High Volume, Low POINTS® Value

By Leslie Fink, MS, RD

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Need ideas for coping with restaurant buffets? Want some good snack ideas? In our Q&A series, WeightWatchers.com nutritionist and food editor Leslie Fink, MS, RD, answers readers' questions about food, nutrition and weight loss.

Q: Which foods would you recommend when I'm looking for lots of volume but not a lot of POINTS® value?

A: There's the obvious answer: vegetables, vegetables, vegetables. But although you can munch on a lot of celery without it really affecting your weight (a serving of most vegetables has a POINTS value of zero), veggies are not very filling on their own.

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Try pairing them up with a low calorie dip (black bean, light sour cream and onion, or ranch) for a bit more oomph. Or dip them into salsa. And although it's not the same as munching on cherry tomatoes, popcorn deserves a quick mention because 3 cups of plain air-popped popcorn will cost you a POINTS value of just 1.

Fruit is another good option. You can have 1 medium apple, 2 small plums, 3 small clementines or a cup of pineapple -- they each have a POINTS value of just 1. Berries are a real bargain: raspberries and strawberries have a POINTS value of 1 for 1 1/2 cups.

Next, compare foods in different categories to see which gives you the most quantity for the least damage. For instance:

• A half cup of cooked kidney beans has a POINTS value of 1 but the same 1/2 cup of cooked black beans will cost you 2.
  
  
• One cup of cooked wild rice has a POINTS value of 3 but 1 cup of cooked brown or white rice will cost you 4. Don't overlook other grains: One cup of cooked bulgur is at a bargain at a POINTS value of 2.
  
  
• Three ounces of cooked salmon has a POINTS value of 3.5 but 3 ounces of shrimp weights in at a mere 2.

How you prepare food is important as well. You may feel like you're getting lots more of a sweet, for example, if you can have 5 miniature cookies for the same POINTS value as one large one. Along the same lines, an ounce of grated cheese may seem like a lot more food than an ounce of sliced cheese. And you may feel more satisfied with an ounce of chopped nuts on your sundae rather than an ounce of whole ones because chopped nuts cover a lot more surface area for the same number of POINTS values.

And don't forget about presentation. Ten nachos on a large dinner plate may not seem like a lot of food. But stack those same 10 nachos on a smaller salad plate and your eyes and stomach may be much more pleased.

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