Fruits & Vegetables

Fruits and Vegetables:

• How many servings per day do we need? At least 5 for most people, 8 for nursing moms and 9 if you weigh over 350 pounds
• How much is a serving? 1/2 cup for most fruits and veggies; 1 cup for leafy greens
• Does fruit or veggie juice count? No.
• Which veggies have PointsPlus values? Starchy ones, such as potatoes, peas and corn.
• Are all fruits and vegetables 0 PointsPlus values? No...there are 3 that have PointsPlus values, even in natural form: Avocados, plantains, and olives. Also, any dried or juiced fruits and vegetables have PointsPlus values, as do those with added sweeteners that have PointsPlus values.
• What about canned fruits and vegetables? If they're in their own juice and drained, they are 0 PointsPlus values. If they are in syrup, they have PointsPlus values.
• Is fresh better than canned or frozen? Not necessarily. Canned and frozen are processed very soon after being harvested, and retain much of their nutrients. Fresh vegetables that have been picked and sat out or shipped start to lose nutrient density over time. When buying canned or frozen, opt for ones with low sodium and no added sugars. Buy what works best for you—eating fruits and vegetables is what is important, whether it be canned, frozen, or fresh.
• What about coconut? A coconut is a drupe—a type of fruit that includes peaches and mangoes—and the part you eat is actually the seed. Yes, it does have PointsPlus values.
• Is there a limit to how many fruits or vegetables I can eat? Nope. It's not recommended to stuff yourself with any food, but Weight Watchers doesn't put a limit on this. When you're eating fresh vegetables, you're not eating something else, and for most people this is progress. Let your weight loss be your guide.

 

Take Calcium and Vitamin D for your femur—and your figure!

Take Calcium and Vitamin D for your femur—and your figure!
With so many advertisements out there for calcium and vitamin D supplements,
you probably know by now that they promote strong, healthy bones. As we
age, it becomes increasingly important to make sure we’re getting
enough calcium and vitamin D to help reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
But did you know that these supplements may also benefit your waistline?
New research shows that calcium and vitamin D supplementation can
actually help to reduce abdominal fat.
A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition [1]
found that test subjects receiving calcium and vitamin D supplements
lost, on average, an additional 3.5 inches of abdominal fat (the
unhealthy kind that surrounds the organs) compared to those who were not
given supplementation. The fat loss occurred over a 16-week period.
These findings support earlier findings that adequate intake of calcium
and dairy products can help in losing and maintaining body weight [2,3,4].
The USDA recommends between 1,000 and 1,200 milligrams of calcium and 15
micrograms (or 600 International Units) of vitamin D every day. Weight
Watchers recommendation of two to three servings of dairy products a day
(especially ones fortified with Vitamin D) will also help you meet the
USDA recommendations for these nutrients. Here are some great dietary
sources of both nutrients along with their PointsPlus® values:


Calcium (mg)* Vitamin D (mcg)* PointsPlus®


Fat-free milk – 1 cup 299 2.9 2


Yogurt, light, fortified with Vit F 304 2.6 3


Sardines, canned in oil, drained – 3 oz. 325 4.1 4


Fortified soy milk, non-fat – 1 cup 299 2.7 2


Salmon, canned – 3 oz. 197 11.6 3



Taking a daily multivitamin mineral supplement that contains calcium and
vitamin D will help ensure that you reach the USDA’s nutrient
recommendations. Another reason to “bone up” on vitamin D and calcium?
The risk of developing chronic illnesses such as heart disease and Type 2
Diabetes decreases as your abdominal fat shrinks [5].
Maintaining healthy bones and decreasing your abdominal fat while
helping to reduce the risk of certain diseases—now that’s a
multi-tasking supplement!

What the USDA'S "New Plate" means to you.

What the USDA’s New "Plate" Icon Means For You



New icon illustrating healthy eating guidelines will look familiar to Weight Watchers members and subscribers.



Be sure to take a look at the new United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) “My Plate” icon offering dietary guidance. Look familiar? If you’ve been following the PointsPlus® program, you’ll likely see that it looks a lot like your own dinner plate! The new icon, replacing the USDA’s longstanding pyramid, shows a greater emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables, and aims to more clearly represent the choices Americans should be making when it comes to their eating habits.

The icon suggests filling half of your plate with fruits and vegetables — a value that Weight Watchers whole-heartedly embraces. The rest of your plate should be taken up by protein and grains (half of those grains should be whole). There’s also a small circle attached to the plate signifying dairy. There are charts available at ChooseMyPlate.gov for each of the five food groups explaining recommended amounts for different sexes and age groups.

Liz Josefsberg, director of brand advocacy for Weight Watchers and our resident Leader, knows that the plate icon will resonate for her meetings members. “Before, the USDA was saying your day should look like this pyramid, which was hard to quantify,” she said . “The new plate visual is what’s so meaningful. You don’t look at your food in a pyramid shape, you look at it on a plate. We’ve been using that visual in meeting rooms for years as teaching tool. It’s not just how much of your day should be composed of a certain food group, but every meal. That’s so much more effective.”

David Kirchhoff, president and CEO of Weight Watchers International, applauded the new icon, which he praised as being “common sense.” He added, “Like the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which were released in January, the nutrition advice conveyed in the icon will seem very familiar to Weight Watchers members, because it guides Americans to the same foods as the PointsPlus program. Like the PointsPlus program, it also encourages Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables and to choose foods that are nutrient-dense. The Dietary Guidelines gives you great advice. Weight Watchers shows you how to live it.”

Additional USDA guidelines include avoiding oversize portions and switching to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk. The USDA also suggests Americans check labels for sodium levels and choose those with lower numbers, as well as advising us to drink water instead of sugary drinks. (And if you’re following the PointsPlus program, these are things you already do!)

Josefsberg added that on the USDA's plate, you don’t see a section of processed packaged foods made up of things you can’t pronounce. “That’s what the PointsPlus formula does, too. It nudges you to make those better choices. It shows that not all calories are created equal.”

“The new nutrition icon, like the PointsPlus program, shows Americans how to fill their plates with the kinds of foods that are delicious to eat and can help you feel fuller,” said Karen Miller-Kovach, chief scientific officer, Weight Watchers International “Following this approach can help more people achieve and maintain a healthy weight.”

Kirchhoff said the company has long been supportive of, and has served as a resource for, the USDA.




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