Day 13

It’s Day 13, and I have still been 100% on plan, 100% of the time.

I’m proud of myself this week.  I had to have a night away from home, at a hotel, and normally that would have been an excuse to eat crap (ie burgers and fries) and drink lager and wine.  This time, I deliberately chose a hotel so that I could have a swim after work, and checked ahead to see what was on the menu.  There was very little Slimming World friendly food on the hotel’s menu, so I found a nearby restaurant that would do me a fillet steak and a salad.  In the end, I had the steak with new potatoes and oven roasted vegetables, and although there was a little oil on the veggies and so it won’t have been Syn-Free, it was still so much better than my old choices would have been.  I had a Diet Coke and some water with it – still no alcohol has passed my lips!

The following day, I had a fabulous breakfast at the hotel – grapefruit segments followed by some ham and a small portion of Edam cheese, and then poached eggs with grilled tomatoes and baked beans, and a little more ham.  I then walked to a Subway about 10 minutes away and got myself a chicken tikka salad with some of their sweet onion sauce (1.5 Syns per portion).  I’d never had a Subway salad before, but I’ll definitely have another – it’s going to be a bit of a lifesaver when I’m away with work and can’t cook anything for myself!

Other meals I’ve enjoyed this week have been a delicious chicken, bacon and mushroom risotto, Parma ham wrapped cod, and honey and mustard salmon served with mashed potato, spinach and cherry tomatoes.

The week ahead will see me having jerk chicken with rice and peas this evening, beef and aubergine bake, pork pad thai, salmon with courgettes and potatoes, chicken chasseur, and seared turkey escalopes with sage, lemon and bacon.  I’m already looking forward to all of it!

I’m continuing with the Body Magic – I swam another 1km this morning and am doing well with my Channel Swim challenge.  Up over 14 miles now, less than 8 to go – I can do this!

Weigh in is tomorrow – I’m hoping that I might get my half stone award – imagine that – an award within the first two weeks!  That would be AMAZING!

 

First week done and dusted

I have been so busy over the weekend that I haven’t had a chance to even think about updating my blog!

I started off on Friday night with a nice long swim after work – 1.2km in the outdoor pool (60 lengths), and I had the pool all to myself the entire time – bliss!  Friday night’s dinner was Paprika Pork with rice (delicious, and Syn free).

On Saturday I was up early for breakfast (scrambled eggs and baked beans on toast), and then it was off to the supermarket for my food shop.  I was pleasantly surprised that, despite the fact that I was buying a couple of fillet steaks, the entire shop cost little more than I would have spent had I been buying lager, wine and take away pizzas!  As soon as I was back from the shop it was time to prepare the ingredients for Saturday night’s dinner, and then I made Burger in a Bowl for lunch.  It’s only the second time I’ve had that, and it was stonking – the sauce is to die for!  After lunch we headed out for a short Geocaching walk from Two Bridges to Crockern Tor and back.  One of the joys of living in the South West is that (when the weather is kind) we have so many amazing places to walk, and it’s so easy to get plenty of Body Magic in!  I had time to sit down for about half an hour after we got back before starting to cook dinner, which was Chicken Lattice Puff Pies, served with mash and veg.  It was 4.5 Syns for the pastry but well worth it, as it felt like a proper treat.

Sunday dawned sunny again, and I was awake early so I prepared the chicken for the salad I was making for lunch, and then headed off for an early morning swim.  I did 40 lengths of the indoor pool which equals 1km.  I then got back and enjoyed some Weetabix topped with strawberries and blueberries for breakfast, before heading off to Harbourneford for a Geocaching event, which was really good fun.  When I got back it was time to make the Spicy Chicken Salad (just 1.5 Syns and sooooo tasty) which we were having for lunch, and then we headed back off to Dartmoor for another short Geocaching walk, this time on Roborough Down.  I just about had time for a shower when we got back before cooking last night’s dinner, which was immense – griddled fillet steak with oven baked potato wedges, oven baked vine tomatoes, mushrooms, and peas.  All that food, and not a Syn in sight!

I will get the hang of posting photos on here at some point in the not too distant future, but for now, wander over to my Instagram (link at the top of the page) to see what I’ve been enjoying this past weekend.

I have truly loved my first week of being back on plan – I have eaten amazing food, and so much more than I would have done had I been eating my usual rubbish.  I’ve also saved a lot of money by not having any alcohol – yes, that’s right – not a drop has passed my lips in a week now!  I’m definitely feeling better for it, I’m sleeping better, and I’m sure that there is already some room in my work trousers, which definitely wasn’t there last week!

Now, let’s see what the scales say at 5.00pm…!

 

Ignoring the scales

Hands up who has never weighed themselves at home in between their Slimming World groups…

To anyone who has genuinely never done this – I salute you!  You have some amazing willpower going on there!

As for me – it’s something I’ve always done, although I don’t entirely know why.  I know that weight fluctuates from day to day and that it’s far better to weigh just once a week, but I’ve never quite been able to stop myself from having a quick check.  Of course, when that check reveals a loss, no matter how small, it’s great.  But then there are other times when they either show a maintain or a gain, and that can have the effect of throwing us off plan completely.

Since Monday, I have Food Optimised perfectly – I have been 100% on plan, 100% of the time.  I have exercised, I have watched my Syns, and I have done everything as I should do.  I’ve also weighed myself each morning.  On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings the scales showed that I was losing nicely.  Yesterday there was another small loss, but then this morning, a gain.  Still lower than they said on Monday morning, but higher than they said yesterday.

I was feeling a bit annoyed, to be honest.  I’ve done everything I should do, and yet wasn’t seeing a consistent trend.  And then I put my jeans on.  Freshly washed jeans, that, the last time I wore them, were so tight I felt as though they were going to cut off my circulation.  This morning, they not only fit, but there was actual room to spare in them.

Cue a moment of revelation.  The scales don’t always reflect the whole picture (I’ve read this so many times, but have always thought ‘yes, but…’).  The scales don’t know whether you’re a little dehydrated one morning, a little bloated the next morning, or holding some extra fluid the morning after that.  They can’t differentiate between muscle and fat.  They don’t always tell you the truth.  This morning, they were telling me I’d put on a little weight, whereas my jeans were telling me a different story.

I choose to believe the jeans.  And I’m binning the scales when I get home.

Day 3

Another great food day yesterday.

I had scrambled eggs with the remainder of my smoked salmon for breakfast, then leftover chilli for lunch, topped with 30g of Cheddar (Healthy Extra A choice).  Dinner was a turkey, bacon and thyme hotpot, from an old magazine, which was just 1 Syn.  I had it served with mashed potato and steamed carrots and sliced runner beans.  There was masses of it, so I have leftovers for lunch today.

I had thought that Wednesday evening could be a challenge.  I’m an avid fan of The Apprentice, and have always enjoyed it with a few glasses of wine (called in our house ‘Apprentice Wine’).  Last night was going to be the first time we’d not had Apprentice Wine, and I was aware that I might find myself wishing I had some.  Instead of the wine, though, I had some Apprentice Black Tea and a couple of Rocky Road Hi-Fi bars (Healthy Extra B choice).  And it was fine – no wine cravings at all!

I also got some more Body Magic in last night – 30 minutes swimming, and another 500m knocked off the Channel swim challenge that I’m doing.  I’m up over 9 miles done now, so progress is definitely being made!

For photos of yesterday’s food, head on over to my Instagram page (link in the header).

Old habits die hard

After enjoying my beef chilli for dinner last night, I was very much looking forward to having some leftovers for today’s lunch, topped with a Healthy Extra portion of 30g Cheddar cheese.

This morning, I cut a bit off the block of cheese and weighed it.  It was very slightly over 30g, and so I cut it down again, to get it to the right weight.  Going on habit, my hand was nearly to my mouth for me to actually eat the bit I’d just chopped off, before I realised what I was doing!  I was happy that I’d caught myself, and Maisie (spaniel) was happy that she got an extra bit of cheese!

It just reminded me, though, of the importance of weighing and measuring Healthy Extras, to protect weight loss.  It’s often the first thing that slips – a little nibble of cheese here, an extra splash of milk there, or a slightly larger piece of bread…  It’s so easily done, and if you add up those extra Syns over the course of a week they could make a massive difference!

Day 2

Yesterday was another good Slimming World day.

I started with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon for breakfast, and for lunch had a 60g wholemeal roll filled with cooked turkey and cucumber, as I needed something easy due to being away with work for the day.

When I’d finished work I went for a 1.2km swim in the gym’s outdoor pool (which I had all to myself – bonus!), and I was massively craving an orange when I finished.  I hadn’t had an orange for ages, and I enjoyed every mouthful!

Dinner was beef chilli with rice – it’s a Syn-free recipe which is packed with speed food (chestnut mushrooms, mixed peppers, onion, garlic, and tomatoes), but I shared a 40g bag of Doritos Chilli Heatwaves, so counted 5 Syns for that (it’s 9.5 for the bag).

After dinner I was so full that I didn’t need to have anything else, and so ended the day on 5 Syns.

Check out my Instagram feed for photos of yesterday’s food!

I’m loving being back on plan so far!