Good news! Simple Start is flexible enough even for a low carb gal like me. I’m giving it a spin for the next two weeks.

The plan was simple — test Weight Watchers’ new Simple Start program over Christmas.  Well a big old monkey wrench called emotional eating was tossed into the works and my plan fell by the wayside.

So what’s a girl to do? Get back on that weight loss horse with Simple Start!

My next Weight Watchers meeting is Saturday morning and right after Simple Start begins. Today I hit the grocery store so I’m working on my new weekly menu.

Breads and Grains and Pastas, Oh My!
At first glance Simple Start doesn’t seem very low carb friendly. In reviewing the meal choices, I noticed that except for 3 salads, every dish includes whole grains. Yikes!

On days without my muscle workouts, I only eat 50g of carbs — the bulk of which are veggies. For strength training days I up my carbs to 100g.

My menu for the 2 weeks I try Simple Start needs to closely follow my workout routine. I started plugging the menus into My Fitness Pal. Sure enough, it will be tough keeping me at 50g of carbs on non-weight training days.

Egads! It Is Low Carb Friendly
Feeling frustrated, I stopped looking at the food photos in my little Simple Start booklet and actually started reading it.

Turns out, it’s pretty low carb friendly after all.

I can make my own meals provided I stick to the Weight Watcher power food list. Power foods fill you up faster, help you stay full and prevent overeating.  As long as I stick to the list, I can stick to my daily carb count and easily do the program.

So What’s My Menu Looking Like?
Since my workouts are in the morning, I’ll need foods higher in carbs for fuel. So I’ll choose from the Weight Watchers suggested breakfast and lunch meals.

Dinner is another story.

I’ll need to come up with my own meals pulling only from the power food list. I’ll just skip the grains section and pick from the veggies (carbs), protein, dairy and healthy fats on the list.

Considering my workout schedule, my first week’s meal plan looks like this:

Vegetables with hummus, vegetable soup and Greek yogurt with berries make up my snacks.

It may not look like a lot of variety, but I mix it up with the types of veggies and berries I use in dishes. Chicken breasts and ground beef are staples in our home and I tend to cook the meat on the weekend to save time during the week.

Plus my husband is kick starting his weight loss by going super low carb (20g/day). A limited menu makes it easier for me to change the meals to keep him on track.

Thankfully there is a lot of wiggle room with Simple Start that gives me the flexibility to keep up my low carb lifestyle. I’m looking forward to testing out the meal options and pairing the food choices with my workout routines.

Time to start making the grocery list.