Thanksgiving Cheat Sheet from Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers has a good Cheat Sheet to use when choosing between Holiday dishes.  This article provides good tips and an interactive Thanksgiving plate that you can load up with the choices you might make.

Here's the article:

Thanksgiving Cheat Sheet
Article By: Leslie Fink, MS, RD

For some of us, Thanksgiving is a simple turkey dinner and a time to give thanks. But for many, it's an eating orgy and a six-week countdown to the same lose-weight-and-get-back-in-shape New Year's resolution that we make year after year…after year.
Break the cycle this holiday season. Enjoy Thanksgiving but don't overindulge; head into the New Year feeling confident, slimmer and in control.

Ready, set, eat
Consider the worst-case scenario: If you were to eat a serving of dark-meat turkey with all the fixings and sides on the plate above, it would total a whopping 40 PointsPlus^® values. Here's how to slash that number:

Continue Reading on Weight Watcher's Site Here.

Chex Party Mix Points

I've been planning for Thanksgiving over the past few days, and I'm sure you have been too.  Even though I know I'll rack up a bunch of WW points on Thursday, I've been good and staying the course since I started back up on Weight Watchers. Today was my weekly weigh-in and I'm happy to report that I lost 1 1/2 pounds.

Today I started making the snacks I'll serve to my family, one being our traditional Chex Mix which will get snacked on before and after dinner.  As I posted earlier, I'm calculating every dish I'm making for Thursday so I won't have to do that then, or eat something with a mystery point value and feel surprised and guilty afterward.  Also, I'm not necessarily trying to reduce points for a traditional dish, because I'd rather eat less of something I love than more of something that tastes wrong.  Of course, I will substitute where it doesn't matter.

Here's how our Traditional Chex Mix turned out (calculation may be slightly off):

Ingredients:
9 cups Chex (I just used Rice this time)
1 cup Cheerios
2 cups zero fat pretzel sticks
2 cups Cheezits
1 1/2 cups cashews
6 tablespoons Smart Balance
2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 teas seasoning salt
3/4 teas garlic powder
1/2 teas onion powder

Appx Total Points:100
Appx Per cup: 6

Now I know what I'm getting myself into when I start snacking on this goodie.  If you adjust this recipe to lower points successfully, please post your changes! Happy Thanksgiving!

WW Points for My Thanksgiving Feast

Images provided by Morguefile.com

My daughters and I are already planning the menu for Thanksgiving.  I know that day will be a day filled with tempting food with lots of WW Points, but I don't dread it.  As I posted before, I plan to enjoy it.

I recently started tracking using the iTrackBites app on my phone just to get in the habit of tracking, intending to really limit points after the holidays, but as soon as I started tracking, I started caring again and have stayed within my 26 points for 3 days.  I guess I'm on the wagon again!

I've already looked up the WW pts for the foods we will be serving.  No matter how I might gorge myself, I vow to track all the points I consume all day.  Basically, these are the foods we are now planning to serve for our Thanksgiving and their WW pt values:

Ham, per slice                                     3 Pts         

Scalloped Potatoes, 1/2 cup                5 Pts

Green Bean Casserole, 1 1/2 cups       4 Pts

Roasted vegetables, 1 1/2 cups            2 Pts

Stuffing, Stove Top 1/2 cup                  5 Pts

Gravy, Heinz HomeStyle, 1/2 cup        1 Pt

1 serving is 1/8 of a 9 inch pie:

Pecan Pie                                           14 Pts

Pumpkin Pie                                       11 Pts

Caramel Apple Pie                              11 Pts



I figure my meal point total will be between 30 and 35 points. Of course we'll have other goodies like a cheese ball and crackers, plus some snacks when we play games later in the day.  I can track that as I go.

My rule is to calculate everything ahead of time, so I can choose how to best use my points. I'm okay if I use my daily and all of my weekly points on Thanksgiving.  This is NOT a day to stress over Points...but I find KNOWING helps me choose better during the holiday and feel better afterward!

Hope your Thanksgiving is full of family, food, and fun!