Monday evening, 14-10-24

Good evening morning, everyone!  

I think it is far more likely that this will be a morning blog this week.  The evenings are likely to be . . .

. . . like this . . .

. . . but, hopefully, not like this.

It's holiday!

As of now, I will look upon this as a chance to practise common sense amidst temptations!  :-)

I want to.  No one is making me, no plan is restraining me, I just don't feel 100% on top form after yesterday's indulgences and I want to feel my best so . . .  here we go!

I have brought salad fruit, chia and mixed seeds with me so I can do this.

However, I can't 100% guarantee so, if you think it might trigger you, I promise I will be right back on the Med/Slimming World meals on Saturday.

What I ate today  yesterday:

There aren't many photos as yesterday, travel day, was a bit chaotic and disorganised but. , ,

Breakfast at home was yogurt and fruit as usual.  No chia seeds though - I didn't want any repercussions while driving and one of the fruits was kiwi anyway.  The other fruits were an apple and an easy peeler.

I didn't really have lunch as such but, sadly, Beth had brought 'goodies' with her and we all dived in.  

Dinner.  Not exactly fine dining, is it?  Beth and Alex prepared pizza, garlic bread, sort of spicy cheesy ball things and various salady pots, all from M&S and it was very nice.

Oh - and wine.

No summaries this week - it will be too tricky, I think.

My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  yogurt and fruit

L:  we have leftovers.  There is some proper salad bits as well and the creamy mixtures so I can be sensible - and I WANT to be sensible too.

D:  a roast dinner (Beth's making it)

Exercise:  swimming and a walk

Sunday evening, 13-10-24

Good evening, everyone!  

What I ate today

Breakfast - an apple, a kiwi, a plum and an easy peeler

two syns for seeds, chia and mixed.

This may not be super Med but it was lovely and I took every bit of fat off the pork.

Three syns for evoo and one and a half for chutney.

I found some crumpet thins in the freezer and decided to call two of them a B (it really isn't but . . .), toast them, melt over some cheese and top with scrambled egg.

It was lovely.

One and a half As and sort of one B.

My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:   fruit, seeds and yogurt

L: Really not sure - I'll probably take a look in the Parc Market.

D:  pizza, salad; fruit
At Center Parcs - Beth's providing it and it's all nicely pre packaged and easy.

Exercise:  circuits and a good swim

Saturday evening, 12-10-24 and no extras!

Good evening, everyone!  

Here I am, home again after a day at the Ally Pally at a knitting and stitching show.  If  this doesn't appear until tomorrow morning, it is because the internet has just gone down and is refusing to come back up again, annoyingly.

Is it stretching things too far to say here's my strategy for keeping my mind and fingers occupied of an evening and out of the biscuit barrel (if I had a biscuit barrel, which I don't but you know what I mean)?

I forgot to tell you that I had a gaintain of one pound yesterday - still under my target so I'm fine with that.

What I ate today

It was all very muddled and mixed up today.  No SW values - I don't have a clue.

Breakfast was an apple (the core is hiding behind the easy peeler) and an easy peeler plus a most welcome coffee.

I didn't photo lunch because I was watching a tutorial thingy at the same time.  it was a cheese and chutney sandwich and a nutty bar kind of thing.

I was also all sugared out with mint humbugs.

Dinner at home and very nice it was too.

Proper back on track tomorrow after a few days of self indulgence.

My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit, yogurt and seeds

L:  posk steak, roasties and veg

D:  scrambled eggs on toast, side salad

Exercise: Plenty of up and down stairs, etc.

Friday evening, 11-10-24 and tip 4: enjoy your journey

Good evening, everyone!  

Sorry this is a sleep too late.  I was so very tired yesterday evening.

And I am out all day so there may or may not be one this evening.  I'll try but it depends on how tired I am.  :-)

What I ate today

This is what I took to taster - or, more accurately, this is what I brought home from taster and scoffed!!

They were lovely, as was all the other stuff people brought along.  I was very full . . .

No idea of syns so this will be an Eat-Your-Syns day -  has to be.

Below - a close up.

For lunch I made Eloise's parsnip and apple soup and it was delicious.  I used chicken stock, one shallot, one parsnip and one onion and seasoning was simple - salt and pepper with nutmeg grated on top.

One to do again and it was so, so simple.

Home made focaccia on the side.

The soup was syn free and the focaccia was most of a B.

I was so very tired come the evening (no idea why) that I just grabbed some fruit and a few (just a few) nuts and didn't take a photo.  

My meal plans for tomorrow:  I'm out all day on a coach trip so it's all a bit fingers crossed really.

B:  fruit

L:   cheese and chutney sandwich, some sort of bar; fruit

D:  something from the freezer.

Exercise: I'll be doing an awful lorra walking

The Extra Bit

Tip 4:  Enjoy your journey.

Just that.

It shouldn't be a trial or a tribulation.  If it is, you won't stick to it for long.  It's not about what you can't have, it is about all the amazing, delicious foods that you can have.

Again, it is personal.  It has been down to me to make my journey fun.  How?  Well . . . 

• SW group became a social occasion for me.  Lots of fun, lots of laughs.  I joined the social team and helped out - that was fun too and ensured that I went after a bad week.
• Starting to get fitter was fun - yes, it was, truly.  Lindsey makes things very enjoyable amidst all the puffing and panting.
• Cooking became fun because I researched recipes for my favourite ingredients, I quickly started a list of SW friendly recipes and meals that I really loved and I made sure that when I was planning, I only included things that gave me a sort of 'buzz'.  I used loads of colour, started setting my plate out attractively to make it look nicer, learned to change plans if, when it came to it, I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about a planned meal.  So my meals became enjoyable times, not sessions to get through quickly.
• I learned to look upon any perceived 'failure' and a learning opportunity and  the precursor to success.
• And I learned which foods really were not good for me; the foods that took me into a binge, the foods that I just had more and more of without feeling satisfied.  And - surprise, surprise, they turned out to almost exclusively be ultra processed foods.
• And I read up about things that helped (I love reading).  So, for example, after I read 'Ultra Processed People' I lost most of my liking for that sort of stuff because of what it was doing inside of me.  Suddenly, it lost its hold on me and I quickly learned to just not buy that sort of stuff and just use what was useful to me.  So I still use some bottled sauces, sweeteners, that sort of thing, but in small amounts.

I could go on but I'm sure you get the idea.  MAKE it fun, MAKE it enjoyable and you will want to continue.

Thursday evening, 10-10-24 and tip 3: recognise the need for change and be willing to change.

Good evening, everyone!  

I used up the last of a jar of beetroot this evening and was just about to chuck the vinegar away when I thought - would this make a nice salad dressing?
It would certainly make a very pink salad dressing but I haven't chucked the pickling vinegar as I usually so and I'm going to try making a small amount with evoo in the usual way and see.

Do you think that will work?

What I ate today:

Breakfast ended up as an apple, a pear and an easy peeler, eated on the run between coffee at a friends and going into town.  No photo, no syns!

The last of the quiche from last week,  I must make this again; feta is lovely in a quiche.

An easy peeler for dessert.

Half a healthy extra A

How I made this was . . .

I made a simple salad with leaves, tomato and yellow pepper with some of my salad dressing.
I roasted a small sweet potato in the air fryer, adding some shallot wedges half way through.

I had thawed a pot of mixed quinoa and puy lentils so I heated that up with some beetroot, added the roasted veg when it was done, mixed it all and tipped it onto the salad.  Finally, I added some bits of soft goat's cheese which went lovely and melty in the heat.

And that was that.  It was so good.

Afters was an apple.

Four syns for evoo in the dressing, two syns for evoo for roasting and one and a half healthy extra As (although, strictly speaking, soft goat's cheese is not an A, only hard goat's cheese)

Summary:

two healthy extra As

no healthy extra Bs

six syns

My meal plans for tomorrow:  It is Eat-Your-Syns- Friday but I think maybe I had that on Wednesday.  At the moment, I feel inclined to stick to plan so I'll see how I feel when the time comes.

B:  it's a taster at group so no idea.  I am taking pancake pennies with yogurt and strawberries to have on top.

L:  apple and parsnip soup, bread for dunking; fruit

D:  Not sure - perhaps steak, salad and chips.  I really fancy a steak.  Then either fruit or Fro Yo

Exercise:   personal training

The Extra Bit

Tip 3.  Be prepared FOR change and be willing TO change:

Someone once said something like:

If you always do what you've always done

You'll always get what you've always got.

I Googled it but it's not sure where it came from - the link to Henry Ford doesn't bear scrutiny, it seems, so who knows?

Anyway, whoever first said it in that way, isn't it just so very true?

Sometimes it seems to me that a considerable amount of weight loss success relies on our willingness to accept that change is necessary and that relies on us being honest with ourselves and reflective about who we are and what is holding us back and could be changed.

Assuming that we really want to - which takes us back to my previous tip regarding motivation.

It's also a journey in itself.  A decade or so ago, when change was ongoing in education, I was sent on a course entitled 'managing change'.  I can't remember many specifics now but I think I applied principles from it when I started me weight loss adventure.

First, analyse.  What is it that needs changing and why?  What is the problem/issue.  Be very specific, not general.  
Then select, prioritise.  What is most important right now.  You can't do it all at once (usually).

Thirdly, where do you want to get to - what do you want to achieve?  Identify your goal.

And then, the biggie - how?  Consider a strategy.  It might involve a bit of research - how did we manage before Google?

After a while, review.  Is it matching your lifestyle and environment?  Is it getting you where you want to be on your weight loss journey?  Is it working for you or are you working for it?   Are you satisfied?

Here's a personal example . . .

A while ago, I identified evening nibbling as a big issue that was damaging my weight loss.  

It wasn't that I was hungry exactly, it was an 'emotional habit'.  I 'needed' something sweet or savoury, high calorie and low nutrition each evening because that was what I was used to and I really wanted to break this habit more than any other eating behaviours that were bothering me

Coincidentally, I watched a podcast about Intermittent Fasting and was able to put the two together, realising that if it did the one, the other would stop.  I researched a bit more and was convinced that this was a healthy and helpful way for me to go.

So I started the 16-8 - that's sixteen hours of fasting and eight hours of eating window.  Because it was new, because I was convinced about it, the other stopped.  I started breakfast around eleven and finished my dinner by seven and that was that.  Something about the act of 'closing the window' satisfied me, finished my day and that broke the evening nibbling habit.
I still do it now, whenever it fits in with what I'm doing (which is almost always).  I'm happy with where it has taken me.

Anyway, the bottom line is that it really helps to firstly recognise and accept that some things need to change and secondly that change is down to you, it's your responsibility.
And mine . . . because . . .

If I always do what I've always done

I'll always get what I've always got.

Wednesday evening, 09-10-24 and oooops!!

Good evening morning,everyone!  

Confession time - slightly busy day, made busier because I kept sneaking in time to work on a rather addictive (at the moment) crochet project.  Ooops.  And then I was out in the evening for a meeting and when I got in I was just too tired . . .

So here I am this morning and there's no 'Extra Bit' at the end.  I will finish it and add it to this evenings blog post.

What I ate today

The usual fruit, yogurt and seeds.

Two syns for quite a lot of mixed seeds.

Later, I had a couple of easy peelers.

Main meal at lunchtime - salmon, bulgur wheat and mixed roasted veg - it was lovely.

Four syns for evoo in the roasted veg.

Later on I had an apple.

I had a school governors' meeting at six (which is why I had my main at lunchtime) and there were biscuits.  I had - ooops - three.

That was a mistake - I KNOW high sugar, ultra processed stuff like that sets me off.

So when I got home I went bonkers with the cheese and then with some raw mixed nuts.

However - time was when I would have gone straight over the road to Morrisons after the meeting ended and bought all sorts of junk to scoff until late.
I didn't - I didn't even want to.  And apart from the biscuits, it was relatively 'good for me' stuff.

This morning, I decided to be brave and work out the damage.

The biscuits were four syns each - twelve syns (I thought they would have been more).

The bread was a B - that was OK.

The cheese - probably three As - actually, that is within maintenance as I can have an extra A or B each day if I want.

One and a half syns for chutney

I truly have no idea of the nuts but you know what - I'm calling yesterday one of the two days to have double syns.  That makes me feel a lot better.

Summary:

three healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

up to thirty syns.

So no guilt, no self recriminations, no punishing myself.  It is what it is and it was OK.  And did I enjoy the food - well, my insides may feel a bit 'heavy' this morning (the nuts, I suspect) but, yes, I did.  

My meal plans for tomorrow today:

B:  fruit, yogurt and seeds

L: crustless quiche, tomatoes, mushrooms; fruit

D:  puy lentils with sweet potato and goat's cheese; fruit

Exercise: a walk

Tuesday evening, 08-10-24 and tip 2 - plan, plan, plan

Good evening, everyone!  

What I ate today

I decided to turn the breakfast ingredients into a smoothie using 0% Greek yogurt, 20g oats, some frozen peach and nectarine slices, one banana, some seeds and some 'sprinkle' topping.

Chia seeds were blended with the yogurt, the fruit and the oats and some skinny syrup and then I popped the smoothie into the fridge.  After a short while it thickened really nicely.  When I was ready, I added the mixed seeds and the sprinkle.

One healthy extra B for oats and seeds and half a syn for the sprinkle (it's probably not even that but, to be on the safe side . . .

Later on, I had an apple.

Now that's a better colour!  Quiche from the freezer and a lovely mixed salad.

Half a healthy extra A for cheese in the quiche and four syns for some salad dressing;

Later afternoon I enjoyed a plum and a pear

And finally, for dinner, a penne arrabbiata using one of the portions of sausage casserole with some added yellow pepper and mushrooms plus some chilli flakes for a pleasant, tickle-on-the-tongue hum of chilli.

Then I had a pear - after remaining rock hard for over a week, they're all going soft together - you know what pears are like!  They're not all that tasty either - maybe stewing them with a bit of spice might make them a bit nicer.  What do you think?

One healthy extra A, three syns for the casserole and two syns for evoo.

Summary:

one and a half healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

nine and a half syns

My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit, yogurt and seeds 

L:   salmon, bulgur wheat and salad; fruit

D:  cheese and chutney toastie and salad

Exercise: Circuits (instead of Monday which I had to miss - personal training is on Friday)

The Extra Bit

The second tip that helped me because I am that sort of person is . . .

2.  Plan, plan, plan (and prep)!

I was a teacher for most of my adult life apart from a break to start a family.  In that time I must have spent the equivalent of years producing lesson plans, medium term plans, long term plans, assessment plans - you name it, we had to plan for it in the last ten years or so of my career.

And then I did a bit of after school private tuition and, yes, I planned for that in considerable detail; because that's what I was used to.

So, when I started Slimming World, it came naturally to me to plan.  We were expected to at first and hand in our diaries so Jen could see where (or if) we were misunderstanding anything.

At first I created very detailed weekly plans, based my shopping list on what |I needed for those plans and generally had everything totally stitched up.
Not everyone's cuppa diet coke, I know, but it worked.  Believe me - it worked!!

As I got to know the plan, I did ease off after a while, but I still have a general idea of what I'm having each day from Saturday to the following Friday (group meets on Friday) and I still write my shopping list after I have planned.  That little habit has saved me a small fortune over the past few years.

I keep a planning sheet template on my PC.  Works for me.

After all, you know that saying . . . 

IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU PLAN TO FAIL

Running along side of that is preparation.
Because I know what I'm eating for the day and because I'm an early bird, I spend the first fifteen minutes or so of each day prepping as much as I can, getting stuff out of the freezer, etc., because I know that if the food is ready and as prepped as possible, that's what I will have.  I won't take any diversions into less healthy byways.

I know this level of detail is not for everyone and I do have flexibility too but I do think that, if you want to win at this weight loss/healthy lifestyle game, some sort of planning is essential.  Make it work for you and it's one of the best tools anyone could have.  

A confession - I still have bad dreams about being observed by Senior Management or OFSTED and I HAVEN'T PLANNED MY LESSON!! - sad, isn't it?  😆😁😉

No, it never happened in Real Life - thank goodness.