I'm Watching What I Eat (2022)

[Windigo]

I’m curious how you track your food with WW. Since you’re using your own recipes, do you create those recipes via the app, so they get scored, or do you track each ingredient in order to get the score, or are you familiar enough with the foods that you somewhat estimate it?

I either create a recipe, which it then gives me points for (my oatmeal apple pie is 13 points, but then I have 30 a day + 28 weeklies and only eat two meals) . I create recipes for dishes like curry etc.

Or I weigh my food before I eat it with my special WW scale and put the product with the correct weight or measurement in the app.
For example I will put a baked potato in under 'potatoes 250 g' and 1 tsp of oil and count those two. I usually do this when the food is a commonly eaten food in this country so easy to find in the app.

And if I can't find a product like fish fingers in the app, I scan it and use 'create product' if it can't be found. With create product it also gives me points based on the nutrition info on the package that I write down.

 

[TastyReuben]

I either create a recipe, which it then gives me points for (my oatmeal apple pie is 13 points, but then I have 30 a day + 28 weeklies and only eat two meals) . I create recipes for dishes like curry etc.

Or I weigh my food before I eat it with my special WW scale and put the product with the correct weight or measurement in the app.
For example I will put a baked potato in under 'potatoes 250 g' and 1 tsp of oil and count those two. I usually do this when the food is a commonly eaten food in this country so easy to find in the app.

And if I can't find a product like fish fingers in the app, I scan it and use 'create product' if it can't be found. With create product it also gives me points based on the nutrition info on the package that I write down.

Thanks for the details, I thought maybe I was missing a secret, less time-consuming way of doing this. All that is what I find the most annoying about the whole program!

 

[Windigo]

Thanks for the details, I thought maybe I was missing a secret, less time-consuming way of doing this. All that is what I find the most annoying about the whole program!

Well I can imagine, as you're not doing it for yourself. It IS time consuming, I think you're a saint for doing all this for MrsTasty.

 

[TastyReuben]

Well I can imagine, as you're not doing it for yourself. It IS time consuming, I think you're a saint for doing all this for MrsTasty.

Thanks!

Here’s the funny thing: it’d be a lot easier if I just did the tracking for her, but I insist she do that herself, because she’s not planning the food, she’s not cooking the food, she’s not washing the dishes, she’s not buying the food…she has to do something besides eat the food, right? So I make sure she has a hand in tracking.

It’s actually made it worse, though, because it goes like this:

“Ok, what was in that? I need to track it.”
“Let’s see…I cooked the mushrooms in two teaspoons of olive oil, and that was about a cup of mushrooms.”
“Mushrooms…mushrooms…what kind of mushrooms? There’s cremini…white…sh-“
“Just plain white mushrooms.”
“Where’d you get them, Kroger? There’s Kroger whole…sliced…were they the organic ones?”
“Whole white, from ALDI.”
“ALDI…ALDI…there’s nothing for that. Are they under a brand name? Do you have the bar code I can scan?”
“No I threw that out when I cooked them. Just use Kroger.”
“I can’t use Kroger! They might be different points!”
(Goes off to try and find ALDI’s brand name for mushrooms)
“Ok, got it. Oil? What kind of oil?”
“Light olive oil.”
“What brand.”
“Probably California global blend. I think that’s their light version.”
“Probably? You don’t know?”
“Either that, or Bertolli…or Pompeiian.”
“Well, which one?”
“I don’t know. I decant it to a pouring bottle. Just look at those three and choose one.”
(Looks, they’re all the same points)
“Ok, how much oil?”
“Two teaspoons for the whole thing, so half that.”
“Half a teaspoon…”
“No, half of that!”
“A quarter teaspoon? Great, that’s no points!”
“HALF OF TWO TEASPOONS! ONE TEASPOON! ONE!”
“Geez, you don’t have to yell. Now, what kind of pasta?”

Seriously, it takes a solid 30 minutes a meal to get it to track. That’s why I try and use their recipes as much as possible.

 

[Windigo]

Thanks!

Here’s the funny thing: it’d be a lot easier if I just did the tracking for her, but I insist she do that herself, because she’s not planning the food, she’s not cooking the food, she’s not washing the dishes, she’s not buying the food…she has to do something besides eat the food, right? So I make sure she has a hand in tracking.

It’s actually made it worse, though, because it goes like this:

“Ok, what was in that? I need to track it.”
“Let’s see…I cooked the mushrooms in two teaspoons of olive oil, and that was about a cup of mushrooms.”
“Mushrooms…mushrooms…what kind of mushrooms? There’s cremini…white…sh-“
“Just plain white mushrooms.”
“Where’d you get them, Kroger? There’s Kroger whole…sliced…were they the organic ones?”
“Whole white, from ALDI.”
“ALDI…ALDI…there’s nothing for that. Are they under a brand name? Do you have the bar code I can scan?”
“No I threw that out when I cooked them. Just use Kroger.”
“I can’t use Kroger! They might be different points!”
(Goes off to try and find ALDI’s brand name for mushrooms)
“Ok, got it. Oil? What kind of oil?”
“Light olive oil.”
“What brand.”
“Probably California global blend. I think that’s their light version.”
“Probably? You don’t know?”
“Either that, or Bertolli…or Pompeiian.”
“Well, which one?”
“I don’t know. I decant it to a pouring bottle. Just look at those three and choose one.”
(Looks, they’re all the same points)
“Ok, how much oil?”
“Two teaspoons for the whole thing, so half that.”
“Half a teaspoon…”
“No, half of that!”
“A quarter teaspoon? Great, that’s no points!”
“HALF OF TWO TEASPOONS! ONE TEASPOON! ONE!”
“Geez, you don’t have to yell. Now, what kind of pasta?”

Seriously, it takes a solid 30 minutes a meal to get it to track. That’s why I try and use their recipes as much as possible.

I think it helps a lot that I am the one cooking here..

 

[Morning Glory]

Thanks for the details, I thought maybe I was missing a secret, less time-consuming way of doing this. All that is what I find the most annoying about the whole program!

Do you have the special WW scale as Windigo mentioned? What is the difference between a WW scale and a normal scale Windigo ?

 

[TastyReuben]

I think it helps a lot that I am the one cooking here..

More importantly, you’re doing both the cooking and the tracking.

Do you have the special WW scale as Windigo mentioned? What is the difference between a WW scale and a normal scale Windigo ?

No, but I don’t think it would help much. MrsT won’t use it, and it would mean I’d have to take over tracking entirely. Otherwise, I’d stand there weighing stuff, and it still has to be entered into the app, so I’d really just be shifting one thing for another.

Really, the answer is I should just track her stuff for her, but I’m being stubborn, because she should have to do something besides just eating. The root of the problem is as Windigo says, one person is cooking, and one person is tracking, and you can’t do the tracking without knowing what was cooked, and if it’s not a pre-loaded recipe, you have to go ingredient by ingredient. There’s no way around it, unless you just guess at things (which is what her sister does).

Even tracking a pre-loaded recipe isn’t straightforward. It’s hard to explain, but the way they note their serving sizes are just…cattywompus, if you all have that word. It’s not logical. I’ve mentioned that before, and even if you’re using their recipe, you’ve got to figure out how many servings the recipe is for, then figure out from there what one serving is.

Relaying that back to MrsT is just as frustrating:

“Ok, what’d we just eat?”
“It’s call Four Ingredient Tuna Salad.”
“Tuna salad…tuna salad…is it the Skinny Tuna Salad?”
“No, the Four Ingredient Tuna Salad.”
“Classic Tuna Salad? I see that.”
“Just search for Four Ingredient Tuna Salad. I’m looking right at it. Four. Ingredient. Tuna Salad!”
“It’s not in here.”
“I’M LOOKING RIGHT AT IT! FOUR INGREDIENT TUNA SALAD!”
“Oh. Four Ingredient Tuna Salad. It’s right here. Why didn’t you say that? Now, how much did I have?”

…and then it just continues on with half-serving versus half-cup versus half-sandwich…

One thing I’ll say, somewhat different subject, is that she has a prescription for acid reflux medication, which she used to have to take a couple of times a week. Ever since starting this two months ago, she hasn’t used it at all and hasn’t had any heartburn at all.

 

[Morning Glory]

One thing I’ll say, somewhat different subject, is that she has a prescription for acid reflux medication, which she used to have to take a couple of times a week. Ever since starting this two months ago, she hasn’t used it at all and hasn’t had any heartburn at all.

That's really good!

I wish I could help with the tracking issue but from everything you say its a right Royal pain! Its quite easy to track calories which is what I (sort of) do.

 

[caseydog]

Thanks!

Here’s the funny thing: it’d be a lot easier if I just did the tracking for her, but I insist she do that herself, because she’s not planning the food, she’s not cooking the food, she’s not washing the dishes, she’s not buying the food…she has to do something besides eat the food, right? So I make sure she has a hand in tracking.

It’s actually made it worse, though, because it goes like this:

“Ok, what was in that? I need to track it.”
“Let’s see…I cooked the mushrooms in two teaspoons of olive oil, and that was about a cup of mushrooms.”
“Mushrooms…mushrooms…what kind of mushrooms? There’s cremini…white…sh-“
“Just plain white mushrooms.”
“Where’d you get them, Kroger? There’s Kroger whole…sliced…were they the organic ones?”
“Whole white, from ALDI.”
“ALDI…ALDI…there’s nothing for that. Are they under a brand name? Do you have the bar code I can scan?”
“No I threw that out when I cooked them. Just use Kroger.”
“I can’t use Kroger! They might be different points!”
(Goes off to try and find ALDI’s brand name for mushrooms)
“Ok, got it. Oil? What kind of oil?”
“Light olive oil.”
“What brand.”
“Probably California global blend. I think that’s their light version.”
“Probably? You don’t know?”
“Either that, or Bertolli…or Pompeiian.”
“Well, which one?”
“I don’t know. I decant it to a pouring bottle. Just look at those three and choose one.”
(Looks, they’re all the same points)
“Ok, how much oil?”
“Two teaspoons for the whole thing, so half that.”
“Half a teaspoon…”
“No, half of that!”
“A quarter teaspoon? Great, that’s no points!”
“HALF OF TWO TEASPOONS! ONE TEASPOON! ONE!”
“Geez, you don’t have to yell. Now, what kind of pasta?”

Seriously, it takes a solid 30 minutes a meal to get it to track. That’s why I try and use their recipes as much as possible.

Has it occurred to you that she may be doing this dance figuring you will get tired of it, and do the tracking for her?

CD

 

[Windigo]

Do you have the special WW scale as Windigo mentioned? What is the difference between a WW scale and a normal scale Windigo ?

They are able to calculate points and weigh micrograms so it's as accurate as possible.
Just currently there's a new program and they don't have a scale for that yet but when they do I will buy it.

 

[TastyReuben]

Has it occurred to you that she may be doing this dance figuring you will get tired of it, and do the tracking for her?

CD

No, she doesn’t want me to track her points because she doesn’t trust me to be as meticulous with it as she is.

Just currently there's a new program and they don't have a scale for that yet but when they do I will buy it.

I don’t know if it’s the one you’re talking about, but they do have a Personal Points scale available now. It’s about $40US.

 

[caseydog]

No, she doesn’t want me to track her points because she doesn’t trust me to be as meticulous with it as she is.


I don’t know if it’s the one you’re talking about, but they do have a Personal Points scale available now. It’s about $40US.

My ex-wife di her points calculations the 20 times she started Weight Watchers. That was he kind of thing, though. Not mine at all. I would have just looked at the plate off food, and thought, "That looks like about 12 points." Yes, she knew that, so she never asked.

CD

 

[TastyReuben]

My ex-wife di her points calculations the 20 times she started Weight Watchers. That was he kind of thing, though. Not mine at all. I would have just looked at the plate off food, and thought, "That looks like about 12 points." Yes, she knew that, so she never asked.

That’s somewhat how I am. It’s been two months, and if were doing this for myself, I’d figure that I’d more or less learned the ropes after two months, and I’d start estimating things, and I’d probably be pretty close.

It’s a weird little part of her psyche, but the reason she doesn’t do that is primarily because she’s a (painfully at times) honest person, and she feels like she’s lying if she’s not 100% accurate 100% of the time.

That’s why she can look at a teaspoon of Bertolli olive oil, a teaspoon of Pompeiian olive oil, a teaspoon of some other brand of grapeseed oil, avocado oil, etc and see that they’re all 1 point for a teaspoon, but she has to know exactly which one I used, because it has to be 100% accurate.

To me, if they’re all a point for the same amount…just pick the first one, it doesn’t matter what brand, but it matters to her.

Her sister, exactly the opposite. MrsT was entering a chili dog she had, and she was having a hard time, because she obviously didn’t have the recipe for the local chili shop’s sauce, and her sister was telling her, “I just put in a quarter can of Hormel chili without beans. It’s close enough.” - I’m sure my wife looked at her like she was from Venus for suggesting that.

 

[JAS_OH1]

That’s somewhat how I am. It’s been two months, and if were doing this for myself, I’d figure that I’d more or less learned the ropes after two months, and I’d start estimating things, and I’d probably be pretty close.

It’s a weird little part of her psyche, but the reason she doesn’t do that is primarily because she’s a (painfully at times) honest person, and she feels like she’s lying if she’s not 100% accurate 100% of the time.

That’s why she can look at a teaspoon of Bertolli olive oil, a teaspoon of Pompeiian olive oil, a teaspoon of some other brand of grapeseed oil, avocado oil, etc and see that they’re all 1 point for a teaspoon, but she has to know exactly which one I used, because it has to be 100% accurate.

To me, if they’re all a point for the same amount…just pick the first one, it doesn’t matter what brand, but it matters to her.

Her sister, exactly the opposite. MrsT was entering a chili dog she had, and she was having a hard time, because she obviously didn’t have the recipe for the local chili shop’s sauce, and her sister was telling her, “I just put in a quarter can of Hormel chili without beans. It’s close enough.” - I’m sure my wife looked at her like she was from Venus for suggesting that.

God forbid anyone tries cooking/weighing/measuring/guesstimating under the influence. All havoc would break loose!

 

[Windigo]

No, she doesn’t want me to track her points because she doesn’t trust me to be as meticulous with it as she is.


I don’t know if it’s the one you’re talking about, but they do have a Personal Points scale available now. It’s about $40US.

AH OK I still have a smartpoints one, that's what I was saying. But that points feature is what makes it a WW scale.