Salad Days

I've recently developed an allergy to tomatoes, which, in my world, is devastating! I love and adore tomatoes, in all shapes and sizes and various forms. I was practically weaned on tomatoes and usually grow my own in the summer (although this year's monsoon weather put paid to that). Now, if I eat them, it makes my mouth really sore and my chest tight  which is very very scary!

To me, a salad isn't a salad without a tomato. Or it used to be. This recent allergy has made me look at the way I see salads. A salad is a dieter's friend, but it can soon get rather boring if you're eating lettuce, tomato and cucumber at every meal... So I've been coming up with some ways to spice up your salad.

Chose your leaves

Are you an iceberg fan, or do you favour a little gem? The leaf is usually the basis for a good salad, and there are so many available now there's no reason not to vary them. I like to buy bags of pre-washed salad leaves, for convenience mostly, but also because of the variety. Our favourite is a babyleaf salad, but you can try rocket, spinach, beetroot leaves, watercress. Whatever takes your fancy. A good old round lettuce can be a nice change from the more "exotic" too!

Once you've got your leaves, what goes on top. I often find myself piling everything salad-like on top, but you really don't have to. Chose three or four "toppings", such as:

• cucumber
• tomato *sob*
• peppers
• carrot (grated, cubed, thinly sliced with a speed peeler...)
• olives
• herbs (I like basil or mint)
• beetroot
• beansprouts
• mushrooms
• radish
• celery
• onions

Know your onions

A good onion can add a sharp kick to your salad, but again you can vary them. Spring or salad onions are quick and convenient (snip them with scissors) but try red onion, spanish onion or even a couple of pickled onions for variety.

Pickle it

Talking of pickled onions, pickled beetroot, gherkins or cauliflower can also be a great addition to a salad. Add a blob of sweet pickle to turn your salad into a ploughmans.

Fruity twist

Still missing that tomato? I've been experimenting with adding fruit to my salad. Grapes, strawberries (great with balsamic dressing), melon, mango, apple or raisins will make a great addition to a good salad.

Protein power

Now you've got your basics, add the protein you need to make this a meal. Chicken salad will get boring really quick if you have it regularly, but combine it with bacon and a mustard dressing, or with mango and a curried mayonaise and it's a completely different meal. Other great protein sources for salad are:

• lean ham
• prawns
• tuna
• boiled eggs
• cottage cheese
• chorizo (quite fatty but a little goes a long way!)
• lean bacon or turkey bacon
• crab sticks
• omlette
• reduced fat cheese (try feta or mozzarella)
• quiche (crustless quiche recipe coming soon!)

Dress it up

Now here's a stumbling block - the dressing. You don't want to add a load of calories at the last minute, so chose wisely. I like to use balsamic vinegar, but raspberry vinegar is nice too. If you're buying a shop bought dressing, do for one that contains less than 40 calories per 100mls or is marketed as a lighter choice (my current favourite is honey and mustard). You can also buy 1 calorie salad sprays that are intensively flavoured so that just a few sprays (at 1 calorie each) are needed. If you're a fan of mayonnaise or salad cream, chose on that's "extra light" or "lighter than light" and try mixing it with fat free fromage frais to make it go further. Or water down some fat free natural yoghurt and add some finely chopped mint, for a dressing that feels really creamy and indulgent, without all the fat.

Things to avoid

This may sound obvious, but if you're trying to keep your salad healthy there are some things to avoid:

• croutons
• full fat cheese
• crispy onions
• crispy bacon
• creamy or oily dressings
• chips on the side!

I enjoy salads, and I always have, but it can get boring, very quickly. I hope I've given you some ideas and inspiration to spice up your salad! Let me know your suggestions too :)

Hx

Weekly Weigh In - Back on track!

*Yippee hooray jumps up and down and does a dance*

Ah I'd forgotten how good it feels to have a good loss! And I mean GOOD!

Last weeks weight:

14st 5.3 lbs/ 91.4kg (201.3lbs)

This weeks weight:

13st 13.8 lbs/ 88.9kg (195..8lbs)

Three massive achievements - back under 200lbs, back into the 13 stone range and under 90kg in one week. Just the boost I needed I think!

I haven't done any exercise this week, apart from taking the kids swimming and running around after them all week, and I had a slip up on Friday night with a binge after someone (*coughMrFGScough*) wound me up, so I am more than happy with the result. I haven't felt deprived, or hungry really although the first couple of days were really hard as my body was CRAVING sugar. It didn't help that it was that time of the month either (which Slimming World helpfully calls Star week *puke*).

All those things said, I know 5 1/2 lbs is a big loss and I'm not expecting as big a loss this week. I'll aim for a sensible 2lbs :)

This weeks goals:

2lbs weight loss

2 litres water a day

1 exercise session...maybe

I've put a maybe to the exercise because I'm still struggling to fit it in. It will be easier in a few weeks when my eldest starts lower school full time, I can hopefully get into a routine where I can have a long walk with the little one in the buggy, or do a DVD routine when he's napping. I do run around with them, play in the park, take them swimming etc but everything has to be at their pace so it hardly gets my heart rate up. But, they say it's 30% exercise and 70% nutrition, and I think I'm finally getting the nutrition on track :)

How has your week been?

Hx

How healthy is what you're eating?

So, we're on this journey to lose weight, slim down and generally be more healthful people. But a discussion we had in my Weight Watchers meeting this week got me thinking how healthy I really am, or rather how healthy is the food I'm eating. Sure, I've lost 40lbs, but you can do that simply by restricting your calories (or points in my case) - so you could eat one 1000 calorie burger in a day and nothing else, and still lose weight. But it's not exactly healthy, is it?

Give yourself a number on a scale of 1-10, of how healthy you think you are, food wise. If you think everything you eat is 100% spot on, go for 10. If you're a member of the burger club, it'd be much less! Remember that number.

Guidelines (here in the UK at least, but I think they're a good pointer) detail 5 things you should be doing every day to maximise the health benefits you get from your food. These are:

1. Eating a variety of 5 portions of fruit and veg a day.
2. Drinking 6-8 200ml glasses of water (or other fluids) a day.
3. Eating 2 portions of lean protein a day (meat, poultry, fish, beans, pulses, dairy).
4. Eating 2 portions of wholegrains a day (fibre-rich foods such as wholemeal pasta and rice, wholegrain cereals, wholemeal bread).
5. Consuming 2 portions of dairy a day (especially important for women).

There are also things you should be cutting down or restricting your intake of:

1. Salt. No more than 6g a day.
2. Alcohol. Your intake should not regularly exceed 2-3 units per day for women, 3-4 for men. See here for a guide to alcohol units.
3. Refined sugars. These contain no nutritional benefit, other than calories!

Now start from 0 and give yourself a point for each of the following:

• 3 or 4 portions of fruit and veg
• 5+ portions of fruit and veg
• 6 or 7 glasses of water a day (1200-1400ml)
• 8+ glasses of water a day (1600ml +)
• 1 portion of lean protein (a portion is equivalent to a peice of meat or fish the size of a pack of playing cards, two eggs, four tablespoons of lentils or beans, 100g cottage cheese)
• 2 portions of lean protein
• 1 portion of wholegrain (a portion can be 3 heaped tbsps wholegrain breakfast cereal, 1 heaped tbsp uncooked porridge oats, 1 medium slice wholemeal bread, 1 small wholemeal roll, 2 heaped tbsps cooked brown rice,2 heaped tbsps cooked wild rice, 3 heaped tbsps cooked brown pasta, ½ wholemeal pitta bread or 2 rye crispbreads)
• 2 portions of wholegrain
• 1 portion of dairy (a medium-size glass of milk, a small pot of yoghurt, or a small matchbox-sized piece of cheese)
• 2 portions of dairy 

Now take off a point if you:

• Consume too much salt
• Consume more than the recommended amount of alcohol regularly
• Consume too much processed sugar (use your own judgement as to what is too much!)

So, what was your "score"? Was it higher or lower than you initially thought? Initially, I thought I was around a 6 or 7, but actually it's higher than that. I always without fail get my 5 a day now, and usually by lunchtime. I've got the water nailed, at 2 litres a day. I always get at least 1 portion of protein and dairy, and my wholegrain intake is good. I didn't have to take off any points either, leaving me with a score of 8 or 9 (most days!). I don't always get enough dairy, and sometimes protein, but I think I'm doing all right! Food for thought.

If you can get all that within your calorie "budget", then you can officially say you're healthy! Of course, you need to add in exercise/activity, not smoke, do anything else remotely risky and factor in any medical conditions! This healthy business is a full time job!

Hx