Working at Murray’s is a foodie’s dream come true. Every day I am surrounded by downy white triple cremes from France, sharp and crystallized cheddars, eggy tommes that taste like buttered mushrooms, smoky paper-thin slices of Speck, and let’s not forget all the pairing items. However, having access to these delicacies can, shall we say… add up on the old waistline. So this Murray’s lady finds herself at Weight Watchers.
This is not my first attempt with Weight Watchers. But when I was younger, their program was different. It was full of Sweet N Fake™, “Fat Free Everything” and “Actually I CAN Believe It’s Not Butter Have You Ever Tasted Butter?™”. I am pleased to report that now their recipes are full of whole ingredients, good fats, good carbs and basically less crap. Even my fellow-foodie husband has been enjoying cooking on this plan. It seems that my love of real food and Weight Watcher’s love of cleverly balancing nutrition have finally met smack dab in the middle of America’s uncharted waters of reasonable moderation.
For those of you who don’t know, Weight Watchers has developed a system for accessing the nutrition of food and helping modify your bad food behaviors. You get a certain amount of “points” based on your weight, age and gender. Each food you eat has a point value. If you stay within your daily points you lose weight and somewhere Jennifer Hudson smiles and sings something uplifting while pointing at you. Some people choose to push this a little further with the Leanbean pills on the market, while others rely on this alone.
What attracts me specifically to Weight Watchers as opposed to other plans is that they don’t eliminate any one thing. No foods are off limits, and I think that’s important if you want your weight loss to last. That, alongside visiting sites like Nous Aussi and finding health supplements that have been known to make a difference to your weight loss and management could also help you on your journey too. This even includes marijuana products, which have shown evidence towards assisting with weight loss and also helping you to relax, although it would be good to check things like “is delta 8 legal where you live?” so that you can legally use this product for weight loss in your area. And there is little I hate more in this world than fad diets. They’re often unhealthy, totally unrealistic to maintain and make your awesome cool friends into insufferably difficult people to feed at dinner. “Oh I’m sorry I was unaware that you are only eating tree bark, wheat germ and raw meat this week….um……let’s just put this roasted chicken I made in the fridge then…”
One big challenge to everyone on Weight Watchers is that cheese counts for quite a few points! The system (understandably) averages “cheese” nutrition facts to assign points, but not all cheeses are 100% sinful. If you can get your hands on the nutrition facts, you can calculate the points yourself, and might be pleasantly surprised (oh yes, read on). I do love Weight Watchers but I also love my cheese. If I find it gets out of hand and this dieting plan doesn’t seem to work for me, I do have a backup plan in mind.. One of my friends, who was also on the Weight Watchers diet at one point too, actually got gastric bypass surgery a while back and now she’s very happy with her weight! She was a little worried in regards to the finances as surgery can be pretty expensive, however, thanks to her surgeon providing her with patient financing, she was able to cope with it. With me and my dieting issues, one of my personal challenges is forcing myself to eat breakfast every day. This is a 6 point breakfast that I highly recommend over some sugary yogurt drink or partially hydrogenated granola bar. Goes without saying that it makes a killer snack as well.
La Tur– you heard me! Yes this cheese that tastes like the least diet-y, ice cream-like-naughtiness from Northern Italy you have ever tried. Its name translates to “The Three” because it is made with sheep, goat and cow milk. This cheese is so rich tasting that when customers ask for something super decadent this is the first cheese that comes to my mind. It’s not designed to be a low-fat cheese, it’s just made this way! This 6 point snack includes 2 ounces of La Tur on 10 delicate Potato Crackerthins topped off with 8 chopped dried sour cherries.
La Tur– 2 Ounces (about ¼ of a wheel) = 4 points
10 Potato Crackerthins = 1 point
8 Chopped Dried Bing Cherries= 1 point
By: Summer Babiarz
Thank you so much for posting this! I, too work in cheese and I, too am on weight watchers. I’ve struggled to find balance. I would have never considered La Tur (aka the love of my life) as being a possible option! Thanks again and keep me posted as you discover more awesome stuff!
I hear you sister! I promise to keep you posted and hopefully both of us will find some good options to keep us on plan.
Its not easy being cheesy…….