weight watchers shopping list;

One of my friends is joining weight watchers with me, and I wanted to be helpful and compile a list of my go-to foods and snacks to help her get started!  Let me start from the beginning though.  I am getting out of my comfort zone and trying a variety of things to try to feel and look my best for my wedding this fall!

I started off with whole30, which you can read about in various posts: A two week look at whole30; the best and worst of whole30; among a few recipes (see the best and worst post).  Yes it’s a fad diet, but to me the principle is sound–eat simple foods and limit intake of processed foods.  While it was an interesting experience, it was not a sustainable choice for me.  In full honesty, it was an expensive and time-consuming experience and while I did feel better and enjoyed some of the food, I probably leaned too heavily on potatoes and fatty foods to get real weight loss benefits.  I did feel better though and if you stick to it more rigorously than me, you may have different results.

A couple of my co-workers started doing weight watchers because we get a work discount and after they both had some success, I thought why not?  I called up one of Tyler’s uncles who has had success as a lifetime member for a while and he had great things to say about it.  My co-workers and I have a group message and send each other great WW finds which has been so helpful, especially when wading into it for the first time.

The short of the diet part of weight watchers is that they boil down nutritional value to a single “point” value to help you track what you’re eating.  This encourages low-calorie, low-fat, and low-carb eating.  As a mid-twenties female, my budget is 24 points / day, with 35 to flex across the whole week.

[/caption]When I pack my own meals I average approximately 6 points per meal, which gives me a few leftover to snack on throughout the day. And things add up fast like little tastes of snacks, condiments, a splash of oil, etc.  To give you a reference for points, here’s some average point values: grilled chicken – 0 points, egg – 0 points, 1 tsp oil – 1 point, 3 oreos – 7 points, hamburger + bun – 11 points, small chick-fil-a fries – 9 points, pepperoni pizza slice – 11 points, beer – 5 points.  I’ve had varying success so far.  I have seen weight loss, but weekends out of town or heavy on food-socializing tend to bring me back up.  Especially over summer I find it hard to get down and keep the weight off.  I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!

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Main dishes:

• Turkey burgers – 4 points for 1 patty [Trader Joe’s]
• Chili Lime Chicken Burgers – 3 points for 1 patty [Trader Joe’s]
• Purdue Short Cuts, Regular, Fajita – 0 points for 1/2 c. [Giant]
• Turkey Meatballs – 3 points for 2 meatballs [Trader Joe’s]
• Mini Cilantro Wontons – 1 point for 4 wontons [Trader Joe’s, Costco]
• Turkey Bolognese Nothing but Sauce – 4 points for 1/2 c. [Trader Joe’s]
• Rosemary Ham – 1 point for 2 slices [Trader Joe’s]
• Mrs. Paul’s Fish Sticks – 6 points for 6 sticks [Giant]
• Mrs. Paul’s Crab Cakes – 5 points for 1 cake [Giant]
• **Kung Pao Tempura Cauliflower – 6 points for 1 c. [Trader Joe’s]
• **Mediterranean Chicken Skewers – 1 point for 2 skewers [Costco]
• **Vegetable Fried Rice – 6 points for 1 1/4 c. [Trader Joe’s]

Condiments / Sides:

• Carrot Spirals – 0 points for 1/4 package [Trader Joe’s]
• Mustard –  0 points for 1 Tbsp. [General]
• Hood Cottage cheese – 3 points for 1/2 c. [General]
• Low-fat mozzarella – 2 points for 1/4 c. [Trader Joe’s]
• Low-fat Mexican blend – 2-3 points for 1/4 c. [Giant, Trader Joe’s]
• Cooking Spray – 0 points for <8 sprays[General]
• Nature’s Own Whole Wheat Bread – 1 point per slice [Giant]
• Whole wheat reduced-carb tortillas – 1 point per tortilla[Trader Joe’s]
• Nando’s Garlic Peri-peri sauce – 0 points for 1 Tbsp. [Giant]
• La Croix sparkling water – 0 points [General]
• **Roasted Red Peppers – 0 points [Trader Joe’s]
• **Artichoke and Jalapeno Dip – 2 points for 2 Tbsp. [Trader Joe’s]
• **Tribe Roasted Red Pepper / Garlic Hummus – 1 point for 2 Tbsp. [Giant]
• **PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter – 1 point for 2 Tbsp.

Snacks:

• All fruit
• All veggies
• Kale Artichoke Dip – 2 points for 2 Tbsp. [Trader Joe’s]
• Tribe Garlic or Red Pepper Hummus – 1 point for 2 Tbsp. [Giant]
• Low-fat yogurt + fruit – 0 points [General]
• Pickles – 0 points [General]
• Roasted Gorgonzola Crackers – 4 points for 31 crackers [Trader Joe’s]
• Weight Watchers bars, chocolate raspberry, mint, etc.  – 2-3 points per bar [Weight Watchers]
• Spicy Cheese Crunchies – 4 points per 33 crunchies [Trader Joe’s]
• Enlightened Ice Cream Bars – 3 points per bar [Giant]
• Blue Diamond Nut Thins, Cheddar Cheese – 4 points for 16 crackers [Mom’s Organic Market]
• Hormel’s Turkey Pepperoni – 2 points for 17 slices [*]
• **Halo Top Ice Cream – 2-3 points for 1/2 c. depending on flavor [Giant]
• **Animal Crackers – 4 points for 17 [Trader Joe’s]
• **Whisps Parmesan Cheese Crisps – 3 points for 15 crisps [Costco]
• **Umeboshi + 1 tsp. Honey – 1 point [Mom’s Organic Market]

*I have yet to pick these up and had trouble finding them at Giant, but a great tip from my Weight Watchers buddies!

**Added later

Restaurant Meals:

• Grilled Chicken Nuggets (careful with sauces)  [Chick-Fil-A]
• Salmon with veggies [General]
• Thin Crust Pizza (careful with #slices) [Papa John’s]
• Fajitas [General – Mexican]
• Chicken Breast [Nando’s]

And here a few of my go-to meals using the shopping list above!  I won’t list out points because there’s too many variables, but feel free to use this as a starting point!

Go-to Meals:

• Turkey/chicken burger, no bun topped with a fried egg
• Veggies as sides always!
• Cottage cheese + fruit
• Fun flavored yogurt (chocolate, salted caramel) + fruit, especially bananas
• Wraps with deli turkey or grilled chicken + veggies + spread or mustard
• Seafood, especially grilled or pan-fried salmon or other fish
• lightened up macaroni salad + chicken kabobs
• spinach pie as a main dish or breakfast
• **Egg salad
• **Fruit tacos