Carlo and I signed up for Weight Watchers, after hearing how easy it now was to do the program as a vegan. The new Freestyle program opens up a world of zero-point plant-based foods to fuel us up. With Week One completed, we’re learning lots…without sacrifice!
Two vegans walk into their kitchen and say “HEY! Let’s try Weight Watchers!” Okay, that’s not a joke. Seriously, we’ve been rather stressed with work, V Marks the Shop stuff and life. So, our diet fell off big time. Neither of us liked how we were feeling. So, in comes the idea to try Weight Watchers!
See all that?!?! That’s just some of the dishes we made in our first week. We didn’t feel deprived. In fact, we had days where we felt “Whoa! This is too much food!” While moderation is key, veggies, fruit, beans and tofu are considered “free.”
If you don’t know how the program works, when you join Weight Watchers (WW) will calculate how many points you should consume daily and then give you additional weekly points (like bonuses). It’s based on your weight and other details you provide when you sign up.. As you get closer to your goal, your daily and weekly points may change week to week.
WW allows you to track online and via mobile! The mobile is great because you can pair your activity tracker, like a Fitbit! Those steps turn into activity points.
Bottom line: The goal of the program is to fit health and wellness into your lifestyle on your terms.
To give you an example of points, Carm started with 23 daily points and an additional 42 weekly points. This helped us to plan our meals. In addition, we had plans to “splurge” on Sunday. That’s where the 42 points came into use, and they certainly did as there were some marshmallows on a stick involved! You really can use them however you wish. Again, these number of points will change over time, but you can still plan!
Week 2 results - Carmella was down 3lbs exactly. Carlo was down 8.2lbs. Carmella’s points stayed the same for Week 2. Carlo saw a decrease.
Like we said, a lot of the things we already eat are zero points (whole foods plant-based). Fats, carbs, processed foods will definitely have points! You can have them, but you have to keep in mind that even the healthy processed foods and snacks could eat up your points quick! Who knew that 1/4 of an avocado is 3 points!
If you’re dining out, you can do your best to calculate points. For us, that’s where the weeklies come in!
So far things have going well. We like how WW is getting us to prep meals and be mindful of what we’re eating. We’re not missing our “junk food” favorites as much, because we can still have them…in moderation, of course.
Speaking of the food, here’s just some of what we made:
Smoky Vegan Cheeze Sauce (We had it on so many dishes!)
Avocado Toast…with the cheeze sauce
BBQ air fried tofu with cauliflower steak & veggies
Mini Chikn ‘n Waffles (okay. we air fried some gardein tenders and Whole Foods organic homestyle waffles)
And this almond yogurt breakfast bowl
Most meals we made in Week 1 fell within 3-6 points. Not bad, eh?
We may share what we ate in Week 2 next week. You can also follow us on Instagram to see what’s on our plate.