Friday 22 January 2021

Friday, 22-01-21

 Good morning!
The weigh in was fine and I though I'd make use of this little plaque to announce my results from here on.


Phew!
The Zoom meeting was fun   I do like these online arrangements - it makes such a difference to see others and chat to them.  Lockdown would be very tough without them.

I find myself falling into a new pattern of planning nowadays.  No longer do I plan for the whole week; instead, I plan the day before, as I find that often I think 'I really fancy x,y or z' and this way I can put it down straight away for the following day.  It also helps that I have an up to date list of everything in the chest freezer to add to the fridge and cupboard stores so I know what is possible.  No nipping round the corner to Morrisons for one or two things at the moment, is there.
Within that, my 'fancy' is almost always lunch or dinner, I get those two planned and see what I have left for breakfast in the way of the healthy extras.  I always feel slightly 'guilty' when I don't have enough healthy extras because - well, calcium and fibre, necessary things.  Guilty, perhaps, isn't the right word, maybe concerned is a much better term because I'm finding that generally the Slimming World structure makes for less guilt and more freedom of choice within what I, personally, consider a healthy approach.  And 'healthy approach' is one of the things that really matter to me.

How do you do your planning?

Yesterday's photos:

This was nice - strawberries, banana and lychees and I added a bit of butterscotch syrup to the yogurt.



It was very much worth using both As as cheese in the toasties for lunch and 'buying' a bit of extra milk for cuppas with my syns.


I never thought I'd say this but - too many chips.  Not in the SW sense but in the sense of balancing amounts for the palate sense.  Something to remember.
I'd planned to have peas but changed my mind, remembering the garden grown corn on the cobs I have in the freezer.  Two left now!  I wrapped it in foil and baked it alongside the salmon and it was great.  I never have butter - I like it better without.


Today's meal plans:

B:  bacon and tomato omelette; fruit
Not a folded one today, just a fold over one and I will add either some bbq sauce or some brown sauce for either one or two syns.
SW:  up to two syns

L:  chicken, ham and mushroom risotto; fruit
This is a Pinch of Nom recipe and, like all SW friendly risotto recipes, it has been 'optimised' so no wine, no butter and not so much cheese.  That's OK by me.  What attracted me to this particular one was that it has a Thermomix method alongside the pan method which means I can bung everything in and leave it to stir away as it cooks.  Must remember to use reverse or it will chop everything to pieces!
A nice thing about Pinch of Nom recipes is that you can change the portion amounts and the ingredients also change accordingly.  So useful when it's just one, even though some amounts are rather daft - 0,1 of an onion, anyone?
SW:  half a healthy extra B for some not-Parmesan

D:  cheeseburger, parsnip fries, salad; yogurt
You HAVE to have chips with a burger, don't you, so I looked up the respective calories of parsnips and potatoes (I like both) and parsnips won by twenty calories per 100g.  Not a huge number in the wider scheme of things but I'd like to lose two pounds this week so where I can reasonably save, it makes sense to do so.
SW:  one healthy extra A for cheese, one B for a wholemeal roll, I will use spray oil for the parsnips, two syns for a bit of burger sauce (made with half a tbsp each of mustard ketchup, mayo and tomato puree), half a syn for dessert

Body Magic:  step, balance and boing!!

Summary:
two healthy extra As (the other half is 125 mls milk for cuppas)
one healthy extra B
four and a half syns



14 comments:

  1. Hello Joy, I like your little plaque, cute. I usually plan our evening dinner for the week, based first on what I have in, then see if I need anything else although as you say popping to the shops is not fully on the agenda at the moment! I don't plan far ahead for lunch and breakfast although I might think what breakfast will be the night before, it's usually based around eggs, porridge, fruit, yogurt often a slice of toast. Treated ourselves to smashed avocado and poached eggs on toast this week with cherry toms, it was lovely and I thought very healthy,synned the avo and thoroughly enjoyed it because it's not a regular indulgence. I wouldn't worry too much if you sometimes don't have your healthy extras as from the food it looks like you eat is varied enough to have those vitamins you'd be missing. Dark leafy greens have lots of calcium and I think some tinned oily fish have vitamin D I think. I've just slipped out of my bubble by a lb so had to pay this week but I think I'm on the way down again, my Zoom is Tuesday evenings. Looking forward to drier weather to be able to get on the allotment again, it's like the Somme up there. In need of that exercise. Enjoy your week x

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    1. What a lovely long comment. I'm sure you will get back there by Tuesday and that will feel great. I know I am looking forward to it. The avocado breakfast sounds absolutely lovely.

      I saw a plaque a bit like that on one of the vlogs I watch and looked for one on Amazon. I will definitely use it, I like it very much and it's helping to see just how far I have come - it's a great motivation.

      I know what you mean about variety but at my age calcium becomes quite important and if I don't have enough fibre there are - er - unwanted repercussions down below! ;-)
      I just wish I liked spinach more.
      xx

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    2. Supper last night was SW pesto pasta. Have you ever tried that? It's basis is mixed watercress, spinach and rocket, and generous amount of fresh basil, raw and chopped finely in a processor and mixed with fat free fromage frais, some garlic, chilli if you want, stirred through your hot drained pasta. I do enjoy spinach etc but I don't think you'd know once it's chopped. I couldn't get from frais so I used lowest fat Philadelphia. I'm 64 and had breast cancer ears ago so after that treatment I should have plenty if calcium. Must say I love my cheese, easy to scoff way too much if I don't take care.
      Re the long reply, I haven't been commenting much lately but I feel like I'm talking to a good friend when I do x

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    3. That is such a lovely thing to say, thank you. I truly wasn't complaining, quite the opposite. :-) xxx
      I must look up that recipe and be brave at some point. I like watercress and yogurt, it's just spinach - and I'm not terribly fond of kale either. There's not much I don't like though.
      xx

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  2. I'm so pleased for you Joy, 3lbs off is fantastic. Oddly enough, years ago I wouldn't have touched dark leafy greens...most veg in fact...with a barge pole. Now I like lots of veg, and have only recently discovered I do like dark leafy greens! I steam/stir-fry them in a very little water with a knob of butter and the lid on the pan. Xx

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    1. Thanks, Sooze. I love green cabbage and sprouts and am happy to boil them. I must, as I said just above, be brave at some point and have another go.
      xx

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  3. I only ever plan for a couple of days or so. Even then, I only plan dinner and it's more of an 'idea' than a definite. I might have three things in mind and know that I'll have those over the next three days but not in which order. It's all to do with what I fancy.

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    1. That's right. I did plan rigidly at first and it helped me to really get used to the structure but after a while it felt quite restrictive and there were things that I fancied seven days before that lost their appeal after a while. I can't imagine not planning at all - I've always done that, starting the day with quite a clear ideas of the meals for the day, even when I was 87 (and more) pounds heavier! :-)
      We're lucky to be able to do that, aren't we - to have those choices.
      xx

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  4. I'm planning for a month at a time, just because it makes the shopping side of things much easier when I am relying on supermarket deliveries. However, I want to change things round so am currently puzzling out how I can achieve this while still relying on deliveries.

    I've discovered some good vegetarian recipes on Youtube and ordered the cookbook - Doctor's Kitchen 3-2-1, where each recipe has 3 portions of fruit/veg, is enough for 2 people so 2 meals for me, and is cooked in 1 pan. Once I've got myself organised I will be trying these recipes but I need to work out how to have a supply of fresh veg here without needing to risk the local shops.

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    1. Do you have anywhere local that does deliveries? I don't mean a supermarket delivery, something smaller.
      The book sounds really good.
      xx

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    2. I'm going to try a couple of the farm shops.

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    3. That sounds positive. Hopefully, you will find one that suits.
      xx

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  5. Lychees always make me think I am eating eyeballs.

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