Weight Watchers Tips

Weight Watchers Tips

Weight Watcher Tips: Don’t cheat

You don’t need to cheat. Track your points carefully, and if you find something that you really must eat; then eat it and fully count its points.

Weight Watcher Tips: Don’t eat anything until you find out the point count

That “fat free muffin” that you see at the bakery probably has twice the points that you think it does. Do your research before eating it. I have available some details on the formula for Weight Watchers Points.

Weight Watcher Tips: Don’t waste points on non-filling items

Things like orange juice; non-diet soda, etc. use up a lot of points, but don’t really fill you up or satisfy your hunger very much. I also recommend that you not use points strictly for “flavor” (i.e. sauces, full-fat dressings, etc.) Save your points for items that will be filling and satisfying.

Weight Watcher Tips: Do use your points on filling items

Rice cakes are a good example of this. They are pretty filling and are only 1 point each.

Weight Watcher Tips: Rethink what you like

Many people say “I don’t like salad” or “I can’t eat vegetables.” You are trying to improve you health and fitness, now is the time to re-access your likes and dislikes. I don’t like vegetables very much, but I try and have them with every lunch and dinner, because I know they will fill me up without points.

Weight Watcher Tips: Don’t use “special event dinners” as an excuse for going off the program

That fancy steak house probably can broil you a nice piece of fish and serve you a salad without cheese.

Weight Watcher Tips: Control portions

You do need to weigh and measure most of what you eat. If you are too lazy to do this very often at home, then buy pre-packaged entries which have the points pre-calculated (i.e. Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones).

Weight Watcher Tips: Drink those fluids

You will need to have at least 8 glasses of non-caffeine (preferably non-calorie as well) liquid per day. Get in the habit of bringing a large bottle of water, seltzer or whatever you prefer to work each day, and drink it!

Weight Watcher Tips: Read those labels

Just because a product is marketed as a “healthy” or “lite” or “sports” product, does not mean it’s low in fat/calories/points. Check out those “fitness” bars that are very popular, they are loaded with calories.

Weight Watcher Tips: Eat “real” food

Energy bars and protein shakes have lots of calories and you will still be hungry. If you need more protein, eat some grilled chicken.

Weight Watcher Tips: Know your yogurt

Yogurt comes in a mind-numbing number of varieties. Ranging from full-fat, fully sweetened to non-fat, non-sugared and everything in between. The point counts can vary tremendously, so read the labels carefully. I’ve seen two different brands of plain, non-fat yogurt have 100 and 130 calories (both for a 1 cup serving).

Weight Watcher Tips: Use skim milk only

There is no reason for using whole milk, 2% or even 1% milk. Coffee and cereals taste practically the same with skim as with 2%, plus you are saving lots of fat.

Weight Watcher Tips: Beware the fruit

Fruit is healthy and you should be eating some every day, but they have points and some of them (bananas, pineapple) have quite a few points. You cannot eat an infinite amount of fruit and lose weight. The same goes for carrots, if you are going to be munching handfuls of carrot sticks, make sure you count the points.

Weight Watcher Tips: De-Cheese your pizza

Your friendly neighborhood pizza purveyor will be happy to make you a pizza with no cheese. Load it up with peppers, mushrooms, spinach, fresh tomatoes, etc. You will hardly miss the cheese and there will be a drastic reduction in points.

Weight Watcher Tips: Just Do It

Diet alone will only get you limited results. If you are overweight, chances are you are not getting much exercise. Do it. Do it every day. Joining a gym is fine, but are you really going to get there every day? Try and find something that you can do at home, whenever your schedule permits.

Weight Watcher Tips: Track those points

I use a Palm Pilot program called WWCalc[*], but you can use a notebook, the Weight Watchers diary pages, or whatever you prefer. Tracking your points and being able to review what you ate for the prior week can give you insight into why you lost more weight some weeks than others.

Weight Watcher Tips: Don’t settle for holding even

You want to lose weight every week. Stick to the program and you will.