At the beginning of this year, I got a bunch of questions from friends and family about what to make for dinner as people were transitioning to joining WW (PS, anyone want a to join & get a free month? Click this link!). I got the idea to post my meal plan for them. This then spiraled into me thinking of those inquiring minds who weren’t necessarily asking for it but found themselves curious or wanting inspiration. I also noticed that in my close circle of friends, we ask “what’s for dinner?” to each other almost daily, so I just know other people have to be asking that question, too.
Since I do take the time to meal plan, it makes so much sense to share it because I get inspiration from other people all the time since I constantly feel like I get stuck in food-ruts. I wanted to share because sharing is caring.
So, although WW’s official stance is that pregnant women are prohibited from participating in the program, and there is no program designed for pregnant women, WW is actually a diet/lifestyle that is entirely sustainable while pregnant. After several conversations with my doctor specifically surrounding my body, my baby, and my health & history, my doctor was entirely supportive of me continuing with WW, while being mindful of the cues that come from my body.
I had previously included the following “disclaimer” on my food-related Instagram posts because I wanted to make it clear that my posts and content is not specifically endorsed or sponsored by WW and that my approach to this pregnancy should not necessarily be taken as gospel or as an example for all women. All bodies are different and everyone has their own specific needs.
✨WW does not have a program available for pregnancy, so I am not following the #myww program, but points are listed/included for those that are following the program! I was previously following the MyWW Blue 💙 program, so those are the #smartpoints values listed.✨
So, what has this looked like for me? I increased my daily points “allowance” from 23 to 30 gradually over the course of my pregnancy thus far. 30 was entirely arbitrary for me; I just kept increasing until I felt like I was eating enough throughout the day. This has also helped me have a healthy, steady weight gain during this pregnancy. That being said, I still go over my points all the time & dip into my weeklies (and still go negative – a lot 😂). But, in general, 30 feels like that healthy medium to account for the slight increase in calories suggested for pregnancy and still gives me the freedom to be responsible and mindful about what gets put in my body while not going completely off the rails.
This Week’s Recipe Bank:
- Shrimp Scampi
- This one is one of those easy dinners that feels sorta fancy at our house, and for a big beautiful plate of creamy dreamy pasta it’s 10sp.
- This recipe is great because it uses shortcut ingredients that I always have on hand, either in my pantry, fridge and/or freezer.
- I usually make garlic bread for The Husband, but it just depends on if I feel like it if I opt into garlic bread with this one. It’s good but I don’t always feel like I need it.
- Turkey Burgers & Tots
- I’m apparently striving for super easy this week for a theme.
- I FINALLY found the Lewis Bake Shop Healthy Life buns for 2sp each at my grocery store this week, so I bumped tacos and swapped in burgers. I am SO excited.
- I’ll use these Butterball Everyday Turkey Burgers (5sp) and some frozen tater tots (7sp for 25). I ended up going with Butterball over Jennie-O because they were one point less, and these are actually really good!
- We’ll just do regular tots & easy burgers instead of trying to fancify them up like I have the last couple of times. Sometimes less is more.
- Chicken & Rice Rice
- Giving a new recipe a try – this one comes from Yellow Bliss Road, who I have followed on IG now for a while but haven’t actually made any recipes despite saving several.
- This is a new one for us. I’m not typically a fan of casseroles or “bubble ups” or “bakes” because it ends up just looking (and usually tasting) like a beige/brown mush, but I’m trying it. I showed the photo on Instagram to the Husband and he said he definitely wanted to try it, so here we are!
- This recipe is crazy simple and I think I’m going to follow it to the letter instead of subbing the regular cream of mushroom soup for the 98% fat free because the difference shakes out to be about 1sp per serving, and that’s a risk I’m willing to take. When I plugged it into the recipe calculator, it came to 6sp per serving (with 4 servings). I’ll serve this with broccoli (or green beans – depends on my mood).
- Up North!
- We are visiting a friend’s cottage in Northern Michigan over the weekend, so I know I will eat off-plan, and I’m okay with that. It’s kind of an end-of-summer celebration, and that’s a perfect reason to not get too hung up on points and tracking.
- Takeout
- FFY (Fend For Yourself)
- Leftovers
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