I just started the program (ok I just did the first workout today) and can see I will be having some fun balancing out the higher calorie intake with my weight watcher's point allowance. Is anyone else a member of weight watchers and have some ideas of adding more calories (protein and veggie options) for low point values?
It seemed hard to do the balance originally when my target calorie range was 1400-1700 for 25 daily point allowance (not counting exercise) and now I am trying to adjust that range to 1700 to 2200 calories for same amount of points. I average about 4 activity points a day over the course of a week and I have been trying to avoid using the weekly pool to force myself to make healthier choices and less "treats". So I guess between the daily, weekly pool, and activity I could aim for a 30 daily point allowance.
Boy, does it seem odd to whine about "adding" calories.
I'm just starting the New Rules plan, too, and am a lifetime WW member who has strayed... I'm about 25 pounds over goal right now.
Using the New Rules nutrition plan, and figuring a 20% calorie deficit, I am finding a good fit with WW. So far, anyway.
After so long on WW, I have to really work to get enough fat. I'm beginning to believe that has been one of my obstacles for a while. Food without fat is not satisfying.
I'd like to see how other WW members do on this training plan.
I have been doing this for just a few weeks. I am 1 week away from ending stage 1. I have been sticking to the Eat Clean diet and have lost 8 lbs and 1 jean size so I am very happy. Cannot believe it as this workout so far is pretty easy. I am used to much harder weight workout. I look forward to Stage 2.
Have you visitied the Women's Fitness Ideas board on the WW website? It's great. There are lots of knowledgeable women there, some who are doing NRLFW, who might be of help.
WW has been great for me. It gives me an easy way to keep track of my eating. I use flex b/c it's a cash program....points in, points out, no guessing, no credit. I weigh and measure meticulously b/c I can't be trusted otherwise. But many athletic people swear by core.
I've lost now 20 lbs while building muscle. And even though many people say that's impossible, I know I've done it b/c when I'm lifting in front of the mirror I can hardly recognize that those are my shoulders and arms! I have always had a very weak upper body. Clothes fit differently and I can even do several "real" pushups..something that's eluded me my whole active life.
Yes, use your weekly and activity points. And stick religiously to the good health guidelines. Get the best you can out of your points. By that I mean, eat real oatmeal, not instant or oat squares. Eat turkey, not steak (most of the time). Eat a WASA cracker with peanut butter, not a graham cracker. Drink milk instead of eating sweetened yogurt. When you need to eat more points, go ahead and eat yogurt or real cheese for your milk.
One thing I did do was to go through the recipes in NROL4W and make notations of points values for foods that I was interested in (like those peanut butter bars!). I'm going to try to work some of them into my diet.
BTW, I don't think you should neglect all "treats". I use some of my weekly points for treats. Take Halloween for example, I decided ahead of time to save 10 points so I could have some candy too. You'd be surprised what nice little pile of fun sized bars I got for those 10 points, and I didn't feel like I'd missed out on anything. You have to live, you know?
I second Meredith's suggestion. There are some very knowledgeable women over at the WW boards....that's how I learned about NROL in the first place.
Help! How do you all get enough protein? I've been doing WW and have been stuck for months. I am still quite heavy -- about 180 or so -- and I don't see any way that I can eat 180g of protein and stick with my calorie deficiet of 300 cals that would put me in at around 1700 on workout days. Any ideas?
How many points do you get or are you eating Core?
Are you adding activity points and eating them?
Are you following the good health guidelines? They are really important!
Are you counting the protein that is in your milk?
180g is 6 oz of protein. (28.5g = 1 oz.) That means if you have 2.5 oz at lunch and 3 at dinner (i.e, an individual can of tuna or a 2.5 oz. portion of turkey at lunch and a chicken breast at night) you only need 1/2 ounce more. I believe that two cups of milk is 16g. That's half an ounce.
There are other ways to get in more protein. Eggs (try one whole and two whites in an omelet), cheese, peanut butter (check the label, not as much protein as you might think, but more than most snacks), yogurt. Kashi makes a high protein cereal. And, of course, there are powders, but I don't use those myself.
It takes some practice to fit everything into a set amount of points. I'm not always right on with my 1g/lb BW but I try my best and usually I make it.
something I really like to do lately is roast one of those white meat only turkeys. We only eat about 1/4 of it. That leaves plenty for me to eat for lunch for the rest of the week in salads or wraps or whatever.
Thanks! I think my calculations must be off. For example, yesterday I had a smoothie for breakfast (w/PP & PB) (15g), 4 oz. tuna for lunch (40g) , a couple of protein shakes (30g), turkey chili (30g) and I feel like I used all of my points and had nary a vegetable or fruit and I still didn't come close to the 180g. I'll do some double checking of my numbers. I really, really appreciate your help.
Sorry but this math doesn't work. I don't know of any foods that are 100% protein, even something clean like chicken.
To use that as an example: 6oz/170grams of roasted chicken breast has about 53 grams of protein. To get 180 grams of protein from roasted chicken breast alone you would need to consume 580grams or about 20oz.
I found it really helped to log my protein containing foods first (I use calorie-count, but you could use fitday or daily plate or whatever log you like). Once the protein is where you need it to be start adding other foods to hit your calorie target.
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i do like the library, but i also like the gym my new log!
You're saying that chicken is only 1/3 protein? What the heck else is it? I mean, I know there's some fat and a little bit of carb, but only 1/4 protein? I'm shocked.
OK, I looked it up and I am apparently way wrong. I'm sorry, Ruth! I always figured to count meat and fish as protein, period.
6 ounces = 171 g
87% of 171 g should be 148g.
Or is the rest water?
I always thought when they said, have a 3 oz. serving of protein, that meant, have a 3 ounce piece of meat or fish. This just never occurred to me at all. If it says, 98% fat free, I'd figure that meant 98% was protein. I feel so stupid.
It is likely water, but I honestly don't know. It does make sense though as if you look a something like a piece of fruit and the dehydration process you end up with a substantially lighter piece of dried fruit. You're eliminating the water, the bulk of the weight of the original piece of fruit.
I've never really figured out the % fat free labels. I look for the macros, which mentally I can convert myself to percentages. You can't usually use the % on the label as they are using a percentage of the RDA, not of the macros.
I agree that hitting 1gram of protein per pound of body weight is pretty hard. I am starting this program eating about 30-35% of my calories as protein. Today, that worked out to 120g protein. Not even close to 1g per pound of body weight, but probably about right if I figured 1gram protein per pound of lean body mass. I remember Tom Venuto (Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle) suggesting this formula.
After just a few days of meal/menu planning, I am meeting my Weight Watchers Points target, calculating for a 20% calorie deficit. As I begin to lift heavier weights, I suspect I might need to adjust the deficit.
My favorite lean protein sources are nonfat cottage cheese, egg whites, tuna, chicken, and 4% fat ground beef (Trader Joe’s). I make a high protein “pudding” using cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, whey protein powder and enough yogurt or milk to make it blendable.
Getting enough healthy fat has been hard for me. So far, getting 25-30% of my calories from fat (compared to 10-15% that is typical of WW), is working. I reach a satisfaction level with less food and I don’t get hungry an hour after a meal or snack.
I agree with the others who say plan the protein first, then plan carbs and fat around it. I have a recipe program called Master Cook, that has pretty accurate nutrition information and can be customized. I use it as my daily food log and for planning meals. It's a useful tool.
I also found this book through the WW forums :-) I've totally ditched the points for now, though. I don't pay for WW anymore, I was just doing it at home by myself, so I switched over to counting calories. I just started on Monday, but I feel so much better eating all this protein. I've been logging on FitDay and I'm at about 30% protein for each of the last two days. That's about 20-30g short of 1g/pound body weight. I'll get there! I also need to buy some PP, but I haven't found any of the "good" ones in the store yet. I figure if I add a few scoops of that per-day to my meals, I'll be in good shape. I'm really loving all the extra calories (I was one of those 1200-1400/day people).
Thanks all! I've decided to use the lean body weight method of figuring out my protein. I'll be shooting for125 insead of 180 which makes for a more realistic plan. I also am thinking of trying Core (again!) so that I have a bit more flexibility with the protein. I already like NROL4W -- the workouts are much better than I'd anticipated. They look so short. I've been stretching during the rest period. What do you all do? I feel silly just standing there (even though I workout at home). Crazy, I know...
You don't want to do any static stretching before or during your workout. I used my rest periods to rest! LOL! And get that heart rate back down.
Also, the workouts get longer, especially in Stage 2.
I think it's okay to stretch muscles that you're done training, right? For example, if you're near the end of your workout and are doing abs, you could stretch your quads and hams during the rest, right? (I hope so, because that's what I've been doing!)
Jane's right, no static stretching before or during a strength workout. There was actually an article on this just this weekend in the new york times.
When I can't make myself sit still during a rest period I'll walk over to the water fountain and take a drink. A little sip of water between each exercise can't be a bad thing, right?
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i do like the library, but i also like the gym my new log!
I have been for several months before starting weight watchers using a site called sparkpeople to keep track of my nutrition and workouts. So far with trying to get the protein in, I have been mixing in various flavored protein powders in where reasonable (like a scoop of mixed berry flavored into berry-ish flavored yogurts for breakfast).
I keep looking for "cheats" (or how I think of them with my sense of humor) like a drink I found at Target (archer farms build fortified) that is 60 calories, 0 fat, 5 fiber, 5 protein and some vitamins for 0 points. Even before weight watchers, due to a thyroid disorder (Hashimoto's) I was already trying to increase my fiber/protein content without increasing calores/fat/carbs too much so I was happy to see this item was a freebie in a way. Too bad its been on the clearance aisle, well good for my wallet, but I suspect it means my store at least is phasing it out. The kellog's all bran fiber drink mixes (ice tea and lemonade) are also good in that sense, 20 calories and 10g of fiber for 0 points.
Calories and weight watchers
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