Happy Holidays? How Do We Watch our Weight with Weight Watchers Right Now?

Well, it's that time of year...The Holidays...Friends, Family, Parties, and a time when all those tempting goodies will be right there in our face.

I've slacked off the past six months and I need to get back on the wagon, but let's face it, this isn't the best time to try to lose weight.  However, it is a good time to remind ourselves of the WW principles and find ways to get back in control if we've lost our way.  So, I've made a plan today that includes the next 6 weeks and after the holidays are over.  Making a plan makes me feel better.  Here's my plan:

Make soups.  I love my Crockpot soups...the potato and broccoli are my favorites.  It's soup season, and I plan to have more soups for my meals.

Look for more recipes in which vegetables are the stars. Sprouts is filled with lots of winter vegetables like winter squash, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. And I see yummy recipes all the time on Facebook and I've tried a bunch of them that were very good.  I vow to focus on the ones that primarily use vegetables and adapt them to lower WW points. Likewise, I will look for fruit based recipes that fit the WW model to stave off my craving for sweets during the holidays.

Stock the freezer with low point frozen dinners and WW frozen deserts.  I really need these.  Sometimes I am too lazy to cook for myself. I love most of the Lean Cuisine dinners and they provide WW points on every box, so I'll be stocking up. I'll always make sure I have some kind of frozen WW sweet treat in there too!

Start tracking points again and weighing myself regularly.  I'm going to go easy on myself, but it's time to start tracking again, to get my mind in gear.  I think I'll set my daily point goal at 35-40 a day during this time period, so it will be easy to feel in control. I'm also going to start stepping on those dreaded scales. It's time to click on our brains and have the right attitude!

Enjoy the holiday dinners. Yes, I'll be eating and enjoying! I won't be worrying about WW Points on Thanksgiving Day or for Christmas dinner....if I do I'll feel too deprived.  However, every OTHER day, I will put on my WW thinking cap.  And after the dinners, I'll make everyone else take home high point leftovers!

Sign up for Weight Watchers online again after the holidays. Come January, it will be easy to slip into weight loss mode and hopefully, lose the pounds I've gained. I find using the website helps me stay focused.

I'll be sharing the good ideas I discover over the next 6 weeks, so check back. I hope you'll share your ideas for how to stay a Weight Watcher during this time too!

Happy Holidays everyone.  Enjoy, but keep watching your weight!

Strawberry Kefir Smoothie

Sometimes I need something that is sweet, not a fruit and not a Weight Watchers frozen bar (although I DO love most of them!)  When I was on the 17 Day Diet, I had a Kefir Smoothie almost daily, which met a requirement of that diet.

t was on this diet that I learned to like Kefir (find it in any grocery store near the yogurt) and starting freezing strawberries, blueberries and bananas before they went bad and used them in my smoothies.  Fresh will work too, but the drink is more akin to a milk shake if you use frozen. In the off season, all grocery stores carry a fruit medley in the frozen section.  I love the package that has all tropical fruit: pineapple, mango, papaya etc.

Tonight I took that basic idea and made a close cousin to that Smoothie I used to make ...but more Weight Watcher's friendly and just as delicious! Here's how to make it.

In a blender, add:

• 1/2 cup Kefir (or fat free plain yogurt)
• 1 cup frozen strawberries (or other frozen fruit)
• 1/2 to 1 cup diet Lemon Lime Soda
• 1/4 cup Splenda

Blend until it is the consistency you like, adding soda to thin.  Makes a tall glassful. 

The best part of this frozen concoction is that it is just 2 Weight Watcher's points!

Enjoy!

Banana Split for Weight Watchers

The secret for Weight Watchers is to find low point foods that are a good substitute for the more fattening foods you like.  I'm sharing the treat I made for myself tonight that I'm calling the WW Banana Split. I had a bunch of points leftover tonight and this was just 4 yummy pts!

First I placed 1 graham cracker square in a bowl topped by a 1/2 cup scoop of Breyer's Fat Free ice cream.

Next I spooned strawberry and banana slices on top of the ice cream.

Fat Free Whipped Topping was the grand finale!

Weight Watchers with a sweet tooth, as simple as this was, it tasted almost decadent! :)

Crepes for Weight Watchers

Makes 12-15 crepes
WW Pts+: Appx 1 per crepe

Crepes are easy to make and a great way to create a main dish or dessert great for any dieter and low on Weight Watchers points.  You don't need a special pan and probably have all the ingredients on hand.

Here's my recipe for basic dessert crepes:

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup flour (any type)
1 cup skim milk
1 T sugar
 1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch salt

Directions:

• Mix ingredients with whisk.
• Heat small skillet that has been sprayed with Olive Oil spray to medium heat (spray before the first few crepes...you probably won't need to after that)
• Add scant 1/4 cup batter to pan and swirl until it covers bottom of pan.
• Cook until the top of crepe is no longer moist and starting to curl
• Lift edge of crepe with fork or spatula and place crepe on plate (cook only one side)
• Continue until batter is gone.

Filling:
Fill crepe with pudding, whipped topping, fruit, ice cream, etc.

My favorite filling is a spoonful of fat free Strawberry yogurt spread down the middle, slices of strawberries, blueberries and banana, topped with a generous spoon of fat free whipped topping.
This filling adds less than 1 pt to the crepe.  Without the yogurt the filling is zero pts!

Notes:

• I use whole wheat flour, but you can use any type of flour you prefer.  You could try 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat to add more fiber to your diet. 
• Be sure to refrigerate your crepes right away and eat within a few days as they will spoil. They're so easy to make, you can make 1/2 batch if you don't think you'll eat them up fast enough.
• For dinner crepes, omit the sugar and vanilla.

 Enjoy fellow Weight Watchers!!