Welcome to Weight Watchers Weekly Meal Plan #71 {SmartPoints}
I've received a ton of feedback about how helpful you find these Weight Watchers Meal Plans. 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 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 #71
Last week was my birthday. Instead of cake, I splurged on the most amazing dulce de leche crepes with vanilla ice cream, the perfect ending to one of the best dinners in recent memory, accompanied by just-as-perfect margaritas. My husband and I are still talking about it! Full disclosure: I didn't track it I just enjoyed every precious, delicious moment 🙂 This week I'm back to practicing moderation, as best I can!
Breakfast
I'm experimenting with getting more protein (at least 30 grams) at breakfast to see how it makes me feel. So far I'm noticing more energy and less hunger so I rarely feel the need for a snack before lunch 🙂
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.
Click Here for More Weight Watchers Friendly Breakfast Ideas with SmartPoints
Lunch
1. Tuna and White Bean Salad (4SP) - One of my favorite quick and easy no-cook summer lunches. I usually eat it on a big bed of salad greens or stuffed into lettuce wraps. And chopped avocado (¼th - 2SP)
2. WW 0 Points Garden Vegetable Soup (0SP) - The instructions are for the stovetop but recently I've been just tossing all the ingredients into my slow cooker and letting it simmer on low until tender, 6 hours or so! And Toasted Cheese - 2 Slices Whole Wheat Toast (4SP) and slice of American Cheese (3SP)
3. Leftovers
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. Turkey Quinoa Meat Loaf (4SP) and Baked Potato (1 med - 5SP) topped with Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt (2 tablespoons - 0SP) with Steamed Broccoli (0SP) and Sliced Tomatoes (0SP)
2. Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs (5SP) with Sautéed Zucchini 1SP for Oil) and a Simple Tossed Green Salad (0SP) with Light Dressing (2SP)
3. Leftovers
4. Grilled Italian Style Turkey Sausage (4SP) and Orzo Salad with Vegetables (4SP)
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 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:
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.)
3. Microwave Baked Apple with Cranberries and Maple Syrup (2SP)
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.
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Jamie Alison
Completely agree with you. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you need to BURN more calories than you are TAKING IN. Now in a perfect world this will be a lot easier than it sounds.
However, with amazing and nice food literally around us everyday it's hard to discipline yourself.
To start losing weight, and to permanently keep it off, you need to make LIFESTYLE CHANGES. What do I use to lose weight? Well this is what I do: http://thehealthspecialists.com