Sunday evening, 20-10-24 and principles and guidelines, not rules.

Good evening, everyone!  

It is really so very good to be back eating in the way I enjoy the most.  It was nice to make a few changes while I was away but I feel so much better inside (despite the vaccination aches) now I'm back on the Mediterranean way.

I'm feeling a bit nervous about getting on those scales tomorrow but, as I always say, better to know than to worry about what it might be.  Fingers crossed, eh?  x

What I ate today

I decided I really fancied hot fruit with my yogurt so I simmered three plums and an apple.  I didn't add any sweet spice but it would be nice, maybe when I do my Blogmas posts.

Part of a healthy extra B for seeds  I don't syn cooked fruit.  My decision but remember that SW says that you should.  I just apply common sense!

(see below in The Extra Bit)

A very delicious roast beef dinner.  All very SW friendly apart from on tsp horseradish which was one syn, and the evoo which was two syns

Dessert was an orange and a pear.

This was a throw everything in salad.

Leaves, yellow pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, the rest of the beef cut into cubes, leftovers of roasted sweet potato, parsnip and onion all cubed, some seeds, some h m croutons and some salad dressing made with toasted sesame oil which is as heart healthy as evoo.  I had a zested orange so I segmented that too.  It was so good.

Four syns for the dressing, and the croutons and seeds plus the breakfast seeds came to one healthy extra B in total.

Summary:

no healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

seven syns

My meal plans for tomorrow:

B:  fruit, yogurt and seeds

L: bean and barley soup; fruit

D:  spicy chicken fajitas with salad

A pared down version but yummy!

Exercise:  circuits

The Extra Bit

Tip no. 5:  principles and guidelines, not rules

After all, they say 'rules were made to be broken' and when you think about why you break a rule, it is often full of issues and attitudes that really don't help with a weight loss/get healthy journey (the two go together in my book!).

Why do we break a rule?

It might be because we think it is silly or unnecessary in some way or perhaps it seems just plain wrong.

It might be because you don't like being told what you can/can't do or how you have to behave.  It's a form of rebellion.

It might be that we think it just doesn't apply to us.

I'm sure you can think of other reasons.
They are often for negative reasons, not positive ones and that can be quite unhelpful and self-damaging.

Some rules, of course, are non negotiable.  It's wrong to steal, to murder, to lie to get someone into trouble, to be deliberately unkind, to break the rules of the road.  (I think, anyway)  We need some rules for our own well being and security and for the smooth functioning of the society we live in.

Maybe some rules do need to be challenged though - otherwise how would we move on and improve or develop?  Think back to a hundred/two hundred years ago - we really wouldn't want to be following those same rules nowadays, would we?

However, when it comes to following a 'plan' or a style of eating, it can get a bit more foggy.  One person's rule is another person's guideline and I like that because, really, this is how you make any way of healthy eating work for you rather than the other way round.

Personally, I prefer to think in terms of guidelines and principles and I stick with Slimming World because it is easy to personalise within the basic  structure of free, speed, healthy extras and syns (still dislike that last term, mind you!).

I'm not an obedient SW girl - I don't syns things SW says I should because I have cooked or blended them, I count wholemeal flour as a healthy extra B (which it isn't really), I think the whole concept of 'tweaks' is rather silly - but then I try not to snack on anything other than fruit and vegetables.  Usually!  :-)

I ask why at group.  I argue at times.  Yes, I can be a perfect pain!

Just a work of warning though - in this context, going against a rule or guideline is OK as long as you have thought it through properly and know WHY.  

'I just fancied it' or 'because I wanted to' are not necessarily good reasons.
Be mindful, research, work out your reasons, analyse the outcomes, be prepared to change your mind if necessary, take your time and think in terms of guidelines and principles rather than hard and fast rules and you will be OK.