Taming your Gremlin!

22^nd October 2012

You only live once? False! You live every day - you only die once!

Didn’t just sit on my backside yesterday for a change, after I walked Alfie on the morning in the fog I spent a few hours sorting through my recipes magazines and putting them all in my recipe folders so I could throw away the rest of the magazines – too much junk in my house.  On the afternoon I managed to get mom to come for a walk with me, we didn’t go far, just across the road to the canal where we saw a heron and got really close to it so we were both happy about that.  I made her poached eggs & cheese on toast, she’s not got much of an appetite lately so it was good to see her really enjoy something, I had my cottage pie that I cooked Saturday, not bad at all.  I then read in the bath for an hour before finally sitting on our backsides and just chill out watching tv, XFactor was on but I’ve got to say I don’t really watch it, I’m faffing doing other stuff.  Perfect Sunday doesn’t it sound?  It wasn’t but we’re working on that. Xxx

I started reading a book I think I’m going to love called, ‘Taming your gremin by Rick Carson’, I just love all that self help stuff, it’s helped me in the past and I also like to pass the info one and help members and you lot reading this.  The book isn’t about dieting but I’m just going to share with you a paragraph which is so true;  

“Here we sit, you and I, wrapped up in our bodies,…..

But we’re not our bodies.  We’re not.  Our bodies are constantly changing masses of matter.  As a matter of fact, if you’re over 30, as we speak, you ears are getting bigger, your nose is getting longer, and the distance is shrinking from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head.  Frightening, but so.  Bodies change.  My body has done so dramatically.  A lean 165 pounds now, I used to weigh, and this is the astonishing truth, 7 pounds 8 ounces.  We’re not our bodies”

I love that, I also love everything that follows that paragraph in the first chapter, so I’m hoping the book will be interesting.  The book suggests your gremlin interprets your every experience. He has nothing good to say about you or anything you do, not to mention your dreams and aspirations. Just when you feel you've out-argued or overcome him, he changes his disguise and his strategy. Grapple with him and you become more enmeshed. What he hates is simply being noticed. That's the first step to his taming. That what the books about and without going into too much detail that’s exactly how my day ended with my Gremlin having a field day with me!  Even though earlier I’d started that book, and my Gremlin genuinely doesn’t cause me too much grief these days because I’ve already done a lot of personal development work on myself, last night he/she whatever it is really went to town and messed with my head. 

I’ve slept but it wasn’t a good sleep, my brain has been going over and over stuff all night, so I’d just like to thank my Gremlin for that!  And warn it that this book is gonna help me tame that Gremlin – watch this space! 

I am aware that I’m talking in riddles but I don’t want to share those thoughts I was having last night because they weren’t just about me and well bearing my soul online is one thing, but other peoples – maybe not.

You’re either getting this Gremlin thing or thinking I’m a lunatic right now ;-), either’s good with me, I’m not sure how much you’re allowed to share of someone’s book but as this next bit I’m going to share is available as a preview on Amazon I think it should be ok, and who knows I might help him sell a few copies.  So this is what he say’s about your gremin;

“You already have some sense of your gremlin, though perhaps you never have focused your awareness on him or labelled him.  Your gremlin is the narrator in your head.  He has influenced you since you came into this world, and he accompanies you throughout your entire existence.  He’s with you when you wake up in the morning and when you go to sleep at night.  He tells you who and how you are, and he defines and interprets your every experience.  He wants you to accept his interpretations as reality, and his goal, from moment to moment, day to day, is to squelch the natural, vibrant you within. 

I’m not sure of the factors that contributed to the makeup of your particular gremlin.  I am sure, however, that he uses some of your past experiences to hypnotise you into forming and living your life in accordance with self-limiting and sometimes frightening generalisations about you and what existence holds for you.

Your gremlin wants you to feel bad, and he carries out this loathsome pursuit via some sophisticated manoeuvres, which we will discuss later, and by convincing you to waste time reliving the past, worrying about the future, and analysing the relationships between all sorts of people and things.  Your gremlin wants you to believe that he has your best interest at heart and that his primary purpose is to serve and honour you.  His motive is actually less honourable.  He is intent on making you miserable.

Your gremlin’s caution about life and living is inordinate and his methods of control are overzealous.  He is not merely your inner critic or simply a part of your psychological makeup.  Your gremlin is not your negative thoughts – he is the source of them.  He is not your less-than-positive past experiences – he uses them.  He is not your fears – he taunts you with them by creating the horror movie about yoru future that you sometimes watch. 

He is your gremlin, and his personality, like his dastardly intention, is all his own.  One thing is for certain.  As you begin to notice your gremlin, you will become acutely sensitive to the fact that you are not your gremlin, but rather, his observer.  You will see clearly that your gremlin has no real hold on you.  As this awareness develops, you will begin to appreciate and enjoy your life more and more. It is for you, the observer, that this book is written.

Ooo I can’t wait to read it, cos my Gremlin had me crying myself to sleep last night, soI’m ready to kick his ass!  So if any of that strikes a cord, watch this space, I’ll let you know how the rest of the book goes. 

And apologies for making a Monday morning so damn serious, but hey sometimes reality sucks!

I’m smiling again now I’ve wrote all that – love rambling on my blog.

Have a great day. x

Simples but Scrumptious!

21^st October 2012

Take time every day to do something silly. Philipa Walker

 

Do you do that?  Take time out each day to do something silly?  My mom has a real childlike curious nature, she’s inquisitive about things, she always has been, always got great pleasure out of the smallest of things.  When a fire engine or ambulance passes with his lights going, she say’s ‘let’s follow it’, on occasion I have indulged her and turned the car round and done just that – it absolutely makes her day!  Yesterday we went to pick up a prescription from the chemist, as we sat in the car waiting the 15 minutes for it to be ready she said, “I wonder what that building is?”, it hadn’t got any windows downstairs, just wall then windows up, so she spent a good five minutes pondering this.  When we drove off I drove round and we went and found out, she was chuffed.  5 minutes (if that) out of my day to do something silly, that had no real benefit to me other than to satisfy my moms curiousity!  Oh just in case you were wondering she was right, it was garages with flats above ;-)

 

Had successful couple of hours in the kitchen yesterday, made lasagne from the Complete Kitchen, I’ve used the white sauce recipe from there before, now I’ve use the bolognaise sauce recipe and the lasagne one too – brilliant book.  Then I made a cottage pie, haven’t made one for years and kept it simple, I have to admit I worship the power of the oxo cube!  I was making it for me and my mate, so her kids hadn’t tried it before and they’re typical kids, so I had this idea (taken from the lasagne recipe) to put carrots in there without them knowing, it also saves dicing too, good for mom also as she’s not a fan of chewing these days.  So this is the recipe;

 

Cottage Pie (Serves 6 at 11pp each)

 

570g packet of beef – 34pp

1kg potatoes 20pp (peeled & chopped)

2-4 Carrots, peeled, chopped roughly

2 large Onions, peeled, chopped roughly

Beef oxos to your taste

100g grated Mature Cheddar Cheese 11pp

 

Put carrots and onions in food processor and blend (if you haven’t got blender you’ll need to dice small as possible), spray large frying pan with oil, then add mixture from blender, cover and fry for 10 minutes (check to ensure it doesn’t stick, add a bit of water if necessary).

 

Put potatoes on to boil to make mash to top mince later.

 

Remove mixture from frying pan and then fry beef (no oil necessary as there’s fat in the mince), once brown, add back carrot mixture and stir through.  Dissolve oxos in a mug of water and add to mince.  Flavour to your own personal choice. 

 

When cooked (about 10-15m), put mince in ovenproof dish, top with mash then sprinkle grated cheese on top and cook in oven till cheese is melted and browned and serve.

 

Simples but scrumptious!

 

I’m really looking forward to today, I have NO plans at all, I love a do what you want day, I plan to start it as always with a dog walk, then go with my mood – bliss!

 

Whatever you’re doing today, stay on track – you’ll be glad you did on weigh day.

 

 

 

Nothing to say today x

20^th October 2012

I try not to live up to expectation... I just do what I think I can do. Danica Patrick

Good morning, good morning, it may be foggy and yucky outside but I’m still smiling and I’m on track – hurrah!  Yesterday I cooked a delicious cheese and potato pie so my plan I made has been amended slightly but that’s ok as long as I have options.  I’m trying to make foods that will tempt mom.  Today I’m making a lasagne and cottage pie, I’m in the mood to cook and I shall share it with my mate because of course I can only eat so much food!

So cooking this morning, then my meeting then I’m treating myself to a massage this afternoon, well actually one of my mates has treated me to it as a well done for getting my diamond leader award which I thought was a very lovely thing to do.  Then later I’m going to continue sorting out my recipe folder, I’m collating all my favourite recipes into one place, which is a time-consuming project because I have a lot of recipes and I get distracted easily.  I’m a bit put out because I can’t find a lasagne recipe I once made, I’m thinking I didn’t write it down, so I’m going to have to try and remember from memory what I did – good luck with that with my memory!

My brains a bit blank of stuff to say today – I know that’s unusual for me!  Plus my mom keeps talking to me from her bed so I can’t concentrate ;-) so I’m gonna leave it there for today and say goodbye.  I wanna get in the kitchen if I’m honest, I love being in the mood to do stuff, especially as I’ve been feeling shattered at the weekends for the last few weeks.

Enjoy your Saturday xx

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t get my life back – I GOT A LIFE!

19^th October 2012

Chose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Confucius

It’s been an emotional week! In my meetings we’ve been talking about none scales victories, the small or big achievements that you achieve from losing weight that can’t be gained just from numbers going down on the scales.  I’ve heard some fab examples from members including

-       Being able to zip up knee length boots.
-       Being able to wear your wedding ring again.
-       Being able to wear ‘one-size’ tights without the crotch being somewhere close to your knees!
-       Not having to ask for the extension belt on aeroplanes.
-       Having the water in the bath go all the way around you & not creating a damn one side.
-       Being wolf whistled in public when all she’d heard before was abuse!
-       Feeling satisfied after meals & enjoying your food. (Love these ones!)

The funniest one I’ve ever heard though was a woman who’d lost 8.5 stone being road raged by some idiot, now I don’t know if you’ve ever been road raged but it can be quite scary when they actually start following you!  Anyway she had to stop for the traffic lights and this idiot got out of his car screaming abuse, got to her car window and banged on it (she didn’t open but could hear the loudness through the window), she was terrified.  Then he shouted, “What were you thinking you SKINNY daft bitch?”  Well she was stunned, this had never happened before, she wound her window and said, “oh thank you, thank you, thank you young man!”  He looked at her like she was a looney and stormed off muttering to himself.  She couldn’t believe she’d just been called SKINNY every other aspect of the situation had gone out of her mind, she was made up!  You’ve got to love how a women’s brain works!

Yes, it was wonderful to hear the personal triumphs of so many, men and women because it’s just as important to both.

We then talked about our reasons, why we should make it a priority for us to lose weight, I used an example from a book I read last weekend, A Weight Watcher member named Edwin Hood to demonstrate why  it should be a priority.  Now I’ve read a lot of diet books, there’s not many things I haven’t read about regarding losing weight, why we are overweight, what it feels like to change etc etc, however Edwin said a line that moved me immensely!  He said, "I got my life back and I never knew it was lost."  How true is that!  If you’re looking for a reason to stay with it, that’s a good one!

This one line yesterday morning almost reduced me to tears in my meeting, even though I’d already read it out in every meeting prior.  For some reason as I read it, in my mind I went back 9 years to the person I used to be, a very unhappy, angry, anti-social woman (I’m there again now lol, cos I’m sat with tears in my eyes). I didn’t even realise I was unhappy back then – it was just my norm, it was who I was, I was abrupt, quite rude at times and didn’t really interact with new people well.  I remember once standing at a bus stop and a lady started making small talk with me and I stood thinking, “why are you talking to me!”

Boy how I’ve changed, now I’m the one making the small talk, I start/interrupt conversations in supermarkets all the time, I had a lovely discussion with an old lady Monday about cooking sponge cakes in the microwave (I’ll share that recipe with you another day).

So unlike Edwin, I didn’t get my life back – I GOT A LIFE!

I couldn’t be much happier than I am these days, I love everything about my life, I have the best job, I have the most amazing friends, I meet people every day who inspire and amaze me.  Even on the bad days, when I’m hormonal, or when moms playing me up because she’s like a big soft kid and doesn’t do ‘ill’ very well, or every thing is just going wrong – I’m still content, I realise it’s just part of life and you can embrace it or fight against it!

Now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying if you’re overweight you’re unhappy because that is absolutely NOT the case, I’m only saying that I was.  I don’t even know if it was being overweight that made me unhappy or being unhappy that made me overweight and you know what I don’t care and it don’t matter because I am not that person anymore.  I’m not for analysing my past, I’m more interested in enjoying my future.

If you’re struggling with your weight at the moment and struggling for a reason to continue, find your spark, find your reason to make it matter!  Ask David Kirchoff says in his book ‘The Weight Loss Boss’ “How do you make it a priority in your life? Ask yourself if you believe weight loss will have a meaningful impact on the quality of your life. Do it for the right reasons, but find the right reasons to do it.”

I’ll never forget my reasons, I may go up and down with my weight now I’m near my goal but I will never ever allow myself to go back to that state of mind and that weight I started at.  Oh on that note I did gain this week 1.5lb, if I hadn’t I think I’d have gone to the doctors because what I ate last week was too much.  I’m ok with that, as soon as I got home I planned my week out, I decided I love having toast for breakfast so I started there with two slices of Hovis seeded bread and worked from there, I roughly decided how many ProPoints I would spend at lunch and dinner and have made sure that with my weeklies and any activity ProPoints I earn on my pedometer I can indulge in that liquid that need not be named ;-)

 

On that note I’m off to prepare lunch, we’re having honey and mustard chicken with rice, using a Chicken Tonight low fat jar.  Ooo I had lamb shank in mint gravy last night (Morrison’s 2 for £7), the whole box is 12 but I had about 8pp worth and gave the rest to Alfie, it was very tasty.  Yep this week is all about comforting winter warming foods for me.  Oh my stew was ok by the way after I added a couple more oxo cubes and a splash of worcestershire and soy sauce.

YAY it’s FRIDAY! Whoop Whoop

 

Scales, Stew & Stress! It's all about the S's today!

18th October 2012

Good morning, it’s 5am, dark, damp and cold outside, the weather has been all over the shop this week, we’ve had crazy winds, sunshine then pouring of rain, and it’s quite obvious winter is on its way, or maybe it’s actually arrived a little early, we are officially still in Autumn though.  I’m blaming this weather for my appetite this week, yeah why not, I I’ll add that reason to the other one ‘my hormones’ – what else could I use? Might as well have a stockpile of excuses!  Whatever the reason the truth is I haven’t been the best this week at all and it doesn’t matter what I blame or use as the reason the scales if they could will have their fingers firmly planted in their eyes singing “la la la, I’m not listening” because they don’t care what the reasons are do they, they just give you the reality of the numbers!  If I lose weight this morning it’ll be a miracle from god and I would say my first ever thank you prayer!

Will I be upset with a gain, a little, let’s be honest here NO ONE wants to be gaining weight, will I be gutted – nah, if it meant that much to me for it to be a loss, it would be a loss because I’d have stayed on track!  It’s obviously not important enough to me right now to focus on it 100% and make it a priority in my life! 

Getting upset, angry and all stressed out isn’t a great way to aid your weight loss, it’s not productive and seriously STRESS is in my opinion (and I’m sure there’s research out there that would back me up) worse for you and your body than excess weight!

So what I’m doing right now is relaxing and focusing on one thing at a time, my priority at the moment is eating good food and shopping wisely.  I’m tracking 100% to help me identify if I have any patterns that I can become aware of and be prepared for in the future. 

Now I’ve been toying with doing a Filling & Healthy day or two again but the logical side of me is saying no because the last time I did it, I started eating differently to how I normally would, but then it also says, is eating a bit differently a bad thing!  Fair point well made.  My main concern with the Filling & Healthy days is I take advantage of the low calorie bread and crumpets and portion sizes.  So maybe I will experiment and do one day, see what happens.  I’ll need to be honest with myself, I will know if I’m overeating, but I have to say with this weather and the appetite I’ve got at the moment, it’s extremely tempting. 

I’ve got a pan of stew on the stove, we all discussed it yesterday morning in the meeting – what do you put in your stews?  Stew has never been my forte, you know when you have a food memory, I have one in my head – I actually don’t even know if it’s a real one, or an idea of what I want my stew to taste like – but it’s a taste I’ve never been able to master.  So the final verdict yesterday was the following ingredients; potatos, beef shin, onions, carrots, parsnips, pearl barley and oxos, so these were the quantities I used yesterday as they didn’t give me quantities;

            600 g Beef, Braising Steak, Lean, Raw

            500 g Potatoes, Old, Raw
            150 g Pearl Barley, Dried
            380 g Parsnip
            4 medium Onion, All Types
            400 g Carrots, Old, Raw
            6 cube(s) Oxo Beef Stock Cubes
            1 medium Leek

It’s on the stove now and although it’s thickened up, it looks the part and it tastes alright, there’s something missing and I’m not quite sure what – any suggestions.  It hasn’t got that flavour I’m after – boo!  For me personally I’m not sure I I should’ve put the parsnips in.  It is however a massive pot of food, if I get 8 portions out of it that would only be 7pp each and if I was to do Filling and Healthy the only thing that’s got to be ProPointed is the pearl barley and oxos.

I’ve decided, stick with my ProPointing I think and just include lots of filling and healthy foods, that’s a win win really, I’m getting the good foods and I’m staying in control of my portions rather than using the F&H idea as a license to see the kitchen as a buffet bar!

Well it might be dark but I’ve still got to walk the dog and go to work so I better get a wriggle on.  If you have the perfect stew recipe, send it me please, stew as in cooking on the top not in the oven.

Have a great day, no stressing about anything.  Stress is like a wooden rocking horse – it gives you something to do but gets you nowhere. xx

 

 

It's National Baking Week

17^th October 2012

The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice. Peggy O' Mara

Did you know this week is National Baking Week, yep apparently it is, so I’m going to dabble in making some more muffins this week, maybe a savoury version or the carrot cake muffin recipe I’ve just found on the Weight Watchers website. 

However my friend mentioned a really bad Malteser cake recipe someone had told her about the other day which reminded me of the very easy to make recipe I had for ‘Banana & Malteser cakes’, so I’ve just searched it out and ProPointed it up and here it is, no thinking involved at all as it uses a packet mix which is 22p in Sainsbury’s, so this recipes costs approximately a pound to make 16 cakes, not bad at all.  With it being half term next week you could even get the kids having a dabble!

Banana & Malteser cakes Serves 16 – 2 pt each
210g packet of Sainsbury’s basic sponge mix (or similar)

made with 1 egg & water (23 points)

1 small banana mashed
2x37g packets of Maltesers, crushed (10 points)

Heat oven to gas mark 6.

Make sponge mix up as the pack.
Mix in banana and Maltesers.
Put mixture into 16 cake cases and bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

How simples is that!  From memory they are quite tasty too.

And can I say if you haven’t made those ‘wake up’ muffins from last weeks blog yet – you’re crazy because they are delicious, I microwave mine for 30 seconds and have a warm muffin for brekkie, nice.

Oh yesterday food wise was a huge disaster, I’d been looking forward to eating this tin of Westlers Hamburgers in onion gravy that I’d found in one of the cheap shops, I remember them from years ago so I had them with some instant flavoured mash from Morrisons and I have to say they were vile, my taste buds have seriously changed and I’m so glad I learnt to cook over the last few years, that is one thing I will thank Weight Watchers for – their cook books are fantastic.  I started with them and then bought others such as Jamie and Nigella, but because of what I’d picked up from the Weight Watcher ones I was able to adapt their recipes and make them less ProPoints.

I bought the Hairy Bikers book at the weekend, I have to say I’m not overly impressed with what’s inside it, bearing in mind I already have a fabulous selection of cookbooks theirs isn’t adding a great deal to my collection.  They have about 4 or 5 recipes I would try, the rest have far too many ingredients in for my liking and I’ve got the same meal in different books cooked a lot simpler and with about the same ProPoints.  Having said that there is a cheese and leek pasty that looks promising so once I have tried it, I will share the recipes!

Now someone last night recommended Nigella’s chilli con carne with chocolate – different!  I’ve never been a chilli fan to be honest, I think it’s the kidney beans but I will search out the recipe and test it out maybe. Just found it out Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9v8RD-tpjU

I haven’t got time to ProPoint that this morning, but it looks a little dangerous ;0)

Typical of me I actually haven’t felt like cooking at all this week whether its national baking week or not, luckily I have a freezer full of meals I’ve premade in the past few weeks, that’s the bonus of recipes for 4 when there’s only two of you, you get to freeze them.  So I’ve just took something out that’s 12pp, not sure what it is, but it’ll be a surprise at lunchtime, I can see a carrot sticking to the side of the tub, I think it’s a casserole of some sort.

I’m also thinking curried beans on toast, nice warming meal in this weather.  I need to shop for vegetables so I can make up a batch of stew but I’m trying to stay away from the supermarket for as long as possible to save my pennies, my plan is to last until Friday with what’s in the freezer.

It’s definitely one pot meal time of year though that’s for sure!

Right I’m off, its cold, wet and windy out there, I’m thinking Alfie may not get his walk this morning, so paperwork out the way it is!

 

The voices in my head - mwah ha ha!

16^th October 2012

When you realize that you always have the answers within yourself, you can stop searching outside of yourself.

Child – “I’m hungry”

Parent – “Don’t be silly, you’ve only just eaten lunch”

You ever said that to your child? Or where you ever that child? 

Yesterday I took Alfie for an afternoon walk, we’d already done our hour on the morning, but when I got back from my meeting the sun was shining and it looked glorious out so at noon I decided to take advantage of the weather.  I usually follow him where he wants to go but I will own up to pulling him up the country lane so I could enjoy the scenery.  I was really chuffed when he decided he wanted to go over the farmers fields, my old running route and we trudged through the muddy fields enjoying the view and the fresh air.  We were out almost 2 hours, although we only covered about 3 miles, Alfie likes to smell things, and I’m happy to stand and wait, it’s my time out and it’s good for me. 

When we got back I decided to have a tin of Heinz Tomato soup for my lunch, 6pp is a lot for soup but it’s a meal I’ll only eat once every blue moon, I had it with 95g of Weight Watcher bread (all weighed on my scales, think there was 5 slices including the crust) 6pp and 38g of Weight Watcher spread 1pp, again weighed and it did the trip I just like the texture of the spread as the soup melts it so it doesn’t really have to be butter.  So I’ve just eaten just over 500g of food, which is over a pound in weight.  For my breakfast around 7.30am I’d had a 3 egg spring onion omelette with a tiny bit of cheese 7pp, and I’d eaten a banana about 11ish.

Half hour later I’m sat there thinking ‘I’m still hungry’, and that voice in my head said, “Don’t be silly, you’ve only just eaten lunch”, I’m not actually sure if my mom ever did say that to me or it’s my subconscious, judgemental, expert, weight loss, inner cynic!  But anyway, yeah actually I think it was the ‘inner expert, know-it-all, smarty pants bitch’ as my mom wouldn’t just give me a slice of bread and butter back in the day, and probably dipped it in the sugar bowl as a treat!  So this expert, know-it-all continued saying, “how can you be hungry when you’ve just eaten all that food?  People eat on average 2.5kg of food a day and you’ve just eaten the 0.5kg, maybe you’re just thirsty”.  She continued, “Maybe you’re just a greedy cow!  Maybe you just can’t stay on track and within your ProPoints for more than a few weeks without veering out of control”.  I’m trying to catch up on the XFactor results with my mom and this opinionated, overbearing, inner critic won’t shut up!  “Go on, blame your hormones, I’m sure if you look at your app on your phone you’ll be able to justify ‘being hungry’ by where you are on your menstrual cycle, OR you could blame the cold weather – comfort food and all that”.  At this point I’m watching Rebecca Ferguson sing thinking, “what does she look like?! And yes I do think I’m properly hungry”, when my wonderful inner bitch (yeah she’s turned into a full blown bitch now, she’s going for the low blows, getting quite personal with her remarks now, I’m afraid because I don’t like typing really nasty stuff, nor swearwords on my blog, I’ll leave it to your imagination, but trust me she’s doing her best to make me feel pretty hopeless and out of control.

If I could’ve at this point (well I actually could have but I’d have looked a bit silly) I would have put my fingers in my ears and shouted “la, la, la, la I’m not listening”.  I was hungry, I could tell, just because I’d just eaten something didn’t mean I wasn’t.  My inner cynic might be telling me it’s wrong to still be hungry after eating such a descent meal, I even remember at one point her reminding me of a programme I’d watched on the tv that said soup fills you up for longer than ordinary food!  Well whatever, that’s what I say to all that because I WAS STILL HUNGRY!  Guess what I did ;0)  I went and made myself a massive sandwich filled with a bag of salad leaves, cucumber, a couple of slices of wafer thin beef and a tiny bit of cheese on two slices of seeded bread for 10pp!  Check me out – REBEL!

That’s how I knew I was actually still properly hungry, because I didn’t just want a biscuit or a bag of crisps, I wanted something proper that would actually fill me up.  I ate that at about 2ish and then I never ate again for the rest of the day - so yes I was properly hungry.

I think the point I’m trying to make is listen to your body, don’t always believe the info you’re given or you read about in books or on blogs!  Take all the information handed to you and choose what will help you – be your own passionate expert.  You don’t have to eat 3 meals a day at set times!  It is possible to still be hungry after you’ve eaten a meal!

Learn to identify the things your subconscious says to you, we all have those voices – they’re actually our subconscious thoughts – we’re not going la la!  They include our memories, our beliefs, our cynics and only you can learn to drown them out or better still change them.

Okay, well now you all think I’m a crazy who sits there having conversations with myself in my head – I’ll let you go ;~) 

Oh and just in case you were wondering, I’ll put my hands up I think a lot about eating and food, I walk the dog whilst planning my meals and thinking up new ways to cook my favourite thing.  I don’t actually have conversations with myself ‘-) I just think a lot!

Enjoy your day, and learn to silence that inner cynic!

Beautiful Chaos! That's me ;-)

15^th October 2012

The most damaging phrase in the language is: 'It's always been done that way.'Grace Murray Hopper

Well what can I say, you can’t beat a bit of order to things, I’ve shown you my office before and I do tend to sit in chaos every day, by the middle of last week everytime I typed on my keyboard I could hear something knocking together on the other side of the desk because there was so much junk going on, so yesterday was “mission office” and it took me just over an hour to sort completely, which shows even what seems like a huge task isn’t quite so bad once you start;

Before

 

After

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will it stay that way?  I will try to keep it that way for as long as I possibly can!

If it doesn’t stay that way will it matter?  Nope, I’m glad I did it because I’m now sat feeling really good about my tidy office, if it ends up back where it was that’s ok, I can do it again, and keep doing it until one day it stops getting quite so bad!

That’s a bit like weight loss isn’t it, you just keep at it, keep changing one thing at a time and hope that eventually you do those things without a thought.  I can honestly say I do a lot of the habits I’ve made through following the Weight Watchers plan automatically these days and that’s probably one of the reasons I’ve kept the majority of my weight off.  I’m still working on the other half stone of habits ;-)  I’ll get there one day, because I’m never gonna stop working at it.

BeYouTiful

If you met someone just like you would you want to be their friend?

I love how the universe works, I wrote the two lines above yesterday afternoon whilst watching tv, I email myself thoughts and things I plan to write about in my blog, it’s usually stuff I think about having conversations with people, or reading or watching on tv.  So I log on this morning and a friend has posted this as her status;

As you all know, I do not have kids, but KIDS, kids and teenagers out there….. Be YOU, never try to fit in, never try to be cool, the ones fitting in are fake….. The only truly happy ones just be themselves….. The coolest and happiest people AFTER school are the ones who were the ‘uncoolest’ at school…... trust me….find you and BE YOU!

How true is that - wise words to share with your own kids if you have them!

So back to my two lines, they came about because I was talking to a few people yesterday and I realised how different we all are, but at the same time how we all want similar things, we all want to be content and happy and deep down we all just want to be loved/liked – even those who think they don’t! 

Unfortunately some people try too hard or try to be something they’re not – you don’t have to be, just be yourself – it works – it really does.  You ROCK!  Trust me, I come into contact with approx 1000 people in which and they all have something that makes them special, they all have their own qualities.

Forget about creating this “new you” as you lose weight why not decide to work on the “real you”!  One of the best things you can do whilst losing your weight is focus on who you really are, not who you think you are supposed to be! 

Oh and remember your weight and your eating habits are NOT who you are!  I was talking to someone very dear to me yesterday and she said, “I’m just a greedy bitch”.  That’s not who she is, its how she’s choosing to behave at this time.  She can change that if she wants too, I know she can and so does she, but her eating behaviour isn’t what makes her, or who she is, she’s so much more than her weight, and actually the real her is pretty damn AMAZING!  When you get below the defence mechanisms she has in place and past the blasé talk, there’s a real depth to her and she’s a very funny, caring person who just has a defence mechanism built in.  How do I know?  Because I used to be just like that, I remember my old boss telling me one day that I had a big brick wall built around me!  Mmm he had a point!

So in the words of Oscar Wilde “Be yourself – everyone else is taken for!”

In my words, “Be Yourself unapologetically, you are good enough– BeYouTiful!”

Today I shall mostly be thinking SMALL!

14^th October 2012

The real great man is the man who makes everyone feel great!

There’s nothing AYCE about an All You Can Eat!  I read that in a book this week and how true is it!  Beside the fact it is more than likely going to make you overeat, there is so much food you can’t make your mind up what to have and instead of going up three times and getting three courses, I’ve watched people pile food on top of each other, so they’ve got Chinese on Indian on Pizza – YAK!  Sometimes their plates look like something that would be used as pigswill, what with all the different stuff on one plate!  Nah not for me the AYCE restaurant, I for one don’t like having to carry my bag up to the counters with me because it isn’t safe to leave it on the table if there’s no one there!

Anyways, just thought I’d share my thoughts on that AYCE acronym which I thought was a good line especially as we looked at eating out this week. 

Went to my meeting again yesterday morning and I helped by doing the raffle, then I won so I bought bars and shared them out, just in case they thought it was fixed!  Those new double chocolate chip cereal bars are a bit tasty.

So I have to say I’m getting as much from listening to the members as I am from the leader!  What I came away with this week was “THINK SMALL!”

REALLY, yeah that’s what I said – stop with the “BIG GRAND GESTURES”, one lady who had lost 1lb was disappointed because she lost 3lb the week before, I’d have been thrilled with that loss but no I could tell from her face she was very disappointed, she's not looking at the longer term. 

So what am I talking about well, it the unrealistic ideas that we place in our minds, for example, “I’m going to lose 2lb every week until I get to my goal”, erm nice thought but what about the weekend you are out every night because it’s your birthday, wedding anniversary or just because you’re having a night together with your pals because life’s full of stress!   Are you still going to lose 2lb that week!  Or are you going to be disappointed when you get on the scales. 

The BIGGEST MISTAKE is thinking that the SMALL STEPS aren’t important and won’t make a difference!  For example, it won’t matter if I miss my daily walk today because I’m a bit tired - it’s not going to ruin my diet if I have that biscuit and don’t track it, it’s only 1pp surely – It won’t be any different if I use full fat cheese in this dish instead of half fat. 

These small changes are what make the difference between success and failure, those ting things that you do when no one is watching make a huge difference to you overall long term success at the scales.

It’s really not the big things that you do once in a while, it’s the small things you do consistently that make the difference.

You might think it won’t make a difference in that moment, but it is the series of moments that lead to your future success on the scales.. or not. The more consistent action you take the luckier you might seem to get. Luck favours those that are consistent.  If someone is losing more weight than you, maybe they are consistently making those important correct small choices that matter!

Rather than hoping for a quick fix, Which ain’t gonna arrive anytime soon!

Think small.  YEP SMALL!

Weight loss can feel very overwhelming, especially if you have lots of bad habits, so break it down, approach one aspect at a time, nail that then move on to the next.  The key is to take ONE action step in the direction of your long term success no matter how small it is. The first step is often the hardest step to take but the most powerful. And many of us do not take it.

So go get a big black bin bag and throw away your elaborate plans.  Okay I mean that metaphorically but you get where I’m coming from.

One small action step in the direction of your goal is more powerful than any big plan with no action. The first step may not be earth shattering (it better not be cos if it is you’ve kind of missed the point!), it could be getting back to your meeting, going to the gym, walking a mile, planning your days meals, tracking everything even if you go over, adapting your favourite recipe, buy a single pack of your favourite crisps instead of a multipack.

It is the first step which leads to the next step, and the momentum builds and before you know it you’ve taken 1,000 steps. In the achievement of your goal there’s not 10,000 steps, there’s just ONE step… then another, and another and another.

Many people sit around and wait. Waiting for the perfect sign, the perfect moment… waiting is a waste of precious time now. Waiting will get you nowhere unless waiting is the necessary step in front of you now i.e. waiting until your hungry to eat again ;-). All the time you are waiting you could be taking action and moving towards reaching your target and getting to your goal.

Stop waiting till your calendars free.  Stop waiting to do it perfectly. Stop waiting for stars to align. Stop waiting until you know everything you think you need to know.  Instead, start where you are, exactly as you are. Take the small action in front of you now and before you know it, you will be heading towards your target that you were dreaming about. And the dream will no longer be a dream but reality.

Size does matter.

Think small.

 

 

 

Food, Beer & Bestie = A Perfect Day!

13^th October 2012

You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. Zig Ziglar

83pp yesterday cost me and you know what, it was worth it!   I got all my work done by 10.30am, then spent two hours in the kitchen cooking cheese and potato pie, corned beef hash, St Agur and honey roasted veg tart and wake up muffins, which we enjoyed for our lunch and there was enough for my mate to take home with her today so that after she works this morning she can chill out with her family because lunch and dinners ready.

 The tart was delicious, used JusRoll low fat Puff Pastry

- I pre -roasted my veg in 1tbsp olive oil & honey, added 6pp worth of St Agur - nom nom

 

So yep 83pp aint bad really when you think we had all of the above and bottles of bud!  Oh yea and I found another packet of French fries – I really think that’s the last of the flavours I’d eat!  I did refuse Walkers deep ridged and Cheese & Onion crisps though so I wasn’t all bad. 

Have I blown my week?  Nope that’s 49pp weeklies plus my 26pp daily, I actually earned 4pp on my pedometer (2 of those whilst cooking in the kitchen believe it or not – I was in there 2 hours tho), that’s 79pp so as long as I earn another 4pp on my pedometer and stay on track for the rest of the week I could still get a weight loss!  And luckily we drank all the beer so I won’t be tempted by that ;-)

Those muffins are to die for, they came out even better this time, I did put the whole punnet of raspberries in which was about 60g more and they were good big muffins.  Don’t think I mentioned but Thursday afternoon I made the Banana and Custard ones from one of the cookbooks, they tasted nice but the weren’t very big at all in comparison to the Wake Up muffins, and for almost the same ProPoints well, you want your ProPoints worth don’t ya!  Theres something yummy about the little bit of sour raspberry bursting in your mouth surrounded by the sweetness of the rest of the muffin, and if they’re still warm when you make them, nom nom.  Recipes on blog entry for 8^th October – seriously you need to make these muffins!  I’m not even a great cake eater, reckon they’d be amazing with a bit of custard on them ;-)

So I’m being a helper in my meeting today, the leaders needs a shop lady so I’m stepping in!  So much for my day off ay, lol, now I don’t mind to be honest, it’s not like I’ve got to do the paperwork afterwards so it’s all good.  I’m going to chill out with mom this afternoon then tomorrow I plan to tackle my mess that is my office, it’s worse than it was last time I decided to take it on! ;-/  Hey ho, maybe one day I’ll learn and keep it tidy.

Have to say I love my mom this morning, I had hoped to keep my kitchen tidy as I cooked yesterday and I did do a lot of it as I went along but once the cakes went in and we started eating/drinking I didn’t finish it up, we both passed out about 8pm and when I’ve gone down this morning to make a cuppa moms cleaned all the kitchen before going to bed – she is a star!  She may not ever cook but cleaning the kitchen for me is the business, and I’m dead chuffed cos getting up to that would’ve been vile.

8pm and fast asleep both of us, no wonder her husband lets her out once a month to ‘party’ lol, more like a Tupperware party our get togethers – we did have 8 hours of giggles beforehand though, so we don’t mind and we’ve have a cracking night sleep, I got up about 5.30 so a good 8hrs, she’s still asleep with Alfie next to her – a wonderful sight lol.

Right I’m off cos I need to get ready as the first meeting starts at nine and I’ve gotta help set up.  Whatever you’re doing with your Saturday – enjoy xx