Beauty may be skin deep, but healthy starts inside!

18^th November 2012

Worry is a misuse of the imagination. Dan Zadra

What is ‘healthy’?  If you google that question it automatically assumes you mean ‘diet’ and according to the NHS this is the answer;

The two keys to a healthy balanced diet are:

• eating the right amount of food for how active you are, and
• eating a range of foods – this is what balanced means

The range of foods in your diet should include:

• plenty of fruit and vegetables
• plenty of bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and other starchy foods (choosing wholegrain varieties when possible)
• some milk and dairy foods
• some meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein
• just a small amount of foods high in fat and sugar

That sums it up I suppose, I’d say healthy eating means consuming the right quantities of foods from all food groups in order to lead a healthy life. Diet is often referred to as some dietary regimen for losing weight. However, diet simply means what food we eat in the course of a 24-hour, one week, or one month, etc. period. A good diet is a nutritional lifestyle that promotes good health. A good diet must include several food groups because one single group cannot provide everything a human needs for good health.

However being healthy isn’t just about the food that goes in our bodies is it?  Having good health is important to make you feel good and hopefully live longer, it depends on eating the right food, doing the right exercise, and feeling good about yourself.

Is it any good being a size 8, if you have low self esteem and live on nothing but the odd bag of crisps and bar of chocolate.  Equally is it good to feel really confident but be carrying so much excess weight that you can barely breathe when you walk up a flight of stairs?  The answer to those questions is personal to the individual in that situation.  I know I’m quite happy to be considered ‘overweight’ according to the bmi chart because I walk everyday, I eat good healthy foods with the occasional treat, yes I have a glass or two of wine but I’m also really content with my life.  I have a job I thoroughly enjoy and friends and family that just make my world complete, I feel blessed.  I’m still what I call an happy o.w.l. (over weight lady) oh and I love that the latest fashion trend is owls, how fab is that, I’m taking credit for that trend lol even if it isn’t mine to take ;-)

Why have I bought this subject up today you may be thinking, well it’s because of my mom, a lot of you know her, she’s a tiny wee thing these days but she hasn’t always been.  When we were kids she hit 18 stone at her heaviest, at 5ft 3in it meant when we hugged her we couldn’t get our hands to touch at the back.  Then she went to Weight Watchers often, every time she joined, she’d lose some weight and she’d actually keep it off till the next time she joined!  By the time I was eighteen she was probably about 14st and she went to the doctor with heartburn and indigestion problems, they told her she had a hiatus hernia which is where part of the stomach pushes up into the lower chest through a defect in the diaphragm. The diaphragm is the large flat muscle that separates the lungs from the abdomen, which helps us to breathe.  Back in those days they just gave her medicine and told her to lose weight, whatever you went to the doctors with back then they told you to lose weight whether it was a headache or sore finger!

So she did, and in 1994 she hit her goal weight and was given a special gold of 11 stone, she was thrilled, she’s kept that weight off ever since.  Isn’t that fabulous?  Well yes and no, no because she didn’t change her diet enough to stop her health problems – one cannot live on junk alone – not if you hope to live a long term healthy life.

That hernia has grown to six times its original size in the past 25 years and now she has abused her body so much that the lining that you get on your stomach is normally different to the lining on your oesophagus, her body has been so clever that it has grown that stomach lining onto her oesophagus to try to protect it from the acid!  This is called Barrett's oesophagus – I’m educating you today!

What I’m trying to say I suppose is there’s more to health that being a certain weight!  I was going to show you a photo of what the inside of my mom’s stomach might look like but it’s too early in the morning!  Google it if you want to be put off your breakfast, I didn’t need to see it, I can imagine, I listen to her every morning struggle with the pain and this has been getting steadily worse for years but she just couldn’t put together ‘what you eat and how you feel are connected’, she would say, “I’ve always eaten crap”, and you can’t argue with a stubborn old lady!  She’s starting to listen now though, she can only eat small, regular meals and even that’s a struggle.

If the scales aren’t saying what you want them to right now, seriously that’s not the important bit, the most important thing is how you feel;

- are you happy?  Do you enjoy being you?

- are you eating a good healthy range of food with the occasional treat?

- do you find ways to move your body in a way you enjoy in order to be active?

- are you happy? I ask this twice because this is more important than anything in the world, if you’re happy then you’re more likely to take care of yourself – if you’re not what can you do right now to start changing that.

Oh and just in case you think I’m deluded – no one is happy ALL the time, not even me, you should hear me rant and rave when I can’t find something, or when Alfie is doing my head in or when I spill a bottle of water all over my car seat like I did yesterday!  Yep I have my moments but overall I’m glad to be here and I wouldn’t want to be anyone else.

Start taking care of you today, so the future you will be grateful. xx

 

Role Model - me - what chance have you lot got ;-)

17^th November 2012

People are all that matter - The rest, it's just stuff!

Well yesterday was a mix of emotions, mom has a real fear of choking so getting her to let them put a tube down her throat was never going to be easy, and she did get a bit worked up and upset so when I left I was a little upset too.  It was all necessary though and worth it, the good news is there was no signs of cancer - I can honestly say cancer never crossed my mind, I actually hadn't even thought about what it might have been because I didn't see the point of doing that, as the pic above says 'stress less', 'thinking' about what could be doesn't help a situation so I tend not to do it, unnecessary worry isn't it.  The doctor informed us that here are things wrong she can't necessarily be cured of her problems but all can be treated and her symptoms will hopefully ease.  Her hiatus hernis which she’s had for 25 years or more to my knowledge is now 6 times the size of what is considered the norm!  Her stomach and oesophagus is a bit of a mess too, so they’ve took swabs to get for all sort of things because her symptoms could be any number of things!  Of course mom being a hypochondriac is going to love this once she gets over the anesthetic and realises she really has got something wrong with her, she will make me write it all down so she can tell everyone and anyone who will listen – yep she’ll be thrilled!

Obviously when someone’s been anaesthetised they can’t be left for 24 hours so we didn’t do a lot yesterday other than sit in front of the tv!

It meant I missed my business development meeting with the leaders on my area and my boss, which was last night – I never miss them so it seemed odd that I wasn’t there.  And I got a call from my boss to explain that she totally understood why I wasn’t going to make it but had something she needed to tell me beforehand because it did involve me.  This was when my day really did improve, apparently I’ve been awarded a ‘Role Model’ award and I’m absolutely over the moon about it, on our employee site this is what it says; The Role Model award recognises and rewards, on a quarterly basis, the employees who consistently exhibit the Values in their roles or towards key business objectives.  And the winners have to be nominated by their colleagues, its just fantastic to know that four of my colleagues nominated me for this award, really made my day it did.  I’m absolutely thrilled xx

Okay so back to reality and a busy day ahead, Alfie needs a good walk because he didn’t get one yesterday afternoon as I couldn’t leave mom, I need to do some cooking, bit of shopping and housework – oh yeah rock and roll baby!

Just worked out Christmas is 39 days away and to say I’m excited is a bit of an understatement!  I can remember the last time we actually celebrated Christmas, we usually go away and chill out instead, none of the hassle, but because we’re taking kids with us this year, we’re doing Christmas how it’s meant to be done and I’m loving it, walking round the shops looking for ideas, and I’m not talking spending a fortune either.  Poundland has some fabulous stuff in it and Asda has cheap stuff too, we’re off to the German Market next Friday, I’ve never been so that’ll be fun too.

I shall be making some of my gifts this weekend too, well putting them together anyways.

I still want to lose a few pounds before them though, now I’ve got under that stone on the scales, I’d like to take it down a bit further so I can enjoy Christmas without worry, I think my members have realised that this week too, some great results on the scales. 

This week I’m starting Saturday on track and with all my ProPoints logged, I didn’t have the healthiest day yesterday, felt guilty making breakfast as mom was nil by mouth so just grabbed a banana, had toast later and it didn’t really improve much after that.  I will rectify that today, going to make a chicken curry I think, cheese and potato pie and corned beef hash, that’ll last all weekend that will, and might even tempt mom with some of it, she’s got to eat 5 small meals rather than 3 larger ones the doctor advised.  Getting her to eat at all is the challenge at the moment, there’s us all trying to lose weight and she’s dropped a stone in a month!

Right it may only be 5.30am and you’re all still asleep but I’m off to prepare vegetables for my cooking – me odd – not at all!  Having said that we were in bed extremely early last night after our big day.

Have a great day – make it all about taking care of YOU and those you love! As I said at the beginning of this post - people are all that matter - The rest, it's just stuff!

 

 

 

In DA ZONE!

16^th November 2012

The only habits you never conquer are the ones you put off doing something about. Wess Roberts

5am on a Friday – boo, two weeks running I’ve had to get up early on my day off, hey ho on the good side moms got a hospital appointment today they’ve bought it forward from next week so hopefully they’ll try and find out why she’s losing so much weight and suffering from anaemia.

Well to say I whooped at the scales yesterday would be an understatement, I weighed in at 10st 13lb for the first time since September 2011!  Just a little chuffed and goes to show what a few wine free nights can do, it’s all in preparation for Christmas and my week away so that I can overindulge without thinking about it.

Great week in the meetings, over 350lb weight loss, it was obvious we’d all realised it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and need to do something in anticipation!  I was proud of Becky who reached her goal last night too, it’s been lovely to be a part off her journey, she’s gone from a size 18 to 8 in sixteen months losing 4 ½ stone and also has gone from not being able to run 13 yards to running half marathons – amazing results!  Just shows if you put your mind to it anything is possible.

I’ve still got my ogre gagged and my screensaver on my phone and I am in the ZONE!  Haven’t had a glass of wine since Sunday and finished yesterday on 26, earning 6 activity ProPoints on my pedometer, I haven’t finished a day on 26 for a very long time, I always go over, I think I’d got it into my head that I couldn’t possibly be satisfied on 26!  But I was, I had a ready meal ‘Chicken Forestiere’ from Waitrose (part of a meal deal), with rice and steamed veg for lunch and beef stew with a dumpling (made by Diane on of my wonderful members) for my tea.  Both were delicious and proved to me that I can do it if I put my mind to it.

I’m going to make sure I have something substantial for breakfast this morning so that I’m not tempted by the rubbish that’s served at the hospital, although mom’s nil by mouth so I better make it something that won’t make her mouth water as that wouldn’t be fair!  She’s not looking forward to today, camera down her throat, so they are going to have to sedate her for sure!

It’s been great talking about the Filling & Healthy foods this week and the option of the Filling & Healthy days, I think a few of you may give it a go that haven’t before, and I’ll be interested to see the results.

Here are a couple of very simple F&H recipes that won’t got you any ProPoints on a F&H day;

Chicken sofrito - serves 2 (4pp each) 2 cloves garlic crushed. 400g can chopped tomatoes, 28g (1oz) lean cooked ham (1pp), cut into strips. ¼ level tsp salt. 85g/3oz green pepper, chopped & deseeded. 170ml/6fl oz chicken stock made with chicken Bovril.  85g/3oz chopped onion. 42g/1½oz mushrooms, sliced. 1 level tsp oregano. Pinch paprika pepper. 255g/9oz chicken breasts (6pp), skinned, boned & cut into ½” strips.

Place all ingredients, except the chicken, in a pan.  Mix well & cook gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the chicken & continue to cook until the chicken is cooked thoroughly & the sauce thickens.  Serve with a selection of no point vegetables.

Cottage loaf - serves 4 (4pp each) Preheat over to 190^oC/375^oF, Gas 5.  Place 450g (1lb) Extra lean minced beef (14pp), seasoning, pinch mixed herbs, 1 egg white, 1 small grated carrot, 1finely chopped  medium tomato & 1 finely chopped medium onion in a mixing bowl & blend well until combined.  Place a strip of foil on a baking sheet & place the mixture onto it.  Shape into a loaf or alternatively use a lined loaf tin.  Bake for 1 hour or until thoroughly cooked.  Serve hot, sliced, with a selection of free vegetables or cold with a salad.

Pork & turkey sausages or burgers - serves 8 (4pp each)

450g lean pork mince (17pp), 450g turkey mince (15pp), 2-3 garlic cloves, ½ level tsp black pepper, 2 level tsp paprika pepper, Pinch ground cloves.

Place all ingredients in a food processor & process until smooth.  Shape into sausages or burgers.  Dry fry slowly, grill or bake in oven at 200^oC, 400^oF, Gas 6 until thoroughly cooked.  Serve with red or green cabbage or a green salad.

Not forgetting the veggies;

Chick Pea curry – serves 1 (7pp)

In low fat cooking spray, fry a cinnamon stock, a bay leaf & a pinch of cumin seeds.  Add half a finely chopped onion and a crushed clove of garlic, half a small can of chopped tomatoes, and 2 teaspoons of curry paste.  Fry for 3 minutes, then add 3 tablespoons of cooked/canned chick peas (3pp), and a small potato (3pp), diced with 50 ml of water.  Simmer for 15 minutes until the potato is cooked.  Add a tablespoon of chopped fresh coriander leaves.  Serve with a small portion of boiled wholegrain rice and a large green side salad.

All easy peasy lemon squeezy as we used to say when we were kids!

On that note I better get off, busy busy busy today, but still going to remain on track.

Have a great day – make it all about taking care of YOU! xx

 

 

 

Oh Right! Really....

15^th November 2012

Envy can be a positive motivator. Let it inspire you to work harder for what you want. Robert Bringle

Oh yes my Ogre has firmly been gagged, I’m not listening to her at all, actually gagging her seems to have given a voice to my positivity pal, she’s got all “yeah come on, we can do this”, if an external ogre said something yesterday to try and knock me off track she’s laughed in their faces and said “I’ll show you!”  Yes relentless, unstoppable Bev has turned her focus on a mission to lose a few pounds for Christmas!  The switch has been clicked and I love it when that happens and I get my mojo back, I love this feeling of determination you can’t beat it.

So what triggered it?  I’m not 100% sure, think it was a combination of things, firstly having a few wine free nights last week made me realise I can do that more often and that drinking wine had just become a habit.  Then I was a bit bored the weekend so I started looking for something to do that reminded me there more to life than eating/drinking!  Then on Tuesday one of my members Leanne posted her before and after photo on facebook and wrote;

“Just thought I’d be a bit vein and share as I am so damn proud of myself. From a size 16/18 the day I started in Feb to a 10/12. Still a little bit more to go.”

And I looked and thought WOW!  This was Leanne at her wedding this year too and I’m sure you’ll agree she looks stunning. 

Anyway just looking at her photos made me think how amazing she looked and I was showing one of my older members the photo last night as we were setting up and I joked how I look more like Leanne’s before photo at the moment but that my mission it to the like her after shot and bless her heart she looked at me with that look (you know the one!) and said, “Oh right” in that voice (you know the one!) Her entire body and voice was instantly interpreted by me as “IN YOUR DREAMS!”   I didn’t take offence, I’m quite thick skinned, it made me laugh but it also made me think of right “watch this space”.  So I’m just like to say thank you to the gorgeous Pauline for giving me that extra little push and this is my new screensaver on my phone so I don’t forget that look on her face and that tone in her voice!

NEVER let anyone tell you what you can or can’t do or who you can or can’t be, not a real person nor your inner ogre – YOU DECIDE YOUR FATE!

Yep I’m feeling more in the zone than I have in a long time, I’d like to thank Leanne for posting that photo, just seeming the confidence in her face and actually because I talk to her on a weekly basis so I know how happy she is and also how she’s enjoyed her journey, Leanne made us all laugh a few weeks ago when we were talking “activity” in the meeting and she told us she’d invested in an exercise bike and on a Friday night she’d sit in front of the tv cycling and drinking a Vodka & Tonic, now that’s how to lose weight ;-)

I’d also like to thank all of my members, they all help to motivate me on a daily basis, there’s nothing quite as fantastic and watching members DO IT, watching them gain confidence, get their smile back and just feel good about themselves.  I’m not saying that a lot of members didn’t already have the confidence and the smile before they lost weight because a large number of them did, but a large number don’t, their weight really does affect how they feel.  For me eating healthily and drinking sensibly affects how I feel not my size, so that’s what I need to remember and focus on.  And my members will continue to remind me, and my screensaver too of course.

Have a great day - it’s all about taking care of YOU! xx

 

 

Warning! Do not feed the Ogres!

14^th November 2012

If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. Roald Dahl

Loving my meetings this week, it’s great to see that light go on in peoples eyes sometimes, I think a few are leaving feeling ready to try something they hadn’t thought about when they walked in!  You can’t beat that, not in my line of work, it’s a wonderful feeling to actually get people thinking and believing they can.

I’m feeling pretty focused this week, not sure if it’s the fact I’ve slept so well or just because I’ve had a mindshift and feel positive and the changes I’ve been making and the progress I having.  It’s helped that the couple of ready made ‘posh’ meals I’ve bought and eaten from Sainsbury’s and Waitrose haven’t really blown me away and have made me realise that my Weight Watcher recipes and my own recipes I’ve invented are tastier to me than those meals I paid quite a price for at the weekend.  Yep I’ve turned into a dab hand in the kitchen if I do say so myself!  Of course I’m not saying everyone would like my food but I do and that’s what’s important. 

I love that when I shop I naturally veer towards good wholesome foods, the majoring of my trolley is made up of Filling and Healthy foods, then the rest balances that out and of course the odd treat thrown in too.  

I’m really paying attention when I eat and realising that certain foods aren’t as amazing as the label we put on them, chips especially are the one food I’ve noticed that about, the addition of salt, pepper, vinegar and ketchup is what makes them taste so good.  I have rekindled my love of Yorkshire pudding and poached eggs, hadn’t had either for a while now they are going on my shopping list regularly.  I would definitely recommend you start actually paying attention eat with more awareness and taste your food, are you eating it because its delicious or because it’s there.  Worse still are you eating it because you think you shouldn’t - because it is on the ‘naughty – shouldn’t really eat because you’re trying to lose weight’ rebellious list!  I know you have such a list even if you don’t realise it, it’s amazing what we find ourselves doing subconsciously then don’t understand why, many a member says to me, “I’ve just eaten everything and anything this week and I don’t know why”, that’s your subconscious ogre whispering to you to eat those foods, trying to convince you that you’ll never lose weight, you’re just not good enough to be slim – you deserve to be fat, so why are you even bothering, don’t you want a chocolate biscuit, wouldn’t you rather have that bag of crisps, or that plate of chips. If you do all that now then you can stop with this silliness, stop believing in yourself, you know you’re just not good enough to have the body you desire.  EAT, EAT, EAT!

Yes that horrible ogre is deep inside you quite painfully informing you that you have NO CHANCE!  Feels quite horrible to read that doesn’t it, did it feel like I was attacking you as you read it, it certainly felt that way as I was typing it!  What was worse was I don’t even know where that came from as it wasn’t the direction I was intending this blog to go.  However I think I’ve just realised that ogre has been trying to talk to me the last few days, I’ve felt really positive and focused, especially having the realisation that I don’t need/want to drink a glass of wine every day, that feels quite a huge decision because normally I’d be making that decision because I felt I should not because I wanted to.  Yet a part of me (my ogres – ugly bitch she is!) keeps whispering “we’ve been here before!  You know you’ll last a few weeks at most being wine free on a week day, then something will happen or your members will forget you said it and you’ll go straight back to pouring that glass, then if someone does mention it in the coming months you’ll laugh it off, because that’s what you always do!”  WOW she really is a nasty, evil, conniving bitch isn’t she, well she can go get stuffed because I’m not listening to her predictions, I’m steering my own ship and making my own way and what happens next is MY decision and she will not influence the outcome! 

I’ve gagged her – I suggest you do the same because sometimes to succeed, you need to get out of your own way, and in most cases, it’s the subconscious mind that gets in your way.” Yes the subconscious mind. It’s what drives our behaviour and in some cases, weight loss failure can stem from a fear of success that you’re not even aware of. For those who come up with every excuse under the sun as to why you can’t or won’t exercise, it’s the subconscious mind that’s stopping you. It’s what’s steering your ship! 

Of course there are many issues which contribute to struggles we have with weight loss, many of those struggles are due to our subconscious mind which cause us to give in and eat foods we consciously know are bad for us, and end up feeling guilty, frustrated and angry with ourselves for having given in and thus repeat the cycle.

Well today I’ve decided to STOP that cycle and drown my orgres or maybe I’ll suffocate her!  Who’s with me?

I’d say cheers but I’m not drinking today ;-)

It’s all about taking care of YOU! xx

 

 

 

There's always a way to enjoy good food & lose weight!

13^th November 2012

Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.   St. Augustine

So my attempt to include more Filling & Healthy foods worked a treat, I also made sure I drank more water, so my day looked like this;

Breakfast – mushrooms, tomatoes, yellow pepper, spring onion, fried egg, weight watcher bread. Total 6pp

Lunch – salad leaves, red pepper, Buffalo mozzarella, parma ham Total 15pp

Tea – Leek & Mustard Bake (1/2 of the photo – I only cooked enough for two so I don’t have to have twice) Total 6pp

So these are the F&H foods used by me yesterday were;

Mushrooms, tomatoes, pepper, spring onion, fried egg, weight watcher bread, salad leaves, leeks, skimmed milk, so 9 in total not bad when there was only 8 that weren’t! 

However a facebook friend managed 11 in one meal!  OMG now that’s impressive isn’t it!  She gets even more impressive with her adapting techniques to lower the ProPoints in the recipe, the ingredients were;

Ready to Eat Puy Lentils, Healthy Living Steak Mince, Tomatoes, Ginger, Spring Onions, Red Chilli, Coriander, Fat free greek yoghurt, Wholegrain rice, French beans and frozen peas.

The recipe she cooked was from Jamie Oliver’s new 15 minute recipe book (my copy arrived yesterday) She made Beef Kofta Curry with Fluffy Rice, Beans and Peas on page 66, now if you cook it exactly as it says it works out at 22pp, however if you tweak it here and there, use spray oil instead of tablespoons of olive oil, use healthy living mince not ordinary, nor lean and leave the poppadoms off you can bring it down to a staggering 14pp (this is the sort of thing we’re looking at in this weeks meeting).  That really is amazing, knocking 8pp off a meal is just brilliant and she assures me it still tasted delicious, that 8pp could cover a dessert and a glass of wine – it’s all about spending that ProPoint budget wisely. 

Talking about wine I’ve decided to have wine free days Monday to Wednesday, 3 days a week to give my body a rest, I do only have a glass usually those nights anyway so like I’ve said above it’s about using those ProPoints wisely, if I only have a currency of 231pp total for the week (26pp daily & 49pp weekly) then I can live without the odd glass of wine to enable me to indulge in the odd ball of Buffalo Mozzarella for 10pp – it was lush.  I also realise if I open a particularly delicious bottle on any of those nights, I can be tempted to have another glass which isn’t a great idea on a school night, and so to take that temptation away, I won’t open the bottle!  There are some things we can always find the room for isn’t there and red wine and a blue cheese would be mine!  What’s yours?

Anyway Jemma the clever facebook friend ended her day having eating 24 different Filling and Healthy foods for a total of 28pp – WOW!   And it looked like this;

Breakfast - 2 x crumpets, fat free Greek yoghurt, blueberries, raspberries

Lunch - red peppers, green peppers, cherry tomatoes, courgettes, butternut squash, onions, wholewheat cous cous

 

Dinner - extra lean minced beef, spring onions, puy lentils, coriander, tomatoes, peas, french beans, ginger, red chilli, fat free Greek yoghurt - and would have been wholegrain rice if I had it but had to use basmati

Snacks - 1 banana, 1 satsuma, 1/3 tin of peaches

Looking at that I’ve just realised it could have been 25 if she’d had wholegrain rice, seriously well done, plus the meals looked amazing too.  It looks so attractive that lunch does – makes you want to try couscous if you haven’t already doesn’t it!

This is your challenge for the week, how many F&H foods can you include into your day, your week, how healthy can you make your diet yet still ensure it’s enjoyable?

On that note, I’ll get off, want to check my fridge for ideas, also want to write a shopping list for that Jamie recipe to make at the weekend maybe, nom nom.

Have a truly Filling & Healthy Tuesday.

Remember it’s all about taking care of YOU! xx

Going Green! But not how you expect...

12^th November 2012

A life spent making mistakes is so much better than a life spent doing nothing!

 

I have a fridge full of Filling & Healthy foods ready to make sure I eat some delicious meals this week; I’ve also got a few bits of other niceness too such as cheese.

 

Mindfully eating is really helping me to recognise the foods I really enjoy eating and the ones I just eat because.  Yesterday we had a Sainsbury’s Bistro Taste the Difference Bombay chicken meal for lunch (10pp for half) and I have to say I wasn’t impressed at all.  It looked so good, and as it was part of the meal deal I couldn’t resist but the tastiest thing on the plate was the roasted red pepper the rest was quite bland.

 

That’s the first ready meal I’ve eaten in a while and now I know why!  Today I’m going to make an old recipe that I haven’t had for a long time and it’s delicious.

 

Leek and mustard bake Serves 4 total 25pp – 6pp each

 

700g baby leeks (wash & cut in half lengthways)

50g low fat margarine (5pp)

50g plain flour (5pp)

600ml skimmed milk (6pp)

100g low fat soft cheese with garlic & herbs (4pp)

1 tbsp wholegrain Dijon mustard (1pp)

50g low fat cheddar cheese (4pp)

salt & pepper

 

·         Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5 / 190^oC.  Steam leeks for 5-10 minutes or until softened.

·         Meanwhile, melt margarine in a non stick saucepan and stir in the flour to make a ball.  Remove the pan from the heat, add the milk and whisk until the roux ball is completely broken up into the milk.

·         Return to a low heat and whisk until the sauce thickens. Add soft cheese and mustard, season to taste.

·         Place the steamed leeks in the base of an ovenproof dish.  Pour over the sauce and sprinkle with the cheese, then bake for 15 minutes until bubbling and golden.

 

 

The recipe also fits in with “Meat Free Monday, which I’m happy to do as the more I eat vegetables and actually taste them, the more I realise how delicious they can be.  Plus eating more vegetables is not only great for your health but also good for the planet too! UN’s top climate scientist Rajendra Pachauri states that “People should consider eating less meat as a way of combating global warming. UN figures suggest that meat production puts more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than transport.”

 

So there you go, now you know why not join in and give it a go.  It doesn’t have to be a Monday of course but try to fit in a couple of none meat meals throughout your week. 

 

My challenge this week is to get as much of my daily intake to be Filling and Healthy foods as possible for exactly that reason, I want to be full because my portion sizes are getting a little larger and they need bringing back to realistic size and who wouldn’t want to be healthy.

 

So this week, let’s turn our trackers green!  Not sure what is on the Filling and Healthy list (ask for a booklet in your meeting) or Monthly Pass members can access a list on esource http://www.weightwatchers.co.uk/plan/int/planguide_05.aspx and of course if you have the app when you search for foods it highlights the Filling and Healthy in green.  There’s quite a big list to try!

 

On that note I’m going to look myself, enjoy your day. x

Sweet F.A. Sunday!

11^th November 2012

How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterward. Spanish Proverb

Sweet F.A. Sunday!

That’s what today’s all about, I was walking round Sainsbury’s doing my shopping in a bit of a daydream because I was so tired yesterday when I heard a lady say, “tonight I’ll be doing sweet F.A.”, and I looked at her and replied “Me too”, although she wasn’t talking to me, she looked back smiled and said, “you know what it means too don’t ya”, I nodded and went on my way. 

So Sweet F.A. has always meant Sweet Fanny Adams in our house, which mean doing nothing basically, or nothing of any use!  So this morning I’ve just googled it to find out it’s origin and oh my it’s not nice!  If you want to know http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Adams go read for yourself!

Anyway I’m still doing nothing much today, it’s been a very busy week so today’s all about relaxing, so that’s what I suggest everyone finds some time to do today, you don’t have to do it all day unless you want to of course, but find yourself some you time.  Listening to that lady continue her conversation in Sainsbury’s made me realise we all have lots of similarities in our life.  We’re all busy and rushed and when we do get time to stop, we often feel lazy because there’s still so much to do!  I’m not going to even think about all the things that could be done today, I’m going to use the time to relax my mind, body and soul and also to spend some time with the single most important person in my world – my mom.  We shall watch last nights rubbish factor, just so we can slate it for the whole time, then we’ll watch something else, she shall read the newspaper highlights  to me even though I’m not remotely interested in what’s going on in the world!  Then an hour or so later she’ll read them to me again, and so the day will continue!  It drives me mad when the papers get hold of a story such as the Jimmy Saville thing and it’s in everyday for a week or more because I hear that story 4 or 5 times a day for however long it stays in the paper!  I don’t let on to mom she’s told me, I just listen and look aghast again ;-)

I’m considering a nice long bath with a book for an hour too, that’s always a good move on a Sunday, and I will go for a long walk with Alfie before settling into my Stagnant Sunday.

I’m going to keep it short today, because Alfie has just come and reminded me not only did we sleep 12 hours last night but I’ve been messing on pc for an hour and he’s ready for his walk.  So we’re off, enjoy your day whatever your plans.   

Remember to stop and remember at 11am today. xx

Technically the glass is always full!

10^th November 2012

A river cuts through rock not because of its power but it's persistances!

 

Tired doesn’t even come close to how I feel this morning, we were at a training day yesterday and I drank so much coffee without thinking about the consequences, it meant come bedtime I couldn’t sleep and now I’ve been up for hours too, so I reckon I’ll be in bed by about 8 tonight at the very latest!  So today I’m not going to be drinking tea or coffee at all, I realised yesterday that I don’t drink anywhere near enough water which is really good for everything so today I plan to carry a bottle around with me all and drink from it regularly.  Therefore purely for selfish reasons I’m making today “Sip It Saturday”, obviously I mean water but even if you decide to make it alcohol, I would like you to sip not swig – let’s drink mindfully as well as eat mindfully.  By carrying a bottle of water round with me I’ll be constantly reminded to have a drink of water, I’m going to put a big bottle of water on my desk too which I’ll move to the side of my armchair in the evening.  I’d gone without my red wine all week then when I had one last night, I surprised myself by only really wanting one – see miracles do happen on a Friday night!

Today’s the day I’ve decided to get my portions back under control, daft as it sounds I believe drinking more water will help with that because a lot of the time we think we’re hungry when we’re actually thirsty.  Having said that I’m well aware that my portion sizes have creeped up purely out of greed, the weather has got colder which has made me want to eat different kinds of foods such as casseroles and it’s much too easy to put a larger portion than necessary on the plate.  So today I will be more aware of the portions that go on my plate, having said that, I’m not actually sure what I’m going to be eating, I today might need to do some meal planning too.  If I plan, then I can include more filling and healthy foods into my day which will make me feel fuller immediately thus making the downsizing of the meals much easier.

I noticed I’ve got a lot of tuna in my cupboard so I might try a tuna pasta bake today, and I will make it in individual pots so they’re portion controlled!  I’m going back to basics today, I feel the need for healthy eating, so I’m going to get out all my programme material and devour it later in front of the tv, I’m out till teatime, I was going to shop today but may leave it till tomorrow when I’ve had time to write a list, plus by the time I get to the supermarket it’ll be late afternoon, I’m tired now can you imagine how I’m going to feel then, super tired and hungry is not a good mix to go shopping on!  Yeah I will make a shopping list first so I’m prepared, plus the only other reason I was going today was because I wanted a cooked chicken and crusty bread and that  has passed now.  That’s the beauty of my to eat list, I write the meals on and then forget about them for ages, I’ve still not had a Chicken Chow Mein which has been on the list for two months so I obviously don’t want on that much, nor the faggots I bought a fortnight ago and are still in the freezer. 

We had lunch at the training yesterday which I have to say was pretty tasteless and bland except for the salad and cooked meat, so even though the weather is cold I think I realised I still like eating salad regardless of the temperature outside.  If I’ve got my central heating on, it makes no difference really does it.

I think I’ve also got seeded bread out of my system, I had a slice of toast yesterday morning and realised I’d wished it had just been proper bread, so I’ll be buying wholemeal this week I think or possibly granary.  Don’t I think about food a lot ;-)  What can I say I enjoy it, I love eating it, cooking it, buying it and there’s no cost financially or physically in the thinking of it so I likes that a lot.

Right I’m off to have a mug of hot water – I actually do like it, and if you haven’t tried it do so before you judge, obviously let it cool a little before you drink.  Ooo I might buy some fresh mint and have mint tea too mmm

Don’t forget, grab a bottle of water and sip all day. x

It's Friday - guess what I want you to do today?

9^th November 2012

Some friends listen and hear you, even when you're not talking. Try to listen to yourself and others, be the good friend you wished you had more of.  Beverley Longsden

Me half asleep – not at all ;-) I rarely sleep to my 5am alarm but then I rarely have to have it set on a Friday but when it went off this morning it startled me, add that to I had pins and needles in my arm and this is what happened next – I dropped the alarm clock on the floor, picked it up and thought I’d broken it because it was saying 20:5 and when I was flicking the off switch it was still buzzing!  Took me a good minute to realise I had the clock upside down and was flicking the wrong switch!

So I’ve got my mug of tea now and I’m more awake, and about to get ready for a long busy day.

Well I spent a bit of time thinking yesterday about what I could suggest we make Friday, I came up with a few ideas, but none that really grabbed me, then last night I received an email from a beautiful lady who’s had a tough few months and she gave me the suggestion, 'Friends Friday' because you really do appreciate what they mean to you and without your friends support whether it be encouraging you to stay on the straight and narrow ( by avoiding chocolate or wine!) or making wise choices, or just being there when things are not going as well as you hoped. Where would you be without them? (Those are her words)

And isn’t she right, where would we be without our friends, I always say Weight Watchers works because of the group support and it’s true.  Life works because of the people support!  My friends mean the word to me and I’d do anything for them, unfortunately I don’t get to see them everyday because of the distance between our homes and also because we’re all very busy people and that’s why I love technology, when I broke my phone a couple of weeks ago – it wasn’t the £200 to fix it that bothered me, it was the fact I couldn’t natter with my mate on it!   I love how when, like yesterday, I’m ranting about something that’s really unimportant and ridiculous (and whilst I’m doing it I even know it’s pathetic) that my bestie rants away with me by text even though I know she’s thinking “get a grip you daft mare” ;-)

Yes today can be ‘Friends Friday’, which we’ll interpret as doing anything friend based – that’s really vague, but suggestions could include having some fun with one of them, calling one up and having a good natter if you haven’t for a while, just telling them how important they are to you – just do something that reminds you how special and precious your friends are to you.  Oh and if my friends reading this, do not help me stay on the straight and narrow by keeping me off the wine or we may become unfriends ;-!

One of the most important friends you’ll ever have after your mother and your bestie is yourself, so maybe that could be the friend you make Friday about, go take care of you for a change.  I’m going to start my day like that, I have such a busy day but I’m going to start it with a 20 minute bubble bath to get me clean and ready, I can’t rush until 6.30 today, need this slowish start to prepare me!

So here’s to ‘Friend Friday’, feel and share the love today.

Thank you my FRIENDS. Xx