What Does WeightWatchers Have to Do With Gardening?

Everything!

If you need to lose weight and you're a gardener, WeightWatchers new Point'sPlus® eating system may be the perfect eating plan for you.

WeightWatchers encourages followers to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.

What a great incentive to go out and grow my favorite varieties fruits, vegetables and herbs!

 

I recently joined  WeightWatchers  to lose the extra weight I gained during the past few months and I've adopted their new "PointsPlus" eating formula.

 

Even though I started my "eating modification program," (don't call it a "diet"), during the holiday season, I lost nearly 6.5 pounds during the first few weeks.

Not bad.

I was a WeightWatchers member years ago after my children were born and followed the "regular "Points® system, ( which was good), but the new revamped PointsPlus® way of eating blows it away!

I'll tell you why.

 

The Old "Points" System

Under the old WeightWatchers Points® system, I used to have to calculate every banana, papaya and carrot  I ate, which was kind of a pain.

You'd think that these power foods would be sanctioned as "safe foods" to eat in any amount!

When you're watching your weight, fruit becomes your "candy" and salads and veggies your salvation since you can fill up on them without consuming too many calories.

In any case, under the old Points® system, you had to count the point value against these saintly foods.

Not anymore!

 

The New WeightWatchers "PointsPlus®" System

Members are encouraged to "fill up" on most vegetables and fruit without having to count their points!

Bananas, papayas and pineapple included, watch out.

Of course if your vegetable preference leans towards starchy food like corn, potatoes or beets you still have to count their point value. 

This modification to the Points® system makes ALL the difference for me!

I eat a plate of papaya, bananas and strawberries twice a day and I don't count it against my allotted Points for the day!

 

 

Why Weight Watchers is Perfect For Gardeners

Vegetable gardeners take heart! Now our vegetable gardens can play a greater, CALCULATED role in our diets!

Now that I can eat ALL the vegetables and fruit that I want and still lose weight, my vegetable garden  has become my favorite room in the house. It's like my pantry.

 

Vegetables From Shirley's Garden

I'm enjoying vegetable gardening more than ever now that I've got a plan for healthful eating! If I like a vegetable that is difficult to find at the market, or is pricey, I grow it.

 

A chayote from the supermarket can cost up to $2 each!

 

• Chayote- this satisfying squash is popular in Latin American cuisine and can be enjoyed in place of potato or other starchy and filling vegetables. I dice it, saute it in olive oil  spray, add onions, cumin, salt, pepper and top with cilantro.

Chayote will grow into a tall vine. Make sure to add a support it can grow on at planting time.

 

You can root a healthy looking chayote that you buy from the market.  Set a whole chayote fruit about 4 to 6 inches deep, fat end down and at an angle so that the stem end is just level with the soil surface. Wait a few weeks until after your last frost as chayote is a warm season plant that grows into a beautiful vine. Give it some room. One chayote plant will feed a family of four.

 

 

Even dogs find lemongrass hard to resist!

• Lemon grass-  (Cymbopogon citratus) Why buy this Thai cuisine staple when you can grow it? This fragrant, lemon scented strappy plant makes a delicious and comforting tea, soup flavoring and is one of the stars of Pad Thai. Anyone have a "low points" recipe for this?
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Lemon grass is another plant that is simple to propagate (if you can find it at an Asian market). Select a healthy specimen with bulb and roots intact. Cut off the top part of the clump and place the bundle into a glass of water until you have a couple of inches of root growth. Plant in a container or in your garden if you are in a warm climate zone. Make room- can grow up to 6 feet tall!

 

Rosemary is a sharp and complimentary tasting herb for roasted vegetables, meats and bread.

 

• Rosemary- (Rosemarinus officinales) This popular mediterranean herb thrives in hot, dry climates. If you garden in a more temperate climate, try growing rosemary in containers. Add it to roasted vegetables, meats and scrape some on your high fiber bread.
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Rosemary is another plant that is easily propagated by cuttings. Here is an excerpt on propagating rosemary from the website, Vegetable Gardener:

 

"To take cuttings, clip 2-1/2-inch stems from new growth on an established plant (see Propagating rosemary). Snip off the bottom leaves (rather than pulling them off) and dip the bottom 1/4 inch into a hormone rooting powder. Place the cuttings in a container with equal amounts of peat moss and perlite. Spray the cuttings with a light mist on sunny days."

 

Read the rest of the article at Vegetable Gardener

I look forward to sharing more entries about growing vegetables and losing weight with my WeightWatchers PointsPlus® eating program! 

Come back and see "less" of me and let me know how I can help you grow a gourmet garden!

Shirley

I was going to write about “what to do in the garden” for the month of February, but I see some of my fellow garden bloggers beat me to the punch. They did such a good job at it, I’m sending you over to their blogs!

Shirley’s red chinese long beans drape a garden column.

Marie Iannotti, the gardening guide at About.com  has a comprehensive list of the essential projects for the garden in February. She’s broken up the advice by gardening zone range.

 

 

Stuart Robinson, of Gardening Tips “N Ideas is talking about “finding love among gardener’s” at his blog. Check out his post, “Six Matchmaking Ideas for Gardeners.”  I always look forward to unexpected topics at Stuart’s blog and this one is a perfect for the single gardener. If I were single, I think I would try some of his ideas!

 

My husband, Larry is my Valentine once again this year!

 

 DC Urban Gardener’s, Susan Harris just posted on some exciting winter learning opportunities for gardeners in the upcoming months. So its too cold to garden in some areas of the country right now? Go learn something new and implement your new knowledge when its time to dig again!

 

Shirley’s presentation at the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival, 2008

 

Care to swap some seeds? Dave at Gardening in the Home Landscape is inviting garden bloggers and readers to swap seeds, post photos of the plants and start planning for the Spring garden. Read “Garden Blogger Seed Swap.” I like advise that keeps one active during traditional “down time” in the garden.

 

 

I enjoy growing my vegetables from seed, though a good-looking transplant has a space in my garden!

 

 As for me, it’s my father’s birthday today so I’m heading outside to barbecue some “carne asada,” (delicious marinated steak!) Yes, it is a sunny day in Los Angeles and I’m going to enjoy it. For you in cold climate areas, hang on…Spring will soon be here.

 

Jacaranda sky…Spring is almost here!

 

You can get more from your summer vegetable garden if you follow some good advice.

I know where to find it and I'm sharing some authoritative tips with you.

 

 

The summer vegetable growing season is flying by, but that doesn't mean that the vegetable garden is ready to call it quits.

I came across some terrific advice from my fellow gardening comrades and bloggers to help extend the growing season:

 

• Marie's Gardening Blog at About.com Gardening has an informative vegetable gardening post titled "A Long Producing Vegetable Garden. Extend Your Vegetable Growing Season."  Solid advice for the beginner gardener as well as those of us who need a reminder of the basics.

 

• Doug of Doug's Blog wrote a post titled, "Vegetable Gardening Tips" that offers more advanced "tricks" to coaxing more production from vegetables such as cabbage and brocolli. What about herbs like basil and parsley that you want to maintain for future harvest? Go see Doug.

 

• Oh Grow Up Blog has a timely post on "Second Season Gardens" with some recommendations for vegetables that can go a second round plus some others that can be tucked in now for the fall.

 

I'm off to a family reunion.

I have a "garden sitter" watching my vegetable garden for me- can you believe it?

Hope my green tomatoes ripen while I'm away.