[VanZan]

I'm going to go to my first Weight Watchers meeting on Tuesday. I have been cutting down in the last few days. Can I ask a question out of curiousity? Yesterday all I had was a Vegetable Burger from my local chippie and a single pancake. Today I've had one spare rib, a slice of apple tart and a ham sandwich. On both those days I've had no breakfast. I also had a 2 or 3 cups of tea with no sugar. Overall have I done good or bad? I know I'll get all the facts on Tuesday but have I clocked up many points?

Basically I'm a total weight loss noob and am very curious after reading some of the old threads here and the food diary threads. Thanks for any help and apologies if my post is inappropriate.

[Jwacqui]

Hi!

If I remember correctly I read your thread in PI and was going to reply actually!

First of all congratulations on taking the step to join WW. I think it is an amazing program and I love it! It has helped me so much, the weekly weigh in's keep me on track. The meetings motivate me. My weight loss spurs me to go on. I just adore it!

The food you have eaten it the last few days are not healthy foods. Points wise there are many factors that influence how many points you are allocated a day so I would be unable to tell if you have clocked up many of your points. But I wouldn't fully worry about this until tuesday. Just try and eat as healthy as you can until then.

WW encourages you to eat healthy filling foods. Veg, fruit, wholegrain pasta, rice, potatoes, non-creamy soups, lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, skimmed milk and other dairy.

I struggle with this alot and am trying to eat healthier and better my diet all the time.

I hope that answers your question in a roundabout way! If you have any more ask away! All the best with your weight loss journey!!

J

[VanZan]

Thanks for replying. The only other thing on my mind is the cost. I'm on social welfare and am wondering how expensive the healthier foods are. Aren't the rubbish foods cheaper than the healthier ones? Anyway thanks again and good luck with your journey too Jwacqui

[Jwacqui]

No not really. There are many cheaper own brand healthy foods out there. I was shopping tonight and got cheap meat and chicken fillets in dunnes. Also got loads of veg that were on special offer. Bought tinned tomatoes that were dunnes own brand think they were 59c! So just shop wisely.

And don't be afraid to buy the cheaper own brands. I don't shop in aldi or lidl but everybody raves about how cheap their fruit and veg is. If you want to make the best of your money buy basic foods and cook from scratch. Make batches of the same stuff and freeze.

If you have leftover veg puree and make veg soup. Be creative and your money will stretch a long way!

[peepeep]

Originally Posted by VanZan

I'm going to go to my first Weight Watchers meeting on Tuesday. I have been cutting down in the last few days. Can I ask a question out of curiousity? Yesterday all I had was a Vegetable Burger from my local chippie and a single pancake. Today I've had one spare rib, a slice of apple tart and a ham sandwich. On both those days I've had no breakfast. I also had a 2 or 3 cups of tea with no sugar. Overall have I done good or bad? I know I'll get all the facts on Tuesday but have I clocked up many points?

Basically I'm a total weight loss noob and am very curious after reading some of the old threads here and the food diary threads. Thanks for any help and apologies if my post is inappropriate.

Hi there,

Well done on deciding to make some changes and to lose weight.

HOWEVER - the food you mentioned above is just rubbish. If you want to lose weight, number 1 change to make is to avoid the chippie completely. Just because something is called a 'vegetable burger' doesn't make it good. It's still fried in calorific oil, served with sugary ketchy on a starchy white piece of bread. It's pure rubbish and completely devoid of any nutritional value - as is a pancake.

Don't starve yourself - this will only make you binge eventually. Get into the routine of eating at least 3 set meals per day, with healthy snacks in between. For example, this might be a day's food:

Breakfast: Bowl of porridge / weetabix with low-fat milk
Snack: Piece of fruit
Lunch: Egg / tuna salad made with lots of lettuce, onion, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber etc
Snack: Handful of unsalted nuts
Dinner: Piece of chicken / fresh fish with steamed vegetables

If you must eat bread, then make sure it is NOT white. Eat wholemeal or wholegrain (I find the latter tastier). Try to avoid ham and cheese sandwiches - both ham and cheese are very fatty and won't do you any good.

If you are craving sugar, remember that fruit is packed full of natural sugars, so a bowl of fresh berries with some low-fat natural yogurt will satisfy your sweet tooth better than a chocolate bar.

Also remember that alcohol is crammed full of calories, so if you are a drinker I would cut back.

One more thing - Eating healthy is CHEAPER than eating junk. Vegetables are very cheap and so is most fruit. You will save money by eating better.

[Frogdog]

Read this sticky, it contains all you need to know.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...p?t=2055157091

[VanZan]

Originally Posted by peepeep

Hi there,

Well done on deciding to make some changes and to lose weight.

HOWEVER - the food you mentioned above is just rubbish. If you want to lose weight, number 1 change to make is to avoid the chippie completely. Just because something is called a 'vegetable burger' doesn't make it good. It's still fried in calorific oil, served with sugary ketchy on a starchy white piece of bread. It's pure rubbish and completely devoid of any nutritional value - as is a pancake.

Don't starve yourself - this will only make you binge eventually. Get into the routine of eating at least 3 set meals per day, with healthy snacks in between. For example, this might be a day's food:

Breakfast: Bowl of porridge / weetabix with low-fat milk
Snack: Piece of fruit
Lunch: Egg / tuna salad made with lots of lettuce, onion, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber etc
Snack: Handful of unsalted nuts
Dinner: Piece of chicken / fresh fish with steamed vegetables

If you must eat bread, then make sure it is NOT white. Eat wholemeal or wholegrain (I find the latter tastier). Try to avoid ham and cheese sandwiches - both ham and cheese are very fatty and won't do you any good.

If you are craving sugar, remember that fruit is packed full of natural sugars, so a bowl of fresh berries with some low-fat natural yogurt will satisfy your sweet tooth better than a chocolate bar.

Also remember that alcohol is crammed full of calories, so if you are a drinker I would cut back.

One more thing - Eating healthy is CHEAPER than eating junk. Vegetables are very cheap and so is most fruit. You will save money by eating better.

Really excellent posts all, thank you. I've read what you've said and so far today I've had:

10am Breakfast: Cornflakes and Milk, Cup of Tea with no sugar
12pm Snack: Banana

This is the first time I've had a breakfast in months. I was skipping them and getting up very late. I thought missing out on them was a good idea sigh

At 3pm I'm having some sardines, lettuce, egg and tomatoes. I'm not sure about the sardines but it's the best I can do on short notice. My mum has opened a 120g tin of sardines (it says its 90g drained?)...is that a lot of points? I thought I saw in one of the food diaries someone having only 40g of Tuna.

I guess the positive thing is that mum is having a fry for the rest of the family and I've opted out. Going to be difficult watching everybody else stuff themselves though.

I don't care about variety. Once I find a few things that are right to eat I'll stick to them. I don't drink and don't like sugar also. Thanks again

[neuro-praxis]

The big thing to remember is to eat whole foods. That means natural foods that haven't been processed. If you are thinking about buying something out of a jar or a box, look at the ingredients, and if there are more than 3 or 4 listed, consider putting it back on the shelf.

Buy yourself a small weighing scales, you can get a digital one for under a tenner in Tesco. This will help you manage your portions. Portions are a big issue when losing weight.

You want to eat lots of fruits, vegetables, natural yoghurt, meat, fish and chicken. Eat moderate amounts of wholegrain pasta, bread and new potatoes, and small amounts of cheese and nuts. You can have a really varied diet with all this stuff, and going to WW will open you up to a world of variety and cooking new things.

Oh, and give yourself the odd treat so you don't go mad. And get some form of exercise, whatever you enjoy, about 4 times a week. Good luck!

[VanZan]

Originally Posted by neuro-praxis

The big thing to remember is to eat whole foods. That means natural foods that haven't been processed. If you are thinking about buying something out of a jar or a box, look at the ingredients, and if there are more than 3 or 4 listed, consider putting it back on the shelf.

Buy yourself a small weighing scales, you can get a digital one for under a tenner in Tesco. This will help you manage your portions. Portions are a big issue when losing weight.

You want to eat lots of fruits, vegetables, natural yoghurt, meat, fish and chicken. Eat moderate amounts of wholegrain pasta, bread and new potatoes, and small amounts of cheese and nuts. You can have a really varied diet with all this stuff, and going to WW will open you up to a world of variety and cooking new things.

Oh, and give yourself the odd treat so you don't go mad. And get some form of exercise, whatever you enjoy, about 4 times a week. Good luck!

Thanks neuro. Just back from a brisk 30minute walk as well. Can I ask something else? My mum is cooking roast beef tomorrow....do I partake or do I avoid? Anywhere I can go to look up this information myself instead of bothering you guys? Tried google but got some for and some against.

[neuro-praxis]

Absolutely partake! Beef is delicious and very good for you - it's a great source of protein and iron. Have 2 good-sized slices, a large portion of vegetables, and a small portion of potatoes. A bit of gravy is no harm either.

[neuro-praxis]

Originally Posted by VanZan

Anywhere I can go to look up this information myself instead of bothering you guys? Tried google but got some for and some against.

As soon as you join WW you will have an information pack that (a) shows you how to work out how many points you will need to be eating every day and (b) gives you the points values of all wholefoods and (c) gives you a points calculator that allows you to work out the points values of foods in packets and jars.

You will then have the freedom to decide to eat how you think best. WW will focus on filling foods as Jacqwui said above, and sticking to those guidelines will not only have you losing weight, but feeling great.

[Saucey-Susie]

you will see once you join WW, you can actually pretty much eat whatever you want, as long as you dont go over your points. You can have your veggie burger and your pancake and maybe something else and you will be at your point level, or you can have a lovely breakfast of cereal and a yogurt with fruit, a big salad and soup for lunch with some nuts, a lovely chicken or fish dinner with loads of veg with some rice or potatoes or noodles, plus have points left for whatever you love, me - chocolate, or save up your points for drinkin at the weekend, or a meal out for a special occassion

you will understand how precious points are and that if your only eating 18 points, you wont want 7 or 8 of them going on a bag of chipper chips, or all of them gone on a macdonalds meal.

best of luck

[VanZan]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I had a breakfast (cornflakes) on Saturday for the first time in months. I've cut out all the crap like coke, pancakes, and veggie burgers. Had tuna, sardines, lettuce, tomatoes, egg, roast beef, lamb chops, chicken etc. Having organic vegetable soup for dinner tonight. Had a lot more exercise, walked five miles yesterday fairly quickly and 3 miles today very briskly. I don't drink(which makes my weight gain all the more remarkable in my opinion) either so I don't have to worry about pub time.

I don't really care about the change in food as long as I feel full. Will try and go to WW tomorrow morning. Hopefully I won't get bored and go back to the rubbish food.

[rubadub]

Originally Posted by VanZan

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I had a breakfast (cornflakes) on Saturday for the first time in months. I've cut out all the crap like coke, pancakes, and veggie burgers.

Pancakes can be good! a far better breakfast than processed cornflakes, which are usually loaded with sugar & salt.

Check out this thread on making pancakes with oats.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...did=2055002535

And I expect you can make good veggie burgers yourself too.

There is no need to force feed yourself stuff you do not like since you think it is healthy. I like all the food I eat, just find what you like and it is far easier to stick to it -for life.