Weight Watchers snacking question

SnowPanda824

I just started doing WW again after not doing it for a few years, and boy things have changed! I can't tell you how much I dislike the fact that all fruit is "free" A banana is great and healthy, but high in calorie, and should be *at least* 2 points out of your day. But thats just my first issue...

My main issue is snacks. I'm fine being able to make quick and healthy snacks while I'm home, but if I'm out, I'm having a hard time finding something thats portable, easy and quick to bring with me. I'm looking for something like a granola bar.... But the 100 calorie bars I'm used to eating are 3 points - And they are NOT worth that! My 100 calorie packs of almonds are also 3 points, and again, not worth it for me...

So I'm looking for suggestions on healthy, not to tiny snacks that I can throw in my purse, and have when I need them.


TIA!

GreatDepression

Yes, I started food logging with WW last year and stalled rather early on due to abusing the "no point" fruit and vegetables. I like fruit a lot already so having "free points" with grapes, watermelon, etc actually meant I was eating too many calories.

zoeysasha37

I don't do weight watchers, but it sounds like you already know that there's a lot of error in the free food thinking. A few bananas, an avocado and some others, could add up to a few hundred calories a day. And if they are eating at a small deficit as is, it's enough to wipe out the deficit completely. Equaling no loss.
If this doesn't work out for you, why not try just logging your food on here. Weighing and measuring everything, and staying under your calorie goal. You would be able to choose your own foods :-)
If you like ww, then do what you like and what works best for you. Good luck on your journey!
I like almonds as a quick snack and they fit in my macros well. I also like Greek yogurt, but you wouldn't want to walk around with yogurt in your purse all day. LOL :-)

mockchoc

I quit WW for that reason. No weight loss because I was eating too much fruit. MFP is free and no need to go to meetings.

wallingf

FYI - Fruit is not "free" on WW. They recommend you keep it to 3-5 "servings" a day. A good WW leader will make that very clear to you..... A "serving" of fruit equals about 60-80 calories, so you are talking somewhere between 180 and 400 calories of fruit a day. If you do the math with the points (each point is about 39-40+- calories), you will find the points they give you are about 200-400 calories less than you would get from most calculators. THAT is WW's way of trying to get people to eat more healthy foods (fruit and vegetables).

For snacks - I grab fruit ;-) or a couple low fat cheese sticks, low-fat Greek Yogurt, hard boiled egg.....

GreatDepression

I quit WW for that reason. No weight loss because I was eating too much fruit. MFP is free and no need to go to meetings.

Dude, the meetings are one of the best things about WW. It keeps you accountable to yourself and others.

mockchoc

The meetings are pretty crap. I should know I worked for them for a while and am a lifetime memeber that no longer goes even though it's free for me. I get much better support on here.

Alatariel75

I quit WW for that reason. No weight loss because I was eating too much fruit. MFP is free and no need to go to meetings.

Dude, the meetings are one of the best things about WW. It keeps you accountable to yourself and others.

I agree that they were great early on, but by the umteenth time I went back to WW it was just the same old stuff over and over and over. I get that they have to cater to new members, but good lord they got repetitive.

The "free" fruit on WW never made sense to me, especially as I don't eat fruit so I expect I was often undereating (I do eat all veg, except the ones that are really fruit masquerading as veg, the filthy liars). I also found that as the programs changed, they seemed to get further from teaching healthy eating and more about lowering the points of everything as much as possible, even if to the detriment to taste, satisfaction and nutrient content.

astagliano

Fruit and vegetables on weight watchers are 0 points because your body needs them. The program is trying to encourage you to eat the daily recommended servings. Of course you are not meant to just graze on fruit all day and then still have your 30+ daily points on top of it, of course doing this will make you gain. You are only meant to eat the recommended 5-6 servings a day. If you do that you will be fine and it will even help you. Not all vegetables are 0 points anyway. The heavier and starchy ones like potatoes, corn, some types of peas, and avocados do have points.

I use the "free" veggies and fruit to bulk up my meals. I put spinach and/or kale in my pasta, peppers and tomatoes in omelets, bananas and strawberries in oatmeal, and so on. Or you could of course say, eat an orange for a snack along with some Greek yogurt. The yogurt may be 3-4 points and then the orange is 0 but it still helps keep you fuller longer and gives you important nutrients you're body desperately needs. And by the way a serving of greens; spinach, lettuce, kale, etc is 1 cup. And a serving of all other fruits and veggies is 1/2 cup. Stick to the "healthy guidelines", the 5-6 servings a day and you won't gain weight from the "free" food.

Ready2Rock206

The meetings are pretty crap. I should know I worked for them for a while and am a lifetime memeber that no longer goes even though it's free for me. I get much better support on here.

It REALLY depends on the leader. I had an amazing leader and the meetings were great and very worth while. Then my schedule changed and I couldn't go to her meetings. Ummm.... totally not worth even going. So I started doing the online. Didn't lose a thing after that. So MFP is totally better if you're doing online only or if you don't have an amazing leader.

wannakimmy

If you dislike it that much, quit going....

Use MFP accurately and lose weight.

_Zardoz_

I just started doing WW again after not doing it for a few years, and boy things have changed! I can't tell you how much I dislike the fact that all fruit is "free" A banana is great and healthy, but high in calorie, and should be *at least* 2 points out of your day. But thats just my first issue...

My main issue is snacks. I'm fine being able to make quick and healthy snacks while I'm home, but if I'm out, I'm having a hard time finding something thats portable, easy and quick to bring with me. I'm looking for something like a granola bar.... But the 100 calorie bars I'm used to eating are 3 points - And they are NOT worth that! My 100 calorie packs of almonds are also 3 points, and again, not worth it for me...

So I'm looking for suggestions on healthy, not to tiny snacks that I can throw in my purse, and have when I need them.


TIA!

If you dislike it why are you doing it? If you don't like something in all likelihood you will not keep at it long term maybe find something you like?

WalkingAlong

It probably helps to think of fruit not as 'free' but as pre-logged'. If you don't eat any fruit, your calories will be too low on WW because it's assumed you will. To confirm, do your daily points times 40. If you had more points for the fruit instead of it being pre-logged, a lot of people would use those points for processed foods and then fruit and vegetables would be under-consumed just like in the standard American diet where people have little incentive to eat fruit & vegetables (besides general health).

43mmmgoody21

Counting points . Why not just track calories (via MFP) and eat what you want? Counting calories (which by Weight Watchers you sort of do by counting points) is much more accurate-- and cheaper.

WalkingAlong

As for nonperishable purse snacks, I still use a bar but I find myself less likely to eat it unless I really am gone too long and unable to get something perishable and lower point while I'm out. Quest bars are 4-5 points but they're pretty filling, more like a meal replacement almost, so if I have to use a chunk of points it's ok. Half of one is a decent snack.

If you think a bar is costly on Tracking, don't try Simply Filling!

Good luck!

btc1987

I'm going to address the original question of "worth it" snacks instead of stating my opinion about weight watchers.

- 1 oz of nuts: You say this is not worth it but I disagree. I work in 170 cals worth of almonds almost daily on a 1440 cal a day goal and those almonds last a long time. They're good for you as well.

- Chobani 100 Simple Greek Yogurt: 100 calories, decent protein, have fiber, low sugar. Vanilla is my favorite flavor.

- Carrots with hummus: Delicious and worth it, just watch the serving size on the hummus.

WW_Jude_V2

Also a lifetime member of WW but really disappointed in the "free" eating. I hung onto the original version of tracking and lost all my weight. Best thing about WW was that it taught me to find the best food 'value' for the points. I looked at my points as dollars. Didn't take long to understand that spending 6 or 7 of my 19 points on a chocolate bar wasn't going to end well! I want to eat a LOT, and to do that I have to eat intelligently.

When I first started MFP I kept translating my daily calories back into points. Very quickly realized I didn't want to spend that much time when simply logging in my diary was SO much easier and so much more accurate.

I missed the support at the WW meetings (ours were at work) so all the WW lifetimers got together and we continue a weekly accountability meeting to this day.

It takes a bit to get out of the points mindset but once you do it's a whole lot easier to decide what to eat. As one other person said: eat what you want and just track the calories. (oh, and buy an electronic food scale if you don't already have one - invaluable tool!)