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Sunday, 15 June 2025

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.



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