There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page on my blog!

Happy #NationalDonutDay! Seeing the posts all across my social media feed had me craving a donut... but not wanting to buy either a massive one from Joffrey's at Disney Springs (in case you haven't seen them, they're the size of my face... literally) or a box at Publix that would tempt me all week. I wanted a day-only indulgence (which is allowed on my current Always Eat After 7 PM plan!) and I did a really intense workout this morning, but didn't want to set off a trigger food. So, I decided to take what I had in my fridge and pantry and see what I could whip up - and voila, massive chocolate peanut butter donuts! 

I made four of these for 5 SP each, but you could very easily make eight smaller ones. They're seriously huge!

The secret to these is adding some things to the two-ingredient dough (which I've used to make cinnamon rolls and beignets) like Jordan's Skinny Syrup and sugar-free fat-free chocolate pudding mix. The Skinny Syrup is a great way to add a sweet flavor, kinda like vanilla extract, but with a more specific taste. I used cookie dough in this one, but there are different chocolate varieties and peanut butter ones if you wanted to strengthen those flavors even more.

1. Mix Greek yogurt, chocolate pudding, Jordan's Skinny Syrup, cinnamon, and self-rising flour together until well-combined.
2. Divide dough into quarters or eighths and roll each section until it's a smooth cylinder. If you have a donut pan, put them in there. If not, you can just shape them like Os. 
3. Bake or air fry for 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. While donuts are baking, combine powdered sugar with a drop of water until it makes a glazing. Add powdered peanut butter and cocoa, and mix with water. The amount of water you'll need to add may vary from time to time, so start small, and do so until it makes a nice glaze consistency. Refrigerate. 
5. When donuts have cooled, apply glazing and serve.

This is a sponsored post for Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight written by me; all opinions are my own.

In case you missed it, I started reading and implementing practices from the new book  Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion. Check out my first post about it here! 

In this blog post, we get a few questions you may have (I know I did!) answered by the author, Joel Marion. He’s a best selling author, fitness expert, and nutritionist debunking the myths underlying traditional dieting.

Anyone else feel like the most challenging times to curb hunger are just before bed and in the morning? By following the Always Eat After 7PM program, I’ve found I have the most willpower to stick to this diet because I’m eating during the hours when I’m most hungry. Doing this will also get you intermittent fasting, increase your metabolism, and put you into ketosis.

There are studies backing this up, too. As Marion explains in the book: “Late-night eating also curbs calorie intake the next day. In a four-week study, dieters added a snack to their daily regimen 90 minutes after dinner every night, and check this out: late-night eaters ate an average of 397 fewer calories per day.”

I have personally found that this greatly helped me with intermittent fasting. I was hesitant at first (and built myself up to longer periods of time), but found myself not even hungry for breakfast most mornings and satisfied with some water and coffee. On days I really want breakfast, though, I know I can start at 11 a.m. and know that I can still enjoy something in the mornings - the book even includes a few recipes you can have for a light breakfast that are easy and tasty.​
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As far as the evenings go, this plan has me feeling more satisfied - in terms of both fullness and cravings - than I can say I ever have been in the last five years when I started my weight loss journey. I’m looking forward to seeing how the benefits of this continue to help me get to my goals since I’m trying to shed the last bits of fat!

This makes sense because, as I mentioned, this is the core of this plan. Marion is a six time best-selling author, but the difference between this book and the rest? In his own words: “Although many of the concepts are similar, the biggest difference is that you don't have to deprive yourself of your favorite foods. You don't have to deal with the burden of eating every few hours. And you don't have to skip the carbs at dinnertime or avoid eating before bed.” ​

And how difficult is it to follow? Marion says, “It's not. And that's exactly why I wrote the book. While any diet is never truly easy, it can be more enjoyable and much easier to adhere to when you understand how Always Eat After 7 PM works because it caters to our bodies natural instincts.”

This is not a quick fix fad diet, either, and Marion didn’t come up with this overnight. He says, “It actually took several years of researching for me to discover the real science of eating late night. After a few years of tweaking and refining, I finally came up with a rapid fat loss solution that overcomes all the pitfalls of traditional diets.”

This is a sponsored post for Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight written by me; all opinions are my own.

There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page on my blog!
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After being on Weight Watchers for five years, one question I see or hear a lot is about protein shakes. While I don't recommend replacing any of your meals with a shake, I do think a protein shake is a fantastic snack, especially if you're on the go or need something quick after a workout (especially if you're strength training). I've tried a bunch of different protein shakes, and it's complicated on Weight Watchers because so many of them can be tons of points. Here are my top five protein shakes that are low in calories and SmartPoints.

Need a tumbler for your protein shake or proffee? Healthy Human's all about sustainability, so you get a nice stainless steel bottle that will keep your drink the temp you like it for hours. Plus, they offer reusable straws to help keep the environment and your coffee draw de-cluttered. Get 15% off when you shop through this link or use the coupon JessicaS15.

This is a sponsored post for Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight written by me; all opinions are my own.

It’s time for me to get really raw and honest with you guys: as you may have seen on Instagram, I gained 10 pounds last year. Oh, and I put on five after my wedding in water weight (or, as I like to call it, “wedding cake weight”), so I guess we should call it an even 15, yeah? Oops! 

I first struggled with a plateau, and then my weight loss goals went on the back burner for maintenance - which was an epic fail seeing as I gained weight - while I was planning my wedding. And I think after doing the same diet for so many years, my body - more specifically, my poor metabolism - needed a shake up.

Enter Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight by Joel Marion, a new book (available now!) that debunks popular diet myths and offers an easy-to-follow diet that accelerates fat-burning and allows you to indulge in your most intense food cravings, split up into three phases:

1. A two-week long Acceleration Phase meant to help you kick-start the program on a high note.
2. The Main Phase where you take all the fundamentals from the book and really build upon them until you hit your goal weight.
3. The Lifestyle Phase to help you maintain your goal once you get there. 

I’ve tried transformation challenges this year… and while I toned up a little bit from hitting the gym (and, while gyms are shut down, at-home workouts), I still am struggling to see the scale move and to drop fat. The diet plans on those weren’t all that different than what I ate before, so I think ultimately, I really need to change up how I’m eating. I want to finally get to my goal weight, so I figured I’d take on the challenge of an entirely new plan.

​Whether you’re looking for a new diet plan or just want some new recipes to try - I’ve read through the whole book and they look delicious (and include desserts - y’all know I have a huge sweet tooth) - I recommend giving this a whirl, too, and we can do this together!

Joel’s story resonated deeply with me because it was so relatable. It’s refreshing to see something from an expert who understands what it’s like to be on a weight loss journey, and to try everything that we’ve been taught works only to find that it doesn’t always work as easily as it sounds.

​Joel himself lost 50 pounds and developed this after, like so many of us, he got tired of turning to plain grilled chicken and vegetables to lose weight. When I read Joel's story, I felt like he was speaking personally to me. I’ve been slaving away in the gym, making sure my food log is perfect… and after dropping five pounds of that wedding cake weight, nothing has really changed since the end of January. To say I’m frustrated is an understatement. 

​As Joel says in the book, “People everywhere subject themselves to lives of starvation dieting and exercising hell, and none of it is working. They crave food, walk around hungry all day, and miss out on one of life’s great pleasures—eating good food. And when they fail, as most dieters will, they feel guilty and full of self-hatred. But they haven’t failed. Those diets have failed them.”​

So, before I dive super deep, let’s bust a diet myth real quick. How many times have we been told that eating at night, especially carbs, will put your metabolism to a halt? I know I’ve heard that one many times before! But there’s some research out there that Always Eat After 7 PM dives into. I’ll let Joel explain that one (without giving away too many spoilers) - he’s the expert, after all!

I’m so excited to be implementing these lifestyle changes and seeing how they work for me. This is so different from anything I’ve done before, but I am so excited - especially after past diet plans I’ve followed (and even succeed on) have me feeling burned out. Shaking off these last 10 pounds for good and finally hitting my goal, here I come!

Who's in with me?  Let me know if you're following along!

This is a sponsored post for Always Eat After 7 PM: The Revolutionary Rule-Breaking Diet That Lets You Enjoy Huge Dinners, Desserts, and Indulgent Snacks—While Burning Fat Overnight written by me; all opinions are my own.

There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page on my blog!
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Taking a break from the #DisneyMagicMoments recipes here! My husband wanted cinnamon rolls, I had the stuff for two ingredient dough in the house... you can see where this is going!

These mini cinnamon rolls use the two ingredient dough as a base and are super simple to make. They’re only 3 SmartPoints for one on all myWW plans, 75 calories a pop, and fat free. So you can enjoy these tasty treats as a snack or for breakfast with no guilt and a cup of coffee. Say no to deprivation, friends, and I hope you enjoy this recipe!

The key to sweetening up the dough? I added a little Jordan's Skinny Syrups to it. Similarly to the Mickey beignets I made, it really helps mellow out some of the tangy notes you might get from the Greek yogurt. For this recipe I used a caramel waffle cone flavor, but anything similar or with vanilla would also do the trick.

Also, for the powdered sugar — a little goes a long way with the glaze! Remember, these are minis so you don’t need a ton of glaze to go between all eight rolls. Or, if you opt to make 4 larger rolls from this mix (which you could, but then the points values would be different), the same amount of glaze should suffice if you wanted more per roll.

Serves 8

• 1 cup self rising flour
• 1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt (I’ve found that Fage works best)
• 1 tbsp Jordan’s Skinny Syrups (I used caramel waffle cone, but any caramel or vanilla like flavor works!), or vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp of cinnamon + two extra dashes
• 2 tbsp of powdered sugar
• ~1 tsp water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a baking pan with some nonstick spray. I used a 9 x 13 pan, but you should still have plenty of room in something like an 8 x 8.
2. In a mixer or a larger bowl, combine the yogurt, flour, syrup (or vanilla extract) and a dash of cinnamon.
3. Roll out the dough so it’s thin and then cut into eight strips.
4. Divide 1 tbsp of cinnamon across all 8 strips.
5. Roll up your strips like you would a yoga mat. If they’re tall, you can gently flatten them with your palm or fist so it has more of the typical cinnamon roll shape and swirl.
6. Spray with buttery spray and sprinkle with a last dash of cinnamon, then bake for 20 minutes.
7. In a small bowl, combine 2 tbsp of powdered sugar and a drop of water. Start small with the water - we barely even used a teaspoon’s worth, so play it by ear so your glaze has a nice, thick texture but still runny enough to drizzle onto the rolls. Store in refrigerator until serving.
8. When cinnamon buns are done and cooled, drizzle the glaze onto the cinnamon buns and then serve.

3 SmartPoints for 1 roll and 6 SP for 2 on myWW Green
3 SmartPoints for 1 roll and 5 SP for 2 on myWW Purple and Blue

Calories: 75
Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 1.7 mg
Sodium: 210.9 mg
Carbohydrates: 15.1 g
Fiber: 1 g
Sugar: 2.9 g
Protein: 4.5 g

There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page on my blog!

When I saw this French toast recipe from the PCH Grill in Disneyland as part of the #DisneyMagicMoments series, I knew I had to try to recreate it but in a WW-friendly way for a decadent weekend breakfast. Looking at the ingredients, it may seem hard to do since it's very sugary, but I have my secrets that I'm going to share! The original recipe was 24 SmartPoints for a serving, but I got it down to just 8 SmartPoints per serving. Win!

Beyond the lower sugar swaps and omitting the powdered sugar and chocolate drizzle that it called for (which, honestly, it didn't need since it has so much flavor!), the biggest trick to lowering the SmartPoints count here is increasing the serving size. The original recipe said it made 4 servings in a 9x13 pan... which is huge! Especially when you consider this recipe uses Challah specifically. For those of you unfamiliar, Challah is a Jewish bread that is baked with honey and yeast, and typically braided... and thus is super thick. I split mine into 8 servings and an eighth of the pan was more than plenty for breakfast, especially with some fruit on the side!

If you do decide you want to top with some powdered sugar, to keep things low in SmartPoints, remember that a little goes a long way - start with a measured out teaspoon per serving. Also, with chocolate syrup, Hershey's makes lite and sugar-free versions that you can try out.

You'll notice in my photos that this doesn't have any banana - that's because, like I mentioned in my Dole Whip article, my husband and I aren't really into bananas. It's fine when blended with other fruits to make sorbets and Dole Whip since you can't even taste it, but we definitely didn't want it on our French toast. I'll include the bananas in the nutritional information and ingredients list, however, and keep their place in Disney's instructions.

Challah can be tricky to make if you've never made it or another kind of bread from scratch before. Take it from me - I've been playing with Jewish recipes since discovering my Ashkenazi ancestry in 2018, and the first time I tried to make Challah, it was an epic fail. But luckily, you can order it on Amazon! Different bakeries have it available there, and you can also get it from Whole Foods delivered to you via Amazon Prime (click here for a 30-day free trial!). This saved me a ton of time and helped keep it tasting delicious. If your Challah that you order online doesn't have nutritional information, check Publix's website - sometimes, their bakery offers it so the nutritional values are all there.

The key to the healthy swaps here is actually three things: Lily's baking chips over regular chocolate chips, whipped creamy peanut butter instead of regular or reduced fat (fun fact: normal and reduced fat peanut butters are the same points! Whipped is less points, however.), and using almond milk with unsweetened cocoa instead of chocolate milk. I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk and put it in the blender with a little Stevia and 2 tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder. I blended that first, and then added the rest to the blender per the recipe, and it worked out perfectly. Also, if you're watching your calories or on myWW Green, I recommend using 1.5 cup of liquid egg substitute instead of real eggs. My nutritional info will base it off of the substitute, but as eggs aren't any points on myWW Purple and Blue, that won't really affect the points value either way.

• 16 oz Challah bread, cut into thick slices then cubed
• 2 bananas
• 1/4 cupLily's baking chips
• 1/2 cup whipped creamy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cup liquid egg substitute 
• 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 packets Stevia
• 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt 
• Optional (not included in nutritional info or SP): powdered sugar to top
• Optional (not included in nutritional info or SP): Light or sugar-free chocolate syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Coat a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
2. Take the cubed Challah and place into a large bowl. Slice bananas into 1/2 inch slices and add to bowl. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. In a blender, combine the almond milk, Stevia, and cocoa powder. Blend until it makes chocolate milk, then add the peanut butter, egg substitute, cinnamon, and salt and process until smooth.
4. Pour the egg mixture over the bread mixture and stir gently until the bread cubes have absorbed the egg mixture.
5. Add mixture to the baking pan, and bake for 40 minutes or until top is golden brown.
6. Optional: before serving, drizzle with chocolate syrup and dust with powdered sugar.

8 SP on all myWW plans
Calories: 329
Fat: 14.6 g
Saturated fat: 3 g
Trans fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 49.7 mg
Sodium: 409.4 ,g
Carbohydrates: 38.2 g
Fiber: 3.7 g
Sugar: 14.1 g
Protein: 11.7 g

Have you tried this recipe? Let me know on social media or comment below!

There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page on my blog!

When Disney shared their Grey Stuff recipe as part of the #DisneyMagicMoments series on Saturday, my mom told me it would be awesome if she could have it for Mother's Day. The catch: both my parents and myself are all on Weight Watchers. I took a quick peek at the recipe and sighed in relief when I saw how easy this one would be to modify. So I added the ingredients to Instacart and got ready for curbside pickup Mother's Day morning.

The beauty (pun not intended... get it? Beauty and the Beast?) of this healthy swap is that it's just fat free or lighter versions of the same ingredients that Disney provided. So the flavor is really identical, and the Grey Stuff still maintains its creaminess. Their recipe called for a cookie and has you serve it like they do at Disneyland, but being a Walt Disney World local with a mother who loves cupcakes, I figured I'd make this like how we enjoy it at Be Our Guest: on top of a chocolate cupcake.

This Disney-inspired recipe is only a grand total of 5 SmartPoints: 2 for the Grey Stuff and 3 for the cupcakes (this holds true for all myWW plans). After delivering the cupcakes to my mom for Mother's Day, she and my dad both agreed that the Grey Stuff tasted identical to what we were served at Be Our Guest. The beauty of it, too, is that this recipe makes a lot of Grey Stuff, so you can be pretty liberal in applying the frosting to your cupcakes. I didn't have a piping bag, but I bet you could really make a mountain with it if you did!

To make the cupcakes, the secret here isn't the Weight Watchers soda cake recipe that's been passed around for years - nope, the key to making your cake moist is actually Greek yogurt! I like to use Dannon Light & Fit Greek yogurt for this one, and pair the flavor accordingly. Since the Grey Stuff is essentially a cookies-and-cream pudding, I used a vanilla yogurt in a chocolate cake mix. The chocolate overpowered, and Boston Cream Pie flavor also pairs really well with chocolate cake mixes. If you're using a white or yellow cake mix, try the Strawberry Cheesecake flavor for a mild strawberry cake flavor. Since I only had the single serve cups, I measured out exactly how much was in it and then added some plain nonfat Greek yogurt as well to round it out to the 8 ounces needed for the recipe. I originally saw this making the rounds on WW Connect, and have been hooked to it ever since.

Similarly to the soda cake recipe, you bake this cake per the directions on the box. Super simple! I prefer the yogurt swap over the soda because it gives the cake a little protein and is a little more moist, and thus more filling. I can fly through a bunch of those soda cupcakes, but after just one or two of these, I'm perfectly satisfied. This recipe calls for 24 cupcakes, which works out perfectly because that lowers the SmartPoints of the original Grey Stuff recipe even more (it called for 12 servings).

If you're worried about having Oreo Thins in the house, instead of getting the traditional sleeve, you can get single-serving packs on Amazon. You get 12 packs of 4, so you'll have plenty for the recipe and then if you do reach for Oreos, it's at least pre-portioned for you.

You'll see that the recipe is almost identical to Disney's, just with some fat-free swaps here and there. The instructions remain the same, so those are courtesy of the #DisneyMagicMoments recipe as well. I'll separate their ingredients, but since I made one while waiting on the other and recommend you do the same, I'll list the instructions together.

• 1 1/2 cups cold fat free milk 
• 1 (3.4 ounce) package sugar-free fat-free instant vanilla pudding mix 
• 15 Oreo Thins
• 1 (8 ounce) container fat-free whipped topping, thawed 
• 3 tablespoons sugar-free fat-free instant chocolate pudding mix  

• 8 ounces nonfat Greek yogurt
• ​8 ounces water
• 1 box cake mix (I use Betty Crocker's super moist chocolate fudge; you could lighten this recipe up even further with one of the Pillsbury Sugar Free mixes, but my mom can't have sugar alcohols so I passed on those!).
• Pam spray for your cupcake pans (I use the baking one, but a buttery one would work too)

1. In a large mixing bowl, add milk and vanilla pudding mix. Whisk until smooth and slightly thickened, then place in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours (I let mine set for 1 hour and it was perfect, but each fridge may vary)
2. Heat your oven to the temperature indicated on the cupcake mix. In a mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, water, and Greek yogurt. Mix until thick and a little fluffy.
3. Use Pam spray for your cupcake tins and use a spoon to scoop cupcake batter across 24 tins (if you only have one cupcake tin, save half the batter for a second batch). Bake per the time listed on the cupcake box.
4. While your cupcakes cool, puree 15 Oreo Thins with a food processor. Set aside until the hour is up for the pudding mix.
5. Add the pureed Oreos into the pudding mix and mix thoroughly until well combined. Then, add the container of fat-free whipped topping and 3 tbsp of chocolate pudding mix, and mix again until everything is well combined. If your Grey Stuff has a brownish undertone, that's okay - it's from the chocolate pudding mix! 
6. Let the Grey Stuff mix cool in the fridge for another hour.
7. When Grey Stuff is complete, use a piping bag (or, if you're scrappy like me, a spoon) to evenly distribute Grey Stuff to tops of 24 cupcakes.

Serves 24
3 SP on all myWW plans
Calories: 85
Fat: 1.5 g
Cholesterol: 0.6 mg 
Sodium: 123.5 mg
Carbohydrates: 16.1 g
Fiber: 0 g
Sugar: 8.9 g
Protein: 1.3 g

Serves 24
2 SP on all myWW plans
Calories: 49
Fat: 0.8 g
Cholesterol: 0.3 mg 
Sodium: 146.5 mg
Carbohydrates: 8.8 g
Fiber: 0.2 g
Sugar: 3.2 g
Protein: 0.7 g

Try this recipe? Let me know in the comments or tag me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter @magicallyfit! Or, you can save this recipe on Pinterest for later.

There are Amazon affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience. When you purchase through these, I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page on my blog!

In my determination to keep trying these #DisneyMagicMoments desserts (ICYMI, I started off by making my own Zero SmartPoint Dole Whip), I decided that next up should be something I wasn't sure was possible - but with a little air-fryer magic, it certainly was! 

When Disney posted their recipe for Mickey Mouse beignets, I couldn't help but wonder - can I do this with the famous WW two-ingredient dough recipe to lighten these up and eliminate the need for frying and for yeast? I had everything in the house to make these, and I've never worked with yeast before, and wanted to see if it would work. The short answer: yes! They didn't rise as much as a typical beignet, but I also could have probably rolled my dough a bit thinner to help achieve that effect. It worked out though, since my husband prefers denser desserts over something more airy.

Here's how I did it, plus an optional and easy way to make your own lightened chocolate sauce for these. These are (without the chocolate sauce) only 4 SmartPoints for a quarter of the batch on all myWW plans!

Pro tip: if you're on the Purple or Blue myWW plan, Jordan's Skinny Syrups are great to give your plain, nonfat Greek yogurt some flavor while keeping it Zero Points. Snack win!

After rolling the dough as thin as you possibly can (I recommend using a rolling pin that you've dusted with a little flour), use a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter to cut out the shakes of your Mickey Mouse beignets. To make as many as you possibly can, take the excess dough and roll it out and keep repeating until you have no choice but to make a few small squares. If you don't want to make your beignets Mickey Mouse shaped, you could just cut your dough into squares and make them that way. I got my Mickey Mouse cookie cutter on Amazon in a 2 pack, but they have a variety of types that you can choose from to bring some magic into your kitchen.

I then air fried them, taking it only five minutes at a time. It may vary from air fryer to air fryer, but these didn't take long at all. I waited until the edges began to look a little golden, but not too golden as to not have them be overdone. I'd also recommend flipping them at least once so the bottoms can rise as much as the tops.

No air fryer? No problem! Try baking them at 350, again just taking it only a few minutes at a time. When making bagels with the dough, it typically takes 25 minutes for them to bake - but these are much smaller. It'll depend on the size of your beignets, too. If baking, spritz with a little buttery spray.

I then took all of the beignets - this batch made about 30 - and put them in a plastic container. Since I didn't use any oil, the powdered sugar didn't stick super well, but was good to take from the bottom of the container and sprinkle on top as needed before serving, so that way none of it went to waste and I didn't need to spend extra SmartPoints.

In case you wanted a little extra sweetness (or have a chocoholic like my husband in your family), you can easily whip up some chocolate sauce by melting chocolate chips. I like to use Lily's brand since they're sweetened with stevia instead of sugar (but do have sugar alcohol in them, so go easy on it if you're sensitive to that!) and that makes them lower in SmartPoints. I used 1 SmartPoints worth of chips for my beignets, which went a very long way, so that brought my total up to 5 SmartPoints - given I used to spend that on one Fiber One cookie when they used to make those, I'll take it given my batch of 30 meant I got about 7 mini beignets! Just heat the desired amount of chips in the microwave 15 seconds at a time, stirring between rounds to make sure it melts without burning.

We brought the other two servings to my parents, who agreed that while it may not have been as fluffy and airy as a traditional beignet, it's definitely a fantastic Weight Watchers-friendly alternative that curbs the craving due to it's very similar flavors and close-enough textures (especially if you roll your dough thinner, ha!). My husband (who is not on WW) said he couldn't tell the difference between this and a typical beignet, and prefers the density that these had since, as aforementioned, that's how he likes his pastries. So I'll call it a success!

Serves 4

Instructions

• Mix together Greek yogurt, 1 cup flour, and syrup/extract until well combined. Dough's texture will likely be a little sticky!
• On a pastry board or similar surface, sprinkle your extra flour so the dough doesn't stick. Use a rolling pin to get your dough as thin as you possibly can.
• Cut out your beignets with a knife into squares, or using a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter​
• Repeat steps 2-3 as necessary with excess dough.
• Optional: spray a bit of buttery spray to your beignets.
• Air fry or bake your beignets at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Every air fryer may be a bit different, so whether air frying or baking, take it 5 minutes at a time to make sure they don't burn since they're so small. Flip at least once during this process.
  • They'll be done when the edges are starting to look a bit golden.
• Put beignets in a container with 2 tbsp powdered sugar. Shake until beignets are coated.
  • If powdered sugar goes to the bottom of the container, use excess to sprinkle on top before serving your beignets.
• To make the sauce: microwave chocolate chips in 15 second increments, stirring each time to make sure they melt evenly without burning.
• Divide amount of beignets into quarters. Each quarter is one serving.

4 SmartPoints on all myWW plans
Calories: 145
Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 3.3 mg
Sodium: 423.5 mg
Carbohydrates: 28.7 mg
Fiber: 1 g
Sugar: 5.7 g
Protein: 9 g

There are affiliate links throughout this blog post for your convenience, where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page on my blog!

With Walt Disney World closed due to COVID-19, I've been missing the parks like crazy. I'm looking forward to the day the parks are able to safely reopen (but I'll still tread with caution!), but in the meantime, I wanted to be able to bring some of the magic into my home - more specifically, my kitchen.

I saw Disney Parks Blog sharing their #DisneyMagicMoments, which have been amazing and includes a "Cooking Up the Magic At Home" selection of Disney recipes. I've been drooling over a lot of them, but upon seeing the points values in the Weight Watchers app, I was shocked and knew there had to be a way to take these recipes and modify them so I could still enjoy the flavors of my favorite place without giving my food tracker the kiss of death.

And by all means - if you want to follow Disney's recipes to the T because the last thing you're worried about is food right now, then go for it! But for me, one of the things I can control is my eating. I hope you can enjoy my lightened up versions of these Disney recipes, too!

While I work on modifying some of the other recipes, I figured I'd start with something simple and tried-and-true: Dole Whip! My husband and I love to make this two-ingredient knock off of Dole Whip at home every summer, and it was perfect after a long bike ride this weekend. This Dole Whip is Zero SmartPoints on all myWW programs and contains just two things: frozen pineapple and frozen banana.

Now, Weight Watchers friends, I know what you're about to say: Jess, isn't blended fruit points because of how we eat it? Yes! However, things get a little different when making "nice cream" with bananas. When you look up different Weight Watchers ice cream recipes with banana, they all come to Zero Points (unless there's other stuff with points values added). Weight Watchers Canada explains it even further: research shows that when you have something in a smoothie that requires a straw, you're not chewing. The lack of chewing may impact the signals that go off between your stomach and the brain. When you're using a spoon, however, that means you're experiencing eating rather than drinking, so you're less likely to overindulge. 

The secret to how I get my homemade Dole Whip to have the perfect texture is a Yonanas machine. I love making "nice cream" with it! I received it as a wedding shower gift and my husband and I love experimenting with different fruit combinations to make, and Dole Whip remains our favorite. You use the nozzle to push the frozen fruit into, using a slightly overripe banana that's been frozen and slightly thawed (it comes with a book that gives you some pro tips and some recipes) and whatever other fruit you want to use.

Here's the beauty of this recipe, too: I absolutely hate bananas. Like, with a burning passion. But when you blend it with other fruit to make nice cream, I barely even taste it! With the Yonanas, I like to alternate the order in which the fruit goes in - a little banana, then a little pineapple, then a little banana, so on and so fort - so that way it blends nice and evenly. I can barely tell that it's in there - it's present, but the pineapple really overpowers it.

If you don't have a Yonanas machine but you do have a food processor or a blender, I imagine either of those options would do the trick. However, if you're using a blender, you may want to experiment with adding ice to see how the consistency comes out - it may take some trial and error, but would work nonetheless!
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So, with all that being said, now you're ready to make your own Polynesian Resort or Aloha Isle inspired dessert at home! This treat is low calorie, no SmartPoints on all myWW plans, and super refreshing as the weather gets hot - especially as we all miss Disney right now.

Serves: 4

Nutritional info per serving (per MyFitnessPal):
Calories: 113 
Fat: 0.2 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 0.6 mg
Carbohydrates: 29.8 g
Fiber: 3.3 g
Sugar: 19 g
Added Sugar: 0 g
Protein: 1.5 g

0 SP on all myWW plans

P.S. If you really don't want to blend some fruit up for a pretty close copycat... you can buy a 4.4 pound bag of the dry Dole mix on Amazon in any flavor (depending on what's in stock). It makes 89 half cup servings, so I imagine it would last you a really long time or be best off in a commercial freezer, but these are weird times. Do what makes you happy. ? ​

I'd love to hear from you if you have! Leave a comment and let me know how it came out, or post a photo and tag me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram: @magicallyfit! 

I was almost selected to be in a WW commercial, so I’m here to tell you what that all entailed in case you're curious! I’ve been a member of Weight Watchers since December 2015, when  they just launched the Beyond the Scale program, and have been a Lifetime member for a few years now. I've lost a grand total of 73 lbs.

I really want to share this process with you guys about how this all worked so you can get a little sneak peek behind the scenes and, in case you’re ever in this position, know what to expect. I ultimately wasn’t selected - and I’m not bitter or anything, so this isn’t being written out of animosity! - but still wanted to let you all get a chance to know what’s behind the curtain.

There are affiliate links throughout this blog post where I can earn a small commission. I never support a product or brand I don't personally use and enjoy, but if you'd like to learn more, you can head to this page on my blog!

It all started with an Instagram Story. I check Stories every so often on Instagram, and as I scrolled through the one for WW, I saw them call out for people to submit their stories online for a chance to be a part of their Spring 2020 marketing materials. I wrote up my success story and sent it along with a before and after of myself, as requested. I explained in depth how I started Weight Watchers in December 2015 after I graduated college and didn’t want to share any of my graduation photos with anyone, and how my mom and I were actually returning to Weight Watchers after we lost weight on it when I was in high school a few years prior. We knew it was a plan that worked for us, so we figured it would work again so long as we worked it.

I was then sent an email from the Weight Watchers team asking for a video of me answering some of their questions a few days later. They asked me a lot of the same questions that were covered in the initial submission, but I had no problem re-answering them so they could have everything handy or however they needed it for the process. I was told that if I was selected to interview, I would be compensated for my time at that second stage. 

Every time they’d tell me I’d hear back from them by a certain day, they’d be very late in this process. I think this was partly because the selection phase was really close to the day they wanted to film - I was interviewing for a commercial that would air in about two weeks. Honestly, I’m not sure if the commercial’s filming ever happened or not due to COVID-19 since this was all happening in early March, but I guess time will tell if we see some spring marketing materials pop up!

Anyways, after a few days where I’d anxiously await a promised email, I finally was told I was moving forward to the interview stage. A Zoom conference call was set up with me and a few of the people with the production company, since WW uses an agency rather than an in-house team, and no one from WW was on the call. The questions they asked me were really redundant in the sense that I had answered these twice now. So if you ever apply, just be prepared to share your story a lot and to repeat yourself.

​No one brought up anything about the aforementioned payment. I didn’t bother to ask in the interview to not seem rude, and the interview only lasted about 10 minutes. They told me they loved my story and were pretty into it, but after a few days (again, much longer of a wait time than promised), I was told by the WW employees who initially reached out that they were going in a different direction so I was not selected. My guess is that it’s because I’m a Lifetime member who is not trying to lose a ton of weight and already has - they were really focused on how much weight people lost on myWW since it rolled out in November, and I’ve been maintaining. 

I politely asked WW about the payment I was promised, and had to follow up with them after a week of no responses. It was then they then told me that it was only for those who were selected for the commercial (as you can see in the provided screenshot, that wasn’t what they told me). After replying with their previous emails to me copied and pasted, they eventually agreed to give me the promised compensation… and that was a process, too. Whoever was in charge of this shoot didn’t seem to really have their ducks in a row. They sent me all these tax forms with things that didn’t apply, directed me to the wrong people to ask for help (and they got seemingly frustrated when I’d reach out to the people they directed me to with questions), and then eventually just gave up and verified my address to send me a check. I got $50, which I didn’t necessarily care about but felt like on principle they should honor what they originally told me. 

All in all, the experience felt pretty disjointed and unorganized. It was stressful not because I was anxious about being selected or not, but because everything was really rushed and all over the place, and communication on their end could have (and should have) been handled way better. I wish I had someone to tell me what I could expect before this process, so I hope now that you can be prepared in case you see a similar Instagram story to the one I did!