Variation? But how?
I am struggling a little bit with variation – at the moment I’m pretty much eating the same things every day. This is easy of course to do as I can prepare a lot of things in advance or very quickly. Weight Watchers tends to stress that we really need a varied diet, and I get that, but I don’t know what else I can eat.
For example, I can not just eat a sandwich for breakfast or lunch. Well, I can, but it’s not really satisfying. I can eat eggs, for example, which on ProPoints a filling portion is 5 points. That means I can eat until I am satisfied as many eggs as I want. Before you start wondering if my cholesterol level is through the roof, it’s not; I usually eat no more than 4 soft boiled eggs at a time.
So, what can I eat, that is filling, for only 5 points? A sandwich costs more points than that. The bread itself (because no slice of bread is 25g = 2 points) for two slices is anywhere from 4.5 to 5 points. I can add a bunch of cucumbers and 3 slices of chicken lunch meat (50g = 1 point), but really, this is a piddly sandwich if you ask me. And a sandwich like that definitely won’t get me through the afternoon, I’d need at least two of them (and even then… it feels like a lot of bread and very little of anything else) which would cost me 9 – 10 points.
I could eat yoghurt, fruit and cereal for 3 points, but I have actually been using this as my afternoon (or on the way home) snack. I can not just eat cereal and milk; that’s a lot of grains and no protein really and my belly isn’t a huge fan of too much milk. Cereal- All-Bran -is 2 points for only 30g. That’s VERY little, certainly not something I can survive on from 6 am even until I get to work at 9am.
Lately lunches are warm meals – 100gr of rice and 100gr of chicken with veggies, which costs me around 7 points total. Again, 2 sandwiches cost more than this and are less satisfying. Sometimes I have salads instead, but still with rice and maybe quorn, tuna or shrimp and still only cost me around 7 points. I try to vary the protein I have in my lunch every day but it’s pretty much the same besides that. And I have fruit – mandarins or a grapefruit or kiwis – afterwards.
How does one really VARY what the eat during the day? I don’t eat a lot of snacks that aren’t fruit or vegetable related. No junk food whatsoever. With a budget of 29 points and the desire to have a really good, hearty evening meal keep me with the same meals during the day. I would really like to vary, but I want to have the same points left over when I come home for a tasty Indian or Italian meal… If any readers have any tips, I am open, please tell me what you do to make things more interesting!
I use soup a lot as the base of my meals and then add in other things around that such as fruits/veggies or maybe a granola bar or some healthy snackish I’ve prepared.
of course! soup! I should make some soon. That’s at least something added to what I’m having or maybe a replacement for the rice in my salads.
thanks!!
I second shrinkingirl. Soup can be low fat, high in protein (depending on what you use), high in fibre, and warm and filling for these winter days. You can make some good chilis, rataouilles, and casseroles, too. Think beans and veggies mostly, with or without meat and cheese.
I will have to check if Rose Reisman has recipes online. She is a really good cookbook author.
Do you like seafood? She has a really good recipe for what she calls seafood stew, but it’s more like a tomato-based bouillebaise. If you like fish and seafood, that one is SO good, and really WW friendly.
I gave up on sandwiches a long time ago. In fact, I hardly eat bread anymore at all (and I used to be the queen of baked goods!)
I should have some time on Wednesday to think about and plan out some soups! thanks for reminding me! I do love seafood but Hubs is so-so on the issue! And I just need to know I can freeze seafood soups? I seriously have never made any soup that wasn’t vegetarian before!
Try to add more veggies to your lunches and evening food, and make some soups for lunch and eat together with your sandwich, try oats with skim milk, orange marmelade and dark choco for brakfast – I eat them most of the time, plus banana :)
Hey Jema, thanks for your input. I have to say though, I eat a LOT of veggies already. How much do you think I should add? Today’s lunch veggies were 75 grams ruccola, 50g cherry tomatoes, 150 grams broccoli and a small onion. Breakfast I even had 1 large tomato (probably a bit more than 100 grams). I didn’t have too much this afternoon though, I wasn’t too snacky (which is great!). This evening I probably ate another 100 grams worth of tomato in the Indian meal my husband cooked.
I thought oatmeal was pretty high in points? How much do you make? I don’t eat bananas anymore after my Weight Watchers leader suggested I stop! She thought maybe it was causing me “issues” which got in the way of weight loss,
For ProPoints calculation of 6 points:
30 g rolled oats (euro shopper)
130 ml skim milk + 20 ml water
20 g jam ( chivres – albert heijn)
2 minutes – microwave full power – watch it!
after 2 minutes resting outside add 10 g dark choco, enjoy! I ate 1 banana after 1 hour of so, and I’am good till 12, I am every morning at 6 out of my bed. I don’t think banana is guilty for your problems, they incourage us to eat any type of fruit including mango, grapes and banana for zero points now, so why schould banana be “the reason”??
I think the real reason now is because we are not completely satisfied, it’s winter, it’s cold, we have new program, we don’t move enough, we are little bit depri, I mean it’s dark most of the time…so, be patiente, don’t give up!
I guess I wouldn’t be too popular with your WW leader…I eat a banana and oatmeal most days for breakfast! I like the oatmeal because it is really filling/satisfying. I usually only have 2/3 cup max of cooked oatmeal, with a few raisins and a splash of milk. (I don’t know how many points.) I eat it every day, so I make a fairly large batch and it lasts a few days (microwave to heat).
I can’t see why you couldn’t try to freeze the seafood “stew”/soup. The recipe I use (I can send it if you want it) calls for mussels, which may be the only thing I wouldn’t freeze.
Have you tried using lentils at all? I LOVE them and they add something really nice to soups, or in recipes on their own, have a lot of protein and low cal. I recently blogged a great recipe if you wanna check that out.
Also, have you ever tried making Bisquick’s Impossible Pies? They are not naturally low cal, but it’s REALLY easy to make them that way. Most of them have only five or six ingredients + the Bisquick. I used to make an Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie that was only 4 points for 1/8 of a 9×13 inch pan. If you can’t get Bisquick in your area, you can make your own at home really easily.
Also, there are lots of awesome, healthy Crock Pot recipes out there that heat up nicely and are easy to make.
Finally, I have a recipe for a Veggie Lasagna that you can make and freeze before baking, and then it heats up REALLY nice as leftovers. Again, 1/8 of a 9×13 inch pan is only 4 or 5 points.
I know you are pretty busy so maybe you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but my best suggestion would be to find a few recipes, get them ready on a Sunday to bake/prepare during the week, and then take the leftovers for lunch each day. There are so many great recipes out there and a lot of the time some of them will introduce you to a new ingredient, and at the very least they can help break up the monotony of a menu-rut!
thanks for all the feedback. either tomorrow afternoon or in the weekend I’m going to look into working in some of these suggestions! I wish I had more time to respond to every comment right now but it’s late and I really must hit the sack!