Weight Watchers Friendly Meal Planning Ideas
Every Friday I send out an email with what I'm planning to eat for dinner in the coming week which I also archive here on the blog. It helps keep me accountable and I hope you find it helpful as well.
The Benefits of Weekly Meal Planning
Getting dinner on the table is so much easier when you've planned what you're cooking and eating ahead of time and done the grocery shopping. It's the only thing that prevents me from resorting to fast food or takeout more often than I should.
Every time I get out of the meal planning habit and resort to take-out, restaurants, and snacking on junk, it's amazing how crappy I feel and how quickly the pounds pack on.
The Key to Eating Well is Cooking
When you're trying to eat well, not cooking isn't an option. There are just too many unknowns (hidden sugar, flour, fats, chemicals, points), too many temptations, and portions are way too large for you to routinely eat well on take-out or pre-made food.
The Key to Consistent Cooking is Planning
In the beginning meal planning can be a huge chore. The key is finding an approach that works for you over the long haul. If you are struggling with meal planning here are 3 great meal planning resources to help:
- My Month of Meal Month of Meal Plans eBook
- My WW Friend Kristen's Slender Kitchen Meal Planning Made Easy (affiliate link)
- My WW friend Alisha's 12-Week eCookbook and Meal Planner (affiliate link) and Table for Two Meal Planner and eCookbook (affiliate link)
This Week's WW Meal Plan Suggestions with WW Points:
What Do I Eat for Breakfast on WW?
Most days my breakfast is something quick like an english muffin with almond butter, avocado toast, cottage cheese with fruit, eggs, yogurt with fruit, oatmeal or a smoothie, depending on my mood and the season.
What Do I Eat for Lunch on WW?
Lunch is usually leftovers or some combination of soup / sandwich / salad.
This week I am planning to make...
Meal Planning + Slow Cooking = Easy Healthy Dinner!
I use mine at least once a week, sometimes more!
I'm absolutely, positively convinced that cooking with my crock-pot (affiliate link) is directly linked to the success I've had keeping my weight off!
We are a family of two, so most recipes result in leftovers that we are happy to pack up for lunch the next day, freeze for a future quick-and-easy meal, or transform somehow.
Slow Cooker Tamale Pie is a casserole version of traditional tamales that is much lower in fat and calories. Simple to prepare, it cooks in your crock pot. It's like eating a deconstructed tamale! I'll serve a green salad or sauteed zucchini alongside.
Hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Is there anything more comforting than coming home at the end of a long cold day to the smell of a hearty stew simmering away in the crock pot? This makes a big batch, but the good news is that it tastes even better the next day and you can freeze the leftovers for future quick and easy dinners and/or lunches. A complete meal in a bowl, I serve a little crusty French bread alongside.
Slow Cooker 2-Bean Burritos
When it comes to satisfying a craving for Mexican food, burritos are hard to beat. Simple, comforting and delicious, what's not to like?
While I love the way burritos from my favorite Mexican restaurants taste, they can really do a number on my daily Weight Watchers Points budget. The solution? Simple WW slow cooker low-fat two bean burritos made at home that are just as flavorful and satisfying, but a lot lower in calories and fat. I will serve these vegetarian burritos with a simple green salad or oven roasted onions, peppers and zucchini.
CrockPot Pineapple Pork
CrockPot Pineapple Pork
This pineapple pork is another one of those ridiculously easy crock pot recipes that you can put together in a few minutes and then forget about for hours. Have I mentioned lately how much I love loading up the slow cooker and then letting it do it's thing, so that I can do my thing until dinnertime? You don't need anything fancy to make this crock pot pineapple pork recipe either. I will serve it with rice and steamed broccoli.
Need More Vegetarian Choices? Click Here!
I hope this helps you with your own meal planning this week 🙂
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
Tired of trying to decide what to cook?
If you are struggling with meal planning here are 3 great meal planning resources to help:
- My Month of Meal Month of Meal Plans eBook
- My WW Friend Kristen's Slender Kitchen Meal Planning Made Easy (affiliate link) Program
- My WW friend Alisha's 12-Week eCookbook and Meal Planner (affiliate link) and Table for Two Meal Planner and eCookbook (affiliate link)
Customer Testimonials
I have been using Slender Kitchen Meal Plans (affiliate link) since last year and we love it! Even more excited now that it has the new points. The recipes are easy, family friendly, and taste good. I love that I can customize for our family and the shopping list saves me so much time and money. One of my best purchases last year. ~ Camille
I bought the Table for Two eCookbook and I love it! It saved me from giving up on my weight loss journey. The meals are delicious and so easy to cook. Having a weekly grocery list, recipes and instructions with pictures readily accessible has taken so much stress off of me in meal planning. I was tired of cooking recipes that had multiple servings and eating the left overs several times during the week. My husband loves the Table for Two recipes and he doesn’t even need to lose weight! I have recommended your site to several friends on the same journey and they love your recipes too. Thank you for all your hard work in making meal planning so easy!
~ Barbara
I bought the 12 Week eCookbook and Meal Planner by Alisha Hughes from Meal Planning Mommies. It is great 12 weeks with a shopping list which is wonderful. I just make a copy of the list and go shopping for the week.
~ Roberta R.Hi Martha - I cannot begin to thank you enough for my month of meals. We (my husband and I) have only had the first week, but WOW, what great meals! I can't wait for the second week. You have a customer for life!
~ Sharon S.
More Weight Watchers Weekly Meal Plans
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
(Updated with new text, images and pin February 2023)
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Cindy
We just had a death in the family and I am struggling to move forward. I see myself using food to cope and it only leads to more food, because nothing is satisfying.