Aren't we FABULOUS!

10^th October 2013

Surround yourself with people who encourage you to believe in your dreams.

Sleeping like a baby this week and not wanting to get up again this morning, I’m ok once I’m up and moving but that first half hour – not good ;) sat drinking a pint of water to try and wake me up.

I treated myself to a couple of new frying pans yesterday, hopefully they should arrive today or tomorrow, they are the same make as the ones we used Monday which were great and she recommended, plus they’re not overly pricey which is also good of course.   One of the things I realised Monday is we cook and buy way too much food.  The wok we used to make a veggie curry for two was only small in comparison to the wok I bought a few years ago!  Why do I need a huge wok if I only ever feed two people?  Mmm, think about it, why do I buy all that food if there are only ever two of us eating it!  I think we’re all guilty of buying too much food then we realise it’s not going to last too long so we end up eating more.  http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/ is a great website for ideas of using up stuff.

Yesterday I posted on my Facebook group that it appeared a few of them were struggling so I asked them to comment a few of the healthy & happy choices/decisions they made that day that they knew  would ultimately help them on their weight loss journey.  This is something that you could do to help you when you’re struggling, grab a little note pad and every time you make a good choice that’s helping towards your end goal of healthy and happy, write it down so that you realise despite the fact you may not be 100% on track you are making wise food choices and doing things to take care of you.  It can be anything from walking to the supermarket to get your veggies, to having porridge for breakfast, or instead of having a pumpkin latte in Starbucks having a black coffee with a squirt of pumpkin syrup and saving yourself 2 or 3pp.  Maybe you resisted a reduced cake in the supermarket when you were feeling a bit down, or resisted the biscuits/cakes at work.  You might have made a big pan of home made veggie soup to ward of hunger or gone for a walk with the dogs.  All of these things are of benefit; all these things are part of being healthy & happy, Eating Gorgeous and realising you are already BeYouTiful and taking care of you counts.

It’s not about grand gestures remember, it’s about sustainability.

It’s not about playing the system so you can have ‘MORE’ food or make a F&H dessert which won’t cost you any ProPoints on a filling & healthy day even though you know a pudding should be a treat and you’d have to ProPoint it on any other day!  No it’s not about changing how you eat in some weird way to get more in the hope that you’ll still lose!

You shouldn’t make any changes today that you wouldn’t be willing to continue doing forever, if you don’t enjoy it, find it easy(ish) to do then you won’t do it long term.

I love vegetarian food but I know I’m not willing to be a vegetarian because I also love meat, even the promise of a longer life and a slimmer body couldn’t sell vegetarianism to me at this point in my life.  I realised last night that because I’d done that Indian cookery day on Monday, all I’d eaten all week was vegetarian food; I was craving something meaty by last night, so I threw in a few chorizo meatballs with my leftover curry last night J

A cup of caffeine and I’ll be ready to go I think, might go for coffee this morning for a change and I’m feeling a big bowl of porridge too I think, start my day as I mean to go on, taking care of me.

Looking forward to seeing my Thursday gang at Bloxwich, do love my job I do, I’m blessed to have met so many amazing people and lucky to have so many wonderful ladies help me out each week in my meetings so that I can do my job well, my girls are an amazing bunch and we do share some giggles, we really do. X

Right time to get ready for work, hopefully the sun will rise soon!

Have a great day, EatGorgeous & BeYOUtiful. xx

 

 

 

Bring back the lighter nights! I don't want to hibernate...

9^th October 2013

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. Nelson Mandela

 

These dark mornings do not make it easy to get out of bed, then getting out of bed is one thing, waking up and getting your brain working is another altogether!  I’ve just sat staring at the screen for ten minutes thinking, ‘write something then, you’ve got stuff to do!’  I’m still none the wiser about what to write ;-)

 

Food wise, I’ll be living off the delicious stuff I cooked on Monday so I can’t really share my meals with you, I did use a Weight Watcher wrap to mom it all up yesterday instead of a chapatti because I didn’t have time to make them. 

 

Oh I also lost 2lb which was fab, so that gain I had the other week has now all gone!  I’m now on week 5 of my journal and my weight has gone;

 

Week 1 - lost 2lb

Week 2 – gained 4lb

Week 3 – stayed same

Week 4 – lost 2lb

 

You do the math, basically I weigh the same as I did in week 1 – is this a bad thing, only if weight loss is your only goal maybe but as mine is to be healthy and happy, I good with the results.  Writing it in my journal has helped me to find out about my eating habits and routines so that I can tweak them slightly, it’ll be interesting to compare the next four weeks against these.

 

I’ve also noticed that the change in seasons - dark nights / cooler weather has had a huge effect on a lot of my members; they suddenly want to eat more, and eat differently.  It’s important to realise why, because it’s all too easy to think it’s just because you’re a failure at the weight loss thing, when really its your body screaming “eat” let’s stock up ready for winter – just like a squirrel ;)  If you feel like this, being aware of it helps massively, maybe try the ‘filling and healthy’ option or just think a little more about what to have, the minimum daily allowance of 26pp isn’t a great deal if its not spent wisely and you can be hungry!  Try and eat some protein with every meal, it really does help, and don’t forget that protein isn’t just chicken and ham, it also includes fish, beans and pulses, tofu, Quorn, eggs, seeds, nuts and yogurt and cottage cheese.  It’ll keep you fuller for longer, trust me ;)

 

The other thing that gets in the way of weight loss is “stuff” going on, aka life!  I can give you ‘reasons’ why I didn’t lose weight on week 2 & 3 of my journal, but then again I can give you a reason for not losing weight any week, heck I can pre-empt them, however ultimately if I did want to lose weight for Christmas, then I’d have to realise that ‘life’ gets in the way ALWAYS!  You can either accept this and work round it or use it as an excuse to not lose weight; it all comes back to how important it is to you and how much effort your prepared to put in.  As you can tell by the last four weeks, it obviously hasn’t been important enough to me, not like when I lost my 50lb to get to goal back in 2004!

 

I’m hoping my new skills in the kitchen I learnt on Monday will help me get my love of cooking back and I’ll start spending more time in the kitchen, I really love the idea of eating more lentils and chick peas because they are so good for me nutritionally and flavoured correctly they’re delicious.

 

So that’s your challenge for today, to ensure you have some protein with every meal, and your challenge for the week is to include something with lentils or chick peas, I’ve just had a look on Weight Watchers recipe database and there are lots of options, or you could buy a tin of soup or even hummous. 

 

Remember Eat Gorgeous & BeYOUtiful, the two go hand in hand, and once you find the balance, the side effect is weight loss. xx

 

 

 

Anyone for a curry? Home made of course ;)

8^th October 2013

We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.  George Bernard Shaw

 

I cooked this - little bit pleased with myself ;-)

I had the best day yesterday, went to Nottingham to do an Indian vegetarian cooking full day master class and it was brilliant.   I went to www.courses-for-cooks.co.uk which is run by a lady named Sarah and I came away feeling confident that I can now cook a decent Indian meal.  I chose to have a one-to-one day as it was short notice and something I’ve wanted to do for so long, she does however do small groups too.  So what did I learn, well so much I hope I can remember it all, I learnt the use of common Indian ingredients, use of spicing, tasting, balancing and flavour control.  How to use chillies, dry frying seeds, making pastes/masalas and their use in dishes, oh there was so much it was fabulous.  Almost forgot the best bit, there’s no washing up to be done either, getting to spend a day in a kitchen and not having to clear up afterwards – bliss!

 

My fridge is now full of the food I cooked, which was;

·         Sweet Potato & Spinach Curry

·         Spiced Paneer salad

·         Mango chutney

·         Vegetable Subji (mixed vegetable curry)

·         Spicy Potatoes with cucumber Raita (oh my word these are devine!)

·         Tempered Dhal with Spinach & Tomatoes

·         Sambhar (restaurant style lentils)

·         Keralan Cauliflower & Chickpea Curry.

·         Chapati

 

So obviously all this food is delicious, I won’t lie I impressed myself - so why did I choose vegetarian when I’m not one?  Because I think that Indian food can actually make rather boring ingredients like lentils, chick peas and vegetables taste amazing and I was proved right yesterday.  I was also thrilled by how all this food could be enjoyed on the Weight Watchers plan without breaking the ProPoints bank!  Lots of the foods used were filling and healthy and yes we used oil but it was healthy oil and not used excessively at all.

 

The food we cooked in the morning we sampled for lunch, we served it in little Thali dishes on a tray and I was full so quickly, it just shows you don’t need large portions to enjoy food, little bits of lots of things, I’m also not a fan of hot, spicy food so it had all been cooked with lots of flavour and not so much of the heat, just enough.

 

I made Mango chutney which if shop bought is 1pp per tablespoon, the 2 mangoes I used made 650g of chutney which again if shop bought would be 43pp, mine works out as 5pp!  The recipe called for 5 tablespoons of sugar (8pp) however I only used 3 tablespoons to get the flavour I enjoyed.  If put in a sterilized jar unopened it will keep for up to 3months, in the fridge it will keep a few weeks, to be fair I don’t think it will last much longer.

 

 

So here’s the recipe for you to try, so simple to make;

 

Sweet Mango Chutney

 

2 mangoes (peeled, diced)

5 tbsp brown sugar (I used less because the mangos were really ripe and sweet)

3 tbsp white vinegar

2 tsp ginger

1 red chilli (finely chopped)  (or less if you’re a chilli wuss like me, I used very little!)

1/4tsp garam masala

Salt

 

Place everything except the garam masala in a saucepan and simmer for up to an hour before blending as needed and adjusting the sugar/vinegar to your own taste.

 

Just a simple recipe that saves so many ProPoints!

 

We’re talking everything that is spicy in meetings this week, so don’t miss it, I plan to tell you more then…

 

If you like to cook, wish you could cook better, then seriously consider treating yourself, the group classes work out cheaper.  I love to cook but have never been able to do Indian cooking, I now feel so much more confident that I will be able to in future and it isn’t anywhere near as complicated and difficult as I imagined it to be.  Sarah was such a good teacher, very patient and extremely switched on to what I wanted to get from the day to say I’d been quite vague in my short notice request!  I can’t wait to go find me a little shop selling all the ingredients and to get my own curry plant growing too, so I can use the leaves. 

 

I better get a wriggle on now though, busy day - four meetings and an hospital appointment.

 

Have a great day, Eat Gorgeous & BeYOUtiful. Xx

 

 

 

 

 

It's only numbers ;)

7^th October 2013

 “Age is all imagination. Ignore years and they'll ignore you.” - Ella Wheeler-Wilcox

Had a lovely catch up with my girls yesterday, it doesn’t matter how long it is between seeing each other or talking to each other, it always feels like yesterday - it’s so good to see them both so happy too.

It’s been a great weekend all in all, I’m feeling better after my lurgy and the sun shone yesterday too, even had an hour in the garden doing a bit of weeding and sitting in the sun.

Now I often talk about healthy & happy and here is one of my members who is definitely both of those things, she’s always got a smile on her face, you know you’d have fun with her if you were on a night out.  Now when Di joined my meeting, I knew it was going to be a challenge as for 30 years all she’d eaten was, white bread, crisps, pork pie and chips!  Yes I kid you not this lady lived on those 4 foods, she had a food phobia.  I’m happy to report that now she is 2lb from her goal having lost 3 stone, this last two pound has been evading her for weeks because these days she’ll eat anything ;-) Whilst losing her weight, she has learnt to Eat Gorgeous and she does it so well, I’m so proud of how far she has come, when she gets on the scales, if it isn’t a loss, she just says “Oh well it’s only numbers , it’s for life ain’t it!” and I love that, because it shows she’s not looking for a quick solution, she realises that even when she hits her goal weight she will still eat healthy and happy and focus on the Eat Gorgeous.  Notice the smile was there before and after, that’s because she’s a true Happy Owl. Xx

So busy few weeks ahead for me, so I need to get organised, I’m off out for the day today, going to do a cookery day, can’t wait!   Tuesday I’ve got the hospital inbetween meetings, then this Friday I’m at the Civic watching Jim Carr, I’m working for the next Saturday or two, got training the Friday after, then the Friday after that I’ll be stood in the Asda at Bloxwich promoting WW!  Phew, I’ll not be doing a lot of anything else I don’t think.

I did manage to do the ironing yesterday (a good few months of it!) too, as well as take Alfie on two long walks, so I had quite an active day, it’s amazing how much better I felt, one because the sun shone but also because I’d finally shaken the lurgy off, thankfully. 

I think once I’ve used up some of the food in my freezer/fridge and cupboards, I will stock up with plenty of F&H foods so I can do a few F&H days, or at least eat more Filling and healthy foods on my ProPoint days, because I’m getting to bring home the food I cook today, I needed to try and make some space in the freezer, in case I want to freeze it.  I’m really looking forward to today, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a few years and never got round to it, I always talked myself out of it and said I can learn it from a book – something’s you can’t learn just from reading, you need to be shown.  It also ties in nicely with this weeks meeting talk which is all about “Spice up your life” ;) there’s a nice recipes for samosa’s in the Your Week, mm and spiced dhal with spinach and caramelised onions, that sounds good – I know it’s early but I could J  Oh my, spiced lamb naans anyone nom nom, nice recipes. 

Right I better get off, it’s a good 60 mile drive I think, take my audio book with me I think or maybe just listen to Chris Evans on Radio 2 – yeah it’s official, I’m middle aged and I love it ;)

Happy Monday, BeYOUtiful (my phone automatically types Beautiful as BeYOUtiful using predictive text – that made my day when I realised – I’m so easily pleased.  

 

 

Out of sight.....

6^th October 2013

There are so many people out there who will tell you that u can't! What you've got to do is turn around & say "watch me". Healthy & Happy all the way!

Not my usual Saturday yesterday as I worked on the morning, it was great to meet new people though and it looks like I’ll be there for the next one or two Saturdays until the leader has recovered.

Wouldn’t it be much easier to control/lose your weight if there was no one else living in your house?  Yesterday I succumbed to bread and butter, see if mom didn’t live here, there wouldn’t be a block of butter in my kitchen and there definitely wouldn’t be a loaf of seeded bread!  I’m guessing you could come up with similar examples; mom also has quavers, biscuits and chocolate in various cupboards!  When you fancy something nice, knowing they are there doesn’t help at all.

So how do you resist?  Willpower runs out…. motivation gets forgotten…. Mmm

Making sure you’re not hungry helps for sure, it’s not a miracle cure but it most definitely helps, if you haven’t eaten much all day and you come in to see the loaf and the butter on the bread board then resisting it is going to be a toughie as it was for me yesterday, I’d had breakfast but it was 3ish by the time I got home and there it was staring at me, I think it may have even winked!  Then once I’d got the taste for it, it ended up being a meal!

I’m also going to buy a bread bin and a butter dish so at least it’s covered up out of sight; yes I know it’ll still be there but it would be so glaringly obvious, just as mom hides her crisps and biscuits out of my view, I can do the same with the bread and butter.  Having an alternative helps too, I’d run out of my low calories bread and spread so I couldn’t go with the alternative option, which I have to admit isn’t as good as the real deal but it does the job when I’m hungry and just want something fast.

This is where Filling & Healthy can be of benefit, because a slice of low calorie bread is a F&H food and therefore wouldn’t come out of my daily allowance, obviously if I’d had 6 slices, I’d have to think carefully about then following it with a meal as well because that’s sort of defeating the idea of ‘sensible eating’.

Look at the difference between 100g of two types of bread though;

I know I eat with my eyes, so how much I’m eating matters just as much to me as what I’m eating! 

We all know what sensible eating is, we just don’t always do it!  We’re all different in our approach to eating but we also all share common behaviour patterns.  We’re not going to change overnight, but we can change over time, it just takes patience and persistence and a lot of repetition of our new behaviours.

Food wasn’t a focus for me yesterday, I just ate and because I didn’t plan my eating, it was pretty much ‘bread’ based apart from my dinner which was a delicious plate chicken and veggies. 

You don’t have to be greedy to have a weight problem; you just make too many wrong choices and eat the wrong food.

So here’s to a day of making the right choices, plenty of Filling and Healthy foods, even if you are ProPointing them, focus on the healthy & happy.

Have a great day BeYOUtiful. xx

Working at the weekend!

5^th October 2013

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Francis of Assisi

Up early this morning as my plans have changed - I’m working, a leader is recovering from an operation so I’m off to do her 10am meeting, so if you missed your meeting this week for whatever reason, you could come see me at St Matthews Centre. St Matthews Close, Walsall WS1 3DG.  I’ll get to meet new people – love that ;) I was actually thinking yesterday how when fabulous people I have met through Weight Watchers and how I miss seeing some of them every week when they get to goal or stop coming.

It’s great to see so many of my members in their closed Facebook group giving F&H a try, interesting to see their choices, and remember both plans are fantastic, both work and it gives flexibility to your weight loss journey.

Now don’t forget the F&H plan isn’t to be taken advantage of, you should enjoy your meals and stop when you’re satisfied – it isn’t an all you can eat buffet! 

If you think you’d overeat, and then believe in yourself more, give yourself more credit and trust that you can trust your appetite to guide you.  Also you know what a plate full of food should look like so use that as a guide. 

Here’s an idea for something sweet to have on a F&H day;

F&H custard - apparently this works:
1/4pt slimmed milk in a non stick pan . 1tsp sweetener and an egg York added . Bring to boil and simmer until reduced and thickened 

Probably better done in a basin over simmering water then it won't curdle I’m told and also maybe add a drop of vanilla essence.

Would be lovely over some fresh fruit or why not make your own;

Strawberry "Pop" Tarts

·         Tinned strawberries in juice drained then heated gently until mushy,

·         Stir in half a pack of sugar free jelly crystals and cook for another few mins then left to cool.

·         Using Sainsbury Be Good to Yourself wraps, cut in half and folded to triangles. Pop some strawberry mix into the "pocket" then seal the straight edge with some milk and press down.

·         Spray with butter fry light and sprinkle with a little Canderel.

·         Cook for about 15 mins until brown. These are free on F&H and 3 points for 2 triangles on ProPoints.

I haven’t tried them myself but they look good. 

I’m going to keep it short today as I’ve got to get ready, catch you tomorrow.  Everyone's so distracted and busy these days aren’t they, so today;

Live more
Laugh more
& love more

Have a nice day & BeYOUtiful xxxx

  

 

Today I shall mostly be doing diddly squat!

4^th October 2013

Mental time-travel is one of the greatest gifts of the mind. It makes us human, and it makes us special.  Claudia Hammond

So my plans today are – NONE!  Once I’ve done the paperwork I have to do I plan to chill out and give my body chance to recover from this cold someone generously passed onto me last weekend. J

 

Cooked a delicious healthy fish and chips lunch yesterday using a Colmans ‘season & steam’ bag (4pp), I used the mixed herb vegetable one but instead put in two pieces of haddock and a courgette chopped up.  It worked, 5 minutes in the microwave and I served it with Actifry chips and mushy peas all for 14pp or if doing a F&H day it uses 3wpp.  Very tasty, would definitely use those bags again.

I also indulged in a packet of McCoy’s salted crisps for 5pp, they were just what I fancied, I did consider the golden wonder ones for 4pp, but realised the McCoy’s were a larger packet and let’s be honest they’re really crunchy and tasty so were well worth it, plus I bought a single packet so no multi-pack meltdowns could follow!

I’ve got some pork in the fridge so I might try this recipe I found the other week, as the photo they lady posted looked delicious, I think I have everything in the house other than the thyme;

Moorish pork skewers

500 g pork fillet                                                                                                           

1 teaspoon hot or sweet pimentón (paprika)

1 teaspoon ground cumin                                                                                      

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves                                                                       

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

drizzle of olive oil (1tsp per person from daily  allowance)                       

salt & freshly ground black pepper

·         Trim the pork fillet of any excess fat and then cut into 2-cm cubes. Place the meat in a large mixing bowl and add the pimentón, cumin, some black pepper, oregano, thyme and garlic. Mix well, drizzle over the olive oil and leave to marinate for at least an hour, but anything up to 2 days is fine

·         When you are ready to cook, thread the meat on to skewers (if you are using wooden skewers it’s a good idea to soak them in water for 30 minutes to stop them burning). They under a hot grill or in a griddle pan over a very high heat. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side – you want them to be cooked through but still juicy on the inside. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

 

Of course that may not happen at all, it depends how I feel once everything is done ;) I’m committing to nothing until I stop coughing!

I have threatened to iron this weekend, I haven’t done that in a very long time, but the weathers changing and I need some of my tops, so it’s gonna have to be done at some point!

Raining out there too, I’m glad, I feel better about dossing about  all day when the weather is rubbish J

Have a great day, EatGorgeous & of course you’re already BEyouTIFUL xx

 

 

Up early, thanks Alfie....

3^rd October 2013

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. Mark Twain

Damn dog woke me up at 4.30am to go up garden, stole half hour of sleep from me, no point going back to bed when your alarm is set for 5am!

I know it’s my job and all but yesterday I did even more talking about weight loss than I normally would with people who weren’t in my meetings, I do love how everyone has a different outlook on it and opinion of how to solve our weight loss plans. 

Someone once said to me “It’s not rocket science you just don’t put it on your mouth”, I was really struggling with my weight at the time; I was really struggling with life, never mind my weight!  Of course at that time, that person was in a great place; they’d lost lots of weight and they were also fully immersed in everything active.  I recently bumped into that person and they had regained all their weight and more!  I personally believe weight loss is far more complex than rocket science actually, they’ve successfully mastered rockets, they haven’t solved the weight loss problem for all yet!   I don’t know anyone who has totally 100% mastered it, they may have it sussed at any one time but I believe we’re only one meal away from our old habits and behaviours, it’s a constant journey of learning and growth, and different times in our life require different approaches.  The lesson is don’t ever think you’ve got it ‘sussed’, don’t get cocky or superior over another because you don’t know what’s round the corner, I’ve lost and gained my weight so many times and everyone time I lost it, I thought ‘this is it, I’ve got this shit sorted!” I wish ;-)

So my approach these days as you no is all about the healthy and happy, I don’t go in for drastic, I don’t believe in trying to change your eating habits so much that you no longer identify with them, I don’t believe in putting food on your plate that truly deep inside you’re not keen on just because you hope it will help you lose weight, I don’t believe in 3 square meals a day for everyone, I don’t believe in grazing and eating little and often is the solution either.

What do I believe then?  I believe we’re all different, there is no one size fits all solution, our solutions might change depending on our lives at that time.  I believe in changing your habits one at a time, tweaking your behaviour, finding a balance, giving yourself permission to eat anything you want as long as it’s not likely to affect your health in a negative way long term or your happiness.

Most of all I believe in never giving up on yourself, your health or your happiness!

If you’re in a bad place and you’re struggling with your eating behaviour, accept what you’re doing, don’t focus on the effect it’s having on your weight, focus on the effect it’s having on your mood!  I bet any overeating you’re doing is not making you feel any better – it may be distracting you for a very short time from your problems and issues (is that time you’re distracted even long enough to be worth the after effects).  Stop ignoring your issues/problems/bad feelings and stuffing your face, instead decide to face them and do what you can to sort them out or experience them.

Yeah eating a cake/crisps is probably a more appealing solution but the other stuff will still be there when you’ve eaten it and you’ll still be overweight, maybe even more so which ultimately gives you a whole other problem.

It may be that for a short time you decide to give yourself a few more daily ProPoints to allow you to eat more but in a more controlled way, you can be practising maintenance for a whole instead of going the other way and gaining.  It may be that you try F&H so that you can have food without worrying about ProPointing.  When you’re not doing well, that’s the time you really need the support of a meeting, everything is easier with support, there’s nothing worse than feeling you’re alone. xx

So enough of that, back to food J yesterday for my breakfast I had 0% Greek yogurt, 20g oats, sliced banana, chopped mango & a squirt of honey.  It was delicious and yet I’ve had that yogurt in the fridge for weeks and kept putting off eating it thinking, ‘ooo it’ll be cold and sour and I want something nice’.  Isn’t it funny how our minds fool us as it wasn’t any of those things, it was absolutely delicious and I need to remember that for future reference, I do like Greek yogurt and I should eat it more often.

For lunch I had liver and bacon in onion gravy, I followed the recipe out of the Hairy Bikers new cook book but to be honest it wasn’t any different to how I would have done mine normally except they added flour to the liver and a few teaspoons of tomato ketchup to the gravy.  It was delicious, if I made it again, I wouldn’t bother with the bacon, the liver is delicious, full of lots of flavour and the bacon is unnecessary in that dish, I did like the added bit of ketchup though.  I also added more oxo cubes than they suggested J So actually I didn’t follow their recipe much at all!

For tea I had the leftover onion gravy with two Weight Watcher Petit Pains and a bit of blue cheese, absolutely delicious!

Eating Gorgeous is the key, it’s way more fun that Eating Skinny or Eating Clean!

So today and everyday BeYOUtiful & be gentle on yourself because no one is perfect and you wouldn’t want to be. xx

 

All about the wellness this week...

2^nd October 2013

The wound is the place where the light enters you.  Rumi

Anyone want a hacking cough?  No, didn’t think so, they always come on when you lie down to go to sleep too don’t they!  Even Night Nurse is struggling to win this battle ;-)

So I stayed the same on the scales, I’m ok with that, bearing in mind I’m not well, I went out the weekend, I went over my ProPoints, I’m due on….. mmm can I think up any more reasons and justifications to okay my maintaining this week rather than losing!  In my own mind I don’t actually need to justify it, I won’t lie though sometimes I do feel that I have to justify it on my blog to whoever is reading it, especially if that person is looking for motivation on their weight loss journey.

All I can say really is I don’t take it as seriously at the moment as I did when I was a size 20 and had lots more weight to lose, I was uncomfortable then and unfit, I’m not now so it’s not such a rush for me.  I say it all the time but it is all about the healthy and happy with weight loss being the side effect.  I’ve noticed if I’m too strict within a couple of weeks I go the opposite way and have a splurge.  So this week I’m giving myself more flexibility, I’ve just started week 4 of my journal and it makes for interesting reading, it’s helping me see my habits and patterns and I’m learning from them. 

It really does help to look at your eating behaviours and habits, to notice if certain foods affect you in any way such as you energy levels, indigestion or heartburn.  Do the meals you eat keep you satisfied long enough or do you notice you feel hungry quite quickly?

Now yesterday I had exactly the same breakfast as Monday, 40g porridge with a handful of mixed frozen berries, Monday it satisfied me for hours, yesterday my stomach was rumbling by 11am.  My initial thought was ooo I’m hungry but then I realised I was more than likely thirsty as I hadn’t had as much to drink yesterday morning as I had Monday.

I followed Filling & Healthy Monday, I was ProPointing yesterday, however my breakfast and lunch were both mostly F&H foods and my lunch beat me, I had to leave food on my plate, so it goes to show when you eat the right foods, it has a more satisfying impact on your stomach.

When is a ProPoint not a ProPoint?  When the serving size is so small it’s negligible, I went shopping in Morrisons yesterday and found this hot chocolate liquid sauce, it suggests that it can also be used as a topping on things such as porridge, toast, desserts etc.  Using my calculator and the nutritional information, it worked out as 0pp for 1 tsp – WOW impressive, until you realise that its 1pp for 2 tsps and you need 4tsps and 200ml milk to make a mug of hot chocolate, so now its 5pp for a cup made using skimmed milk! Remember nothing is free if you take advantage it, the tube is 25pp in total!  So yeah if you just have a teaspoon to use as a topping on your favourite ice cream or dessert it’s fine to not ProPoint it but if you just  give the tube a good squeeze, there will be many ProPoints in the portion!

So what’s my weight loss plan this week?  Mmm well there isn’t one, I’m not focusing on weight loss this week, I’m focusing on wellness, the 3 weeks of antibiotics I had to take for the cyst in my neck has killed all the goodies as well as the baddies in my body which has made my immune system low and given this lurgy the change to take hold.  So I’m all about the good food, because I want to get well again.  Yesterday included

Breakfast

40g porridge, berries (5pp)

Lunch

fresh tuna, samphire, peppers, couscous (11pp)

Tea

Garden pea & mint soup with chorizo and wholemeal bread (12pp)

Snack

Slice of wholemeal bread with Salmon & Dill Philidelphia light (delicious new flavour spread) (2pp)

Today I’m going to make liver (full of iron) and onions, of course I will make it taste delicious using a recipe from the hairy bikers new book, I’d normally just add gravy but we’ll give their recipe a try because it’s been recommended.

Healthy doesn’t have to mean – boring, strict or tasteless!  It’s all about the balance.  ‘Clean living’ is a great idea but the reality for most of us is we enjoy the odd doughnut.  I personally like sweetener in my cups of tea, I’ve been adding them since I was at least 16 I bet, it doesn’t make me crave other sweet stuff and finally after years of studying it the experts have decided that in fact it isn’t dangerous!   I love my veggies but I also love a big juicy steak topped with a blue cheese sauce mmm.  Yeah for me healthy eating is about not having to give up the foods you love but finding a way to include them so that you still maintain a well body.  Same with exercise, I don’t want all the extreme classes that will make me sweat buckets in an hour and burn off hundreds of calories, I’ve done them, I’ve done the extreme sports and exercises in the past I have the scars to prove it, I also have the arthritis in the joints I hurt along the way!  Nope give me a nice walk anyday, relaxing and out in the fresh air, that’s my ideal exercise.

Just realised I’m rambling so I’ll stop!  I’ve got another busy day and I’m ready for another cup of tea, yeah it’s caffeine but it’s also warming, comforting and delicious on a dark, cold morning.

Enjoy your day, midweek already!  BeYOUtiful and Eat Gorgeous xx

Enjoyed a F&H day yesterday...

1^st October 2013

It is when you are willing to listen to yourself and be fearless that figuring out your next step becomes easy.

Feeling well enough to work, can talk so that’s a bonus, night nurse wasn’t as good as it usually is and I did have a few coughing fits in the night that disturbed my sleep but I’ve still managed a few hours!

So yesterday I did Filling & Healthy, for my breakfast I had porridge with berries in, lunch was beef steak strips, carrot, courgette, spring onion, lettuce, brown rice and soy sauce. Damn tasty and quick!  My dinner was chicken, mustard mash, carrots, cauliflower, courgettes, yorkie, gravy which used 2pp from weekly allowance. 

It’s a great plan to follow if you don’t want to be thinking about weighing and measuring and ProPointing everything.  I had thought about doing it for the entire week, however on reflection I have too much food in my freezer that isn’t completely F&H and needs using up.  I can’t afford to go and buy more food until I’ve used that food.

I don’t know about you but I eat with my eyes as much as my mouth, if a plate of food looks more appealing, I’m more likely to enjoy it.  I look at some of the meals that people post of Facebook and I think to myself, “that doesn’t look very appealing” or “they could’ve made that look more appetising”, I know it doesn’t change the taste of the dish but it all adds to the enjoyment.  It’s like sitting up the table to eat, mom and I sat there for an hour last night, eating, chatting, watching the squirrel on the garden fence eating his dinner too, it was a relaxing and enjoyable experience.

Below is a F&H recipe for you to try, if you have an fantastic ones, inbox me as I’d love some ideas, there is also a F&H booklet on my recipe pages on my website http://www.happyowls.co.uk/recipes.html

Chicken tikka
5pp per serving, 20 minutes to prepare + marinating, 15 minutes to cook, Serves 4
4 skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1/4 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tsp dried coriander
3 tsp cumin
3 tsp tandoori masala
100g  0% fat Greek yogurt

Thread the chicken onto skewers. 

Put the onion, garlic, ginger juice and spices into a food processor and whizz
until finely chopped. Stir in the yogurt, season and mix well. Place the skewered
chicken in a dish and coat the chicken with the spicy yogurt mixture. Leave for
4 hours or overnight in the fridge.

To serve, grill under a hot grill until the chicken is cooked through. If you like, you
can finish them off in a very hot pan misted with cooking spray. Decorate with fresh
coriander leaves before serving.

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Right busy day ahead better get a wriggle on, make it as painless as possible, Beechams powder I think to start me off ;-), might have porridge and berries again too, really enjoyed it and it warmed me up, easy to make too, I have some frozen berries in the freezer and I just grab a handful and throw them in porridge with milk and microwave – easy peasy.

Eating F&H foods will help me recover from my cold faster, so healthy and happy all the way today. Xx

BeYOUtiful.