Saturday, 26-09-20 - Eat From The Freezer day six

 Morning!
As you might have noticed, I have stopped giving calories for now.  It's impossible at the moment while I am eating old home made 'ready' meals from the freezer as I really can't remember what I put in them and how much.  Just about everything is labelled with the SW values and that's really what I need.

What have I learnt/gained? 
Well, in one way, not much, because I don't think I experienced anything really new.  It was the uncertainty about how many actual calories I was consuming in a 'free food' system that started me counting and it has certainly helped me to get a more sensible balance into my day's eating.  It reinforced that when I have the classic 'carbs' (rice, bread, pasta, etc), I really ought to measure out small portions and to have the wholemeal/grain versions.  The calories aren't that different but I feel I am gaining some kind of nutritional value from them.  Also, I like them better - they're more satisfying and more filling so I don't need as much before I feel I have had enough.
Fats, the other higher calorie thing, are already self limiting for health reasons so, thankfully, they are not the ongoing 'problem' nowadays that they have been in the past.

I'm really glad I went into calories in more detail for a time.  The specific knowledge gained is helping me a lot now and I do still check things in WLR, I just don't report them in here very much.

So for now the focus seems to be on lean protein, lots of fruit and veg and smaller, sensible amounts of more healthy carbs and fats which I measure out very carefully.  I prefer to use any syns on protein snacks or healthy extras, not chocolate and crisps, which can only be a Good Thing.  Almost always, that is - there will be times . . . 

Yesterday's meal photos:

Fluffy wholewheat pancakes with some 'breakfast fruit' from the freezer and no syrup/nectar added.  Lovely and filling.

I changed lunch slightly.  I was going to have a fish finger salad wrap but I remembered I had some chargrilled chicken in the fridge that needed using, so I did!

I can have fish fingers another day.

Dinner.  The steak wasn't as big as it looks because I battered it out to thin (cooks faster for a start) but it was the perfect amount really.  The salad was naked and I thing the naughtiest thing in the whole meal was the burger sauce at two and a half syns!

Today's meal plans:

B:  breakfast bake
This is sausage, bacon, beans, mushrooms and tomatoes, all cooked and mixed together, with actifried potato cubes on top, popped in the oven to finish and heat to piping hot.  SP it ain't!
SW:  half a syn for the Aldi skinny sausage and two syns for one tsp of oil for the actifry

L:  cheesy beans on toast; fruit
This is partly to use up the beans and partly because I can feel the 'need' for more comforting meals as the days get shorter, the nights get longer and, generally, the temperatures drop.
SW:  one healthy extra A for 30g grated cheese, half of another A for two wedges of Laughing Cow light to spread on the toast and one B for 2 slices of wholemeal bread

D:  an Aldi lamb shank, new potatoes, broccoli, sprouts, maybe some green beans; yogurt or kvarg
I do love the Aldi lamb shanks, cooked from frozen and giving not only a very decent portion of lamb (remove all the fat though) but also a tasty gravy to pour over the veg for no more syns.
SW:  two and a half syns for the lamb shank and half a syn for the dessert.  The rest is speed or free

BM:  not sure, maybe just a little walk.

Summary:
one and a half healthy extra As and one B
five syns