WW question

[RioG]

so I was building a recipe... put in applesauce, which is 0 points.  But without adding any other ingredients the recipe was worth 3 points.

how is that?

[merigayle]

because it is probably just going off the nutritional information?

[RioG]

No it's the same applesauce item that would be worth 0 points if eaten alone.

[merigayle]

Even if you went solely by nutritional info?

[Magic Microbe]

As soon as you use the fruit in a recipe it is no longer zero points.

Only fruit by itself is zero points.

http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=108831&sc=3002

This link also alludes to why smoothies aren't zero points...because as soon as you start mixing ingredients together with the fruit the fruit counts.

[RioG]

As soon as you use the fruit in a recipe it is no longer zero points.

Only fruit by itself is zero points.

http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=108831&sc=3002

This link also alludes to why smoothies aren't zero points...because as soon as you start mixing ingredients together with the fruit the fruit counts.

Yeah, I found the definition... but it just doesn't make sense.  So if I eat an apple, it's 0.  then 10 minutes later I eat an orange, it's 0.  But blend the two up together and it's 3 points?

I just feel like I'm somehow cheating if I eat them separately, and/or being unfairly penalized by putting them together.

[Magic Microbe]

The theory is that the latter is far easier to overeat than the former.

[RioG]

The theory is that the latter is far easier to overeat than the former.

ah, I see

[Courtney]

Also any time you put 0 point things in a recipe, they go straight on the nutritional info counts, so they aren't 0 any more.n

[all-smiles]

Well I see they've already explained it . I have to say I signed up for the trial but will probably cancel; I find the myfitnesspal tracking to be way more user-friendly than WW. Plus the MFP database is way bigger and better; so I'm torn but will decide over the next few days

[leggova]

The thing that I don't like about things like my fitness pal is that it is so much easier to keep track if you eat packaged foods. You can just scan it in. But if you eat a lot of varied recipes of "real" food it is a lot more time consuming. Kind of defeats the purpose of trying to encourage you to eat well.

[merigayle]

The thing that I don't like about things like my fitness pal is that it is so much easier to keep track if you eat packaged foods. You can just scan it in. But if you eat a lot of varied recipes of "real" food it is a lot more time consuming. Kind of defeats the purpose of trying to encourage you to eat well.

i manually add up all the ingredients in a recipe on a recipe calculator on line and then divide by portions, i generally am the only one eating the food, so i figure in the end, all the calories are accounted for

[Ice Cream]

The theory is that the latter is far easier to overeat than the former.

And it teaches you to eat fruit and vegetables in their basic form.
Apple without sweetener = free
Apple sauce with sweetener = points

[merigayle]

And it teaches you to eat fruit and vegetables in their basic form.
Apple without sweetener = free
Apple sauce with sweetener = points

but my applesauce that i buy has no sweetener in it.

[Run Amok]

And it teaches you to eat fruit and vegetables in their basic form.
Apple without sweetener = free
Apple sauce with sweetener = points

I also think that you can eat 4 apples worth of apple sauce without even really thinkg about it. Where as actually eating 4 apples is a little more time consuming.

[Clementine]

i manually add up all the ingredients in a recipe on a recipe calculator on line and then divide by portions, i generally am the only one eating the food, so i figure in the end, all the calories are accounted for

You can also just use the My Recipes part of MFP to do this automatically. Then, if you tweak the recipe a bit later, it's easy to go back and modify it.

[Magic Microbe]

I also think that you can eat 4 apples worth of apple sauce without even really thinkg about it. Where as actually eating 4 apples is a little more time consuming.

Yep.

[Courtney]

When I use the recipe builder, I leave out the 0 point stuff.  So, if I'm making soup, I leave out the tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc and put them in the notes, not as ingredients. 

[Ice Cream]

When I use the recipe builder, I leave out the 0 point stuff.  So, if I'm making soup, I leave out the tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc and put them in the notes, not as ingredients. 

Cheater.   

[all-smiles]

Yeah I ended up canceling WW under the 2 week guarantee; I just found the platform way too clunky compared to MFP.  And I think the recipe builder on MFP is super easy to use so I already have a good bit put in there.  Getting an actual food scale has been eye opening for sure

[RioG]

I actually like Ww better than mfp.  I'm pleased with it so far.  I just didn't understand the 0 thing.  But it makes sense and will help entrench new habits. 

[cgraz]

Does MFP use calories? I find the points easier to understand and guesstimate on the fly. And veggies & fruit being 0 (for the most part) is easy. Small numbers work best for me.

[all-smiles]

Yes MFP is calories and you can customize your goals and your macros, which is super useful when your insulin resistant and trying to keep your carbs down.

[RioG]

Does MFP use calories? I find the points easier to understand and guesstimate on the fly. And veggies & fruit being 0 (for the most part) is easy. Small numbers work best for me.

I found  always felt bad for going over calories on my fitness pal... it was defeating.  but with WW you get the weekly allowance, so it's easier for me.  Plus I like that some foods are more heavily weighted, even if cal content is the same.  So an apple is 0, but same calories in chocolate isn't 0, steering you towards apple over chocolate.  But if you desperately need the chocolate you can have it and still be w/in points. 

[Run Amok]

The thing that I don't like about things like my fitness pal is that it is so much easier to keep track if you eat packaged foods. You can just scan it in. But if you eat a lot of varied recipes of "real" food it is a lot more time consuming. Kind of defeats the purpose of trying to encourage you to eat well.

I didn't have this issue and don't eat a lot of packaged foods. But, a meal for me is often something like 1 egg, veggies, some oil, some spices. I track the oil, but not the spices. If I make soup, or a recipe, it goes in the tracker and then it's in my favorites and easy to drop into a meal. I do some estimating. It can only be so accurate. So, the lentil soup I make is around 90 calories/cup. I just find one in the database with a similar profile and use that.

[fancypants]

Yeah I ended up canceling WW under the 2 week guarantee; I just found the platform way too clunky compared to MFP.  And I think the recipe builder on MFP is super easy to use so I already have a good bit put in there.  Getting an actual food scale has been eye opening for sure

Ah yes, a food scale and a measuring cup, and all of a sudden I was losing weight!

[wherestheportojohn]

I recall in our first few weeks of WW, when measuring and weighing demos were done....to the dismay of the audience.

American portions are commonly 2-4x what should be served.

There were many peeps in our class who'd never read a food label.
Didnt have a clue that the soda or bag of chips with their lunch was actually NOT single portion. LOLz

[merigayle]

WW was where i learned portion control. I thought cereal, pasta, etc, one BOWL FULL was ONE portion. But in reality, that is 2-4 portions!

[Courtney]

Cheater.   

Ok.

It seems to be a common way to do stuff, because of the way the recipe builder works, tho.