I get asked a lot of the same questions on any given day so I decided to post this FAQ for everyone to check out, hopefully you can find the answers you are looking for here.
1. Â I entered your recipe into the WW recipe builder and got a different point reading, why?
This usually comes down to a different brand of product, while I might use one brand you could have used a different one that resulted in a different point value. The most common one for this is the biscuits I use for all my bubble up dishes, the ones I buy are a small 7.5oz pack and the whole package is 17SP. I live in Canada and some of our products here may differ from someone living in the U.S. The recipe builder in your WW app is the best to go off. For old Smart Points and Point Plus I use My Fitness Pal to enter my ingredients for a recipe, which I then input the nutritional info to the WW calculator to get the point value. If the recipe has zero point foods in it (such as fruit/veggies) I will determine the points before entering those ingredients.
2. I want to make a recipe of yours and substitute "this" for "that" can I do that, and how many points will it be?
Please know I only make the recipes as shown on my blog, if you want to substitute something I can try and help you out but I will never know the end results as it is not the way I made it, and I only figure out the points as it was made, so you would need to rebuild the recipe in your WW app to get the exact points.
3. Are all your recipes on your blog also on your Apps?
No.. I tell people to think of the Apps like a cookbook. You would go into the book store and purchase a cookbook, take it home and that is that, you get what recipes are in the book, new ones do not appear. A lot of hard work went into building the Apps, it took about 6 months of work by both myself and developer to build each App, and to add on is also a big job. When I post a new recipe to my blog there is no way to have it connected to my App and all of a sudden appear on the App, technology does not work that way.. That said because it is a App and not a hardcover cookbook, we do have the opportunity to add on to them, and we will, but it is not something we do often, as I said it is a big job that requires a lot of time.
4. I have a nut allergy, can I replace the almond milk with skim or something similar.
Sure!
5. Where can I buy a donut pan?
I bought mine at both Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond. You can also order on Amazon. I was told in Canada you can purchase at Kitchen Stuff Plus & Michael's.
6. How did you lose your weight, what's your secret? And how long did it take you?
Well...sorry but there is no secret.. Hard work, dedication, commitment and a whole lot of fight is what made it possible..If you work the program, the program will work for you (unless a health issue is holding you back) I first earned my lifetime status back in 1998 (but only had 20lbs to lose) I kept it off for a few years. Then I battled for 11 years to lose 50lbs I had gained. But if I am being honest I never really tried hard enough. In Jan/2014 I started my journey to lifetime status again, I achieved that in Oct/2014 and I have since kept the weight off.
7. Do you exercise?
Yes and no.. Throughout my journey all I did for exercise was walking, and I continue to do so, and I walk a lot! I will avg 5-10km a day. I have a husky mix dog who loves getting out and he keeps me active, together me and Mr Riley put in a lot of steps!! 🙂 I also look at it as my "me" time, I love getting out and enjoying the fresh air stress free 🙂
8. Do you (did you) use your weeklies?
Throughout the bulk of my weight loss journey no I did not often use them. At the time I was following points plus and had 49 weeklies. I would allow a few of them to be spent on a few drinks over the weekend, but it was not often that happened . Everyone is different though, what works for one may not work for another.
9. What do you prefer, freestyle, old smart points or points plus?
I lost all my weight following points plus, it will always hold a special place in my heart. Smart points was hard for me at first but then I got the hang of it and made it work for me. Freestyle is another story, I have tried and I can't seem to work the program as is.. and main reason being is I simply don't eat the zero foods, so on 23 points a day I am starving myslef.. then when I see a much larger number in my App than my 23 allowed points I panic and sabotage myslef.. but that said I am working on seeing past that number because truth be told I need my WW app, so I am going to stop worrying about being over my points on a daily basis or not getting my "blue dot" like everyone else is and just eat how I use to eat on the old smart points program..
10. Did you do meetings or online? Which do you recommend?
During the bulk of my loss I attended a location, I needed the accountability of weighing in and having it recorded. I knew by getting on the scale and having someone write down my weight it would push me to work harder. I am not sure I would trust myself doing just online, but I know a lot of people who have great success online, so it comes down to you as an individual.
11. I want to go back to the points plus or the old smart points system, do you know how I can do that?
While the WW App does not allow you to follow points plus, there are several Apps out there that will and most are only a few dollars. The one's I am familiar with are "My ultimate food diary" "itrackbites" and "Myscoreplus" .. I also believe that one can still choose to follow pp while attending WW meetings etc.. This is your journey and you need to decide which program best suits you. If you only know smart points and it is working for you I suggest sticking with it and not confusing yourself with older programs.