Category Archives: Daily Thoughts

Meal Plan – Fri & Sat (2nd & 3rd Jan)

Posted in All Things Food, Daily Thoughts, Meal Plans by

Hi guys,

Just a quick meal plan as it’s only to tide me over until I can do a food shop. As I mentioned in my plan for the new year, I will be mixing up my EE and EESP days. I think I’m going to try and have around 4 EESP and 3 EE days – it just depends how I feel. But, I will be making sure if I have an EESP day, I will be following it 100% and if I fancy some potatoes or something, then I’ll change it to an EE day as it makes more sense to me that way!

Friday – SP day
Breakfast: spinach (s) and mushroom (s) omelet (p) with 15g grated cheddar (half HEA)
Lunch: carrot (s) and coriander soup with 30g philadelphia light (half HEA) and ham (p) on a wholemeal bap (HEB)
Dinner: sirloin steak (p) with fat cut off, swede (s) and carrot (s) mash with brussel sprouts (s)
Snacks: 3 clementines (s), half punnet of strawberries (s) and ham (p) and cucumber (s) on a wholemeal bap (HEB) with 2 tbsp light salad cream (3 syns)

Saturday – SP day
Breakfast: egg (p), bacon (p) and mushroom (s) on a wholemeal bap (HEB) with 2 tbsp ketchup (2 syns)
Lunch: soy salmon (p) with carrot (s) and swede (s) mash and peas (p)
Dinner: soy salmon (p) with broccoli (s), green beans (s) and peas (p)
Snacks: ham (p) and cucumber (s) roll ups, 3 clementines (s) and half punnet of strawberries (s)

I’ll add more syns in depending what I fancy. I’ll be doing a shop on Sunday I think so I will have another food shopping post for you.

It’s about 5pm now and I’ve just received my new mason jar (1L) with a metal straw and hole in the lid. I’ve been drinking non stop strawberry infused water and I have the worst detox headache 😦 I can’t wait to feel less bloated and lethargic. I hope these 2 SP days will mean I can start losing the 4lbs I gained over Christmas!

Until next time.. x

My boost for 2015

Posted in Daily Thoughts by

Hi guys,

Hope you all had a fab new year. As I mentioned in previous posts, I’ve given myself an extra boost with it being the beginning of 2015 and I had my first gain in 5 weeks so I want to get the ball rolling. I just want to say that I am in no way affiliated with this company and it’s all my own views and my opinions 🙂

So my boost is that I will be doing a DietBet game for the first six months of 2015. For those of you who aren’t aware of DietBet, you basically join a game and you put money in a pot (it’s an American company so everything’s in dollars but you can pay by paypal to avoid any transaction fees) and you are basically betting on yourself to lose a certain amount of weight depending on your start weight. I was first introduced to DietBet by Blogilates who hosted a 4 week game there. There are two types of game – a month long game which you bet that you can lose 4% of your body weight (DietBet 4) and a six month long game where you bet you can lose 10% of your body weight (DietBet 10 aka the Transformer). I’ve done the DietBet 4 a couple of times and won back in 2013 but I’ve not really thought about it since.

I have to say, before you get the wrong end of the stick and say it encourages binge dieting, etc, there are a lot of rules. The main ones being you have to be over 18, there are maximum weight loss thresholds whereby if you lose more than a certain percentage, you are disqualified and that you are unable to join a game if losing the 4 or 10% will bring you below a healthy BMI range (I think you can’t go below 18.5). You can find all the rules for the DietBet 10 here. At the end of each round, everyone who has reached their goal splits the pot. If you haven’t quite reached it, you get to carry on but forfeit the money in the pot.

During my DietBet 4 games, I really enjoyed the community there. Everyone is really supportive. The only difference is that although SW is supportive, when it comes to the public SW groups on FB (not the ones set up by your consultant for your group), it can be like going back to school with some bitchiness from some members which can be discouraging. It doesn’t matter what diet plan you are doing or what type of exercise, if you ask a question, there will be a friendly face to answer.

So this will be my first Transformer game. I’m a bit worried that I might not last the full six months but I’m going to do my best. I did my first weigh in yesterday. Unfortunately it was the end of New Year’s Day before I had a chance to jump on the scales and I had been eating leftovers all day so probably not the lightest I’ve been! Anyhow, for the first month I need to lose 3% which works out at just over 6.5lbs. I will be combining my DietBet with a mix of the new EE and EE SP plans to hopefully boost my weight loss and get some good losses on the scales.

Hopefully by the time June rolls round I will have lost quite a bit, found myself a dress for the wedding and feeling a lot more confident in myself, not forgetting a little extra pocket money if I manage to hit my goals 🙂

So I’m looking forward to the next few weeks. Hopefully I can make 2015 my year where I got rid of all my illnesses, the extra weight and get married to my lovely OH.

Until next time.. x

 

Monthly Round Up – 6th Nov – 6th Dec 2014

Posted in Daily Thoughts by

Hi guys,

I’ve not really been doing a daily thoughts posts and I realised I’ve just hit the one month mark of when I decided I was going to commit properly to SW after messing around since August. So I figured I should write down how I feel for future reference.

As you saw in my last weigh in post, I have lost 5lbs this month and have been very happy with my progress. Before I restarted my blog I had one gain and three maintains so I was really happy to get back on the wagon. Plus I had bought the 12 week countdown and didn’t want it to end up being a total waste of money!

How are you feeling?

Well, I haven’t noticed much difference in terms of my moods. I think I’m less grouchy when I’m hungry but that may be more down to the fact that I’ve planned my meals more and there’s less chance of me not eating and then eating the entire contents of the fridge. I haven’t been too bored with the meals I’ve planned which is good and apart from this week, I haven’t really fallen off the wagon which is quite incredible. I’m trying to move mentally past the whole “weigh in’s nearly a week away, I can get away with eating this and just eat good Mon-Wed”. I thought I was doing quite well and then this week has been a shambles since Wednesday so now I’m not too sure. It makes me determined to see a loss (however small!) on the scales on Wednesday.

Have you noticed any changes in your body?

I think I’ve lost a few inches this month. My work pants are getting gradually looser and I now fit into my smaller work pants (size 16, rather than the size 18s) quite comfortably which is nice. I haven’t actually looked at my measurements yet but just going off general “does it feel tight?” formula. I may do my measurements in the next monthly post. If I remember. My sleeping pattern is still a bit all over the place with some nights I’m in bed for 9pm (last night) and others I’m still up at nearly 3am (like tonight)! I really would like to get this under control and I think if I start some exercise it’ll really combat that.

Goals for the next month?

I’d really really like to hit 14 stone something. I’m not sure if I will but I would really like to try. I also want to start exercising again but saying that, the weather is forecasting snow this week >.< I may have to see if I can dig up my gym wristband and build up the courage to go back now that my OH has bought me some lovely support trainers. I have 5 meals out planned for the next month with family and friends and 1 meal that I’m cooking for everyone. I’m going to try and choose the better options so that I don’t get a gain especially next week as I’m going out 3 times in the space of 7 days. I think I’ll be happy with a maintain next week. Maybe. I’ll just have to be extra good the other days and stick to plan 100%. I have 5.5lbs until I hit 15 stone exactly so I would like to lose at least 6lbs by my next update on 6th Jan. Fingers crossed.

Until next time.. x

Sun – Wed Round Up PLUS Weigh In Wednesday!

Posted in Daily Thoughts, Food Diary & Photos, Weight Loss by

Hi guys,

Hope you’re all well. It’s been a crazy few days at home and I woke up this morning with the realisation that I have an exam in two weeks – gulp! Sorry my food posts haven’t been as frequent and grouped up. I’m just finding the odd half an hour here and there to update 🙂 This is a really long post as I only have a few minutes to get this together before college so I suggest getting a cup of tea to drink as you read!

Sunday

2014-11-30 11.32.04

Breakfast: 0% fat yoghurt with strawberries (ss), passion fruit (s) and bananas.

2014-11-30 13.51.11  2014-11-30 13.34.04

 

Lunch: roast chicken (s) with roast potatoes, roast carrots (s), broccoli (s), green beans (s) and gravy (3 syns) with honey dew melon (ss)

2014-11-30 16.51.31  2014-11-30 20.40.44

Snack: OH & I went on a rare cinema date to watch The Imitation Game (which is fantastic, btw) so I snacked on half a regular salted popcorn (on another note, popcorn prices are OUTRAGEOUS at the cinema!) – 10 syns? I also spilt quite a lot of it on the floor >.<

Dinner: beef stew with carrots (s), roast potatoes, sprouts, onions (s), mushrooms (s) and pickled beetroot (s)

2014-11-30 20.52.14

Night time snack: 3 clementines (s) and HEA & 1.5 syns of cheese (The small ones were 12g each – 36g altogether)

Superspeed – 2, speed – 10

Total syns: 19

Monday

2014-12-01 09.39.42

Breakfast: Bacon sandwich using 400g wholemeal bread (HEB) with ketchup (2 syns) and an omelet with spinach (s) and 20g light red cheese grated (1/2 HEA)

2014-12-01 12.25.15

Lunch: beef stew with carrots (s), roast potatoes, onions (s), mushrooms (s) and sprouts

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Snack: clementine (s), pina colada Mullerlight and a banana

2014-12-01 15.03.02

 

Another snack: honey dew melon (ss) and a banana

2014-12-01 15.57.20  2014-12-01 17.40.42

Another snack: Morrisons Saver ravioli and the rest of the breakfast omelet with spinach (s) and 20g light red cheese (1/2 HEA) and baked beans (ss)

2014-12-01 23.03.04  2014-12-01 23.15.01

Dinner: roast chicken (s) with roast potatoes, roast carrots (s), broccoli (s), green beans (s) and gravy (3 syns) with Pepsi Max and 3 clementines (s)

Superspeed – 2, Speed – 11

Total syns: 3

Tuesday

2014-12-02 13.23.13

Breakfast: tomato soup (s) (3 syns – the shop owner puts a little butter in but no oil) with 1/2 a sausage, beans (ss) and cheese (HEA) panini (Thank god for Mums and sisters to take some of the hit!) – about 10 syns

2014-12-02 12.43.43

Dinner: beef stew with carrots (s), sprouts, onions (s), mushrooms (s)

2014-12-02 14.03.27

 

Snacks: 25g wasabi peas (4.5 syns), jacket potato with tuna in light natural yoghurt (4 syns), Pepsi Max, black coffee

2014-12-02 21.30.57

Dinner: soy salmon with carrots (s) and roast potatoes2014-12-02 22.12.13

Snack: 3 clementines (s)

Superspeed – 1, speed – 6

Total syns: 21.5

Wednesday

2014-12-03 11.21.42

Breakfast: Strawberry Mullerlight with strawberries (ss) and banana

2014-12-03 12.53.59

Lunch: Garlic lettuce (s) with a little bit of beef in black bean sauce (4 syns) with 2 clementines (s) – not pictured

2014-12-03 20.03.30  2014-12-03 20.28.54

Dinner: tiny bit of a blow out! 2x Appletiser (12 syns), a lot of extremely fresh sushi (10 syns?) and I managed about a quarter of the bowl of noodles (7 syns – wasn’t a fan of the actual noodle itself!) and my OH ate the rest of the broth, meat and veggies whilst waiting for his dish)

Superspeed – 1, Speed – 2

Total syns: (far too many!) 31?

Weigh In Wednesday & Early Christmas Present off OH

So before the meal with my OH and friends, I popped to weigh in. My consultant was so poorly bless her and she still made it but as she lost her voice, I don’t think I missed much! As it was only 4 days since my previous weigh in, I was a bit nervous that I would just maintain or have a teeny tiny half lb off. I was really happy as I weighed in at 15 stone 5.5lbs and lost a lb which makes 5lbs in 4 weeks, which isn’t too bad for me. I’m just surprised I’m still losing as usually I would have had a small gain by now or maintained. I picked up my half stone award whilst I was at group and I’m hoping for a 1 or 2 lb loss next week. I really want to try and hit 15 stone by Christmas and although I have about 10 meals out with friends planned I really want to hit it. I would like to start the new year in the 14 stone range BUT I am hosting a Christmas meal for friends which I’m letting myself have the day to not worry about food too much, so that might not happen! I’ll have that in the back of my mind though so hopefully it will curb myself not to go crazy. That, or the non stop cooking will make me not hungry!

2014-11-30 19.58.56

As an early Christmas present, my OH took me to Sweatshop on Sunday 🙂 I have really flat feet and walking more than a mile in normal shoes kills my feet and they just can’t cope with insoles. My friend had visited Sweatshop and came back raving about them so when OH was asking what he could get me for Christmas, I really wanted to go. The guy at the shop was super nice. I didn’t run on the treadmill tester as you would usually as the fact I was flat footed and also had wide feet ruled out several brands and types of trainers.

I ended up plumping for these Mizuno Wave Inspire 10 in white/blue/green. They cost a fair bit – £105! – but I have been walking non stop in them since Monday and at the moment I absolutely love them. I’ve not had any foot pain so far which is just amazing. I’m going to walk to work and back on Friday (2.2 miles each way) so that will be the real test. The reason why I wasn’t too fazed about OH spending this on me (which usually I’d object to) was that Sweatshop have a 30 day return policy so you can test your shoes OUTSIDE and still bring them back if they’re not right. You have to have some guidance in buying the shoes (i.e. you can’t pick them up yourself and assume they’ll do and return them) but I think that’s really good. Many trainers I’ve had before have been OK until I stepped outside on normal terrain and then killed my feet 😦

I’ll probably give another little update the more I use them, so look out for that.

Apologies for the ultra long post. I’ll sign off for now 🙂

Until next time.. x

 

Wed-Sat Round Up & Weigh In Saturday

Posted in Daily Thoughts, Food Diary & Photos, Weight Loss by

Hi guys,

Sorry for the wait on this week’s posts. I have to admit I haven’t had the greatest week and I’ve been crazy busy eating as I’m working so I keep forgetting to take photos. Next week I am going to be on it (like a car bonnet!).

Wednesday

2014-11-26 10.21.57

Breakfast: Cheese on Toast (HEA, HEB & 3 syns). I had 2 slices of toast – was too hungry to wait!

2014-11-26 12.53.44

Lunch: pork with roast potatoes, roast carrots (s), broccoli (s) and green beans (s)

2014-11-26 14.32.24

Snack: banana, clementine (s) and a Chinese sausage and cheese bun >.< I’m guessing it will be around 15 syns or so. This spiralled into my friend’s birthday dinner. Moral of this story – DO NOT SUCCUMB. Bad things happen.

2014-11-26 19.40.20

Dinner: Meatballs with tomato sauce and pasta with chips AND pizza??? (yeah triple carbs. Damn) and then a small piece of chocolate cake. 50 syns?! More? 😦

2014-11-26 22.17.47

Midnight snack: roast potatoes.

Thursday

2014-11-27 10.56.49

Breakfast: 30g Special K granola with 0% fat free yoghurt (with sweetener) and bananas, strawberries (ss), honey dew melon (ss) and a clementine (s)

2014-11-27 12.24.53

Lunch: soy salmon with roast potatoes, roast carrots (s), broccoli (s), green beans (s)

2014-11-27 17.09.14

College snack: Pepsi Max with a jacket potato, cheese (HEA) and baked beans (ss) and a tomato cup-a-soup (4.5 syns)

2014-11-27 21.44.05

Dinner: OH made whitebait with tomatoes (s), sweetcorn, chillis (s) with roast potatoes

Friday

2014-11-28 11.49.58

Breakfast: a slice of toast (8 syns), tomatoes (s), mushroom (s), baked beans (ss), eggs, bacon – didn’t eat the sausage or the hash brown (gave that to my Mum!). 6 syns for oil.

2014-11-28 14.14.35

Lunch: SW lamb hotpot (1 syn) with carrots (s), mushrooms (s), courgette (s)

2014-11-28 16.32.55   2014-11-28 18.32.09

Snack: HM chicken and sweetcorn soup (0.5 syn) and a banana

2014-11-28 19.30.16

Second snack: ham and clementines (s)

2014-11-28 20.05.52

Dinner: spinach (s), mushroom (s) and cheese (HEA) omelet with three eggs

Saturday

2014-11-29 11.10.49   2014-11-29 15.27.36  2014-11-29 21.12.31

Breakfast: 30g Special K granola with 0% fat yoghurt, honey dew melon (ss), strawberries (ss), banana and a clementine.

Lunch: Chicken and chinese mushroom bun (x2) with 8 pieces of siu mai (a Chinese pork dumpling) – 30 syns? Bleh.

Snack: banana, turkey ham (s), pickled beetroot (s)

Dinner: Roast chicken with the skin on (6.5 syns) with carrot (s), broccoli (s), green beans (s), roast potatoes, sprouts and chicken gravy (3 syns)

Weigh In Saturday

So I weighed in on a Saturday this week. It’s been a mental week and with all my evenings being taken up Saturday morning was the nearest and most convenient. I prefer being weighed in the morning but the morning groups are so busy I never feel inclined to stay 😦 The quieter evening groups are more my thing I think.

But yes, last time I weighed in I was a half lb off my half stone award. Well guess what – I made it! 1 lb off! Finally! I really want to carry on the momentum so I’m going to try and be really good this week and not deviate too much. As I weighed in on Saturday, my next weigh in is Wednesday so I don’t think I’ll lose too much weight between now and then. I would like another lb off though… I just need to make sure I don’t go anywhere with my Mum – she’s a bad influence!

Until next time.. x

Thursday Round Up

Posted in Daily Thoughts, Food Diary & Photos by

Hi guys,

Been feeling awful today so had a day to rest up and hopefully help me feel a bit better. Had a really rough night of coughing so had a good lie in until around 12:30-1pm so not eaten as much as I would normally.

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that at weigh in yesterday, our consultant got us to focus on speed and superspeed foods. She made a really good point that a lot of us tend to eat salads and now it’s colder we might struggle a bit so she challenged us to get a good loss next week by trying to focus more on speed and super speed foods. I haven’t done a meal plan as such as I’ll be away but I’m going to try and use this to influence my food choices while I’m away.

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Breakfast was 3 fried eggs, a load of spinach, bit of bacon and some spicy beans. Left about half the beans so will probably finish those tomorrow.

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Had a bounty as a snack (7 Syns)

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Had another snack of pear and a Mullerlight.

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As well as a pack of seafood sticks.

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Dinner was a 60g wholemeal roll (HEB) with a Heck chicken burger (1 syn) with cucumber, pickled cucumber, tomato. A side of pasta bake with a 30g mix of Red Leicester and mature cheddar (HEA), tomato and spinach. Little pickled salad with pickled onions, pickled cabbage and about 3 syns of olives.

IMG_0759.JPG
Dessert of another Mullerlight.

Total syns: 11
Remaining: 94

Tuesday & Wednesday Round Up AND Weigh In Wednesday

Posted in Daily Thoughts, Food Diary & Photos, Weight Loss by

Hi guys,

Sorry these posts are late! My cough has gone a lot worse so I’ve been nursing a severe headache, chest and abdomen along with my cough 😦 It has also meant that I’m succumbing to snacks here and there which are a bit “syn-ful”.

Tuesday Meals

Midnight snack: 2 x Haribo treat bags (9) (not pictured!)

2014-11-13 12.49.362014-11-13 12.50.17
Breakfast: bacon x3, 2 fried eggs, spinach, mushrooms, spicy beans

Snack: boiled egg

Lunch HM lasagne (HEA & 1 syn)

Snack: pear, 2x miniature heroes (5)

Pre-College: 2 slices of 400g wholemeal bread with ham, beetroot, pickled cucumber, tomatoes, cucumber

College: coffee with milk (1 syn) and a bag of 55g skittles (11 syns) – no photo as my friend binned it before I could get a chance to get a snap!

Post-college: leftover roast lamb shank with SW roast potatoes, swede, broccoli, carrots and mint sauce (1 syn)

Total Syns: 28
Remaining: 24

Wednesday Meals

2014-11-13 12.47.36

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, spinach, mushrooms, Heck chicken burger (1 syn) and spicy spaghetti strands

Lunch: chicken & sweetcorn soup (0.5 syn) with two of the three boiled eggs

Dinner: chicken shish kebab (6 syns for oil) with salad and a pita bread (10 syns)

Total syns: 17.5

Remaining: 6.5

So I went along to weigh in on Wednesday. I didn’t manage to each much during the day as I was so busy with work but because of my cough I was drinking so much water (I think I went through 3 or 4 litres) all the way up to weigh in so I think some of that may be water retention! Anyhow, I weighed in at 15 stone 7.5 lbs – 3 lbs off! So close to my first half stone certificate (1/2 lb) so even though I’m in London this weekend, I really really hope that I can get that next week 🙂

Thoughts on this week: Food-wise it’s not been that bad. I seemed to struggle in the couple of days before weigh in and really randomly just craved sweets so bad! I don’t normally have too much of a sweet tooth so it was a bit weird! I think being ill hasn’t made this week as successful as it could have been as I succumbed a few times (though always within my syns) but I’m hoping it’ll clear up soon as I’m sat here feeling like utter rubbish! I think next week may be a struggle with being away from home for three days but I will be doing flexi-syns again this week and hopefully I’ll be able to minimise the damage!

Until next time.. x

Meal Plan Mon – Wed

Posted in Daily Thoughts, Meal Plans by

Hi guys,

So I’ve meal planned until Sunday and here’s what I think I shall be having until weigh in.

Monday
Breakfast: 2 slices of 400g wholemeal toast (HEB) with spaghetti hoops, 2 fried eggs, a muller light
Lunch: chicken and sweetcorn soup (0.5 syn) with leftover lamb shank with broccoli, swede, sprouts with a teeny bit of mint sauce (0.5 syn)
Dinner: Homemade lasagne with 5% beef mince, spinach, onions, mushrooms, carrots & celery with wholemeal pasta sheets and a mix of red leicester & mature cheddar and a white sauce using cauliflower and 3 dairylea light triangles so pretty much works out at 1 syn & 1 HEA per portion
Snacks: seafood sticks, 2 clementines, 4 boiled eggs

Tuesday
Breakfast: beans, mushrooms, 2 rashers of bacon, 2 fried eggs, banana
Lunch: HM lasagne (1 syn & HEA)
Pre-college meal: ham sandwich (HEB) with cucumber, tomatoes, pickled cucumber & beetroot with pineapple
Post-college snack: spinach salad with mussels, tomatoes, cucumber, beetroot and low fat dressing (not sure which ones, will update syn value in my daily log)
Snacks: 2 clementines, 2 boiled eggs, banana

Wednesday
Breakfast: Oat-so-simple multigrain porridge fruit muesli (HEB & HEA)
Lunch: chicken & sweetcorn soup (0.5 syn), muller light, banana, clementine
Dinner: HM chicken kebab marinated in 0% fat yoghurt and spices with a spinach salad, tomatoes, cucumber, beetroot, low fat dressing
Snacks: 4 boiled eggs, muller light, pear

Total approx syns: around 9, depending on salad dressing
Total used in the week (approx): 52.5
Average: 7.5 syns/day

Ok guys so that’s the plan. I’m really really hoping for a loss on the scales. I’m drinking so much water and tea at the moment and almost constantly running to the loo which is annoying. Along with my cough, tiredness, body aches due to the coughing – it’s been a rough week! I may add a few more syns here and there as I’ve used about half but it depends how I feel as it is running up to weigh in day and I’m notorious for maintaining.

My daily food updates will be coming as usual. I’m definitely feeling better for logging all my food and taking photos (even for my midnight snacks!). My next non-food diary blog will probably be Wednesday after weigh in (though it will probably have the first half of my meal plan in it as I’ll probably do a little shop Wednesday or Thursday).

Until next time.. x