Weight Watchers PointsPlus Review: Piling on the Power Foods

I'm hoping chowing
down on carrots will crunch my appetite.

If you read my last post about my Weight Watchers PointsPlus review, then you know I was considering switching to a different approach to the plan, the Simply Filling Technique.

Well, I got some great advice from readers about the pros and cons of making the switch and I have settled on a compromise:

For the next three weeks I'm going to eat as many of the Power Foods as I possibly can and see how many "other" foods I tend to work in to my day on average. That way, I'll know how many PointsPlus values I would theorically spend without officially switching to the plan. That will tell me how comfortable I would be with not tracking Power Foods (Can I make them the main-stay of my diet?) and using PointsPlus values for everything else (Just how many non-Power Foods do I actually eat in a week?).

So far, the main Power Food that I have been relying on is fruit. Most all of them have zero PointsPlus values and when I feel like a snack, I reach for them.

What I haven't been eating enough of is veggies! One or two servings at most and if I'm honest, often it's one. My goal this week is to eat two servings each day and work my way up. My first method will be to eat either baby carrots or a big veggie-filled salad at lunch every day.

Other Power Foods I plan to pile on my plate include reduced-calorie bread, soup, fat-free yogurt (I have gone from "forcing" myself to eat it daily to actually looking forward to it! Hello, two servings a day!), egg whites and beans. I haven't been eating these types of foods regularly and I know it's time to.

I am interested to see how much these foods help me curb my hunger. I still struggle with feeling overly-hungry at night and here's hoping adding these foods I've been missing out on will do the trick! Next week, my next weigh-in results will be posted. Stay tuned!

Note: Weight Watchers has provided me with free access to the online version of their program, and other tools, for me to complete my review of the new PointsPlus program. I am in no way being compensated by Weight Watchers.

Image: Clipart.com

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Weight Watchers Review: Power Foods to the Rescue!

If you read my earlier entry on my Weight Watchers review, you know that I struggled with feeling hungry during the beginning. It seemed no matter how what I did, I still had hunger pangs.

Well, I am pleased to report that Weight Watchers provides some guidance that has helped me to quell my hunger and get more control of my appetite: Power Foods to the rescue!

Power Foods are nutritious foods and beverages that help you feel fuller longer than other choices, for lower PointsPlus values. I printed out the list of Power Foods and keep a copy nearby at all times. Examples of Power Foods include lattes made with fat-free milk, my favorite fruits and lean protein sources (like fat-free canned refried beans).

I have found easy ways to incorporate more of these Power Foods into my daily meals. Many of the foods have 0 PointsPlus values, so I don't have to exclude anything else to be able to add them. Some of them do have PointsPlus values that count against my daily allowance, so I have found a few switches that make it doable:

For instance, replacing my usual glass of orange juice with fat-free milk is much more satisfying. Enjoying an extra serving of a Power Foods-listed veggie at dinner is much more hunger-dulling than the white dinner roll I used to indulge in.

All these seemingly little changes appear to be paying off much more than I could have realized!

I'll be posting the results of my last weigh-in for the month of January in my next post. Stay tuned!

Note: Weight Watchers has provided me with free access to the online version of their program, and other tools, for me to review the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program.

View the original article here