Well I won something but......

Not much else to celebrate!

Let's go back to Tuesday.  I think I did ok as far as meals are concerned:

Breakfast was pretty simple.

Lunch was leftovers:

And dinner was also pretty simple:

My blood sugar has been low on occasions so I have had to take glucose or eat something sweet. Trouble is that sets me off wanting more! It has been difficult to control.

Wednesday - weigh in day. It was a long day and I wasn't feeling wonderful. I was very achey and extremely tired. That is a sure sign that something is not balanced. It feels to me like my vitamin D deficiency rather than blood sugar. Anyway I struggled all day. I had my fruit and yoghurt for breakfast and then had beans on toast for lunch:

Feeling really washed out I went to class and sure enough no good news - I had put on a pound and a half. Not really a surprise but annoying none the less! I felt quite fed up with myself. I am still not having my HEa every day and I am sure I exceed my syns on quite a few days. That knowledge still made me cross with myself and fed up. Still ...... I won the raffle - a lovely veg box. At least I have plenty of super free to kick start the week!

Here's one I made earlier

I have been following another SW blogger and recently I really liked the look of her breakfast! She had added a crumbled Alpen Light onto her fruit and yoghurt which looked interesting. On Monday I thought I would give it a go! The Alpen Light is half an HEb

On Sunday I decided to make soup for Monday's lunch . Shame I didn't think about it before I went shopping as I had to use what was in the fridge. So, it was potato, leek and spinach. Looked a bit green but tasted ok!

Probably tasted better than it looked! Fruit again to follow so a very 'green' lunch in more ways than one!! 

Of course on Sunday I had also made curry for Monday dinner. It's a rare pleasure to get home from work and not to have to make dinner. This was a SW recipe from the Curry Heaven book but I adapted it somewhat. I'm not too sure how near it was to the original but it tasted ok. I'm not sure either if  it was spicy hot enough for others. Anyway it was 'one I made earlier' and I had enough for lunch on Tuesday too. Quite some planning!

I also had a caramel yoghurt (1 syn I think) and a Curly Wurly (6syns). I think about other treats but always come back to the good old Curly Wurly!

Closing note - has anyone noticed that I am still not getting to grips with the HEa option? It's even worse now I have given up cheese for Lent.  Must really think this one through.

It's the weekend again!

Well what beautiful spring weather all weekend! The sun cheers everyone up and it gave me more energy that's for sure. I managed to get quite a few jobs done but..........in doing things I wasn't well organised as far as food was concerned. It wasn't that I ate loads of wrong things, more that I didn't really eat. Saturday breakfast was boiled egg and crispbreads followed by fruit. I always look forward to this breakfast as I never have any time in the week.

I had saved a couple of veggie sausages for my lunch only to discover at the last minute that someone else had eaten them! So, to plan B. I made some bulgar wheat, added some veg and topped with some cooked chicken. Not bad for a 'scratch' lunch!

Again I munched on fruit during the afternoon. I made myself some coronation chicken for the evening by mixing a teaspoon of curry powder with a spoon of light mayo (1 syn) and added a few sultanas (2syns). This I used to top a jacket potato:

Together with some salad it was a yummy meal! 

So, on to Sunday. I spent the morning preparing meals in advance. I did manage a breakfast of eggs and toast with fruit, then I got loads of housework done whilst my chicken curry simmered away! As the weather was so lovely we decided to do some gardening, well we pruned trees and bushes. Somehow I managed to go right past lunch without thinking of it. By the time I remembered it really was a little late so I unfortunately picked bits and pieces. Not an ideal thing to do and I can't exactly recall what I ate or how many syns it might have been! Still, I was exercising!!!

Dinner was much more organised:

Plenty of broccoli and potatoes with pork coated in lemon and herbs. Yogurt and fruit after that before a final treat of a Curly Wurly. Note to self again ...... When the sun is shining make sure I have my food planned!

Think positively!

Had an early meeting again on Thursday so breakfast was going to be a struggle. Decided on fruit and yoghurt as a good standby because it doesn't really matter what time you get to eat it. As with Thursdays (day after weigh in) I wasn't organised for lunch - I rarely am. I did strangely fancy a sandwich though. That is odd for me as I can live without them. Anyway, using my HEb (bread), I made a ham  and salad sandwich and had a piece of chicken on the side. Yet again the thought of the sandwich was better than eating it! I really don't know why that is.

Throughout the afternoon I did eat fruit, and managed to steer clear of any chocolate eggs or jelly babies!

It was obviously a day of fancying things because I really wanted pasta. Recently I had made one with broccoli, asparagus and chicken and everyone liked it, so I did the same, adding a packet of 

Philadelphia mushroom sauce. I'm not sure how many syns that was - must look it up.

I was fairly full after that so waited a while before I had a big bowl of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries topped with Liberte 0% yoghurt. Yum! Before the evening was finished I did have  my Curly Wurly (6syns).

Friday was a little more planned as I had time before I left for work. On the way I stopped off for some bits at Waitrose and so took advantage of the free coffee offer! I took my large black coffee to work and had it with my breakfast:

Banana on toast is one of my favourite breakfasts and the mango yoghurt was a great addition. Lunch was pasta leftovers from the previous evening and I also managed some satsumas. There were biscuits in the staffroom but I managed not to have a single one!

We hadn't had SW chips for a while so I decided on them for dinner together with quorn sausages. For a while I have quite enjoyed the veggie sausages but this time I was not such a fan. Not sure why but they left me feeling quite bloated and uncomfortable. I was glad I had loaded the plate with tomatoes as I was in no mood for my fruit and yoghurt, and that is odd!

So, Thursday was not a brilliant day, but Friday was better. If each day of the week can be better than the one before I might stand half a chance of a weight loss next Wednesday!

How lucky am I?

Heyyyyyy! Weighed in and had only put on half a pound. I count that as very very very very fortunate. I thought I deserved more. Thinking about it after class though, I wonder if sub consciously I compensated in some way?

The fascinating thought is that my mind may just be ruling my heart and my stomach as far as food is concerned. Not totally but perhaps slowly my head is taking over! Let's hope so because I don't want to think of life as one big diet or food plan. I want just to live with food being a necessary part of life not a dominating feature that rules most of what I choose to do. I don't want to plan an outing or trip and for where and what I am going to eat to be an early consideration. I want it to be almost an after thought.

I think that this past week I knew that I was overdoing the chocolate eggs, and perhaps the yummy sandwiches. I had been out for a grand dinner too and eaten most of what was on offer! On reflection I compensated somewhat - the Curly Wurly's have been ignored; extra things have been counted as syns (well apart from the eggs) and on Monday I did a three mile walk - unusual for me!

What I must do this week is get firmly back on plan. Perhaps I can walk a little too. I need to plan my meals because today is not looking too good and this was lunch yesterday:

Hmmmmmm,............. Today must be better, especially if I don't want to go back to this:

Errrrrrrrrr ...............no!

Is the future egg shaped?

Well is it? Eggs have certainly featured heavily with me this week and what a dreadful week I have had! I just know I will put on weight at class this evening and I will so deserve every ounce of it. I have tried hard with meals I can honestly say but it's the I between times that have been awful. So what has happened?

Well those retailers are certainly getting their marketing right and Easter is just around the corner. I recently bought traditional British gifts for a visiting group of Swedish students. I spent ages in the supermarket selecting them only to find when I got into work that I had somewhat overdone it. So, I secreted a bag of mini packets of chocolate eggs in the cupboard with a view to saving them for the staff at Easter. Good idea? NO! The other day I was tired, peckish and fed up when I suddenly came across the eggs. Just like the jelly babies the other day they called to me over and over. I did not rest until over the course of this week they have all gone!

As if chocolate eggs were not bad enough, I went to a meeting yesterday where sandwiches were provided. Now my lunch was waiting for me in the office but egg sandwiches are hard to resist! I took 2 quarters of a round and have to say I enjoyed every mouthful but syn free they were not! I dread to think how many syns they were!

Enough said. As far as meals go, here is a selection though:

Spicy sausage casserole with plenty of peas and sauté potatoes!

Breakfast of rice, fruit, yoghurt and a chocolate Alpen Light.

One of my favourites ......SW mash, beans and yummy smoked haddock!

So, you see, meals are really not too bad. I just need to watch those chocolate eggs. Oh yes .............. And those damned jelly babies made a reappearance in the staff room today! I just have to face the scales now and summon up yet more resolve. It's going to be a tough gig!

And the sun is shining

It's so great to see the sun and feel the warmth after such dreadful weather. The downside has been seeing all the dust and the grubby windows that need cleaning! Still, thank goodness I am not flooded out of my home. It could be so much worse.

As soon as warmer weather comes it doubles my dismay at the amount of weight I still need to lose. Will it be yet another summer where I struggle to find clothes I feel comfortable in? Will I still fit into last year's?!?! Eggs for breakfast again with toast today  (HEb).  Decided to have a banana and some grapes as my super free.

Getting out into the garden was so good, but it somewhat disrupted my Sunday food planning regime!  I did manage to make some veggie pasta and some rice pudding for the next day, and a sausage casserole for dinner on Monday.  I added some piri piri chicken to some of the pasta for lunch and then had some satsumas.

During the afternoon I did some more of my Easter knitting. Everything seems better when the sun shines. Let's hope that the weather lasts and we get a wonderful summer. Somehow though I don't think it will be that easy. For dinner I repeated the stuffed pork loin recipe I made a while ago. The stuffing was made from dried apricots, onion, herbs, breadcrumbs, a few nuts and an egg. I can't remember how many syns I allowed last time but the small amount I had must have been around 4. 

One thing that will soon disappear from the shelves - sprouts! I do love them and have them at every opportunity. I will have to find something more seasonal that I like as much!

Oops....I have only had a splash of milk today so no HEa really. I must remember every day.  I did have some strawberries and yoghurt, topped with a lemon drizzle Alpen Light! 4 syns are they?

Out for dinner

I started off the day just knowing that I would not be in control all day. We were going to a rather grand dinner with a fixed menu and although I was designated driver it was the calories I would eat that were more of a concern!

An early start as I had a lot to do. I was picking up my new glasses then gabbing a manicure and my hair done. After the usual weekly shop I rushed to eat breakfast and decided that as I was unsure of when lunch would be, if at all, then I had better have 2 eggs with crispbreads. (HEb). I also had some fruit.

That eaten I dashed off,  got everything done and then relaxed in the hairdressers. It was a restful time with a good chat and a laugh thrown in! I avoided eating out and managed to get home in reasonable time to eat a small amount of piri piri chicken pasta and then strawberries with 0% yoghurt.

So to the dinner.......duck pate with toast to start. No way of knowing the exact syns but definitely 3 for the bread! I avoided the butter though. This was followed by beef, potatoes , carrots and beans. I think I was reasonably safe with the beef and the beans, but the potatoes were cooked in oil and I am sure the carrots were honeyed! Pudding was sorbet which is not too bad in the scheme of things but that was served with panna cotta! Add to all that the one vodka I had and the after dinner mint, I was well over my syns limit!

I am not used to being out so late so when I got home I found myself eating a Curly Wurly. Oh well!

Doubling up again

I seem to have been even busier than ever. That may be because the weather has improved somewhat which makes me feel more like doing things. On Thursday morning I had a breakfast meeting at 8.15am. Again I had every intention of not eating but that never happened. I had a small bread roll with sausage in it so will count that as my HEb. I stuck to black coffee though. Once the meeting was finished my next port of call was the dentist to have a filling replaced in a front tooth. It was already niggling so I decided to eat before I got there. I stopped off a a local deli and managed to get a jacket potato with prawn mayo. I guess it would have been about 4 syns fir the mayo. It was delicious though and with a cup of strong Italian coffee it was just what I needed!

It was a good job I ate first as the dentist was agony! I was so numb when I came out that I couldn't eat or drink anything. Feeling sorry for myself I went home and made SW cottage pie. Teamed up with sprouts it was easy to manage once the numbness wore off.  The dental work had 'agitated the nerve' according to the dentist and so would be painful for a while. He was not wrong!

I had some of my HEa in coffees today but didn't really have it all. No more syns either as my tooth was still sore.

On Friday I could only grab fruit again for breakfast but that's better than nothing. My tooth had settled down a bit but I didn't want to push it. Strangely it had also dampened my appetite and whatever I considered for lunch I wasn't keen! I settled in a very snacky bread and ham with a couple of pears. (HEb) This is where I would have resorted to cheese but of course I have given that up for Lent!

It doesn't look much but it was all I really fancied at the time.  I did have a hiFi during the afternoon 6syns). That kept me going until the evening. Still not knowing what I wanted to eat, I resorted to my old favourite again - jacket potato. With some tuna and salad it was very filling, leaving me no room for anything else. 

What I am noticing is that I rarely have any or all of my HEa, and especially since I have given up cheese. I must watch that. I have been using it up by having a milky drink at night but I am so tired recently that I can't be bothered!!

And another half makes a whole one!

Weigh in night again, and this week I lost another half a pound. Doesn't sound a lot, but half a pound a week over a year would be 26 lbs - just under 2 stone. You will detect I am attempting to be positive.

I only managed to grab some fruit for breakfast. Not good I know but better than so going completely off plan. I did better for lunch. Had a plain chicken sandwich (HEb for the bread) followed by a big bowl of fresh fruit.

I had a rhubarb yoghurt mid afternoon as I really fancied something sweet.  Trouble is it didn't stave off the sweet cravings and then I discovered a small bag of mini eggs in my desk drawer! I tried sooooooo hard to ignore them but just like the demon jelly babies, they won me over. Bad news! I really need to stop giving in to these little voices in my head.

After class tonight I had my usual favourite - jacket potato and beans. Boring you may think but it is one if my all time favourites. No photo I'm afraid.

Was so pleased for Shelley in class tonight as she won Greatest Loser of the Year. Well deserved Shelley! She is someone who sometimes struggles but she is almost 3 stone lighter than she was. She is an inspiration! So, although I only lost half a pound at least it was OFF. Just need to keep it off now!

Lent, denial and all that.....

Another catch up today as the time seems to fly by! Monday was almost all good! I started the day with chilled rice topped with juicy berries. The rice makes a change from yoghurt and is more filling I find.

On Sunday I had made my lunch so it was ready to grab in the morning. I found the recipe in 100 Extra Easy Days and have tweaked it a little on occasion but potatoes with mayonnaise and other things thrown in is really delicious (1syn for the tiny amount of Mayo needed). This time I put in some crispy bacon, spring onions and peppers. Sometimes I add chopped apple to bulk it out more but not today.

Finished off yet again with a Liberte yoghurt and a pear!

Today I was drawn by something new to focus on good things in life - 100happydays. The idea is that for each of the next 100 days you post a photo of what has made you happy that day. You can list on a variety of platforms and I have selected Twitter. Day 1 and 2 are up - check them out - @thatsmymum - if you tweet! For those on fb you will find the link to the site on my page. Why not give it a go? Spread some happiness! My challenge to myself is for none of the 100 photos to be food! Wonder how long I can last?

Evening dinner was easy as I had a bowl of the soup from Sunday and then some cheese and crackers (HEa and HEb in one go!)

I treated myself to a Curly Wurly during the evening.(6 syns). Well...... Why not?

So on to Tuesday. Not so well prepared today. Same breakfast as yesterday. Well there was rice to
finish! Just as delicious I might add and teamed it up with an amaretto coffee!

Had to trot off to the doctor. For a memory test so lunch was late again. What a joke the test was! Count back from 20. What year/month is it? Say the months of the year backwards etc. A
few simple questions and there I was in a panic that I might be faced with some kind of Kim's Game
test. I never was much good at that even at school and fresh! Anyway, I had made myself a kind of crustless quiche with eggs, cheese (HEa), peppers and mushrooms. Had that with some salad. I wish I could say I enjoyed it! I fancied the idea the evening before but I couldn't finish it all and I'm afraid it left me feeling rather nauseous. Now that could have been down to the new tablets I walked out of the surgery with. Not that I went there for anything other than a memory test, but they managed to shoehorn in a check on medication and prescribe yet something else.

The nausea kept going all evening so I will see what happens today. Perhaps it wasn't the quiche. Dinner was pretty plain which was a good idea as I did manage to finish it. As it was Shrove Tuesday pancakes were on order. I made them and knew from the outset that I would not resist, so I had one and the first scrappy one that comes out of the pan. SW says around 5 syns per pancake so I reckon that must have been about 8 syns. I only had lemon and sweetener on them! No Nutella Natasha!!!
Had a HiFi as my HEb during the evening.

So, Lent. What should I give up, if anything? Is there any point in setting myself up to fail? Won't I then feel bad about myself? Or is that a defeatist attitude? On reflection I think I will have a go at giving up cheese as it is one of my downfalls. Wish me luck!

Sunday successes

Sundays are turning out to be good days for me! I like to be organised and Sunday mornings give me the chance to do just that. Well, after breakfast and The Archers Omnibus that is! Eggs, crispbreads (HEb) and fruit first thing then the everyday tales of country folk for an hour or so!!! Everyone knows not to call me between 10.00 and 11.15 am on a Sunday.

It was a pretty chilly morning so I decided that dinner would be an enormous pan of beef and vegetable soup. All the root vegetables I could find went into the pan as well as pearl barley and lentils. With extra lean beef cubes that was all that was needed to make a hearty soup for later! There is no need for stock or flavourings save for salt and pepper.

After a yummy pasta dish on Friday I really wanted pasta for lunch.  Again I raided the fridge for vegetables - peppers, mushrooms, broccoli and spring onions. I softened these and added some dry cured smoked bacon then tossed into tagliatelle. Delicious enough without adding any cheese. Followed this with a yoghurt and an orange.

Now I needed to ensure that I didn't eat my way through the afternoon so I found my knitting pattern for Easter novelties and started off. Before long this was complete:

It kept me going until dinner. - my hearty soup! I added herb dumplings for my husband but managed to avoid them myself. (Well done me!) one huge bowl was enough. Later in the evening I had some rice pudding with fruit. I really like cold rice from the fridge! It's easy to make - just boil it in water and add sweetener and a few drops of vanilla essence. I have enough left for breakfast tomorrow! I also made lunch for tomorrow so plenty of planning to help with a successful Monday perhaps.

Oh dear! I have completely forgotten my HEa (except for a very small amount of skimmed milk in coffee). I had a very small piece of chocolate which was about 4 syns. All in all a reasonable day.

A bit of damage limitation!

I needed a new dress for an occasion next weekend  so yesterday I set out to find one. I had my usual Saturday breakfast of boiled egg and crispbreads (HEb) followed by fruit to keep me going. I actually managed to find a dress with relative ease. It is so nice to be able to look in as many shops as I like without worrying that they won't have anything to fit me! Now that is partly due to having lost weight and somewhat to the fact that stores do tend to stock larger sizes than they used to.

Anyway, for the first time in ages I didn't spend my shopping time thinking about whether or not to get lunch somewhere or come home. I didn't hesitate as I didn't feel particularly hungry. When I got home I made a hasty jacket potato and had it with salad and cheese (half my HEa). I then had some fruit and yoghurt.

Afternoons at the weekend can be a dodgy time as if I don't keep myself busy then I tend to pick! So,
I spent some time reading through this month's SW magazine. It inspired me to make spicy burgers with chips for dinner!

They were pretty good. I didn't make the coleslaw or the relish but the addition of peas was just as good! I treated myself to some melon and a Liberte blueberry yoghurt too!

So a better day than the last two. Hopefully it is damage limitation!

I don't wanna talk about it

Things are not good. You may have gathered this as I haven't blogged. I have no idea what has got into me (except for all the wrong foods that is!) Wednesday evening was a nightmare and Thursday was not good either. After feeling yucky the previous evening - self inflicted I might add - I decided that porridge and banana would be a good breakfast.

It was really good and kept me going until a late lunch time. I had had no time to prepare anything at home so I bought soup. I tried to buy sensibly - roasted vegetable and tomato. I added some ham and had strawberries and blueberries. I can't say I liked the soup very much and it probably had oil in it so say around 2 syns.

That should have been good enough but the staff room was full of goodies! Those dreaded jelly babies were lurking there and yet again I gave in! Wrong, wrong, wrong on all counts. Too many syns to count and a real sugar overload sending my blood sugar soaring. I must stop going into the staff room.

Dinner was planned and I loaded my plate with green beans. I followed it with berries and 0% yoghurt.

The garlic Fry Light really makes a difference to cooking - much more flavour.

So you would think that having a 'haywire' Thursday would make me try really hard on Friday wouldn't you? Ha ha ha! I didn't even listen to myself. One of those days when there was no time to eat until late so breakfast didn't happen. Lunch became a combination of the two:

It was ok as lunches go. I knew I should have stayed where I was but I strolled into the staff room again - double whammy! It was someone's birthday so there were crisps, twiglets, biscuits and so on. To make it even worse the visiting Swedish students had brought in sweets and chocolate from Gothenberg. I sampled everything! WHAT AM I DOING?

Dinner was planned and it was delicious - tagliatelle with chicken, broccoli and asparagus with Philadelphia mushroom sauce. I had the cheek to count the syns for that but after the fiasco in the afternoon I may as well not have bothered! The one redeeming thing is I never had any more syns during the evening. Not much help but a minor victory with myself!

Saturday just has to be a better day.