Journals back out on the side!

16th February 2016

Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door.

My bed was warm and cosy this morning, could've easily stayed there a while longer, think I even half slept through my meditation!  I'm awake now though, 5am and ready for my day.

We enjoyed our chicken hotpot yesterday, such a simple meal, 4 chicken legs skinned, 2 carrots, 2 onions, stock layered with thin potato circles, less than a fiver for a meal for four.  Always turns out really tasty whilst not taking any effort.

I need to have a word with myself though as my tracking has slipped and I know my 80/20 attitude is more 70/30 and I'm not going to lose weight if I'm not following the plan properly.  My chicken hotpot might have only been 8sp, my breakfast only 6sp but I have no idea what else I consumed yesterday because I've been to bed since then and I can't remember, or is it that I don't want to remember!

Therefore today, I'm getting my journal back out and I'll be continuing with it, back to writing it all down, summers coming you know, there's a little thing called spring we have to deal with first but before you know it, the cardigans and jumpers will have to be removed, the shorts considered and the excess weight more evident.  I can walk round with my fat jeans undone at the waistband at the moment because the jumper covers it, I won't be able to once summer is here!

Why track? Because it's so easy to overlook things, 3 or 4 mugs of tea throughout the day is 3 Smart Points of skimmed milk in my house!  I do that all week and don't count it, that's 21 Smart Points!  Yep it soon adds up, so the journal is returning, plus it gives me prompts and asks me questions, it asks me how I've felt, how much I've moved, how much sleep I've gotten, and makes a suggestion or tip like;

Today's tip - squeeze a lemon

The citrus scent of lemon is said to promote concentration, induce calmness and banish negativity.  It's worth a try!  Add some lemon zest to your bath water, add a slice of lemon to your drinking water or just sniff a lemon!

I remember back when I joined Weight Watchers you had to start each morning with hot water and lemon, it was part of the plan!  I have lemons in the fridge, they're normally only used in my gin, maybe I'll give the hot lemon a try today.

I've also stopped the walking with mom again, it's so easy to get caught up in the day to dayness of life and forget the other stuff, you know like your health!  I need to make time to move, not find time - MAKE TIME, the time is always there, it's up to us how we choose to spend it, I'm going to commit to walking at least 3 times this week, I know it'll do me good.  At least 15 minutes with or without mom, if I can fit in more great, but I need to do something! 

What can you commit to doing to help you on your weight loss journey?  What will help you the most, it's too easy to get distracted and forget those reasons, luckily I wrote mine down in my Journal, I also wrote down what I wanted to achieve in 10 weeks, it was 10lb, I'm on week 6 and I've lost 7lb up to the end of last week, so I have 3 1/2 weeks left to lose the other 3lb, I can do that if I get back on my tracking, move that little bit more and think about my choices. 

On that note I'm off, need to go choose my food for the day, got no bread so that's one thing I won't be having for breakfast! I do have some chapatti's left though, might have one of them or might just have 2 bacon medallions (1sp), egg (2sp), tomatoes (0sp) and beans (3sp), I'm thinking pasta for lunch of some kind, haven't had any for such a long time, I'll think about it whilst I go make me a cup of tea with the milk I'm going to measure out!

Here's your Smart Point recipe,

Beef Chow Mein

Serves 1 – 12 Smart Points

60g medium egg noodles (6sp)
Low fat cooking spray
125g lean stir fry beef (4sp)
4 chopped spring onions
60g mange tout
80g chopped mushrooms
80g beansprouts
3tbsp oyster sauce (2sp)

Cook noodles in boiling water for 3 mins until tender. Drain & rinse in cold water.
Lightly coat a non-stick frying pan or wok with low fat cooking spray. Stir-fry the beef and spring onions for 1½ mins, then add the mange tout and mushrooms and cook for a further 1½ mins.

Mix in the beansprouts, noodles, oyster sauce and 1tbsp water, and heat through for 1-1½ mins, stirring continuously. Serve immediately.

Happy Day's BeYOUtiful, remember they can be if you choose them to be!