Quark Fish Pie, Courgetti, Carroti and Samphire

Loved this, someong from group posted up a Slimming World fish pie the other day and it looked lovely! Here's my take on it, fish pie mix, prawns and a tuna steak fried in frylight with rainbow pepper with dill, parsely and samphire on courgetti and carroti, courgette spaghetti and carrot spaghetti from Tesco!

Speed Dodger

Oops......there's some nights I just can't be arsed with chopping ...Linda McCartney Red Onion and Rosemary (Syn Free) sausages in a toasted wholemeal (HEXB) thin! Hit the spot!! Sandwich Like YUM!

Syn Free Food Treat

I've got out of the habit of having regular food treats. It's something I used to do years ago when I got to target weight. I'd follow plan weekdays and then eat what I wanted at the weekend, then the weekend crept into Friday, then Thursday....you get the idea? Diets I've followed before had always be so much more restrictive on what and how much you can eat that it's so easy to fall off the wagon as soon as you start eating normal food at normal quantities on the weekend. 

As I've found Slimming World to be so much more like a healthy eating plan where you just tweak normal every day food, in normal portions I don't really feel like I need a treat - other than wine ;-) I'm probably happier with a Slimming World burger than a Whopper from Burger King these days! I also like how they don't ask you to up your Syns once at target, which would just encourage me to slip back into bad habits. 

The easier a plan is to follow the easier it is to stick to and end up as a new normal . The more difficult and time consuming it is to follow the more likely I am to get fed up of it's restrictiveness and go off plan. It's easy to be more laid back around planning meals if all you have to have is a fridge full of normal food. As long as it's there you don't have to plan everything in advance, you can just open the fridge and decide on the spot. It's also nice and easy to have fall back food in the cupboard or freezer for a busy day. Pasta, couscous, tuna, beans, potatoes, Iceland ready meals...I could go on! So it's not the end of the world if you've not had time to spend all day planning your evening meal, then weighing and measuring it all out when you get in before you can even cook and eat it!

Whilst the food optimising plan might seem really complicated when you first read through it, as it begins to make sense and sink in it's surprisingly easy to follow. If you're struggling get help in group, or most Slimming Word groups have online Facebook pages only accessible by the members of their group where you can get help, support and advice.

I digress, now I just need to decide what to have for dinner and which pepper pot to use first!!

Slimming World Iceland Singapore Noodles

Making room in the freezer for a few bits coming tomorrow. The Slimming World Iceland ready meals are so huge they take up a lot of room! Very impressed! This was really nice, quite spicy although I needed to add a bit of salt! Best of all completely FREE! Even ate the peas, and I don't like peas much!

Food Shop

Just finished my online shop, this week I'm treating myself to some flavoured peppers grinders! Love pepper on order is a Rainbow Peppercorn Grinder a Roast Garlic and Pepper Grinder and a Lime Pepper one too!

Also was inspired last week by a post from someone in group of a fish pie which looked delicious so I'll be doing my own take on that just as soon as I've found a good Quark white sauce type recipe.

Bought the Tesco courgette spaghetti, or courgetti and some carrot spaghetti too which I'm planning to use with the above.

Also ordered some of the Arla Skyr Honey yogurt which is 3 Syns for a 450g pot, I've heard good things and can't wait to try it!

Friday Night Burger Lovin' .....with Wine

Still can't quite believe you can eat burgers and lose weight! Happy Friday xx 

Weekly Weigh In

Little bit late with the Monday Weigh in this week as I'm a little out of routine! Where I should have more time as my boy is on a school trip I've found myself a little lost without him and struggled to get motivated! I'm a complete control freak and any change to my routine completely throws me out! I had big plans this week to ramp up the exercise while the boy was away, but a pulled muscle in my shoulder means I've done a lot of sitting on my arse! Sods Law!

Anyway......lost 1 1/2 this week taking me to 1 1/2 below target. Aiming for another half pound this week so I'm two below target and therefore giving myself some wiggle room for when we are away over the summer for a few weekends......and out of routine! If I can teeter on the three pounds below target that would be even better!

6th week at Target and not doing too badly!

Took the Chorizo Bites and some of the Iceland Slimming World Mediterranean Chicken Sausages with me to tasting. Bought two packets of the sausages and really didn't like them much. VERY garlicky! Thought I'd free up some room in my freezer and take them to tasting for everyone to make their own mind up after I gave them a bit of a slating in Image Therapy the other week!

Rude People and Feeders

Love this post from spanjee_sw on Instagram

I totally agree, and can relate to some of those comments. I'm not sure why people think it's OK to make rude comments about a persons weight when they are losing or have lost their weight. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't hear people making rude, sarcastic or patronising comments about someone being too big, but somehow some people think it's OK to do this when you've lost weight.

I've had.....

You've lost too much weight!
Are you sure you're eating?
You're eating too much!

It got worse as I got near target to the point where I'd tell people I was't losing anymore rather than argue with them as to why I needed to lose another two pounds when asked! Sometimes it's just easier that way!

But my absolute pet hate are "feeders"

Have a couple of biscuits, they wont hurt!
I got you this cake!
Have a couple of chips!
It's Slimming World Friendly....as it drips with oil.....

I think nearly everyone who has ever dieted has come across feeders. These are the people who try and force feed you anything bad, will buy you cakes without asking and then try and guilt trip you into eating them. I've done everything from giving in and eating it, saying I'll have some later and then trying to get away with not having any....

....Don't forget to have your cake!

I've said I'll take it home and eat it after dinner, and then given to my husband or son.

It can actually be quite embarrassing trying to refuse things as the feeder argues with you that you should have it. To be honest nine times out of ten I actually really am not bothered by whatever is being offered. I'd rather save my Syns for a glass of wine. So I've put my foot down, and it's got easier. Now people don't pester me to eat things, and never buy without asking, or expect me to have something just because they've bought everyone one!

Some things are easier to lie about, like being at target when you've only a pound or two to lose, and some battles have to be fought to protect yourself and your weight loss!

Saturday Round Up and Chorizo Fest

Up nice and early this morning for double exercise class Urban Rebound and Step. Love getting in two early Saturday morning exercise classes, which means I hit the Green day on my fitbit by half seven this evening! Lunch was a wholemeal thin with rocket and the chorizo I made yesterday the flavour had developed, but not as much as when I had some with salad and cauliflower couscous for dinner this evening! Nice and spicy now! Definitely making this again, free, spicy and delicious!!

Having a nice glass of wine which I just noticed is sat on my Slim For Life book!

Free Slimming World Chorizo Patties/ Nuggets / Bites - FREE and blinking delicious!

New favourite recipe based on the River Cottage Tupperware Chorizo but tweaked to make it a free Slimming World recipe!

500 g Turkey Mince 5% fat (could make with 5% Pork Mince)

3/4 tbsp Sweet paprika

1 1/2 tsp Hot paprika

2 small Garlic cloves crushed

1 1/2 tsp fine salt

1 tsp Fennel Seeds

1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp Ground black pepper

1/2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Sweetener

1/2 beaten egg

Mix all of the above in a large bowl and then make into little patties, nuggets, shapes and fry in Frylight for a few minutes each side until browned and cooked.

The River Cottage recipe says to leave for 24 hours for the flavours to develop, I'll let you know tomorrow evening how it's tasting!

I've made double the above so I can take some to tasting evening Monday!

Made the husband taste it to see if it does taste like chiorizo, and for spiciness! It was a thumbs up for the taste, and a not too spicy. I LOVE spicy and often can't really tell if something is too hot for someone who doesn't do spicy food!

Easy Oven Baked Cauliflower Couscous - Speed + Free

Love this recipe great hot or cold or could be used as cauliflower rice with a curry! I was lazy and bought the Tesco ready grated cauliflower, chopped some onions, chilies and parsley and mixed with the cauliflower. I added garlic granules and paprika and mixed it in. Put in an ovenproof dish and spray with Frylight. Bake for 10 minutes on max and then stir when it's browned on top. Turn the oven down to about 220 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes. Stir and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes. I was happy with mine after 30 minutes, but you can do for longer if you'd like it browner! I've cooked up a shed load so will freeze some for another day.

Moroccan Chicken Skewers, Salad and Slimming World Chips

One for the whole family! Schwartz Moroccan seasoning on diced chicken threaded onto skewers with salad and Slimming World chips with garlic salt and Schwartz Chips Seasoning! Quick, easy and free - apart from the mayonnaise! Had two chicken kebab skewers and one with just the veg on, getting the extra speed food in! I put a couple of potatoes in the microwave for about eight minutes, let cool and then chop into chunks and spray with Frylight, season with Schwartz Garlic Salt and Chips Seasoning and bung in the oven with the kebabs for about 20-25 minutes on 220 degrees.

Be Prepared

Shopping is here! Lots of lovely on plan food to choose from!

Love these Slimming World friendly Princes Mackerel fillets the Moroccan ones are free, half a Syn for the Mustard ones!

Fruit bowl brimming with apples, clementines a water melon...and trying flat (or doughnut) peaches which.....

....are rather nice, not the same as a normal peach, the flesh is lighter and the taste milder, but they are lovely an SO SO SO much easier to eat!

So now all I have to do is decide what's for dinner?????

Burgertastic Thai Chicken Burger and Salad and a new recipe to try!

Nice and easy Iceland Thai Chicken Burger and salad for dinner tonight. 

Spent quite a while doing a Tesco online food order. I usually shop at Sainsburys till a friend said how much more expensive it was there so thought I'd give Tesco a go. It was slow as I've not shopped there for ages but well worth it! So much cheaper and I get to order lazy ready done cauliflower couscous and Tesco Quark which is the best! 

I've got loads of stuff coming including some ingredients to make this Tupperware Chorizo from the River Cottage website. Going to be a Slimming World version. I couldn't get 5% pork mince from Tesco and so I bought turkey mince instead, I'm thinking about using balsamic vinegar and some sweetner instead of the wine, not that wine would be many syns, but I quite fancy a sweet chorizo taste?? I'll decide when I cook it I think. I'll use frylight instead of oil and hopefully end up with a very low Syn, or Syn free meal! Fingers crossed!

Monday Weigh Day

So that could have been a lot worse! A pound on taking me back to target exactly! Back on plan now looking to get a couple of pounds off to be five below target! We have a couple of short breaks coming up over the next couple of months so I'll be needing the leeway!

Bleugh

Feeling sluggish! Ate too much crap yesterday, shouldn't have had the leftover wine, or so much of the leftover food, or the four biscuits which found their way into my gob! Home weigh in suggests not too much damage done but I feel bloated and crappy! Roll on tomorrow a day on plan properly should sort me out!

Liberation From Be Perfect

Many years ago I went on one of those training courses that you get sent on by work every now and again and found out something about myself that I didn’t know. Usually it’s the same old buff in these things going over things you already know, but I came out of this one with a new insight into myself that I’ve tried to keep a check on ever since. One of the exercises was multiple choice personality questionnaire, I came out at the end of it as a “Neurotic Be Perfect”. I not only want things doing, doing right, and perfectly I want them done my way, or the way I would do them. It was 100% true and I’ve taken that on board ever since and always try to ask myself will the result be the same if it’s done differently, someone else’s way. If the answer is yes then chill out and let them get on with it! 

This overspills in to my personality in general. Whatever I’m doing I like to be as perfect as I can at it, whether that’s dieting, exercising or whatever. That’s why I think when I’ve done any kind of diet before I get veryfocused and rarely have a week where I put on, and have never had a huge gain whilst on my journey to target. Great, you might think, and in a way it is, but it also set me up to fail when the journey is over and target is reached. If I had more gains and struggles along the way it might just help the learning curve and make me better able to cope with the ups and downs when at target. What generally tends to happen is that as soon as I fall off the “Be Perfect” bandwagon I struggle to get back on, once the “Perfect” is broken it’s hard to fix. I need to let go a little and not feel such a failure when gains happen, as they will surely do.

Burger With Bacon And Blue Cheese

I love a burger I would eat them every day if I could.......oh hang on I can and that's why I ❤️ Slimming World!

Slimming World Iceland burger with bacon, laughing cow light blue cheese and salad, HEXB thin. With salad, Syns for cheese BBQ sauce and mayonnaise. 

Making The Most Of Your Calories

Before starting Slimming World I would have said I was quite clued up with dieting, I’ve tried just about everything going at one point or another from Weight Watchers, to Atkins, Cabbage Soup, Low GI, Slim Fast, counting calories .....and so on and so forth. I guess I would have been right I knew a lot about diets and what you needed to do on them in order to lose weight. What I didn’t really understand was nutrition. I could count calories, work out points or just not eat all together and drink milkshakes! What I’ve learnt at Slimming World is how to make the most of the calories I consume. At the end of the day losing weight is a simple calculation of calories in versus calories out. That’s looking at it very basically as there are so many other factors to take into account but the basics are, eat less calories than you burn to lose weight.

Before I started Slimming World I was using My Fitness Pal to log and count calories in and log exercise as calories out which was a success and I did lose weight. But as I wasn’t really making the most of my calories I was often hungry, or going over calorie budget with wine at the weekends. When I started Slimming World the first time I went for it, I ate a big Slimming World fry ups for breakfast, huge salads for lunch and enormous dinners. I lost 3 1⁄2 lb the first week and was amazed! After the first week I decided to add my food into My Fitness Pal just out of curiosity and was amazed to have come in under the normal amount of calories I’d have usually eaten whilst eating twice as much and not going hungry. Food Optimising gives you a really easy way of controlling the amount of calories you eat without really having to weigh or measure very much at all. Simple changes from lean mince to extra lean mince, removing the fat from meat and using things like Frylight made so much more of a difference calorie wise than I’d have thought. As I settled into the Slimming World plan a bit more I’ve reduced the amount I eat naturally and fit back in with my normal eating routine. The novelty of a big English breakfast has worn off, I don’t really have the time or inclination to do this every day. I rely quite heavily on my staple lunch of Mug Shots Monday to Friday with a piece of fruit and/or a Muller Light yogurt as these are easy, quick and filling. Spicy Tomato is my favourite of the moment. Some Mugshots are free and some are Synned so check these out also beware of the ones you get in poundshops etc. as they are sometimes Synned too, even if the same flavour supermarket ones are free. I found the visual below for Synning Mugshots.


Anyway I digress, I’ve found I’ve settled into a more normal pattern of eating for me which fits my appetite and daily routine. I’ve also found I’m naturally starting to eat less and could eat even less if I think consciously about the meal I’m preparing. I still have a tendency to overfill my plate, and a tendency to not want to leave anything but I’m gradually learning to gauge what’s on my plate with what will satisfy my appetite. But even if I do eat more than I really need to I feel safe that it’s not going to result in a big gain on the scales as long as I’m sticking to plan.



 

Inspiration On Maintaining - Maintaining Control

A bit like Image Therapy I like to have a good old nose round the internet to find inspiration from other people who have got to target, I came across this post which I really related to.....

A Matter Of Choice - staying in the "safe zone"

Good to know I'm not the only one! It feels a bit lame sometimes moaning about how scary and hard it is when you hit target, when there's people who are still on their journey. The group I go to in Englefield Green has been going for six months now and we have quite a few people hitting target now which is great and it's brilliant to have the support of people who have been there for a few weeks/months and those just getting there, but it is a bit scary!

For me it's all about being in control. When I'm losing and on plan with a target in sight I'm committed, I know what I need to do and I do it. When you get to target a little bit of you wants to be that "normal" person who can go out for dinner, pick the three courses that they really want to eat and enjoy them without losing that element of control and sliding back into bad habits. It's like releasing the control and then being able to grab it back again so you don't go off the rails. I've spent twenty odd years yo-yoing back and forth between a size 8 and 18 (probably verging on a 20 if I'm honest) and now I'm here again back at target the thought of going back and losing that control is scary.

So far I have on some days upped a Healthy Extra B and on others upped the wine intake and so far five weeks in I'm doing OK, but I don't feel like I've had a real test yet, there's been no situation whereby I have had to or want to release the control and have a day or a meal completely off plan. I know this is creeping up and will happen at some point so perhaps I should stop worrying about it now and deal with it when it happens? Maybe I should plan one in and just get the waiting over and done with?

I'm following Fopperholic and Lauren Wallis who both seem to do this really well, they often post about their off plan meals, days or weekends and seem really focused and determined not to let these over run into days and weeks and months so it's great inspiration, and brilliant to see how they get their heads around it, and get straight back on plan.

I guess it all comes with practice. So for now I'm just going along on plan with the combination of extra HEXB's and wine and I'll let you know when the first off plan instance arises....and if I can manage to deal with it successfully! I'm not going to start introducing the "Danger Foods" back in on a regular basis, although I am looking forward to a buttery, coleslawey Christmas with a few chocolate hob nobs.

Five weeks within target so far, I'm not sure how other members balance it but I'm aiming to generally maintain at 8st 12lb giving me room to play for those off plan moments!