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