Linda,
I've been on Weight Watcher's since last May! Lovin' it!
For me, it was about cutting out the fat and some starches.

A typical meal for us:
4-6 oz. of a lean meat
1-2 c. of veggies
baked potato with fat free sour cream and a butter substitute.

I'm a popcorn freak, so that's usually my dessert...with a glass of wine.

Last night:
Turkey Lasagne made with FF cheese, FF cream of chicken soup, FF sour cream, chopped turkey, olives, green chilis, and whole wheat pasta.
And corn.

Beef (you don't wanna know what part), baked beans, green salad the night before.

Lunches are usually leftovers.

I make "McMuffins" up in batches on the weekend for quick breakfasts.
Double fiber english muffins, FF cheese, ham, egg.
Individually wrapped and frozen to "grab and go".

Lots of fruits and veggies.
Whole wheat pasta only.
Brown rice.
Fat free dairy products (or soy)
More beans and whole grains (lentils, barley)

This easy recipe has become one of my favorites and I often make it with barley instead of rice.

Unfried Chinese Rice Recipe

2 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
 1/2 cup finely diced ham or Canadian bacon
 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
 2 eggs, scrambled and chopped up
 3-4 diced spring onions
 1/4-1/3 cup soy sauce
 1/8 teaspoon ginger powder
 1/2 teaspoon garlic granules
 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1. Steam rice according to your steamer's direction.
2. Place all other ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Put hot rice directly on top and let sit for 2-3 minutes stir well and serve immediately.

Deanna (down 28.6 lbs. as of last Thursday)

My DH keeps his weight down mainly by cutting out: breads, pasta, potatoes, rice, cookies, cakes, soda and fruit juices.

He eats whatever else he wants, including ice cream. He drinks water, coffee, tea and wine.

Bread is very difficult to cut out of an American diet, but once you get used to doing without, you don't miss it.
(Unless you open a thread here about freshly-baked something-or-other, LOL.)

I think I'm the only person in the world that gained weight on WW.

I think I'm gonna do what Gina's DH does.

Deanna, I like your "McMuffin" idea. I'll have to try that this week.

Your typical meal of lean meat, veggie and potato is pretty much what I have been doing, too, but it's getting kind of boring. I am really looking for some more imaginative ideas.

Gina, bread isn't really a big deal for me but I love pasta. I have been using whole wheat pasta lately, tho, and I have to say I actually like it better than white pasta. Cakes and cookies are easy for me to avoid, too. Never been much of a cake-lover and if I don't bake cookies there are no cookies to tempt me! I hate store-bought cookies of any kind except for Walker's Shortbreads.

What I really miss are Sharon's "slimmer dinners" posts. There were some really yummy sounding meals on those. Maybe I'll have to search for those threads.

Linda

FUSILLI WITH SHRIMP AND ROASTED VEGETABLES 4 servings

12 plum tomatoes, cores and quartered lengthwise
2 Tbsp. olive oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 small head garlic
1 lb. thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch lengths
1 lb, large shrimp, peeled and deveined
3/ 4 lb. corkscrew pasta, such as fusilli or rotini
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried

Set rack in lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a large roasting pan, toss the tomatoes with 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil and a generous grinding of pepper. Slice the top 1/ 2 inch off the garlic head and discard; pull off any loose papery skin. Wrap the garlic in tin foil and add to the roasting pan.

Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, without stirring, or until the tomatoes are wrinkled and just begin to brown. Scatter the asparagus and shrimp over the tomatoes and roast for 10 minutes more, or until the shrimp are curled and the asparagus is tender. Remove the garlic from the pan, unwrap, and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove roasting pan from oven and cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile, cook pasta. While the pasta is cooking, separate the garlic cloves and squeeze out soft pulp. Mash to a paste.

Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Add the remaining 1 Tbs. of oil, mashed garlic, lemon juice, herbs and salt & pepper, tossing to evenly coat the pasta with the seasonings. Transfer the pasta to the roasting pan and toss gently to combine, making sure to scrape up any bits that have stuck to the pan.

Notes: I have used rosemary and basil, and oregano and thyme herb combinations too. A handful of quartered crimini mushrooms tossed with a little olive oil and added to the roasting pan about 5 minutes before the shrimp are a nice addition.

I have a few on my website.

Linda, you should cut out all pastas. The whole wheat is just as bad as white as far as the glycemic load, according to Robert Thompson's book on glycemic load.

The glycemic index was never meant to be used a dietary guideline, as the portions used were not meal-portions. For example, carrots are high on the index, but the portion measured was about 7 or so whole carrots!

I love pasta, rice and potatoes. All refined carbs, really. But even us thin types can develop diabetes and heart disease, so thinking about what you are putting in your body is a good step in keeping healthy, even if you are not trying to lose weight.

I got Thompson's book on glycemic load because I need to be more thoughtful about eating right for sports. I was tending to get carb crashes and feeling jittery and irritable if I didn't eat right. Or running out of gas in the middle of a ping pong game.

Thank you for starting this thread. I was thinking of asking about recipes too, but you beat me to it. I never saw the Slimmer dinner posts - if you find them will you please post the link?

Anyway, my approach is number 1, increase the amount of exercise. I find that exercise actually helps me more for weight loss than diet control and that both together is the best way.

I also use sort of a formula approach. Breakfast is one small grain, one protein, one fruit. So maybe half an English muffin with peanut butter and banana. Or a bowl of cereal with milk and a small slice of Canadian bacon and a piece of fruit. Or half an English muffin (whole wheat of course) with slice of canadian bacon and low fat (can't do the fat free) cheese melted in the toaster oven, piece of fruit on the side.

Lunch is monotonous. I just don't have time to deal with varying my lunch routine. I always have a sandwich (homemade whole wheat bread) with minimal low fat mayo, one ounce turkey, one slice low fat cheese. A bag of mixed fresh veggies (carrots, bell peppers, etc) and a piece of fruit. Water to drink.

Dinner is the hardest to keep interesting, I agree. And I am totally addicted to both fresh bread and pasta so I have to try to limit those. I do a lot of soups. I love bread with them but when I'm being good I just have a green salad instead. I have a mushroom soup that I love from Cooking Light, tomato soups, wild rice and chicken, etc.

Chicken with lemon is good. Parmesan fish (posted by someone here awhile back) is good. I do still eat red meat even when I'm watching calories so this weekend I made a venison swiss steak. It's pretty good as the meat is the only "bad" thing in it.

I'm looking forward to hearing more ideas, thanks again for starting the thread.

Oh Karen, I gained or stayed the same on WW years ago. Never returned for another go round. For me it's cutting back on the carbs and the portion sizes. Now that I'm not eating wheat or potatoes, it's easier.

I only know one person that tried weight watchers, and she's been on and off it for years. She's not any smaller than when she started.

Eat what you like, just smaller portions (easier said than done for me), and exercise.

Sally

I made a cheese spread this wekend, basically a mix of low fat cottage cheese and low fat cheddar cheese, ground up together in the food processor. Seasoned with dill and dried chives. It is good spread on WASA crisps--they have a low carb version although I think it tastes like cardboard. It is pretty good with the cheese spread. I have that with soup some times.

I've lost 4 lbs. but can't loose any more. I have started exercising three times a week but even it hasn't managed to get me any resuluts. You can't make up for 8-10 hours of sitting at work/commuting with 45 minutes of exercise.

I eat no sweets, lowfat everything. One way to make dinner exciting is to start off with a really great salad. I hardly ever do that though, lol! I buy those packages of vegetables for stir fry, and then have them with tofu, but you can use meat. I season them with Thai sauce I buy at the store, or one of the stir fry sauce I mentioned in that stir fry thread. It's healthy, but I don't know about low fat. Stir fry does need some fat, but not much if you do it in a non-stick skillet and use the frozen veggies. I throw in broth a lot of the time. Not technically stir fry then. Luckily I love all veggies.

Here's one from the FoodNetwork Web site. I haven't made it yet, it's on my "to try" list.

Fennel and Green Bean Salad

Ingredients
4 ounces fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
4 bulbs fresh fennel
4 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
1 2-by-1/2-inch strip lemon zest, julienned
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Directions
Steam beans for 3 to 5 minutes, or until tender-crisp. Rinse under cold water. Place them in a salad bowl.

Trim fennel leaves, reserving 2 Tbsp. minced leaves. Slice the stalks. Quarter bulb lengthwise, remove core and thinly slice. Add to the salad bowl along with mushrooms and lemon zest. Whisk vinegar, water, lemon juice and oil in a small bowl until well blended. Pour the dressing over the salad and add the reserved fennel leaves. Toss lightly. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

I always keep fresh veggies and I make the knorrs veggie soup mixed with low fat sour cream and use as a snack at night. I make egg mcmcuffins also I use my large muffin tin and pour in egg beater w/salt&pepper 1/2 way up and bake in the oven until set i then put on the light muffins with 2% kraft cheese and a piece of canadian bacon. I also use a 1/2 light muffin put in the bottom of a muffin tin pour egg beaters chopped turkey breakfast sausage links and peppers/mushrooms top with 2% shredded cheese. I make fritata with egg beaters. I also love the La Tortilla Co wraps that come in all flavors and very high in fiber (13grams) they are 1 point on WW (I buy at Stop&Shop). I stuff them with lunch meats and chopped veggies I put shredded cheese only around 1/2 edge to seal on the pan sprayed with Pam...Ive done lean roastbeef fromt the deli with onions and cheese and made a mock philly cheese steak. I also use light soups a fillers with my sandwiches at lunch to fill up. I buy pizza dough roll it out paper thin I top with a thin layer of sauce and in a skillet with Pam a saute 3 large frozen bags of onion pepper trio (bought at BJs and/or any supermarket) I get them almost carmelized pour a thick layer on each dough sprinkle with grated cheese bake in oven 3 points for a rectangle slice. Im down 35lbs....and have another 30 to go.

Larry used to love this. I didn't use the wine though. I think I substituted beef broth.

Weeknight Steak with Vegetables

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium zucchini and/or yellow summer squash, cut into 1" chunks
1 large onion cut into wedges
2 stalks celery, cut into 1" slices
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 pound boneless beef sirloin steak, cut 3/4" thick
salt and pepper
1/2 cup zinfandel
1 - 14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes with basil oregano and garlic

In skillet, heat 1 T. oil. Cook zucchini, onion, celery, garlic and rosemary for 6-7 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from skillet. Cut beef into 4 serving-size pieces. Add remaining oil to skillet and add beef. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat for 4-6 minutes. Remove meat from skillet and keep warm. Add wine to skillet, stirring up brown bits. Add the tomatoes, bring to boil and boil 5 minutes. Return vegetables to skillet. Spoon vegetable sauce over beef. 4 servings.

RR, I know several people who lost weight on Weight Watchers but I'm not one of them. I also stayed the same on the first two weeks of that South Beach atrocity that Amanda wanted me to try with her.

As someone who lost a LOT of weight and has managed to keep it off so far, the only way I found to lose weight and keep it off was to eat anything I want. I just eat half of it. Since our American portions are so over-sized, it got me into the habit of just eating less. At Christmas I baked cookies with the grandkids. I ate them too, but just one that day they were freshly baked with a cup of tea and I kept a couple for snacks the next couple of days.

I still eat anything I want, including pancakes or bread or dessert, but I only eat half. I have one of those contentious personalities that require me to always want what I'm told I CANNOT have. If I can have anything I want, I can practice enough restraint to just eat enough to satisfy me.

I also have to point out that we take in a lot of calories in drinks. Wine has about 100 calories per 5 ounce glass, that's not very much wine. Beer is about the same and a 3 ounce margarita has 170. Have one glass of wine every day and you'll gain a pound a month without doing anything else differently.

Fortunately I like vegetables and I love beans, so I eat a lot of those. I eat whole grain bread and pasta occasionally. I don't care much for fruit, so I'll eat apples, pears, occasionally oranges and tangerines, sometimes grapes, but I can't count on those as an afternoon snack, it's more likely hummus and celery for dipping.

Eating out adds a LOT of calories, but I'm sure you knew that!

Here's one of my favorite recipes, from Cooking Light (who has a great website with lots of recipes, BTW). The same brine works well for chicken too:

APPLE CIDER BRINED PORK ROAST

3 cups apple cider
3 cups water
1 bay leaf
¼ cup salt
1 tbls black peppercorns
1 tbls coriander seeds
1 2 lb. Pork loin, trimmed
2 cups cider
1 ½ tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 ½ tsp chopped fresh sage
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until salt dissolves. Remove from heat, cool, and pour into a Ziploc bag or container big enough to hold the pork loin. Add pork, seal and let marinate 8 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350, bring 2 cups cider to a boil over medium high heat. Boil until cider is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 15 minutes. Set aside. Remove pork from bag or container and discard brine. Place pork on broiler pan or baking dish and lightly coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining herbs and bake about 1 hour, until pork is done, basting twice with the reduced cider in the last 20 minutes of baking. Remove from oven, baste with remaining cider reduction. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Serves 8

200 calories per 4 oz. Serving, 6 grams fat

Good luck, I want to lose a couple of pounds in the next 6 weeks too, I'll have to wear shorts in Texas....

Annie

Linda,
I made the Mushroom, Barley and Beef Soup recipe that you posted at the beginning of this thread on Friday. It was delicious! Definitely a keeper. I did make one change which was to substitute some chopped fresh spinach for the can of black beans, just sounded better to me. Anyway, thanks for posting that!

I made this last night at a dinner party--very good.

Roasted Eggplant-Pepper spread/dip

Take one med. sized eggplant. Peel it and slice it into 1 inch cubes. Toss it with 3 TBLSP olive oil and put it on a non-stick roasting pan. Roast at 350 for about 15 min. Check to see it's not burning, and turn the slices halfway thru. Once they are roasted, put them and a jar of roasted red peppers in the food processor. (Don't get the kind packed in oil!). Season with salt, and cumin to taste. I also used dried parsley because I can't seem to keep the fresh stuff on hand and use it. But you can also add some fresh or frozen chopped parsley, lemon juice and roasted garlic--it's up to your taste buds. I'm not a garlic fan. Grind this all up together. Chill and serve with toasted whole wheat pita chips. Can also serve as a dip with veggies and some type of low carb crackers, or use as a spread on a sandwich. If you think it's a little too runny, you can add a smidgen of tahini, but now you're slipping into fat territory, so beware! Would probably be great in a wrap with lettuce, olives and chopped chicken breast.

Note!

Don't slice the eggplant into CUBES. No cubes! What I mean is slice it into one inch ROUNDS. Slice it width-wise so you get round disks that are one inch thick. One inch cubes of eggplant would not roast well at all! You'd have a tray full of mush in no time.

Lpink, maybe that is why I don't like eggplant. It's always been nothing but mush! I may try it again and cut into larger pieces. I really want to like eggplant, there are so many good sounding recipes that use it.

May, glad you liked that soup. I left out the beans, but spinach would be a good addition. And it's so healthy, too!

Linda

I need to shed a few pounds this year, but what works best for me is cooking most of my own food instead of eating out, and making healthy/lighter versions of regular food instead of trying to just eliminate things.

Here's one of my favorite's which was popular at the brunch I hosted yesterday (friends assumed it was decadent and then had second helpings when I told them it had very few calories).

CRUSTLESS CRAB & CORN QUICHE
(note--- I usually add a regular pie crust or phyllo crust and eat this with a salad for lunch or dinner).

2 large eggs
1/2 c liquid egg whites or egg beaters (I like using egg beaters with yolk)
1 5 oz can 2% or fat free evaporated milk
2 t dijon mustard
1/2 t salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 t olive oil
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn
8 oz lump, claw, or backfin crabmeat, drained & picked
4 oz emmental or aged gruyere cheese
Old Bay or other seafood seasoning

Heat oven to 400 and grease/spray a 9 inch pie plate

Heat oil in a skillet, add ppeper, saute until just tender. Add corn, saute to heat through. Stir in crab & sprinkle with old bay/seafoood seasoning to taste. Remove from heat to cool.

Whisk eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir in cheese. Stir or fold in cooled crab & corn mixture.

Pour mixture into a pie plate and bake until just set, 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes. Serves 6.

Without crust and using lump crabmeat this has about 250 calories per serving.

Adapted from Pam Anderson, The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating great.

Linda I served this to an eggplant hater and he raved about it, kept telling his wife to be sure and get the recipe, so that's why I thought it was worth consideration--eggplants are one of those "low carb" things, but usually eggplant dishes are loaded with fat--like eggplant parmesean, for example. This is a spread, so the mushiness factor is part of the desired effect. Also, it is mixed equally with roasted red peppers. Anyway, if you're looking for a lowfat appetizer or dip/spread, this fits the bill, but it's not really a main course kind of thing.