Sunday, 05-10-25

 Hi, everyone! Welcome to my blog where I talk about my 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 which is now going to include the three different healthy extras - calcium, fibre and fats/oils.  I'm winging it a bit until the info about amounts is released, making sensible guesses based on prior knowledge so please apply your own common sense and remember that, at the moment, none of the changes are official canon and won't be until the New Year.

Today's meals:

No photo of breakfast - it was three kiwis, an orange and an apple and it was very nice.

This was delicious.  Black bean and avocado on toast, slightly adapted from  https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/mexican-beans-avocado-toast

I skipped the coriander entirely, horrible stuff, and used spray oil because of the avocado.

85g avocado is 145 calories (says Nutracheck).  Assuming 120 calories is likely to be one healthy fat choice, that's another one and a half syns.  The toast was one fibre choice.

With it, I had a fairly ordinary salad over which I drizzled some balsamic vinegar after I took the photos.

I'm still getting garden tomatoes which is nice.

It was all very filling so I saved my fruit for later.

Later on I had some grapes and 25g popcorn for four syns

I really enjoyed my roast dinner.  I decided I  neither needed nor wanted the roast potatoes, not with runner beans (still from the garden), broccoli and the first sprouts of the season.  It was all very tasty!

One and a half syns for the chutney I had with the sliced turkey.

I realised I hadn't had my calcium choice so I nibbled on some cheese.

Summary:

one calcium choice

one fibre choice

one healthy fats choice 

seven syns

Tomorrow's meal plans:

B:  I'm at school for a coffee morning so may have something there.

L:  turkey, bacon and avocado roll or bagel with salad; fruit

D:  roasted vegetables and butterbeans with feta; fruit

https://juliebladon.com/warm-salad-recipe/

Saturday, 04-10-25 (posted Sunday morning)

 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 which is now going to include the three different healthy extras - calcium, fibre and fats/oils.  I'm winging it a bit until the info about amounts is released - making sensible guesses based on prior knowledge!

Please imagine this written Saturday evening, OK?

Today's food:

I didn't have any breakfast as I was at a cooking demo over lunch.  It's not been a Slimming World day at all so please ignore the next bit if you want.

Lunch was at the Thermomix studio in town after a demo based on layered cooking.  I use Thermione a lot but not particularly for layered cooking so I was really interested.

It was a hands on workshop type of thing with three stations and we could wander between them.

One was creamy chicken curry with rice steamed in the varoma.  I usually do rice either in a pan using the absorption method or in the simmering basket but I will try it this way too.

One was not layered cooking, it was sticky toffee puddings, making the sauce in the bowl and then mixing the batter in the bowl and varoma steaming them.  I've steamed Christmas pudding in the simmering basket and, as sticky toffee pudding doesn't work with SW, I guess I might just keep this for a special occasion!

The third station was very helpful.  There was pea and ginger soup in the bowl, potatoes in the simmering basket, mixed vegetables steaming in the bottom layer of the varoma and salmon in a lemon honey sauce in the top layer of the varoma, all at the same time after preparation.  Very clever and very delicious!

They also had pre-made stuff.  Pumpkin pie (lovely although I was too full to have more than a tiny bit, brownies (ditto), some whipped feta and mascarpone (very naughty but oh, my goodness!) and Portuguese bread which I must have a go at sometime although I prefer wholemeal bread really.

I've found all the recipes in Cookidoo and saved them into my Recipes To Try folder.

I had the soup (so gorgeous and I will be making that, for sure) with a bit of bread, then some of the salmon with potato and vegetables (ditto) followed by a bit of the curry and rice (lovely but for a special, I think) and finished off with a tiny bit of sticky toffee pudding and pumpkin pie.

Well done, Thermo ladies.  Such a delicious lunch.

You can see that there's no way I can use a SW summary after all that.  I wasn't hungry come the evening and just had a snack of some fresh popped corn while watching Strictly.  

Edit:  I've just remembered I also had a slice of toast with cheese spread!

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit and yogurt, maybe a few toasted oats sprinkled over too.

L:  black beans and avocado on toast, side salad

D:  turkey roast dinner - turkey breast, various steamed vegetables (in the Varoma, of course!) and I have some home prepped roasties in the freezer which I might have, I'll see how I feel

Exercise:  a walking video or I might just walk on the spot while watching a YouTube channel - I have some to catch up on.

Friday, 03-10-25

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 which is now going to include the three different healthy extras - calcium, fibre and fats/oils.  

I'm winging it a bit until the info about amounts is released - making sensible guesses based on prior knowledge!

What I ate today:

Breakfast was some fruit.

I am sure that, as the days get colder and darker, I will want something more warming and substantial but, for now, fruit hits the spot nicely!  Two oranges and two apples, the last of this week.  I got more when I went shopping this morning.

Syn free/all speed.

I've been craving a bacon sandwich for a few days.  It's super processed, bacon is, but occasionally it won't hurt at all. Today was that 'occasionally' time.

One fibre choice for the bread plus six syns because you have to have two slices, and one and a half syns for brown sauce.

I had this really late in the afternoon because I went out shopping so I didn't have that much in the evening and took no photos.  Not to worry, we move on.

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit, as usual

L:  out at another Thermomix cooking demo.  No idea what but it is about layering using simmering basket and varoma so can't be that unhealthy

D:  tricky because it depends on lynch but I think some sort of omelette type thing would work and I have plenty of cooked pulses that I could add.

Exercise:  Lots of walking 

Thursday, 02-10-25

 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 which is now going to include the three different healthy extras - calcium, fibre and fats/oils.  I'm winging it a bit until the info about amounts is released - making sensible guesses based on prior knowledge!

Let's go straight into what I ate today.

Another nice, colourful breakfast.

The kiwis were pretty small and need using up.

Syn free,

Lunch was lovely.  

This was the recipe I sort of followed.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/refried-bean-quesadillas

I just knocked up a fresh salsa with tomato, cucumber, pepper and a bit of carrot.

No room for anything else.

One calcium extra plus three syns for the cheese.

One fibre extra for the wrap.

Part of the oils/fats extra for some garlic infused evoo.

In the afternoon I had some fresh popped popcorn.  Four syns

I had some of the refried bean mash left so I decided to forget the salmon and make a sort of vegetarian patty instead using the bean mash with some onion, grated carrot and a few chilli flakes..  It worked a treat with some roasted vegetables and some runner beans.  I used the remainder of my oil for roasting the veg and a bit for frying the patty.

Too full for anything more.

Summary:

one calcium

one fibre

one oils/fats

seven syns

Tomorrow's plans:

B:  fruit

L:  bacon sandwich with salad; fruit

I've been craving a bacon sarnie and will happily pay the syns for the other slice of bread.  Not Med friendly, very processed - sometimes you just have to!

D:  fish and chips (well, salmon and air fryer SW friendly chips!), peas; fruit and yogurt

Exercise:  a walk, weather permitting.  

Being a bit controversial, 02-10-25

 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 which is now going to include the three different healthy extras - calcium, fibre and fats/oils.  I'm winging it a bit until the info about amounts is released - making sensible guesses based on prior knowledge!

One of the new things that SW is introduced - well, not a 'thing' but a new approach, is that they are actively welcoming people who use weight loss injections such as Wegovy or Mountjaro into group as members.

This has caused an awful lot of upheaval and some condemnation within SW circles on social media and I thought I'd have my say too because - why not.  

I'm thinking about situations where people are very overweight and have tried and failed to lose weight in more conventional ways because these are the people Slimming World can help.  Taking injections for other reasons are a different matter altogether.

I don't know an awful lot but my understanding is that these medications mimic gut hormones to suppress appetite and slow stomach emptying, thus reducing what is called 'food noise' which can be a real issue when you're trying to lose weight.  They are prescription only but can be bought online if the person doesn't conform to some fairly strict and extreme guidelines.

The are side effects, like all medication, and these are still being discovered - side effects such as sickness, internal pain, diarrhoea, giddiness which are relatively minor as well as more serious issues connected with the gall bladder and the C word is also bandied about.  They can also cause loss of muscle tone unless one takes exercise, especially weight training, seriously.

There are also side effects from being overweight though, arguably more serious.  I've copied this from Google because it says it pretty well really.

"Obesity in females significantly increases the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers (like endometrial and breast cancer). It also contributes to sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, and fatty liver disease. Specifically for women, obesity can lead to fertility problems, hormonal changes, conditions like Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), and complications during pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia.  "

And that is before one even starts to think about the mental and emotional health side of things, not to mention societal expectations and bias  . . .

I was very struck by something Professor Tim Spector said in a Zoe Podcast  while ago now when asked about whether he was in favour of weight loss injections purely for weight loss (rather than being prescribed for diabetes, for example). 

He said that his view was that the dangers of obesity far outweighed the known dangers of weight loss injections and therefor he was not against them - providing they were accompanied by a thorough nutritional education programme that taught and encouraged moving to minimally processed, mainly plant based meals, gut and heart healthy diet so that when they stopped the injections, they were in the best possible place to maintain any weight loss and to achieve optimum health benefits.

(that's very much a precis, by the way, and I can't find the original podcast, sorry)

I also know that big weight losses while having injections are not automatic.  It is a personal observation based on blogs and vlogs that those who do best with weight loss are those who have reviewed their eating and made changes accordingly, however that is monitored.  Those who have relied on reduction of food noise with no change in diet, have generally been disappointed.

Slimming World recognises that people having weight loss injections are just as much in need of and deserving of support, guidance and education as any other overweight person and thus they are welcomed into SW.  

It's not a question of 'the easy way out' or 'cheating' or any of the other quite unpleasant criticisms that I have seen over the last while.  Far from it.

I wouldn't consider injections now - because I don't need them - but ten years ago, morbidly obese, low self confidence, social confidence and self esteem, having failed in numerous attempts to lose some weight over decades (not SW though!) and with all sorts of health problems on the horizon. . . . well, maybe I would have.

I don't know now but just maybe I would have.

Therefore, I am perfectly happy that Slimming World is accepting and welcoming people on weight loss medication; I am glad that it offers access to what can really be a very good way of eating, especially with the changes that are on the horizon, with all the support that goes with it and without any condemnation or criticism.  

And I will welcome them to our group as much as I welcome everyone - with a smile and any helpful words I can offer.

Sorry - you know what I am like once I get going!!   This is far longer than I expected so I'll post it now and do another food based one this evening.  If you've made it to the end, well done and thank you.  
Any comments - please be kind.  xx

Wednesday and my perspective on SW changes; 01-10-25

 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 which is now going to include the three different healthy extras - calcium, fibre and fats/oils.  I'm winging it a bit until the info about amounts is released - making sensible guesses based on prior knowledge!

After planning in hummus for today, I realise that this change-over is not necessarily going to be that simple in the shorter term.  
Let's look at the ingredients in my home made hummus which is counted as four syns per portion.  The biggest syns come from the tahini and extra virgin olive oil, both of which could be part of the healthy fats/oils.  I'm assuming tahini will because it is made with ground sesame seeds and I know evoo will be because it's the most heart healthy oil of the lot!

So - given that what I had is one estimate and I don't remember which recipe I used, this is where I just have to be sensible and make a judgement based on prior knowledge.

What brought this to mind was the amount of negativity on channels that I watch, especially around avocado, would you believe?  Avocado?????

No pointing fingers from me, that would be very unfair and mean and everyone is entitled to their own feelings and opinions, but I am having my little say here.

Let's look at avocados as an example.

Avocado has never been banned by Slimming World, it has never been 'hated', surrounded by negativity, forbidden or any of the other terms I have heard used.  In fact, it has been encouraged as a 'savvy syn' - as a good way to get your heart healthy fats/oils in.  

BUT, because it is high in fats, it has needed to be synned.

What that means is that mindful, perhaps unwanted choices have had to be made - avocado or a Mars bar, for example, to state it very simply.  Fifteen syns is a limit, not a target.  It's up to you and me how many we have and from what.  

Because, if we want to lose some weight and improve our health, we have to make some choices, make some decisions, maybe rebalance our foods and we have the freedom to do that within the Slimming World structure.

Now that the whole ethos of heart healthy foods, Mediterranean style, plant based, minimally processed, gut and heart healthy eating is becoming mainstream and is very supported by a whole lot of scientific development and research, Slimming World has changed certain elements in its structure to embrace this and I, for one, am absolutely delighted that this is happening.  

It will be worth the initial confusion, the re-assessing of favourite recipes, the need to slightly 'double-think' for a while . . . 

. . . which is why I am starting now.  When everything officially changes over on January 1st, I intend to be fully prepared and ready to roll with it!

I'll continue tomorrow - this is more than enough for one day!  😃

Today's food:

I don't usually photo my fruit but this looked so pretty . . .

A very tasty lunch.  I added some balsamic vinegar to the hummus because - why not!

One healthy fibre for the melba toast and one healthy fats/oils plus two syns for the hummus - explanation at the end.

I was full so left my fruit until after personal training.

I had a dinner disaster!

All cooked, dished up, I took it over to the light box for a photo and - flipped the whole bloomin' thing over and onto the carpet.
Top down.

What a mess!

What you see is what I salvaged, reheated after doing my best with the carpet.  It will need another good scrub tomorrow morning and the mishap has reminded me that it's pretty much time for a carpet clean anyway.

Oh, dear!

It was still nice though - one calcium and two syns for avocado oil

Anyway, here's the summary!

one healthy calcium (OK so some got scrubbed off the carpet but I'm calling it one)

one healthy fibre

one healthy fats/oils

four syns

Regarding the hummus, each pot was four syns and those syns came from evoo and tahini.  I had two pots so eight syns.  If you count six syns as one healthy extra, that's my fats/oils for the day plus two more syns.
It will get easier!!

Tomorrow's meal plans:

B:  fruit

L:  refried bean quesadillas, side salad; fruit

D:  salmon, vegetables; fruit

Exercise:  not sure yet