Weight Watchers Weekly Dinner Meal Ideas (July 15

Fridays, I send out an email outlining my dinner plans for the upcoming week that are designed to work with Weight Watchers. I also publish them on my blog. This practice helps me stay on track with my meal choices and motivates me to make healthier food decisions.

MY APPROACH TO MEAL PLANNING

Every time I get out of the meal planning habit I end up eating too much take-out, restaurant food, unhealthy snacks. It is amazing how crappy I feel and how quickly the pounds begin to creep back.

When I have a rough idea of what I’m planning to cook for dinner in the coming week I’m much less likely to succumb to the temptation of fast food or takeout.

That being said, my approach is a casual one. Meal planning can overwhelm me if I try to do too much. So I make it SUPER EASY. I keep a post-it note on the counter with a list of a few dinners I’m planning to make. That’s it.

We are a middle-aged couple so I am mostly cooking for just the two of us. We have a fairly active social life, which means our plans are always subject to change. (Read more about my thoughts on realistic meal planning for busy, unpredictable lives.)

Most recipes make more than we can eat, so we tend to have a ready supply of leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day. I enjoy finding creative ways to use and re-purpose leftovers.

I’m always asking myself, “How can I make this as easy as possible? For me meal planning works only when I keep it as simple as possible. When I have a ready supply of easy to prepare, good for me food in the fridge and pantry I’m set up for success.

What Do I Eat for Breakfast on Weight Watchers?

Most days my breakfast is something quick like an english muffin with almond butter, avocado toast, cottage cheese with fruit, eggs, yogurt with fruit, oatmeal or a smoothie, depending on my mood and the season.

What Do I Eat for Lunch on Weight Watchers?

Lunch is usually leftovers or some combination of soup / sandwich / salad. This formula is a proven winner for me. I never fall into the temptation of takeout when I have a jar of soup, bowl of hard boiled eggs, container or leftovers and/or salad fixings staring back at me when I open the fridge!

This Week’s WW Dinner Suggestions with Points

This week features some of my easy summer favorites that require a minimal of cooking.

Slow Cooker Salmon with Asian Vegetables for Two – This crock pot salmon fillets with Asian style vegetables is a personal favorite. It comes together in minutes—just dump in a bag of frozen vegetables, place your salmon on top, season with salt and pepper and pour in a simple sauce, cover and cook. And it takes only 2-3 hours on LOW, which works well for me because I work mostly from home. I usually serve it with brown rice.

Healthy Crunchy Tuna Salad for Two
There are lots of different directions you can go with tuna salad and I like just about all of them. I’m especially fond of tuna salads with a lot of texture and crunch. I never thought about creating a crunchy tuna salad with cabbage until I saw this recipe. It’s a winner in my book. I’ll plan to serve it as a sandwich on toasted light wheat bread with a cup of soup or handful of grapes alongside.

BLTs
BLTs are one of my favorite sandwiches. Rod’s too! The combination of crispy, smoky bacon, cool crunchy lettuce and sweet and tangy ripe tomato is pretty hard to beat. I love to make these when summer tomatoes are plentiful. So simple and delicious. I’ll serve them with Potato Salad, another summer favorite.

Cereal with milk image Photo by Ryan Pouncy on Unsplash

Breakfast for Dinner: Cold cereal with milk and fruit. (I’ve been on a Special K kick lately. But I also like Cheerios and Wheaties. Since I practice intermittent fasting most days I find myself enjoying breakfast foods for lunch and dinner much more often.)

Just keep in mind that it is really easy to pour way more than a serving into your bowl. My early days with WeightWatchers decades ago taught me that It’s important to measure your cereal before digging in—at least until you’re used to how a particular option looks in your specific bowl. I also find it helpful to use a smaller bowl so the amount appears plentiful when I sit down to enjoy it. One of the many lessons I learned from the powerful book, Mindless Eating. To say it was a life changer for me is an understatement

Hot Dog Photo by David Thielen on Unsplash

Hot dogs on light buns – A summertime staple. My favorite WW friendly hotdog is Hebrew National 97% fat free. When I can’t find it I used my barcode reader to find an alternative lighter option. I’ll plan to serve watermelon and carrot apple slaw alongside.

Need More Vegetarian Choices? Click Here!

I hope this helps you with your own meal planning this week

A note about WW Points
If you’re following Weight Watchers, all the recipes here on Simple Nourished Living have been updated for the new Weight Watchers program, with points displayed in the recipe card. The WW link in the recipe card takes you to the Weight Watchers App where you can edit it using the WW recipe builder or add it to your day (U.S. only, you must be logged into your WW account on a mobile device, such as smartphone or tablet).

Tired of trying to decide what to cook?

If you are struggling with meal planning here are a couple meal planning resources to help:

My Month of Meal Month of Meal Plans eBook

My WW friend Alisha’s 12-Week eCookbook and Meal Planner and Table for Two Meal Planner and eCookbook

Customer Testimonials

I can’t tell you how thrilled we were with your menu posted this week! We are on vacation and in a condo for five weeks. Keeping meals simple. I made both the chicken broccoli pie and the broccoli cheese soup for the first time this week. Both were a big hit. Then last night we had your Caribbean Jerk Chicken which is a definite favorite. Made your lasagna soup last week!!! Yum!

I am so thankful I found your website and continue to try new things. I started WW March 2020 (online only) and have lost almost 30 pounds and am at my goal! Slow and steady wins the race!!! (Just like the tortoise and the hare).

Thank you for all your encouraging emails and wonderful recipes. We’ve been married almost 47 years. When I first found ‘my friend Martha’ as all my friends know you by, my husband said ‘you’ve always been a good cook but we never tried so many different things!’ He loves your recipes also!!!

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!!!! ~ Joyce

I bought the Table for Two eCookbook and I love it! It saved me from giving up on my weight loss journey. The meals are delicious and so easy to cook. Having a weekly grocery list, recipes and instructions with pictures readily accessible has taken so much stress off of me in meal planning. I was tired of cooking recipes that had multiple servings and eating the left overs several times during the week. My husband loves the Table for Two recipes and he doesn’t even need to lose weight! I have recommended your site to several friends on the same journey and they love your recipes too. Thank you for all your hard work in making meal planning so easy! ~ Barbara

Hi Martha – I cannot begin to thank you enough for my month of meals. We (my husband and I) have only had the first week, but WOW, what great meals! I can’t wait for the second week. You have a customer for life! ~ Sharon S.

I bought the 12 Week eCookbook and Meal Planner by Alisha Hughes from Meal Planning Mommies. It is great 12 weeks with a shopping list which is wonderful. I just make a copy of the list and go shopping for the week. ~ Roberta R.