The app yelled at me again.
Don't worry about the app. It's just an app.
I have a question....does anyone else here calculate fruit with the calculator? I know it's "Free", but let me near a food that's free, and I'll eat 10 bananas a day and gain weight! My DH says "You see any fat monkeys?"
But still!
I put NO zero point food into the tracker. Nope nope and nope. Even if I made an apple pie from scratch, I would not put that apple into the tracker. (note: it's this attitude that would likely keep me from being able to work for WW...that and the fact that I REFUSE to eat nonfat cheese, and quite often have whole milk lattes and totally count them as a dairy serving, and truly believe it's a healthier choice than eating nonfat) The points of the butter and the crust and everything else is what would stop me from eating it all at once...not the points of the apple.
I bet you wouldn't really eat 10 bananas in a day. Or, heck, why not give yourself permission one day? See how you actually enjoy doing it.
I eat quite a bit of fruit and veggies; more than the checkboxes tell me to, and I'm doing just fine. Others won't do as well. Just have to see how you do with it. That's why tracking the *servings* is a terrific idea.
I love making smoothies too. But then I read online that WW recommends actually putting the smoothie into recipe builder and counting the points that way.
I did that with the recipe I was using, and my 2-4 point smoothie (I forget exactly what it was - 0-point fruit, some
pomegranate juice and almond milk) was suddenly 9 points!
At the time I was going to meetings and asked my leader about it, and she said it's like that because since you are "drinking the fruit" it doesn't fill you up as much as it would if you were eating the fruit...the calories are still there. So they don't want people going nuts with smoothies.
I was actually really mad to hear this!! I get it, but it seems inconsistent at the same time.
Ultimately she said to let weight loss be the guide as to how to count the smoothies.
I think I might re-visit making a smoothie every once in awhile in the evening though, it's GOTTA be better than snacking on something else.
I would be mad too, and I feel it's inconsistent. And possibly a little bit ridiculous. My leader is great, but sometimes says stuff like that too, and I disagree 100% UNLESS you have already been perfect for two months except for going wild with smoothies. If that's you, and your weight hasn't agreed with it, then hey, slow down on the smoothies.
Juice and almond milk...very high in sugar, rather high in fat. Those will bulk it up, that's for sure! Track those things. Track the servings of produce. See how it goes for you.
I, too, disagree that smoothies don't fill you up. I'm also someone who could and would eat 4 peaches in a row, so having the equivalent of 4 fruits in a smoothie isn't that big a deal for me. (that said, I don't drink smoothies...grew up with them for breakfast b/c my mom was trying to honor my wishes to "diet", and so it feels like diet food to me, plus without my mom here to clean up the smoothie mess, they aren't any fun!)
Not sure if these articles will come through if you're not an etools member. But I'll try.
This one says "Before you stick a straw in that blender, bear in mind that sucking down a smoothie that's filled with two bananas, a cup of berries, or any high-quantity fruit isn't exactly the same as eating these 0 PointsPlus values foods in their natural state. To keep your weight-loss efforts on track, be sure to put any smoothie recipe through our Recipe Builder and track your servings. "
I notice that it doesn't say to track your points...but to track your *servings*. Interesting difference in words for a company that tries to say exactly what it means.
The article I go by, however, is
this.
Fresh fruit is definitely having its moment in the spotlight, ever since Weight Watchers awarded it all a PointsPlus value of zero! But with great freedom comes great responsibility, and we know some of you are anxious that you get it right."Here, we answer some of your common questions:
When I add fruit to the recipes I create in the Recipe Builder, it counts PointsPlus values for it! I thought fruit was zero?
Just as we've always done with 0 PointsPlus value vegetables, 0 PointsPlus value fresh fruits contribute toward the total PointsPlus values of a recipe, whether it's a Weight Watchers recipe or one you build yourself in the Recipe Builder.
The technical explanation is that because recipes are calculated based on the total grams of fat, fiber, protein and carbs for all their ingredients. As one poster on the Message Boards, DANI_THE_GECKO, sagely points out: The recipe builder only knows that you input nutritional information. It does not know if it's fruit, green beans or heavy cream."
But why do we do it this way? There are a couple of very good reasons why we count fruits and veggies in our recipes:
Our recipes often appear in articles and magazines nationally, so we need to provide the calories and nutrient content, as many recipes published elsewhere do.
Once vegetables and fruit are elements in a prepared recipe, the experience of eating them changes. Few people overeat carrots but they might overeat carrot cake.
If your recipe" is truly just a few pieces of fruit, then you might want to record it in your Tracker as separate items or as a meal" the latter looks at each item separately and then adds up all the PointsPlus values. Because all the items have 0 PointsPlus values, the total will also be zero.
Are there situations when I need to count PointsPlus values for fruit?
No, not for fresh fruit. Yes, fruit does have calories, and it contains fiber and other nutrients. But were assuming that youll eat a certain amount of fresh and other unsweetened fruit (veggies, too) each day, and have taken that into account when giving you your daily PointsPlus Target.
All fruit is 0 PointsPlus values when it's fresh, unsweetened frozen, canned in its juice and drained, or with artificial sweeteners. What if you peel it? Yep as long as its unadorned, its still zero. (Again, same for veggies.)
You do need to count PointsPlus values when there's added sugar, such as fruit in syrup or in juice, or when there's less water content, as with dried fruit.
Ive heard that cooking fruit increases its sugar content. Is that true? Does cooked fruit really have a PointsPlus value?
No, the sugar content doesnt increase when fruit is cooked. However, during the cooking process, there is water loss, so you will have more fruit for a given volume. In other words, a half cup of cooked pears will contain more fruit than a half cup of raw pears.
How much 0 PointsPlus values fruit is too much?
Well say it again: Yes, fruits and vegetables arent magically calorie-free just by dint of us making most of them free of PointsPlus values. We took this step to encourage people to eat more fruits and vegetables; foods that are nutritious, satisfying and help to encourage you to make healthy, lasting choices that will lead to weight loss.
If youre concerned that youre eating too much fruit," ask yourself if youre enjoying what youre eating, or if youre honestly stuffing yourself with bananas because theyre free." Or maybe youre blending pounds of berries and bananas with ice into big-gulp smoothies.
If youre using fruit and veggies as a way to stuff yourself in lieu of stuffing yourself with less healthy foods, then its possible that you may be reaching the point of too much." If youre eating more than you used to, but youre using them for healthy snacks, to bulk up your meals or as a tide-me-over when youre down to the last few PointsPlus values for the day or week, then youre probably OK.
The bottom line? Let your hunger, and your weight loss, be your guide.
Letting my losses/maintains be my guide has led me to realize that bread and beer are really really hard for me to eat AND keep to my goals. I never intended to go low carb, or barely ever drink booze. Thinking about that would have kept me from WW, actually. It's just something that happened over time. I just noticed that eating less of those things was better for me, and eating more was worse. For me. Others might find the same with fruits, but not with beer. etc.
My leader doesn't eat as much fruit as me, but then again, she has diabetes all over her immediate family, so I would guess that her family is sort of primed to blood sugar wonkiness, and it's probably really safe for her to stay away from things like smoothies. It's all personal, and it's a matter of finding out what works for you.
OK I've written my great&probablyboring American novel for the night. For some reason I'm really passionate about zero point foods!
I don't totally understand why after the weekend I had, but I will take it! Maybe one of those situations I've read about where you don't lost for a bit, then eat a little more and your body is cool with it.
