WW Core Plan

[Guest guest]

> Has anybody heard of weight watchers program where you don't count

> anything?

From the group's Archives:

100-plus/message/18956

Date: Sat Sep 25, 2004 9:27 am

Subject: Re: New WW program

> Could someone tell me the basics on the new plan?

I got these from other messages. All comments are by the original authors.

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This is the " core plan " , which does not require portion counting.

Unlimited fruits and vegetables.

Unlimited legumes, meat substitutes, tofu, etc.

Unlimited nonfat dairy.

Unlimited lean meats.

Unlimited grains for ONE MEAL A DAY. Only one meal.

2 teaspoons of olive or flaxseed oil (or others) to give you your fatty

acids for the day.

35 flex points to do with as you wish, and then additional points

allotted for exercise.

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What's in the 'Core Plan'

Highlights from Weight Watchers' new program, which promotes food that's big

on volume but low in calories.

- Fruits and vegetables: Any plain fresh or frozen items, and anything

canned without syrup.

- Protein: Leaner meats. Ham might be OK, bacon and spareribs less so.

- Grains: Mostly whole grains -- whole wheat pasta and brown rice, for

instance.

- Dairy: Plain, nonfat options should be fine.

- Soups: Broth- and tomato-based items are on the list; cream-based aren't.

- Breakfast cereals: Because they're tempting as a snack, only four made the

cut -- puffed wheat and rice, shredded wheat and 100 percent bran.

- Healthy oils: A couple tablespoons of heart-healthy options are allowed,

such as canola or olive oil.

- No-nos: Foods likely to become nutritional crutches -- many unsweetened

cereals, white rice, nonfat fruit yogurt or sugar-free cocoa.

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and from the blog site:

Meat and Meat Substitutes

* Lean beef, lamb, pork and veal (loin or round and trim visible fat)

* Ground beef (7% fat or less)

* Organ meats (eww, for me!) fresh, frozen or canned (canned organ meat?

double eww!)

* Poultry - Chicken and turkey, again trim visible fat, no skin

* Ground chicken or turkey, once a day only

* Fish and shellfish, fresh, frozen, or canned, any variety as long as

not packed in fat or oil. Sign me up for all-you-can-eat shrimp with

homemade cocktail sauce with Splenda instead of sugar.

* Tofu, any type

* Frozen veggie burgers - wonder if this means not the large, delectable

ones in restaurants? Probably not.

* NO deli meats or hot dogs - so much for the Atkins connection, but how

many of us have followed Atkins only to remain fat? I know I have!

Eggs, Dairy & Cheese

* Whole eggs or whites (yay, rah!) as long as we prepare without butter

or fat OR count the FLEX points

* Eggbeaters and other egg substitutes

* Fat-free milk, cheese and sour cream

* Soy milk and soy cheese

* Plain yogurt. I take it that the aspartame-only - no sugar varieties

would be OK, or that it's OK to sweeten it myself and add my own fruit.

* Weight Watchers Smoothies (or ALBA) or fat-free, sugar-free instant

hot cocoa are OK, but only once a day (danger, will robinson)

* NO real, yummy cheese, unless you spend your Flex points on it,

apparently not even Parmesan over the lowfat spaghetti sauce

Fruit

* Any fresh, frozen or canned fruit (no added sugar; canned must be

packed in water or juice (not syrup); AND drained before eating, as they

don't allow JUICE, see next item

* NO juice - too easy to overdo, I suspect

* Unsweetened applesauce

* NO Dried fruits, too high caloric density, they're too dangerous

Veggies

* ANY fresh, frozen or canned veggies without any non-Core-Food

ingredients, especially watching for added oil or sugar.

* Yes, potatoes - no, French Fries

* Yes, sweet potatoes

* Yes, corn

* Yes, beans and lentils, fat-free refried beans are OK

* Tomato paste, puree and sauce

* NO vegetable juices; I suspect they think I'll gorge on carrot juice

or somesuch. But does this mean no more free v-8? Doesn't that contradict

the tomato sauce or tomato soup ruling?

Soup

* If you make soups only with core foods, we can go for it!

* Bean soups like lentil or split pea are fine, even corn chowder,

though I'd go sparingly on that unless on maintenance!

* Bouillon broth are fine, add core foods only

* Tomato soup is allowed; again, why not V-8 then?

* NO Cream soups, though I'm thinking of trying soymilk (already

violating? maybe I should wait until I've lost a few pounds!)

Cereal and Grain

Once a day, we can have:

* all-grain cereal with fat-free milk or soymilk (I like Silk). For dry

cereals, this means ONLY puffed wheat or rice, shredded wheat, and all bran

cereals with no added sugar. Rice Krispies and Special K and the like have

added fat AND sugar, unfortunately. Look them up on the web, like at

Kellogg's. For hot cereals, we can have Cream of Wheat, oatmeal and such.

* I like Bob's Red Mill products, myself.

* Add fruit! It makes it not so boring and tasteless.

* Once a day, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, potatoes or grains

(including couscous, which I figured would be excluded because it's just

regular pasta, but it isn't). Note: Beware of the new American Beauty

Healthy pasta, which is secretly regular pasta with a smidgen of added whole

grain.

Fats, Oils Dressings

* 2 teaspoons (NOT tablespoons heart-friendly oil per day

* other than that, none, nothing, zip, nada. Get ready to use your Flex

points for this good stuff.

* Nonstick cooking and baking spray

Other Free Stuff

* Ice and water, including sugar-free, clear beverages such as any diet

soda (NOT coke's new C2 though)

* Seasonings and herbs, without added sugar - have to read those labels.

* Fat-free salad dressing; I find all the fat-free butters and dressings

yucky, myself and will be using flex points.

* Fat-free margarine (I stay away from this hydrogenated stuff; it's

supposed to be bad for the arteries, isn't it? Besides just dampening the

bread that I already can't have)

* Fat-free mayonnaise (I'd rather spend flex points for the real deal)

* Extracts and flavorings. Vanilla extract in FF cottage cheese, with

cut-up pears and wheat germ is great in a cheesecake-y sort of way.

My Flex Points Will Be Going Toward

* Tiny dabs of real butter, sour cream and mayonnaise to liven up the

veggies

* Bread - bagels and tortillas mostly, for me

* Alcohol, when I can't stay away from the red wine or the occasional

Fat Tire ale

* Eating out - because how the heck can you ensure following Core Plan

unless it's a side salad with fat free dressing?