My husband and I joined Weight Watchers on January 4th, 2011 and knew that we would need to start cooking more at home if we were going to stick to the plan. We each received a set number of food points to use each week.
We tried making meal plans for two week periods before going shopping, but that led to some food waste since we are sometimes hit with specific cravings and ignore the plan willy-nilly. After a little while, we realized we really only needed to plan for four evening meals a week as well as lunches and snacks to avoid waste. Here is how I usually disperse my 29 points a day.
Breakfasts and Lunches
Breakfast became super simple when we realized that a bowl of our favorite cereals is fast and uses 5-6 points a bowl. I prefer Honey Nut Cheerios and my husband is a fan of Total Raisin Bran. When I get the nibbles a couple of hours later, I shut my stomach up with a banana. Since fruit like bananas, apples, oranges, and peaches are free point-wise, they make excellent snack options.
Lunches also are very easy. We either have leftovers or use frozen dinners from Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine. They are tasty and already have the point values listed right on the box. I try to stick with a 6-8 point lunch so I can have a bunch left for the evening when I tend to eat the most. My favorite option has become a Smart Ones Lasagna Florentine for $1.68 and uses 7 points.
Dinners
Dinner usually ends up being our biggest meal of the day, so we make sure to eat around 5pm-6pm. The biggest change to our normal menu has been that we use leaner meats than we used to. Ground turkey is an awesome substitute for ground beef and we eat more chicken breasts now. At a point per ounce, lean meats fit in our meal plan very easily when paired with vegetables that cost no points like green beans.
One of our favorite meals has become a 6-8 ounce grilled chicken breast, a cup or two of frozen green beans per person, and a cup of rice or mashed potatoes. The whole meal is 12 points. Since I usually only use 12 points during the day, that means I will still have 5 points left for a snack or dessert.
Desserts
My absolute favorite 5 point dessert has become 4-5 ounces of frozen yogurt with a cut up banana mixed in. We have an Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt shop down the street that costs 42 cents an ounce. I usually drive over 2-3 times a week and choose a little of 2 or 3 flavors like Brownie Batter, Cheesecake, and White Chocolate. Then I get back home, slice a banana into the cup, and enjoy. My other favorite desserts are strawberry smoothies for 4 points or a 4 point Smart Ones Brownie Sundae. I sometimes use any extra points I have on candy when I get hit with my carb cravings.
Overall, we are not the healthiest eaters ever, but we have improved 100% from where we were last year. Budgeting food points is very similar to budgeting money, which is why this program works for me.
How do you plan out your weekly meals?
This post was written by Crystal.
Crystal Stemberger has written 7 articles on this blog. This post was written by Crystal Stemberger of Budgeting in the Fun Stuff where she writes about finding the balance between paying your bills, saving for your future, and budgeting in the fun stuff along the way. If you'd like to see more, feel free to follow her via RSS, Email, Twitter, and Facebook. Thanks for reading!
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I actually just wrote a guest post at the Family CEO Blog about planning out our meals. (http://www.thefamilyceoblog.com/2011/10/how-i-stick-to-my-food-budget/)
The cliffnotes: we make two big meals on the weekend and eat leftovers through the week. It prevents us from eating out. We also pack a lunch.
That sounds like a great idea – we are just too spoiled to eat the sames meals each night…
Although I am not on a diet, I eat healthy. I have a hot cereal (Wheatena) fro breakfast with a cup of juice. Lunch is usually leftovers and dinner is chicken or fish, salad and 2 vegetables. Dessert is a a healthy choice fudgicle. Every week is at least one vegetarian meal.
Wow, you do eat healthy! I have been bad this week…broke into the Halloween candy…
Oh boy. How do I plan out my weekly meals? I have a whole series of them stuck on my fridge on magnets, but I’ve gotten in the habit of ignoring that completely, especially lately since we all have such odd schedules. It’s pretty much everyone for themselves around here.
We get like that when it gets so busy!
For health reasons, we eat the same thing again and again most of the weekdays. I would love to plan out some meals with the ingredients that I can eat and cook them, but so far I am failing pathetic with my travel and stuff.
Don’t beat yourself up. All of my plans go out the window when things get abnormal – like around vacations or travel.
I write a lot about food and I see a lot of similarities between budgeting calories and fat — or WW points, as you point out — and budgeting money. If you can get good at one, you can get good at them both!
Exactly! Budgeting is budgeting no matter what form it takes, lol.
I was always curious about how ww worked. Sounds quite yummy!
It’s the best balanced diet plan that I’ve ever dealt with.
That’s one area where we’re not too good at. Should we be? Both my wife and I can make quick meals from whatever staples or leftovers we have on hand. About the only meal planning we do in advance is taking meat out of the freezer.
Sounds like you have that make-something-out-of-nothing skill that I lack, so no, there is no reason to plan if you can just go with the flow.
I save the most money by eating leftover dinners for lunch the next day! I used to spend $5 a day at least. Now I save $25 a week!
We save our left overs too. We freeze them and then eat them throughout the month for lunch. I love how it gives us variety.
I might have to try Weight Watchers. I’ve been counting calories for months with very little weight loss to show for it (5 pounds). But I did gain a lot of muscle, so maybe I’ll start losing faster now
Remember muscle weighs more than fat so you won’t always see your positive progress reflected on the scale. Building muscle and exercising regularly is key.