Wednesday Weekly: Rethink your Drink

Sorry for the delay! Those that know me know that I'm a teacher and it's state assessment week, plus report cards are due, so it's been hectic for me!

This weeks meeting topic is "rethink your drink".

What this means for me is asking the question "How much of my daily points allowance am I drinking?" Coffee, wine, smoothies... it all adds up. And I have a feeling those liquid calories are not necessarily as physically satisfying as the calories we eat. Though, let's be honest, those liquid calories are often emotionally satisfying! Like, a glass of wine after a hard day (can I get a "holla!"?).

Here are some of the things I've done as a lifetime member over the years to cut back on the amount of points I spend on beverages.

First up: coffee. When I very first joined WW, I quit coffee. Cold turkey. Back then I got a daily points range of 18-25 points and I was not going to waste them on beverages. And it was hard. We spent a lot of time at the diner back then where the coffee was bottomless! Plus, the massive caffeine withdraw headaches were not a picnic either. But I did it for a time. Then, one day, I was utterly exhausted and I decided to stop at 7-11. I haven't turned back since. I am a coffee drinker. Several cups a day. You can lecture me about caffeine consumption some other time. But this is how I make it points friendly - I usually make my own. First, it's cheaper! And second, it's lower points. At home in the morning I make a to-go cup using flavored coffee (if there's a Harry & David's near by I highly recommend the Moose Munch!), two packets of Truvia, and 4 tablespoons of FF half & half (I like the one from Farmland Skim Plus because it doesn't have a ton of artificial junk in it). All that for 1 SmartPoint. At work we have a Keurig in the faculty room. So I make a cup of flavored coffee (Stop & Shop has inexpensive and delicious k-cups in hazelnut and caramel vanilla) with 1 packet of Truvia and 1 tsp of Coffeemate powdered creamer - 0 SmartPoints! When I do have to stop at the coffee shop (Starbucks is my preference) I get a double tall skinny latte. A grande has 4 SmartPoints, and a tall has just 3, but if you add an extra shot you're getting the same amount of espresso in the cup, just less SmartPoints! Plus, it's cheaper than a grande.

Next up: alcohol. Way back when I was a young spring chicken and I'd first joined WW - I actually used to not count points from alcohol. And it worked for me. I was able to go out drinking on weekends and not count those points (but I would still track all the food I was eating on those nights out) and maintain my weight no problem. Now that I'm older and my body has definitely changed over the years, I do need to track. Not a huge deal because now that I'm a 40 year old mom my days of going out to the bars are pretty much over. When I do indulge, it's usually just a few glasses of wine. When I'm home and enjoying a glass of wine with dinner, I use wine glasses that have striped etched into the glass so they are portioned for you. I got mine from a website called Wine-Trax, but I believe they have since gone out of business. But I know WW sells them on the website and in meetings. We also have margarita nights occasionally. I use skinny margarita mix which is 0 SP for a serving so you're only counting the points from the tequila (which is 7 SP for two servings). I know WW says to make your wine into a spritzer, but to me that's just ruining perfectly good wine, so I'd rather have the wine and track the points.

And finally: smoothies. Unless you're making them at home - don't. Just don't. There's a place near my school called Tropical Smoothie Cafe. And it's delicious. But some of those smoothies are more points than you get in a day PLUS all your weeklies. For a smoothie people!!!!!! You're really going to drink your whole day's worth of points? No way! So sometimes I have a WW smoothie that I buy at my meetings. It's 2 SP for the smoothie. And I make it with just 1/3 cup of skim milk and 2/3 cup of water so it's only 1 additional point for the milk. A total of 3 SP. One last caution about smoothies when you make them at home - the minute you blend up those fruits and veggies, they no longer have a zero points value. And that makes sense. When you blend and puree fruits and veggies, you are shredding the cell walls in the plant and thus essentially eliminating the fiber content. Think about the difference between eating an orange and drinking orange juice - they're completely different. So is the difference between eating a banana and blending one up in a drink. Your body is going to break it down and process the nutrients differently because they're no more fiber in there. So if you do make a smoothie at home be sure to use the recipe builder on the website. (*just a side note too - if you've been making fruit smoothies and counting the points as zero for the fruit AND you are happy with your results on WW, then by all means go for it!*)

So that's my take on "rethink your drink". At the end of the day, beverages are a part of our diet plan, but I'd rather spend most of my points on foods I can chew!