Dietary Blog

For this blog I followed the Weight Watchers Program for one week.  Over the years there have been many changes to the Weight Watchers Program.  The current Weight Watchers Program is called Free Style.  My mother and her friends did not find that this program was for them.  In the Free Style Program there are a lot of foods that are zero points and you should only eat until you are satisfied.  For people that are not able to stop when they are satisfied, they do not like this program.  So I have chosen to do Weight Watchers Turn Around Program for one week.  The Weight Watchers Turn Around Program is an older program from a few years ago.  It seems to be helping my mother and her friends, so that is why I decided to follow this for one week.  

Weight Watchers Turn Around Program

Weight Watchers Turn Around Program is when a person is provided with a number of points to eat per day and everything that you eat has points allocated to it.  The amount of points a person is given per day depends on their weight, if they are a female nursing or if they are teenagers.  Since I am under the age of 19, I needed to add 2 extra points to my daily amount.  My daily points are 30 points per day. 

8 glasses of water a day

While you are on the Weight Watchers Program, they recommend that you drink 6 glasses of water each day, you are to eat at least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits each day and you are to include 2 servings of milk products.

5 servings of fruits and vegetables

While on this program you are to write down and keep track of everything that you eat and stay within the points given to you during the day.  They do recommend that you exercise and follow a healthy diet.  Weight Watchers recommends 30 minutes a day of exercise, even if it is just walking.  They say that exercise helps with weight loss but also improves a person's mood, it helps with blood pressure and it can help build a person's self-esteem.  Weight Watchers says that they are not a diet but a lifestyle change.  Weight Watchers also provides its members with recipes that follow the program and are low in points.  As a member there are also classes that they can attend to get support, inspiration and helpful tips while on the program.  This program is not free, so there is a monthly fee that you need to pay.  Since my mother is on the program, I am using her information without actually joining since I am going to follow this diet for only one week. 

Milk Allergen

A milk allergen is a common food allergen.  A person who has a milk allergen is allergic to cow's milk and may sometimes be allergic to milk from sheep and goats.  If you have a milk allergen, you are to avoid milk, milk products and products that contain milk.  It is important to read the ingredients on labels to make sure milk is not one of the ingredients.  Some symptoms when you have a milk allergy are hives, stomach upset and vomiting.  You can substitute milk with soy milk, rice milk, oat milk and almond milk.

Morning Meal Ideas

Meal No. 1 – 6 points	Meal No. 2 – 7 points	Meal No. 3 – 7 points
-1 cup light yogurt -½ cup sliced strawberries -1 tbsp chopped almonds	-1 egg, scrambled in nonstick spray with chopped tomato, chopped scallions, and 4 tbsp shredded low-fat cheese	-1 cup cooked oatmeal -½ cup fat-free milk -1 cup mixed berries

Lunch Meal Ideas

Meal No. 1 – 8 points	Meal No. 2 – 9 points	Meal No. 3 – 7 points
-1 cup drained water-packed tuna, mixed with chopped celery, shredded carrot, 1 tbsp fat-free mayo and 1 tsp mustard, served with tomato slices on a bed of lettuce	-1 large slice thin-crust cheese pizza, mixed greens and tomato slices with 1 tsp olive oil and balsamic vinegar -1 diet soda	-1 cup canned lentil soup -1 cup fat-free plain yogurt, mixed with 1 cup drained canned unsweetened pineapple chunks

Dinner Meal Ideas

Meal No. 1 – 8 points	Meal No. 2 – 9 points	Meal No. 3 – 9 points
-1 cup hot and sour soup -1 cup chicken and broccoli -1/2 cup cooked brown rice ½ cup mango sorbet	-1 broiled 97% lean hamburger patty -1 English muffin, toasted -lettuce leaves, tomato slices and pick spears -15 baked frozen French fries -1 cup watermelon cubes	-1 grilled lean pork chop -1/2 baked sweet potato with 2 tbsp fat-free margarine -1 cup steamed green beans -1 ½ cups strawberries, topped with 1 cup fat-free plain yogurt

Snack Ideas

-3 cups of light microwave-popped popcorn is 1 point

-2 small chocolate chip cookies is 4 points

-1/2 cup of low-fat milk is 4 points

-1/2 cup of fat-free ricotta cheese with 1/2 cup of fruit is 4 points

My 3 Day Food Log

DAY 1	DAY 2	DAY 3
BREAKFAST
Total Points = 7 points 1 cup orange juice (2 points) 2 pancakes, small (3 points) 1 banana (2 points)	Total Points = 6 points 1 cup orange juice (2 points) 1 bagel, small (3 points) 1 tsp of butter (1 points)	Total Points = 7 points 1 cup Apple Cinnamon Cheerios (4 points) 1 cup of 2% milk (3 points)
SNACKS
Total Points = 5 points 3 cups of light microwaved popcorn (3 points) 1 large apple (2 points)	Total Points = 4 points 3 cups of light microwaved popcorn (3 points) 1 cup of carrots (1 point)	Total Points = 2 points 1 cup of carrots (1 point) 1 cup raw peppers (1 points)
LUNCH
Total Points = 6 points 1 can of tuna, with celery and carrots and 1 tbsp fat-free mayo and 1 tsp mustard (6 points)	Total Points = 6 points 1 cup of Campbell's Broccoli and Cheese Soup (4 points) 8 Crackers (2 points)	Total Points = 9 points 1 cup cooked pasta (4 points) 1/2 cup tomato sauce (3 points) 1 cup of lettuce, tomato, celery, with 1 tsp sunflower oil and 1 tsp vinegar (2 points)
DINNER
Total Points = 13 points 4 oz of chicken breast, pan-fried and breaded (7 points) 1 cup of lettuce, 1 tomato, with Italian salad dressing (6 points)	Total Points = 13 points 4 oz of chicken breast, pan-fried, with skin (5 points) 1/2 Coleslaw (4 points) 1 cup of white rice (4 points)

For my 3rd Day my Dinner Total Points were = 8 points

4 oz of chicken breast, no skin, bbq (3 points)

1 cup of white rice (4 points)

1 cup of cauliflower (1 point)

Chicken Breast on BBQ

Cooked Chicken Breast

Cauliflower

Dinner Plate

For someone who is allergic to milk and milk products, I have altered a cheesy baked potato recipe.

Cheesy Baked Potato Recipe

Cheesy Baked Potato

2 large baking potatoes

2 tsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

1 cup broccoli, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 non-fat cottage cheese (as a substitute use tofu)

1/2 cup parsley, chopped

2 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated (as a substitute use nutritional yeast)

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

Tofu is a food made of condensed soy milk that is pressed into solid white blocks.

Nutritional Yeast is a species of yeast known as Saccharomyces cervisiae.  It is used mostly in vegan cooking.

At the end of the week I found that dieting is hard and not an easy thing.  There is always temptation around and you have to have the will power to follow the program.  It is ok to not follow the program and cheat once in a while but it is always good to get right back on the program.  I also found that the counting of points is time consuming or at least for someone like me who does not know the program very well and needs to continuously look up points for each ingredient in a recipe.  Someone who has been on the program longer will know many of the points off by heart and would not need to look up points as many times.  

Some advice that I would recommend would be to try and meal prep all your food for the week on the Sunday.  Change up the meals every so often so that you are not getting bored of the food quickly.  Make various meals and freeze them so that you have meals for the week or more than one week.  Also, if there is a meal that you love but it is not healthy, try and make changes to the recipe so that it will be healthier for you to eat.  As a chef, it is important to me that the food be healthier but still tasty.  There are a lot of healthy recipes from which you can choose from and that are tasty.  Do not be afraid to substitute certain ingredients if you are allergic or just do not like.  Try out new recipes and see what you may like.

Personally, no I do not think I would continue with Weight Watchers.  The program does help many people but the counting of points and keeping track is not something that I am willing to do for the rest my life.  I am young and still growing and I like to eat out.  Weight Watchers does allow a person eat out but you have to be careful with the points and ask the servers if substitutes are allowed.  For now it is not something I care to follow.  

References

Images from www.pixels.com

"What is Nutritional Yeast?"  www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-tofu

"What is Tofu?"  www.healthline.com/nutrition/nutritional-yeast