Yes, I admit it. There are some adjustments I make to Weight Watchers Freestyle and I still lose weight every single week. I became a member on 1/1/18 and have lost 75+ pounds.
Before we get into what I do “MY” way, let me state the things I DO adhere to religiously:
- I am crazy about sticking to my daily points allowance minus 4 points per day that I carry over in case I decide to treat myself.
- I, to this day, have never broken into my weekly points.
- Religiously, I weigh and measure everything that I need to.
Remember one thing – this is what I do. When I began in the beginning of the year, I did everything to a “T”. Now after 10 months, I know what works for me. What I do may make you gain, lose more than me, or cause you to plateau. Do what you need to do and what works for you and only you.
The weigh way I see it is this – for me to be able to maintain this for the rest of my life, I have to figure out what works now. I don’t want to reach goal, only to gain weight after I stop counting half and half in my coffee (which I reference below). That’s why I am slowly tweaking what works for me now.
I thought I’d do another post to show you more ways I restyle Weight Watchers Freestyle and still lose weight every single week. Below is a list of the rules I wrote about in the first post regarding all the rules I break on Weight Watchers and still lose weight:
Nonfat Half & Half
If I have coffee, I don’t count the couple points I use of nonfat Half & Half. My reason for this is it’s nonfat and I rarely finish the entire pint of coffee I drink.
Rx Bars
This past weekend, we were going to church on Saturday night and I was ravenous. I didn’t want to eat dinner before Mass, so my husband offered me one of his Rx Bars. I initially said no since a small bar was 7 points and I did not want to give up my points set aside for my dinner out. Nor did I want to dip into my weekly points. But a remembered a vlog on Youtube by Diva and the Divine talking about the Rx Bars. Go check it out here. So, I looked at the “4” ingredients on the bar which consisted of: 3 Egg Whites (0 Points), 14 Peanuts (2 Points), 2 little dates (0 Points). Since egg whites and dates were 0 points and the 14 peanuts was 2 points, I only calculated the points as 2 not 7. It was definitely more enjoyable and fair (to me) doing it this way. If I happen to eat another Rx Peanut Butter Bar again, I will still count it as just 2 points.
Marinades
If I happen to marinate chicken or fish, I do not count the marinade that I am using. For the most part, I use light or low fat salad dressings and I discard all the marinade that remains. Most times, I have the same amount of marinade remaining in the dish as I started with.
No Fruit Count for Smoothies
If I make smoothies, I do not count the fruit that I add to it. I know you are supposed to, but I only add the amount of fruit that I would eat in one sitting if I wasn’t making a smoothie. In other words I do not put 8 bananas in the blender for a smoothie, I just use 1-2 bananas.
Salad Dressings
I always use light salad dressing or this 0 point Ranch dressing here. But if I’m not using the 0 Point Ranch dressing, I use Ken’s Light Balsamic. I usually use 2-3 tablespoons, but if I’m having an especially large salad, I will add extra but not record the point. Why? Because most times it settles to the bottom of the bowl and remains unused. If for some odd reason or other, there was none left after adding extra, I’d record the points.
Disregard Points “Jumping”
If I am making chicken salad and I add 1 tablespoon of Hellmann’s Light Mayonnaise, it is 1 Point. But if I want 3 tablespoons, it jumps to 4 points. I disregard the 4 and record it as 3 points. The reason for doing this is that when I first started the program in January, I would mentally calculate the points as I was doing my weekly menu and I didn’t realize that it jumped to 4 points. Even so, I lost 6 pounds the first week and I do it every now and again and I have had no problems with it. To me, it’s simple math 1+1+1=3 not 4. Now if every food I ate in a day was ahead one point, I would calculate my points correctly. This is not something I do everyday, but every now and again if I need an extra tablespoon of mayonnaise, I use the 1:1 point ratio.
Splenda
I recently made fresh lemonade for my son and knew I would want a few glasses as well. Since I did not want to use sugar, I used Splenda instead. I thought Splenda was 0 points no matter how much you used, but I was wrong. One cup of Splenda is 3 points, but since we were sharing the lemonade I chose not to use any points for my glass. Regardless, a glass would be less than 1 point anyway. If I drank the entire pitcher, I still wouldn’t count it because I would most likely not drink it all in one sitting.
The Newest Rules I RESTYLED and Still Lose Weight Weekly:
Ground Turkey Breast
I am the first to admit, I like to save money. However, paying almost $6.00/pound for Ground Turkey Breast was causing our food bill to go up. Especially when I am the only who really likes it. My husband and son say they do not like eating “white” meatballs. So, I stopped buying it and use 93% Ground Turkey. And guess what, it makes no difference on the scale whatsoever. I’ve been doing this for about 3 months now and eat it multiple times weekly. So, no change on the scale but big change in the wallet.
*As a side note, when I do recipes for everyone I always write to use Ground Turkey Breast as an ingredient – so therefore, there are no points.
Bouillons/Broths- Chicken/Beef/Vegetable
I’ve been on Weight Watchers numerous times – dating back to the early 90’s. Then, broth and bouillon’s were considered free foods. I remember well having about 5 bouillon cubes a day, sometimes more. Now on the Freestyle program, if I have 2 cubes (which is a total of 15 calories), I have to count it as 1 Point. And I’m not going to.
In fact, if I use a 32 ounce box of beef broth, I still don’t count that as any points. I didn’t years ago, and I won’t now or ever.
*As a side note, when I do recipes for everyone, I do count points for bouillon/broth in the recipes. So you are getting the correct points value.
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray
Since corn on the cob is a “free” food, we eat a lot of it around here. Before I begin by telling you what I do, let me preface this by saying something. I just plugged into the Weight Watchers Calculator 590 sprays (random number) and it is 0 Points. In fact, it is 12 calories and 0 Grams in all the nutritional values. So when I eat corn, I pour a small amount into a small bowl and brush the spray on using a silicone brush. And, I’m certain that doesn’t add up to 590 sprays.
So, these are the things I have been doing for quite some time now and still lose weight consistently. But this is what I do – your body may be different. Do what is right for you because it is your journey. And you will get there!
sherry says
Thanks….makes good sense to do what has worked and keep journal records to reference. Have plato for two months, so will start excluding…..
Mishy says
Sounds a lot like me!!