Let's get this day started

8^th March 2018

Into each life some rain will fall, shake it off.  Sunny days are coming.

“You must have incredible willpower!” That was the sentence a member said to the lady in front of her last night who has lost 50lb.  The truth is it’s not all about willpower as willpower doesn’t last.  It’s putting in place behaviours that you can keep up and habits that you will continue with such as making an effort to have fruit each day and/or veggies at each meal time.  It’s making sure you drink water or add in a walk when you can, looking for opportunities to get active.

It’s also realising that it’s okay not to be ‘on it’ constantly, like this Sunday with it being Mother’s Day, I’ve already got a little afternoon tea planned for mom and me, we’re going to have triangle sandwiches and cake and we’ll draw a line on Monday morning, but we’ll be relatively good until then too.

I did have pie yesterday though, my sister made me a cheese and onion pie and it was delicious, she makes the most amazing pastry and for some weird reason it doesn’t give me heartburn like pastry usually does.  It was so good, high in Smart Points, about 24SP for a quarter of the pie but that was all I had for dinner so it’s all good.  I reckon I need to try her corned beef one next!  I’m going to get her to make some for our coffee morning on April 21^st at Old Fallings, don’t forget to put that in your diary. https://www.facebook.com/events/222870571604743/ For more information and if you bake, we’re looking for donations to the morning.  We’ve also rescheduled our walk on the chase for April 8^th at noon, pop that in your diary if you fancy a stroll.

No Yoga for me this morning, too much to get done before I leave for work, but I got 2 good walks with Alfie in yesterday, his usual morning stroll, then he decided about half eleven that he wanted to go out again and we were gone a good hour, it’s all helping to burn up those calories and make me feel well.

I’m looking forward to a day off on Friday though, especially knowing today’s a long one.  It’s feeling good getting that balance back in my life, taking an hour to sit with mom in the middle of the day without thinking about what else needs to be done, those hours I won’t be able to get back but are providing me with lovely moments and I don’t know how long I’ll have those opportunities.

With it being Mother’s Day, rather than buying gifts, why not bake something, make it WW friendly too;

Banana bread

Serves 10, 3sp slice

4sprays Calorie controlled cooking spray

350g Banana(s), peeled

2 tablespoons, level Honey – 7 Points

3medium, raw Egg, whole, raw

1pot(s), small Fat Free Natural Yogurt

2teaspoons, level Vanilla Extract

150g Porridge oats - 16 Points

100g Plain White Flour - 10 Points

2 teaspoons, level Baking powder

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 160°C, fan 140°C, gas mark 3. Mist a 900g loaf tin with cooking spray and line the base and ends with a long strip of baking paper.
• Put the bananas, honey, eggs, yogurt and vanilla extract in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Wipe the food processor clean.
• Reserving 2 tsp of the oats, add the rest to the food processor with the flour and baking powder and blitz to a fine flour. Add the flour to the mixing bowl and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Scatter the reserved oats over the top and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean, with just a few sticky crumbs.
• Leave to cool in the tin, then turn out and slice to serve.
• Cook’s Tip: Spread each slice with 1 tsp of Nutella for an extra 2 SmartPoints per serving; 1 tsp of low-fat spread for an extra 1 SmartPoint per serving; or 1 tsp clear honey for an extra 1 SmartPoint per serving.

There are more recipes on Weight Watchers website, including a Bakewell cake with cannellini beans in that sounds wrong but looks good!   https://www.weightwatchers.com/uk/m/cms/article/healthier-mothers-day-bake-all

Right I’m off to get ready for my day, looking forward to catching up with my Bloxwich Babes, let’s all have a great day however busy we are, I’m thinking eggs on toast to start mine with, how are you going to start yours?