176 replies to this topic

[heidih]

RG - Great looking tacos. Did you make the tortillas? I think your post is a great example of how a bit of innovation and a well stocked pantry significantly improve and simplify lower calorie cooking; the chicken stock, the chili sauce, and of course a friend who brings you glorious mushrooms

[scubadoo97]

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.

I wouldn't classify Weight Watchers as a fad diet. It is nothing more than a low calorie diet that uses points instead of calories to monitor what you take in. You can eat anything you want as long as you don't exceed your point or calorie allowance. By eating lots of fruits and vegetables you lowered your calorie intake and by exercising you burned more calories so it was a given that you would drop weight.

[Twyst]

I wouldn't classify Weight Watchers as a fad diet. It is nothing more than a low calorie diet that uses points instead of calories to monitor what you take in. You can eat anything you want as long as you don't exceed your point or calorie allowance. By eating lots of fruits and vegetables you lowered your calorie intake and by exercising you burned more calories so it was a given that you would drop weight.

You're right, I didnt really mean to lump weight watchers in with the fad diets. I was just mentioning it saying I tried it and it didn't work for me and worded my statement poorly by not distinguishing it from the others. I found weight watchers too restrictive and structured for myself, although I know several people who dropped a lot of weight successfully with it.

[prasantrin]

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.

That looks delicious! But may I ask. . . how long was it before you were hungry again?

I restarted my pseudo-WW eating plan, and I find I get hungry quite quickly. I think I only get 29 points a day (I also add on 7 from the weekly 49 extra points, so I really get about 36/day), so I'm trying to eat low point but filling food. But it's very very difficult.

Even the vegetarian chili I made has about 6-8 points per serving, but I find I'm hungry again about an hour or two later (there are about 300 grams of dried beans in the full recipe, which works out to about 35 points just for the beans--at 7 servings per recipe, that 5 points just for the beans!)

I've lost about 2 pounds this week, but I'm hungry a lot. Trying to stave off hunger pains with fruit, but even though fruit is free, I don't want to overdo it.

[rancho_gordo]

I guess I'm a real sad case because I get 49 points!
I don't think I could do this on 29. Or not for a very long time. I don't know. It would be soup all the time!

I ended up eating three tacos and tortillas are pretty filling. And I easily could do without the queso fresco.

Twyst, I think the only reason I can do WW is because it isn't restrictive. I've never eaten much processed food. It's quantity and timing that do me in.

[JAZ]

I restarted my pseudo-WW eating plan, and I find I get hungry quite quickly. I think I only get 29 points a day (I also add on 7 from the weekly 49 extra points, so I really get about 36/day), so I'm trying to eat low point but filling food. But it's very very difficult.

Even the vegetarian chili I made has about 6-8 points per serving, but I find I'm hungry again about an hour or two later (there are about 300 grams of dried beans in the full recipe, which works out to about 35 points just for the beans--at 7 servings per recipe, that 5 points just for the beans!)

May I ask what you mean by "pseudo-WW"? It sounds as if you might be trying to combine old points values for foods with the new points allowances, which doesn't work.

[prasantrin]

I restarted my pseudo-WW eating plan, and I find I get hungry quite quickly. I think I only get 29 points a day (I also add on 7 from the weekly 49 extra points, so I really get about 36/day), so I'm trying to eat low point but filling food. But it's very very difficult.

Even the vegetarian chili I made has about 6-8 points per serving, but I find I'm hungry again about an hour or two later (there are about 300 grams of dried beans in the full recipe, which works out to about 35 points just for the beans--at 7 servings per recipe, that 5 points just for the beans!)

May I ask what you mean by "pseudo-WW"? It sounds as if you might be trying to combine old points values for foods with the new points allowances, which doesn't work.

Fear not. I am not so stupid as to do something like that. And if I did as you suggest, I'd be eating even more (and therefore be less hungry) since the old point values were lower than what they are now.

I use a recipe management program that will also calculate diet points for whatever program you want to follow; all you have to do is enter in the formula. When I did a pseudo-WW plan in the past, I used Points=(Calories/50)+(Fat Grams/12)–(Fiber Grams/5). When WW changed their program, I changed the diet points formula to emulate the new formula which is Points=(Protein/10.94+Carbs/9.21+Fat/3.89-Fiber/12.49).

The program calculates diet points automatically for recipes I enter in my database, and also for all foods in the Nutrition Database (which contains all the foods listed in the USDA National Nutrient Database). So I can calculate points for foods I make, as well as for individual ingredients.

My program, however, does not account for the freebies WW gives you (like fruit and certain vegetables), or for the "penalty points" (my words) given to some foods/beverages like wine. So when I update my daily food diary, I scale up or down as necessary.

As for the number of points I allocated myself, I'm on the lower end of the WW scale (I wear a size 8 which, while not as small as a size 8 twenty years ago, is still small for the average WW user), so I gave myself 29 points. I might be able to give myself more, but with the old system, I had about 20 points and that worked quite well for me.

@RG--funny, but I do end up eating a lot of soup! Soup, fish, and certain vegetables are my mainstays on WW. I'm trying to work in more beans (even though I'm not fond of them--no offense to you!), but beans are actually quite high in points--1 heaping tablespoon is about 1 point. I still eat bread (mostly rye which is more point-friendly), but I try to eat mostly Ryvita crackers and the like (Finn Crisps are my favourites).

I do still eat burgers and fries sometimes, and I had a very large kouign aman yesterday, but it was the end of the week so I had some points I could use up. Plus I exercise several times a week, so I earn extra points for that.

Still, I think the eating-style necessary for the low-end of the WW scale is very difficult for Asians. I think that's one of the reasons WW is not big in Asia!

Edited by prasantrin, 29 May 2011 - 08:18 AM.

[JAZ]

The reason I asked is that when I enter 300 grams of "beans, dry" into the current WW database, I don't get anything close to 35 points.

[prasantrin]

The information I have is based on the formula. If beans are one of the foods that have altered points, my program does not account for that. That being said, when I was first trying to figure out of my formula was correct, I compared its point values to various values I found online, including this one:

Beans (butter, black-eyed, borlotti, broad, cannellini, flageolet, haricot, kidney, soya), cooked or canned, 1 heaped tbsp: 1

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1NlBgg72f

300g of dry beans is roughly 2/3 cups dry beans, which is about 2 2/3 to 3 cups cooked beans (I'm basing that on the info found at http://www.foodsubs.com/Beans.html ).

Using the point value given in the article, and estimating the cooked amount as 2 2/3 cups, I get about 42 points for 300g of dry beans, cooked.

I once read the UK points might be different from US points, but whatever.

Either way, the formula I have appears to be correct based on other samples I tried, and the formula calculates points independently of me, so my chili recipe (which really only has a couple of tablespoons of oil, bulgur, tomato juice (from the crushed tomatoes) and beans as countable points) is a whopping 6-ish points per serving (which is about 1 1/2 to 2 cups).

[rancho_gordo]

I seem to count beans as 3 points per half cup. I think this is based on the canned, even though I obviously never use canned! But half a cup is a good sized serving. It's about what I normally eat per day, though usually as a side dish on its own.

6 points with a 29 point max is a lot. 6 points at 49 points seems more than reasonable.

I love soup but if losing weight meant eating more soup than I really would like, I don't think I'd do it.

prasantrin, maybe you could sign up online as part of a promotion and get your points total from them. That just seems so low and what's the point of being hungry? I want you to be happy and eat well, especially if you're a size 8!

[prasantrin]

Thanks RG. My plan is to go to meetings (a little more expensive, but I'm more likely to follow through; plus I want the books and stuff!), but it'll be three more weeks 'till I can join (I have a previous commitment on the night they've got meetings in my area).

Back to food, several months ago I started subscribing to a couple of blogs that calculate WW points for their recipes. Neither of them use too many low-fat low-calorie low-taste prepared foods but mostly rely on low point ingredients, just like most people here probably do on WW. They're nice to browse through for ideas, but what I like most is that in addition to dividing recipes by categories (mains, desserts, etc.), they also divide them by points. So I can click on "6 points" and look at a variety of different recipes worth 6 points/serving. It just gives me an idea of what I can eat at certain point levels. I was reminded by a recent post, for example, that I should be eating more turkey.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/ is one

http://www.kitchenparade.com/ and the accompanying http://kitchen-parad...e.blogspot.com/ is the other

New recipes usually have both old and new WW point values. Recipes in the archives, however, are mostly in old WW values, but I think both bloggers are in the process of recalculating their old recipes so they can add new WW point values to them.

Just another resource out there.

[rancho_gordo]

It feels something like a miracle to me, but I've officially lost my first five pounds. I think I like WW a lot. You can obsess and be a real cook or you can ignore it, just as in "real life". You don't have the rush of losing 10 or 15 pounds like you do with a "diet" but I imagine you don't gain it back as easily either. I'm impressed!

Today's lunch was 2 ounces of poached chicken mixed with 2 spoonfuls of Fage 2% yogurt and 2 spoonfuls of green salsa I'd already made (in a molcajete, for love's sake). I had four tacos, using all the mixture and four corn tortillas. I also added masses of chopped romaine. Mexicans don't eat a lot of greens with tacos but I love them. 6 points in total and lots to eat. I also think the fage and salsa would make a good salad dressing.

[prasantrin]

Coincidentally, some people at the office decided to do a "Biggest Loser Challenge" for the next couple of months, so I've joined them! Unfortunately, my 2-pound loss from last week doesn't count.

@RG--excellent work!

Re: yogurt--I make yogurt cheese (which I guess is similar to Greek yogurt) and use it instead of mayo or sour cream in pretty much everything, from "fill-in-the-blank" salad sandwiches to dips. It's such a great way to get creaminess without all the fat and calories!

[Chufi]

well... after eating my way around the world (3 weeks in the US and 4 weeks in Japan) there's definitely more of me to take home than there was 7 weeks ago when I left.. Too much of me, I think. So I need to get on some sort of program. Since I respond really badly to any program that tells me what to do, it will be my self designed program of not too many carbs, loads of vegetables, no salty or greasy snacks, and moderate excercise. I say moderate because I hate it, and it's no use trying to convince myself I'll do lots of it, really, this time!

I'll use this thread to report back, for some moral support, and hopefully exchanging recipe ideas. The old WW thread was a great help on a previous weight loss project.

[rancho_gordo]

I was lucky enough to meet Chufi (and Herr Chufi) on their world tour! (Hi!)

I made a real winner on Monday. We have fresh xoconstle (sour prickly pears) in one or two of our Mexican markets and I've always heard about this dish so this weekend it was a go. Mole de Olla (Pot Mole) calls for beef but I had chicken and it was still great. You roast then peel the xoconostle and them to a pot with stock, the chicken, previously made chile sauce, Mexican oregano, cumin, epazote, green beans, corn, zucchini and let it all simmer.



I calculated two points a serving and it's really good and filling.

I also made a more traditional caldo tlapeño with chicken, garbanzos, chipotle in adobo, tomatoes and queso fresco.



I think this is all going to be just fine!

[Darienne]

I've lost about 2 pounds this week, but I'm hungry a lot. Trying to stave off hunger pains with fruit, but even though fruit is free, I don't want to overdo it.

Going back a few posts to one by Prasantrin: I keep remembering this and wondering about it.

I am not very familiar with WW actually but fruit being free seems like a great bonus. Am I missing something completely because I don't know the whole plan?

[rancho_gordo]

Vegetables ate free too. And plain chicken broth.

So, does anyone have clever salad dressing ideas? I like oil/vinegar, ranch, blu cheese- I like it all but I like to use a lot of it. I thought Fage and Salsa would work. It didn't. Any clever ideas or so I need to learn to like a drier salad?

[Chufi]

So, does anyone have clever salad dressing ideas? I like oil/vinegar, ranch, blu cheese- I like it all but I like to use a lot of it. I thought Fage and Salsa would work. It didn't. Any clever ideas or so I need to learn to like a drier salad?

You'll be pleased to hear the RG t-shirt was worn in Tokyo ;)

re: salad dressings: I'm still in Japan, and I've had some great salads here that were not at all dry, but dressed with something that seemed a mixture of soy sauce or ponzu, maybe a bit of rice wine vinegar, fresh ginger, and (sometimes) a little bit of sesame oil. Works especially well with shredded daikon and something like raw fish. I'm looking forward to recreating this when I get back.

This will take you away from a Mexican flavor profile though!

[Laura415]

For me low carb always works for weight loss (<20grams) and moderate carbs to maintain that weight (<100grams)But this year I changed how I approached it by doing a Paleo diet. I cut out all grains (especially wheat) for 30 days (have since let rice and corn back in) and sugar. That's the basic. And you up your fat to as much as 50% of your calories. I only eat fats like butter, olive oil, rendered meat fat and coconut oil (no industrial seed oils) and stick to eggs, meat, vegetables and some fruit. This is such an enjoyable diet. Heavy cream in my coffee, Fatty meat, confit, eggs, buttered vegetables, tubers...It's a savory cooks dream. This is what I had for breakfast today. Duck Confit sauteed with cabbage and two pastured eggs over easy cooked in duck fat. Oh yeah I've lost 12 lbs so far. PS Doc can't believe the healthy numbers at my last check up either. I've almost got her sold.

[heidih]

So, does anyone have clever salad dressing ideas? I like oil/vinegar, ranch, blu cheese- I like it all but I like to use a lot of it. I thought Fage and Salsa would work. It didn't. Any clever ideas or so I need to learn to like a drier salad?

Similar to the Japanese dressing Chufi described, I like the classic SE Asian fish sauce, sugar, lime juice combination. I add fresh chili or chili sauce and use piloncillo for the sweetener (or even Splenda if need be). I generally make up a batch of nuoc mam cham which also contains garlic and some water. This works particularly well in a main dish salad containing meat or fish along with a bit of avocado. I add the liquids rendered from broiling the meats into the salad for an added flavor boost.

You may want to check out recipes that utilize chia seeds as the thickener and experimenting with the flavors you enjoy. An experimental amount to start with would be 1 t. of seeds soaked in 2T of water till it thickens into a gel.

Please let us know how your experiments with various dressings go.

[JAZ]

So, does anyone have clever salad dressing ideas? I like oil/vinegar, ranch, blu cheese- I like it all but I like to use a lot of it. I thought Fage and Salsa would work. It didn't. Any clever ideas or so I need to learn to like a drier salad?

My everyday dressing is a vinaigrette with Dijon style mustard and fresh herbs if I have them, but for a change, or particular salads, I've come up with a few good, fairly low-point alternatives. For creamy style dressings I use a combination of (real) mayonnaise and whole milk yogurt for the base, which works pretty well.

Creamy herb dressing:

I tend to use whatever herbs I have on hand -- usually parsley and dill, but basil and chives end up in it sometimes.

1 Tbsp mayonnaise
3 Tbsp whole milk plain yogurt
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
1 very small garlic clove
1 Tbsp dill
1 Tbsp parsley
salt and pepper to taste

This makes enough for about three big salads for me, and I figure it at 2 pts. per serving that way.

Faux remoulade

I use this for shrimp or crab salads. (I throw all the ingredients in a small food processor, but if the celery and scallion are finely minced, you can whisk by hand.) It's 5 points for the entire recipe, which for me is enough for 2-3 big salads. I also use it on sandwiches instead of plain mayonnaise.

1 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 Tbsp chopped celery
1 Tbsp chopped scallion
1 Tbsp ketchup
1/3 cup whole milk plain yogurt (drained in cheesecloth for 20-30 minutes to thicken it slightly)
1 Tbsp Creole or other whole grain mustard
1 Tbsp parsley
1/2 tsp prepared horseradish
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

I'm also in the process of developing a spicy avocado and cilantro dressing, but I don't have my notes on that with me. I'll post it when I'm at my other computer.

[rancho_gordo]

Well, I stuck to the program, even had extras points and I'm up half a pound! How the hell did that happen? It arrived with other bad news so even though intellectually I know it's part of the "journey", it's too soon to say for sure that WW works for me.

Is it going to be soup for the rest of my life?????

[CaliPoutine]

Well, I stuck to the program, even had extras points and I'm up half a pound! How the hell did that happen? It arrived with other bad news so even though intellectually I know it's part of the "journey", it's too soon to say for sure that WW works for me.

Is it going to be soup for the rest of my life?????

You know what they always say, the first week is water weight that comes off. I joined on Jan 1st. I lost 5.6, then 1.6, then I gained 1 on the 3rd week. I was thinking " wtf". Anyway, long story short, I was discouraged so I stopped and guess what? I put those 6lbs back on, plus another 6. Dont be discouraged, some weeks you'll lose, some weeks you might gain. It will all even out in the end.

Are you exercising? For me, that is the key.

[scubadoo97]

Well, I stuck to the program, even had extras points and I'm up half a pound! How the hell did that happen? It arrived with other bad news so even though intellectually I know it's part of the "journey", it's too soon to say for sure that WW works for me.

Is it going to be soup for the rest of my life?????

Well at least it will be really good bean soup.

Stay with the program. If you are eating less calories over time you will lose weight.

[rancho_gordo]

I'm still in it. Just a little frustrated.
in the meantime, there's an app called WW ScanClac and it is amazing. You scan the barcode of a packaged food (like Trader Joe's Tikka Chicken Masala) and it comes back and tell you the points per serving! I don't eat a lot of packaged food but when I do, this will come in handy.

[scubadoo97]

Cool. My wife has an Iphone and Ipad. I'm still using a dumb phone. Just checked and it's for droids. Oh well

Edited by scubadoo97, 08 June 2011 - 04:28 PM.

[prasantrin]

Could someone explain why two people of different ages, heights and weights should get the same number of points?

Person 1:
Age: x
Height: y
Weight: z

Person 2:
Age: x-10
Height: y+5
Weight: z+40

Both are given the lowest number of points--29. Does not make sense to me AT ALL, and I've sort of lost faith in the system. Must get a better explanation.

eta--wonky formatting

Edited by prasantrin, 10 June 2011 - 04:10 AM.

[Jan Virtanen]

I am also doing paleo lifestyle, i dont really call it a diet. I dont have to loose weight, i am very lean. But i still dropped two kilos. I am never hungry and can go with just one meal a day easily, i dont use grains, dairy, legumes, sugar or industrial oils. I dont also use anything factory made stuff, i cook everything from scratch.
I only eat the good normal stuff, lots of veggies and organic meat and fish, i dont eat poultry or pork due to bad quality of them and poor omega 3/6 ratio. I think the paleo way is healty.

Edited by Jan Virtanen, 13 June 2011 - 07:27 AM.

[AAQuesada]

Vegetables ate free too. And plain chicken broth.

So, does anyone have clever salad dressing ideas? I like oil/vinegar, ranch, blu cheese- I like it all but I like to use a lot of it. I thought Fage and Salsa would work. It didn't. Any clever ideas or so I need to learn to like a drier salad?

Try thickening veg stock to oil consistency with arrowroot, chill and use it as most or all of the oil in standard vinaigrette. For mayo based you could sub miracle whip or make your own boiled dressing and mix with non-fat yogurt as a base for ranch/blue cheese dressings.

[rancho_gordo]

Oh, that's clever. And a use for that bottle of Arrowroot that's been sitting around with nothing to do!

Had a debauched 4 days in Kansas City (arrogant Californian asks, Kansas City- who knew?) including all the booze I wanted, BBQ (Bryants and LC's), farm dinners, restaurant dinners, a home dinner and brunch at Lidia's and I only gained a pound! Now all I really want is boiled vegetables for a few days but I wonder if three weeks on WW helped the attack of rich food.