Weekly Weigh In - have I hit a plateau?

Well, after staying well within my ProPoint allowance all week, having Jillian kick my butt every day and generally being saintly, I stayed the same again. Grr. Wasn't impressed. But I have had a couple of nonscale victories instead. I had a gift card left from Christmas and needed some retail therapy, so we hit the shops yesterday afternoon. Browsing the sale rails I found 2 cute jumpers that I loved - one in a size 16, one in a 14. I usually buy an 18 but suddenly thought I should try a size smaller. The 16 was too big! Only a little, but still, as I plan on losing more, not worth getting since it wouldn't be long (hopefully) before it was completely too big. I tried on the 14 and not only did it fit perfectly, but it looked pretty damn hot, if I say so myself. I walked around the shops for the rest of the afternoon with a very smug look on my face :)

Then, yesterday evening with it being Valentines, Mr FGS decided that we would have a date night at home once the kidlets were in bed. He put on a shirt and I decided to try a dress that I bought for a friends wedding back last May. I bought it online and it fitted...just, and looked awful so I got something else. Well, I tried it on last night and it looked lovely :) Almost 3 stone lighter, a ton more confident, and finally taking control of my body.

This week I WILL lose 1 1/2 lbs to take me to 40lbs. There really was no reason I shouldn't have lost weight last week, so hopefully I'll "catch up" this week. I'm moving onto level 2 of the 30 day shred tonight (terrified). Food is planned, Mr FGS is working the whole weekend so any temptation he brings with his unhealthy habits will be removed and I WILL do this! The Spring Chick Challenge this week is to use smaller utensils when eating, so my porridge and soup will be eaten with a teaspoon out of a mug, and I may even use the children's cutlery...as if everyone didn't think I was insane enough...

Have a good week everyone!

Hx

This week's menu plan...

Morning!

I've managed a menu plan again, but am doing it a little different this week. I decided that planning my snacks wasn't working - I rarely ate what I had planned and swapped the planned things for other days when I wanted them, so instead I have left the snack area blank and just written how many points I have left for the day after my main meals have been taken into consideration. On some of the days I've left more points for snacks than I have included for meals! But, in reality, it probably wont work out like that, and I'm not intending to use all my points every day. Once again, if there are any specific recipes you'd like to see please ask!

I have had to repeat meals and lunches more this week, for reasons I'll go into in a later post, but I don't mind and it means less cooking!

For snacks, as well as fresh fruit and veg and a huge batch of 0pp veg soup and fruit smoothies I will have the following options available:

WW rich toffee bar 2         Ryvita 1

WW crisps 2                     60g cottage cheese 1

150g lf plain yogurt 2         Tbsp lf hummus 2

Rich tea biscuit 1               Boiled egg 2

6 mini breadsticks 1           Cooked veggie sausage 2

I struggle for snack ideas, so if you have any suggestions please share! I am a big snacker and while I know I shouldn't be reaching for the crisps I can't help it! But as long as my choices are measured and accounted for, I'm not too worried. I'm trying to include more protein in my choices too.

Have you planned this week? I found it really helpful last week, knowing what to have and when, and it helped me spend less too.

Hx

Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance...

Hi loves, hope you're having a good week!

After last week's disaster I took some time on Tuesday afternoon after my weigh in working out to what I was going to eat for the week, down to the last snack. I've planned my menu to around 20-25 ProPoints per day as I'm allowed 29 and this will give me some leeway! Already yesterday I found it so much easier to stick to, and didn't even eat 2 of the planned snacks. I've included more variety in there too, which I think now it's getting harder I'm going to need. Having mostly the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day is repetitive and makes me not look forward to eating it. Today I was really excited about my bagel and enjoyed it, and as a result I feel satisfied. What has my life come to, that I enjoy looking forward to a bagel?! There are still some repeats of meals, but it is a lot more varied than what I was eating before.

Anyway, if you're interested here is my menu plan for the week. If the pic comes out really tiny, click it to look a bit closer. I plan on posting about some of the recipes but if there's any you specifically want to know, leave a message in the comments. I'm also planning to make this a regular thing, so have added a Menu Plan tab to the top. At the moment it just contains a link to this post, but I'll hopefully build it up with recipe links and menu plans as the weeks pass. It is time consuming planning this way, so I might not do it every week, but will definitely try and plan more!

Once I'd planned out everything, yesterday morning I walked to a farm shop to buy veg for the week. I spent £11.20 on this little lot:

Grapes, peppers, butternut squash, red onions, kiwis, courgettes, cucumber, tomatoes, lemon, spring onions, broccoli 

When I went to the supermarket after for a few more bits I had a quick wander round the veg aisles and looked at the prices to compare the farm shop prices, and found out that some things cost a few pence more, while some things cost a few pence less, so all in all I think I probably broke even. I will definitely walk to the farm shop more often (it's a 2 mile round trip) as most of the produce is British if not local (obviously not all of it!), and it means I get a nice walk in too. I was nice and warm by the time I got back yesterday, so plenty of calories burned.

Continuing with the planning theme, 3 of the meals I have planned for the week involve roasted veg, so this morning I baked a huge tray of it of which I had some for lunch today and the rest will go in the fridge for tomorrow's dinner and another lunch later in the week. Lessening the load! I just chopped 3 courgettes, 2 peppers, and two red onions, slung them in a tray sprayed with low-cal cooking spray with seasoning, balsamic vinegar and some dried orgeano and roasted it for about 45 minutes. So yum!

Now I just have to stop myself from eating it all and running out when I need it...

How do you plan? I would love to see links to menu plans if you have them!

Hx

Coping with Christmas

Christmas is a difficult time of year for many people, not just diet and exercise wise, but emotionally and mentally too. I have certainly found my stress levels rising over the last few weeks, and we're not even hosting Christmas at our house this year. And, for me at least, when my stress levels rise, my food habits deteriorate into something less than desirable. I thought I would write a post on how I'm planning to stay in control this Christmas (and New Year!).

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My last Weight Watchers meeting is on Tuesday (20th), and we miss a week before going back on the 3rd of January. The temptation to just have 2 weeks "off" is [i]huge[/i], and I know two friends of mine are doing that, but I am going to try my hardest not to. Usually on a Tuesday after my weigh in I do allow myself an "off" day, where I wont count my points, perhaps have a meal out or cook a meal I wouldn't usually eat or a drink or two, and my worry is that I'll just continue this for two weeks! Especially as I have some baking to do and a Christmas Cake to ice. I will have my usual "treat" on Tuesday (perhaps a Christmassy themed one so I don't feel left out!), but am planning to go straight back into it on Wednesday with my porridge for breakfast, soup for lunch routine that works so well for me. I'll carry that on until Saturday, Christmas Eve, when we are travelling to Birmingham to spend the next 3 days with Mr FGS's family, and staying with my sister in law (stick thin, seems to live on tea and water. Grr.)

Now because we are not at home Christmas day itself there wont be lots of Christmas nibbles, leftovers, cheese etc there. So, as soon as we get back on the 26th I can get back into it. Realistically, it will be the 27th, meaning I'll only have 3 days "off". Plus, staying with the aforementioned SIL I can't imagine there'll be loads of snacks around, everyone knows I've been on a diet so wont be buying me chocolate so as long as I avoid the kids sweeties (there will be 5 children there) I shouldn't do too much damage. Unless she sends me back with loads of leftovers that is (I am worried she's going to send me home with 3/4 of the Christmas cake I've made as only me and the father in law like it and he lives in Spain so wont be taking it home with him).

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Alcohol, though, is a different matter. I don't drink much any more, in fact hardly anything. This year, I've only been 'drunk' twice. Once was at my best friend's wedding in May, and the other time was when a friend held a psychic evening and I was so nervous I had my reading last out of 12 people and got drunk first (and subsequently can barely remember a word he told me...). Mr FGS is a big drinker, and everyone in his family (apart from SIL) likes a drink. So, alcohol will be in abundance, no doubt. If I don't drink they will all think I'm pregnant again (for good reason, that's what happened 2 years ago...). For me, drinking leads to eating. If I have a hangover, I crave carbs and greasy food the whole day, I guess to level out my sugar levels. So, moderation for me. I don't like getting drunk and not being in control in front of other people (or eating a lot - another bonus) so as long as glass after glass isn't forced into my hands I should be able to stay in control.

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Then, I have almost a week before the New Year celebrations start. We don't have any plans yet, but whatever we do there will be food and alcohol involved. I hope on New years Eve to be able to stick to plan all day, then the damage done in the evening should be controllable. I am also going to limit my alcohol intake so I don't have another "hangover day" on New Years Day, and get straight back on plan on the 2nd.

To balance out the excesses, I'm going to up my exercise in the hopes I can limit the damage. Wednesday 21st and Friday 23rd I plan on going for a run, which hopefully will see me complete week 5 of C25K. I'm hoping I'll have time to fit in a Zumba sesh or two as well, although my evenings will be taken up with baking, wrapping, cake decorating and packing (and doing my nails, naturally). The week in between Christmas and New Year Mr FGS has off work, so I'm hoping to be able to fit in a family walk or two, and maybe a swim. I think I can sometimes lack energy around this time of year too, so getting plenty of exercise will help with that too.

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Now, while I don't think I can lose any weight over the Christmas period, I think if I can stick to this plan I'll manage to maintain my weight and not gain any. What do you think? Am I being realistic? Will the lure of the chocolate orange be too much to bear?

Whether it's stress, emotions, or just temptation that are threatening your good habits this year, how are you planning to cope with it? Are you going to have 2 weeks "off" completely, stick rigidly to your plan, or go with a bit of give and take like I am? I've come to realise I can have the things I want, I just can't have everything I want, and I'm happy with that. Please share your coping strategies!

Hx

Cheese, cheese is good for your heart...oh, wait...

Cheese. Much like biscuits and bread, cheese is one of the things I miss the most on the Weight Watchers plan. I quite often sit with a bunch of grapes, an apple, or a glass of water and think, you know what would go good with this? Cheese.

The problem is, cheese is high in Pro Points and isn't very filling. Tasty, yes but filling, no. Fatty too. And the low fat stuff, despite being only 1PP per 20g for half fat cheddar, just isn't the same. It doesn't melt as well, is a bit plasticky and grows penicillin quicker than normal cheese, meaning that if you eat tiny portions and don't use it quickly your fridge will soon be rivalling that of Alexander Fleming.


So how do you get your cheese fix? Here are a few suggestions:

• use strong cheese, in smaller amounts. You'll get more flavour than from mild cheese so you wont need as much.
• use the small side of the grater when grating cheese - you'll be amazed at how much further it goes!
• grate your cheese and store it in a ziplock bag in the fridge, as often if you cut a chunk off then weigh it and it's more than you should have you'll be tempted to eat the extra (I know I am!). If it's ready grated you can just pop it back in the bag. You can freeze it once it's grated too, and use it straight from the freezer for most things. This solves the problem of it going off before you can use it all.
• cottage cheese makes a good dip for vegetable crudities and apple or grapes. 60g of low fat cottage cheese equals 1PP
• extra light cream cheese (such as Philadelphia) makes a good pasta sauce (like my Cheats Carbonara), base for risotto, and makes soup lovely and creamy if you stir a spoonful through. 50g of extra light is 1PP, or light is 30g per PP. You can get different flavours such as garlic and herb and roasted pepper. Stuff a medium chicken breast with some before baking for a diet friendly kiev for 5 PP.
• adding a bit of mustard to a cheese sauce really enhances the cheese flavour, meaning you don't need as much cheese. 1tsp of mustard is free (any more than that and it has a points value) and can also be stirred into mash to make it taste creamier.
• Have some cheese and biccies instead of a desert. Weight Watchers do crackers which are 1PP for a pack of three. They taste like cardboard but it's the cheese that counts!

I'll hold my hands up and admit it, cheese is a weakness of mine. But I can still enjoy it on this plan. 

What are your weaknesses?

Hx

Weekly Weigh in No. 14 and Operation Fit and Fab update

14 weeks in and I have lost another 1 1/2lbs - equalling 25 pounds in total :) Go me! I'm chuffed that despite being ill over the weekend and totally fluffing up on Sunday by not eating all day then having 2 slices of dominoes pizza and garlic bread the effort I put in the rest of the week has paid off.

One of the main things that has got me through this week is Operation Fit and Fabulous and the support of Jayne and the ladies on Twitter. We're spurring each other on, throwing advice and ideas back and forth and assuring each other that, yes, Jaffa Cakes do count as one of your five a day!

Last weeks missions were to drink 2 litres of water a day, body brush before each shower/bath, exercise for an hour 3 times a week, be kinder to yourself and get enough sleep. I managed the water, although I did feel like I was sloshing when I walked for the first few days and still get a bit nervous when I'm too far from the loo. I don't have a body brush yet, but as soon as it arrives it will be meeting my wobbly thighs. Exercise I surprisingly managed too, thanks in part of my other half being off work last week we managed a walk and my patented walk/run hybrid (ralk or wun?), and last night I did a half hour of Wii Fit and 45 mins of Zumba. Wont be so easy this week as he started two new jobs yesterday so he wont be around even in the evenings and will be much less inclined to want to go walking when he is here. Also I have DS1 off sick from school so am pretty housebound. I will manage it though, even if it's in smaller chunks. As for being kinder to myself, I'm not sure. making the time to exercise and things kinda covers that, but maybe it's one I need to work on more. And the last thing I definitely need to try harder at is the sleep thing. I haven't managed that one little bit. Last night I was down to 5 hours and it was disturbed due to snotty kids, and then the baby woke me up at just gone 5am. The key for me in this one is to go to bed earlier I think. Last night it was gone 11.30 when I went upstairs, so probably nearer midnight by the time I got to sleep. I need to put things off to the next day - not getting a blog post up before I go to bed isn't the be all and end all.

So, a bit of a mixed bag. Overall I'm pleased with myself this week. Next weeks mission looks quite achievable too. Get your 5 a day - something I generally do anyway. At the moment I have porridge with berries for breakfast, some kind of home-made vegetable soup for lunch and something with a mound of veg on the side for dinner. And snacks in between are generally apples, carrot, pepper and cucumber sticks, apples, grapes and did I say apples? Something also suggested is to keep a food diary, something which Weight Watchers also recommends in the way of tracking. They have tools on their website which allow you to track each food you eat and their pro-points value. This is something I used to do religiously but have slacked a bit lately. So, as of tomorrow I am going to log absolutely everything I eat, even foods with 0 PP value. It will be interesting to see how much I really eat.

How have you done this week?

Hx

Weigh in day!

...and I wake up dreaming of croissants and scones...

Yesterday I only had 9 points (or thereabouts) all day. For breakfast I had fruit and yogurt (1PP) lunch was soup and Weight Watchers crackers (1PP) dinner was chicken and mango salad (4PP) and I also had 2 custard cream biscuits (3PP). I kept myself busy moving furniture around and actually didn't feel that hungry. In the evening after settling the kids in their new room I did a 20 minute Wii Zumba routine, had a nice bath and painted my nails, then had some pineapple as a snack, so I wasn't tempted to pick at unhealthy things. Usually evenings are my danger time and I can quite happily eat and eat, so finding something else to do instead of sit on the laptop with a pack of crisps at my side is the key I think.

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So hopefully the scales will be in my favor this morning. I had a bad week for picking last week but hopefully counter balanced that yesterday and over the weekend. It would be nice to at least maintain my weight and any loss will be a bonus.

Wish me luck!

Hx

Fruit and yogurt

My current breakfast of choice! This morning I had a kiwi, some black berries and a nectarine chopped and topped with a weight watchers layered fromage frais (1PP). You can also blend it all together and have it as a smoothie instead. It's a good breakfast, if I was doing anything terribly strenuous today I'd be hungry again pretty soon but I've got my sons bedroom to sort out so that'll keep my mind off food! And as I've been so bad this week today I'm eating as little "pointed" food as I can and instead filling up on free fruit and veg. I've made a huge pot of veg soup (with no points) and everytime I feel a bit peckish I'm going to have a mug of that, plus a chicken breast and salad for dinner. No carbs! Hopefully I wont just bloat up and weigh a ton on the scales tomorrow...

I'll post my soup recipe later!

Hx