Weight Watchers is a popular program that allows members to follow the plan without having to buy prepackaged meals. While Weight Watchers does sell food products, weight can be lost with home cooked meals and when dining out. Weight Watchers encourages members to enjoy an occasional indulgence by planning it out in advance.
Identification
Weight Watchers assigns points values to all foods based on calorie, fat, protein, carbohydrate and fiber content. Foods that are high in fiber but low in calories and fat have the lowest points values. After joining, each member is assigned an allowed number of daily points based on age, gender, current weight and physical activity level. The goal is to stay within the allowed number of points to encourage weight loss of about one to two pounds per week. No foods are off limits, but making unhealthy choices will use up the daily point allowance quickly.
Plan Ahead
When dining out the best bet is to plan ahead. Many restaurants have online menus or takeout menus so you can decide what to eat before going to the restaurant. Members can use a pocket guide or online calculator to look up the points values of individual ingredients to get the total points of a meal. In addition, Weight Watchers has books, calculators and cell phone applications that will list the points values of Italian, Chinese, Mexican and other types of foods. With the right planning, it is possible to eat out and not consume too many points, says the Weight Watchers website.
Solution
Along with figuring out the points value of restaurant foods before heading out, there are some tips to follow at the restaurant. The Weight Watchers website recommends eating less at other times during the day, so more points can be eaten when dining out; adding in some extra exercise to help balance out extra points that are eaten; ask the restaurant to prepare the food with no butter or with dressing on the side; remove the bread from the table; ask for veggies for a side dish instead of fries and stay away from entrees whose names include the words au gratin, scalloped, Hollandaise, Parmigiana, scampi or Bolognese. For example, if eating Italian, ½ cup of fried calamari has 11 points while ½ cup of fried clams has 6 points. If eating Mexican, a fajita with chicken, beef or pork can have up to 13 points, while a quesadilla with the same filling has about seven points. When dining on Chinese food, skip the noodles and deep fried options and go for steamed veggies with lean meat or dishes prepared with sweet and sour sauce.
Considerations
When losing weight, it is important to get in the habit of controlling portion sizes at the table, whether you are at home or at a restaurant, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When dining out, plan to eat only half of the meal by asking the server to bring half of it in a to-go bag when the meal is served. Eat slowly and stop as soon as you feel full. Having a high fiber, low point snack such as piece of fruit before going out will help to curb hunger and overeating.
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