chefisaac

We are watching you Penny!!!!!

How you feeling?

Penny4

Guess I'd better put that cookie down then, huh?

Mark Stone

Step away from the cookie . . . . Step away from the cookie . . . .

Penny4

Speaking of cookies...those horrible little girls in green dresses were loitering around the grocery store today peddling their cookies. I shoved a $5 at them as a donation and ran away before I could change my mind and scoop up some Thin Mints. I just can't trust myself with those right now!

Penny4

ONE thin mint has 2 pts +. Who eats ONE thin mint?? pfffff

chefisaac

My wife said a serving of those are two cookies for 2 pts.

Penny4

Could be...I looked it up on the WW site, not from the box itself.

chefisaac

Interesting.

How are things thus far Penny?

Penny4

Hanging in there, thanks! Attempting to make a lemon/rosemary chicken dish tonight. We'll see how that goes I'm trying to get better about cooking real food as opposed to frozen, etc.
How 'bout yourself?

Mark Stone

GS Cookies are 3,000 Weight Watchers points each. One cookie and you'll gain over 52 pounds. Serious.

chefisaac

Tonights Dinner: Pan Roasted Jalapeno & Herb Sausage with Garlic Tomato Sauce served with Roasted Green Beans, Bell Peppers and Crimini Mushrooms

(Points: Sausage: 3 pts, Sauce: 1/2 c= 2 pts, mushrooms, bell peppers, and green beans: 0 points. Olive oil: 2 tsp: 2 pts. Grand Total: 7 points)

bbeasley

Hey Chef,

I've been experimenting with quinoa and lentils. They seem to be very filling for the points used. Thanks for the tip!

I'm still learning about how the points work. My week is about over and I've used all my daily's and most or all of my 49. I've got over 100 activity points unused. I'm running 2 miles, ~ 10min/miles, and cycling 16 miles, ~17 MPH, everyday. At that level I can't get by on just the daily's and the Activity points are way too high. I'm just going to stick with it and tweak as needed.

chefisaac

This is great! You are doing wonderful. Report back on weight and tweak from there.

The lentils are wonderful with a little parmesan cheese. 1 T is only 1 pt so you can use 2-3 T if you have the points.

With quinoa, I like to cut up a lot of herbs and roast vegetables like peppers, onions, and mushrooms and make a salad with the quinoa.

Making lentil cakes are fun too. Overcook the lentils a lot, puree them, add just a tiny amount of whole wheat flour (can use AP if needed), whatever veg you want and then make a burger with them. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

chefisaac

Throw up some pictures sometime of the food too.

bbeasley

Weigh in today, no change still 209.

chefisaac

Interesting. Good it is not a gain. What makes you think it was not a loss? How was eating this week? Exercise?

bbeasley

I guess my standard answer is I ate too much. I used all my daily's, all of my 49s, and a few (less than 10) of my over 100 activity points. With my fitness routine, points don't mean much as I've had over 100 activity points both weeks. The problem with points not being real is I'm left to my own devices as to how much to eat. Just like before WW. I could ignore Activity points but cycling 100+ miles per week (all on a fixed gear bike) and running ~10 miles per week is way too much for the daily's alone.

The good from WW is I'm eating more nutritious food for sure. I think the bad is it's WAY to low fat of a diet or at least my choices have been. I'm getting serious cravings and for me that's usually a sign of not enough fat in my diet.

On Fat: I had lost down from 252 Lbs to 205 ish on a conventional wisdom low fat diet. My labs were still ugly especially cholesterol and lipids. I added fat back into my diet for 8 months. My weight didn't change but now my labs are perfect. So much so that my skeptical MD told my "one more set of labs like that and you're off Lipitor". I've been on it for over 10 years. I'm not suggesting anybody add fat to their diet, just sharing my experience.

I'm going to stick with it and add more good fats back in and see what happens.

My other concern is I've never lost weight while training for Triathlons. I lose better with light exercise and food tracking. Problem is I'm now a cardio junkie and need my daily fix of an hour at or near my aerobic max.

I've got issues

chefisaac

Issues or excuses!!??

For a week, why not try to avoud eating your activity points, just as an experiment. Divide up your weekly points and add them to your daily points. Try to stay within that.

Why not throw up a days worth of food to take a look at if you dont mind.

Might be worth throwing in some complex carbs.

bbeasley

Deal! Since my WW week starts today, I'll post every night... Thanks!

Penny4

BBeasley, just one other thought. Are you weighing/measuring everything? Unless I do this, I usually overestimate how much I eating.

Just curious, what are you eating before your rides and runs? I always found it hard (mentally) to allot points for pre-exercise fuel. I tend to not use my activity points either.

It is interesting that you mention how low fat WW is. I was just thinking that the other day. I get 32 pts/day and that doesn't allow a lot of room for too much fat content.

bbeasley

I'm measuring.

I eat a serving of oatmeal and one scrambled egg for breakfast. On my 50 mile Saturday ride, I add 1/4 peanut butter and honey on wheat sandwich every 16 miles. I drink water with nun tablets on the long ride. For my morning run and commute I don't eat anything extra.

WW is focused on losing weight, and not on increasing fitness. My main goal is to increase my fitness level for the upcoming Triathlon season and slowly lose weight. I'm not sure these two goals co-exist easily. WW recommends limiting activity points to 32 (I think that's the number) per week. I'm currently hitting over 100.

The fat conversation is an interesting one for me. I've read Mark Allen's, multi time IronMan world champion, book and follow Dr Peter Attia's blog. I'm of the opinion that if you're training for endurance, longer than 2 hr, events you need more fat in your diet. I have no idea if this is true for pure weight loss. As you mentioned, there's not much room in the points for fat. On the other hand, I find a bit of cheese or some of the good oils keep my hunger at bay so maybe it's worth spending the points.

bbeasley

QandL is quinoa and lentils. The points in Spinach salad comes from Canola oil and Goat Cheese

Penny4

Okay, I can't really analyze your day to figure out why no weight loss this week....but I am intrigued that 60 semi sweet choc chips are 4 pts!

Are you hungry throughout the day? That doesn't seem like a lot of food. I have to eat fruits and veggies all day for 0 pt snacks. But, I like to eat every 2-3 hours.

bbeasley

Not hungry, I eat lots of broccoli and spinach.

The Chocolate Chips... i don't want to lose my soul The points are right out of the WW tracker. Perhaps the straight chocolate is not so bad compared to having them surrounded by all the sugar and fat in cookie dough?

islandseas

Hi...I haven't posted all winter but thought I'd pop in and make a quick comment. I'm a WW and am down 65lbs. Like chiefisacc says that isn't a lot of food for the amount of activity. Instead of eating the packaged oatmeal which is added sugar I would substitue whole rolled oats which can be cooked just as quick in the microwave and add some fruit and low fat milk. Your day looks very low in proteins....you could add protein and bulk up with veggies and fruit. I have a smoothie at least four mornings a week made with 1/2cup 0%fat greek yogurt (which is very high in protein) and add a small banana, and a mixture of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries and add either water or 1% milk to blend. It's very filling. The protein helps keep you satisfied. Hope this helps and keep up the great work.

Karen