12/5/17 Update: Weight Watchers has just released its latest program – Freestyle – described as the “simplest, most flexible Weight Watchers program in over 50 years. Based on science—you’ll lose weight and have total freedom with your food choices. Click here to learn more about Weight Watchers Freestyle Program Changes.
12/8/15 Update: Weight Watchers introduced it’s new plan Beyond the Scale and SmartPoints yesterday. You’ll want to Read this Post before reading this guide as there are many new changes that supersede what is written here
Assembling this Ultimate Guide to Weight Watchers Recipes Blogs and Resources has been on my to do list for years. Finally, I sat down and tackled it.
I lose way too much time searching out information on the internet. I’m guessing that you do too. I love having collections of resources all in one place. My training as a health information manager taught me that information is useless unless it can be quickly retrieved when you need it. That’s what this handy dandy ultimate Guide to Weight Watchers Recipes Blogs and Other Resources is all about. It’s a one page collection that includes:
- Weight Watchers recipe blogs that provide reliable nutritional estimates and points plus information
- Sources for weight loss motivation and inspiration
- The sites I use for determining nutritional estimates and WWPP
- Weight Watchers who are blogging about their weight loss journeys
- Weight Watchers recipe collections and roundups
- DIY WW Resources
I hope it helps you achieve your healthy weight loss goals!
First Things First: Weight Watchers Basics – How Does Weight Watchers Work?
The Current Weight Watchers program is called PointsPlus (it’s called ProPoints outside North America). The most basic elements of the program are the following:
- Every food is assigned a PointsPlus value that is calculated from the grams of protein, fat carbohydrates, and fiber in a defined portion of food.
- Fruits and nonstarchy vegetables are assigned a PointsPlus value of zero, although eating 12 bananas at a time or in a day, for a whole bunch of reasons is never encouraged.
- Some foods are called Weight Watchers Power Foods because they are a great PointsPlus bargain, are naturally filling, and have good nutritional characteristics.
- You can earn additional PointsPlus values from exercise. The more the exercise makes you work, the more Activity PointsPlus values you can earn and then swap (or not) for food.
- Each person is assigned a PointsPlus Target to live within each day. To provide additional flexibility, they also provide something called a Weekly Allowance, which allows you to splurge on occasion. Some, none, or all of the allowance can be used each week.
People who attend Weight Watchers do it primarily through one of two routes:
- Meetings: Where you actually go to a meeting place at a retail location, your office or community locations such as a church or community center. At these meetings, there is a leader who is a successful member and now works for Weight Watchers. This person facilitates a discussion around a selected topic as well as a discussion on how everyone is doing. At these meetings, people are weighed in confidentially by a receptionist, who is also a successful Weight Watchers member.
- Weight Watchers Online: Where you use an array of Web-based tools and resources and/or mobile applications to learn the PointsPlus program and track your food consumption and weight loss progress.
Most people who got to meetings these days purchase a Monthly Pass, which gives them unlimited access to meetings, and the online tools, as well as many mobile applications. Other teams you might hear:
Goal weight: Fairly self-explanatory, except that Weight Watchers focuses heavily in the first few months on achieving medically significant weight loss, which occurs when you lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight.
Lifetime Membership: Members who reach a BMI of at least 25 (or higher with a doctor’s note) and maintain in for 6 weeks are eligible for Lifetime Membership. This special status allow them to continue going to meetings for free as long as they stay within 2 pounds of their goal weight and weigh in once a month.
There is much more to the program than this, which you learn best through experiencing it.
Source: Weight Loss Boss: How to Finally Win at Losing–and Take Charge in an Out-of-Control Food World
Best Weight Watchers Recipe Blogs
You definitely don’t have to be on Weight Watchers to be interested in these blogs. They’re great resources for lighter eating and if you’re interested in knowing the nutritional information on recipes:
1) Simple Nourished Living – I’m a Weight Watchers Lifetime Member who has been sharing Weight Watchers friendly recipes with nutritional estimates and points plus since September 2011. I especially love easy healthy slow cooker recipes.
2) SkinnyTaste – The premier blog for Weight Watchers recipes, I first learned about Gina and SkinnyTaste years ago at a Weight Watchers meeting. She specializes in family friendly recipes that are made lighter and healthier. All recipes include nutritional information as well as the old points and new points plus calculations. Her food photography is stunning too.
3) Slender Kitchen – I’m a big fan of Kristen and her blog, Slender Kitchen, a great resource for realistic WW friendly recipes with nutritional information and points plus, food finds and weight loss success stories. She also offers Weight Watchers friendly healthy meal plans.
4) Emily Bites – Emily and her delightful blog, Emily Bites, specializes in Weight Watchers recipes for lightened up comfort food with nutritional information and points plus details. You’ll find a lot of creative portion controlled dishes made in muffin tins.
5) LaaLoosh – Wendy’s blog, Laaloosh, is another great Weight Watchers recipe blog with easy approachable recipes that include nutritional information, Weight Watchers points, and reviews of food finds.
6) Dashing Dish – Katie is an impressive young woman who combines her deep faith, talent for creating healthy alternatives to the food you crave and stunning food photography on her terrific blog which is another great resource for Weight Watchers.
7) Green Lite Bites – is where Roni, of Roni’s Weigh, shares her adventures in healthier eating with two kids and a picky husband. She strives to limit sugar and avoid processed flours while including as many fruits and veggies as possible. For those who are members of Weight Watchers, you will love the photographs, nutritional information and WW points that she includes with most recipes.
8) Skinny Kitchen – This is another blog bursting with Weight Watchers recipes, from Nancy Fox, a former California based healthy restaurant chef. In addition to nutritional information and WW points plus, each recipe post often includes a food fact, healthy benefit or shopping tip.
9) Organize Yourself Skinny – Tammy, a busy working mom turned full time blogger, lost weight counting calories. She shares weight loss tips, exercise routines and lots of healthy recipes with nutritional information so you can easily calculate WW points plus.
10) Kitchen Parade – Food columnist and blogger, Alanna Kellogg includes nutritional information and both old and new Points values for most of her recipes on her long-running blog, Kitchen Parade. In addition to recipes, the site provides a wealth of cooking tips, information and inspiration guaranteed to help you become a better cook.
Other Great Weight Watchers Recipe Resources:
- WeightWatchers
- Recipe Girl (Weight Watchers Category)
- Recipe Diaries (Weight Watchers Category)
- Chocolate Covered Katie (Healthy Dessert Blog that includes nutritional information so you can calculate WWPP.
- Drizzle Me Skinny – Kate, a Weight Watchers Lifetime member from Canada shares shares easy lightened up recipes featuring lots of fun desserts and creamy pasta bakes.
Best Weight Loss Inspiration, Motivation & Success Tips
I don’t know about you but for me reading inspirational weight loss stories helps keep me motivated. I learn so much and get rejuvenated. Whenever I’m feeling stuck, I hit one of my favorite resources for inspirational weight loss stories.
Half Size Me – Despite numerous false starts, binge eating, and too many obstacles (both physical and mental) to list, Heather lost almost 170 pounds over a five year period. Committed to helping others achieve weight loss success, Half Size Me has lots to offer including Podcasts, a Subscription Based Community and Personal Coaching. She even did a podcast with me last winter where I talked about my weight loss journey.
The Weigh We Were – Kat Carney lost 90 pounds 15 years ago. Since then, she has become very passionate about helping women reach their weight loss goals by sharing successful weight loss stories she gathers from around the web. The before and after pictures and healthy tips help women struggling with weight to connect in more personal and meaningful ways with women just like them who have overcome everyday challenges to become weight loss success stories. Seeing is believing.
Weight Watchers has lots of success stories too, both in their magazine and online.
400 Motivational Weight Loss Quotes (Fitness for Weight Loss) – If you love motivational and inspirational quotes you’ll love this comprehensive list. One of my favorites: “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” ~Robert J Collier
Nutrition and Weight Watchers Points Plus Calculators
Weight Watchers was my starting point with healthy eating and weight loss. And though I don’t actively count points anymore, I still think they can be a great tool for those looking to make changes to their diet and learn how to make better more educated choices.
I provide nutritional estimates for most of my recipes and use this information to calculate Weight Watchers Points Plus. I calculate the nutritional information by using online resources such as CalorieCount.com and NutritionData.com.
It’s not really that hard to do, but as anyone who has done Weight Watchers realizes, it is time consuming. The good news is that you don’t have to do it forever, just long enough to educate yourself in how to feed yourself in a healthy balanced way.
How do I know how many PointsPlus I get each day?
Use this PointsPlus Calculator. Enter your age, weight and height. (Note: There are two different calculators, one for females and one for males. This number will go down as you lose weight, so recalculate often.)
How do I know how many PointsPlus a food is?
Easy. You can calculate your Weight Watchers Points Plus with CalculatorCat.com.
What Should I Eat on the Weight Watchers Points Plus Program?
The nice thing about Weight Watchers is that you get to decide what to eat. It’s basically a food budgeting system and you are in charge of your budget so it’s up to you. Nothing is off limits. If you want a cookie or pizza you can have them, as long as you plan and budget for it.
Obviously, you want to make most of your food healthy so you get the most nutritional bang for your points plus buck as you can. Most days you should strive to meet
~5 servings of fruits & veggies
~2 servings of milk products
~6 glasses of “liquids”
~2 teaspoons healthy oils (olive, sunflower, safflower, canola, flaxseed)
~1-2 servings of lean protein
~1 multivitamin a day
~Choose whole grains when possible
~At least 30 minutes of activity a day most days of the week
~Limit sugar and alcohol
What’s a serving size?
1. Fruits, vegetables and leafy greens
Serving sizes are 1 cup for leafy greens and 1/2 cup for all other vegetables and fruits. The lettuce alone in a large salad may well count for 2 or more vegetable servings. The default portion for most fruits and vegetables in the Plan Manager is one cup.
2. Packaged whole grains
Use the nutrition label to determine the serving size of packaged whole grain foods.
3. Milk and dairy
If you are more than 50 years old or are a teenager or a nursing mom, increase milk servings to three each day. Examples of one milk serving include 1 cup of milk or yogurt or 1 1/2 ounces of many cheeses.
4. Healthy oils
Having 2 teaspoons of healthy oil each day ensures that you get the vitamin E and essential fatty acids that your body needs. Use the oil on salads, in cooking or as an ingredient in a mixed dish. Two teaspoons of oil is not even 1 tablespoon, so be careful to measure, since each additional teaspoon counts as another PointsPlus value of 1.
5. Lean meat and fish
A serving of lean meat or fish is generally 3 to 4 ounces, about the size of a deck of cards.
6. Water
Six 8-ounce glasses of water is just 3 standard 16-ounce bottles.
How do I keep track of it all?
Journaling is really key to weight loss success. Write down everything you eat and drink. You can go old school and get a small notebook and use it as a food journal. If you have a phone with a camera you can keep a photo journal. Or you can use a free app like MyFitnessPal.com.
Best Weight Watchers Bloggers
Here’s a list of blogs by Weight Watchers (past or present) who are blogging their way to weight loss success by sharing their stories and experiences on-line. If you are looking for weight loss motivation and inspiration you’ll want to check them out.
A Lifetime Loser
A little (less) Allie
A Pinch of Healthy
Beth’s Journey
Bikini Body Countdown
Brooke: Not On A Diet!
Danica’s Daily
Diva on a Diet
Freakin’ Flabuless
From Fat to Fit Chick
Getting Fit Again in My 40s
It Sux to be Fat
Kris Gets Healthy
Prior Fat Girl: Liz
Quitting Is Never An Option
Roni’s Weigh
Run.Chew.Sparkle
Runs For Cookies
Southern Living Yankee
Snark & Pepper
Sparkly Runner
Suzi Storm
Terra Ayres
The Daily Mel
The Fat Girl Fighting
The Skinny Doll
This is… Nacho Mama’s Blog
Weight Loss Gal
Weight Off My Shoulders
Weight Watcher Girl
Best Weight Watchers Recipe Round-Ups and Collections
There are lots of blogs, while not focused specifically on Weight Watchers Recipes, that have created helpful roundups or collections of Weight Watchers Recipes for their readers. Here are some of my favorites:
Best WW Recipes of 2016 with SmartPoints/PointsPlus
100+ Weight Watchers Crock Pot Recipes with Points Plus (Carrie Elle)
100 of the Best Weight Watchers Recipes (Tone and Tighten)
100+ Weight Watchers Friendly Desserts (Something Swanky)
149 Weight Watchers Crock Pot Recipes from 2014 (Simple Nourished Living)
183 Days of Low Calorie Weight Watchers Crock Pot Recipes (Simple Nourished Living)
20 Weight Watcher LUNCH recipes (A Spectacled Owl)
20 Weight Watchers SNACK/APPETIZERS recipes (A Spectacled Owl)
25 Weight Watchers SIDE DISH recipes (A Spectacled Owl)
25 Weight Watchers Recipes with 6 or Less Points (You Brew My Tea)
25 Weight Watcher BREAKFAST recipes (A Spectacled Owl)
25 Easy to Make Weight Watchers Dinner Recipes (Cloudy with a Chance of Wine)
25 Weight Watcher DESSERT recipes (A Spectacled Owl)
25 Delicious Weight Watchers Dessert Recipes (Cloudy with a Chance of Wine)
28 Weight Watchers 2-Point Snacks (Beth Celestin)
30 Weight Watchers DINNER recipes (A Spectacled Owl)
45 Recipes to Start You on Your Weight Watchers Journey (A Spectacled Owl)
50 Weight Watchers Recipes to Help Start your Weight Loss (A Spectacled Owl)
Amazing Weight Watchers Dessert Recipes (Just 2 Sisters)
Best Weight Watchers Pinterest Boards
Weight Watchers Recipes (A great group board from all my favorite Weight Watchers Food Bloggers)
Weight Watchers Pinterest Board (Simple Nourished Living)
Best DIY Weight Watchers Resources
If your circumstances allow, the best way to successfully do Weight Watchers®, is by joining their program, either by attending meetings, signing up on-line, or with their new personal coaching. I became a lifetime member by attending meetings. If that’s not possible for you, following the program on your own is possible, but it will take creativity and commitment. Here are links that may help:
How to Do Weight Watchers at Home for Free (Slender Kitchen)
How to Get Weight Watchers for Free, Really! (Frecklberry Finds)
Weight Watchers Free: DIY Guide (Healthy Weight Forum)
Printable Weight Watchers Food Journal (LaaLoosh)
7-Day Weight Watchers Menu Plan (SkinnyMs)
Family Friendly Meal Plan for breakfasts, lunches and dinners with points plus (Weight Watchers)
Create a Custom Weight Watchers Meal Plan with Plan to Eat (Organize Yourself Skinny)
50 Weight Watchers Friendly Fast Food Options with 8 or Less Points (All Mommy Wants)
Weight Watchers Weekly Meal Plans with Recipes and Points (Simple Nourished Living)
Weight Watchers Power Foods List (Weight Watchers)
Why I Love Simply Filling & How it Works (Simple Nourished Living)
Zero Points Food List (Weight Watchers)
Plan friendly shopping guide (Weight Watchers)
Weight Watchers 2015: What’s New and What to Eat (Simple Nourished Living)
Weight Watchers Points Plus Restaurant List (Exercise for Weight Loss)
Fast Food Survival Guide with SmartPoints for Weight Watchers (Meal Planning Mommies)
Portion Distortion – How Portions Have Gotten Bigger and What You Can Do About it (Nutrition Secrets)
Do you have a great WW Reference/Resource to share that’s not listed here? Please let me know by leaving a comment and I’ll add it!
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or Craftsy links, I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thanks for your purchase!
Original article and pictures take simple-nourished-living.com site
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