Lets talk Daily Points Targets...

When I went to our first WW meeting for the new PointsPlus program, the first thing that happened was the most difficult for me- getting on the scale.  As much as I didn't want to hear the number...I already had a good idea what to expect, so there was really no surprise.  What was a huge surprise, though, was what my daily points plus allowance would be: "29"!  I use an exclamation mark because 29 is the lowest number of points anyone can be assigned.  But here is the good and bad of that:  If I had been given more points, eventually they would reduce the number of points allowed as I successfully lost weight (that has happened a couple of times already to Chuck in the 5 weeks we've been on program) ~ I'm not sure I'd like that too much.  By starting out at the lowest number of points, I will always have 29...so I can pretty much be on cruise control once I figure out how to fit the plan into my life.  Once I reach my goal weight...guess what...they give me more points...so its a win-win situation for me!

One thing I liked in the new materials we were given was on page 60 of the Getting Started booklet: "OK, so...how do I figure out what to eat each day?"  There is a nice chart that suggests how you might break down your daily points allowance.  For my 29 points, they break it down like this: Breakfast-5pp; Lunch-8pp; Dinner-11pp; Snack-3pp; Snack-2pp.  I'm normally not a 'two snack a day person', but hey - why not give it a try?  What I have found is that this breakdown works really well.  I do play around with it a little...some days I eat a 7pp breakfast, so then I skip a snack...but in truth, I really am so full that I couldn't eat one if I had it...so its all good. 

So lets start with breakfast!  Its always a good morning when you start it with breakfast.  When I think back to how many times I skipped this important meal, I can't imagine how I made it through the day.  I thought I'd share with you my NEW FAVORITE breakfast sandwich and tell you why it is.

Even Minnnie loves this breakfast!  I have a large mug of hot coffee with Land O' Lake Fat Free Half & Half (0pp), a fresh cut up orange (0pp), and then my favorite breakfast sandwich: two Nutri-Grain Eggo Waffles made with Whole Wheat (4pp) -toasted, a banana sliced the long way first, then cut in half so it lays on one waffle nicely without falling off and 1Tbsp of chunky style peanut butter spread on the other waffle~put it all together and you have one terrific sandwich.  This is great to eat on the run, too. Its warm, creamy goodness- a little sweet, and very filling.  You have to give this one a try and let me know how you like it.  Total breakfast: 7pp!  It will hold me all morning long right up until a 1pm lunch, too.  No snack necessary or desired.  Also - notice I included my multi-vitamin...somehow I have to figure out how to get Minnie to swallow that one for me!

One more tip: since all fruit is "0" points now, why not leave some fresh fruit out on the counter?  I am finding that when I have one of those moments where I've just wandered into the kitchen when its not mealtime...you know what I'm talking about - hunting for "something", but you don't know what - you're not really hungry, but you want something...

Go ahead, grab a few sweet, juicy grapes, or an apple, or a banana...and walk away satisfied.  It almost looks like my orchid is reaching out for a grape, too!

See those colorful peppers on the left?  Wait to see what I'm planning for them this afternoon!!