Doughnuts not deprivation!

30^th September 2012

Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever. Lance Armstrong

Apparently women are powerfully connected to the moon's cycles, and this weekend is a harvest moon the FULL Moon closest to the autumnal Equinox and one of the most powerful of the year.  It’s a good time to let go of the old repetitive patterns that no longer serve you, and deeply open up to new experiences that support all of your NEW choices and opportunities to love more FULLY in the world.  True or not, worth a go I reckon don’t you!

I’m constantly working on changing for the better, it’s the only guaranteed constant isn’t it change, whether we like it or not.  One of the biggest changes I’ve made over the years is not having something to eat as soon as I fancy it!  I realised if I do then I’m never going to stay at an acceptable weight for me.  Being a Weight Watcher leader food is a constant conversation, members are always telling me what they’ve eaten, sometimes it’s because they feel the need to confess, other times it’s because they’ve enjoyed a recipe or meal and want to share their knowledge.  I leave every meeting with at least one idea of something I want to try, which gave me the idea of a ‘to eat’ list a bit like a ‘to do’ list, instead of going home and having it that same day, I added it to the list of things to eat at some time in the near future.  So an example would be a jam doughnut which was mentioned Wednesday morning by a new member who’d been following the plan for a week, she confessed to working in Greggs and getting free food, when I enquired what she’d indulged in, she’d been pretty good, only 2 jam doughnuts all week.  When you think of what she could’ve eaten, I think she did amazingly well, being surrounded by all those sandwiches and pastries!  I hadn’t had a doughnut for a long time, so added it to my ‘to eat’ list, yesterday after my Weight Watcher meeting which was fab as always, the lady who was going to buy herself nice new shoes when she lost her stone, did just that yesterday – how fab ;-).  Anyway after the meeting we went to Asda for a few odds and ends and a coffee, my latest thing is “speed shopping”, it’s killing me can I add, I adore food shopping but being on a budget at the moment and well aware of my shopping costs when I browse - I’m a bargain sucker!  So it works in that I write a list of the few things I actually do need because I’ve got a freezer and cupboard full of food, and I walk round with a basket (basket because it will only hold so much, it gets heavy and I’m sure it will break if I too much in!) only go down the aisles I need to and also going to a shop I’m not used to is helping too, the final thing that keeps me in check is walking round with my mate because then I feel like I’m being watched!  OMG I think need ‘SSA’ supermarket shopper anonymous ;-)  I seriously could spend hours and pounds in the places I love them, I love to look at the foods, the offers, the new stuff, all of it, I just love food shopping!

Anyway I’m rambling, so we were going to the café first then shopping but we changed it round because I wanted a doughnut with my coffee as it was on my list and the food at the café wasn’t, yes it looked good but there was nothing there I couldn’t live without and I was ignoring the ‘meal deals’ I wasn’t even going to make eye contact with the boards of info, I knew I only wanted the coffee and doughnut.  We decided to go buy doughnuts in the store and eat them with our coffee, now when we got to the bakery section there was a decision to make, ordinary jam doughnut which actually didn’t look very good, or mini jam doughnuts – no contest, they looked amazeballs ;-) literally, little ping pong ball sized doughnuts filled with jam and sprinkled with icing sugar – wow these were gonna be worth waiting since Wednesday for.  So we paid and went and ordered our coffee, sat down and Lynne dived in and ate one and said they’re not as good as they look, I took a bite - they were vile!   They were cold (obviously had been in a fridge somewhere prior to being put on the shelf), stodgy, a bit stale maybe – not good at all.  I put the other half back in the box and said I’m not wasting ProPoints on them, we’ll have a piece of Weight Watcher fudge instead (I’d won the raffle at my meeting – YAY!)

The day before I’d started reading a book about mindful eating and it talked about an experiment where they’d given an entire cinema free popcorn in an experiment, this popcorn was 5 days stale and yet they sat there and ate it!  They kept putting it on the floor and then picking it back up again and this was almost what we did yesterday with those doughnuts, because they were they I noticed a couple of times we both went to eat another possibly hoping they’d improve!  We resisted and I returned them to customer service on our way out, they refunded our £1.10 and we put it in a charity box that was being shaken in our face on the way out, so not only had we saved ProPoints but we were now feeling extra virtuous having given money to charity when we’re both skint lol.

Just in case you were wondering, I did get me a doughnut before the day was out, I took Alfie out for a 90 minute walk and as I walked past the shop there was one single doughnut left on the counter and bless the lady she bought it to the door for me because of the dog, so I earned 7pp on my pedometer then spent them on a lovely, delicious, gooey, jammy, powdery, soft, light, yummy, worth every ProPoint doughnut!  

I love that weight loss no longer has to involve deprivation!

So it’s Sunday, day of rest for some, I’m planning on cooking a new chicken stew, going for a long walk, I may even attempt a little housework, then I’m going to continue reading my books, I have two on the go, one audio for when I’m walking and one for reading in the house, now that’s multi-tasking.  Enjoy your day all. xx

It's a way of life - glad I like the route I opted for!

29^th September 2012

The Universe tends to treat you pretty much like you treat yourself.

Finally got to chill out yesterday, did the minimum paperwork necessary, the rest can wait till Monday, and took mom over the doctors for the results of her blood tests and other things, she’s got a low white blood cell count and a bit of anaemia too, and the doctor was lovely with her so hopefully she’ll start feeling better soon.  Once all this was sorted, I made us all a nice lunch and chilled, after my mate had gone, I had me a long bath then caught up on tv and had an early night, my idea of a perfect Friday, gone of the days of being a party animal.

I smiled this morning as I recalled being corrected in my meeting this week by a member who told me, “We’re not on a diet, we’re following a healthy eating plan!”  Oops consider my wrist slapped, however unlike others I don’t see a ‘diet’ as “die” with a “t” on the end, for me it is the food I eat, whether that be healthy or not.  The word diet actually comes from a Latin word which means “a way of life.”I love to eat all kinds of food, from Ryvita to Big Macs, I’m happy to drink diet coke but I’m not happy to miss out on my glass of robust Pinotage on a Friday night (not even for a guaranteed weight loss!)  My diet, way of life, healthy eating plan – whatever you wish to call it is to find a balance so that food/drink continues to be a great pleasure in my life, not something I   compromise, but that I enjoy it mindfully and without damaging my health by overdoing it!

I refuse to deprive myself; I want to learn to enjoy foods now and again, to indulge on occasion not on an hourly basis.  These days when I eat too much I’m aware of what I’m doing, I’m enjoying the moment and I’m not beating myself up afterwards.  I have heard so many times from people that they don’t even realise they’ve eaten it, or that they don’t think they eat too much so can’t understand why they’re overweight! 

Food and temptation is everywhere and it’s so easy to overeat without noticing but by making small changes you can also learn to eat less without it being massively obvious too!  The best diet (as I read somewhere) is the one you don’t know you’re on!  I love it when a new member comes back the week after and says, “I don’t feel like I’m on a diet!” that’s when I know they’re following the plan well.

Think about it, have you ever eaten cold chips off yours or someone else’s plate? Or the last stale biscuit in the barrel, or maybe pulled the green bits off the week old slice of bread in the packet?  You should be nodding to at least on of them, bet your wincing a little too!  It’s difficult to admit that we even overeat on bad food, or stuff that doesn’t taste good.  Yep overeating is so easy to do, because food and temptation is everywhere isn’t it!

I love a bargain, you’ve only got to see me out shopping, you may have seen the poundland bags last week, so it’s not just the taste that’s tempting – it’s the price.  I’ve managed to control that this week by staying away from the shops as much as possible and also not taking my purse to my meetings with me then I can’t come home via the supermarket!  It will be interesting to see if my credit card bill is healthier this month if I can keep up with the plan to stop being enticed by the others, that Pound Land programme on channel 4 was very interesting!

Off to my Weight Watcher meeting this morning for some encouragement and support, I’ve already used my weeklies, yep all of them went yesterday!  So I need motivating to stay on track until weigh day next Thursday - she’s got her work cut out ain’t she my leader!  I wouldn’t want to be my leader lol!

On that note I better go earn a couple of Activity ProPoints and walk Alfie, I need a few extra in case of emergencies!

Enjoy your Saturday, my plan is meeting, little bit of essentials shopping, good book all afternoon whilst sitting with mom and having a chat and watching tele – perfect. 

I'm never gonna be perfect & I'm good with that x

28^th September 2012

Failure is not my Destiny.    Eric M.

Beautiful sky going on out there this morning and I’m happy because I’ve managed a bit of a lie in 6.20am!  I ignored the clock at 4am and 5am and decided I was determined to snooze and I managed it, now I feel almost human again after not getting much of a weekend last week, being up at 4am on the Sunday and out all day really took it out of me and I’ve been tired all week. 

I was right the scales didn’t smile at me yesterday morning, I gained 1.5lb which means I’m now 1.5lb towards my stone by Christmas goal, 12.5lb left to lose, I’m good with that because I know I can do it, I expected the blip it was even written in my diary so no surprises. 

Yesterday I had a good tracking day, 30pp in total, I’ve started tracking on my phone because I have that with me all the time, then I will copy that across to my journal when I’m chilling out at night, I do like to have it written down in front of my, I like using paper and pen but can’t deny that having my phone in my pocket at all times is a great tool to use.

I told you yesterday about my member who had her ‘pep talk’ and lost well this is her tracker for last week.

I’m not suggesting you follow it; I just want you to notice she has made good use of her weekly allowance, she had her treats, and she’s enjoying the journey and still lost weight!  She's eaten Mars Planets chocolate at 20pp (from her weeklies), she's included lots of Filling & Healthy food choices and she's also cooked from scratch sometimes whilst also including ready made foods where necessary.  The beauty of the plan is it's versatility. 

This is not a deprivation diet, it’s a healthy weight loss programme, more people in the UK and around the world lose weight with Weight Watchers than any other weight loss organisation. Weight Watchers is the most successful weight-loss organisation in the UK! And I’m very proud to work for them because I believe in the system and their philosophy which is that long-term weight loss is within everyone’s reach and you can reach your weight loss goals.

I don’t always stick to the programme as you know but I’m enjoying my life, I make sure I enjoy my weight loss journey too, I support myself, I don’t beat myself up (yeah I have the odd moment but I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t) and I always accept my behaviour and move on, continuing to work on myself and learn.

 

The best move I ever made was admitting I adore eating and drinking and I wasn’t prepared to stop doing that to be slim!  Once I’d admitted that, I then started to work on ways to allow me to do that whilst losing/maintaining my weight.  I was amazed that I could enjoy the journey!

 

Food can be delicious and low in ProPoints, I think that was my biggest shocker, I can still enjoy a glass of red wine if I move a little more, and I am able to look in the mirror and say ‘looking good’ without having to be a size 8!

Today’s lunch is blue cheese chicken mmm, can’t wait, actually if I’m honest I’ve been looking forward to it since Monday when I decided that was going on my menu, here's the recipe very simple to cook; 

 

Blue cheese chicken Serves 4 6pp (total 22pp)

4 x 125g skinless chicken breasts

50g blue cheese crumbled

2 tbsp low fat mayo

4 slices wafer thin ham

1 tsp olive oil

salt & freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/190C line a baking tray with non stick baking parchment.

 

Make slits along the length of each chicken breast to form deep pockets.  Place the blue cheese in a small bowl with the majo and seasoning, and mix together thoroughly.  Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into each chicken breast pocket.  Wrap a slice of wafer thin ham around each chicken breast and secure it with a cocktail stick. Place the wrapped chicken on a baking tray and brush with olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes. Leave the chicken to stand for 5 mins before slicing in half on the diagonal to serve.

 On that note I'm off to make mom a cuppa then walk Alfie, then I might start cooking lunch lol, is 10am too early for lunch!

 

Have a fantastic Friday xx

 
 

 

 

 

Supernatural possession!

27^th September 2012

It’s like being possessed isn’t it sometimes, you get up in the morning and make a decision that this is how you’re going to behave, this is how your day will pan out and it starts off okay, you go to work, go through your day, everything’s good, the odd thing happens to knock your neck in or test your strength but you cope.  Then you arrive home have you evening meal, relax in front of the tv and BANG, it happens, next thing you know you find yourself stood in front of an open fridge, no idea how you got there - something has possessed your mind and body and transported you back into the kitchen!  This happened to be last night and luckily I’d put the red wine in the shed to stop me from having a drink, but the supernatural power that had entered my body was clever, it spotted a small bottle of Weight Watcher wine in the fridge door, I’d been given it in my goody bag from conference, it started whispering to me, “that’s low in ProPoints that is, half your normal wine so it’s not the same, plus its white that’s not real wine, go on, it’ll be fine, you know you’re not going to do well in the morning on the scales anyway so what difference will a small tiny low in alcohol bottle of wine make, seriously, enjoy it, it’s Wednesday!”  Damn it, I find myself lifting the bottle out of the fridge when it’s at it again, “Oh and whilst your hear, you may as well have a handful of boiled ham too, that Sainsbury’s basic range is much nicer than Bernards!” Mmm whatever, even my supernatural entity is a bloody spendthrift shopoholic, there’s no hope for me lol!

I’m not confident heading towards to scales this morning, and I can’t just blame the bottle of Weight Watcher wine either, I’ve not had the best week, losing 1/2lb last week psychologically knocked my neck in even though I kept telling myself, that’s 3lb in two weeks.  Then knowing I’d got conference on Sunday stopped me sticking to it prior, and knowing I’d done damage Sunday meant I didn’t get back into it till Tuesday.  Add to all this then joy of it being that time of the month and me turning into a starving savage, well you’re starting to get the picture aren’t you!  I could continue there’s lack of sleep (4am I was up Sunday), mom not being 100% (we’re off to docs Monday), etc etc but I won’t. 

All of this is of course is one massive, overblown easy to make up excuse to not still to my plan!  Because I know in the past I’ve had much more than that lot going on and I’ve still stayed on track.  Hell when I got to goal in August 2004 I was possibly at an all time low that year, I was in a job I absolutely couldn’t bear any longer and comfort eating had become the norm, but I managed to turn that around.  So I know that I can this too.

This morning I will brave the scales, take it on the chin, accept that Filling & Healthy is probably not the best option for me and get back on track with my ProPoints counting.  The fridge is now empty of Weight Watcher wine, and I have performed a quick exorcism this morning on the supernatural entity!  I’ve got pork chops for lunch and the last of the beef hotpot (minus the beef because Alfie got that as a treat when he was bitten) so it’s a veggie hotpot for tea then.  Tomorrow lunch is already planned, I’m making stuffed chicken breast with St Agur cheese mmm.  Yep I’ll take an oath this morning, because otherwise I’m going to feel silly Saturday morning in my meeting every week saying “yeah I gained again”, I can’t be doing that can I! 

So here goes, 'I solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that for the next week (one step at a time!) I will stay focused on my weight loss efforts, I will remain within my ProPoints allowance and the tracker evidence I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

7 days, that’s all it is, I can do that – can’t I!?  So can you, and if 7 days seems to difficult, let’s take it one day, one meal, one step at a time. 

We can do this ;-)  The weight loss in my meetings this week has proven that!  Apparently I had a ‘pep talk’ with one of my members last week which resulted in a 6.5lb weight loss for her this week, tomorrow I will share her Journal tracker entries with you, so you can see that it is liveable, doable and weight loss is achievable. 

In the meantime, have a fantastic day, I’m off to get my bran flakes x

YAY, awesome, whoop whoop! Go You!

26^th September 2012

The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance. Nathaniel Branden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a much more focused day yesterday, I bagged up the entire box of Bran Flakes into 17 x 30g portions, now in a morning I just grab a bag and the bowl, sorted!  I then put all the wine in the shed and it worked last night when I came home I didn’t have a drink because once I’d eaten my tea and got comfortable, I couldn’t be bothered to go out the back in the cold and fetch a bottle.  The may seem like two small steps but they will make a massive difference to my results at the scales.  The other thing I did was put a bottle of water on my desk and when I emptied it, I made sure I went and topped it up so yesterday I drank at least a litre more water than I usually do – result.

Let’s stop trying to do it all at once!  The 12 weeks to glow challenge is a great way to slow down and work on one thing each week.  Most importantly stop expecting the moon on a stick and don’t beat yourself up if you slip up!  Decide today and why not everyday, to celebrate the small successes!  You’re more likely to continue doing the good stuff if you feel good for doing it!  Are you ready for today’s challenge?  We’re going to start celebrating the small positive things you do that help you with your weight loss and I don’t care if you feel silly – it’s important to big yourself up!  YOU ROCK!

OKAY here are the rules!

As soon as you do something positive that you know will help your weight loss (i.e. turn down seconds, make a wiser food choice, opt for the apple instead of the chocolate, took the stairs instead of the lift, put your wine in the shed – that kind of thing), you’re going to celebrate on the spot, either while you’re doing it or within a second of doing it. 

Now you need to find a celebration method that works for you, that matches your personality - here are some suggestions, pick any or a combination!

1)      Do a physical movement once. Such as thumbs up, fist pump, victory sign, clap once.
2)      Do a physical movement that flows. For example, a short victory dance, a bit of a jig, applaud yourself
3)      Say a work or phrase out loud. For example “awesome!” “Go me!”, “Whoop, Whoop”, “BOOM!”
4)      Say a word or phrase inside to yourself (if you’re a bit shy or in public lol) such as “nicely done!”, “nailed it”, “you rock”, “way to go”
5)      Sing a song phrase out loud, “Because you’re gorgeous”
6)      Sing a song phrase inside, to yourself, “You are amazing, just the way you are”
7)      Vocalize music or a sound effect out loud, for example “do do do doooo!” (trumpet for royalty)
8)      Imagine hearing music or sound effect, such as a roaring crowd, happy for your success.
9)      Feel an internal glow inside you (this is difficult for most people, you conjure up a feeling of success and happiness).
10)   Make your face into a happy face – you know SMILE or LAUGH.

You can combine these too, for example you can say “awesome” as you punch your fist in the air.

It might all sound a little silly but this stuff works trust me, and it’s proven. Seriously it is proven to help, scientists test all sorts of whacky stuff and this is one of the things they’ve experimented with, so we don’t want that work to go to waste do we ;-)

I’m considering a filling and healthy day today, as it’s cold out there and I want to fill myself up with comforting food, so that means it will have to be Weetabix or porridge for breakfast as bran flakes aren’t a filling and healthy food.  I’m thinking for my main meal gammon, egg and beans nom nom then for my other meal I have some grey peas in the freezer that need consuming so that’s my day sorted - is yours?

Ignore this rain, find your inner sparkle and shine today. xx

 

 

No more shopping! I can't resist the offers!

25^th September 2012

The world was made round so that we would never be able to see too far down the road.Rel

- Isak Dinesen

I keep getting distracted by reality and other stuff!  Yesterday my plan was to go to work, nip in the shops on way home for a loaf and potatoes, cook, plan all my meals for the week, do all my paperwork and walk the dog if the rain stopped oh and stay on track of course!  Did I do all that?  Nope I didn’t, I went to work, then nipped in Co-op and ended up spending £22, because I thought as I walked round the shop, I’ll get some chicken breasts for one meal (blue cheese stuffed) they were any 2 for £7 so I had pork chops too, 3 minutes later I thought  ooo I’ll make a beef hotpot, and the beef was any 2 for £7 so I had two trays and thought I’ll make a big batch, sitting here now I’ve realised I could have had the breasts and the beef and done without the pork chops but my brain wasn’t working that way obviously and I ended up with £14 of meat when I already have a kitchen full of potential meals.  So I’ve decided I don’t need to go shopping for two weeks for anything other than bread and maybe fresh vegetables! 

I then had lunch toast toppers (3pp) on a jacket, mmm they’re not what I remember, I won’t be wanting them again, mom enjoyed hers though so each to their own.  I put my beef hotpot in the oven to cook and went to do paperwork.  Eventually the rain stopped so I took Alfie out, wished I hadn’t because he got bit in the face by a staffy ;( so I spent the next hour sitting in the vets!  Luckily he’s ok, just an injection needed in case of infection and to reduce the pain.  So the two things I never got round to was planning all my meals and staying on track! I had wine I wasn’t going to and a bag of Weight Watcher crisps, actually I had two bags – boo. 

So today I will be moving the wine into the shed, out of sight out of mind and I won’t go out the back door in the cold when I get back from my meetings, I’ll be telling mom not to leave her crisps on the side in the kitchen, I only had them because they were there and I shall be doing my meal list, I’ve got a few ideas now thanks to the shopping!

Main Meals

Tuesday – beef hotpot (10pp)
Wednesday – pork chops, potatoes, broccoli, gravy
Thursday – gammon, waffle, egg, tomatoes
Friday – chicken stuffed with St Agur cheese wrapped in salami
Saturday – fish and chips

That’ll do for starters, I’ve got a box of bran flakes, may just have the same breakfast every day for quickness and convenience this week and tea might end up mostly being something on toast, we shall see, I need to be on track, it’s week 3 of our 12 weeks to glow challenge and I want a stone off, I’m 3lb towards that target ;-)

Yes it’s inevitable that life will get in the way sometimes, there are so many things that can cause you to go off track and hinder your goals, the secret is to not let them takeover and stop you in your tracks.  There are of course things you can do to ensure that doesn’t happen, the other week we talked about sorting surroundings, make sure you’ve got the things in your kitchen you need to help you, scales, measuring spoons, oil spray, cook books and of course make sure the bad things are either not there or are out of sight, i.e. my wine moving home to the shed!

Right because I was up earlier than normal, I have a spare half hour, so I’m off to weigh out and bag 7 portions of bran flakes so I don’t have to do it again this week, they’ll all be ready for me in little sandwich bags!  What could you do to simplify your routine? Have a think.

Enjoy your day; I’m doing it the Weight Watcher Way ;-)

 

 

Bit rough round the edges, but still a diamond apparently!

24^th September 2012

The world steps aside to let any man pass if he knows where he is going. David S. Jordan

Well yesterday was a long day, up at 4am, out at 6am and home at 8.30pm WOW now wonder I’ve just slept so well.  It was lovely to see so many ladies even if only briefly, and always great to get to spend the day with your bestie ;-)

Watching ladies go up for their 10, 15 and 20 year long service awards was just fantastic, I worked out I’ll be 44 or 45 when I get my 10 year, then 60 should I make the 20 year on!

I was sitting on my chair with my shoes kicked off watching all the lovely ladies go up onto the stage, listening to what their members had said about them, unfortunately I kept missing a lot of what was said because I was by the door and it would appear that a lot of Weight Watcher leaders need Tena ladies from the amount of trips to the toilets that were made throughout the day, and unfortunately a lot of them didn’t know how to catch a door before it went SLAM!  So all I heard was my name (I missed the wonderful words that were said by my member, hopefully I will be able to find out what they were from my ASM or RM this week), I wasn’t expecting to hear my name so picked up my high heels in my hand and ran down to the stage to be presented with my diamond leader award, that makes me a triple diamond leader as it was my third!  I did get the photographer to wait whilst I put my heels back on for the photo ;-)

I’m stunned I really didn’t expect it!  My priority in the work I do is to help my members lose weight and feel great, to make them realise they are already gorgeous and that they want to lose weight to take care of themselves because they are amazing.  And I have so many wonderful members that you all make that a really enjoyable job for me, so thank you all.  To actually get an award for that is a bonus, to be acknowledged for doing something I’m absolutely passionate about is simply a lovely feeling.  Of course helping me provide the service we do is down to the fact I have the BEST helpers in the world, without my team I couldn’t do any of it and I mean that from the bottom of my heart, these ladies are just brilliant.  I lose one of them at the end of this year, Kath from my Bloxwich meeting has helped me since I took over that meeting 8 years ago, she’s been a clerk there long before I arrived and I will miss her very much, she’s like family!  So a BIG CUDDLY LOVELY HUG TO ALL OF YOU!  You’ll recognise me this week – I’ll be the one with the even bigger smile than usual!

And to make the day even better, my bestie Lynne got her diamond leader award too, as did Elle who was my member before becoming a leader and actually still is so I was rather proud.  I was also very pleased for a leader on another area ‘Cayla’ who was disappointed that she didn’t get it last time.  Honestly though there are so many passionate leaders out there, we’re all very different with different qualities and personalities and we all want to help, which makes us all precious gems. x

So that pretty much consumed yesterday, foodwise I wasn’t ridiculously bad, I had a slice of fruit cake at 7am on the coach, I resisted the chocolates, the Danish pastries and the juice and opted for water.  For lunch I did indulge in the starter, a nice spoonful of coleslaw (I really must make my own version, it was shredded extremely thin and delicious), I also had cold pasta salad with Mediterranean veg and sultanas (I will definitely be attempting this dish nom nom).  By the time we got to the main course it had all gone!  There were carrots and peas left and some very unappetising looking salmon, so one of the waiters went and got us some spinach tortellini and I ate a bit of that with 2 bread rolls!   No pudding was had though, and then I didn’t eat again until I was home when I had a fried egg toastie mmmmmm!  Oh yes I did I had a bag of Weight Watchers crisps on the coach and very nice they were too, sour cream I think.

Back in control of my food and on track this morning, I’ve already got a bottle of water by the side of my desk to encourage me to drink regularly and I plan to move my fruit bowl to the kitchen because I go in there more throughout the day than I do the living room, I might even do a smaller bowl in my office!

Mushrooms on toast for breakfast, or a mushroom omelette, I’ll decide in an hour when I’m a little more awake.

 

Monday morning everyone – let’s get on it!  Get to your goal and help make me worthy of this certificate xx

 

 

 

Stupid O'clock time to be up on a Sunday!

23^rd September 2012

Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love Mother Teresa

Just a quick one this morning, up at stupid o'clock on a Sunday as I’m off to our Weight Watcher conference to meet up with all the other leader ladies I know, some of whom I’ve never met, I’ve only communicated with virtually, so that’ll be interesting!  I’ve washed and blow dried my hair and everything, heels the lot, if I do say so myself I look like a proper lady - even if I can’t walk very far.

Yesterday I really enjoyed my Weight Watcher meeting (this is me getting to be the member), my new meeting mate Sylvia lost 4lb, WOW, and she abstained from alcohol for the week (her choice), in the meeting talk she called me her new mate and she told our leader I’m now her AA sponsor ;-)  It was a fab meeting and I really enjoyed talking to the group I sat by, one ladies even going to make us cupcakes next week, she’s going to make Weight Watcher low ProPoint versions, I’ve told her to bring extra so we can buy more- for my mom of course!

After the meeting me and Lynne went for a coffee in Asda to catch up then for a walk round the shop, we sampled on of the tasters they had, the assistant said, “it’s strawberry cheesecake”, we both pulled an unpleasant face and she said, “It’s a Weight Watcher cheesecake”, at which we burst into laughter – not the best sales pitch from two leaders is it, pulling our face at the samples!  That made us chuckle as we then proceeded to walk round the shop smiling at everyone and giggling because they were all being very miserable, life really is too short!

Anyway the Poundland problem I have, I need to point out that not everything in Poundland is cheap, they have Weight Watcher bagels 4 for £1, in Morrisons they’re 6 for 67p! and the crisps only normally have 4 in the packet, the cereals are in smaller boxes as are a lot of things, so check first – remember that saying all that glitters isn’t gold and if it looks too good to be true it usually is.

So enjoy your Sunday, remember we’re glowing for it so stay strong, you can make it through the weekend, I know you can.  xx

Got a problem! A Poundland problem ;-)

22^nd September 2012

When dealing with a difficult person, try not to be judgmental or defensive in your conversation with them. Stay calm & smile (not quite a quote but excellent advice!)

Oh dear me, I think I may have a Poundland problem!  And to make matters even sadder, yesterday I had trolley envy!  Yes the bags of stuff I bought in Poundland shops were so heavy to carry back to my car which was what felt like miles away, I was looking longingly at ladies pulling these!  What has happened to me ;-) is this my future –

Joking aside, I got myself some bargains, I hadn’t been to Wolverhampton town centre for a very long time because when I got to the Poundland shop it wasn’t there, it had moved to larger premises!  It’s now where TK Maxx used to be and it’s huge.  I got the stewed steak for £1, as opposed to £1.65 in B&M’s and £2.69 in Sainsbury’s that a massive difference.  I bought a plastic storage tub that would have cost £3-4 anywhere else and although I didn’t buy everything obviously I had a look round and was stunned at some of the stuff in there, things like roasting dishes and cake trays for a pound which would cost much more elsewhere.  So yes £20 later I had 4 bags full and I struggled back to my car with them, gazing with envy and the pull along plaid trolleys.  This morning I feel like I’ve done a workout, my shoulders are sore and tight, so you get a free workout too!

To balance out the skintness I also popped in Waitrose and treated myself to a £10 meal deal, that included a bottle of wine (which I’d buy from somewhere anyway) a starter which I’m eat as a meal on its own, and a main and a side – we had butterflied pork shoulder with honey, garlic & rosemary and Parmentier potatoes.  The main and side dishes served 3 so worked out at 14pp per serving and had them with zero veggies.  It was a tasty meal and I’ll be having the starter another day for lunch.  Nice as a treat for a change.

After getting up at stupido’clock yesterday morning I was in bed for eight last night and I’d already been asleep in the living for at least half hour, so I’m back to full energy, or as full as it’s likely to get on a Saturday morning when it’s cold outside.  Mmm what to do today,  I have the whole day free apart from my Weight Watcher meeting this morning, I need my top up of weekly support - ooo there’s a Poundland in Cannock!  Only joking, I won’t I promise ;)

I think I’ll spend this afternoon chilling with my mom we may live in the same house but I feel like I rarely spend time with her, so yeah that’s the plan, a bit of housework, then a chillaxing session which will involve her reading the papers to me and telling me she’s already watched whatever it is we have on the tv even if it’s a Premier, she has some kind of déjà vu / premonition thing going on with the tv just lately where she’s apparently already seen EVERYTHING!

Right have a wonderful weekend, I’m off, may not blog in morning as I’ve got to be on a coach at 6.45! What’s that all about ay! 

Stay on track for me x

 

 

Anyone for a 3pp beef curry!?

21^st September 2012

If you are doing your best, you will not have time to worry about failure.- Robert Hillyer

Guess who woke up at 3.30am and couldn’t go back to sleep!   Thank goodness I haven’t got meetings today or I’d be shattered, at least I get to do my paperwork out of the way and I’ll just have an early night tonight to catch back up.  I can’t just lie there hoping to go back to sleep.

So I lost 1/2lb yesterday, mmm at first I was gutted because I was expecting a pound, then my helpers threw my line back at me, “it’s no only half pound, its half pound! Every ounce counts!”  Don’t you hate it when people are right ‘-) So I got over my drama and after a little bit of sulking I realised that in two weeks I’ve lost a grand total of 3lb so I’m on course for a stone by Christmas, w have 11 weeks of the “12 weeks to glow” challenge and then another two weigh ins before Christmas, so yes a stone for Christmas is a definite.  I felt great colouring in my 3 light bulbs on my challenge slip, can’t wait to colour the rest in and I don’t care how childish that makes me sound!  I wanna light up my backboard!

I’d been testing the meeting scales as an excuse to have a sneaky look at how I was doing in the week and this is why we shouldn’t get on the scales from one day to the next because they will drive you insane, I had lost 1.5lb on the Wednesday morning and then it when to 1/2 lb on the Thursday which is my weigh morning, so I have to go with that.  I shall go to my meeting talk on Saturday morning and get more support from my leader and fellow members and I will stay on track!

Mom came to the meeting yesterday morning which was great, that’s the first time she’s ventured out really since having her mini stroke, she’s also been taking Alfie for the odd walk so all looking good at the moment on that front.  A few more weeks and I can get her back to scrubbing floors and cleaning chimneys ;-)

I was glad of the meals I’d cooked on Sunday, they got me through yesterday, I took them out of the freezer the night before and had Chicken hotpot for lunch and Chicken casserole for tea.  What I will do over the next few weeks it assign a section of my website www.happyowls.co.uk to these meals and recipes to save you having to search through the blog, but it won’t be this weekend as I’m out all day Sunday.  There are quite a few recipes on there already, they’ve just not been priced, but they are delicious.

Thanks to Emma for sharing a members recipe from the Play Weight Watchers site, worth a try ladies, especially as I found out last night Stewed Steak is in POUNDLAND (obviously for £1) , the dish works out at about £4 total. 

Onions (I’d use 2 or 3)

Peppers, red green or yellow (I’d use one probably)
Mushrooms (again I’d use 500g)
Spray oil
400g tin chopped tomatoes
410g tin princes stewed steak (12pp)
1 x Weight Watchers curry paste (available in meeting) (2pp)

As there is plenty, I’d actually split this between 5 portions for 3pp each (not 4 for 5pp) and serve with 60g rice, or I’d put the rice into the curry so it was like a biryani style dish which would hide the tomato flavour a little.

Fry onions and peppers for a few minutes until slightly softened, then add mushrooms and fry for another 5 minutes.  Ad the tin of steak, tomatoes and curry paste and simmer for 10-15 minutes, serve and enjoy.

Fabulous first week of our 12 weeks to glow challenge, my members lost 499lb, WOW, that’s almost 36 stone (half a pound of that was mine!), it’s an average of just over a pound a week which means we’re losing weight the healthy enjoyable way.  Three of my lovely ladies got to their goal, well done, Catherine hit her 11 stone lost mark, and so many of you smiled at your results it was fabulous.  Let’s keep that momentum going, we’re heading towards the weekend but we can stay in control and on track.  Remember those portion sizes make a massive difference. Xx

 

 

 

Catherine's lost the equivalent of me in Weight - BOOM!

20^th September 2012

To lose or not to lose that is the question! (Who needs Shakespeare?)

So today is weigh day, will I lose, I haven’t been quite as brilliant as last week that’s for sure and it’s well known the first week is usually the best week but I’m hoping for 1lb, a pound a week eating the way I am will be more than enough for me, actually I’d be thrilled to eat this way and lose 1lb a week because I’m enjoying it. 

Yesterday included a repeat meal because I enjoyed it at lunchtime and I was too tired at teatime to bother, only cost £2.48 for the day though, that’s the cheapest yet!

Wednesday
breakfast	tomatoes & mushrooms on toast	6	£0.60
dinner	stewed steak, sweetcorn, celery, carrots 200g mashed potatoes, 2 yorkshires	11	£0.98
tea	stewed steak, sweetcorn, celery, carrots 200g mashed potatoes	9	£0.90
		26	£2.48

 I saved on my cherry tomatoes because they were half price in the reduced section, very nice too it all was.  The stewed steak is one of my easy favourite meals, it doesn’t look fantastic but it tastes delicious!  Mom used to cook it for us when we were little, it consists of a tin of stewed steak in gravy, I bought mine from B&M’s for £1.69 that’s a pound cheaper than other brands in the supermarket so I wasn’t sure if it would taste the same (it did).   So how I make it is I fry an onion or two in 1tsp oil, I added diced celery and carrots too as I had them left over, cook them then add the tin of Stewed steak, it looks like dog food if I’m honest.  Add 3 beef oxo cubes to the empty can top up with boiling water and swill out the remaining sauce from the can into the pan, this creates more juice and a darker colour and a tastier flavour.  I also added a tablespoon of sweetcorn.  Then I served it with mash potato and used the last of the frozen Yorkshires from the freezer (basic brand are just fine).  I really enjoyed it.

Yesterday was another super day, watching members get their next silver sevens, they’re very important to use all aren’t they.  Catherine got her 22^nd silver seven, yes that’s 11 stone lost now, we’re talking about portion sizes this week and she admitted that after losing her first few stone her weight stopped coming off and she had hit a plateau  apparently I suggested that maybe it had stopped coming off because she’d stopped doing something!  Yep, she’d stopped weighing and measuring her food portions because she thought she’d done it so long she knew the sizes, however when she started weighing everything again, the weight started falling off again.  Just goes to show, we never really know, I’m terrible for not putting the right portion hence the reason my scales are always on the side of my kitchen counter.  11 stone, WOW, basically she’s lost the equivalent of ME – truly Inspirational!

Right here’s to enjoying a very busy day of meetings, looking forward to saying “Well done” a lot of times ;-) See you later my Bloxwich Babes & Boys xx