Thursday, 14-12-23: Christmas Challenge

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to my maintaining on Slimming World blog where I talk about the meals I enjoy while maintaining my target weight and keeping a healthy balanced diet.

Through December, I am going to try to incorporate as much Christmas themed food as possible while still following SW guidelines (mostly) and remaining within my target range.

I'm hoping to eat normally today, fingers crossed.  I'm really missing my vegetables now.

Yesterday's meal photos:

I had an apple late morning - no photo.

Lunch was three eggs, scrambled with some Just Spices scrambled egg seasoning.  Very nice but I could only manage about two eggs' worth.  Oh, well, better some than nothing at all.

I had this for dinner.  A very delicious balsamic beef casserole from the wonderful Slimming Eats site.  I didn't thicken the gravy apart from dusting the beef in flour so minimal syns.  I know it looks remarkably like a dog's dinner but it was very delicious indeed and would look fine with mash and veg and the gravy in a jug.  My tum wasn't quite up to that though.  😊

I finished off with one easy peeler - I wasn't sure but it was fine, no repercussions.

Today has been OK.

Today's meal plans:

B:  fruit 🎄

Chris (opposite house to mine) is over for our weekly coffee and chat and we have this little tradition of offering a few edibles just before Christmas - usually is it just coffee.  Last week, she had mince pies and chocolate so this week I have some nice fruit - grapes, easy peelers, that sort of thing.

SW:  syn free

L:  soup, croutons; fruit

I have to check on the freezer to see what I have there but it won't have many syns, if any at all.

SW:  one healthy extra B for the croutons

D:  cranberry and chestnut falafels 🎄, loadsa veg; fruit   

The falafels are from the freezer.

SW:  three and a half syns for five falafels

Exercise:   maybe something online depending on how 'strong' I feel

Summary:

no healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

three and a half syns

For information:

The Slimming World structure:

While following the plan, you can have . . .

Any amount of speed and free food - BUT try to have a third of your plate as speed food as a sub for free food, NOT as well as . . .  Eat to satisfaction, not to stuffed-ness!

Two healthy extra As (calcium) and one healthy extra B (fibre) - details in the SW pack and on the SW web site/app.

Between five and fifteen syns-worth of synned food - again, details in the pack, site and app.  They are a limit to stay within, not a target to hit.

As a target member, I can also have . . .

Another two healthy extras each day
Another fifteen syns up to three times each week

BUT - only if I need/want to.  It's a limit, not a target

. . . with the ultimate aim of not needing to count healthy extras, syns, etc at all but just knowing and eating well instinctively.