nutrition are what matter most. Activity, exercise, always come in a distant second if all you are looking at is what will be most effective for simply losing weight. Even professional athletes, like Tour de France cyclists who burn 5000 calories a day from exercise, must have a managed food plan or they will gain weight. And you will always have outliers from the average population who due to medical conditions or extreme obesity are initially unable to engage in physical activity. For those people, it is particularly important to have individually structured programs and personalized guidance to assist them in safely and effectively reaching their goals. For such people, an appropriate level and type of activity is going to look much different than for the typical person using WW.
With the current version of the point system, a smoothie is not usually a desirable choice.
If you turn zero point foods into beverages, suddenly they have points – as many points as their nutrition values would give them if they weren’t zero point foods. The rationale is that drinks don’t fill you up; food does.
I just looked in the WW database for fruit smoothie recipes, and I found one (called Raspberry-Peach Smoothie) that consists entirely of ingredients that would be zero points if you ate them as solid foods: plain fat-free yogurt, peaches, raspberries, a very small amount of vanilla extract, and an artificial sweetener. But because it’s a smoothie, the fruit and the yogurt have points, which add up to 7 points per serving. (The vanilla and the sweetener are still zero.)
The drinks-don’t-fill-you-up concept also seems to be the reason why orange juice and skim milk have points, while oranges and fat-free plain yogurt don’t. Oddly, though, soup seems to be an exception, even if it’s a smooth soup that you could easily drink. I think the idea here is that people eat soup with a spoon – we treat it as food, not a beverage – and that makes all the difference.
It appalls me to see such people at WW meetings, actually. I think they should be getting individual, closely supervised care from a health professional. But in a world where your insurance won’t even cover visits to the ER for symptoms suggestive of appendicitis if the problem turns out to be something else (see another one of today’s threads), that doesn’t seem likely to happen.
I got 21 points per day when I did my last WW plan. 7 for my afternoon smoothie…fine! You know…I found it VERY filling!
@busdriver11 , my suggestion for a 30 minute workout would be to do a circuit routine where you go from exercise to exercise in quick succession with only relatively short breaks between exercises. How fast you move to the next exercise will vary based on your fitness level but the goal is to do 2-3 circuits hitting your whole body in that half hour. You may only be able to do 1 circuit at first; that’s ok. Over time, as you lose weight, get fitter and stronger, you will be able to progress to 2 or even 3 circuits within that 30 minutes as you become able to shorten the time between exercises. The beauty of a circuit routine that gives rise to its time efficiency is that as you move from one exercise to the next, you are hitting different muscle groups and body parts so that there is a chance for the muscles to recover by the time you hit them again. Instead of just sitting around idle between “sets” waiting to recover to do the next set of the same exercise, you move on to another exercise and another body part.
As to what exercises to do, in a circuit routine you want to hit your whole body and cover all fundamental movement patterns. So you want a plank type exercise, a pushing exercise, a pulling one, a squatting one, hinging, lunging and rotation. There are countless exercises in each category and all sorts of variations to regress and progress them to make them less or more difficult. You can do them with external resistance like dumbbells and resistance bands or with just your body weight. You can do them on the floor or use kitchen or folding chairs or other furniture as props to make body weight exercises more or less challenging. Or for under $200 you can get a TRX Suspension Trainer that you can sling over a closed door and do all of these movement patterns with adjustable body weight resistance using a single piece of equipment.
Some examples of exercises, keeping in mind that there are all sorts of variations to make them more or less difficult: pushups or assisted pushups, rowing, planks, squats, stationary or walking lunges, deadlifts or Romanian deadlifts, torso rotations, hip bridges - the list could go on. As should be apparant from my thumbnail picture, I’m a huge fan of TRX. While my picture shows me doing a very advanced level combo of pushing and plank on the foredeck of a sailboat at anchor with the TRX hoisted up a halyard, you could do the same functional foundational movements at a much lower intensity level in your home with the TRX slung over a door.
From the WW point of view, you might want to also offer salsa as an alternative. Not salsa con queso – the ordinary red stuff. As long as salsa has no added fat or sugar, it’s zero points (because it’s basically just vegetables and herbs), even if you eat the entire container.
I go through two or three jars of salsa a week. They make plain chicken breast or plain fish or boring vegetables edible.
Any chance we can keep this thread about weight watchers, and NOT exercise regimens? There is a whole other CC thread about that.
I’d be interested in other WW recipes!
You really can’t separate desired exercise from WW when you’re doing this program, though. There is more to losing weight than just counting points. And I wanted to know. There may be other people who want to know, also, and they got the answer. Not everybody starts at the same place, and not everyone has the same problems and solutions.
So thank you, MichaelNKat! 
Yup, just a momentary divergence in response to the question which kinda evolved out of the discussion of the WW activity points.
My older WW plan has a whole list of activities, and how many points you can “earn” for doing certain types of activities. In addition, the WW calculators also have activity point calculations on them.
@busdriver11 one thing I’ve noticed over the years…many years…my weight doesn’t exactly correlate with the size clothing i wear, or looking like I did when I weighed the same amount years ago.
As an example…I weigh 127 pounds now, and I’m 5’4” tall. I currently wear a size six or 8 slacks. LAST time I weighed this 127 pounds, I wore a 4 or 6 slacks.
I guess what I’m saying is I wish I looked like I did 15 years ago…but I doubt that will be the case again. And really…size 6 or 8 is fine…and it did force me to clean out my closet!
One of my aunts did WW back when I was a girl, so many many years ago, and lost 100 pounds. She was very heavy and not capable of anything but walking as exercise when she started the program—and way back then, exercise options weren’t as varied as they are now. She had been in a car accident, stopped going out while she healed and got really heavy. She was from a time and culture in which women didn’t exercise, but did cook lots of wonderful, fried and calorie laden foods. I remember watching her prepare a tuna salad to eat. She weighed every morsel and added lots of celery and apples. The program was life changing for her. No, she didn’t start running marathons, but she did start going out again. She raved about WW.
My aunt and grandmother did WW for years and it allowed them to stay at a “healthier” weight. Both had health and mobility issues - WW was a lifesaver for them. Both had used and abused OTC weight loss medications which had really undesirable consequences before finding WW. The social component - the support - really helped both of them.
Exercise helped me stay on track with points, but I worked my way up from walking to running a couple of miles a day. Then I switched to Zumba, cardio kickboxing and ballet, believe it or not. I had been completely sedentary before WW. I didn’t do more than walking, though, until I lost the first 20 pounds or so.
As for food choices, the key is to decide what calories are “worth it” to you. For me the toughest thing was getting started and getting used to smaller portions and fewer snacks. In the first couple of weeks whenever I was really hungry I would eat a slice of plain high fiber bread, for one point, but the fiber was filling. Baby carrots were also a diet saver. The old plan used to have a vegetable soup for zero points that I would also fill up on.
Remember that you can also add just about any herbs and spices to low calorie dishes without adding points. Makes plain dishes a lot more tasty and satisfying.
I think you’re exactly right. I feel that even if I got down to my high school weight of 115, it sure wouldn’t look the same. Even if I looked the same clothed, it would look completely different without. Not that I spend much time looking at myself unclothed, of course but when I wear shorts, I don’t want to see jiggle. And I thought at a lower weight it wouldn’t, but the reality is, it appears to have not changed, but is a condensed version of the same thing. Grrr! I definitely have to do the weight training, if that’s what it takes.
These things are such a challenge for me. Even if I do well on it for awhile, life happens and then I just give up or don’t care. And then before you know it, you’re back to where you were. Making healthy eating and good exercise a permanent way of life, especially when you get busy, sounds easy but is definitely not. Having a community of people doing the same thing has to help.
"- raw veggies with what? I’m thinking diet salad dressing??
- shrimp is zero points, how about bringing a shrimp cocktail?
- smoked salmon is zero points, how about that and some bagel chips? Figure out the points on the chips beforehand."
In addition to salsa and hummus already mentioned, you can make dips with nonfat or lowfat yogurt or sour cream if you wish to replicate more traditional creamy dips like ranch or onion dip.
If you like hummus, try this brand: https://www.lantanafoods.com/
Lots of interesting flavors that pack a punch and since many flavors combine veggies in with the chickpeas, they are lower calorie than regular hummus. Some flavors are too spicy for me personally but I like the Sriracha Carrot and Beet flavors. Plus, they’re really colorful and pretty. I’ll often make a crudite platter and put 2-3 in nice bowls for gatherings. Well received, as is shrimp cocktail which people feels is a treat but very few calories for a snack.
“It appalls me to see such people at WW meetings, actually. I think they should be getting individual, closely supervised care from a health professional. But in a world where your insurance won’t even cover visits to the ER for symptoms suggestive of appendicitis if the problem turns out to be something else (see another one of today’s threads), that doesn’t seem likely to happen.”
I wouldn’t assume they aren’t under a doctor’s care and guidance. MANY doctors are fans of WW and recommend it to their patients.
PRAL>>>
Anyone that thinks they can manipulate acid base balance needs to google homeostasis. Like any of these things, the initial excitement, the following of rules, the evangelistic aspect, make the tedium of calorie counting more interesting. Throw in paying for the use of these methods and you are really invested.
Exercise is often a problem in this weight loss arena, because it takes a shed load of effort to have any effect LOL. I love that someone will say you can do 30 mins of Hiit and weights 3 times a week and be good, but in the world where we engineer physical movement out of almost anything we can, we have to artificially add it back in as exercise. If you are one of those people who just don’t have incidental activity (walking, carrying, stairs etc) 30 mins three times a week won’t do diddly squat.
Sorry to OP that your thread is already derailed. WW is just counting calories, no one needs to pay for that. You see Oprah ads? They are just embarrassing even for her, I can see her cringing LOL. Humans are by nature, creatures of novelty. Weight loss for most people is a novel state from which they will return unless they get to terms with the reality of a complete change in outlook forever. Like an alcoholic or addict.
I don’t agree. Some folks benefit from having a weight loss group. WW has that. In addition, it helps structure the foods one chooses to eat to lose weight.
Could you do that on your own? Sure. But do you have to? NO.
Like i said…I’m a lifetime member. I have never needed to lose more than 15 pounds. But I find the program helpful. I also do my best when I go to meetings with a friend. WW at work was really terrific… a built in support group.
There is nothing wrong with that.
And frankly…counting those points is easier than figuring ou calorie counts…in my opinion.
YMMV of course…and everyone has different perspectives on this.
Anyway…I have that chicken soup recipe…any other good WW recipes out there?
@Sybylla , the whole topic of the health benefits efficacy of 30 minutes of HIIT and strength training 3x/wk in what is otherwise is a sedantary lifestyle is a whole other topic that could be discussed in detail on the Diet, Exercise and Wellness thread. It is also a topic that has been the subject of studies by the American Diabetes Association and other recognized health snd fitness organizations. The discussion here is really about using WW dietary and exercise points effectively to promote healthy weight loss while maintaining or even increasing lean muscle mass. And for that, 30 minutes 3x/wk can be effective. Will it compensate from a health and wellness perspective for sitting in a chair at a desk 8 hours a day, 5 days/wk or traveling everywhere sitting in a car, no of course not. But again, that’s a different discussion. Will it create an additional caloric burn that will promote rapid weight loss? Again, of course not. Again, it’s how you manage what you eat that is the predominant factor in weight loss and for that WW can be a very effective tool for many. 30 minutes 3x/wk of resistance based training will help promote that weight loss from fat tissue and not lean muscle tisdue.
that’s a different discussion.<<<<<<<
I think that is the issue, it just isn’t. People get disappointed when weight loss fails to be long term, when long term behavior didn’t change. ADA etc advice as we all know, is lowest common denominator based. Something is better than nothing. You and I probably know what the hell 15 secs of close to MHR feels like, what repeated max intervals really mean. You know that HIIT is only achieved by the choir, the people that this kind of low volume pandering is aimed at will never get close to 100% effort.