Missing a Toad

Well week one went well all things considered with a loss of 9lb. Yay! 55lb to go. Still a long way but wowee what a start. I am thrilled beyond belief and totally buzzed for the coming weeks. You all know I love a challenge so the plan is to keep my goals quite small. The first one is a stone off (preferably two!) by my birthday in April. That said I've had two nights out since I weighed on Friday so maybe a stay the same would be quite the victory this week.  ;-)

Of course the main thing with this diet is that I am only technically dieting 2 or maybe 3 days a week. Those days are pretty hard going but actually each one I do gets easier and I have picked up some tips for coping on 500 calories. First, drink buckets of water to keep you full. Second, avoid sugar or sweeteners where possible because it makes you hungrier. Third, plan carefully. I usually wait until lunchtime and then graze on some pickles or maybe a bowl of soup. I certainly don't consume more than 100 cals before my dinner and then I am left with 400 glorious calories to spend on dinner.

Tonight we had "Onion in the hole" - yep, you guessed it, Toad in the Hole with no toad. We have Save with Jamie to thank for this recipe, which I must say surprised me. For 273 calories I got roasted sweet red onions,  crispy fluffy Yorkshire pud and sweet sticky red onion gravy! For an extra 60 ish I added fine green beans, boiled for 6 minutes until just tender and then tossed in a drizzle of garlic oil, salt and pepper. I must admit that Richy would have liked some creamy mash but I didn't and I didn't miss the usual sausages either. Dare I say I preferred this? All I know is that I am full and warm on this cold winter day and for less than 350 cals. I'm looking forward to a good feed tomorrow though.

Hopefully I can make it to the weekend relatively unscathed. Fast day anyone?

Times they are a changin'

The funny thing about a weight loss blog is that there has to be some weight loss to write about. If there's no weight loss you have no blog, and there's only so many times you can say "oh well, still struggling". Nobody wants to read that. However, I am back now with something to say.

The start of 2014 saw something major happen. I broke up with Slimming World.

It's been on the cards for a while but I've been so frightened of piling it all back on that I've been too scared to leave and too scared to try something else. This somewhat backfired in a sense because I have put some (thankfully not masses) back on, but once December and Christmas was over I knew it would be time to do something else to ring the changes. Don't get me wrong, Slimming World is a great plan and I would recommend it to anyone, but latterly the problem has been that I know it too well, and honestly I got lazy.

A chance conversation with a medical friend before Christmas on the subject of My Weight Loss ended up with a suggestion of trying the 5:2 diet. Basically you eat normally for 5 days of the week and "fast" for the other 2. Fast doesn't mean eat nothing, but it's a very low calorie day at around 500 cals. I had a quick go before Christmas and decided to give it a go but initially wanted to run with Slimming World at the same time - I would have loved to be a Target member! I thought I could fast on 2 days and follow plan on the other 5. Very quickly it became apparent that this wasn't going to work as there were non fast days (or feast days) where my syns would have been through the roof but I was way under my calories (1720 according to My Fitness Pal). By the time Christmas was over my jeans were tight, nothing was comfortable and frankly I was totally repulsed by myself - how I felt physically and mentally, and how I looked.

My first weigh in is tomorrow and I've almost completed my third fast (it's been a funny week). The 500 calorie thing isn't massively difficult but you do need to be clever to get the most out of your calories. I admit sitting here a bit peckish, but knowing that I have enough calories left for a wee nibble before bed and tomorrow I can eat as normal means I feel ok. This actually feels liberating. I had cake, wine and pastry yesterday and was still under my calories. I have Slimming World to thank for that - my 3 meals were healthy and naturally fairly low calorie.

I'm so ready for this - motivated, inspired, enthusiastic. So, I've got 63lb to go - hopefully 2014 is my year.

I'm a Changingman

Away back when I started Slimming World my consultant said to the group "Nothing changes if nothing changes". It sounds corny but it is true. You have to make change happen, and nobody else can do it for you.

This year as you know I haven't lost much weight but I've spent the year changing in other ways. My confidence has bloomed over the year and last week something momentous happened: I resigned from my job of over 11 years because I am now a registered Childminder. It wasn't a quick decision to leave and I was sad to go. I know I'll miss my friends but I'm going to do something fun and exciting and new and I can't wait to get started. It hadn't actually occured to me that new confidence might have helped me along the way but Richy asked me if "Old Gem would have done this?". I can't honestly say either way but I'm inclined to say she wouldn't. I've had to tske a leap of faith but I'm confident this is going to be ok.

What isn't going to be ok is weigh in this week. It's been a funny 6 weeks. My gym closed (sob!) and it took me until last week to join a new one. We have had a death in the family, Heather started school (and has had nits and a bug already), I've been on a training course and basically our routine has gone out the window. I have been mostly going to weigh in - gained a bit lost a bit - but I weighed on the wii fit tonight for the first time in 6 weeks. My bathroom scales have been devoid of battery so I haven't been weighing there either and tonight's reading wasn't pretty. I know they say you shouldn't weigh more than once a week but I have always always maintained that for me weighing regularly keeps me on track. I spoke about this once before and what the past few weeks has taught me is that I am right - weighing regularly DOES keep me focused.

Anyway I've been to the gym 3 times this week and I'll be going again tomorrow and Wednesday before I weigh in at a different class. This falls under the category of Damage Control.

If I can just stop nibbling whilst I am a jobless bum that would be great because remember.....Nothing changes if nothing changes.

Ps if you or anyone you know is looking for childcare in the Hamilton area, please point them my way - :-D

www.gemmablackchildminding.co.uk

In which your blogger bares her soul

For the first time in 18 months I am genuinely disillusioned. The last 6 months have been hard going, barely losing anything but still sticking to the plan. As the months have gone by I have found it harder and harder to stay motivated. Finally I have cracked.

We had our summer holiday last week, spending time in the glorious sunshine with friends and family. There was much indulgence - wine, cider, pancakes, ice cream and far too much bread. I am paying the price - for the first time really I have gained a few pounds and I can really feel it. I'm not sure how many pounds I have put on because I had a holiday booked in for slimming world this week but it's enough that my jeans (resigned to the drawer during the heatwave we have just had) are noticably tighter.

In a former life I wouldn't have even noticed a few pounds going on but now I feel it almost straight away. Physically I feel bloated, wobbly... and uncomfortable. Mentally I feel disheartened and let down with myself. I feel tired, worn down and barely have the motivation to refuse the bad things just now which isn't helping. Even seeing an old, unflattering picture last week didn't help. (Posted below with a new one of us).

I honestly am considering moving on to something else to lose this final 2-3 stone but I don't know what. I'm scared and lost and I dont know what to do for the best, whether to stick or twist.

What I do know is that I am not done.. not yet.

The King

I think the humble EGG is the actual King of foods. It is so versatile,  nutritious and (my favourite) cheap. As a family we power through eggs on a monthly basis. There's barely a day goes by I am not cracking an egg. Between a bit of baking, hard boiled eggs as free snacks or with salad for me, boiled or mashed with mayo or made into eggy bread for the kids lunch we get through somewhere in excess of 50 eggs a month.

Sounds like a lot doesn't it? And yet it isnt like we live on eggs.

I definitely eat more these days than before my slimming world days, since they are free on all plans. We quite often have a cooked breakfast on a Saturday which waves goodbye to between 3 and 8 eggs depending who wants an egg and if it's going to be fried or scrambled (why do scrambled eggs disappear?) and I always keep hardboiled eggs in the fridge for snacks or to go with a salad and feta cheese or ham. It's not unlike me to have a baked egg for breakfast, maybe cooked in a hash brown or ham basket. Finally the classic carbonara (which i don't actually seem to have ever blogged about!) remains a favourite tea time choice for the whole family. Well I say finally, actually I have missed one major favourite, my brunchtime frittata. I call this brunchtime because I have it just as easily for breakfast as for lunch. It can be amended to whatever you have in (prawns and feta are lovely) but this is what I use most often to serve one as a hearty lunch.

1 sausage, chopped into chunks
1 rasher of bacon, fat removed and chopped
1 spring onion
1 or 2 cooked new potatoes, sliced or diced
3 or 4 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 asparagus spears, chopped
1/2 a pepper, mixed colours if possible, diced
1 spring onion, chopped
Chopped parsley (optional)
2 eggs, beaten

Spray a small frying pan with frylight or oil and add the sausage and bacon. Fry until almost cooked and add the chopped veg. Sauté until almost cooked but still with bite.

Sprinkle over the parsley if using, then pour over the beaten eggs. Tip the pan left and right to make sure the eggs fill all the gaps. Leave on the heat for a minute to allow to base to set, then put under a hot grill until the eggs are set and puffy and gloriously golden.

Season with salt and black pepper and lashings of good ol' fashioned brown sauce (or ketchup/chilli sauce if that's what tickles your fancy).

I do this at least once a week I'd say. This is a great fridge raider too... courgettes work well, as does ham, leftover chicken, chillies, roasted red peppers, white/red onions, cheese - literally whatever you have in. In honesty I prefer lots of filling (which is mostly superfree anyway) to less egg so it's less, well, eggy. You could easily do 3 eggs and less fillings though. Or more. Whatever... at the end of the day, it's your frittata.

Summer summer summertime

The sun is shining! In the west of Scotland where I live this is nothing short of a miracle. It's warm and glorious, and the clear skies brighten everyone's day. Of course, this puts planned cold weather casseroles and the likes out of the window because what everyone wants in this weather is barbecue food.

Generally speaking bbqs are considered less than great in the diet world. All the bread and mayo add up to a lot of excess calories. In the UK we seem to have an obsession with whacking all the grilled meat into its own bread receptacle, roll or wrap. Probably because we get comparatively little good weather, a lot of bbqs are little more than a couple of rubbish sausages, a burger, and maybe a burnt (yet raw) chicken drumstick. These days of course the supermarkets sell ranges of pre-marinaded and skewered bbq products, all perfectly prepared and ready to drop on your grill to ensure you enjoy an exotic tasting high syn feast.

There really is no need for a good bbq to spoil the diet. With a little bit of thought and by using your healthy extras you can do a bbq for very few syns. Chicken cubes can be marinated in garlic, lemon juice, bay and oregano or Cajun spice, soy and lime and seasoned with salt and pepper before threading onto skewers with chunks of peppers,  mushrooms and courgettes for syn free kebabs. Look about to find some low syn sausages so you can still have your snags - my butcher sells a great half syn sausage but supermarkets do them too. Burgers can be homemade for free, and just remove the skins from chicken drumsticks before marinating in spices of your choice or maybe a free bbq sauce. Chuck a lean steak on too. So far you have a pretty good feast, right?

So what about sides? Obviously a large side salad (with or without feta cheese as your A choice) goes without saying. A personal favourite of mine is corn on the cob, thrown straight in the grill and cooked until charred and salted to serve. Another favourite is barbecued halloumi cheese, although obviously this would be synned or an A choice. Coleslaw and potato salads are commonplace bbq sides but high syn usually. I blogged about Coleslaw recently - make your own for acouple of syns for the whole dish: it keeps a few days and is very handy to have in your summer fridge. Similarly potato salad - historically my own version was made with lashings of full fat mayo but I've managed to make a low fat version I am happy with. It's true to my original in taste and here in its simplicity, just for you.

POTATO SALAD

500g baby potatoes - boiled until tender
2 tbsp extra light mayo
4 tbsp fat free yoghurt
Handful of chives, finely chopped
Handful of mint, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Mix the still slightly warm potatoes with the other ingredients and season generously to taste with salt and pepper (salt is the key here). Serve at room temperature. I am being bossy about this - potayo salad shouldn't be fridge cold.

It really is that easy to produce a lowish syn, healthy bbq without boatloads of bread although obviously if you want a roll or something go ahead and use your healthy extras or syns. Either way, it's perfect sunshine food.

Here's to the sun staying out!

:)

Little old wine drinker me

Most people who know me know I like a tipple or two. A wee wine here, a cold beer there. It's how I like to spend my syns, saving them for the weekend. I've said before I'd rather use my syns for alcohol than food, but with Slimming World that doesn't mean not eating! Being able to cook for myself means delicious low or no syn food.... almost all the time. Fresh is where it's at with Slimming World, and I continue to love that -it fits in so well with the way we have always eaten in this house. Obviously there are some ingredients which are high syn (flour, butter, coconut milk) but these are now treats or substituted where possible.

Clearly though, things have changed otherwise I wouldn't have lost the weight I have (6st 4.5lb so far). Almost cutting out takeaways plus fat and flour have been major contenders but cutting back on the booze has had a major effect too. Back in the old days we would think nothing of having a beer or glass of wine with dinner during the week. Often just the one,  sometimes maybe two, but the fact remains that it was 8-16 syns I am no longer consuming a few days a week.. and they all add up.

When we started this chapter I found it pretty easy to sit in in a Friday night having a diet coke because I had a night out on Saturday. I can't lie - as the months progress that's harder. Rightly or wrongly, sitting of an evening with an alcoholic drink is a nice grown up thing to do after a week of part time work and full time motherhood.

This weekend is a prime example. Knowing I had a night out on Saturday, I SHOULD have sat with that diet coke on Friday night - but I didn't. Instead me and Richy sank a very lovely bottle of pink fizz we received as an anniversary gift. Just the one... but still. I need to source that will power again. I'm sure it's here somewhere...