Quick one this morning as I'm taking the boys swimming - little bit of exercise! Yesterday was good, I upped my syns to 11 and felt much happier. I don't feel so energy sapped either, so I hope that means my body is adjusting!
Today's food:
Breakfast:
2 low fat sausages (1 syn each), baked beans, fruit
Lunch:
Crustless bacon and potato quiche, salad
Dinner:
Homemade burger, homemade coleslaw (will check syns), wholemeal roll (HEx B), cheese (HEx A), homemade oven chips
Snacks:
Fruit, hummus, cottage cheese, carrots, cucumber, mini twister ice lolly (2 1/2 syns), yoghurt
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
Today's Food Plan Wednesday 8th August 2012
Day two over and things are going well. I ate so much fruit and veg yesterday, I think I have a slight orange tinge due to carrot overdose. I can definitely tell I'm upping my water intake as I'm becoming rather well acquainted with my toilet. My body is craving sugar too; I'm breaking out, my hair is greasy and I'm so exhausted without that sugar high! It's only temporary though, hopefully in a few days (once Aunt Flo has departed too) I'll feel better. I only had 3 1/2 syns yesterday, when Slimming World says you should have between 5-15, but I more than made up for it in free food, and I wasn't feeling hungry. I will add some more syns in though, as I don't want to feel deprived. Here's today's food plan.
Breakfast:
Veggie omelette, beans, fruit & yoghurt
Lunch:
Soy & garlic chicken (1 syn), wholemeal pitta (HEx B), salad or veg
Dinner:
Potato skins with cheese (HEx A) bacon and onion filling, salad
Snacks:
Fruit (grapes, apples, bananas, doughnut peaches), carrot sticks, slimming world hummous, cottage cheese, yoghurt
Drinks:
Water, tea, coffee (with milk 1/2 syn), diet coke
Breakfast:
Veggie omelette, beans, fruit & yoghurt
Lunch:
Soy & garlic chicken (1 syn), wholemeal pitta (HEx B), salad or veg
Dinner:
Potato skins with cheese (HEx A) bacon and onion filling, salad
Snacks:
Fruit (grapes, apples, bananas, doughnut peaches), carrot sticks, slimming world hummous, cottage cheese, yoghurt
Drinks:
Water, tea, coffee (with milk 1/2 syn), diet coke
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Daily Food Plan Tuesday 7th August 2012
Yesterday's food went well. I stuck to the plan of what I was eating and only had 6 1/2 syns - 3 on cheese in the morning, 1/2 on a splash of milk in tea in the afternoon and another three on cheese in the evening (since when I weighed out my 42g of healthy extra cheese there was a teeny bit left, so as I had enough syns left I had it too). I did get some cravings for sweet stuff (eg chocolate) in the afternoon, but I didn't cave. Water was good too, and I had at least 2 litres. A good start, I hope I can carry on!
Today's food:
Breafast:
Soft boiled eggs and wholemeal soldiers (healthy 'b' choice) with marmite, fruit and yoghurt
Lunch:
Jacket potato with left over turkey bolognaise, 42g reducaed fat cheddar (healthy 'a' choice)
Dinner:
Oriental soy and garlic chicken (seasoning mix 1 syn), stir fried vegetables (no oil), noodles
Snacks:
Fruit (bananas, nectarines, apples and grapes in the fruit bowl), carrot sticks, cottage cheese, boiled egg, syn free hummus if I get around to making it... natural yoghurt, 1 pack of cheese curls if I absolutely must! 4 1/2 syns.
Drinks:
Water, water, water! Diet coke, black tea and coffee or with a splash of milk (1/2 a syn)
Today's food:
Breafast:
Soft boiled eggs and wholemeal soldiers (healthy 'b' choice) with marmite, fruit and yoghurt
Lunch:
Jacket potato with left over turkey bolognaise, 42g reducaed fat cheddar (healthy 'a' choice)
Dinner:
Oriental soy and garlic chicken (seasoning mix 1 syn), stir fried vegetables (no oil), noodles
Snacks:
Fruit (bananas, nectarines, apples and grapes in the fruit bowl), carrot sticks, cottage cheese, boiled egg, syn free hummus if I get around to making it... natural yoghurt, 1 pack of cheese curls if I absolutely must! 4 1/2 syns.
Drinks:
Water, water, water! Diet coke, black tea and coffee or with a splash of milk (1/2 a syn)
Monday, 6 August 2012
Daily Food Plan Monday 6th August 2012
I thought I would post my daily menu plan in order to help keep me on track. I find it really helps me to plan my meals in advance, even if it is only the night before.
Breakfast:
Baked beans on wholemeal toast (Healthy 'b' choice), 20g reduced fat cheddar (3 syns), mullerlight yoghurt, apple
Lunch:
2 quorn barbeque fillets, vegetables, savoury rice
Dinner:
Turkey bolognaise pasta bake, made with lean turkey mince, very low fat cottage cheese, 42g reduced fat cheddar (Healthy 'a' choice), salad
Snacks:
Fruit (bananas, nectarines, apples and grapes in the fruit bowl), carrot sticks, cottage cheese, boiled egg
Drinks:
Water, water, water! Diet coke, black tea and coffee or with a splash of milk (1/2 a syn)
Breakfast:
Baked beans on wholemeal toast (Healthy 'b' choice), 20g reduced fat cheddar (3 syns), mullerlight yoghurt, apple
Lunch:
2 quorn barbeque fillets, vegetables, savoury rice
Dinner:
Turkey bolognaise pasta bake, made with lean turkey mince, very low fat cottage cheese, 42g reduced fat cheddar (Healthy 'a' choice), salad
Snacks:
Fruit (bananas, nectarines, apples and grapes in the fruit bowl), carrot sticks, cottage cheese, boiled egg
Drinks:
Water, water, water! Diet coke, black tea and coffee or with a splash of milk (1/2 a syn)
My new starting point...
So, this morning I took myself off to the pharmacy at my local supermarket where they have a set of all singing-all dancing digital scales. Literally. It shouts at you. Fortunately it prints out your vitals discreetly, but it makes sure everyone in there knows what you are doing first...
I stepped on, inserted my 50p and gripped the handles. After measuring my height and weight, it apparently took my body fat percentage too.
At my last Weight Watchers weigh in in March, I weighed 13 stone 8 lbs, or 190lbs. Now I weigh 14 stone 5lbs, or 201lbs. It's not as bad as I thought it might be, but I'm still pretty upset that I've gone back over the 200lb mark, have gained 11lbs and am 13lbs over my lowest weight. But I'm not going to let it depress me, I know why it happened and I know how to change it, and this is a new start! I'm feeling positive.
My goals for the week are:
I stepped on, inserted my 50p and gripped the handles. After measuring my height and weight, it apparently took my body fat percentage too.
At my last Weight Watchers weigh in in March, I weighed 13 stone 8 lbs, or 190lbs. Now I weigh 14 stone 5lbs, or 201lbs. It's not as bad as I thought it might be, but I'm still pretty upset that I've gone back over the 200lb mark, have gained 11lbs and am 13lbs over my lowest weight. But I'm not going to let it depress me, I know why it happened and I know how to change it, and this is a new start! I'm feeling positive.
My goals for the week are:
- Get back under 200lbs
- Stick to the Slimming World Extra Easy plan, and keep track of my Syns
- Get back up to 2 litres of water a day.
I think these three goals are pretty easy to achieve, and when I step on the scale again next Monday I'll feel great. Baby steps. I haven't included any exercise goals yet, as it's food I need to focus on for the moment. If I can fit in a swim or a run, all the better, but I wont beat myself up if I don't manage it.
Happy Monday everyone, have a good week!
Hx
Sunday, 5 August 2012
Slimming World Basics - The Extra Easy Plan
Hi!
So, I said yesterday I would explain some of the basics of Slimming World to anyone who was interested! I hope it will help concrete it in my mind too, so bear with me! I wont be going into explicit detail, as I'm sure that would breach some kind of copy right or trade mark or something, but if you have any questions feel free to ask!
When you go to a Slimming World meeting, you'll be introduced to three different plans. There are Original (or red) days, Green days and the more recent addition, Extra Easy days. At the moment, I will be following the Extra Easy plan the majority of the time simply because it does what it says on the tin and is really easy to follow! Not that Original and Green are hard to get to grips with, but I find the choice on Extra Easy is wider and I feel more satisfied.
Food is split into three groups; Free food, Healthy Extras and Syns. The majority of your food for the day should come from the free food group - but the range of free food is huge! And you can eat as much of it as you like - eat until you are full.
Free Food
Free food is split into two groups - free and superfree. Superfree foods are fruit and vegetables which are free on all plans, no matter which you are following. These include (but are not limited to):
Fruit - fresh or frozen but not cooked or tinned
Vegetables - with a few exceptions such as peas, sweetcorn, parsnips, potato and sweet potato
On the Extra Easy plan, these things are also free:
Eggs - poached, scrambled, boiled, fried using low fat cooking spray - in fact any way you like as long as no fat is added
Fat free and very low fat dairy - including plain and some fruit yoghurt, very low fat cottage cheese, very low fat fromage frais, skimmed milk soft cheese such as quark
Meat replacement, such as quorn, textured vegetable protein (TVP and tofu)
Low calorie soft drinks, black tea and coffee
There also also things like stock cubes, dried herbs and other seasonings that are free. Also, fat free salad dressings that are less than 40 calories per 100ml can be used freely.
Meat and poultry - Bacon, beef, chicken, ham, pork, turkey ect. all skin and visible fat removed. Mince should contain less than 5% fat. Most things like sausages and burgers have a syn value.
Fish and seafood - Cod, haddock, prawns, tuna etc, free unless canned in oil
Pulses - beans (including baked beans), lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans etc
Rice, pasta and grains - Couscous, all types of dried pasta, quinoa, bulgar wheat etc, all types of rice
Starchy vegetables - potatoes, peas, sweetcorn, parsnips, sweet potatoes etc
So as you can see that is a huge list! All of it can be enjoyed freely, and will fill you up. No weighing, no counting. It is pretty easy to create whole meals from just the free foods.
Healthy Extras
Healthy extras are additional foods that our bodies need for health. On the Extra Easy plan you chose one 'a' choice and one 'b' choice per day.
'A' choices are dairy foods that are high in calcium, for example an 'a' choice could be:
So, I said yesterday I would explain some of the basics of Slimming World to anyone who was interested! I hope it will help concrete it in my mind too, so bear with me! I wont be going into explicit detail, as I'm sure that would breach some kind of copy right or trade mark or something, but if you have any questions feel free to ask!
When you go to a Slimming World meeting, you'll be introduced to three different plans. There are Original (or red) days, Green days and the more recent addition, Extra Easy days. At the moment, I will be following the Extra Easy plan the majority of the time simply because it does what it says on the tin and is really easy to follow! Not that Original and Green are hard to get to grips with, but I find the choice on Extra Easy is wider and I feel more satisfied.
Food is split into three groups; Free food, Healthy Extras and Syns. The majority of your food for the day should come from the free food group - but the range of free food is huge! And you can eat as much of it as you like - eat until you are full.
Free Food
Free food is split into two groups - free and superfree. Superfree foods are fruit and vegetables which are free on all plans, no matter which you are following. These include (but are not limited to):
Fruit - fresh or frozen but not cooked or tinned
Vegetables - with a few exceptions such as peas, sweetcorn, parsnips, potato and sweet potato
On the Extra Easy plan, these things are also free:
Eggs - poached, scrambled, boiled, fried using low fat cooking spray - in fact any way you like as long as no fat is added
Fat free and very low fat dairy - including plain and some fruit yoghurt, very low fat cottage cheese, very low fat fromage frais, skimmed milk soft cheese such as quark
Meat replacement, such as quorn, textured vegetable protein (TVP and tofu)
Low calorie soft drinks, black tea and coffee
There also also things like stock cubes, dried herbs and other seasonings that are free. Also, fat free salad dressings that are less than 40 calories per 100ml can be used freely.
Meat and poultry - Bacon, beef, chicken, ham, pork, turkey ect. all skin and visible fat removed. Mince should contain less than 5% fat. Most things like sausages and burgers have a syn value.
Fish and seafood - Cod, haddock, prawns, tuna etc, free unless canned in oil
Pulses - beans (including baked beans), lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans etc
Rice, pasta and grains - Couscous, all types of dried pasta, quinoa, bulgar wheat etc, all types of rice
Starchy vegetables - potatoes, peas, sweetcorn, parsnips, sweet potatoes etc
So as you can see that is a huge list! All of it can be enjoyed freely, and will fill you up. No weighing, no counting. It is pretty easy to create whole meals from just the free foods.
Healthy Extras
Healthy extras are additional foods that our bodies need for health. On the Extra Easy plan you chose one 'a' choice and one 'b' choice per day.
'A' choices are dairy foods that are high in calcium, for example an 'a' choice could be:
- 350ml skimmed milk
- 28g cheddar
- 42g feta
- 42g mozzarella
- 42g reduced fat cheddar
- 3 mini babybel light cheeses
'B' choices are high in fibre, for instance:
- 35g porridge oats
- 2 weetabix
- 57g wholemeal bread
- 4 original ryvita
Syns
Syns stands for synergy, and every food that isn't on the free foods list has a syn value, and this is why you really need access to the slimming world literature, either through the online source or through meetings. Everyday, you can have up to 15 syns - use them for a treat (a 140ml glass of wine is 5 syns, or a 2 finger it kat is 5.5) or add some extra cheese (6 syns per ounce/28g), a bit of sauce (extra light mayo is 1 1/2 syns per 2 level tablespoons and 4 tablespoons of gravy, made with granules is 1 syn) or a slice of bread (3 syns).
I hope I haven't confused the hell out of you here! It can be a little overwhelming at first, but it soon all sins in. And it works! I know it sounds mad that you can eat all the pasta, meat, eggs etc that you like, but really, you can. Of course, you have to chose to eat these things instead of the high syns foods like chocolate and crisps, and that's the part that I'll struggle with. I'm going to weigh in in the morning, hopefully that will shock me enough to banish the cravings!
If you have any questions, please ask and I'll do my best to answer. But really and truly, if you want to follow this plan you need to have it explained by someone trained to explain it, and you need access to the literature. There is no class near me at the moment, so once I get my finances sorted I'll be joining the online resource. Until then, I'm going it alone! Wish me luck!
Hx
This is not a sponsored post and I was not offered any remuneration for writing. All opinions are my own. All diet plans should be followed with caution and I highly recommend seeing advice from a Slimming World consultant before embarking on the plan.
Saturday, 4 August 2012
It's time...
...to stop making excuses!
I've decided to begin again. Make a new start and get this weight loss journey to its conclusion. The truth? I'd completely stopped the 'diet', any exercise regime had fallen by the wayside and my heart just wasn't in it. I wasn't enjoying following the plan I was using, and finances meant I had to stop going to my Weight Watchers meetings. All credit to Weight Watchers, I lost close to 3 stones (40lbs exactly) following their plan but I was finding myself constantly hungry, depriving myself not just of treats but even skipping whole meals in an effort to lose weight and it was maing me miserable. Combined with the fact that I just find the plan really hard to stick to without going to group and having the online tools available to me, I gave up. I admit it.
I wasn't doing badly, 6 weeks after stopping my subscription I'd only gained two pounds from my last weigh in, which I was surprised at. I didn't feel like I was gaining weight, my clothes still fitted, I had bony bits where I should have bony bits and people were still telling me I looked good. This isn't the case any more. most of my clothes still fit, but clothes which only just fit me at the start of the summer definitely don't fit anymore! My hips have a bit more padding and my bra straps are feeling a little bit tighter. I don't have a scale at home I don't now the damage in term of pounds and ounces, but I'm guessing I've gained at least a stone (14lbs).
I don't want my clothes not to fit. I have spent most of my adult life with such a limited wardrobe, only being able to shop in plus size stores and I am enjoying being able to buy and wear what I like rather than just what fits! Being a size 14-16 (US 10-12) means that I can shop in most of the main high street stores without worrying that I'm going to struggle finding my size. If I carry on, this isn't going to be the case much longer.
I was also without my laptop or internet access for a good 2-3 months. The laptop is old and literally falling to pieces. It's been revived, but goodness knows how long for. But as long as it's working I'm going to use it to keep me accountable. Through this blog, facebook groups and other inspiration sites. Pinterest, recipes, exercise vids on youtube are all in my arsenal to get me back on track!
So, starting on Monday, and will weigh in at the scales at the pharmacy. I'll be following the Slimming World Extra Easy plan. I followed Slimming World in between having my two boys and it did work for me. The only reason I chose Weight Watchers this time was because there is no Slimming World group in my area any more. But I find Slimming World easier to follow alone, and also it is easier to fill myself up and avoid feeling hungry on the Extra Easy Plan. I'll post sometime in the week on the basics of the plan - it'll help me get it concreted in my mind too!
So, I'm back! The journey is far from over, but I'm determined to get there. I'm actually excited!
I've decided to begin again. Make a new start and get this weight loss journey to its conclusion. The truth? I'd completely stopped the 'diet', any exercise regime had fallen by the wayside and my heart just wasn't in it. I wasn't enjoying following the plan I was using, and finances meant I had to stop going to my Weight Watchers meetings. All credit to Weight Watchers, I lost close to 3 stones (40lbs exactly) following their plan but I was finding myself constantly hungry, depriving myself not just of treats but even skipping whole meals in an effort to lose weight and it was maing me miserable. Combined with the fact that I just find the plan really hard to stick to without going to group and having the online tools available to me, I gave up. I admit it.
I wasn't doing badly, 6 weeks after stopping my subscription I'd only gained two pounds from my last weigh in, which I was surprised at. I didn't feel like I was gaining weight, my clothes still fitted, I had bony bits where I should have bony bits and people were still telling me I looked good. This isn't the case any more. most of my clothes still fit, but clothes which only just fit me at the start of the summer definitely don't fit anymore! My hips have a bit more padding and my bra straps are feeling a little bit tighter. I don't have a scale at home I don't now the damage in term of pounds and ounces, but I'm guessing I've gained at least a stone (14lbs).
I don't want my clothes not to fit. I have spent most of my adult life with such a limited wardrobe, only being able to shop in plus size stores and I am enjoying being able to buy and wear what I like rather than just what fits! Being a size 14-16 (US 10-12) means that I can shop in most of the main high street stores without worrying that I'm going to struggle finding my size. If I carry on, this isn't going to be the case much longer.
I was also without my laptop or internet access for a good 2-3 months. The laptop is old and literally falling to pieces. It's been revived, but goodness knows how long for. But as long as it's working I'm going to use it to keep me accountable. Through this blog, facebook groups and other inspiration sites. Pinterest, recipes, exercise vids on youtube are all in my arsenal to get me back on track!
So, starting on Monday, and will weigh in at the scales at the pharmacy. I'll be following the Slimming World Extra Easy plan. I followed Slimming World in between having my two boys and it did work for me. The only reason I chose Weight Watchers this time was because there is no Slimming World group in my area any more. But I find Slimming World easier to follow alone, and also it is easier to fill myself up and avoid feeling hungry on the Extra Easy Plan. I'll post sometime in the week on the basics of the plan - it'll help me get it concreted in my mind too!
So, I'm back! The journey is far from over, but I'm determined to get there. I'm actually excited!
Hx
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