Yet again I’m lagging behind in my posts. I have two challenges to write about, firstly week 7 is Shop Smart. Week 8 is Out To Lunch. The two do fit perfectly with us, so hopefully this won’t be too long!
As far as the weekly shop goes, working four days a week and having busy time when not working means I have very little time to shop. Today we ended up in Asda, all of us wondering why we were there on our day off – as generally I’ll do my weekly shop at Ocado and get it delivered on a Tuesday using their weekday pass deal. Ocado also do good multibuys and stock Weight Watchers food. Generally I’ll buy a few WW bits – although I’ve found quite often you can go to Poundland and get them there too; so do my shop at the weekend and head to Poundland on the Monday lunchtime, removing anything I’m able to pick up there from my Ocado order.
The Weight Watchers foods we buy are the bread ones – we make our own bread in the breadmaker but keep a supply of bagels, wraps and naan breads in to have with soup. I also get the yoghurts (as they’re 1 point) and often on multibuys. Other than that I stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as passata, spice, quorn or tofu, and that’s pretty much it. Our weekly shop varies from £45 to £60, which is a LOT less than I’d spend if I went into a supermarket.
Eating out is another one I don’t stress too much about. Generally we eat at pizza places, where there’s plenty of choice especially with low-calorie options. I try to go for restaurants that have free WiFi so I can check for deals, but also check the points of what I’m eating. I refuse to deny myself food (as that’s what makes me stop being good if I’m denied something) but I’ll make sure I don’t eat a lot of the foods which are higher points. It seems to work for me, and having the app handy to check is good too, though I have found often they’re not in the system though can be found when you google them.
As far as at work goes, I’m a creature of habit. I’ll buy the same foods every day – I know the points and I’m happy with them. If I fancy a change I’ll head to M&S or Waitrose for their pricier options, but generally I’ll have a Sainsburys Be Good To Yourself Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich (7 points) and some vegetable sushi (4 points) for my afternoon snack. This comes in at £2 and is already cheaper than their meal deal! In the morning I’ll have a banana to snack on. If I go to the pub over the road for lunch I’ll still have some chips – these come in around 5 points, so I’ll make sure I don’t have the sushi so I don’t go over too much – and if I know in the morning I’m having lunch out then I’m more likely to walk from Clapham Junction to my work which is around a mile, so I’ve a few points stored up too.
The most important thing for me is knowing how many calories things are, and I’m noticing more places are now displaying it – just divide the total number by 40 and voila!
If you’re lucky then the points may even be on your sandwich; M&S and Sainsburys both do it if like me you can’t even think straight at that time of day!
I’ve been provided with six months of Weight Watchers membership – all opinions are my own. I’ve lost a stone and a half and am now a regular weight again due to my own work with Weight Watchers.