losing pounds & eating fab food - I love it

11^th January 2012

Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can. Richard Bach

Well I’m loving the weight losses in the meetings this week – 330lb lost yesterday and one to Goal, well done Nicola with a weight loss of 50lb and looking fabulous I have to say.  Also Gemma achieved her 10% yesterday which is also fabulous because she’d been out for the works Christmas meal this week and surprised people that she no longer wants to overeat because she actually finds she gets full these days!  That’s the greatest achievement of all, even better than weight loss in my opinion, teaching your body that it doesn’t need all this food, and of course convincing your mind it doesn’t need it either.

One of my ladies was asked if she was having an affair yesterday morning because she’d put make up on when she hasn’t been doing lately.  Her reply was “no I’m not, I know I’m overweight and now I know I’m doing something about it I already feel better in myself so this morning I made an effort”.   When she told me it made me smile because I realised I actually blow-dried my hair for the first time in a long time Monday night, I still ended up tying it up for convenience but I didn’t just let it drip dry like normal, so maybe making the effort goes hand-in-hand with taking care of ourselves from a health point of view.

Today I shall be cooking the one pan fry up from the new Complete Kitchen cook book – why?  Because a member text me a photo after she’d cooked it to show me how scrumptious it was and now I want it, plus its only 5pp or zero on a F&H day – nice. I also fancy the stilton stuffed mushrooms in filo in the same book for exactly the same reason, different member text that photo.  I’m loving all this new found passion from my members as they get in the kitchen and cook up a storm.  Looking lush, take a look on our facebook page 

I think it’s good to remember that cooking doesn’t have to take a long time or cost a fortune either, that one pan fry up takes 20minutes in total, as do the filo parcels.  I spent two hours in the kitchen Sunday, singing along to my favourite tunes whilst cooking enough food to fill my freezer.  The chicken I used was £2 a pack and made a casserole for four, not bad at all.

Now I’ve been looking for a recipe for teatime to use up the remaining mushrooms, here are a couple of quick easy suggestions;

Creamy mushroom risotto – serves 2 – 6pts each

Weight Watcher oil spray (1pp)

100g risotto rice (9pp)                   

300ml hot vegetable stock

175g chopped mushrooms                         

1 clove garlic, crushed

60g low fat soft cheese (2pp)     freshly ground pepper

A handful of roughly chopped fresh parsley

Spray saucepan once with oil spray, add the rice and gently fry over medium heat for 2 minutes or until lightly golden.  Gradually add stock and 150ml of hot water, and then bring to the boil.  Simmer for 20m or until tender and all the liquid is absorbed.  Add a little more water if required during cooking.  Spray frying pan with oil spray and add the mushrooms and garlic.  Fry for 4-5m, until starting to brown.

Stir the soft cheese into the cooked rice.  If the mixture is too thick add a little skimmed milk.  Remove the rice from the heat and stir in the mushrooms, parsley and black pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

Mushroom sloppy Joes   4pp per serving

350g large button mushrooms, quartered

2 garlic cloves, crushed

low fat cooking spray (1pp)

150ml vegetable stock

can of Batchelors Low Fat condensed mushrooms soup (4pp)

2 tbsp half fat crème fraiche

4 medium slices of wholemeal bread (8pp)

salt & freshly ground black pepper

1tbsp chopped fresh parsley, to garnish.

Place mushrooms and garlic in a pan, spray with low fat cooking spray and cook them gently for 5 minutes.  Add stock and seasoning, and cook over a high heat for 5 minutes.  Stir in the soup and heat through.  Add the crème fraiche and stir well.  Remove from the heat toast the bread.  Top the four slices of toast with mixture.  Scatter over the parsley and serve.

Is it wrong that I could eat either of those now – it’s 5.15am!

Okay so whatever you end up eating today, enjoy it – I will!

Getting into the flow now...

10^th January

Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks. Charles Dickens

I had a great day yesterday, in addition to going to work, I walked Alfie for 50minutes on the morning, then I went over Cannock Chase for a 45 minute run – the two of which earned me 10pp, now I’m only 5pp behind my weekly quota.  I also stayed within my daily allowance, ended on 27pp so I’m happy.  I even got through lots of paperwork and ironed for an hour, in danger of being a domestic goddess – NOT!  Plus it was great to have a dinner ready just to warm up. 

Breakfast yesterday turned out to be two bananas, I genuinely wasn’t hungry so I wasn’t going to force myself to eat, and I’ll have something more substantial today because I have a longer day.  I did fb post the question on Bev’s WW wall - What you a having for breakfast?  And got a few replies, if like me your struggling for ideas.

·          Special K and skimmed milk, quick and simple just before work :)
·          Oats so simple made with water 4 pp with a banana & some blurberries stirred in
·          Weight control banana bread oatmeal :D
·          Chz and ham toastie ( 2 light babybell 2 wafer thin ham 2 bread in the George forman yum!) 8pp :)
·          Porridge, keeps me going all morning!xx
·          I know it's wrong but I don't do breakfast makes me feel sick if I eat early .... Just a coffee for me ;)
·          Just having a banana before school run then porridge when I get back .
·          Can't decide, its either going to be 2 weetabix or a strawberry n banana smoothie.
·          I'm having 2 poached eggs & 2 nimble toast with low fat spread for 9pp but not having it till about 9.30-10 as cant eat too early.
·          Tomato's, mushrooms on toast.
·          I was having tomato's on toast for 4pp until I saw this post. I'm now having a ham and cheese toastie for 8pp:/ 2x Ww thick brown bread 4pp, 30g cheese 3pp and a slice oh ham 1pp yumyum xx
·          Porridge for me this morning - Hungry
·          Breakfast is a no no for me, best I can do is a big glass of water n a banana...sumats better than nothin!!!
·          I’ve just had the One Pan Fry Up from the new complete cook book. OMG it was delish. Hubby licked the plate clean so must have been gud!!
·          pizza

I’m hoping that pizza was within your ProPoints Miss Katy :)  I thought the replies just go to show how flexible the ProPoints plan is, and I have to agree that ‘One Pan Fry Up’ from the new complete cookbook did look amazing, she sent me a photo and made me hungry!  If you need more breakfast suggestions or ideas for anything, check out the easy starts (second one in meeting this week) and also all your programme materials as well as Weight Watchers online esource.

It’s now a week since I got back on track 100% and I’m finally settling into a routine, and as much as I always struggle to admit it, feeling better for it.  The running is most certainly helping me, being active gives me a buzz, although if you’d seen me red faced, swearing and sweating on the chase yesterday you’d find that hard to believe, damn it was hard work and after about 4 minutes, I saw an incline in front of me so started walking up it thinking to myself ‘if this doesn’t get easier, I’m going back to the car’.  It didn’t get much easier but the path did even out and I managed to run again.  I love the solitude, I love the fact I don’t have an obvious route and have to navigate my way through the woods.  I’ve finally found a sport I truly enjoy for various reasons, one of which is I don’t need specialist kit and the only thing that can break is me.  I used to constantly worry about getting a puncture in my bike when I rode a lot and I couldn’t fix a puncture for the life of me.   I’d recommend if you want to get active, you find something that you enjoy otherwise you’re never going to stick to it.  I also enjoy my daily walk with Alfie because again its so quiet and I get time to think, it’s not so exhausting either.

Today’s a very busy one, but I have leftover chicken and bacon casserole (too good to share!) for lunch so I don’t have to worry about cooking, and I’m not running either, need to rest my legs after 3 days straight so they can repair.

Remember;

Don't let the numbers rule your life, enjoy losing weight to feel great, never forget you're already gorgeous xx

The tastiest thing I've eaten this year...

9^th January 2012

A will finds a way. Orison Swett Marden

Monday morning, let’s do it all again ;) I’ve had a lovely weekend, and yesterday my cooking session was a huge success, I made three of the dishes, the blue cheese broccoli bake which I’ve frozen, the Italian chicken Braise which seem to take forever to cook but it’ll be eaten and the Chicken and Bacon Casserole which was to die for, I found it very difficult to resist and found a way that makes brown rice enjoyable!  Seriously delicious recipe and will most certainly be cooking it again in the near future, the only thing I didn’t put in was the parsley because I didn’t have any and I also cooked it slowly in the oven rather than on the hob.   The recipe is from the ‘poultry recipe cards’ in the meeting £2.50 a pack and the blue cheese broccoli bake recipe is from the ‘vegetable recipe cards’. 

So that’s my fridge and freezer full and no excuses for the rest of the week.  I was attacked by the last few Quality Streets last night which has taken me over my weekly and activity allowance for the week so now means I need to earn 15pp somehow between now and the end of Thursday and still rigidly to my daily allowance.  Damn that tin, I’m not even a fan of chocolate; it was the toffees that got me!

I did manage another 30 minute run yesterday though which I found tough but enjoyed, plus the fact it earns me 5pp motivates me to keep going!  I hope to go today too, then I won’t get chance for a few days. 

Here’s another recipe from my recipe box that you might enjoy and it’ll use up some of that leftover cheese you may have.

Tuna lasagne serves 4 (27pp total) – 7pp each

100g cheese (11pp)

Can of Batchelors condensed low fat mushroom soup (4pp)
1tbsp wholegrain mustard (stir into soup)
4½ sheets Sainsbury’s fresh egg lasagne (9pp) (prepare as instructions by soaking in boiling water for 5mins)
200g frozen spinach (cook in microwave for approx 3mins to soften)
Tin tuna (Princes 130g drained weight) (3pp)
Tin chopped tomatoes

Put ½ can tomatoes in lasagne dish top with 1½ slices of lasagne, add spinach & tuna then another 1½ slices of lasagne, add remaining ½ can tomatoes then top with last 1½ slices of lasagne, pour over soup and top with cheese.  Bake on gas mark 6 until cooked.

Add any veggies you have, e.g. mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, spring onions etc. 

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So I’ve got the dinners sorted for the week, I need to think about breakfast, I’m not a huge fan of breakfast cereal and I don’t feel I get enough toast for the ProPoints it costs me, so I need to think what I’m going to have, I suppose I could add a few pieces of fruit to that toast, or maybe make something with eggs.  Whatever it is needs to be quick.  Maybe I’ll ask you all what you’re eating for breakfast.

Ok then let’s get this show on the road, lots to do.  My goal today is to get to the end of it within my daily allowance – what’s yours?  I know I’ll achieve my goal, will you?

nom, nom, nom, nom....

8^th January 2012

Tomorrow hopes that we have learned something from yesterday. John Wayne

(& so are you!)

I love Sundays don’t you?  And I love them even more when I’ve either got nothing at all to do or when the things I have planned are things I really want to do and today’s on of those Sundays.  I enjoyed yesterday too, me and Alfie walked 2½ miles then went straight out and ran for 30 minutes, so I started my day feeling good.  I cleared my desk off, cooked a batch of grey peas and gammon bits and I went shopping for lots of ingredients to do some cooking and fill my freezer.   

For my tea I had an ‘innocent Indian daal veg pot’ which was very tasty and 8pp but seeing how easy it is to make my own curry (recipe below) I don’t think I’d buy one again unless I was in a hurry.

Rachel posted on our fb page last night a photo of some frozen steamed rice from Farm Foods that she couldn’t believe was as low as the nutritional info worked it out at, and we deducted in the end that it was a misprint because however you looked at it a 270g bag on rice and veg couldn’t work out to 3pp when 100g cooked rice is 4pp.  A misprint on the packaging I think, so always remember if something looks to good to be true, it usually is.  Well spotted though Rachel.

So back to my cooking session, these are my choices and I can cook them all over the next few weeks, if not today. 

Blue cheese and broccoli pasta bake (recipe folder)
chick pea & courgette kofte (page 172 – the complete cookbook)
chicken and bacon casserole (recipe folder)
Chicken tagine with apricots an almonds (recipe folder)
Italian chicken braise (page 216 – the complete cookbook)
Chicken breasts stuffed olive and cheese (page 146 – the complete cookbook)

Now I’ve been after a recipe for a good chicken curry for a while from two of my helpers on a Wednesday night and Harjit has finally sent it me, so here it is if you fancy having a go at making a good home made curry.  I’m assuming the amount of garlic and ginger used will be left to you to decide!  I’ve worked it out that at most that recipe is only 16pp! 

Recipe for Chicken Curry

2-3 teaspoons Olive Oil (3-4pp)
4 Onions
Garlic
Ginger
1-2 (3-4 if you like it spicy) Green Chilli
2 teaspoons Jeera (Cumin Seeds)
1-2 teaspoons Haldi (Tumeric)
½ large can Tomatoes (Blended)
1-2 teaspoons Salt
1 teaspoon Garam Masala
500g chicken breast (12pp)
Fresh Coriander (Optional)

Method:
1. Heat oil in saucepan and add chopped onions & salt.
2. After 5-10 mins add garlic, ginger, chilli & jeera (cumin seeds)
3. Cook for around 20 mins if onions start sticking to the pan add water.
4. Once onions are browned and softened add 1-2 teaspoons of haldi (Tumeric), cook for around 10 mins until the colouring separates from the onions.
5. Once the above has cooked add half a tin of tomatoes and cook for around 5-10 mins.
6. When tomatoes have blended in with the onions add chicken, cook chicken for about 10 mins and then add boiled water and simmer until water has thickened and chicken is tender.
7. Once chicken has cooked add garam masala and stir and garnish with fresh coriander.
8. Serve with (add the extra ProPoints of course) basmati rice (60g dried = 6pp)  & chappati's (average size 55g - made with fat 6pp, without fat 3pp) or naan breads (vary in pp) & natural yogurt.

The base is the same for every curry so you can add vegetables if required.

Serves around 6-7.

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I will lose some weight, and enjoy my food at the same time. Will you?

What's that I smell cooking in the kitchen...

7^th January 2012

Perfection has one grave defect; it is apt to be dull. Somerset Maugham

Start your day healthy like I just have, go and drink a pint of water.  Go on – now!  I had a good day yesterday, instead of our usual going out for lunch, I cooked the chicken and bacon lasagne which was as delicious as always and I even made Lynne and my mom a dessert they had Pineapple princess pudding for 5pp, the recipe is on Weight Watchers esource (free to monthly pass holders).  It was surprising good apparently, so they told me anyway, plus the ate it so it couldn’t have been that bad.

I also cooked a lamb hot pot last night for today’s dinner for 8pp each; I used a packet mix for quickness and a lovely member gave me the lamb so that was a result, nice cheap meal for me today. 

I’m going to have a very productive weekend, I’ve already got my recipes books on my desk ready to plan my week and cook up some dishes.  I’ve got some work to do but mostly I’m going to enjoy my first weekend back in my own house since before Christmas and there really is no place like home.

My new tracker week started yesterday, my aim is to make it to the end of the week within my allowance and to get a weight loss. So I need to get organised and focused.  Hence the reason for spending the weekend in the kitchen, it’ll be worth it and I have to admit I really enjoyed cooking yesterday, haven’t made a meal from a recipe in so long and I love it.  So I will definitely be making more time for that in future.

Here’s one of my old favourite recipes for you to try if you haven’t before (it isn’t hot it’s flavoursome) or for you to have again, delicious with chips or stuffed in pitta breads or maybe a nann bread, whatever floats your boat.

Keema Concoction serves 4 at 5pp each

2 sprays of ww oil spray (2pp)                               

350g pack of quorn mince (9pp)
1 bunch spring onion(s), chopped                       
250g chopped mushrooms
1 yellow pepper, chopped                                      
125 g cooked frozen peas (3pp)
3 cloves garlic                                                           
1 piece ginger, 2cm, fresh and grated
2 tbsp curry powder (2pp)                                       
1/2 tsp cinnamon                                                     
300ml vegetable stock using 1 oxo cube
2 tbsp chutney, mango (4pp)
                                                                                    
Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying-pan and add the mince, add the garlic, ginger and onion and stir, then add mushrooms, and peas stirring well. Continue frying gently for approx 5 mins. Stir in the curry powder and cook for a further minute, then mix in the cinnamon.  Add the stock or water & chutney. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 5- 10 minutes until cooked.   Serve with oven chips.

Well it’s the weekend, go out and enjoy it.  But remember to stay on track!  I will ;-)

slip up & indulge all the way to goal

6^th January 2012

We expect more of ourselves than we have any right to. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

I’m liking this mornings quote above because it’s reminded me how you all have such high expectations of yourself but not others, especially where weight loss is concerned!  Going from overindulging all over Christmas to a much stricter regime isn’t easy and if you manage to stick to it 100% for the first week then well done, if you don’t then welcome to the reality of being human.  It isn’t easy to suddenly resist everything, and it isn’t the end of the world if you don’t manage to.  How many times have you been offered a biscuit or a crisp from someone’s packet and gone to have one, absolutely forgetting you’ve gone back to Weight Watchers.  It’s so easily done.  So just a reminder to take it one step at a time, don’t beat yourself up and enjoy the journey, we’ll get there, it’s not a race and when you achieve your goal you can tell everyone and anyone who’ll listen to you that you did it and still manage to slip up and over indulge once in a while.

A huge congratulations to Iris last night for achieving her 50lb weight loss, losing over Christmas and still managing to have a fabulous time is brilliant and proves that ProPoints works.

I’ve given you another of my favourite recipes below which I’ve worked out in ProPoints and if you’re on F&H how many you’ll have to use out of your weekly allowance.  On F&H it might be worth experimenting to see if the low fat soft cheese could be swapped with low fat fromage frais or virtually fat free plan quark – who know’s it might work!

Chicken Fricassee Serves 2, 9pp each or 1pp each on F&H

100g brown rice (10pp)

Low fat cooking spray

2 x 125g skinless boneless chicken breasts (6pp)

300ml chicken stock (use 1½ chicken oxo cubes) (1pp)

110g carrots, peeled and cut into thick chunks.

150g button mushrooms, sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

75g low fat soft cheese (2pp)

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the rice according to the packet instructions.  Drain well and leave to cool.  Meanwhile, lightly coat a deep, lidded, non-stick frying pan with low fat cooking spray and heat until hot.  Add the chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes until browned all over.  Add the stock and carrots.  Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes until tender.  Meanwhile, lightly coat another small non-stick frying pan with low fat cooking spray.  Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes until the juices have been released and evaporated.  Add the garlic and rice and cook for a further minute, until hot.  Divide between two plates.  Remove the chicken and carrots with a slotted spoon, reserving the stock.  Place the chicken and carrots on top of the rice.  Keep warm.  Return the pan with the stock to the hob.  Boil quickly for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat.  Stir in the soft cheese.  Pour the sauce over the chicken. 

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Giving you a recipe every day is helping me plan my meals over the next few weeks - that’s my mission this weekend to spend some time planning my meals and doing a bit of cooking to fill the freezer.  As we said in the meeting this week, sorting your surroundings is a great first step to success so hopefully you’ll all be doing that with me too.  I was impressed yesterday when I asked a group of my members if they had time to sorting their surroundings this week and one lady replied, “We’ll make time” and everyone agreed ;0).  Now that’s why I like to hear, putting yourself first because you are after all the most important person in your world.

Well I better get a wriggle on, I had a lie in till just before 7am and now have lots to do before I can go play with my mate and she’s the impatient type! 

Have a fabulous Friday folks - I will.

How can Weetabix not be F&H - they're horrid!

5^th January 2012

Triumph is “umph” added to Try!

Well I finally have my house back and as much as I love my brother and his wife, I’m so glad, yesterday was a tough day, trying to do 3 meetings, paperwork and having my brother in my ears asking me about facebook and how to do things!  Trying to do so many things, being tired from not being able to sleep in your own bed and not being organised is not good for staying on track.  I made some not so wise food choices yesterday just because I was too busy to care, having said that, they could’ve been a lot worse than they were.

Roll on the weekend so I can sit and do some thinking and planning, I’ve decided I’m going to sit and plan a week and see if I can stick to a planner, maybe precook and freeze some stuff.

On a positive note I did manage to nip into Asda on my way to work and buy some fruit and other bits to help me out until the weekend.  They have lots of WW products on offer, and I also bought a block of “I can’t believe it’s not Cheddar” which was on offer for £2 and actually tasted nicer than the book of regular Cheddar I bought, plus it was 9pp per 100g which was 2pp less than the regular Cheddar.

I also decided at lunch time that I would follow F&H for the day until someone pointed out that Weetabix weren’t on the Filling & Healthy list, so if I can get it wrong, anyone can, therefore if you decide to follow F&H, make sure you’ve checked everything on the list, because it only works if you follow it properly.

On a brighter note a wonderful member made my tea, she bought me a portion of that Hash Brown Brunch recipe from yesterday’s blog and I really enjoyed that, delicious.  So I know cooking is the way forward for me to succeed.  I like good food and I know I can cook it, I also know cooking from scratch will give me larger portions.  There’s a tasty looking tagliatelle in this weeks ‘your week’ and the new cook books have lots to try, so again, that’s my weekend sorted.

This is my first dish I plan to cook starting Friday, I’ve got most of the ingredients, I shan’t use fresh lasagne I’ll use the dried stuff, it’s cheaper, I will pop and get Parmesan though.  This is delicious, I’ve made it a few times, and very easy to make.  I use those small round gammon joints that are on offer most of the time so I always have one in my freezer, I can cook double and freeze it for my new cleaned out freezer.

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

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Yay it’s Thursday, almost the weekend and the first week of January goes by in a flash!

Have a tremendous tracking day – I plan to. xx

We all have to learn or relearn!

4^th January 2012

Discipline and concentration are a matter of being interested. Tom Kite

Well I made it through my first day of 26 ProPoints and it wasn’t as difficult as I expected, it helped that I was so busy I didn’t stop much to think about food plus I still haven’t had time to go shopping.  I’ve got as far as typing up my shopping list though, and I’m at least clearing out my freezer of all the meals I made up last year so the weekend when I do a ‘proper’ shop, the freezer and cupboards will be empty and ready for filling full of good healthy foods.  That I think you’ll agree is the ultimate in ‘sorting your surroundings’

What a great first day back at work I had, I was so proud of everyone coming back with a smile on their face and an awful lot of determination in their hearts.  I have a feeling next week’s results at the scales will be a whole lot different to this week.   There were a few weight losses and even more gains, most people had a fabulous Christmas and were happy with their results.  The one thing to remember is whatever damage has been done, it will come off, we’re human and we by our very nature enjoy overindulging, so let’s accept that and move on.

I spent a few hours yesterday teaching my brother and his wife who live in Corfu how to use Facebook – oh my word, hard work was an understatement, but I have to say it was a real reminder of how when you know how to do something already you expect everyone else to know too, unfortunately not everyone learns at the same speed or finds things easy to understand.

This goes for the ProPoints plan too; I can do it standing on my head because I’ve been a Weight Watcher since I was 18, however for some it’s brand new and complicated at first.  It doesn’t have to be – there are so many different tools and booklets to help these days that it’s easy to pick up quickly.

If you’re anything like me you’re already looking forward to the weekend, it’s difficult getting back to normality, even more so when you have family staying (I’m listening to my brother snore very loudly as I type!)  So why not get the ingredients in ready for a delicious brunch, recipe below, it’s only 5pp a portion or if you are doing a Filling & Healthy day it’s zero.

Hash Brown brunch 

Zero on F&H or 5pp per serving

Serves 4, takes 30 minutes

Low fat cooking spray

3 rashers lean back bacon medallions chopped roughly (4pp)
275g cooked green vegetables (such as broccoli, leeks)
400g boiled potatoes mashed (9pp)
1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
4 eggs (7pp)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat a non stick frying pan and spray with low fat cooking spray.  Gently cook the bacon for 5 minutes until crispy. Remove and drain on kitchen paper. Roughly p the green vegetables and put into a large bowl.  Add the mashed potato, mustards and cooked bacon. Season and mix together.

Using wet hands, divide the mixture into four and then shape each quarter into a large patty or burger shape.   Heat the frying pan you cooked the bacon in and spray again with low fat cooking spray. Gently fry the potato cakes for 10 minutes, turn once (do not attempt to turn until after 5 minutes). Once cooked, transfer to a plate and keep warm.

Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil. Add vinegar to help make the perfect eggs. Crack in four eggs and poach for 5 minutes until opaque. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on top of the hash browns. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Still three days till the weekend though, so I better get a wriggle on, I have members to weigh.   

Have a fabulous day. xx

Life is a game that you’ve just gotta PLAY!

3^rd January 2012
I never look back, I look forward. - Steffi Graf

Okay, who’s ready to get on it?  If you haven’t already started back on the healthy track, today’s the day I start and you’re more than welcome to join me!  My fridge is empty all but half a can of Whiskas!  The freezer isn’t much better, so luckily for me that’s a good platform to get started.  There are some biscuits but mom will hide them from me so I’m not tempted and Quality Streets which I will get out of our house today because we don’t need them!

I’m going to for the rest of the week eating good filling and healthy foods, will be doing ProPoints but ensuring everything I eat is a good choice.  Why because I don’t just want to lose weight, I want to be healthy, therefore today’s question to myself will once again be;

“Is This Good For Me?”

I have indulged over Christmas and I reckon I’ll have gained 3 or 4lb when I get on those scales officially but I can honestly say I never once ‘ate for the sake of eating’ apart from yesterday when I had ten Quality Streets just because they were there!  That is a habit I’m working on losing, I want to eat food that I really enjoy and give it the attention it deserves, not just have something because its there and not even realise I’ve eaten it.

I’ve written a shopping list specific to me by going through all my Weight Watcher books for ideas, I know I’m going to be very busy for the rest of the week so I won’t have time to spend ages in the kitchen, so this week is simple healthy food all the way.

I haven’t planned my meals because I never know what I fancy until just before, I have however wrote a list that will make sure I can only make healthy meals.  What’s on my shopping list, just the staples, nothing extravagant.  I’ve chose the vegetables I enjoy eating, such as courgettes, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, spinach, peppers, then I’ve added filling & healthy meats such as chicken breasts, bacon medallions, gammon, beef steak.  I’ve also added Yorkshire puddings because I’ve got a thing for them at the moment and at 1pp each they’re a bargain.  I also like chorizo and cheese to add flavour to my meals.  You’ve probably read those few things and gone mmm or yak, which proves it’s important to write your own shopping list ;-)

I really feel ready to get on track, I’ve had a great sleep, I was shattered after having very little sleep the last few nights and eating pretty rubbish food too, I was in bed at 7.30pm last night, and now I’m raring to go and looking forward to weighing you all.

Your body responds to how you treat it, so if all you put in is junk and you don’t let it rest, it’s not going to work with you very well, you’re going to struggle to function.  If however you feed it good food, give it ample rest and keep it active too, you’ll be amazed at the difference.  My official tracking week starts on Friday, but I can do 26-29pp until then even though I know I’ve used my weeklies and more since last Friday, that doesn’t matter.

If you’ve got some stale bread and cheese leftover you could make this;

Cheese and tomato bread pudding
This is a wonderful way to use up leftover bread and it's a cheap and filling family meal.

Serves 4 | Takes 10 minutes to prepare, 35 minutes to cook

F&H day = uses 3pp of yr 49 weeklies,    PP day = 8pp

low fat cooking spray
400 g can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
100 g (3½oz) mature cheese, grated (11pp)

4 eggs (7pp)
400 ml (14 fl oz) skimmed milk (4pp)
150 g (5½oz) Weight Watchers calorie controlled bread (preferably stale) (9pp)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C/fan oven 160°C. Lightly spray an ovenproof dish with the
cooking spray.  Mix the tomatoes with half of the thyme, then spoon half of the tomatoes into the base of the dish and scatter with about a quarter of the cheese.  In a large bowl, beat the eggs with milk and seasoning. Dip the slices of bread in the eggy mixture, letting them soak in it briefly. Arrange the bread slices on top of the tomatoes and cheese,overlapping slightly.   Spoon on the rest of the tomatoes and scatter with the remaining cheese and thyme. Pour the remaining egg mixture all over the dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil. Bake for a further 15 minutes until the mixture is puffed up and golden brown on top.

I’ll give you a recipe each day this week to help you with the thinking “what can I eat” dilemma!

In the words of Aleshia Dixon – Life is a game that you’ve just gotta PLAY, Always, Always, Always!

-          We’re gonna, Do it, Do it, DO IT OUR WAY!

  

Like wine - lets all improve with age.

2^nd January 2012

To achieve great things you have first to believe it.  Arsene Wenger

Hello, and here’s to a superb 2012, you’ve had a whole day to get used to it, how’s it going so far? 

Mine was full to say the least, drove back from Cornwall which meant loading the car first, that involved 4 or 5 trips from flat to car, up 177 steps each time and a ½ mile path!  So I earned a few activity ProPoints yesterday, although they wouldn’t have touched what I consumed! 

The first thing I did when I got back was got on the scales and I was two pound heavier than when I left for Cornwall, rather pleased with that, although I won’t get my official weigh in till Thursdays meeting, but even if another couple of pounds sneak it, I can live with that. I’ve tracked regardless for the last 3 weeks and I’ve found it’s really made me aware of my choices, I’ve truly enjoyed my food and overindulged so I’m thinking if I just tweak it a little and start making healthier choices I can lose a few pounds now. 

I’m not one for New Year Resolutions but have to admit over the last few days I’ve realised I really enjoy trail running so I’ve set myself a goal for May/June when I go on holiday, there’s a coastal path from Poppit Sands to Newport which is 13ish miles and I’ve walked a couple of times in the past (the very distant past), I want to do it again but I’d like to run as much of it as possible.  I’ve found out an old photo of me to stick in my journal and motivate me.  Whenever I look through photos of myself, it’s always the ones of me when I’m “fit” rather than “thin” that I like, so that’s my motivation, I’m gonna get fit!

And to do that, I’m gonna PLAY this Weight Watchers game, did you see the advert last night, if not you can see it on this website http://www.playweightwatchers.co.uk/.  I loved it, and I’ve downloaded my copy, plus it’s raising money for charity so that can only be a good thing.

Wasn’t sure about the PLAY idea at first but then I realised life’s a game so let’s play to win, on their website, they talk about four fab secrets;

1. Have fun with your food
2. Get moving
3. Join the gang
4. Healthy habits

I’m liking all those ideas, and I look forward to seeing all of you this week.

If you’re struggling to get back on track still because of whatever reason, start by asking yourself the following question every time you go to do something,

“Is This Good For Me?”

Simple enough question and if the answers no, why would you want to make that choice?

It’s a way to simplify your decision, ask yourself if this is genuinely good for you -physically, mentally, and spiritually, today and next week and in 10 years. Listen to your inner strength which will be looking after your true interests, not just your ego cravings - you'll start to get the guidance you're looking for.

I’m lucky 2011 was a fabulous year for me full of friendship, here’s to 2012 being fabulous for all of us.  Like wine - lets all improve with age.

xcx