Sunday, 31-08-25

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

Three days down this week, three 100% on plan, four more to go!

What I ate today:

Such a lovely Sunday roast.  Lamb from the freezer, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes and onion (all using spray oil and roast potato seasoning), carrots, runner beans and some mint sauce.  One syn for the gravy and the rest was syn free.

So delicious!

Beth and Alex took the leftovers home with them.  

Today's fruit choices were a peach, an apple, some grapes 

Dinner was a toasted bagel for one B with mashed avocado for three and a half syns and salmon, not as smoked as I would like so I cooked it, with avocado seasoning and lemon juice.

With it I had a mixed salad with some feta (an A), some salad cream (one syn, not on the photo) and some mixed seeds (one syn).

For afters, I had some yogurt with some fruit (fresh picked raspberries from the garden) and some mixed berry coulis for one and a half syns.

Summary:

one heathy extra A

one healthy extra B

eight syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  bean and feta salad pitta; fruit

D:  Indian meatballs in curry sauce, rice, maybe some dahl; fruit

Exercise:  circuits restart tomorrow - three cheers!

Saturday, 30-08-25

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

Two days down, 100% on it, five more to go

What I ate today:

I had an apple during the morning.

Ooops - the bagel is upside down!
Lunch was a direct result of the freezer audit.  I am having far less processed meat now but, equally, I'm not throwing good food away so it's a bit of a use up meal - very simple and delicious, regardless of nutrition.  And tomatoes are never 'bad'.
I used three syns for some evoo to cook the tomatoes in because it's so delicious, I had a squirt of brown sauce for less than one syn so I am calling it one and the bagel is a B.

Later on, I had some more fruit - the last bits of a pineapple, an orange and a few grapes.

A lentil layer bake from the freezer with salad and coleslaw for dinner.  One A for the bake and I was happy to have more cheese for my second A and one syn for some salad cream in the coleslaw.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

five syns

(for yesterday, not today!)

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  roast dinner - Beth and Alex are round and I can use some cooked roast lamb I froze after the last time we had Sunday roast lamb.  I'm doing some of that lentil tofu for Beth - see if she likes it!

D:  avo and smoked salmon bagel, salad; fruit

Exercise:  rest day

Friday, 29-08-25

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

Weigh day today and I . . . . .  maintained!  I'm not too disheartened because of Tuesday evening's gastronomic disaster and also - and this is not an excuse - my muscles will be holding on to water while they repair themselves after the first personal training session (which was almost all strength apart from a cycle warm-up) yesterday.

Hoping to do better next Friday.

What I ate today:
I didn't take a photo of lunch because Alex was here and we were chatting but this is what I did.

I defrosted two wraps (one each).

I softened some onion is spray oil.  I added some kidney beans and pinto beans (from the freezer) and mashed them into the onion.  I added garlic granules, fajita seasoning, salt, pepper, a splash of water and a dollop of tomato ketchup.

I spread grated cheese over half of each wrap, spread the bean mash over and then sprinkled a bit more cheese before folding over the other half.

I sprayed some evoo on each side of the half circles and popped them in a dry hot pan to crisp up and ,melt the cheese inside.

And we had them with tomatoes and carrot sticks so it was all finger food.

One healthy extra A, one healthy extra B, one syn for spray evoo and one syn for ketchup.

I do wish I had remembered a photo; it made a really satisfying lunch.

For dinner, I defrosted a half chicken breast fillet and them hammered it out.  I seasoned, egged a breadcrumbed the chicken, mixing the wholemeal bread crumbs with some finely grated parmesan.  This, I spray fried.

I sliced a potato and air fried the slices in spray oil and I made some coleslaw to have on the side.

Half an A for the cheese, two syns for fresh breadcrumbs, one syn for the salad cream in the coleslaw and I used up the breadcrumbs by putting the finished potato slices in a dish, sprinkling over the remaining bread and cheese crumbs and just air frying for a bit longer.  Waste not, want not.
The blueberry compote was just some (garden) blueberries from the freezer simmered with one tsp demerara sugar (one syn) and a tiny splash of water.  It went perfectly with the chicken.

That was me done for the rest of the day - no room for fruit and yogurt.

Summary:

one and a half healthy extra As

one healthy extra B
six syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  I'm going a bit breakfast with a bacon and egg roll or bagel with tomatoes and mushrooms; fruit

D:  cheesy lentil layer bake, runner beans; fruit

Exercise:  A groove video (I didn't do this yesterday in the end)

Thursday, 28-08-25

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

The week is over.  Seven days, six on plan and one very much not.  

Weigh-day tomorrow morning and then a new week starts.

What I ate today:

I made this soup months ago and on the container I had written 'absolutely delicious.  And it was, it was lovely!  Ditto for the crunchy dipping toast and I had some cheese too because otherwise I wouldn't have any As today and that would not do!  😁

One A and one B

Today's fruit was an apple, some grapes and an orange.

I also nibbled some bread from a fresh baked loaf so I'm calling that another B and swapping round my healthy extras.

For dinner, I softened some onion, carrot, pepper, mushroom, baby corn and tomato, rehydrated some bulgur wheat in chicken stock and mixed in the veg and some olives.  Nice!   I steamed the salmon in some sweet chilli sauce for a bit of oomph!

One and a half syns for the sweet chilli sauce, one syn for a few olives and one syn for some spray garlic infused evoo.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

two healthy extra Bs

three and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  Alex is here and I'm doing smashed bean quesadillas with salad followed by an apple

D:  chicken schnitzel with blueberry compote (makes a change from cranberry), chips and veg or salad

Exercise:  Groove video

Wednesday, 27-08-25

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

So it is day day six.  Five have been on plan and one very off plan, sadly.  I have felt very bloated today.  One more to go.

What I ate today:

The fish pie leftovers were absolutely fine so no waste.  That's good.

With it I had a basic salad with half a Bs worth of mixed seeds and two syns in a simple dressing of evoo and balsamic vinegar.

The sweet onion ryvitas were the other half of my B and the fish pie had one A of cheese in it.

Later on I had one apple.

A sizzle steak with tomatoes and chips.  I also made a blue cheese dip/sauce with just yogurt, blue cheese, lemon juice and a bit of pepper.

Strictly speaking, the blue cheese isn't an A, there's not quite enough calcium, but I always call it an A.  I use two syns for some spray garlic infused evoo on the chips (lovely).  Finally, I deglazed the pan I cooked the steak in and then fried the tomatoes in the same pan.  Tasty!

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

four syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  tomato and vegetable soup with croutons; fruit

D:  baked salmon, vegetable loaded bulgur wheat, salad; fruit

Exercise:  personal training.  Lindsey is back!

Tuesday, 26-08-25 (written Wednesday am)

Sorry, everyone.  Out all day and I was totally shattered come the evening - so shattered that everything went a bit oopsy downsy and I was totally off plan.  I took no photos and wrote no blog.

All back this evening and straight back onto it from the time I opened my eyes this morning.  Minimise the damage!

See you later.

Monday, 25-08-24

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

Four days into this week, all on plan so far and three more to go.

I had a Non-Scale-Victory today - I can get reasonably comfortably back into my size 10 jeans again.  I'm so pleased about that.

And I did a freezer audit and changed my plans for this week to make better use of what I have in.

 there.  Nice and economical!

What I ate today:

I didn't make a toastie with cheese but I do like the crunchiness of toasted bread.   

The bread was one B, two syns for spray garlic oil, one syn for mayo and half a syn for grain mustard.

 I planned a big old sandwich and that's what I got.  It was scrummy!

  Today's fruit was an apple, two very squidgy and juicy plums, a nectarine, an orange, five golden raspberries from the garden and some stewed apple.

Fish pie for dinner.  I used smoked basa, a small cod fillet and five prawns, plus loadsa veg in a tomato sauce and added an egg yolk and grated cheese to the mash for extra ooomph.  Pretty much everything was free, just one and a half As for cheese.

However, it made loads and I managed about two thirds of it.  The rest is now in the fridge and I will finish it off tomorrow night with a salad.

Dessert was the stewed apple with golden raspberries, baked apple yogurt (half a syn) and some red berry coulis (two syns)

Summary:

one healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

six syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  I'm out so I will make up a packed lunch - I still have some beef left so that can go in a pitta with some salad and some chutney.  I may not stay on plan all day as I might fancy an ice cream or something.

D:  leftover fish pie with salad; fruit

Exercise:  lots of walking

Sunday, 24-08-25

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

Three days down this week now and, with slight, reasoned tweaks, 100% on plan.  :-)

What I ate today:

From the freezer, I used a pot of broccoli and cheese soup (two and a half syns) and some fresh chicken stock.  I added chopped onion, grated potato and carrot and some red lentils and cooked it all together.  Then I added some cooked noodles left over from yesterday and some mixed veg, also from the freezer.  It made a delicious and hearty soup, very filling and with a portion left which I will freeze because it's been thoroughly re-cooked.  

I had it with some crunchy garlic croutons, made in Nellie, and topped it with grated cheddar.

One healthy extra A, one healthy extra B and one and a half syns

Today's fruit was an apple, an orange, a nectarine, a peach and some strawberries

Dinner was a bit traditional;  some sliced roast beef that I cooked yesterday (so it sliced really well) with vegetables on a Yorkshire pudding 'platter', recipe from the very first Pinch of Nom book ever.   And I had some Dijon mustard to go with the beef.

Some of my second healthy extra A for the milk, Three syns for some oil and three syns for flour for the Yorkshire.

For dessert, I had some strawberries and yogurt with three syns worth of red berry coulis drizzled over.  Very nice for a treat.  

Summary:

between one and two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

ten and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  roast beef sandwich/roll/pitta, salad; fruit

I might make it a toastie to use some cheese although I plan to add cheese to the mash for dinner.

D:  fish pie, vegetables; fruit

I have some mash I made from left-over potatoes that needed using in some way - I cooked and frozen three baked ones but the other needed chopping about a bit so mash it was.  And I have odds and ends of ransom fish in the freezer.  I'll add some mixed vegetables and use garlic and herb cheese spread for a sauce, bake it in Nellie and - Bob's your uncle - a perfectly reasonable fish pie.

Exercise:  Groove

Saturday, 23-08-25

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

Two days down this week, both on plan.  Five days to go.


What I ate today:

I love how the toast goes all crunchy after being sprayed with oil and toasted.

The toast is two healthy extra Bs worth so I am going to have one A and two Bs today plus two syns for garlic infused olive oil, half an A for crumbled feta and two syns for some herb and garlic lighter soft cheese (under the tomato).

Today's fruit was an apple and a fruit salad made with strawberries, golden raspberries, nectarine, grapes and pineapple.

The sweet and sour lentil tofu was delicious!

I tossed the cubed tofu in seasoned cornflour and fried it until it was 'golden' as they say.

I put some noodles on to boil.

I softened onion and pepper, added a bit of sweetcorn and some fresh pineapple before adding the sauce which was made with one tbsp ketchup (one and a half syns), one tbsp rice wine vinegar (free), half a tbsp dark soy sauce (free) and some garlic granules.  Finally I added the lentil tofu, put the noodles in a bowl and topped them with the rest.  The last touch was supposed to be some sesame seeds but all I had was mixed seeds so that's what I used for another one and a half syns.  It was so good and so very filling.

Afters was some of the fruit salad.  There's more left for tomorrow.

Summary:

half a healthy extra A - I may have a nibble for the other half in a while

two healthy extra Bs

I think it comes to seven syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  Lentil and veg soup, crunchy garlic bread, grated cheese on top; fruit

D:  roast(ish) beef, Yorkshire pudding wrap, assorted veg, some roasted in Nellie; fruit

(I might swap these two round)

Exercise:  Groove

Friday, 22-08-25

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

Phew.  One pound off this morning - that's a relief.

Mini aims for this coming week (which started after weigh in this morning):

to be 100% on plan except for Tuesday when I am out at lunchtime

to do some kind of Lindsey based exercise each day.

What I ate today:

The Pinch of Non roasted sweet potato salad - I used seeds instead of avocado.  It was very tasty.

The dressing made two portions and I will have the other on my steak this evening for a total on one A.

Half a B for the seeds and two syns for oil.

Fruit through the day was two apples, two plums, a banana and some grapes.

Dinner was beautiful.  The steak (quite a small, thick piece of fillet, hammered out) was melt in the mouth and, thank goodness, today Morrisons had some Maris Pipers again so the chips were half decent instead of being floppy and soggy.

The dressing I made for lunch (part of the recipe) was lovely with the steak.  It was yogurt, feta, lime juice, Dijon mustard (which is now a free food, cheers) and seasonings, all blended together.  It was nicer this evening than at lunch time - improved with time.  An A altogether for the dressing, two syns for evoo for the chips and one for salad cream.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

half a healthy extra B

five syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  fried tomato bruschetta (sort of) with a finger salad; fruit

D:  sweet and sour lentil tofu or stir fry lentil tofu (I need to decide which!)  with rice or noodles, side salad; fruit

Exercise:  I'll try the step video again but marked out on the floor.  See if I can avoid falling over my own feet this time!

Thursday, 21-08-25

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

Well, seven days on and seven days on plan 100%.  So why are my home scales registering no loss whatsoever?

How irritating is that!!

Weigh in tomorrow so we will see, won't we?

What I ate today:

A sort of open toastie really.  One B for the bread, one and a half syns for the chutney and one A for the cheese plus some lovely tomatoes on the side.  Oh, and I spent half a syn more on a bit of brown sauce.  Very tasty!

I saved my fruit until later.  it was two rather hard peaches (I'm going shopping again tomorrow), an apple and an orange.

So - on to the lentil tofu and it was really, really, really good.

I made a covering sauce with cornflour (one and a half syns), some nutritional yeast (one syn), some soy sauce, garlic granules and cayenne plus a bit of salt and some accidental cinnamon, tossed the cubes of lentil tofu in it, then tossed some little cubes of potato (not chipped yesterday) in what was left, sprayed the lot with evoo (two syns) and gave it a go in the air fryer.  So good.  The outside wasn't exactly crispy but it did have a 'crust' and inside turned fluffy and flavoursome.

I had the tofu and potato with a very simple salad and some mixed seeds (one syn).

And I was totally full up!

Summary:

one healthy extra A (I may nibble on the other A later but, if I don't, I'm not stressing)

one healthy extra B

seven and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  roasted sweet potato salad; fruit

I got notification of a new Pinch of Nom recipe and it looks good so I want to try it.  I might adapt it a bit.
Here's the link:

https://pinchofnom.com/wprm_print/roasted-sweet-potato-salad-slimming-weight-watchers-friendly-copy

D:  steak, some sort of sauce, salad and chips; fruit

A Friday treat!

Exercise:  I think I will do Groove - I'm enjoying that very much.

Wednesday, 20-08-25

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

Doing OK this week.  Six days in, six on plan, one to go!

I had a bit of fun with some 'different' stuff today.
First on all I made mayo with hardboiled egg and very little oil - it was on TikTok and YouTube.  Mayo it wasn't, it's more like devilled egg flavour but a very nice sauce/dressing type thingy.

 And then I had a go at a 'lentil 'tofu' using Thermione and that was a real success.  Never having cooked with tofu before, I need to look up some recipes but the recipe also gave an idea for spicing it up and air frying so I will probably do that.

If you have any tofu ideas/recipes, please do comment below because I really have no idea.

What I ate today:

Absolutely lovely - garden tomatoes fried in a bit of evoo on toasted sourdough and with a crumble of feta over.

The coleslaw is yesterday's leftover and I had more tomatoes because - well, why not?

Half an A, one B and three syns for the bread, two syns for evoo and one syn for salad cream in the coleslaw.

Later, I had a plum, a nectarine and a peach - because they needed eating!

The bean and veg chilli has finally gone - and it was very, very tasty with  chips and cheese!

Two syns for some evoo for the chips, one syn for the chilli (cos it said so on the pot!) and one and a half healthy extra As.

Afters was some pineapple.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

nine syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  Alex is round for a cooking lesson, he's making onion chutney and has asked that we can have toast with chutney and then cheese melted over.  I am very glad to comply with that because mmmmmmm.

D:  crispy spiced lentil tofu bites with a finger salad; fruit

Exercise:  Groove video

Tuesday, 19-08-25

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

Five days into this week and five 100% on plan (if you ignore the occasional lack of healthy extras, which I do).  Two more to go.

I still wasn't feeling particularly hungry this morning - maybe lentils are the new mounjaro!!  They are much cheaper, for sure!  😃

What I ate today:
I had an apple before I did my circuits video because I though I should really.  First thing this morning I checked my 'ripen at home' bowl and sorted out the fruit that needed eating so through the day I had two plums, two peaches and two nectarines.  Quite a fruity day!

My friend, Mandy, was round for lunch and I did ham and cheese toasties with salad and coleslaw.  I almost forgot to take a photo - ooops!

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

I'd planned the chilli but really didn't fancy it.  There was salad and coleslaw left from lunch and also the last bits of the boiled ham so I put it all in a bowl with some feta and some seeds and it was lovely!

One healthy extra A and one syn each for coleslaw and seeds.

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

eight and a half syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  tomatoes on toast; fruit

D:  chilli - MUST have that chilli!!

Exercise:  Groove

Monday, 18-08-25

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

Four days down, all on plan, three to go!  Woo hoo!

What I ate today:

I had an apple in the morning.  

Strangely, it felt rather chilly this morning, I suppose, in comparison with the last few weeks, so I dug a curried parsnip soup out of the freezer and jazzed it up with lentils, onion, potato and carrot to make a thick and hearty pottage kind of thing that I had with hm garlic toast and some tomatoes.  The soup was one syn and the toast was a B and two syns.

I had planned cheese too but forgot and, anyway, I would have had no room.  I couldn't manage the fruit until later in the afternoon!

Obviously, that soup was a find because when it came to dinner I was still quite full and in no mood for jacket potatoes.
I cut up 60g cheese for both my healthy extras and had the apple, followed by a few strawberries that wouldn't last much longer and a plum.

Two healthy extra As

Summary:

two healthy extra As

one healthy extra B

three syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:   I have a friend over and I'm doing ham, cheese and chutney toasties with salad; fruit

D:  jacket potato with chilli, side salad; fruit

Exercise:  circuits class

Sunday, 17-08-25

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

Three days down, three on plan, four to go.

If this is your first read, the above is my August challenge which is to be as 100% on plan as I possibly can be.  I'm counting weekly because it means more to me and each week starts with weigh day, Friday.

What I ate today:

I was wide awake by three this morning so started to feel hungry by about half past nine.  I had three plums and an apple and that filled the gap!

Such a delicious lunch.  I made the garlic bread by simply rubbing a cut garlic clove over both sides, spraying with spray oil and crisping in a pan.

The bread wasn't quite a B so half of the pine nuts in the stuffing can be the rest of the B.

One syn for the rest of the pine nuts, one syn for salad cream in the coleslaw and one healthy A

Afters was the rest of the apple that I used for the coleslaw.

Later on, I had an orange and half an apple - the other half went in the onion and apple mix.

Another very yummy meal with loads of speed veg.

The apple and onion was just that - onion and apple softened in some spray oil.

Just two syns for some avocado oil that I roasted the sweet potato in.  Very nice it was, with a sort of 'creamy' taste.

I have never synned cooked fruit and I'm not starting now.  :-)
I was all fruited out so I had some 0% Greek yogurt with coffee essence and a bit of sweetener.

Summary:

one healthy extra A

one healthy extra B

four syns

Tomorrow's plans:

L:  Mediterranean salad; fruit

D:  tuna filled jacket potato, salad; fruit and yogurt

Exercise:  A Lindsey video, probably SET, maybe Groove.