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.