Let's make today delicious!

30th April 2015

What is achievable in your life is based on the beliefs you give yourself.

What is it with waking up on a Thursday just before 4am!  Hey ho, it's now half four and I've had my first mug of tea, it's a calmer start to the day than yesterday, at least I have milk now!

I had delicious Indian inspired turkey burgers for lunch yesterday, just mixed all the spices together than mixed them in with the burgers, so simple, you could easily enjoy them as meatballs as part of a meal with spaghetti, or on a bed of rice or in a pitta bread or on a bap, between a thin, or just have them on a huge salad - your choice!  I had mine on thins, use turkey breast mince for F&H, here's the recipe;

Indian inspired turkey burgers, koftes or balls! Oops :)

Turkey mince 450g (17pp total)
2cm piece of root ginger (I used 3 cubes of frozen)
1 or 2 garlic glove crushed (or 1or 2 cubes of frozen)
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed.
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
Salt & freshly ground pepper
Low calorie cooking spray

Mix meat in a bowl with the ginger, garlic, fennel seeds, cinnamon, curry powder and turmeric. Season and blend until quite smooth. Divide mixture into 12 equal balls (4pp for 3 balls), on skewers as koftes (makes 5 at 3pp each) or make 4 larger burger (4pp) shapes.

Spray a non stick frying pan and cook over a medium heat for approx 7 minutes or until browned and cooked through, longer for burgers, turn halfway of course!

The turkey mince cost me £1.79 from Aldi and they also sell these thins were 79p and they're 2pp each or 2 for 5pp, so two burgers on Aldi thins cost me 13pp and approx £1.50 even taking into consideration all the spices I'd already got in the house.  Delicious they were, I'd definitely give them another go.

If you have any 'cheap' meal ideas or recipes, inbox them to me at info@happyowls.co.uk so I can share them with others.  Here are a couple of links to word documents that I have done in the past with cheap eats on them; 

http://happyowls.co.uk/Recipes/RecipesDinner/CheapEatsProPointsbooklet.docx

http://happyowls.co.uk/Recipes/RecipesDinner/CheapEats2ProPointsbooklet.docx

I might have a look through them myself I haven't in a while! 

Right I'm off as I have a super busy day, oh and if you enjoyed the idea of that chicken saag dish I blogged the other day, you may like some of these too;

http://happyowls.co.uk/Recipes/RecipesDinner/Indiancookerybooklet.docx

Have a delicious day BeYOUtiful. xx

What am I like!

The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you the peer, you just take it.  Roseanne Barr

The universe is amazing!  This week in my meetings we're talking about moving that little bit more and I'm well aware that other than through my normally daily steps I'm not doing any 'activity' at all. My reasoning (some might say excuse) is I have far too much to do already without adding more into my day, I also can think of better ways to spend my time if I'm truly honest. Anyway back to the universe, so yesterday whilst talking with my members about how to get just that little bit of walking into your day, they start selling it to me with how good it makes you feel, Helen does 20 minutes when she gets to work before starting and I said out loud "now it's getting lighter mornings, I could do that I guess, ". Realising I already get up at five to get everything done, I also added "I could write my blog as I walk - multitask"'
 
Pwuh so it's now 5.22am, and my alarm scared me awake, as I walked to the bathroom it still looked dark outside and I thought to myself "really!" It's too dark to walk and I need a cuppa and the loo blah, blah, blah...

So I went downstairs, put the kettle on and had my glass of water whilst waiting for my tea, then I realised - wait for it....  We have no milk!  That's never happened to me I don't think, not ever can I remember completely running out of milk.

the universe is saying go fetch milk lady, do that walk, it'll take you half hour to walk there and back and then you've done your first one, you'll feel good and you'll be more inclined to do another tomorrow.

Well the time it takes to get to the Tesco was correct, unfortunately the universe likes to take the mickey because it doesn't open till six and that's half hour away!  It's also started raining, gotta love the British weather!  So I'm heading back towards my house as I'm not waiting and I'm sorry but I ain't walking about for the hour, I really don't have time, too much to do, I'll have to nip over the paper shop when it opens if it ain't open by the time I get back.

You know what though, I felt like I wanted to go back to bed half hour ago, proper tired I was, but now, I'm feeling awake, I've just passed a garden full of white bluebells ;) well I know that's not their proper name but I don't know what is.

Hopefully making the effort to get out and walk this morning will also help me to stay on track today - yeah I still wasn't perfect yesterday, there were biscuits involved!  Mom left her barrel on the side and its glass, so see through and I could see all the different kinds so I walked away with one of each!  At the moment I'm like the eating version of Henry, a food Hoover!  I'm blaming the cold weather coming back or shall I blame my hormones ;) or better still I won't blame anything, I'll just embrace that it's that part of my personality that rears it's ugly head now and again and I have to work on re-taming it. If I don't, it could consume me and then eating rubbish would become the norm, I'll gain weight, feel lethargic, miserable and blah and I'll stop moving about.  For me it'd be a viscous cycle and one I'm more than happy to continually battle against for the rest of my life.
 
It's still raining by the way and I'm still walking, luckily it's not too heavy so I just keep wiping the phone screen as I type.  You know what the universe has just done don't you!  Yep the rains got heavier, clever see, almost as clever as my inner lazy, greedy bitch who is trying to take over at the moment!  She's not been doing a bad job either, it really has been a battle of wills since I rejoined Weight Watchers 8 weeks ago!  I've only just realised how good a job she's actually been doing.  For example, after I gained 1.5lb on Monday, she kept reminding me that next weeks a Bank Holiday so there won't be a meeting, so really I don't need to bother trying too hard this week as I'll be able to pull it back next week!  She also talked me into putting Warburton thins in my trolley even though I know I eat them on top of my normal meals which is going to not help my weight loss efforts at all.  She's been really clever and done a lot of other things and having this time to walk and think really is making me realise how my inner lazy, greedy bitch has been leading me off track.

Well she can do one!  It's absolutely pouring down now, I'm a few hundred yards from my house, but instead of going home, I'm walking back and forth under the awnings of the shop - it's still walking, takes me a few minutes to get from one end to the other.  I'd have to take the time to finish my blog anyway so I may as well do it this way earning Activity ProPoints than sat at my desk without a cup of tea (which I don't have the milk for still!). So take that inner lazy, greedy bitch, I'm taking back my power, my 'I want to be healthy and happy and lose a few pounds so I feel good for summer' side of my personality is shutting you down!

Ooh that felt good to write!

Well that's enough from me and my inner crazies, I'll let you get on with your day. Take a moment though to go inside and have a word with yourself if you've got a similar situation where you're fighting with yourself over this healthy lifestyle, realise which side will actually make you happiest, then take back your power!

I'm still walking back and forth, anyone sees me they'll think I'm mental!  I don't care, I also don't know what time the paper shop opens but it's not looking promising for 6!  So it looks like going home, jumping in my car and driving back down the garage, I will have done a 45 minute walk though ;)

Have a great day BeYOUtiful don't let anybody stand in the way of what you truly want - not even yourself!

Another day, how lucky are we to get one!

28th April 2015

I've just been diagnosed with awesomeness, you might want to get checked, I'm sure you have it too!

Well I gained, I'll take the 1.5lb I have been taking the mickey out of the plan for two weeks, I've not only had my weeklies, I've been having everyone else's too and I'm not gonna lie, yesterday didn't end on track either!  It started well, I had melon for breakfast, a delicious carvery at lunchtime started to veer me off, although my plate was full of veggies, there was a yorkie involved and the weirdest piece of stuffing, which I had to have because it looked like no stuffing I'd ever had but it actually just tasted like a flat, square piece of paxo!  I did my shopping too, all healthy thankfully, apart from a few biscuits for mom, of which I pinched a jammie dodger apricot bake thing - needed to try!  When I got back I did walk the dog, although we didn't get far, after all the walking round shops by the end of the day, I had 8,000 steps on my pedometer. I then spent an hour making the following delicious dish, whilst partaking in a gin and tonic (nope I won't be buying gin again, it's too easy to drink, wine I savour, gin I drink like water with ice and a slice in!) and then I was hungry. I'd really been hungry since lunch, I could've eaten my carvery twice over, although I did manage to resist dessert in the pub even thought it was two of my favourite puddings together - toffee pudding with doughnut - what the hell are they trying to do to me!  Now the Saag once made needed to be left for a couple of hours for the flavour to come out, well it was tasting okay to me there and then and I kept getting a slice of Weight Watcher bread and playing dunk with it!  I had 4 slices with a thin scrape of low fat spread in the end, two hours later, I ended up with a tiny bowl just to try and a warburton thin!  That was my day, it actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was now I've put it in writing, today however will be completely F&H, I'm at work all day so that's doable, I have chicken saag as my main meal which is F&H apart from the oil which can be my daily allowance.  Yeah yesterday was a lovely day where I got to spend a few hours with my bestie, some time on my own and finish it off with my mom, I don't really care that I didn't stay on track, my choices weren't bad ones and I really enjoyed every minute.

So here's the recipe, if you like flavoursome Indian food, you'll love this, be patient, don't rush it and you'll be glad you took your time when it's done.  I found boning the legs of chicken a bit of a pain, but it was worth it because the flavour is so much better than breast meat, also cheaper, I paid £2.25 for 4 from Aldi, which gave me 600g of meat once trimmed and chopped, you'd pay twice that for breast.  I will try it with breast though just out of curiosity and if I'm in a hurry and fancy it, pre chopped onions would save time too.  I didn't use fresh ginger, I had frozen already and I'd forgot, I'd also forgotten my chillis so used 1 largish red one, I'm not a fan of too much heat, so that was plenty.  It was delicious, I will try and make it for a Thursday night when I want a take-away for sure.

Chicken Saag

You will need….

6 x chicken skinless thighs (85g = 4pp so 6 = 24pp)

            (I used 4 legs (135g skinless = 7pp) as they're F&H, skinned & boned them)

            whichever type of chicken you use, just ProPoint it. 

4 large onions diced

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2 large bags of spinach

A good bunch of coriander

Fresh ginger – about a fistful

1 garlic bulb

3-4 small green chillies

Tbsp Olive Oil x2 (8pp)

Dessertspoon of Salt

Dessertspoon Cumin seeds

Dessertspoon garam masala x2

Tsp turmeric

The secret to this dish is the flavour; it takes time to make because you have to wait for the flavour to come out of each ingredient before you put in the next.

Before you start, dice the onions, chop the coriander, crush or chop garlic, peel and grate ginger throwing the stringy bits away, chop chillies…I always take most of the seeds out so you get the flavour without blowing your head off! Trim and cut thighs into chunks.

1.    Heat the oil and the cumin seeds in a pan for a couple of minutes until the seeds are starting to toast and you can smell them, careful not to burn 

2.    Add the onions and the salt and stir well to coat in the oil and seeds, cook these until soft. 

3.    Add grated ginger, chillies and garlic and stir well. Let this cook for about 5 minutes and add a handful of the chopped coriander and cook for another 5 minutes

4.    Add garam masala and turmeric and stir well for another 5 minutes, keep stirring as it will start to go a bit dry with the powder. Add another good handful of coriander and wait a few minutes again until the flavour comes out

5.     Add the tin of chopped tomatoes and stir well. This is now your sauce; let this cook for 5 minutes before adding the chicken and the rest of the coriander and coating it well in the mixture. Leave this to simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on.

6.    After 20 minutes, turn the heat back up to high and start adding spinach a handful at a time. It might look like lots but is dissolves into the curry very quickly.

7.    Leave this to cook for another 15 minutes then you’re done!

It’s best to leave the curry for a couple of hours and let it go cool as it gets richer the longer you leave it. Heat and serve when you’re ready.

Use WW Wraps (3pp) as chapattis, just pop in the frying pan (no oil) and keep turning until they’re slightly toasted and look like chapattis! Serve with brown rice.

I had a few messages yesterday, one felt like giving up, one realised that it's okay not to be perfect and will see me at the meeting and the other wants to know how to eat better but still keeping her 'food personality' as I like to call it, well you can't give up, none of you because this is your life and we don't get to give it up till we die!  We can choose not to care about ourselves but why would you want to do that BeYOUtiful, just because you're finding it difficult doesn't mean you can't do your best, even if it's not as good as you wished.  What's your food personality?  The lady I'm going to help likes a lot of sweet and little effort in the kitchen, she's a convenient queen.  I'd say I like a lot of volume and taste and I'm fickle so like variety.  What's yours?  Work out who you are, tweak it all to suit you and you'll find this weight loss lark a lot easier.

Here's to a great day, remind yourself you can't give up because you matter, Master pieces take time and yes you're working on a masterpiece - YOU!

 

Oops, drawing the line....

27th April 2015

Your perception of me is a reflection of you; my reaction to you is an awareness of me.

Well I won't have lost today, it's looking like possible chance of a gain, that's what happens when you get away with eating cake, then you stop tracking because......  Oh who am I kidding, I don't need to list the reasons aka excuses, I'm in a good place and I know I'm not going to be upset when I get to my meeting.  Having said that I'm also ready to stop messing about and get back on track.   No better day than a Monday for drawing a line, turning over a new leaf, wiping the slate clean, take your pick, I'm going to get me a notepad, actually just picked one up from the chaos that is my desk, that'll do, it's pocket sized and has been used as a journal before, I started it last March by the date on the first page!

I started the "Happy Owl" thing for a reason, and working on my website this weekend has really reminded me of them, the obvious is the introduction on the site (the rest is being done, it'll be ready soon www.happyowls.co.uk) which says; 

So what is an Happy Owl, I am for starters, I'm a Happy Over Weight Lady (works for Lads too!), that doesn't mean I don't take care of myself or want to look and feel my best, it means that I refuse to beat myself up because I enjoy good food and wine, and find it difficult to indulge in those things and maintain what the official BMI chart tells me is an healthy weight. According to the official BMI chart, for my height I'm overweight!

This website will hopefully make you realise you can love yourself and be happy too - whatever you weigh. It could also help you with your weight, whether that be to lose some or appreciate what you've got already!

Losing weight is easier if you love and support yourself! 

Choose to be healthy and happy whatever your size.

I first wrote that a good few years ago, but it still holds true, after spending the majority of my life trying to be something I find almost impossible to maintain, I realised it wasn't even making me happy when I did get there, it didn't change how my life was, or how I felt about myself or others, it just made me constantly self conscious and worried about everything I ate.  I even tried the quick fixes, the pills, the potions, I never quite resorted to any lotions but....

So as I'm sat here this morning, ready to take a gain, I'm smiling because I know myself, I know at my core I'm a healthy person, who leads an almost balanced life, it just sometimes tips towards overindulgence!   It's all good, I smile more than I scowl, I can stand in the mirror and love the reflection, and my life is full of incredible likeminded people all sharing a purpose or and I have the best, craziest mother in the land!  My bestie is awesome too, how blessed am I.

Now talking of besties, we're off out for lunch today, I'm thinking steak, mmm just fancy steak and a jacket potato - not because it's free on Filling & Healthy, not because I can ProPoint it, but because that's what I fancy and that's why Weight Watchers works, it makes you realise you can eat the food you enjoy and still lose weight, it's all about a bit of portion control, a touch of realism, an understanding that there isn't a quick fix and enjoying the journey no matter what!

So here's to a great week, realising that those BLT's (bites, licks and treats) I talked about in my meeting last week did become my downfall this week, blooming M&Ms, bits of cheese, yep, I'll blame them for sure! 

Here's to a great start to what looks like a bright week, you in BeYOUtiful.