Weight Watchers Points system HELP!

[comax]

I ve been doing ww for about a month with good results (also working out regularly) I didnt officially join but have all the books from last year. Yesterday I found myself at a lil mom and pop spot for lunch. Normally, I would rationalize and say to myself "ahhh Im out, Ill treat myself and eat whatever" I didnt! and in hindsight I know I could have ordered better I did compromise. Instead of fries I had a salad.. a ceasar salad though when I could have had mixed green with something low fat! And I ordered a wrap (it was white so I assume not whole wheat) when I would normally have ordered a burger! The wrap had turkey mont jack cheese, bacon, mixed greens, and chipolte mayo! I only ate half (again a compromise) lol. I came home and started frantically searching thru my WW book and was so annoyed but "guestimated" what kind of points I had. I came up with 17! Whatever I worked around it for the rest of the day.....then realized last night I only ate half! lol. Anyway...how does one accurately come up with points? I do tend to eat at NON chain places.... Im thinking I could have been way off with 17! who knows though....any thoughts?

 

[cepmom]

Congrats on making healthier choices! Eating out at places like that is hard...if they don't have the nutritional info available you just have to guesstimate your points.

One thing you can do is to "custom order" your food. If you want a salad, order it with dressing on the side, that way you are in control of how much you use. Restaurants typically use way too much dressing.

Or ask how much chicken is used in the salad (4 oz? 6 oz?) ask for the chicken to be grilled, not crispy etc. Then you just have to piece together what you have by estimating or looking up points values item by item.

Ask for veggies to be steamed with no oil or butter. It amazes me that they take these healthy veggies and ruin them by pouring butter on top

 

[pjlla]

First of all.... good job on making smarter choices!!

Second.... I agree with cepmom... you sometimes need to "custom order" your food... and most places are happy to do it for you.

Ask about whole wheat bread/wraps... many places have them but don't have them on the menu. Order any sauces/spreads/dressings ON THE SIDE! It has become my favorite saying!! And ask for everything cooked/grilled without fat.

I would have ordered the wrap without the cheese or bacon and asked for the mayo on the side. If you wanted the cheese/bacon then you could disassemble the sandwich to get a good idea of the quantity before you ate it. Things like bacon and cheese and mayo are SO high in points that I like to have ultimate control over their portions.

Again, with the salad, caesar is okay if that is what you like.... but cheese, croutons, and dressing on the side helps YOU control the portions.

You will learn.... you are already making MUCH BETTER CHOICES, even after just a month. You are starting to build healthy habits for a lifetime of WW success. Even after 2 years on WW, I still forget how to order in restaurants sometimes. It really requires thinking AHEAD about what the restaurant will have and what good choices are available. Unos Pizzeria offers a nutrition information kiosk in their lobby with ALL of their food choices in it. If we are eating there I will take the menu over to the kiosk and bring up my different choices before I order. It is SHOCKING how many calories are in some restaurant items.... and it was VERY eye opening how many of their entrees they consider TWO portions!!

Eating out in restaurants can be a challenging mine-field of less-than-healthy foods, so step carefully and think ahead and you should be just fine..........P

 

[comax]

thanks! I know i definitely could have made better choices and in hindsight I wish I did....still learning. I jotted down how I felt after and some regrets I had so that next time I will think more. It was a start for me like a test. The funny thing is I am a waitress so I never like to be too much trouble. I mean honestly, at work it doesnt bother me to make special requests for my customers but sometimes the chef losses it and lashes at me. So tend to be as easy customer as possible. Now that I think about even from a servers perspective the best way would be to custom order. As opposed to asking detailed questions. Just say chicken in a wrap with etc. so they can word it to chef how they want or use the micro (computer) to do it. Thanks again! lots of insight.

BTW I went to look for second half of that wrap in frig just before I got on here! IT WAS GONE! my kid probably ate it! A GOOD THING! lol

 

[lauracitawita]

When I eat out, I try to plan ahead. I go online and google the nutritional information of the restaurant and work out the points.

Often I find myself shocked to find that a burger is less points than a salad or a chicken sandwich.

 

[Disneymoon0909]

There is a really great website: dwlz.com that has a list of many restaurants and their point values for their menus. If I go to a place that isn't listed I try to find the item that is the closest at one of the restaurants that is listed...

Holly

 

[kymom99]

There is a really great website: dwlz.com that has a list of many restaurants and their point values for their menus. If I go to a place that isn't listed I try to find the item that is the closest at one of the restaurants that is listed...

Holly

 

[Amy8888]

thanks! I know i definitely could have made better choices and in hindsight I wish I did....still learning. I jotted down how I felt after and some regrets I had so that next time I will think more. It was a start for me like a test.

This sounds great! There is a lot of trial and error (especially at first, but even later on things will come up). Reflecting on the experience will take you such a long way.

I can be quite the perfectionist sometimes. I read something in a recent WW Magazine that was exactly what I needed to hear: Even if you don't have the exact Points information, a good guess is actually more accurate than you might believe. So do your best to figure out the Points and don't beat yourself up about it! The fact that you are even trying to figure it out means you are on track.