Life is a game that you’ve just gotta PLAY!

3^rd January 2012
I never look back, I look forward. - Steffi Graf

Okay, who’s ready to get on it?  If you haven’t already started back on the healthy track, today’s the day I start and you’re more than welcome to join me!  My fridge is empty all but half a can of Whiskas!  The freezer isn’t much better, so luckily for me that’s a good platform to get started.  There are some biscuits but mom will hide them from me so I’m not tempted and Quality Streets which I will get out of our house today because we don’t need them!

I’m going to for the rest of the week eating good filling and healthy foods, will be doing ProPoints but ensuring everything I eat is a good choice.  Why because I don’t just want to lose weight, I want to be healthy, therefore today’s question to myself will once again be;

“Is This Good For Me?”

I have indulged over Christmas and I reckon I’ll have gained 3 or 4lb when I get on those scales officially but I can honestly say I never once ‘ate for the sake of eating’ apart from yesterday when I had ten Quality Streets just because they were there!  That is a habit I’m working on losing, I want to eat food that I really enjoy and give it the attention it deserves, not just have something because its there and not even realise I’ve eaten it.

I’ve written a shopping list specific to me by going through all my Weight Watcher books for ideas, I know I’m going to be very busy for the rest of the week so I won’t have time to spend ages in the kitchen, so this week is simple healthy food all the way.

I haven’t planned my meals because I never know what I fancy until just before, I have however wrote a list that will make sure I can only make healthy meals.  What’s on my shopping list, just the staples, nothing extravagant.  I’ve chose the vegetables I enjoy eating, such as courgettes, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, spinach, peppers, then I’ve added filling & healthy meats such as chicken breasts, bacon medallions, gammon, beef steak.  I’ve also added Yorkshire puddings because I’ve got a thing for them at the moment and at 1pp each they’re a bargain.  I also like chorizo and cheese to add flavour to my meals.  You’ve probably read those few things and gone mmm or yak, which proves it’s important to write your own shopping list ;-)

I really feel ready to get on track, I’ve had a great sleep, I was shattered after having very little sleep the last few nights and eating pretty rubbish food too, I was in bed at 7.30pm last night, and now I’m raring to go and looking forward to weighing you all.

Your body responds to how you treat it, so if all you put in is junk and you don’t let it rest, it’s not going to work with you very well, you’re going to struggle to function.  If however you feed it good food, give it ample rest and keep it active too, you’ll be amazed at the difference.  My official tracking week starts on Friday, but I can do 26-29pp until then even though I know I’ve used my weeklies and more since last Friday, that doesn’t matter.

If you’ve got some stale bread and cheese leftover you could make this;

Cheese and tomato bread pudding
This is a wonderful way to use up leftover bread and it's a cheap and filling family meal.

Serves 4 | Takes 10 minutes to prepare, 35 minutes to cook

F&H day = uses 3pp of yr 49 weeklies,    PP day = 8pp

low fat cooking spray
400 g can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
100 g (3½oz) mature cheese, grated (11pp)

4 eggs (7pp)
400 ml (14 fl oz) skimmed milk (4pp)
150 g (5½oz) Weight Watchers calorie controlled bread (preferably stale) (9pp)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C/fan oven 160°C. Lightly spray an ovenproof dish with the
cooking spray.  Mix the tomatoes with half of the thyme, then spoon half of the tomatoes into the base of the dish and scatter with about a quarter of the cheese.  In a large bowl, beat the eggs with milk and seasoning. Dip the slices of bread in the eggy mixture, letting them soak in it briefly. Arrange the bread slices on top of the tomatoes and cheese,overlapping slightly.   Spoon on the rest of the tomatoes and scatter with the remaining cheese and thyme. Pour the remaining egg mixture all over the dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil. Bake for a further 15 minutes until the mixture is puffed up and golden brown on top.

I’ll give you a recipe each day this week to help you with the thinking “what can I eat” dilemma!

In the words of Aleshia Dixon – Life is a game that you’ve just gotta PLAY, Always, Always, Always!

-          We’re gonna, Do it, Do it, DO IT OUR WAY!