176 replies to this topic

[BadRabbit]

I have never tried any programs but I have found that just using an app on my phone to track calories makes me lose weight. Obviously, entering the information doesn't burn that many calories but I find that I'm more careful about how much I put on my plate and the quality of my snacks if I track everything.

I cook just like I usually do but I watch my portion size and just avoid obvious high caloric ingredients like cream and I avoid techniques like deep fat frying.

[Darienne]

I just started WW and I'm kind of surprised how many points one gets. It's not very radical! I've noticed in my circle that people who lose weight and really keep it off all seem to be WW people, so I'm giving it a try.
My frustration comes from their boards, where most people really seem to eat prefab food. I tried to find poached chicken and came up empty but every item on the In and Out Burger menu shows up. The boards are ok but it's really not for serious cooks. I hope never to experience diet mayonnaise but it seems a popular item there. Anyway, I'm giving it a shot, especially since I can do it from the computer and avoid meetings.
I'd love to develop a full Mexican food repertoire of point friendly cooking.

Bravo and let me in on it too. I am still wavering on the edges of it all wondering how on earth to do this thing once and for all.

[Kouign Aman]

Down another 5 lbs in the past month.
The only things GONE from my diet (compared to the last 35 years) are potato chips.
Cant buy them, or have them in the house. No will power at all.

Mostly its been
*cooking more veg types at each meal (salad, more than one cooked veg)
I have been roasting 4-6 bell peppers at once, skinning them and using them as a salad, sliced w a bit of feta and a small shake of dressing. Chili vinegar works well w the sweetness.
I like roasting broccoli w scads of peeled garlic cloves. Its a nice cold dish too, w a little vinaigrette.

*eating the greens/veg first
* This helps w subsequent portion control.
* adding small breakfasts and lunch. I used to skip most breakfasts and all lunches,
and would be ravenous at dinner time. If I got distracted at all during dinner,
I would just keep eating (and small fry do distract at meal times).
So now I am just really hungry instead instead of Eat Everything In Sight starving.
I dont usually want dessert - which I completely do not understand.

Milk and Cereal is now a dinner food. It drops me too hard mid-morning.

I can live like this.
I have to weigh myself daily and plot it. A 2-day in a row gain means something's got to be rethought (I usually need to increase dinner veg and lunch fruit)(once it was due to my coworkers enormous hawaiian punch jellybeans supply). So, its been a bouncy course but the trend is down.

Edited by Kouign Aman, 17 May 2011 - 02:43 PM.

[heidih]

I just started WW and I'm kind of surprised how many points one gets. It's not very radical! I've noticed in my circle that people who lose weight and really keep it off all seem to be WW people, so I'm giving it a try.
My frustration comes from their boards, where most people really seem to eat prefab food. I tried to find poached chicken and came up empty but every item on the In and Out Burger menu shows up. The boards are ok but it's really not for serious cooks. I hope never to experience diet mayonnaise but it seems a popular item there. Anyway, I'm giving it a shot, especially since I can do it from the computer and avoid meetings.
I'd love to develop a full Mexican food repertoire of point friendly cooking.

I think one of the key things to learn is to eyeball portion sizes- how much is "x" ounces of chicken cooked. This may require using a scale till you get the feel of it. Then get the points for standard items like oil, starches, proteins in your head or in your files. Once that is ingrained you can get a feel for where you are at in a recipe with points. Many use a program like Mastercook to input their recipes and get the values. Doing that with some of your standards would give you a feel for the calories and points and allow you to make adjustments that make sense for the dish - that cost/benefit analysis as to whether the added calories are significantly contributing to the dish.

Looking forward to hearing about any interesting adjustments or techniques you find helpful.

[SobaAddict70]

I'm going to post something that's probably alien to a lot of you ... but it's never stopped me.

So here goes.

In September 2010, I weighed 152. As of this morning, I was 179.5 at approx. 20% bodyfat. That's almost 4 lbs. a month, give or take a few. Probably around this time next year, I should be somewhere in the low 200s, if all goes well, after which time I may go on a brief cutting diet ... from 205 or thereabouts at 20% BF to say, 185 @ 16% BF. This is just me thinking out loud.

If you're in a caloric deficit by 300 less calories than you normally consume on any given day, that's the same thing as burning 300 calories via cardio, weight training or the exercise of your choice. Now some people choose the former over the latter and that's perfectly fine (in other words, they'd rather eat less as opposed to eating normally and lifting/working out more frequently) ... there's no single right answer to melt those pounds. But the key is your caloric intake and expenditure.

There's also no one correct answer to cooking for weight loss. Personally, I wouldn't recommend the way I'm going to cut to anyone who posts on eGullet, mostly because you probably wouldn't like it.

The diet is called PSMF, short for Protein-Sparing Modified Fast. You can find more information here. Fats will be from fish-oil capsules; carbs from vegetables; protein from mostly animal sources (egg whites, tunafish, lean chicken and fish). There will be fats from my protein sources as well but that's about it. I'll also be working out twice a week, down from my normal 3x a week. Poundages will be lighter and there may be some cardio involved.

It's definitely going to be a far cry from Weight Watchers, I'll say that.

[SobaAddict70]

The diet is called PSMF, short for Protein-Sparing Modified Fast. You can find more information here. Fats will be from fish-oil capsules; carbs from vegetables; protein from mostly animal sources (egg whites, tunafish, lean chicken and fish). There will be fats from my protein sources as well but that's about it. I'll also be working out twice a week, down from my normal 3x a week. Poundages will be lighter and there may be some cardio involved.

It's definitely going to be a far cry from Weight Watchers, I'll say that.

I should mention that I've been through this diet before.

Last time was in 2005. I went from 187 to 171, dropping 16 lbs. in six weeks. It wasn't pretty (Oh, ok, I'll be brutally honest ... I hated every. single. minute. of it (because I love to cook and eat)), but the results were well worth it in the end.

Wish me luck, cuz I'll need it this second time around.

[Cass]

I'm going to post something that's probably alien to a lot of you ... but it's never stopped me.

Not alien to all.

There's also no one correct answer to cooking for weight loss.

So true.

I like IFing. It works well for me.

The diet is called PSMF, short for Protein-Sparing Modified Fast. You can find more information here.

Great program.

Have you done UD2?

[SobaAddict70]

I'm going to post something that's probably alien to a lot of you ... but it's never stopped me.

Not alien to all.

There's also no one correct answer to cooking for weight loss.

So true.

I like IFing. It works well for me.

The diet is called PSMF, short for Protein-Sparing Modified Fast. You can find more information here.

Great program.

Have you done UD2?

I've been thinking about it but I'm still not looking forward to it, mostly because I've never met a carb I didn't like.

[Kouign Aman]

Is it that you will be trying to cut for competition as a bodybuilder?
Otherwise, why build up past your target and then cut down?

[Cass]

Is it that you will be trying to cut for competition as a bodybuilder?
Otherwise, why build up past your target and then cut down?

I was wondering this as well.

[JAZ]

I'd love to develop a full Mexican food repertoire of point friendly cooking.

I've found a surprising number of Mexican or Mexican-inspired dishes that are point-friendly without too much tweaking. I'm not sure how authentic they are, but so far I've made red chicken enchiladas that are pretty low, snapper Vera Cruz, a Mexican style shrimp cocktail and arroz verde. I'm eager to hear what you come up with.

[SobaAddict70]

Is it that you will be trying to cut for competition as a bodybuilder?
Otherwise, why build up past your target and then cut down?

I was wondering this as well.

Because having a waist size of 36" is seriously depressing. But that's to be expected, because you can't realistically gain 30+ lbs. without putting on some fat as well. If only we could gain only muscle when bulking; however, science does not work like that.

On the other hand, having more lean muscle is good, especially for someone with my condition. See my 3rd eG Foodblog for details. PSMF and UD2 are ways to accomplish fat loss quickly without having to diet endlessly while attempting to preserve as much muscle as possible. I hate dieting ... would rather eat and be happy.

I could cut now if I wanted to but there's nothing to show. I'm betting that I'll be in a better place to make that assessment once I hit the low 200s.

Edited by SobaAddict70, 17 May 2011 - 05:41 PM.

[SobaAddict70]

Anyway, the last time I did PSMF, I didn't do very much cooking. I'll be watching this thread with great interest because I'm determined that THIS time, I won't despair from boring my taste buds to death.

[rancho_gordo]

Last night I took some chili sauce I had made and thinned it out with broth. I added two small potatoes, 1/2 cup of frozen corn and a 4.5 oz turkey breast, cubed. It was great except for the corn was too sweet.



If I'm adding up points right, I think that makes it just 6 points (not including the quinoa). A cup of cooked quinoa is 5 and that seems like plenty of points for a dinner.

It's not a known Mexican dish but I think it would pass if I had field corn.

Edited by rancho_gordo, 18 May 2011 - 12:59 PM.

[rancho_gordo]

Oh. I added some canned tomatoes, chopped up, as well.

[heidih]

Looks good RG - I am of the opinion that non starchy vegetables need not be accounted for. That makes things simple and also encourages the addition of more vegetables in dishes

What was the general method of your chili sauce?

[rancho_gordo]

Chile sauce was about 6 guajillos and 2 anchos, toasted, re-hydrated in warm water, then blended with onion and garlic and enough water to move the blender blades. Then i fried this paste in 1 tablespoon of lard until it was almost like catsup. Then I thinned it out with chicken stock, added salt and Mexican orgeano, and then it cook in a cazuela for about 20 minutes. I figured it was 6-8 servings and it came to about a point a serving, even with the lard.

[rancho_gordo]

I could easily have added some zucchini and it would have been even better.

[EatNopales]

Last night I took some chili sauce I had made and thinned it out with broth. I added two small potatoes, 1/2 cup of frozen corn and a 4.5 oz turkey breast, cubed. It was great except for the corn was too sweet.



If I'm adding up points right, I think that makes it just 6 points (not including the quinoa). A cup of cooked quinoa is 5 and that seems like plenty of points for a dinner.

It's not a known Mexican dish but I think it would pass if I had field corn.

I think you have a perfectly legit Mole de Olla, using ingredients you have on hand.. very similar to the soup my mom regularly makes.. she normally includes frozen broccoli & cauliflower as well... and favors chicken over turkey.. other than that very similar.

[heidih]

Thanks for the sauce details RG - amazing that the good food we already eat is probably points friendly when portioned reasonably.

[rancho_gordo]

I was googling for recipes and I came across Chicken Enchiladas. I was almost excited but I should have known better!
ingredients are:

16 oz. boiled boned chicken, in pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
8 tsp. reduced calorie butter
1 can weight watchers cream of mushroom soup
8 oz. mild Mexican Cheez Whiz
1 c. weight watchers sour cream
1 can chopped green chili peppers
8 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn in pieces
2 oz. grated Cheddar cheese

Just saying Cheez Whiz makes me happy.

[heidih]

I was googling for recipes and I came across Chicken Enchiladas. I was almost excited but I should have known better!
ingredients are:

16 oz. boiled boned chicken, in pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
8 tsp. reduced calorie butter
1 can weight watchers cream of mushroom soup
8 oz. mild Mexican Cheez Whiz
1 c. weight watchers sour cream
1 can chopped green chili peppers
8 (6 inch) corn tortillas, torn in pieces
2 oz. grated Cheddar cheese

Just saying Cheez Whiz makes me happy.

As you saw from the recipe you posted earlier- real food is going to be just fine on your plan - sometimes there may need to be an adjustment, but please please avoid those recipe sites. I must say that somewhere in storage I have an older WW cookbook that had "ethnic" recipes with no odd ingredients- they were dishes just as I would prepare them from a variety of cuisines. If I find the book I will post some examples. That is why I suggested taking your standards and seeing what the count actually is. In many cases it is just an awareness issue as in - oops that one has a lot of fat or wow I had no idea.

[rancho_gordo]

As you saw from the recipe you posted earlier- real food is going to be just fine on your plan - sometimes there may need to be an adjustment, but please please avoid those recipe sites. I must say that somewhere in storage I have an older WW cookbook that had "ethnic" recipes with no odd ingredients- they were dishes just as I would prepare them from a variety of cuisines. If I find the book I will post some examples. That is why I suggested taking your standards and seeing what the count actually is. In many cases it is just an awareness issue as in - oops that one has a lot of fat or wow I had no idea.

But this was good for a laugh!

As a one week veteran, I can see the biggest benefit will be no more binging. My problem is 10p and I want a cookie and suddenly I have a dilemma- does one cookie mean a cookie or a row of cookies? So far with points I've been able to completely avoid this.

Last night we made fish mixiotes. Fish, some tiny cut potatoes, chile sauce and a tomato slice all go into a dried maguey leaf, bound up and then steamed in a tamal steamer. The leaves are now hard to get (maybe even illegal?) but you can use foil, or better yet, parchment paper. It's fun with kids as everyone can create their own and of course you can do it with all healthy ingredients. We also did a big one full of broccoli.

[JAZ]

I think with the Weight Watchers recipes (the official ones, that is), they do a good enough job with recipes that are naturally low in calories and fat, but really fail when they try to make low fat versions of "classics." For instance, they recently featured a recipe for a chickpea salad with feta cheese and olives that sounded good, if not terribly creative. But a while back I saw a recipe for "lightened up" eggs Benedict that substituted low-fat mayonnaise, hot water and lemon juice for the hollandaise. That's just wrong.

[heidih]

Last night we made fish mixiotes. Fish, some tiny cut potatoes, chile sauce and a tomato slice all go into a dried maguey leaf, bound up and then steamed in a tamal steamer. The leaves are now hard to get (maybe even illegal?) but you can use foil, or better yet, parchment paper. It's fun with kids as everyone can create their own and of course you can do it with all healthy ingredients. We also did a big one full of broccoli.

That sounds like a great meal. Plus even WW will tell you that fats are needed. So maybe they discourage lard, but if a bit of lard makes a great sauce that makes vegetables and leanish protein taste great - it is win win in my book

[rancho_gordo]

Continuing with my "mole de olla" theme, this time I did it with the turkey, a ton of dandelion greens, potatoes, tomatoes and corn.



This was incredible. i love the bitterness and the meatiness of the greens, kind of replacing more traditional quelites. This made four servings, perfect with tortillas. And of course I love cooking in clay.



Not to oversell WW (as a veteran of one and a half weeks), but if this works, I think it means you can have your cake and eat it too. The thing most of us would hate about a traditional diet is it means you lose the joy of cooking. I think that's the real difference. I can use my beloved lard, my precious clay pots and enjoy the pleasure of the stove. So far it's a win-win.

[heidih]

Great meal RG - I think that if one boiled WW down to its core - ignoring the yearly or so renovations to keep it "new" - it is about portion control and using vegetables as a "free" food - at least in my book. Plus the concept of the need for fat. I look forward to more of your dishes. And corn tortillas especially are a calorie winner. I toast them in the oven on the rack when I want a crunchy note - but even fried - in moderation they are great.

That was interesting about the not binging/snacking earlier - I find that when the food is satisfying that the other behavior can more easily slide under the table and eventually disappear.

[Darienne]

Not following WW or any other plan, but reading this topic with great interest, especially on the topic of Hispanic dishes...

One of my best and favorites is Ratatouille but roasted in the oven instead of cooked on the stove. DH has his on rice and I just eat more vegetables.

I'm also following down low-carb-cal salads with some interest...salads that taste good. My best currently is a mixed broccoli, cauliflower, colored pepper, sweet onion combo with a vinegar, dry mustard and poppy seed dressing. (Yes, I've left out a number of ingredients.) Lazy and tired.

[rancho_gordo]

A friend came in with some great mushrooms so I made this filling for tacos:



I sauteed onion and garlic in 1 tsp of olive oil. When soft, I removed them and turned up the heat and cooked the mushrooms. When they were done, I turned down the heat, added back the onions and then added 1 big spoonful of my previously made chile sauce and 1 cup of chicken stock. A little epazote and then done.



I added some queso fresco but it wasn't essential.
For points, it was nothing for the mushrooms or stock. The oil was a point and each tortilla was one point. The chile sauce was also a point but I didn't even use one portion so it was likely even less. Queso Fresco is 2 points for one ounce.

Anyway, it was great and easy.

[Twyst]

I tried low-carb diets, low fat diets, weight watchers and countless others to no avail. A little over a year ago I joined a CSA, started cooking lots of vegetables, cut out almost all processed food, and started exercising. I dropped 85 pounds in 8 months and am now just maintaining my weight. None of the fad diets worked for me, I had to get back to basics with calories in/calories out to show any real permanent results.

Good luck to everyone on whatever route they choose!