Welcome to Weight Watchers Weekly Meal Plan #68 {SmartPoints}
I've received a ton of feedback about how helpful you find these Weight Watchers Meal Plans. I want to do all that we can to support you in reaching 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 🙂
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 #68
I will be focusing on soups through the seasons in 2016. As I have mentioned time and time again, soup is my go to food when I need to get my eating back into balance. There are lots of studies that show the magical ability of soup to help with weight loss. It can fill you up and help you feel satisfied on fewer calories. So, every week I'll include at least one soup recipe. Have a wonderful week and remember to take the time to cook something healthy and delicious for yourselves, dear friends!
Breakfast
A large mug of Decaf Coffee (0SP) and:
1. Whole Grain Toast (2SP) with Peanut Butter (1 T - 3SP) and ½ Banana (0SP)
2. Cottage Cheese (3SP) with Fruit (0PP) – One of our favorite breakfasts. It's quick and easy and satisfying. I like it with canned pineapple, pears, mandarin oranges, berries, sliced bananas, unsweetened applesauce, etc. If you are not a fan of cottage cheese substitute Greek yogurt instead.
Click Here for More Weight Watchers Friendly Breakfast Ideas with SmartPoints
Lunch
1. WW Crock Pot Tomato Beef Macaroni Soup (5SP) with a Simple Tossed Green Salad (0SP) with Light Dressing (2SP)
2. Greek Turkey Mason Jar Salad (7SP) with Apple Slices (0SP)
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 Burger (no bun) (4SP) with Baked Sweet Potato Fries (3oz - 5SP) and a Simple Tossed Green Salad (0SP) with Low Fat Dressing (1SP) or Steamed Broccoli (0SP)
2. Easy Baked Fish with Lemon and Herbs (1SP) with Parmesan Roasted Asparagus (2SP) and Brown Rice (1 cup - 6SP)
3. Skinny Pasta with Italian Sausage, Peppers, Onions and Mushrooms and with a Simple Tossed Green Salad (0SP) with Light Dressing (2SP)
3. Baked Pork Tenderloin (6oz - 4SP) with Skinny Mashed Potatoes (4SP) Green Beans (0SP) and Unsweetened Applesauce (0SP)
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!
1. Sliced Apple or Pear (0SP) with a String Cheese (2SP) and Almonds (7 - 1SP)
2. Celery (0PP) stuffed with 1 wedge Laughing Cow Garlic Herb cheese (1SP)
3. Hard Boiled Egg (2SP) and Grape Tomatoes (0SP)
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 🙂 And I usually save my points plus for homemade sweet stuff, which is more work, but always tastes so much better. 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!
1. Sliced Strawberries (0SP) drizzled with Chocolate syrup (2 t. - 2SP) and a dollop of canned Reddi Wip whipped topping (2T - 1 SP)
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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Patti
I love the meal plans, but is there a way to get a more printer-friendly version?
Martha McKinnon
Hi Patti, What do you mean by a more printer-friendly version? We'll try to help however we can.