Skinny is NOT sexy!

20^th October 2011

Past experience should be a guide post, not a hitching post. D. W. Williams

I’ve mastered poached egg in the microwave saves all the mess, 30 seconds in a mug with a bit of water then onto some kitchen paper to get the water off – perfect.  So that was breakfast yesterday, lunch was a nice sweet and sour courtesy of a member with microwave rice and tea was a bit of a mitch motch, I did sliced white cabbage, spring onion and cherry tomatoes with some balsamic and had it with 2 toasted bread cobs from those microwave chicken burgers (Alfie had the chicken I wasn’t keen) and some cottage cheese, and weirdly I enjoyed it.

I know I tell you not to weigh yourselves at home but I know most of you ignore me, so I also ignore myself and I jumped on the scales yesterday morning - naked of course, after going to the toilet – well you’re never going to be any lighter than at that moment are you ;D and I weighed 10st 8.5lb that’s my lightest for a good year I’m sure, I know it’s not a true reading and as soon as I got dressed and ate it all changed but I don’t care it made me smile.  So did my new indents just below my ribs that weren’t there before, I’ve got myself a little two-pack going on ;D I’ve just got my little rounded tummy which may I add I’d quite like to keep, but this 2packs quite cute too.

It’s really important to remember whatever you’re size or shape, “it’s your body – be proud of it”, you interested your basic body shape, structure, metabolism and weight tendencies from your parents so yes on this occasion you can blame them.  Of course, you have control over your weight and muscle tone (so you can’t blame them there) but ultimately, you are what you are.  Look at your parents, your siblings or any of your relatives, you’ll notice certain features run in the family, I’ve got short, strong legs same as my brother.  You may have inherited full hips, or a large overall bone structure, you may be lucky and inherited a lovely pair of boobs or a perfect nose. 

Luckily nowadays I feel quite comfortable in my body, yes I’d be a couple of inches taller maybe or have longer legs if that were possible but it isn’t so I’ve learnt to love what I’ve got and realise the limitations in changing it.  So if you’re trying to change something that can’t be changed it’s time to throw your hands in the air and admit, “It’s genetics”.

Back to my little round tummy, and I’ve got a few dimples in my bum and thighs, I don’t mind anymore, women are supposed to have extra fat.  Have you noticed how we see fat as the enemy and yet it is essential to the proper functioning of the body, our nervous system in particular.  Did you know some fat pads inner organs and lets not forget it insulates us again the cold ;D  Women also store adipose tissue in their thighs, hips and breasts which helps nourish a baby if we become pregnant (no chance of that here, but it’s a good enough excuse for me).  Therefore to rail against body fat is in essence to deny your womanhood – time to be proud of it I reckon, it’s ok to be female, it’s ok to have big breasts and large hips, look at Sophia Loren, she was all curves, if you don’t know who she is – you’re too young ;D

So today stop focusing on the bits of your body you don’t like and try this: whenever you notice yourself getting critical of a part of you, shift your attention to a part of you that you do like, please tell me you have one!  I may have big short legs but they are also strong and powerful, that’s the new way I see them.  I measured them yesterday and no they haven’t got any smaller with the running my thighs are still a good 25 inches at their widest part and I find it amusing that some famous ladies waists are smaller, that’s a little crazy in my book, I’d rather have the odd doughnut (mmm doughnuts!) and be the size I am.

Who you trying to please with your body anyway?  When you attempt to achieve a certain standard that society tends to set, it only leaves you miserable, the women in the magazines they’re not the norm, take a look around, have a good look at your friends and strangers in the street, they don’t look like the photos in the magazines and trust me your friends, family and your partner love you, to them you are beautiful as you are.  Let their acceptance help you to accept yourself, because it is important you love you as you are. 

I’m not saying don’t lose weight but do it for the right reasons mainly health, don’t be obsessed with being slim be more concerned with being healthy, when you eat that way and watch the rubbish you eat, your weight drops anyway. 

Be honest skinny is not sexy, the next time you look in the mirror and think you’re too fat and you make it your mission to get skinny, instead of looking at supermodels and skinny birds that are gaunt in the face with bony arms and legs, find yourself a photo of a good healthy looking woman who’s worthy of admiring!   A fit body is a beautiful body.

We all come in different shapes and sizes – embrace yours. xx

Simply the best...

19^th October 2011

It’s a very funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. William Somerset Maugham

Sidney the Saboteur!  Yes yesterday one of my members bought mom ½ of a home made fruit cake, guess who else likes fruit cake!  No ProPoints on it anywhere either, so I am guilty of indulging in a slice, it was delicious too, and I was quite product of the fact I only had a small slice.  Then Charlie one of my evening members bought me a slice of Banana Loaf, at least she’d ProPointed it, mmm tasty, 4pp a slice and the recipe is on page 14 of the seriously satisfying cook book, really, really good. 

I made a tasty Chicken Casserole using Colman’s chicken casserole sachet (3pp) well worth it, took me ten minutes to chop the onions, carrots, skin the chicken legs and get it in the oven before I went to work, it was ready to eat when I got back at lunchtime.   Alfie liked it too, so I had a chicken casserole for lunch and a vegetable one for tea as he’d eaten the other chicken leg, must say though, I might cook it again without the chicken and use other veggies, I reckon diced butternut squash would go well, or even roast that separately.

One of my members posted on our fb group page yesterday that she wasn’t coming to Weight Watchers anymore because she wasn’t strong enough, I think whether it’s about weight or another aspect of our life we all have moments where we feel we’re not strong enough or not good enough, including me.  I had a mini wobble yesterday, thinking I wasn’t good enough at my job, luckily I have amazing friends and family who are always there to support me and either put me right or help me find my way.   Nobody’s perfect are they and with weight loss, it’s something you have to be on top of constantly, it’s always there, I even had the thought yesterday - shall I have a week without ProPointing, give myself a break and see how I survive on the scales just eating healthy.  Then I realised it’s not that difficult, it doesn’t take up that much time and long term it’s worth the effort so I got my food diary out and carried on from the day before. 

It’s really important to acknowledge that to lose weight permanently, you have to change your attitude to food and your approach to it all.  There is no quick fix, it’s never going to be easy because eating and food is such a large part of our lives, it’s something we do at least 3 times a day so we don’t want it to be difficult, we don’t want to dread it. 

The changes that we need to make don’t have to be huge dramatic ones, for example just removing the skin from my chicken in my casserole  yesterday and having legs instead of thighs saved me over 20pp by removing the skin, and one chicken leg was approx 7 whereas 2 thighs are about 8.  It’s all about substitutions and alternatives.  Don’t compromise on quality or taste, re-educate yourself in the kitchen.  For ideas check out my website www.happyowls.co.uk

I will try and get the latest two Cheap Eat recipe sheets uploaded to that website asap, but in the meantime, anyone who thinks you can’t have the most amazing food cooked easily for low ProPoints needs to try this and feed it to the entire family because trust me – it’s delicious.

Cheese & Bacon Lasagne,

Serves 6 - 9pp each, 8pp if using gammon
Prep: 35m, cook: 40m.

This freezable, family-friendly recipe is economical and has a wonderful comfort-food feel about it and recipe can easily be doubled.

3 large onions, halved and thinly sliced

1 ½ tbsp olive oil (6pp)
1 tsp dried oregano (optional I didn’t have any & it was still delicious)
300g pack lean smoked back bacon, chopped (17pp) or 300g lean gammon (11pp)
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes in rich juice
20 basil leaves, roughly torn, plus extra to serve if you like (optional I forgot to use it & it was delicious)
250g pack fresh egg lasagne (check pack for cooking instructions) (10pp)

For sauce

600ml skimmed milk (6pp)
50g each butter (5pp) and plain flour (5pp)
Generous grating fresh nutmeg
50g grated Parmesan (6pp)

Fry the onions in the oil for about 15 mins until golden. Add the oregano and bacon and fry for 5 mins more, stirring frequently. Tip in the tomatoes, season and bubble uncovered for 5 mins. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil.  Meanwhile, make the white sauce. Pour the milk into a pan and tip in the butter and flour. Whisk continuously over a moderate heat to incorporate the flour, then simmer, stirring until thickened. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Spoon a third of the tomato sauce on the base of a lasagne dish. Top with a third of the lasagne sheets. Then top with a third sauce, a third lasagne, and the last of the tomato sauce and finally the last sheets of lasagne. Pour over the white sauce and scatter with the cheese and an extra grating of nutmeg. Chill. If eating straight away, bake at 190C/170C fan/gas 5 for 40 mins until golden and bubbling. Scatter with basil, if you like, and serve with a salad and garlic bread.

To freeze, cool completely, then wrap in cling film, then foil. Will store for 3 months. To serve, thaw for 6 hrs in a cool place. Unwrap and bake at 190C/170C fan/gas 5 for 50-60 mins until thoroughly heated through

Wednesday midweek already, and I’m raring to go, I had another early night last night, just before 9pm, it’s making me feel better, because watching rubbish evening tv is extremely draining!

Have a day knowing you’re ‘simply the best’. xx

It's cold this morning, feeling a casserole coming on..

18^th October 2011

Create the kind of self you will be happy to live with all your life. Foster C. McClellan

I had my salad pitta for tea last night and it was as delicious as I’d hoped, the only ingredient I forgot was cucumber, which I can rectify today.  I need to drink more water, I keep forgetting, think I’ll put a reminder in my phone.

Well I got what I deserved on the scales, after eating nothing but junk all weeked and processed meals all last week, I regained 3.5lb, will I ever get back to goal, who knows but I’m still happy with myself because I’ve got more active and I genuinely believe running 3 or 4 times a week will more than make up for the ½ stone excess I carry that according to the charts I shouldn’t, I like my body and only strive to lose that half stone because I’m supposed to be a certain weight according to a chart.

When I eat well like I did yesterday, for me it’s not about the potential weight loss it’s about feeling better in myself (any weight loss is a bonus and I definitely don’t want a weight gain), my tracker yesterday looked like this;

Breakfast = 3 scrambled eggs (5), 20g cheese (2), 1 slice wholemeal toast (2)

Lunch = ham toastie (6) with Philadelphia light (2), guacamole (2), sliced peppers, melon

Dinner = Salad pitta (4) (white cabbage, pepper, tomato, spring onion, carrot, mint sauce), Parma ham (4), beetroot, cottage cheese with pineapple (4)

Anytime = wine (6), brazil nuts & almonds (7), skimmed milk in tea (1)

Total eaten = 45pp

Activity ProPoints earned;
Pedometer = 5pp & 1 hours running= 10pp
29pp + 15pp = 44pp, used 1 of weekly allowance.

I felt better for eating well and I also enjoyed it all too, and none of it took any time at all to make, that’s my biggest concern at the moment saving time, I’ve been so busy at weekends lately that I haven’t done the big cooking session I was doing earlier in the year, so I need to find other ways to get healthy foods cooked.  I did buy a couple of those juicy bags yesterday that you cook your chicken in, they work out at 3pp a packet, I bought the herb one and the garlic one so will let you know what they’re like.  Today I’m making a chicken casserole, again using a sachet mix for 3pp, will just add carrots, onions and chicken legs, I’ll remove the skin first.  I shall serve it with a jacket potato.  I was very sensible when I shopped yesterday, usually I just throw things in but yesterday I thought about what meals I could do with each ingredient.  Think I might have soft boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast mmm.  The maybe another salad pitta for lunch or tea depending on when I have the casserole.  Oooo I loves good food I do ;D  I’m going to cook a tuna pasta bake this week too I think, need to find a recipe.

Just found one on esource, I can top that with a bit of cheese – sorted and simple;

Broccoli and Tuna Pasta

ProPoints® Value: 7 Servings: 3 Preparation Time: 5 min Cooking Time: 10 min Level of Difficulty: Easy
	175 g Broccoli, Green, Raw, florets
	175 g Pasta, White, Dried, preferably bows
	185 g Fish, Tuna in Brine, Drained, rinsed and drained
	1 pinch Salt
	1/4 teaspoons Pepper, Black (Whole, Cracked or Ground) (ground)

·         Cook the broccoli for 8-10 minutes until tender. Drain.

·         Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.

·         Put the cooked pasta into serving bowls.

Sat drinking me a pint of water too, aren’t I being good, Alfie and mom are both still snoring, it must be early - now to get some work done ;D

Enjoy your day, be healthy. xx

Have a Mega Monday!

17^th October 2011

To fight fear, act. To increase fear wait, put off, postpone. David J. Schwartz

I never even turned the computer on yesterday, I was staying at my friends because of looking after her two and when I woke up at 6ish instead of turning on a pc and writing my blog, I read a book and had a cup of tea, then we all walked their dog Roxie and had fun on the park. Saturday was great too, we went to see ‘Dolphin Tale’ at the cinema which is a lovely film.  So now it’s Monday and I’m feeling a little behind because when I got home yesterday I just enjoyed the rest of the day with my mom and Alfie and now my desk looks like it’s not been touched since Saturday morning ‘-) which it hasn’t and I have 3 hours work to do in 90 minutes, so this blogs gonna be short and sweet.

O yeah and my diet went out the window a little to with popcorn, macdonalds, chip shop and Sainsbury’s café!  I lost a filling too on a tooty fruitie sweet, which means I’m going to have to fit in a trip to the dentist now to my already crazy busy schedule.  I’m definitely ready for my holiday, although a weekend at home with no plans would be nice too, so I can get all those little things done that keep getting put off.

None of it matters though does it as long as life is being enjoyed, dull women have tidy houses, that’s my motto and I’m sticking to it, although bless her my mom had tidied the rest of the house whilst I away.

I’m sat here typing how busy I am and yet I’ve just sat and watched an 8min film of a boy on Australia’s XFactor that has put into perspective how lucky we really are to be as safe and happy as we are.  Here’s the link, if you’ve got up this morning with the Monday morning blues, watch this and ‘Imagine’, then smile and get on with your day.  I know you probably haven’t got 8 minutes to spare – make the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dfc0EYktwI

Going back to my weekend, I’ve decided that you can keep fast food, I’m most definitely cured for a while, the McDonalds we had wasn’t hot and they aren’t nice at all when the start to go cold, I did enjoy the popcorn at the cinema and we all shared one bag so that wasn’t so bad.  We had chip shop on the night and I finally bought the donor kebab I’ve been craving for 2 weeks now, as I ate it I realised I was enjoying combination of the pitta and salad with the mint sauce more than the actual meat so salad pittas from now on it is!  I also only ate a handful of chips, I’m definitely getting to grips with not eating it just because it’s on the plate, that’s something I noticed the kids doing a lot at the weekend, leaving things on plates because they’ve had enough, they’re not thinking about the fact it’s been paid for or that it’s a waste, they’re full so they stop.

So today is all about healthy eating, I’m not worried about the scales this morning, they’ll probably show a gain but it’ll go as soon as it came especially if I make this week a healthy eating week and dump the junk.  No more convenience fast food or processed junk, I’m off to buy the ingredients to make a big pot of stew, I’ve already made a batch of grey peas and bacon (you love em or hate em – I likes a lot), and definitely filling the fruit bowl this week, or the fridge with ready chopped stuff.

I had the best thing waiting for me when I got home Sunday, it had arrived in the post on Saturday, a few weeks ago I got my members to write a note of encouragement to another member and then got them to put it in an envelope addressed to themselves, Friday I posted some of them (my helper put stamps on), it turned out someone had written one for me and I received it yesterday, made my day, this was it;

A huge thank you to whoever sent it to me.  Random acts of niceness are so worthwhile, why not do one or two yourself this week.  That little note put the biggest grin on my face, I loved that someone (whoever you are) thought about doing it, such a lovely thought.

Here’s to an awesome week for all of us.  Have a mega Monday xx

life's a load of balls!

15^th October 2011

There are moments when everything goes well, but don't be frightened. Jules Renard

I’ve got my work cut out for me today, I’m being allowed to look after Jen (7) and Will (9) till tomorrow afternoon!  This is gonna be fun, we’re going to the cinema to watch a film about a dolphin with a broken tail and then we’ll do whatever they fancy, and I have a feeling the day will end with treats and the XFactor and me needing to go to bed way before they do - YAY, can’t wait. ;-)

Yesterday I had a real treat, once I’d finished all my paperwork instead of going out for lunch as we usually do because we’re a bit strapped for cash and we’ve decided we’ll rather not eat than go for these 2 for a tenner meals, I met up with Lynne and she made me run 4 miles first, then she made me PROPER egg and chips in a pan of fat!  Oh my word they were to die for, and if you ate them too often you probably would, especially with the three rounds of bread and butter and ketchup I had with them.  I think we can safely say I blew my ProPoints budget well and truly on them yesterday, but wow they were worth it.  300g home fried chunky chips = 16pp, fried egg = 4pp, 3 slices bread = 7pp, butter = 5pp, ketchup = 1pp, WOW I’m impressed 33pp and it was amazing and better than anything I’ve had for Friday lunch in a while and because it was only one course, probably less PP overall. Mmm a regular thing I thinks.

I started reading the intro to a book yesterday and it mentioned ‘the story of the five balls’ so I googled it to see what it was and decided it was worth sharing;

The story of the five balls

Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls.

The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity.

And you're keeping all of them in the air.

But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball.

If you drop it, it will bounce back.

The other four balls–family, health, friends, integrity–are made of glass.

If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls,

you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.

 

This is so true, I work a 50 hour week, luckily I love my job, however I also make time for the other things but it can be difficult finding that balance can’t it.

Here are some suggestions as you strive for balance in your life.

1. Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.
2. Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.
3. Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
4. Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.
5. Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
6. Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us together.
7. Don't be afraid to encounter risks it is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
8. Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
9. Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going.
10. Don't forget that a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
11. Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.
12. Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.

Go back and read those suggestions again, and then go and enjoy your day. xx

It's all about the food...

14^th October 2011

I don't think anything is unrealistic if you believe you can do it. Mike Ditka

WooooHoooooo it’s Friday, and I’m glad, I’ve have a lovely little lie in till 6.15am and am feeling more awake than I have for the last two mornings.  I couldn’t work out why I felt so tired until my leader (yes I have a Weight Watcher leader too!) took a look at my tracker and wiped the floor with me!  What I’d been thinking was just a quick lazy week tracker wise because I didn’t wanna be bothered with spending time in the kitchen, she pointed out was missing fruit and vegetables and full of processed junk!  Mmm good point o great one!

I mentioned earlier in the week that I’d been and bought some foods I wouldn’t normally buy, prepared stuff like crispbakes and cauliflower cheese etc, well yesterday for my lunch I had ½ packet of Turkey Goujons and Morrisons Kitchen Broccoli Cheese, well if that’s convenience food you can keep it, even Alfie spat the goujon out!  And Morrisons forgot to put the broccoli in the cheese sauce – it was minimal.  The worst 10pp I’ve spent in a long time, I do wished I’d taken a photo of it on the plate looking all pathetic but I forgot. 

So after that experience and the conversation with my leader telling me to buck my ideas up, I decided against indulging in a doner kebab for tea and instead took the 500g pack of turkey mince out of the freezer (17pp) ready for when I got home from work.  I then stopped at the co-op on the way to work and bought 3 punnets of mixed fruit already chopped for a fiver (not cheap but convenient and I needed a quick solution to lack of fruit), a bunch of bananas and peppers, mushrooms so I could make a good tea when I got home.

I drank two 500ml bottles of water at my meeting, ate one tray of fruit and a banana and I can honestly say I felt almost instantly brighter (which isn’t easy on a Thursday night after taking 15 meetings!)

I got home about 7.45pm and I had prepared and eaten my dinner by 8.20pm which shows fast food can be cooked from scratch, I chopped onion, carrot, mushrooms and pepper and fried in a tablespoon of oil (4pp) together with 500g turkey mince (17pp) then I added the magic ingredient;

Old El Paso taco spice mix for 3pp, so the entire pan was worth 23pp.  I got the other one of those microwave burgers out of the fridge and toasted the burger to go with my tea and micro’d the burger for Alfie, I don’t need anymore burgers in my life for a while I reckon, the next weeks gonna be healthy, I like to be energised, not shattered which is how the processed stuff was making me feel.   I also want to enjoy what I’m eating and my tea last night tasted tops, my lunch yesterday tasted like something’s bottom!

I’ve had a fab week in my meetings, a couple more members achieving their gold, a couple of 50lb certificates and as we weighed all the members this week we added up all their total weight losses since they joined, so for example Debbie who achieved her goal this week has lost 9stone total, Rachel on Thursday morning has lost 93lb, you get the gist, so the total weight loss for all my members to date that weighed in this week was a staggering 786 stone!  In case you were wandering that’s an average of 21lb per member, damn good plan I reckon ;D

Well I’m off to walk the dog, do my paperwork and generally have a lovely day, what you doing?

Enjoy xx

Maybe I'm a Weight Watcher Werewolf!

13^th October 2011

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Yesterday was a fabulous day, Debbie got her goal, losing an amazing 9 stone in total and taking since August 2010 – WOW, I’m sure you’ll all agree this card is an awesome sight;

Debbie isn’t just a member these days, she helps out in the meetings too and everybody loves her, and we’re all really proud of her too.  So that’s 106 gold members for me this year and I’m really, really proud of each and every one of all my members whether they’re at goal or not.  Losing weight isn’t easy so just the fact you’re trying is enough to get my respect.

Speak of not being easy, I had a tough diet day yesterday, I woke up tired for some reason, still ran at lunchtime but found it hard to do the 5k.  Had a burst of energy on the afternoon, and also indulged in a couple of the new WW Apple Bars which arrived with my delivery – mmm they are a bit tasty, then at the meeting I had a packet of Salt & Pepper Bakes.  When I got back from my meeting I made a classic error, instead of going to bed because I was tired, I found myself in the kitchen looking for my mattress and instead I found a beefburger (luckily I’d bought those 9pp microwave ones), a bag of cheese and onion crisps (4pp), a giant cookie (7pp) and a huge glass of red wine (8pp), I was still in bed by about 9.15 but in that 45 minutes I’d managed to double my daily ProPoint spend from 30pp to 60pp, all because I didn’t just go to bed – DOH!

I’m still on track though because I ProPointed and tracked it all and I still have 4 of my weekly allowance left and I’ve got 37 Activity ProPoints that I’ve earned plus I don’t feel tired this morning.  I blame the full moon for my indulgences, werewolves attack people, and I attack food!

I really enjoyed my breakfast yesterday, I weighed 20g cheese and scrambled it with 3 eggs and served it on a toasted bagel, 11pp may seem a lot but it really did satisfy me and I did give a little to Alfie.  I did see something that looked rather nice on another leaders facebook page, a simply filling lunch of eggy bread with banana and she’d put a bit of ginger in with the banana, or you could use cinnamon.  Haven’t tried it yet but very tempted to.  Look it does look tasty. 

Not sure what I’m going to have for breakfast today, depends on time, I do know I need to get a wriggle on if I’m going to walk Alfie for an hour before work – catch you laters. xx

takes an hour to burn off 500 calories + 2 minutes to eat them!

12^th October 2011

Every success is built on the ability to do better than good enough. Unknown

I finished on 36pp yesterday and the same on Monday, I’m pleased with that as it’s my daily allowance of 29 plus 1/7^th of my weeklies, and I have already earned 25 activity ProPoints towards my weekend.  I’m starting to get control over my appetite after exercising which can only be a good thing, and I’m getting better at eating breakfast, I had poached egg on a bagel yesterday, mmm.

Can exercise make you fat?  Remember I gained a pound last week even thought I’d earned almost one hundred activity, cycled 26 miles and ran 12 miles! 

The answer is of course NO but it could be YES, a lot of people take up exercise such as jogging to help lose weight. But the latest research shows it could have just the opposite effect. Why?  Is it muscle weighing heavier than fat.  No it’s usually because you’re ravenous after a workout or a run so head straight to the kitchen and eat anything you can get your hands on, OR you feel you’ve just done a load of exercise and burnt calories so you can afford a treat. 

I mean look what we ate after our 26 mile ride, we earned 15 Activity ProPoints then had a 40pp mixed grill and a 15pp rhubarb crumble and custard followed by a celebratory pint of lager for another 6pp.  That’s 61pp spent and only 15pp earnt, even if you add my daily allowance of 29pp, I’m still in deficit of 17pp. 

Same with my running, I earned 10pp running for 55 minutes yesterday so if I then was to go treat myself to a big mac for 13pp and fries for another 13pp, it was a bit of a waste of time!  Some people gain weight because they consume far more calories than if they hadn't done any exercise.

The idea that exercise leads to weight loss, can be a common misconception. I have been active on and off for years. Net weight loss through exercise: zero. When I walked up Snowdon three times in one day,  I put on weight. At the time, this seemed astonishing to my members. In fact, it is quite common. This is partly because muscle is denser than fat. But there is also a more subtle connection. Getting up at 4am to walk 26 miles up and down a mountain three times demands an increase in calorie intake. My response? Was to eat dried fruit and nuts all day long, and celebrate with cake and champagne when we’d finished.

"It is possible to lose weight with dietary changes alone," explains Laura Clark, a registered dietician with the British Dietetic Association, "but to lose weight just through exercising is very difficult. You would have to exercise at high intensity for three to four hours or more a week, and not many people can fit that in."

It is fair to describe my behaviour during training for any of my previous endeavors as gluttonous, but it exemplifies the two principal reasons why anyone exercising to lose weight is unlikely to succeed.

First up is the reward element. An apple is rarely appealing after you've worked up a sweat. It's very easy to think, when you've been to the gym, that you deserve a treat. The reality is that the number of calories you have to make up for is usually very few.

We gravitate towards rewarding ourselves after exercise with sweet treats, which is like taking one step forward and two steps back.

One pound of fat equates to 3,500 calories. You need a deficit of 500 calories a day to lose a pound, so rewarding yourself with a burger or a cake will automatically cancel out that deficit. The catch is that this is so easy to do.
It can take an hour to burn off 400 or 500 calories, and just two minutes to eat that

So if you’ve been reading about my running and my weight loss this week, you need to realise that I’ve tracked and ProPointed everything I’ve eaten, I’m eating less than I’m earning. 

It’s better to exercise than not to exercise, but if it’s followed by a treat, be aware of the ProPoints earned. Running for 55 minutes does not buy me a donor kebab – more like 2 poached eggs on toast. 

I’m enjoying my running and I’ll go today, at the same time I’m not expecting it to be my miracle cure. 

Enjoy your day. xx

Tremendous or Terrible?!

11^th October 2011

Two women looked out through their prison bars.  One saw mud, the other saw stars!

Well I finally made it, I’m back at goal plus 5lb for the first time in a long time ;D, after putting on a pound last week even with earning all those activity ProPoints, I lost 4lb this week and now have 6 weeks till my holiday and am hoping to lose those 5lbs and get back to goal. 

Five seems to be a relevant number for me at the moment because after managing 5k three times last week, I decided to carry on running yesterday and I managed 5 miles, I was chuffed, took me just under 55 minutes and earned me 10 Activity ProPoints = BONUS!

I’ve noticed that since I started my running, I’ve started craving carbs “potatoes, rice, pasta, bread”, something I didn’t eat a great deal of before, so I’m going to have to rethink my meal plans, also I don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen because I’m busy with other things. 

Yesterday I decided to go and treat myself to some ready meals, something I haven’t eaten in a long time, but I wanted quick and also tasty.  For a change I went to Morrisons, now I’ve just read yahoo news and I’m sure you’ll agree that basic living costs have risen a lot, apparently they’re at their highest for 20 years!  So as you can imagine, I was interested in the bargains in the supermarket because lets be honest none of us have much spare cash at the moment, especially for those of you with Christmas to plan for (I go away – don’t do Christmas, it’s cheaper for me).

Anyway I was pleasantly pleased by the what I would call fast food that was on offer that I could still have because it wasn’t too bad on ProPoints, for example “Speedy Snacks” burgers are on offer for 2 for £3 I think they were and there’s two in a pack, the Southern Fried Chicken Burgers were 8pp each and the Flame Grilled Beef Burgers 9pp.  you could even have them with a box of McCains Micro Chips for an additional 4pp, that’s a real fast food tea.  They’d also got some Morrisons crispbakes in the cooler section which looked tasty for £1, Serve 2 at 5pp each, I bought the Corned Beef one and the mini chicken & chorizo flavour.  Bernard Matthews Turkey Goujons were £1 a packed and the packet had 12pp in, and would easily serve 2.  The super bargain was their own branded pitta breads, 3pp each and a packet of 6 for 19 pence = bargain. (for photos of these products see my Weight Watcher facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bevs-Weight-Watchers/133361767350#!/photo.php?fbid=10150353654947351&set=a.10150272217177351.356780.133361767350&type=1&theater

I was also a little indulgent and bought 2 Jacket Potatoes with cheese all ready to pop in the oven, not as cheap as making your own but much quicker when you’re feeling lazy like I was last night, and they worked out at 6pp each.  I had one with some cooked chicken which was on offer 2 for £7.

If you are willing to spend a little time looking and using your ProPoints calculator, you can eat a little quicker and cheaper if that’s your choice.

Apparently the sponsored Women Only 'Trick or Treat' Twilight Walk I’ve entered with friends on October 29^th to raise money for Compton Hospice hasn’t had many apply, so I thought I’d mention it here if you fancy a bit of a challege, this is what the blurb says on their website;

We are calling all ladies to dress up and join us for this exciting new 'women only' event.

This 6 mile walk will start at 9pm and will lead us up to the witching hour, where witches, demons and ghosts are at their most powerful.

Watch out for tricks and collect treats on the way.

Registration is £10 per person and open to women only aged 14 or above, under 16's must be accompanied by a full paying adult.

This event is suitable for individuals and groups, so why not grab your family and friends, or even come along for a work night out.

Ditch the men and come to what promises to be the best Halloween party in town.

If you fancy it, log onto their website and sign up, even if you don’t raise much the £10 reg money will go towards their collecting.

http://www.compton-hospice.org.uk/fundraising/event/98/c

As I weigh my members this week I’m totalling up all the weight each meeting has lost since they joined, and I’m impressed, haven’t got the info to hand but from memory, Monday morning at Bloxwich which was only a little meeting of 21 members this week has lost 31 stone so far, and Monday night at Wednesfield has lost a whooping 81 stone, not bad at all, I’m sure you’ll agree.  I was really impressed by the total weight losses on peoples cards.  David from Bloxwich achieved his 50lb certificate yesterday which is an awesome achievement, Catherine last night got her 4 stone, which if you want to give that a visual to compare to, it’s a sack of potatoes.  What amazing achievements, I’m so proud of all my members.

So today’s Tuesday, will it be terrible or tremendous, mine will be tremendous I’ve already decided, I’m going to be looking at the stars not the mud – how about you?

It's the week of the hot stuff!

10^th October 2011

It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out--it's the grain of sand in your shoe. Robert Service

The weekends really do fly by don’t they, to be honest so do the weeks in my life, I’m actually looking forward to getting on the scales today, I feel good and even though I’ve indulged at the weekend, I haven’t gone crazy.

Finished my different food list on 72, managed to add bacon, scone, cream to the list, not quite 120 but it gives me space to build!  I’m going to think a bit more about my meal choices from no on though, try and be more varied. 

I was chatting to a friend yesterday about how difficult it is to stay on track when you’re tired and just want something quick for the family and you don’t really want to cook.  She’d just ended up in Burger King and had also indulged in a couple of crunchies and crisp.  Fast food is a toughie and I know you can knock a meal up really quickly but sometimes you just don’t want to.  I started thinking about alternatives, the only thing I come up with so far was pitta breads toasted and stuffed with those tikka pieces that are already cooked in the supermarkets and a bag of salad leaves stuffed in them too.   Microwave chips are really quick too, even though a box would set you back 4pp according to the esource info, the box contains 100g.  you can’t beat a chip butty and that would be just enough chips.

If you have any suggestions for fast food that’s not going to break the bank, let me know because a Burger King Whopper is 17pp and then regular fries would add another 10pp, the cheeseburger is only 8 or a Whooper Junior with cheese 10pp, they do a flame-grilled chicken salad for 3pp.  Yep the Eating Out guide is definitely worth investing in and carrying in your bag!

I had KFC on Saturday but I actually didn’t eat again all day, I also shared my 3 pieces with Alfie so probably only had 2, they would be 12pp for the 3 because I like the wings and the drumsticks which are only 4pp each then the fries cost me another 14 because I ate 2 packs and coleslaw and beans I had a spoonful of each so another 4pp and lastly I did eat 2 corn cobs which were 4pp each.  I probably had 34pp in one meal which explains why I didn’t need to eat again that day.

Eating out really is a toughie if you don’t plan it and think through your options.  This week is National Curry Week, now curries can set you back a huge amount of ProPoints yet if you make your own or choose wisely you can enjoy the most tasty of dishes.  Esource had lots of suggestions for you to cook, or check the jar of curry sauce you buy some are much lower than others and mix it with lots of cooked vegetables for a superfast supper.

Here’s one to use your leftover chicken;

Leftover Roast Chicken Curry

Serves 2, 7pp each

300g leftover chicken
One bag spinach de-stalked and washed
400g tin tinned tomatoes
1 onions chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped small
thumb ginger peeled and chopped small
¾ or 1 fresh red chilli chopped small
1 tspn garam marsala
½ tsp crushed black pepper corns
½ tsp fenugreek
handful fresh coriander
300 ml chicken stock
2 tbsp plain yoghurt
1 tbsp oil

Fry the onions until soft  Add the garlic, chilli and ginger, and fry until golden
Add garam marsala, crushed black pepper corns and fenugreek and fry for one minute.  Add just-washed leaves of spinach, put lid for a few minutes to wilt leaves
Add left-over chicken, tomatoes and chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes, or more if you want – reduce to consistency you fancy.  Add coriander and yogurt, and stir in.

Or instead of the curry why not make burgers with them, you could even feed these the kids just omit the chilli if they’re not keen on the spicy.

And then here’s a couple of old recipes I’ve dug out;

Vegetable Curry – serves 2, 1pp each

1tsp olive oil (1pp)

1 onion, diced
1tbsp medium curry powder (1pp)
1 courgette, sliced
200g cauliflower, cut into small florets
400g chopped tomatoes
100g spinach

heat oil in large saucepan and fry the onion for 2-3 minutes.  Add the curry powder and fry for 1 minute.  Add the courgette, cauliflower and tomatoes, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes until wilted.  Season to taste.  Serve alone or with rice for additional points.

Mushroom Curry Serves 2, 2pp each

Low fat cooking spray (1pp)                                             2 medium onions slices

300g (10.5oz) mixed mushrooms sliced thickly            2 cloves garlic crushed
1 tin chopped tomatoes                                                     3 tbsps tomato puree (1pp)
4 tbsps low fat natural yogurt (2pp)                                 salt & pepper
1 tsp of each - turmeric, coriander, chilli powder, cumin and garam masala

In a non stick pan fry the onions until golden brown using the spray oil. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan and heat gently until simmering, then cover the pan with a lid and cook for about 5 mins then take off the lid and cook until the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly, and serve.   To make a mushroom and spinach curry, just add two handfuls of chopped spinach when you take off the lid and cook till wilted.

Whatever you’re eating today, enjoy it and ProPoint it!