This week's weight loss: 3lb
Total weight loss: 11.5lb
I'm really pleased with this week's weigh in result. I seem to be losing weight at a steady pace, which is, I'm told, the best way.
I was really worried about my first week back at university. I knew it would be a busy week, immediately starting production rehearsals for this term's show. I tried to be organised, and take in my own lunches, which has been so helpful. I would have struggled to stay on plan if I had been faced with the school café's sweets, cakes, crisps, and chocolates every lunchtime. I am completely obsessed with my new Sistema tuppaware collection, designed for the microwave, which has made packed lunches a breeze.
I haven't been as good with dinners this week, as I have been much more tired in the evenings after my long days. And my speed food intake wasn't always as good as it should have been (story of my life!). I didn't do any exercise, either. There is always room for improvement it seems...
Onwards, upwards! (Or should I say downwards?)
C x
Tuesday, 26 April 2016
Slimming World Week 3: food diary
I'm going to start doing Monday to Sunday Slimming World food diaries instead of Tuesday to Monday (as I have been doing). I get weighed in on Monday evenings, so it makes sense, and the roundness of it appeals to my slightly OCD brain.
This week, my delivery of Sistema tuppaware has been a GODSEND. My first week back at uni after a three week Easter holiday break, and I was adamant that I would take my own lunches to ensure I stuck to plan. So far, so good...
This week, my delivery of Sistema tuppaware has been a GODSEND. My first week back at uni after a three week Easter holiday break, and I was adamant that I would take my own lunches to ensure I stuck to plan. So far, so good...
MONDAY
Apples, pears, and plums filled my breakfast bowl this fine Monday morning, as I got ready for my full-on first day back. I stood in the kitchen, proudly preparing my packed lunch whilst nibbling on pieces of cut-up fruit. I felt very smug.
For lunch, I brought some vegetable soup I had made the day before. This is the same accidental soup I made in week 1, where I bunged in whatever vegetables needed to be used up and it was AMAZING. This time I added some lentils for bulk, blitzed it up, and decanted the soup perfectly into 3 Sistema Soup Mugs. Satisfying. I ate lunch at my computer, with a HExB 60g wholemeal roll, raw carrot sticks, and some cucumber.
Now, Monday was obviously weigh in day. I rushed straight from uni to group and didn't eat anything on the way, but I did have two trusty apples in my bag - one for after weigh-in, and one for the Slimmer of the Week bowl. I weighed in, ate my apple, bought my first ever Hi-Fi bars, and decided to stay to group. Group overran and by the time I got home I didn't want to eat (too late) so I ate two of the new Hi-Fi bars (they're great!) and counted them as syns, as I had already had my HExB at lunch.
Recipe points: N/A
Daily syns: 6
TUESDAY
Apples, pears, and plums filled my breakfast bowl this fine Monday morning, as I got ready for my full-on first day back. I stood in the kitchen, proudly preparing my packed lunch whilst nibbling on pieces of cut-up fruit. I felt very smug.
For lunch, I brought some vegetable soup I had made the day before. This is the same accidental soup I made in week 1, where I bunged in whatever vegetables needed to be used up and it was AMAZING. This time I added some lentils for bulk, blitzed it up, and decanted the soup perfectly into 3 Sistema Soup Mugs. Satisfying. I ate lunch at my computer, with a HExB 60g wholemeal roll, raw carrot sticks, and some cucumber.
Now, Monday was obviously weigh in day. I rushed straight from uni to group and didn't eat anything on the way, but I did have two trusty apples in my bag - one for after weigh-in, and one for the Slimmer of the Week bowl. I weighed in, ate my apple, bought my first ever Hi-Fi bars, and decided to stay to group. Group overran and by the time I got home I didn't want to eat (too late) so I ate two of the new Hi-Fi bars (they're great!) and counted them as syns, as I had already had my HExB at lunch.
Recipe points: N/A
Daily syns: 6
TUESDAY
Breakfast was at my dressing table: raspberries, strawberries, and a sweet sweet Weight Watchers Toffee Apple Dessert Style Yoghurt (that's a mouthful!).
My smug face took a packed lunch into uni: more of the same vegetable soup to heat up in the (disgusting) microwaves in the common room. I had my HExB 60g wholemeal roll and even allowed myself a scraping of butter for 3.5syns (pushing the boat out). For (extra) speed I had raw carrots and cucumber on the side. Washed down with a banana, which I couldn't even eat straight away (I saved it for my 3:30pm break).
I had been dreaming of risotto all day so made a ginormous batch when I got home. I'll be honest, it was a bizarre combination of foods, but it came out OK. I started by frying a finely chopped onion in some garlic-infused frylight (which, by the way, I am NEVER using again - my boyfriend could not stop complaining that it "smells like death"), then added some finely sliced bacon and roasted red peppers from a jar. I added the rice, a vat of ham stock and let it simmer until it turned into risotto. I stirred in the peas for the last few minutes. I served it up with a pan-fried chicken breast. Definitely not for risotto purists, but I sure as hell ain't one of those.
Recipe points: 3/5 (feeling v. bloated after all that stodge - need more speed food)
Daily syns: 5.5
WEDNESDAY
I woke up feeling fine, chopped up some fruit as per usual, and sat eating it at my desk whilst I caught up on some emails. But then I started to feel off. Like, nauseous and queasy, and I had an aggy tummy. I had my shower and got ready for uni, but still couldn't shake the queasiness. I popped two Hi-Fi bars in my handbag in case I was struck by sudden hunger.
I ate one of the Hi-Fi bars just as I arrived at uni for my morning session, and then had the other one during the morning break in an attempt to soothe my sore tum, but it didn't really work.
For lunch, I had packed some leftover risotto but I couldn't face it until around 2:30...
I went to see a Sondheim show on Wednesday evening (it was great!). I wasn't that hungry after my hearty risotto lunch, so I picked up some mango and apple from Waitrose before it began and had that as my dinner. When I got home I had another 2 Hi-Fi bars - I hadn't had any syns and was feeling a little peckish.
Not the most inspiring day.
Recipe points: N/A
Daily syns: 6
THURSDAY
On Thursday I worked from home, so I had a leisurely late breakfast of ham omelette with a syns worth of tomato ketchup.
I didn't eat lunch until around 3:30pm, so let's call it "Linner" or "Dunch". Anyway, it was even more leftover risotto (the last of it, I promise!!)
In the evening, I went out for a friend's 30th. We went to a karaoke bar. Not gon' lie, it had vile sticky floors and tacky bright plastic decor, but we had fun doing the weekly music quiz. We pitched the boys in a team against the girls, but both our teams came last to the other participating groups! We then went into a private karaoke "booth", which looked more like the kind of sex den you might find in a dodgy club in Thailand, and sang our little hearts out for an hour. All very jolly. Anyway, I struggled a bit trying to find soemthing to drink. I'm not a big alcohol drinker to begin with: I don't like wine, or beer, or anything which might taste like it actually has alcohol in it. On the rare occasion I do drink, my usual poisons are either a super-sweet fruit cider in a pub (think strawberry and lime, or summer berries at 14 or 15 syns a bottle), or sugary cocktails in a more upmarket bar (don't even want to start calculating syns). Neither are Slimming World friendly! In the end I settled on a single vodka with lime cordial and soda water. It was nice, actually, and came in at 5 syns (4 for the vodka and 1 for the full-sugar cordial).
I didn't really eat dinner as lunch had been so late, but I did grab two Hi-Fi bars on my way out, so I nibbled on those on the train.
Recipe points: N/A
Daily syns: 6
FRIDAY
Breakfast was melon and grape. Like those M&S fruit packs, only home made. At my dressing table again (this is becoming a habit...)
I had finally run out of risotto (hoorah! It was nice but I was getting fed up of it), so I made up a quick stir-fry in the morning to take with me to the day's rehearsals. I used an Aldi "Asia Specialities" Sweet & Sour Stir Fry Sauce (6.5 syns), with dried rice noodles, carrot, and pepper. I divided the stir fry sauce across 2 portions so let's say I had 3.5 syns for lunch and be safe, shall we? I didn't take a picture, I'm afraid. I was staaaarving and wolfed it all down before I remembered I was supposed to be blogging my journey. Whoops.
During rehearsal breaks I snacked on fruit: a banana and an apple to be precise.
For dinner I made something I've read/seen so much about: DIET COKE CHICKEN. I have to say, I don't get it. I mean, it was a nice meal and all, but I found the recipe over-liquidy and a bit blah. I followed the "official" Slimming World recipe - next time I might see if any bloggers have tweaked it more to my liking.
I served it with rice and had a kind-of salad of cucumber and lettuce on the side to up my speed intake. After dinner I had classic hot-choc quark with banana (side note: Options Salted Caramel makes the tastiest hot-choc quark!). I was too full to finish the quark, so I ate all the banana and left the rest.
Recipe points: an average 3/5 for diet coke chicken. I just don't get the fuss!
Daily syns: 4.5
SATURDAY
On Saturday morning, I did an unclassy thing. I had last night's leftover quark for breakfast with a banana....
Saturday was a here, there, and everywhere kind of day, so I had to eat on the run. I had munched on 2 Hi-Fi bars at around lunchtime, but didn't eat any real lunch until we were on our way to the London Transport Museum (such a great museum!) at around 4:00pm (it was meant to be earlier but, you know, life). I picked up an unexpectedly free snack/late lunch from M&S: Sweet and Smoky BBQ Mini Chicken Fillets with a sugarfree pink lemonade. Top notch. Although pretty spicy - whilst eating my last mini fillet I chomped right into a bit of chilli. Error.
For dinner, since we were in town, we decided to go to Nandos. I'd seen an instagram post about a 5 syn Nandos and I was keen to give it a go. The syns information online can be a little confusing, so I've calculated it the most conservative way. I had butterfly chicken with skin (3 syns) cooked in mango and lime sauce (1 syn), with a regular spicy rice (2 syns), and sweet potato wedges (which I was fully expecting to have to syn for oil, but I am absolutely positive they were dry baked. No oil in sight), and one tbsp dollop of tomato ketchup (1 syn). Total: 7 syns! Pretty darn tasty.
Recipe points: 5/5 for Nandos
Daily syns: 7
SUNDAY
Sunday was domesticated. Before we even left for cathedral, I had stripped the beds, cleaned the bathroom, hoovered the floors, and tidied and dusted the guest bedroom (where my messy brother is staying for a while). I didn't have proper breakfast, rather two Hi-Fi bars in the car on the way to cathedral.
I didn't have lunch either. When I got home, we had some workmen in and they needed questions answered etc. Then my mum arrived, and then I had to dash to the shops before everything closed (at 4pm where I live, so annoying!). I think I did grab another Hi-Fi bar (for 3 syns) and perhaps a banana at some point through the afternoon.
Anyway, I made up for it with dinner. We had Aldi Appleby's Slow Cooked BBQ Pork Fillet, which is, remarkably, only 2 syns for the entire thing. I had about 1/3, so let's say 1 syn to be safe. I made some Slimming World chips, and served with boiled carrots and parsnips. Magic.
I had a Hartley's 10-calorie Mango & Passionfruit jelly for dessert for 0.5 syn.
Recipe points: 5/5 for the Aldi pork!
Daily syns: 5.5
WEDNESDAY
I woke up feeling fine, chopped up some fruit as per usual, and sat eating it at my desk whilst I caught up on some emails. But then I started to feel off. Like, nauseous and queasy, and I had an aggy tummy. I had my shower and got ready for uni, but still couldn't shake the queasiness. I popped two Hi-Fi bars in my handbag in case I was struck by sudden hunger.
I ate one of the Hi-Fi bars just as I arrived at uni for my morning session, and then had the other one during the morning break in an attempt to soothe my sore tum, but it didn't really work.
For lunch, I had packed some leftover risotto but I couldn't face it until around 2:30...
I went to see a Sondheim show on Wednesday evening (it was great!). I wasn't that hungry after my hearty risotto lunch, so I picked up some mango and apple from Waitrose before it began and had that as my dinner. When I got home I had another 2 Hi-Fi bars - I hadn't had any syns and was feeling a little peckish.
Not the most inspiring day.
Recipe points: N/A
Daily syns: 6
THURSDAY
On Thursday I worked from home, so I had a leisurely late breakfast of ham omelette with a syns worth of tomato ketchup.
In the evening, I went out for a friend's 30th. We went to a karaoke bar. Not gon' lie, it had vile sticky floors and tacky bright plastic decor, but we had fun doing the weekly music quiz. We pitched the boys in a team against the girls, but both our teams came last to the other participating groups! We then went into a private karaoke "booth", which looked more like the kind of sex den you might find in a dodgy club in Thailand, and sang our little hearts out for an hour. All very jolly. Anyway, I struggled a bit trying to find soemthing to drink. I'm not a big alcohol drinker to begin with: I don't like wine, or beer, or anything which might taste like it actually has alcohol in it. On the rare occasion I do drink, my usual poisons are either a super-sweet fruit cider in a pub (think strawberry and lime, or summer berries at 14 or 15 syns a bottle), or sugary cocktails in a more upmarket bar (don't even want to start calculating syns). Neither are Slimming World friendly! In the end I settled on a single vodka with lime cordial and soda water. It was nice, actually, and came in at 5 syns (4 for the vodka and 1 for the full-sugar cordial).
I didn't really eat dinner as lunch had been so late, but I did grab two Hi-Fi bars on my way out, so I nibbled on those on the train.
Recipe points: N/A
Daily syns: 6
FRIDAY
Breakfast was melon and grape. Like those M&S fruit packs, only home made. At my dressing table again (this is becoming a habit...)
During rehearsal breaks I snacked on fruit: a banana and an apple to be precise.
For dinner I made something I've read/seen so much about: DIET COKE CHICKEN. I have to say, I don't get it. I mean, it was a nice meal and all, but I found the recipe over-liquidy and a bit blah. I followed the "official" Slimming World recipe - next time I might see if any bloggers have tweaked it more to my liking.
Recipe points: an average 3/5 for diet coke chicken. I just don't get the fuss!
Daily syns: 4.5
SATURDAY
On Saturday morning, I did an unclassy thing. I had last night's leftover quark for breakfast with a banana....
Saturday was a here, there, and everywhere kind of day, so I had to eat on the run. I had munched on 2 Hi-Fi bars at around lunchtime, but didn't eat any real lunch until we were on our way to the London Transport Museum (such a great museum!) at around 4:00pm (it was meant to be earlier but, you know, life). I picked up an unexpectedly free snack/late lunch from M&S: Sweet and Smoky BBQ Mini Chicken Fillets with a sugarfree pink lemonade. Top notch. Although pretty spicy - whilst eating my last mini fillet I chomped right into a bit of chilli. Error.
Recipe points: 5/5 for Nandos
Daily syns: 7
SUNDAY
Sunday was domesticated. Before we even left for cathedral, I had stripped the beds, cleaned the bathroom, hoovered the floors, and tidied and dusted the guest bedroom (where my messy brother is staying for a while). I didn't have proper breakfast, rather two Hi-Fi bars in the car on the way to cathedral.
I didn't have lunch either. When I got home, we had some workmen in and they needed questions answered etc. Then my mum arrived, and then I had to dash to the shops before everything closed (at 4pm where I live, so annoying!). I think I did grab another Hi-Fi bar (for 3 syns) and perhaps a banana at some point through the afternoon.
Anyway, I made up for it with dinner. We had Aldi Appleby's Slow Cooked BBQ Pork Fillet, which is, remarkably, only 2 syns for the entire thing. I had about 1/3, so let's say 1 syn to be safe. I made some Slimming World chips, and served with boiled carrots and parsnips. Magic.
I had a Hartley's 10-calorie Mango & Passionfruit jelly for dessert for 0.5 syn.
Recipe points: 5/5 for the Aldi pork!
Daily syns: 5.5
Stay tuned to find out how much I lose this week. If you like my photos or want daily updates from my eating life, follow my Slimming World instagram @chloejanesw.
Wednesday, 20 April 2016
Slimming World Week 2: weigh-in
This week's weight loss: 2.5lbs
Total weight loss to day: 8.5lbs
I'm starting to get the hang of this weigh-in malarkey. I've taken the advice of old-hat slimmers and remove all outer layers of clothing, jewellery, my watch, and even my glasses to get the best result - is that cheating?
Well, this week I lost 2.5lbs. I'm pretty pleased, but I have to admit in my heart of hearts I was hoping for a little more. The rational part of my brain knows that slow and steady wins the race, and if I can keep up the weight loss at this rate I'll be on to a winner, but it's still only my second week and I was hoping for another big loss.
Having said that, when I look over my food diary, I ate a lot of carbs. I haven't tried Extra Easy SP yet - my consultant says new slimmers shouldn't for the first 6-8 weeks - but maybe an SP day or two wouldn't do me any harm. I also haven't done any exercise, so I might ramp that up a bit next week.
This week I become completely obsessed with Slimming World instagram. I set myself up with a second instagram account, specifically for Slimming World, and followed away. There are so many inspirational Slimming Worlders on instagram, I was spoilt for choice. If you fancy following me, I post pictures of what I'm eating most days @chloejanesw.
That's where the positivity ends this week, I'm afraid. Now I've been following the plan for 2 weeks, I have got some serious gripes to share....
(1) There isn't a decent online food diary. I really hate the interface of the "Meal Planner" and the "S.A.S. Log online" is just a great big faff. For a long time I used the online calorie counting service, Nutracheck, and I LOVE their food diary interface. Slimming World, do your market research and come up with something better!
(2) The LifelineOnline section of the Slimming World website. Don't even get me started. Firstly, the server can't cope with the volume of traffic and on a few occasions this week I haven't been able to log on. That is hugely irritating for someone with a goldfish-memory who wants to record what they eat, when they eat it. Secondly, I find it really hard to navigate. I think some of the content is amazing, I can just never find what I'm looking for.
(3) The app should have exactly the same functions as LifelineOnline. Why it doesn't is completely beyond me. There is no food diary or "Meal Planner" on the app meaning you have to log into LifelineOnline if you're out and about (and I know you can save it to your home screen, making it almost like an app, but why not just centralise the service and put it all in one place?!). The rest of the app's functions are OK, I suppose, but the Food Search always seems to come up with completely unrelated results (I search for M&S chicken, I get syn values for M&Ms - I mean, it's not a million miles away, but with today's technology they should be able to make it cleverer than that...). I also think the app needs a syn calculator, exercise tracker, the ability to input loss data....the list goes on.
Basically, Slimming World, sort your technology out. Just because the plan was devised in the '60s doesn't mean all the current members want an outdated analogue system, or a struggling online one that, frankly, belongs in 2005. Come into the 2010s....I promise it doesn't bite.
Rant over. Tune in next week to see how much more I lose....
C x
Total weight loss to day: 8.5lbs
I'm starting to get the hang of this weigh-in malarkey. I've taken the advice of old-hat slimmers and remove all outer layers of clothing, jewellery, my watch, and even my glasses to get the best result - is that cheating?
Well, this week I lost 2.5lbs. I'm pretty pleased, but I have to admit in my heart of hearts I was hoping for a little more. The rational part of my brain knows that slow and steady wins the race, and if I can keep up the weight loss at this rate I'll be on to a winner, but it's still only my second week and I was hoping for another big loss.
Having said that, when I look over my food diary, I ate a lot of carbs. I haven't tried Extra Easy SP yet - my consultant says new slimmers shouldn't for the first 6-8 weeks - but maybe an SP day or two wouldn't do me any harm. I also haven't done any exercise, so I might ramp that up a bit next week.
This week I become completely obsessed with Slimming World instagram. I set myself up with a second instagram account, specifically for Slimming World, and followed away. There are so many inspirational Slimming Worlders on instagram, I was spoilt for choice. If you fancy following me, I post pictures of what I'm eating most days @chloejanesw.
That's where the positivity ends this week, I'm afraid. Now I've been following the plan for 2 weeks, I have got some serious gripes to share....
(1) There isn't a decent online food diary. I really hate the interface of the "Meal Planner" and the "S.A.S. Log online" is just a great big faff. For a long time I used the online calorie counting service, Nutracheck, and I LOVE their food diary interface. Slimming World, do your market research and come up with something better!
(2) The LifelineOnline section of the Slimming World website. Don't even get me started. Firstly, the server can't cope with the volume of traffic and on a few occasions this week I haven't been able to log on. That is hugely irritating for someone with a goldfish-memory who wants to record what they eat, when they eat it. Secondly, I find it really hard to navigate. I think some of the content is amazing, I can just never find what I'm looking for.
(3) The app should have exactly the same functions as LifelineOnline. Why it doesn't is completely beyond me. There is no food diary or "Meal Planner" on the app meaning you have to log into LifelineOnline if you're out and about (and I know you can save it to your home screen, making it almost like an app, but why not just centralise the service and put it all in one place?!). The rest of the app's functions are OK, I suppose, but the Food Search always seems to come up with completely unrelated results (I search for M&S chicken, I get syn values for M&Ms - I mean, it's not a million miles away, but with today's technology they should be able to make it cleverer than that...). I also think the app needs a syn calculator, exercise tracker, the ability to input loss data....the list goes on.
Basically, Slimming World, sort your technology out. Just because the plan was devised in the '60s doesn't mean all the current members want an outdated analogue system, or a struggling online one that, frankly, belongs in 2005. Come into the 2010s....I promise it doesn't bite.
Rant over. Tune in next week to see how much more I lose....
C x
Slimming World Week 2: food diary
It has been a long fortnight since starting Slimming World. Getting the hang of the plan and the (frankly) exhausting amount of cooking from scratch and meal planning have turned my usual routine on its head. But I think I'm getting the hang of it now - it's starting to feel normal, so hopefully next week I'll moan less.
TUESDAY
On Tuesday I had a rehearsal in the arse-end of nowhere, and I literally grabbed a banana as I ran out the door. No speed, but at least it was free?
I was a very naughty slimmer and hadn't planned to bring any food with me, so I raided the shelves of Sainsbury's, panic-stricken with hunger, Slimming World app in hand, to find the perfect low-syn (or better yet, syn-free) lunch to sate my hunger. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Taste Original's 12 Mini Chicken Satay are only 0.5 syns per 2 sticks. I ate the whole pack and washed it down with some mango. Significant lack of speed food (again), but hey, I was on the run!
When I got home I decided I needed some *real* food, so I cooked up a Slimming World-friendly bolognese and packed it full of speed veg: carrots, onions, celery (soffrito), and some added red pepper. I also added bacon, which is always a winner in my book. I served it on a pillowy bed of pasta and gorged until I felt well and truly stuffed.
For something sweet to finish my meal I had a Müllerlight Toffee, and then later on I fancied something else naughty so I had a Cherry Bakewell Alpen Light (HExB) and some speed clementines.
Recipe points: 4/5
Daily syns: 3
WEDNESDAY
A day working from home, so no excuse to be naughty! I started off with a late breakfast of fruit and yoghurt (what's new there?). I filled my bowl with apples, bananas, pears, and plums, and had a Müllerlight Vanilla to dip the fruit into - does anyone else do that, rather than drizzle the yoghurt over the fruit?
I wasn't hungry at lunchtime because my breakfast had been so late. I skipped lunch, but I did have a mid-afternoon snack of hot-choc quark, after which I felt so guilty I had some raw carrot and cucumber.
Wednesday's dinner was an unquestionable success. I made simple fajita chicken using a home made spice blend (I used the first recipe that came up on google here but amended it omit the cornstarch/cornflour). Wednesday night win. The chicken chunks were loaded up with onions and peppers and served on a mound of rice. Best Slimming World dinner yet.
Later on in the evening I fancied something sweet, so I had my HExB Banoffee Alpen Light bar.
Recipe points: 5/5
Daily syns: 2
THURSDAY
Another day working from home, but a distinctly lazy one. I started the day in front of Grey's Anatomy (LIVING. THE. DREAM) with a bowl of banana, pear, and plum, and a Müllerlight Vanilla.
At lunch, I had re-heated bolognese (which, side note, always tastes SO much better the next day) with some carrots and cucumber on the side.
Now, I had just that very morning received an exciting Amazon delivery containing my new julienne peeler, so the carrots I had on the side obviously had to be julienned. Obviously. The fact that I sustained a nasty slice injury to my finger has not deterred me from julienning more vegetables....but I'll hold of for now. Makes for a pretty photo, though.
I wasn't remotely hungry for dinner after that stodgy lunch, so I had my go-to snack: hot-choc quark. I didn't even have any speed fruit with it (quel horreur!). Later on I had a HExB Jaffa Cake Alpen Light bar.
All in all, not the best day.
Recipe points: N/A, but the bolognese went from a 4/5 to a 5/5
Daily syns: 2
FRIDAY
Much the same as Thursday actually. Working from home. Lazy breakfast consisting of a sole Banoffee Alpen Light bar.
Lunch was more leftover bolognese - there was just one portion left and I didn't want it to end up in the bin. Just to spice up my life, I had cucumber and iceberg lettuce on the side, rather than cucumber and julienned carrot (I know, I know, I'm too much).
Surprise, surprise! I wasn't hungry for dinner so I had hot-choc quark with some raspberries for speed.
And that was my day. Wholly uninspiring.
Recipe points: N/A
Daily syns: 1.5
SATURDAY
On saturday, I learned life lessons. Namely that when making an omelette with frylight, you need a really really good non-stick pan. Observe, my boyfriend's ham omelette:
A complete mess. But mine (cooked simultaneously in my prized non-stick frying pan) was triumphant:
Lesson learned. But they were tasty. I used some syns for some Tommy K with mine. For speed, we had some apple and pear on the side.
For lunch, I tried to make soup. Disaster #2. I followed a Jamie Oliver recipe for leek and potato soup. Now, I've never eaten leek and potato soup before, but I thought, how bad can it be? Turns out, it's pretty awful. Or at least this recipe was. I don't know if it was the 2 sticks of celery Jamie suggested I add (I don't like celery, but sometimes don't mind when the flavour is hidden, and I thought "yay for more speed!" so I put it in anyway), or perhaps I simply don't like leek and potato soup, but it had a horrible bitter aftertaste. My boyfriend also hated it, and so did his friend who popped in on a whim. Needless to say the whole batch went in the bin. Such a shame - I hate wasting food.
I whipped up some emergency sweet potato wedges using the last of the homemade fajita seasoning, and had those with some cucumber and lettuce. Not what I planned, but a pleasant enough Saturday lunch.
I had a concert that evening. I don't like to eat before I sing, and by the time I had finished it was gone 10pm, too late to eat, so I kind of went without any dinner. But at some point in the afternoon I had a HExB Double Chocolate Alpen Light bar.
Recipe Points: 0/5
Daily syns: 1
SUNDAY
As I rushed out the door to my Sunday morning church job, I grabbed two Alpen Light bars (Chocolate & Fudge and Summer Berries) as my HExB to eat in the car. Classy.
Lunch was just some strawberries and raspberries with a Müllerlight Toffee yoghurt. I didn't have much food in the house and I knew I would be having a mammoth dinner so I didn't want to overstuff myself.
Following the success of last Sunday's Slimming World roast, it would have been rude not to cook another one. This week we had gammon (one of my favourites), roasties, roasted parsnips, carrots, peas, green beans, and around 3 syns worth of gravy. Divine. This will surely become a regular feature of my weekly menu.
For dessert I had some hot-choc quark with strawbs. Standard.
Recipe points: 5/5
Daily syns: 5.5
If you like my pictures, follow my new instagram account dedicated to Slimming World here. Stay tuned to find out how much I lose...
C x
TUESDAY
On Tuesday I had a rehearsal in the arse-end of nowhere, and I literally grabbed a banana as I ran out the door. No speed, but at least it was free?
I was a very naughty slimmer and hadn't planned to bring any food with me, so I raided the shelves of Sainsbury's, panic-stricken with hunger, Slimming World app in hand, to find the perfect low-syn (or better yet, syn-free) lunch to sate my hunger. Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Taste Original's 12 Mini Chicken Satay are only 0.5 syns per 2 sticks. I ate the whole pack and washed it down with some mango. Significant lack of speed food (again), but hey, I was on the run!
When I got home I decided I needed some *real* food, so I cooked up a Slimming World-friendly bolognese and packed it full of speed veg: carrots, onions, celery (soffrito), and some added red pepper. I also added bacon, which is always a winner in my book. I served it on a pillowy bed of pasta and gorged until I felt well and truly stuffed.
Recipe points: 4/5
Daily syns: 3
WEDNESDAY
A day working from home, so no excuse to be naughty! I started off with a late breakfast of fruit and yoghurt (what's new there?). I filled my bowl with apples, bananas, pears, and plums, and had a Müllerlight Vanilla to dip the fruit into - does anyone else do that, rather than drizzle the yoghurt over the fruit?
I wasn't hungry at lunchtime because my breakfast had been so late. I skipped lunch, but I did have a mid-afternoon snack of hot-choc quark, after which I felt so guilty I had some raw carrot and cucumber.
Wednesday's dinner was an unquestionable success. I made simple fajita chicken using a home made spice blend (I used the first recipe that came up on google here but amended it omit the cornstarch/cornflour). Wednesday night win. The chicken chunks were loaded up with onions and peppers and served on a mound of rice. Best Slimming World dinner yet.
Later on in the evening I fancied something sweet, so I had my HExB Banoffee Alpen Light bar.
Recipe points: 5/5
Daily syns: 2
THURSDAY
Another day working from home, but a distinctly lazy one. I started the day in front of Grey's Anatomy (LIVING. THE. DREAM) with a bowl of banana, pear, and plum, and a Müllerlight Vanilla.
All in all, not the best day.
Recipe points: N/A, but the bolognese went from a 4/5 to a 5/5
Daily syns: 2
FRIDAY
Much the same as Thursday actually. Working from home. Lazy breakfast consisting of a sole Banoffee Alpen Light bar.
Lunch was more leftover bolognese - there was just one portion left and I didn't want it to end up in the bin. Just to spice up my life, I had cucumber and iceberg lettuce on the side, rather than cucumber and julienned carrot (I know, I know, I'm too much).
Surprise, surprise! I wasn't hungry for dinner so I had hot-choc quark with some raspberries for speed.
And that was my day. Wholly uninspiring.
Recipe points: N/A
Daily syns: 1.5
SATURDAY
On saturday, I learned life lessons. Namely that when making an omelette with frylight, you need a really really good non-stick pan. Observe, my boyfriend's ham omelette:
I had a concert that evening. I don't like to eat before I sing, and by the time I had finished it was gone 10pm, too late to eat, so I kind of went without any dinner. But at some point in the afternoon I had a HExB Double Chocolate Alpen Light bar.
Recipe Points: 0/5
Daily syns: 1
SUNDAY
As I rushed out the door to my Sunday morning church job, I grabbed two Alpen Light bars (Chocolate & Fudge and Summer Berries) as my HExB to eat in the car. Classy.
Lunch was just some strawberries and raspberries with a Müllerlight Toffee yoghurt. I didn't have much food in the house and I knew I would be having a mammoth dinner so I didn't want to overstuff myself.
Following the success of last Sunday's Slimming World roast, it would have been rude not to cook another one. This week we had gammon (one of my favourites), roasties, roasted parsnips, carrots, peas, green beans, and around 3 syns worth of gravy. Divine. This will surely become a regular feature of my weekly menu.
For dessert I had some hot-choc quark with strawbs. Standard.
Recipe points: 5/5
Daily syns: 5.5
If you like my pictures, follow my new instagram account dedicated to Slimming World here. Stay tuned to find out how much I lose...
C x
Wednesday, 13 April 2016
Slimming World Week 1: weigh-in
This week's weight loss: 6lbs
Total weight loss to date: 6lbs
Time for my first weigh in. I had a busy day on Monday, full of meetings and rehearsals, so I didn't have too much time to think about the impending doom of group that evening. Once I got on the train, I began to feel a bit nervous. I've never followed a programme where you go to a group to get weighed before, so I had no idea what to expect. My boyfriend (and Slimming World partner in crime) phoned me to say he'd been weighed in early so he could get to his evening meeting, and he had lost - wait for it - 9LBS!!! I mean, I was pleased for him, of course, but I knew I would never match that so I was pretty envious. Jammy tosser. Anyway, despite my nerves, I knew in my heart of hearts that I had lost some weight. I could feel it. I just didn't know how much.
6lbs. That's how much. Pretty good going for a week of eating proper sized portions of proper food. But just sooooo irritatingly close to the 1/2 stone award that my boyfriend was able to flaunt in my face.
I stayed for the group session after my weigh in and chatted away to some of the other new members. Weight losses varied from 0.5lbs right the way up to 9lbs (did I mention that was my boyfriend?). It was interesting to hear about people's weeks, their hit and miss recipes, and overall journeys. I have to say the whole "group" thing is pretty formulaic, but I'll continue to go as it's a great community and support network. Everyone was really, really nice and I don't know many people in my local area (I only moved here recently), so maybe I'll be able to make some chums.
I've actually found the online Slimming World community really inspirational. I have spent all my spare time this week reading blogs and watching YouTube videos where people share their Slimming World journey and experiences.
What I will say about Slimming World is that it's quite time consuming. I'm a bit worried about how I will find the time to do all this cooking from scratch when I'm back at uni full-time. I might have to dabble in batch-cooking at the weekend...but here's the challenge: we don't have a freezer!
For now I'll carry on as I have been and see how much more weight I can get off next week. I've got my eyes on that 1/2 stone certificate...
Total weight loss to date: 6lbs
Time for my first weigh in. I had a busy day on Monday, full of meetings and rehearsals, so I didn't have too much time to think about the impending doom of group that evening. Once I got on the train, I began to feel a bit nervous. I've never followed a programme where you go to a group to get weighed before, so I had no idea what to expect. My boyfriend (and Slimming World partner in crime) phoned me to say he'd been weighed in early so he could get to his evening meeting, and he had lost - wait for it - 9LBS!!! I mean, I was pleased for him, of course, but I knew I would never match that so I was pretty envious. Jammy tosser. Anyway, despite my nerves, I knew in my heart of hearts that I had lost some weight. I could feel it. I just didn't know how much.
6lbs. That's how much. Pretty good going for a week of eating proper sized portions of proper food. But just sooooo irritatingly close to the 1/2 stone award that my boyfriend was able to flaunt in my face.
I stayed for the group session after my weigh in and chatted away to some of the other new members. Weight losses varied from 0.5lbs right the way up to 9lbs (did I mention that was my boyfriend?). It was interesting to hear about people's weeks, their hit and miss recipes, and overall journeys. I have to say the whole "group" thing is pretty formulaic, but I'll continue to go as it's a great community and support network. Everyone was really, really nice and I don't know many people in my local area (I only moved here recently), so maybe I'll be able to make some chums.
I've actually found the online Slimming World community really inspirational. I have spent all my spare time this week reading blogs and watching YouTube videos where people share their Slimming World journey and experiences.
What I will say about Slimming World is that it's quite time consuming. I'm a bit worried about how I will find the time to do all this cooking from scratch when I'm back at uni full-time. I might have to dabble in batch-cooking at the weekend...but here's the challenge: we don't have a freezer!
For now I'll carry on as I have been and see how much more weight I can get off next week. I've got my eyes on that 1/2 stone certificate...
Slimming World Week 1: food diary
A week into my Slimming World adventure, I thought I'd share my first week's menu. I'm on Easter holidays from university at the moment and, whilst I still had lots of work to fit in, I had more time than usual to potter in the kitchen and I took advantage of that. I scoured the Slimming World website, blogs, YouTube channels, and Pinterest for inspiration. There were some hits, and some DEFINITE misses, but I guess that's all part of the ride.
(It's obvious, but I only started photographing my food on Friday!)
MONDAY
I have no idea what I ate during the day, as I hadn't started the plan, but I did make Slimming World-friendly meatballs for dinner and they were VILE. I've never actually made my own meatballs before, preferring IKEA's superior succulent morsels of meat over any other (seriously, they're like meatball mecca). When I've watched people make meatballs on the TV or YouTube, they often add breadcrumbs soaked in milk to the meatball mixture to tenderise the meat. Well, I didn't (although, I could have used the ol' Healthy Extras had I known about them), and my meat was far from tender. It was like chewing leather. I won't be using that recipe again.
Recipe points: 1/5 (for the nice tomato sauce)
Daily syns: no idea, but there were none in the meatballs
TUESDAY
Breakfast was fruit salad of peach, pear, and banana (thrilling!).
I had classic Heinz Baked Beans on my HExB Hovis Nimble bread for lunch, with a bowl of speedy carrot, cucumber, and lettuce on the side.
For my mid-afternoon snack I had peaches with my all-time favourite Tims Dairy Greek Style Vanilla Yoghurt (a whopping 6.5 syns, but I had a whole tub to use up, and I wasn't about to let that scrumptious £2-per-tub creaminess go to waste).
Tuesday's dinner was one of the biggest triumphs of the week: Slimming World's Chicken, Sweet Potato and Squash Tagine. I didn't add the squash because I don't like it, so we just had extra sweet potato. It was delightful. I served it with Vegetable Bulgar Wheat Pilaf. We LOVE pilaf. We live round the corner from a great Turkish restaurant and a meal there isn't complete without a steaming side of it. I've never made it from scratch before, and I had to think on my feet when it quickly became clear that I had a different type of bulgar wheat - I adjusted the amounts by eye, but it came out beautifully. Tuesday night win.
Recipe points: 5/5
Daily syns: 6.5
WEDNESDAY
Another fruit salad for breakfast, this time of banana, raspberries, pear, strawberries, and nectarine, with a generous dollop of Tims Dairy Greek Style Vanilla Yoghurt (6.5 syns).
Now, on Wednesday we went to Highclere Castle (all very jolly). The tearooms there offer delicious looking cakes, sausage rolls, paninis etc. Everything had a syn value. I don't eat salads, but even if I did, I wouldn't have been able to have one because they weren't on offer. I settled for home made roasted tomato and garlic soup, assuming 2 syns for some olive oil. It was tasty enough but my heart yearned for a crusty roll and butter.
I had packed snacking raw veg (carrots and cucumber), and a little sandwich for us both using HExB Hovis Nimble bread, ham, cucumber, and lettuce. We ate this in the car on the 2 hour journey home, my boyfriend feeding me carrot sticks as I sped down the M4.
Ah, yes. Wednesday night dinner. Oops. I love me some pulled pork. And I love me some gammon. So imagine my delight when I found a Slimming World recipe for BBQ Pulled Gammon. Hurrah! Except, not. You'll note the recipe calls for boiling the gammon THREE TIMES with fresh water each time, to draw out some of the salt. Well, yours truly decided once would be enough. Take it from me: once isn't enough. It was like I was in the desert I needed so much water. The recipe also yields far too much sauce for the amount of meat. I shoved all the meat back in the slow cooker with all the sauce and it was swimming - I should have spooned out as much sauce as I needed. I am willing to try this recipe again, but I'll follow the instructions next time.
I served the gammon with syn-free chips, which were pretty tasty, and peas.
Recipe points: 2/5
Daily syns: 8.5
THURSDAY
Breakfast was (you guessed it!) a fruit salad of banana, apple, and nectarine. No Tims Dairy today, as I knew I was incorporating some syns into my dinner.
Lunch was my first ever Slimming World-friendly omelette. I eat omelettes a lot, but I'd never made one with 1 calorie cooking spray before. I'm not convinced, but I can handle it whilst I'm slimming. I filled it with ham and a chopped up roasted red pepper (Cooks & Co Roasted Red Peppers are free, because they are pickled in some kind of vinegar), and served it some speedy cucumber and lettuce. I did have a cheeky level tablespoon of Heinz Tommy K with my omelette (1 syn). For a sweet way to finish my lunch hour, I nibbled on half my HExB, an Alpen Light Jaffa Cake bar.
For dinner on Thursday I wasn't feeling fancy or adventurous, so I grilled some Tesco Healthy Living Cumberland Sausages (1 syn each) and cooked up some potatoes, which I mashed together with some milk from my HExA allowance (no butter, bleugh!). I squirted a conservative tablespoon of Heinz Tommy K on my plate (1 syn) and had my standard lettuce, carrots, and cucumber on the side to up the speed food intake. The Tesco sausages were actually fine. I have heard/read mixed reviews of the few free sausage options on the market - to be honest, they all sound pretty questionable and I'd rather not, thanks.
Recipe points: N/A, but I'll give the sausages a solid 4/5
Daily syns: 5
FRIDAY
Classic fruit salad breakfast of bananas, strawberries topped with the last of my Tims Dairy Greek Style Vanilla Yoghurt (*weeps*).
A glorious bacon sarnie for lunch (fat trimmed, of course) with a tablespoon of Heinz (1 syn) to wash it all down. Served with speedy cucumber and carrots. Oh, but not any cucumber. Mini cucumbers. Have you ever seen such madness? No. Thought not.
(It's obvious, but I only started photographing my food on Friday!)
MONDAY
I have no idea what I ate during the day, as I hadn't started the plan, but I did make Slimming World-friendly meatballs for dinner and they were VILE. I've never actually made my own meatballs before, preferring IKEA's superior succulent morsels of meat over any other (seriously, they're like meatball mecca). When I've watched people make meatballs on the TV or YouTube, they often add breadcrumbs soaked in milk to the meatball mixture to tenderise the meat. Well, I didn't (although, I could have used the ol' Healthy Extras had I known about them), and my meat was far from tender. It was like chewing leather. I won't be using that recipe again.
Recipe points: 1/5 (for the nice tomato sauce)
Daily syns: no idea, but there were none in the meatballs
TUESDAY
Breakfast was fruit salad of peach, pear, and banana (thrilling!).
I had classic Heinz Baked Beans on my HExB Hovis Nimble bread for lunch, with a bowl of speedy carrot, cucumber, and lettuce on the side.
For my mid-afternoon snack I had peaches with my all-time favourite Tims Dairy Greek Style Vanilla Yoghurt (a whopping 6.5 syns, but I had a whole tub to use up, and I wasn't about to let that scrumptious £2-per-tub creaminess go to waste).
Tuesday's dinner was one of the biggest triumphs of the week: Slimming World's Chicken, Sweet Potato and Squash Tagine. I didn't add the squash because I don't like it, so we just had extra sweet potato. It was delightful. I served it with Vegetable Bulgar Wheat Pilaf. We LOVE pilaf. We live round the corner from a great Turkish restaurant and a meal there isn't complete without a steaming side of it. I've never made it from scratch before, and I had to think on my feet when it quickly became clear that I had a different type of bulgar wheat - I adjusted the amounts by eye, but it came out beautifully. Tuesday night win.
Recipe points: 5/5
Daily syns: 6.5
WEDNESDAY
Another fruit salad for breakfast, this time of banana, raspberries, pear, strawberries, and nectarine, with a generous dollop of Tims Dairy Greek Style Vanilla Yoghurt (6.5 syns).
Now, on Wednesday we went to Highclere Castle (all very jolly). The tearooms there offer delicious looking cakes, sausage rolls, paninis etc. Everything had a syn value. I don't eat salads, but even if I did, I wouldn't have been able to have one because they weren't on offer. I settled for home made roasted tomato and garlic soup, assuming 2 syns for some olive oil. It was tasty enough but my heart yearned for a crusty roll and butter.
I had packed snacking raw veg (carrots and cucumber), and a little sandwich for us both using HExB Hovis Nimble bread, ham, cucumber, and lettuce. We ate this in the car on the 2 hour journey home, my boyfriend feeding me carrot sticks as I sped down the M4.
Ah, yes. Wednesday night dinner. Oops. I love me some pulled pork. And I love me some gammon. So imagine my delight when I found a Slimming World recipe for BBQ Pulled Gammon. Hurrah! Except, not. You'll note the recipe calls for boiling the gammon THREE TIMES with fresh water each time, to draw out some of the salt. Well, yours truly decided once would be enough. Take it from me: once isn't enough. It was like I was in the desert I needed so much water. The recipe also yields far too much sauce for the amount of meat. I shoved all the meat back in the slow cooker with all the sauce and it was swimming - I should have spooned out as much sauce as I needed. I am willing to try this recipe again, but I'll follow the instructions next time.
I served the gammon with syn-free chips, which were pretty tasty, and peas.
Recipe points: 2/5
Daily syns: 8.5
THURSDAY
Breakfast was (you guessed it!) a fruit salad of banana, apple, and nectarine. No Tims Dairy today, as I knew I was incorporating some syns into my dinner.
Lunch was my first ever Slimming World-friendly omelette. I eat omelettes a lot, but I'd never made one with 1 calorie cooking spray before. I'm not convinced, but I can handle it whilst I'm slimming. I filled it with ham and a chopped up roasted red pepper (Cooks & Co Roasted Red Peppers are free, because they are pickled in some kind of vinegar), and served it some speedy cucumber and lettuce. I did have a cheeky level tablespoon of Heinz Tommy K with my omelette (1 syn). For a sweet way to finish my lunch hour, I nibbled on half my HExB, an Alpen Light Jaffa Cake bar.
For dinner on Thursday I wasn't feeling fancy or adventurous, so I grilled some Tesco Healthy Living Cumberland Sausages (1 syn each) and cooked up some potatoes, which I mashed together with some milk from my HExA allowance (no butter, bleugh!). I squirted a conservative tablespoon of Heinz Tommy K on my plate (1 syn) and had my standard lettuce, carrots, and cucumber on the side to up the speed food intake. The Tesco sausages were actually fine. I have heard/read mixed reviews of the few free sausage options on the market - to be honest, they all sound pretty questionable and I'd rather not, thanks.
Recipe points: N/A, but I'll give the sausages a solid 4/5
Daily syns: 5
FRIDAY
Classic fruit salad breakfast of bananas, strawberries topped with the last of my Tims Dairy Greek Style Vanilla Yoghurt (*weeps*).
A glorious bacon sarnie for lunch (fat trimmed, of course) with a tablespoon of Heinz (1 syn) to wash it all down. Served with speedy cucumber and carrots. Oh, but not any cucumber. Mini cucumbers. Have you ever seen such madness? No. Thought not.
Friday night dinner was just upsetting. I worked so hard ALL DAY to prepare a so-called "fakeaway" Chicken Tikka Masala and it was simply horrible. It's such an involved recipe it was a little bit heart-breaking when it tasted like chewing mounds of earth. I marinated chicken for the entire day before grilling it (/charring it). There wasn't enough sauce for the amount of chicken (but my boyfriend was all too happy to step up to the challenge of eating all the chicken that didn't make the cut), and the sauce just tasted weird. Like earth. I can't think of another way to describe it. My boyfriend also found it unpleasant.
Pretty grim, all in all. But, still, it was Friday after all, so I treated myself to something sweet. I tried something I'd heard Tilly Cutler talk about on YouTube - adding Cadbury's Highlights or Options hot chocolate sachets to some quark. So I did exactly that, with an added bit of sweetener, and it was pretty good. Not incredible, but it was creamy and sweet with a hint of chocolate, so it satisfied my dessert cravings for only 2 syns.
Recipe points: 1/5
Daily syns: 8.5
SATURDAY
Lazy Saturday mornings mean one thing. Brunch. And so, I set about making my first ever Slimming World cooked breakfast. I had some melon to kick start the ol' metabolism (speedy speedy), and then grilled some more Tesco Healthy Living Cumberland Sausages (1 syn each), fried off some fat-trimmed bacon and plonked it in a 1-calorie spray omelette. Served with a squelch of Heinz as per (1 syn). Tasty. Filling. Satisfying.
I was very naughty and didn't eat proper lunch at all on Saturday. Instead, I had a mid-afternoon snack of more hot-choc quark with some clementines for speed food.
Saturday's dinner was an accidental victory. I made vegetable soup using whatever vegetables needed to be used up, and it was the yummiest scrummiest vegetable soup I ever did eat. And so simple to make! I roughly chopped one large red onion, one large sweet potato, one large parsnip, one red pepper, and around 4 carrots, softened them in a large soup pot sprayed with frylight, added some garlic and a vegetable stock cube at the last minute, covered with some chicken stock and simmered for around an hour. Then I whizzed it up with an immersion blender and - hey presto! - vegetable soup. I'll be making that again.
We then went out to a friend's house for drinks in the evening. I was very restrained and stuck to caffeine free diet coke all evening and didn't touch the nibbles. When I got home I needed a midnight snack though, so I grabbed an Alpen Light bar as my HExB.
Recipe points: 5/5
Daily syns: 4
SUNDAY
Sunday mornings can be busy in our house. We both sing at the local cathedral, and my boyfriend is NOT a morning person. Anyway, I still managed to force him to wake up early enough to wolf down some melon and strawberries before we had to leave. Double speed, yeah.
I was, as ever, starving when I made it back from church and I scoffed down a banana before I even opened a kitchen cupboard. I cooked the first thing that came to mind: pasta and pesto. Super simple. Green pesto has 3.5 syns per level tablespoon. I don't like too much pesto on my pasta anyway, so that was all I had. I served with cucumber for speed food.
For dinner, I was determined to cook a Slimming World roast and, by Jove, it was tasty! Seeing as it was just the two of us and, frankly, I had no idea how to roast a chicken without oil, I pan-fried some chicken breasts rather than roasting a whole bird. Served with roast potatoes and parsnips (cooked in 1-calorie cooking spray), carrots, peas, green beans (not my fave, but I did have two!!) and home made gravy (4 syns for the flour between 2, so 2 syns each), it was delightful.
Later in the evening I had a Müller Light Toffee yoghurt and some grapes in front of the TV. All in all, a pleasing Sunday.
Recipe points: 5/5
Daily syns: 5.5
MONDAY (WEIGH-IN DAY)
Monday was a busy day. My first real test of eating the Slimming World way on the go. I had my usual fruit salad and yoghurt at home. Today's offering was apple, pear, raspberries, and banana with a Müller Light Vanilla.
For lunch I popped into Waitrose and picked up an old favourite, Sweet Chilli Mini Fillets, for 0.5 syns per 100g. The packet is 175g so let's say 1 syn and be done with it. I paired that with some raw carrot batons, which I happily crunched on throughout the day. Like a rabbit.
I didn't eat anything else before weigh in (I had trapped wind from eating too many carrots), so when I got home from group at 9:30pm I was starving. I gobbled down an Alpen Light Cherry Bakewell double-quick, and then had my new favourite snack, hot-choc quark with some clementines. Healthy.
If you made it to the end of this post, you deserve a GOLD STAR. Stay tuned to find out if I lost any weight...
Friday, 8 April 2016
The Slimming World journey begins
I created this blog a long time ago, but it's been sitting unused for almost a year. Every once in a while I thought about what I might want the focus of the blog to be, but I never settled on anything - until now.
On Monday, I decided to take my ever fluctuating body weight into my own hands and join Slimming World, following the great successes of various friends. Whilst I don't think this blog will be entirely about my weight loss journey, I do think it's a great thing to start writing about. I also hope having an online space to record my weigh-ins, weekly food diaries, successes, trials, and tribulations will help me with my motivation (well, that's the plan at least!)
I'll start by giving you a little background information. I'm 26 years old and have struggled with my weight my entire life. I was a chubby child and porky teenager, and since then my weight has yo-yoed from really quite slim (although I didn't think it at the time) to the biggest I have ever been (right now).
Part of my problem is I'm an extremely fussy eater and, although I'm getting better in my adulthood, people are always shocked when they first find out about my pernickety food habits, likes, and dislikes (but the Internet won't be - nothing is shocking on the Internet, is it?). Take cheese, for example, I can't stand cheese. It's mould. Why would anyone want to eat that? But cheesecake? Divine. I'm a walking mystery.
The other part of my problem is that I live less than 2 minutes walk from all the takeaway options under the sun. And they're all SO GOOD. Oh, and I like baking cakes. I'm pretty sure I'm completely addicted to sugar.
I've tried various diets in my time. The GI diet was pretty successful when I was about 14 or 15, but I literally ate the same thing every single day (I said I was fussy) and that got boring pretty quickly. I was my slimmest aged 16, at around 10st 7lb and 5'9". Then I went to boarding school for sixth form, rarely liked the (somewhat) balanced dinner on offer, and usually ate an entire loaf of bread from supper tray every evening (no joke). I met my first serious boyfriend (a fellow eater), and the pounds piled on. Then the university years: calorie counting apps, on and off, proved successful but, you know, will power. And now I live in takeaway-land.
I lead a busy lifestyle - I'm a full time student (7 years and counting), freelance musician, and have a part time administrative job - so fast convenient unhealthy food has been the easy option. When I signed up on Monday my starting weight was a shocking 14st 7lb, which gives me around 4st to lose. I'm feeling pretty determined, so check in every week and see how I'm getting on...
On Monday, I decided to take my ever fluctuating body weight into my own hands and join Slimming World, following the great successes of various friends. Whilst I don't think this blog will be entirely about my weight loss journey, I do think it's a great thing to start writing about. I also hope having an online space to record my weigh-ins, weekly food diaries, successes, trials, and tribulations will help me with my motivation (well, that's the plan at least!)
I'll start by giving you a little background information. I'm 26 years old and have struggled with my weight my entire life. I was a chubby child and porky teenager, and since then my weight has yo-yoed from really quite slim (although I didn't think it at the time) to the biggest I have ever been (right now).
Part of my problem is I'm an extremely fussy eater and, although I'm getting better in my adulthood, people are always shocked when they first find out about my pernickety food habits, likes, and dislikes (but the Internet won't be - nothing is shocking on the Internet, is it?). Take cheese, for example, I can't stand cheese. It's mould. Why would anyone want to eat that? But cheesecake? Divine. I'm a walking mystery.
The other part of my problem is that I live less than 2 minutes walk from all the takeaway options under the sun. And they're all SO GOOD. Oh, and I like baking cakes. I'm pretty sure I'm completely addicted to sugar.
I've tried various diets in my time. The GI diet was pretty successful when I was about 14 or 15, but I literally ate the same thing every single day (I said I was fussy) and that got boring pretty quickly. I was my slimmest aged 16, at around 10st 7lb and 5'9". Then I went to boarding school for sixth form, rarely liked the (somewhat) balanced dinner on offer, and usually ate an entire loaf of bread from supper tray every evening (no joke). I met my first serious boyfriend (a fellow eater), and the pounds piled on. Then the university years: calorie counting apps, on and off, proved successful but, you know, will power. And now I live in takeaway-land.
I lead a busy lifestyle - I'm a full time student (7 years and counting), freelance musician, and have a part time administrative job - so fast convenient unhealthy food has been the easy option. When I signed up on Monday my starting weight was a shocking 14st 7lb, which gives me around 4st to lose. I'm feeling pretty determined, so check in every week and see how I'm getting on...
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