Tuesday, 24-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

Happily, I did manage to do Groove today.  Leonie very kindly managed to get my start time changed so I was able to drive there, do the class, freshen up and get to the demo in plenty of time.  Excellent.

And I am still doing OK with the two meals a day.

What I have eaten today:

Lunch was out at a Thermomix 07 demo.  Leonie cooked a chicken, pepper and mushroom risotto and then we had it for lunch.  Delicious but no photo.  However, I brought two portions home with me, one for tomorrow and one for the freezer so there should be a photo tomorrow.  I can syn it because I know exactly what went into it and it was two syns for evoo.  The rest was all free/protein/speed.

I came home again and made some seed crackers.  Because they are home cooked and I know what's in them, I am going to count what I ate as a healthy extra B and three syns.

This was dinner - the rest of the tortilla with a few salad bits on the side.

One A for cheese and that's it.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

three syns

Tomorrow's plans:

Br:   egg and bacon muffin with tomatoes and mushrooms.  Definitely a brunch today!

D:  It was going to be a pasta bake but not it is chicken, peppers and mushroom risotto with a salad on the side.

Exercise:   I have two classes - circuits changed from Monday and personal training in the afternoon.

Monday, 23-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

In the end, I went for chicken, chutney and cheese quesadillas with a salad and it was very nice.

One healthy extra A, one healthy extra B, one syn for chutney, one syn for salad cream and one and a half syns for mixed seeds.

Afters was an apple and an orange

I used my roast dinner leftovers to make a sort of Spanish tortilla.

One healthy extra A, one and a half syns for mixed seeds and three syns for evoo in the dressing. 

For afters, I had the rest of the raspberries with yogurt and more seeds

One syn for the seeds.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

nine syns

Tomorrow's plans:

Br:   Not sure as I am out to a Thermomix demo and they cook for us to eat!

D:  the other half of the Spanish tortilla with veg or salad veg; fruit

Exercise:   Groove

Sunday, 22-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

I have to show these - the first fruits from my blueberry bush.  It's a good year for them - it is absolutely loaded with fruit, more than it ever has been before.
It's lucky blueberries are a speed fruit.

At this time of year, I find a quick wander round my garden first thing in the morning grounds me for the day, if you know what I mean.  There's something about seeing vegetables, fruit and flowers grow that is deeply sustaining.

Do you find that or maybe that's just me!!

What I have eaten today:

This was the roast dinner for four.  I put the dishes on the table in a bit of a hurry so it looks rather untidy but it all tasted great.  And there's enough left over for at least one more meal, more in the case of the chicken.

I didn't syn things so have no idea but it won't have taken me out of a calorie deficit.

No As or Bs.

Maple bacon pancakes - very delicious - with blueberries from the garden and tomatoes.  It doesn't look much but it was very satisfying.

half a healthy extra B for the pancakes and two syns for the maple syrup

I don't normally show desserts because it is usually just a piece of fruit but my lovely friend and neighbour, Chris, bough me some that she had picked in her garden.  I had them with yogurt and a tbsp that fruit coulis I won in the SW raffle a few weeks ago.

One and a half syns.

Summary:

no healthy extra As

half a healthy extra B

known syns three and a half plus whatever dinner was - the cranberry sauce and one titchy [pig in a blanket.
I won't be over syns.

Tomorrow's plans:

Br:  croque madame (from the new book), side salad; fruit

D:  leftovers from today's roast, one way or another; fruit

Exercise:  I can't go to circuits tomorrow morning but I can access something of Lindsey's online later on.

Saturday, 21-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

In the winter, I really miss the insulative (is that even a word?) qualities that my overweighness used to give me.  I really didn't feel the cold at all.  Now - totally different; as soon as the temperature drops, out come the layers!

However, come the warmer weather, which used to be absolute purgatory for me, I am loving it.  Nice and warm but not over-hot unless it is very humid.  The fans help, of course, but I had fans before.

It's a lot easier to put on the layers and warm up than to cool down once we are overheating, isn't it?  Especially in this weather.

I must remember this come the colder weather again!  Positive is always good!

What I have eaten today:

More of the sausage, bacon and bean casserole.  I added some water and cooked the bulgur wheat in with the casserole instead of rehydrating it separately.  With some chilli flakes and cheese on top it was delish.

One healthy extra A, one syn for the casserole (smaller portion that yesterday's) and half a syn for salad dressing.

Afters was some strawberries and yogurt with strawberry chia sauce on top.  Half a syn for the chia seeds.

A bit later on, I had my healthy B in the form of some marmite on toast.  Very tasty!

I will make this gunpowder chicken again; it was so easy and so flavoursome.

I made the coleslaw yesterday - one syn for seeds and one syn for salad cream.

I finished off the strawberry chia sauce - half a syn.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

four and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:  

D:  roast chicken dinner - chicken, stuffing, roasties, roasted peppers and onions, broccoli, carrots, cranberry sauce, gravy

(I won't have all the trimmings)

T:  maple bacon pancakes, maybe leftover veg from lunch; fruit

I haven't bought bacon in an age but treated myself to some good (i.e. more expensive) bacon on Friday and it has to be used.  Not terribly Med. friendly but works with SW.

Exercise:  a yoga video from YouTube, maybe a walking one as well.  I'll see how much time I have got.

Friday, 20-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

After a few days, I am really liking the two meals a day thingy.  That probably won't last for ever but it's good while it lasts and I really don't feel it is any hardship.

Another thing I am liking is the new SW recipe book I got this morning - Street Food.  It has some great looking recipes which you will probably see in here soon.

Changing things around from time to time really helps.

What I have eaten today:

To make the shredded chicken, I threw together a sauce of soy sauce, oyster sauce, mirin, maple syrup and a dash of balsamic vinegar, wrapped half a chicken breast fillet in foil with the sauce and slow baked it in Nellie (i.e. on bake for about 25mins at 150).  I let it cool and then shredded the chicken into what remained of the sauce.  Very tasty.

Thanks to Nicky in a Vlog for the idea.  I forgot the chilli though - ooops!

One healthy extra B, three syns for the sauce, one syn for mixed seeds in the coleslaw and one syn for salad cream in ditto.

I had a few strawberries for afters

The sausage, bacon and bean casserole was super delicious and all made up.

Ages ago, I tried the heck sausage 'rashers', didn't like them and froze the remaining two rather than chuck them.  Interestingly, they were really much nicer in the casserole with a whole range of veg, some bacon, some cannellini beans and spiced with sumac, garlic, chicken stock powder, tomato and Szechuan pepper.  I had it with posh rice, as you can see and there's two smaller portions left.  

Totally delish.

One syns for evoo and that's it.

Edit:  no it isn't, there's one syn for the sausage slices

Afterwards I had some yogurt with chia strawberry sauce (made from some strawberries that had gone mushy) and it was lovely.  One syn for the seeds.

Summary:

no healthy extra As

one healthy extra B 

seven eight syns

Tomorrow's plans:

Br:  I'm having another portion of the casserole with some chilli flakes added and cheese on top, salad; fruit

D:  hm burger of some kind, salad, coleslaw, chips; fruit

Edit:  changed to gunpowder chicken nuggets from the new book, p 22.

Exercise:  yoga and, maybe, SET, depending on how quickly I get up.

Thursday, 19-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

I'm feeling so much better now I am back on the healthy, mostly unprocessed or minimally processed foods.  I know it isn't rocket science I've noticed that I go for the rubbish when I am down for some other reason and, when I do, it just feeds the down-ness and makes it worse.  But I still fall for it every time.  Ho hum, I really need to find a way out, don't I?  

Any ideas?  

What I have eaten today:

Brunch today.  I added some balsamic glaze to vegetables (very nice indeed) and it's toast under the egg.

Two syns for some evoo, one syn for the glaze and one healthy extra B.

This was dinner - summer carbonara with a salad.  The salad was all speed and there's one healthy extra A plus one syn for mixed seeds in the carbonara.

As I had an egg white (from the carbonara), I made my Frozen Fruit Foam using mango and some frozen apple slices.  Really nice and very refreshing.

And syn free because I don't syn blended fruit.

Here the link to the recipe.  https://my30-30challenge.blogspot.com/2021/03/recipe-frozen-fruit-foam.html

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

four syns

Tomorrow's plans:

Br:  shredded chicken wrap, salad, coleslaw; fruit

Thank you, Nicky in a Vlog, for the inspiration for this.

D:  sausage and white bean casserole, mixed rice; fruit
I found this in the SW magazine and am adapting it to work with what I have got.

Exercise:   walk to SW group and back, YouTube Yoga.

Wednesday, 18-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

Sorry about yesterday.  It was One of Those Days, busy, busy, and I lost it in the evening.
I did take a photo of lunch and here it is.  

I don't feel great, mentally, about yesterday evening but it's too late for recriminations, I move on and try to learn (again)!

I have noticed that my tum seems to go on me after I have had cheese.  Not cheese in a meal, a 'nibble' of cheese on its own.  Must keep an eye on that . . .

What I have eaten today:

I decided that if I am moving more to two meals a day, I must make them count.  

So for brunch I opened a can of sardines in tomato sauce and blitzed it with a bit of salad cream and served it like this.

Half a syn for the salad cream

Dessert was a peach.

I finally got round to having the chilli beans in a wrap basket and it was delicious.

One A for the cheese, one healthy extra B for the wrap used to make the basket.

I had an apple and an orange for pud.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

half a syn

Tomorrow's plans:

Br:    egg on toast with tomatoes and mushrooms; fruit

D:     summer carbonara, side salad; fruit

Exercise:   the 'strike' part of SET in the morning and groove in the afternoon.  

Monday, 16-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

I wondered if today would be difficult after yesterday's fasting but it really wasn't, if anything it was easier than usual.

And I really appreciated my fruit and veg.

And my tum seems to have settled.

What I have eaten today:

Before circuits, I had two apples for some energy.
I had sourdough discard overflowing from the jar so I used some of it to make pancakes, not crepes this time but the more solid, risen ones.
I ended up with nineteen (at one syn each or half a B for three - more or less) so, to make it handy for having three at a time, I tested one of them (very nice) for part of a B - see below.

This salad was really lovely; lettuce, tomato, cucumber, baby corn, pepper and carrot plus beetroot, black olives, feta and some balsamic glaze.

One A, half a B (with the pancake) for the seeds, one and a half syns for the glaze and one and a half for the olives.

Afters was an orange.

I made a batch of bean and lentil chilli - four for the freezer, one for this evening and one for tomorrow.
Packed with good stuff, it was lovely - olive oil, onion, peppers, mushrooms, peas, broad beans, sweetcorn, cans of chopped tomato, tomato puree, black beans and kidney beans plus some green lentils (cooked from dried) and seasonings - salt, pepper, garlic, smoked sweet paprika, normal paprika, cumin, dries coriander and chilli flakes.  Oh, and some vegetable bouillon powder and water.

This is why it had to be a batch, not a single portion.

With it, as you can see, I had bulgur wheat and a simple salad plus some Greek yogurt.

Very tasty, very filling and one syn (for the oil).

Summary:

one healthy extra A

half a healthy extra B

four syns

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit

L:  three pancakes with a sort of pizza like topping, salad; fruit

D:  bean and lentil chilli in a basket, salad; fruit

Exercise:  Groove and a walk, possibly a bit of basic yoga

Sunday, 15-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

It's been a fast day for most of today; I just had one meal this evening.  Hopefully it has settled things nicely.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be and showed me that a lot of my nibbling is pure habit, not hunger at all.  At times I wanted to eat something but not because I was at all hungry; I was actually craving a cold, juicy apple!  I did miss fruit.  Interesting.  

I'm just wondering whether to do this from time to time anyway or two meals in the day.  Hmmmmm.

This is how I broke the fast.  Eggs on sourdough toast with a simple salad on the side.

I had an apple and a plum afterwards.

Summary:

no healthy extra As

one and a half healthy extra Bs (toast and seeds)

four syns for some hm salad dressing.

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit and yogurt

L:  feta and olive salad; fruit

D:  black bean and veg chilli with bulgur wheat; fruit

Exercise:  circuits

Saturday, 14-06-25 and crunchy chick peas

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

I had an apple before the walk and these when I got home again.

Syn free

A sort of Caesar salad using what I had.

The tomatoes, baby corn, cucumber, peppers and lettuce were all speed, the chicken and crunchy chick peas (recipe down below) were free foods, the lighter Caesar dressing was two and a half syns and the olives one and a half syns.

Dinner was lovely - the chickpea (I've been calling it bean but it is chickpea) and feta burger went nicely in a bagel with some chutney and some lettuce.

One B for the bagel, half an A and one and a half syns for the burger, one and a half for the chutney and one for the salad cream in the coleslaw.

Summary:
half a healthy extra A
one healthy extra B
eight syns

Tomorrow's plans:

Not trying to be controversial here but my tum has been - unsettled is perhaps the best was to describe it so I am going to fast today, having a light meal in the evening, if wanted (I bet it will be).

I will have plenty of water, of course, and also I count black coffee and tea.

One day won't hurt and, hopefully, it will help lots.

D: soup, perhaps, or something egg based.

Exercise:   Rest day

Crunchy chickpeas

Ingredients for one

cooked chickpeas, well dried (don't make loads, just a sensible portion - see below regarding tweaks)
one tsp avocado oil (two syns) - I used avo because it has a high roasting point

salt

any other spices you fancy

and an air fryer

Method:

Make sure the chickpeas are properly drained and dried (if canned).

Pop them in a small poly bag, add the oil and give it a big squidge round.
Sprinkle over some salt.

Air fry at around 170/180 ish for 20 mins, shaking every five minutes and checking - they might be proper crunchy earlier.

When done, tip into a bowl, add whatever spice you fancy (I didn't, I just had the salt) and mix it in.

Enjoy hot or cold.

Two syns for the oil

About tweaks

When it comes to syns, strictly speaking they should be considered a 'tweak.  This is what SW says about tweaks:

‘Tweaks’ is the term we use when a Free Food is used as a replacement for a high-Syn ingredient, for example – lasagne sheets turned into ‘crisps’. Tweaks could easily sabotage your weight loss success, so it’s good to be aware of them.

What makes something a ‘tweak’?

If it’s made from Free Food, why does it impact our weight loss? Slimming World’s Emily Young, a registered nutritionist, explains:

‘By changing the way a Free Food is intended to be used or cooked, we change the way we eat it, the way it fills us up (or doesn’t!) – and, as a result, the amount we consume.

It specifically mentions chickpeas.

Chickpea ‘peanuts’: Made by roasting or air frying chickpeas until they’re crunchy like nuts – and we all know how moreish they can be! Cooked this way, the chickpeas lose their water content and shrink in size, making it easy to polish off a whole can in one or two handfuls.

However, I didn't have them as a snack, I didn't make a large amount and dip into them randomly, I just cooked the amount needed and ate it as part of protein meal, synning the oil.  So, to me, it is not a tweak.

But, as with all my work arounds, please make up your own mind.

Friday, 13-06-25 - evening

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

After a serious talk with myself . . .

One day at a time.

One meal at a time.

Fingers crossed . . .

What I have eaten today:

Two discard pancakes from the freezer, a few grapes, strawberries and apple all chopped up, some 0% Greek yogurt and some sweetener.

The drizzle is some Tesco finest red berry coulis, won in this morning's raffle and one and a half syns per level tbsp.

Beans on toast for lunch followed by mango and pineapple yogurt semi-freddo made my grandson Alex.

One healthy extra B and one syn for two tsps of the coulis on the dessert.

Later on, I had six synsworth of mixed nuts.

Penne arrabbiata - sort of.

Three syns for some Philly light and two syns for some evoo.

No room for dessert.

Summary:

no healthy extra As

one healthy extra B
thirteen and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit and yogurt

L:  chicken Caesar salad; fruit

D:  bean and feta burger in bagel, salad, maybe chips; fruit

Exercise:   walk

Friday, 13-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

Morning - sorry about the missing posts.  It's not been good, these last few days, and the weight is coming back on again.  Help!!!

Instead of the usual, what I have eaten . . . etc, some photos of the more sensible choices of meals over the last two days:

Today's plans:

B:  pancake, fruit and yogurt

L:  beans on toast; fruit

D:  chicken penne arrabbiata; fruit

Exercise:  rest day - it has been a pretty energetic week.

Tuesday, 10-06-25

Hi, everyone!  Welcome to my blog where I talk about my ongoing Slimming World and associated health journeys.  I'm now in my target range and am aiming to keep this steady while following Mediterranean diet principles and the Slimming World structure.

What I have eaten today:

The fruit was pineapple and blackberries from the freezer plus a fresh apple and a fresh pear.

One and a half syns for chia seeds and mixed seeds.

A bit later, I made some discard crumpets and ate one of then for three and a half syns (I worked it out using Nutracheck and 20 calories = one syn).

For lunch, I made some mackerel pate.  I used a can of mackerel in tomato sauce (SW free/protein and also lovely fish oils) and blended it down with salad cream, horseradish sauce, lemon juice and black pepper.  Really tasty with home made melba toast and bits and bobs on the side.

One syn for the salad cream, half a syn for the horseradish and one healthy extra B for the toast.

Instead of chicken pasta, I made it more Moroccany-tagine-ish.
I softened onion, pepper, aubergine, mushroom and tomato, added chicken, spiced it up with garlic and mixed spice, chicken stock powder and tomato puree, and finished it off with pineapple and bulgur wheat.  It was really nice.

Two syns for some evoo and I think that was it.

I had a couple of oranges and an apple through the day and, because I wasn't having cheese with pasta, I had some to nibble instead.

Summary

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

eight and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  egg on a crumpet with tomatoes and mushrooms

L:  beany feta burger, salad; fruit

(half an A and one and a half syns for the burger)

D:  lamb bhuna (from freezer), rice, small salad; fruit

Exercise:   circuits and personal training