Welcome to Weight Watchers Weekly Meal Plan #74 {SmartPoints}
What to eat? What to eat? What to eat this week?
Do you ever struggle with this question? I sure do!
So, on Saturdays I share samples/examples of my Weight Watchers Meal Plans, which provide a rough outline of what I'm planning. I hope they help you reach your goals! Bon Appétit!
THE BENEFITS OF COOKING AT HOME MORE
Since I like to cook I may be biased, but I’ve always believed that the food you cook for yourself is essentially good for you. Taking the time to cook for yourself (and others you love) is a supremely nourishing act of kindness. But, it doesn't mean I'm always in the mood to do it! And the older I get the less time I'm willing to spend in the kitchen.
MY OVERALL WEIGHT WATCHERS MEAL PLAN STRATEGY
Getting dinner on the table is so much easier when I’ve planned what I’m cooking and eating ahead of time. With the shopping done and weight watchers recipes at the ready I can just walk into the kitchen and get cooking.
I don’t always stick to my plan one hundred percent. Life happens. But, it helps to have a rough guide and prevents me from reaching into the cookie jar or bag of chips too often. Whoever said that failing to plan was planning to fail was spot on!
My approach to meal planning is simpler than most. Just reading many of the meal plan programs out there suggesting a different breakfast, lunch and dinner every single day are enough to make me run from the kitchen screaming. Are you kidding me? Who cooks like that? Not me or anyone I know.
I’ve experimented with many of the sophisticated meal planning programs out there, but I’ve never been able to make them work for me. Yellow sticky notes and iPhone lists are more my speed 🙂
(If you are looking for Healthy Meal Planning Solution with lots of options including low carb and vegetarian diets with complete nutritional information and Weight Watchers SmartPoints, my WW friend Kristen, from Slender Kitchen has a really good one.)
As far as I'm concerned the Slow Cooker is the best invention ever for folks trying to eat healthy and lose weight without losing their minds. I use mine at least once a week, sometimes more. I'm absolutely, positively convinced that cooking with my crockpot is directly linked to the success I've had keeping my weight off!
As a creature of habit, I tend to rotate between the same one or two breakfasts and lunches the days I eat at home each week. And because we are a family of two most recipes result in leftovers that we are happy to eat again or transform somehow. So, I usually only cook from scratch three or four times a week, at most. We like to eat out a couple of times, usually on the weekend.
If we end up with more food than we can eat, I portion it out, package it up and pop it in the freezer for future quick and easy lunches and dinners.
I hope these posts make it easier for you to stay on track with your weight loss and/or healthy eating goals too. It’s a process that gets easier with practice.
And remember, there’s a Weight Watchers Weekly Meal Plans Section on the blog so you can get inspiration from all of the previous weekly meal plans too. The lower numbered ones all have PointsPlus values for those not making the switch to SmartPoints. Enjoy!
WEIGHT WATCHERS MEAL PLAN #74
Breakfast
I'm a creature of habit, especially where it comes to breakfast. I tend to alternate between these choices at the moment:
A large mug of Decaf Coffee (0SP) and:
1. My Favorite Protein Shake of the Moment (5SP): In the blender (affiliate link) I combine the following and blend till smooth: ½ cup Cottage Cheese (2SP), 1 scoop Chocolate Protein Powder (2SP), 2 tablespoons PB2 (affiliate link) Peanut Butter Flour (affiliate link) (1SP), ½ Frozen Banana (0SP), ½ cup Water (I don't count the banana and don't need any extra sweetener because the Protein Powder I use has stevia in it. Add sweetener to taste and adjust you points accordingly.)
2. Cottage Cheese (1 cup - 5SP) and Fruit (0SP): One of my favorite quick and easy summertime choices for breakfast and/or lunch.
3. Whole Grain Toast (2SP) with 1 tablespoon Peanut Butter (3SP) and ½ banana (0SP)
4. Whole Grain Toast (2SP) with ¼ Avocado (2SP) and Fried Egg (2SP)
5. Skinny Make Ahead Western Omelet Muffins (3SP) and Fruit (0SP)
Click Here for More Weight Watchers Friendly Breakfast Ideas with SmartPoints
Lunch
Again, I tend to rotate between the same few lunch choices on days I don't eat lunch out. Here are some of my favorite quick and easy lunches right now:
1. Leftovers
2. Crunchy Tuna Salad (3SP) on a bed of Mixed Greens (0SP) with Tomatoes (0SP) and Cucumber (0SP) and Garden Vegetable Soup (0SP)
3. Egg Salad (3SP) stuffed into a tomato (0SP) or spread on a slice of whole wheat toast (2SP) with an Apple (0SP)
4. Greek Turkey Feta Mason Jar Salad (7SP) and Garden Vegetable Soup (0SP)
5. Baked Potato with Cottage Cheese and Salsa (7SP)
Click Here for More Weight Watchers Friendly Soup Ideas and Healthy Lunch ideas
Dinner
Because we are a family of two most recipes I make result in leftovers that we are happy to eat again on another night or that I re-purpose somehow. This means that I usually only cook from scratch 3 or 4 times a week. (We usually eat out 1 – 2 times a week)
1. Slow Cooker Pasta Primavera (9SP) and Simple Tossed Green Salad (0SP) with Light Balsamic Vinaigrette (1SP)
2. Spicy Grilled Chicken Thighs (4SP) and Baked Potato (1 med - 5SP) topped with Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt (2 tablespoons - 0SP) and Sautéed Spinach (0SP)
3. Leftovers
4. Skinny Black Bean and Cheese Nachos (6SP) and Guacamole (2SP) (I would add some of the leftover chopped Spicy Grilled Chicken Thighs too.)
5. Leftovers
Click Here for More Easy Healthy Dinner Ideas
Snacks
I try to limit my snacks to one in the late afternoon which keeps me from being overly hungry when I’m getting dinner. I try to only snack when I'm hungry enough to eat an apple. To prevent snacking while I’m making dinner, I often chew gum. A former Cheez-Its junkie, I’ve pretty much given up on processed, packaged snack-y foods that I can never seem to get enough of once I begin. Weight Watchers calls them Trigger Foods for good reason! Here are some of my favorite go-to snacks at the moment:
1. Sliced Apple or Pear (0SP) with a String Cheese (2SP) and Almonds (7 - 1SP)
2. Hard Boiled Egg (2SP) and Grape Tomatoes (0SP)
3. Triscuits (6 - 3SP) and Laughing Cow Cheese (1SP)
4. Guacamole (¼ cup - 3SP) and Baby Carrots (0SP)
Click Here for More Healthy Snack Ideas
Dessert
With the new SmartPoints plan sweet treats are a lot more “expensive” than they were with Points Plus. I usually try to limit dessert to once or twice a week. Other times if I feel like I want a "little something" after dinner, I've been opting for a cup of decaf or herb tea instead, which can be surprisingly satisfying.
I don’t keep many sweets around the house. You can’t eat what you don’t have 🙂 Through the years I’ve convinced myself not to waste my valuable points on ho-hum sweet treats. But it's still an ongoing practice! Here are some of my go-to sweet treats at the moment:
1. Sliced Banana and Strawberries (0SP) drizzled with Chocolate Syrup (2 t. - 2SP) and a dollop of canned Reddi Wip whipped topping (2T - 1SP)
2. Pineapple Whip (2SP) - Blend together ½ cup Fat Free Cottage Cheese (2SP) and ½ cup Frozen Pineapple (0SP) and Sweetener of Choice until the consistency of soft serve ice cream. You may need just 1-2 tablespoons of water or skim milk too. (Any fruit will work. I frozen mixed berries and frozen mango too.)
3. Creamy Chocolate Greek Yogurt (1SP) - plain nonfat Greek yogurt, cocoa powder and sweetener of choice is a cold and creamy way to satisfy a chocolate craving. I want to try this with a little PB2 (affiliate link) (peanut butter flour (affiliate link)) too.
4. Microwave Baked Apple with Cranberries and Maple Syrup (2SP)
5. Skinny Baked S'mores (3SP)
6. Sliced Apple "Cookies" (3SP)
Have a wonderful week!
PS...If you make one of our weight watchers recipes, we would love for you to take a picture and share it on Instagram. Use the hashtag #simplenourishedliving. We want to see what you are making and would love for you to follow us on Instagram.
PPS...And remember, there’s a Weight Watchers Meal Plans with PointsPlus section on the blog so you can get inspiration from all of the previous weekly meal plans too.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or Craftsy links, I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thanks for your purchase!
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Vicky
Hi Martha, I read your article / review about the new WW system - Smart Points. I tried it for a month in January and hated it! I didnt like the tracking system (I liked the original program before points (many years ago) that broke meals and snacks into food groups and serving sizes. I found Smart Points didn't provide enough nutrient information for me, (have ~ 30 - 45g carbs per meal). So, for the last month, I have been using the old ww program (before points) counting calories, combined with an old version of a diabetic diet and it seems to be working, although the weight loss has been super slow (5 lbs in a month).
Thanks for your article- before reading it, I couldnt figure out why Smart Points didn't work for me.
Vicky n.b. the original points plan was ok, but not as good as the original program that broke meals and snacks into food groups and portion sizes.
Martha McKinnon
Hi Vicky, Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experiences with both SmartPoints and the old plan. I became a lifetime member following the old food groups approach and wrote a post last year about why I thought it was better than points: https://simple-nourished-living.com/why-i-think-the-old-weight-watchers-food-exchange-program-quick-success-was-better-than-points/
As for your weight loss. I think 5 pounds in a month is AWESOME!! Healthy weight loss is slow and steady. I wish you continued success!!
Vicky
Hi Martha,
Thanks for your reply. The article you provide the link to, is the article I referred to in the post above.
A couple of questions: Any chance you can remove my last name from the above post?
How many calories do you aim for a day on your suggested meals?
Thanks, Vicky
Martha McKinnon
Hi Vicky,
I've removed your last name from the above comment. According to the My Fitness Pal APP I need about 1700 calories a day to maintain my weight. I've been in maintenance mode now for about 7 years so I really don't count calories or points regularly. I begin to track again only when my weight starts to creep up. Hope this helps.
Vicky
Thanks, Martha.
Appreciate your help. Your website has a lot of good information.
Vicky
Natalie Adams
Just joined WW last week. The last time I joined I found it difficult to count calories and do whatever was the "thing" to do in Weight Watchers in the 70's. I find the new smart points so easy to use and since I started the Friday before Thanksgiving I wasn't sure how this would work with a big feast day before I went to weigh in. 6+ pounds and counting points was so easy. I also find your page a big help. Thanks for your recipes and input.
Martha McKinnon
Hi Natalie, Congratulations! Thanks for taking the time to share your WW experience with us!!
So glad to hear that my recipes and input are helpful.