Lunch Time Ideas for Mom and Dad

Dear C.,

Congratulations on your 6 month old daughter. You are so lucky to have your mom babysit!

I'm a lifetime member of WW since 2000 when I lost 50 pounds and kept it off until my pregnancy. I'm the proud mom of a 5 month old. Now I'm 4 pounds away from my goal weight and I lost it all (again) using the Points system with WW. I've been successful with WW by using their cook books and preparing several meals at once and freezing individual portions using the semi-disposable containers. I'm a stickler about the serving proportion and the actual points value, and I track my food intake and points diligently. That way, when I want to splurge on a treat, I know I have the points banked.

It takes some work on the front end, but my lunches and dinners are so easy because I only need to reheat the meal. Clean up is streamlined, too. I'll cook 2-3 meals at one time and try to get similar ingredients to minimize my grocery list. I plan an entire weeks worth of meals, then I go grocery shopping. The WW cookbooks are a fabulous way to try new foods. Costco is now selling a "best of" edition.

Also, what are you eating at breakfast that could be triggering poor eating habits for the rest of the day? The sugar from juice or processed cereal could be causing a switch to go off. Are you sitting down to eat your meal, or "standing over the sink" wolfing down a bowl of cereal? Use your points tracker to note the specifics of your meal, and you might find a pattern. Or it could just be you've hit a plateau. Try switching to the Core plan (or vice versa) to mix it up a little.

I am a fan of WW because no food is forbidden, and the emphasis is on portion control.

You didn't mention if you were attending meetings or doing the online version. Try going to a different meeting, with a different group leader, and see if that helps getting you motivated again. Good luck to you and your husband.

I've lost 36 lbs. on WW. It is a fab program, but you just have to commit whole heartedly. you just have to learn to say no to certain things. I would often just eat a veggie sandwich on whole wheat bread. Put all the veggies you can on it + mustard (NO mayo) stack 'em high! 0 points. On good days, i would add cheese. I would go to Lee's deli and do this and then get a side of steamed broccoli. i know a burrito sounds much better, but you just have to change your ways for a bit. I would also stock up on their strawberries for an afternoon snack. Go with a baked potato and broccoli. FF sour cream is not that bad! try it. if you just have to have a burrito, do VERY little rice and pick a vice - sour cream, guac or cheese. Don't do all 3. edamame and miso soup is another good choice. FRESH spring rolls was a treat for me. salads of course are good with whole wheat pasta in them. Danon's Lite N Fit Yogurt is 1 pt. For dinner, buy one of the WW cookbooks. My sister says that this site is also good for recipes with point values http://www.3fatchicks.com/. Try making the veggie soup. 0 points. Good Luck!

Hi C.,

I have also been following the WW plan successfully for a while and have been keeping the weight off. I think of it as a lifestyle/food plan and not as a temporary "diet" and that helps keep me in the appropriate mindset. Here are a few things that work for me.

I set aside time on Saturday to plan the meals for the week, then do the shopping on Sunday. Sometimes I even write down the meals on the calendar so I remember what we'd planned. When you know what you are going to eat ahead of time, you spend less time thinking about food. Thinking about food leads to eating food...

As for eating at work (I'm now a stay-at-home mom), I would always keep several frozen entrees and bags of zero or low point frozen vegetables in the work freezer, so that if I didn't pack my lunch I'd have an emergency stash of low points food readily available. You can also keep cans of soup in the desk drawer. I'd also bring bags of pre-washed lettuce to work so I could have a huge salad with a bagel I would purchase from the deli downstairs. You can keep a bottle of Wishbone spray salad dressing (zero points for 10 sprays) in the work fridge. If you're going to eat out, you can look up the points values for most chain restaurants ahead of time by going to Dottie's Weight Loss Zone (dwlz.com).

Trying to cook or pack a lunch with a little one around is not easy to say the least. Pasta is one of the more manageable meals. A cup of whole-wheat pasta is only three points, regular pasta is 4 points a cup. You can build from that by adding some low-point marinara sauce and lots of veggies and a little tofu or meatless meatballs (I'm a vegetarian.) Also, you can make sandwiches using low-point bread and reduced calorie cheese (stay away from fat-free--yuck.) Stir-fries with tofu and vegetables is also an easy meal. Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? They have a lot of pre-made frozen stuff that is fairly low in points. Instead of "cooking" it's "meal assemblage."

Have you checked out Weightwatchers.com? There are message boards on there and you can get advice from other wise members.

Finally, I would suggest trying an OA (Overeaters Anonymous) meeting if you are a compulsive overeater.

Good luck!

C.,
I have successfully retrained myself in buying and cooking food. My husband lost 107 lbs since January 1, 2007 by changing his diet and joining a gym. He wants to lose 50 more but he already looks great! Culturally, I was used to cooking lots of beef or pork, some chicken and little fish. I totally reversed it. We seldom eat pork & beef. We grill chicken and fish alot. It's the best way to cook since the fat drips off the food. Then we also switched to whole grain everything: pasta, bread, brown rice, etc. Make sure you read the labels and invest in a digital kitchen scale. Portions are very important and it's where most people fail. We didn't have to spend a ton of money on prepared foods. I've also started using tofu and beans in our meals which are excellent sources of protein. My own weakness is pizza so I started making my own pita pizzas on whole wheat pitas using fat-free or 2% cheese and turkey pepperoni. Comes out to be around 200 calories and satisfies my cravings. I'll be happy to share some other recipes, just ask! - C.

This time of year a good size bowl of Minestrone soup and a salad with olive oil and vinegar dressing. Maybe a container of yogurt to finish it up. Filling and keeps you going until after work hour.

I find that half a high fiber pita (cut it into two halves for two pocket sandwiches) with lightly spread light mayo, mustard, two or three turkey or ham slices (especially the nitrite and nitrate free ones you can get at some grocery stores), lots of lettuce, and slices of tomato when in season is very satisfying lunch. It's nothing fancy or unusual I suppose, but it is WW friendly. Of course you can supplement the sandwich with fruit and veggies or the infamous soup. Kiwis, apples, and pears are particularly tasty right now.

I've never done WW but I have a great trick for easy healthy lunch that tastes great. I make tuna or chicken salad sandwiches but instead of using mayonnaise I use balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, diced celery and capers. I put it on good whole wheat bread (I like orowheat's health nut) with tomato and butter leaf lettuce. Because there's no mayo in it I can go a little heavy on the filling with out picking up a ton of calories.