You're important and you know what to do!

Friday 11th September 2020
Overthinking will destroy your mood - breathe and let go.

 

Oh you couldn't make it up could ya, the morning I don't have to get up and mom wakes me at 4am, asking "Are you STILL asleep"?  lol, yeah I'm a lazy bitch still sleeping at 4am, hilarious!  Obviously it wasn't funny at all but I wasn't angry, I'm gutted now as she's gone back to sleep next to me in her chair and I'm wide awake but hey, I've had some sleep and I can take today at a slow pace so it's all good.  I might even get to do a bit of cooking, you never know, although I have a crochet blanket I need to get done over the next few weeks so the cooking might wait till tomorrow.  

Yesterday was a lovely day of seeing my members, having a chat and a chuckle with some, oh how I've missed my Thursday night devilry with V Stokes, she's naughty and is fully of mischief and we turn into naughty chuckling kids when in each others company and you know what - it's marvellous.  Don't you just love it when another person brings out a side of your personality that isn't always there - I do, I love how we behave differently in different peoples company.  It's not that we're 'pretending' to be someone else, it's just that we all have lots of factors to our personalities, some being stronger than others and we others bring out certain parts.  I've been much more like my old self this week, there are lots of reasons, but one of the main ones being the wonderful people in my life being there supporting me and me reminding myself of who I am and decisions I made 16 years ago, remembering I will always have choices and I will always find a way because I am my mothers daughter and she was a force of nature.  

Now yesterday I talked Almonds - ma'an I'm full of conversation lol, but seriously I think we could do with talking food more not trying to ignore it, not thinking of it as the enemy as someone said to me yesterday.  Food is our friend, don't ever think differently.  We're all guilty of at some point in our lives getting to the point where we feel so desperate to lose weight that we go out there looking for a quick fix, a magic potion or lotion, we see someone else doing well so we ask them what they're doing, what plan they're on.  The truth is they're probably just in a better place in their life.  Weight Loss is easy when life is easy, throw a few curveballs into your life or hey why not hurl a pandemic into the equation, put your job at jeopardy, make your parents, grandparents or loved ones ill, so many other stressful things you could be handling and suddenly, counting points, going to the gym, meditating and all that stuff goes out the window!  

Then what happens, instead of acknowledging to yourself that this is happening and doing the best you can with what you've got, you go into the blame and shame game, you start the nasty self talk, 'I'm useless, hopeless, I don't know why I bother, I just can't do it, I'll always be fat, every time I try - I fail, I hate myself' or other such thoughts and is this likely to help!  Hell no it ain't.  

That's when we get desperate and try silly things, fail again, try again, fail again because we don't stop and take a breathe and notice what''s really causing the problems, we don't stop to give ourselves time to grieve the losses, we think we have to be over them within days or weeks.  It doesn't have to be a loss of a loved one either, it could be the loss of a job or your life how it was!

So what's the answer?  I don't have it, if I did, I'd be very rich probably, I do have some suggestions though!   Start with saying this sentence out loud; 

"I'm good enough and I'm doing the best I can at this time.  I am loved by so many regardless of what I weigh"  

Next we can stop looking for friendship in the kitchen, unless your bestie is stood in there that is.  I may have said food is our friend but that's not quite what I meant, I didn't mean that consuming copious amounts of it would fill us with the same love that having a good natter with a human, breathing friend would, I meant that it can help us feel well.  

Let's start talking more, sharing our struggles, not bottling stuff up.  

What should you be eating?  Oh that bloody question lol!  We truly know what's good for us, but if you need a little guidance and you're too overwhelmed by life to count, track, point etc, when thinking about meals and food, try and buy food that is as close to it's natural form as possible, so something that has been grown (fruit, vegetables, beans, pulses) or breathed (chicken, fish), things that haven't been processed or produced in a laboratory.    You could start looking at ingredients, but again, do you really even need to?  Which of these is the choice?

Is it bad to have ready made food?  No!  It's all about balance.  What's the best thing you can do to help keep your food intake down?  Get a smaller plate, start eating the portion sizes you're supposed too, trust me you won't be hungry, you might be head hungry but not physically and that's coming from a greedy bitch who can order a KFC family bucket and not share it with her family!  Yep, plus make chip sarnies with the chips from the fk it bucket! 

Just because we can out eat a Sumo Wrestler, doesn't mean we should!  So today, how about we use our own intelligence, be our own guru, listen to the voice inside that knows we're worth it, we're important and need to take care of ourselves xx  

YOU MATTER!  

Mwah, luv ya

Love me xx

It's all nuts (or is it, maybe it's seeds)

Thursday 10th September 2020
Focus on the solution not the problem

Lot's of talking on the phone yesterday, a zoom call followed by my workshop, I honestly don't know where the day went!  It went that quick I missed a meal!  I enjoyed eggs and avocado on toast with a sweet chilli chopped tomato, one of my fav things, only bettered by a sprinkling of crispy cooked bacon which I hadn't got.  I didn't eat again until I got home from work and I had frozen fish (oh and that takes longer to cook than it states on the packet can I add!) with swede and carrot mash (lumpy cos the masher nor me was strong enough for those chunks!) it was a microwave packets of mixed chopped pieces 80p I thought it would be quick and save the mess but meh, it's cheaper to buy them whole, doesn't take that long to chop, plus they keep better, that was use by yesterday which was why I had to eat it.  I also had a few rounds of courgette with a little parmesan on covered in the leftover cheese sauce.  I didn't eat it all but randomly Alfie ate it, the carrot and swede mash and the sauce i'd left, he wasn't impressed by courgette though. 

That was my food day, of a couple of small apples and a handful of unsalted almonds were consumed too.  I've been reading about the benefits of nuts, an excellent source of protein and a great food to snack on.  I've always been in that gang that would say, 'oh I'd eat loads, I can't have nuts, they're so high in points!' Turns out I didn't eat a load, we become the people we expect ourselves to become I guess.  I'm the kind of person who eats healthy most of the time - that's what I'm choosing to see myself as right now. 

Oh and now I'm going to get really boring!  Almonds aren't actually a nut you know, they're an edible seed that are the fruit of the almond tree!  Does that make them a zero fruit (lol NO!).  How good for you are they?  Well they are a high-fat food, but largely a monounsaturated fat which helps to protect the heart by maintaining levels of (good) HDL cholesterol versus (bad) LDL cholesterol.  They're also a great source of fibre and protein and contain lots of important nutrients such as vitamin E, selenium, zinc, calcium, magnesium and B vitamins, especially folate and biotin (vitamin B7).

Now you don't have to eat the bag, research studies suggest between 20-50g a day could be beneficial as part of a balanced diet, research by the British Journal of Nutrition also found that consuming nuts as part of a healthy diet, around 55g a day, is not only beneficial to reducing the risk of heart disease but also has limited risk of weight gain (I'll take that).  A study from 2013 also concluded that almonds, when consumed as a snack, help to reduce hunger and do not increase the risk of weight gain.  I wonder if that's why I forgot to eat lunch. 

Oh there's loads more to be said about them and other nuts, but seriously, it's 6am in the morning, I need to get a grip! 

If you're struggling with everything at the moment, 'dieting' is just another thing for you to think about, maybe try to think about 'wellness' instead, try to improve the quality of your meals rather than reduce the calories or Smart Points in it.  We all know what good food and a good meal looks like don't we?  If when we shop we put the healthier stuff in the trolley, then when we're back home and we've had a bad day, or our moods a little low, we're stressed out, then maybe we'll choose a better option because that's what's in our kitchen.  

I'm in the game of making myself feel healthier and I do, I've not had heartburn or indigestion for weeks, other than the once when I had sausages, but it appears that was the sausages fault, my body doesn't like them, even though I do.  

If I'm gonna have time for breakfast, I better get a wriggle on, I'm sat on my bed, just done a little yoga and Alfie is spark out next to me, I threw him on just before my alarm went off as he'd snuck in my room and started whining, I didn't want him to wake mom, he's such a content little chappy at the moment, which is wonderful after how anxious and strange he was earlier in the year.  

Right, let's make Thursday tremendous shall we?  I'll see some of you at the scales, the rest of you have a great day too. 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

I've been following Boris's new law for years!

Wednesday 9th September 2020 
Don't just be good to others, be good to yourself.

It's been a rough night, mom's not really slept at all and I wake up to the latest news from Boris not that it'll make a difference to me, I haven't socialised with more than 6 people in years lol.  It is all concerning of course that another lockdown is looking more likely the worse the situation gets, businesses just can't cope with more loss, oh I can't even think about it today, I've got a mom sat next to me who's so agitated and there's nothing I can do.  

On a positive I've hit 100 subscribers on my YouTube channel which has made me smile this morning, I may not be able to do workshop talks but I can use that as a platform to keep in touch, yesterday I did a short 3 minute one showing you what I had for my breakfast. 

 

With the likely of more lockdown and potential unemployment for so many of us, my mission right now is to cut costs wherever I can and food is one way of doing just that.  Portion sizes is one of the easiest ways, I know I've said it before but it's true, if we only eat the recommended portion, we're saving money straight away - it'll help our waistlines too.  Cooking from scratch is another way, not fancy stuff, let's get back to basics.  Something as simple as making soup from the dying veggies in your fridge can make lunch for a few days, that'll save the pennies and the lb's! 

I've got that leftover cheese sauce to use today, I made a cauliflower cheese remember, if you didn't it's on the YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yolhyfMp2x0&t=10s I'm thinking I'll have some fish, I've had my delivery yesterday from Sainsburys' this was my shop;

£43 I spent, I know I can still get more for my money as there's still stuff there that I'm paying for the portion size, like the sprouts, £1.50 for 200g!  That's a lot but I'm guessing it's because they're out of season, I just fancied them though.  I've bought some frozen chicken portions to try and I'm guilty of buying 20% beef mince as it's half the price of the 5%, I shall drain the fat off it.  There was one ready meal and that was sweet and sour chicken, it was my treat and I had to eat it last night because the seal was ripped when I put it in the fridge, it's delicious and was on offer for £3. 

Watch this space for what I do with everything, I'll try and make it worth sharing.  I even got mom her teacakes and a few packet of biscuits, can't deprive mom but she is having the basic range lol. 

It was lovely to see more members return last night, I've missed their lovely faces and it was lovely to have a chat, it's nice not to have to rush with having the hour to weigh and check-in, then my bestie popped in for half hour last night, that broke the silence with mom as she'd barely said a word since I'd got home, so thanks for that V ;) She reverted to grumpy when you left but hey we had half hour ;) 

Anyway, I'm gonna go, I've not done my yoga yet, partly because of mom and partly because I wanted to put the news on and see what was going on as I'd been asked about Boris's new law and I didn't know what it was!  I've had to adjust my yoga to poses and moves that I don't have to be on my knees for at the minute as they're playing up since I've gone back to work, my backs struggling too, so I'll find a video for lower back yoga I think this morning, see if I can help that. 

Here's to making the best of what we've got!   Being thankful for everything in our life and coping with this tough time we're all going through, supporting each other and staying positive for the future.

Mwah, Luv ya xx

Love me  

It's all about the Cauli!

 uesday 8th September 2020
You are a limited edition!

Yesterday was all about the cauliflower lol, I did a YouTube video, click that link to access it (and don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss a video.  I made these delicious cauliflower cheese and onion egg muffins (you can't tell there's cauli in them honest, mom ate 3 loved them and could only taste cheese and onion); 

using these leftover bits, that I turned into cauliflower rice (oh and I didn't microwave it first, if you watch the video).

I also made this cauliflower cheese and katsu cauliflower curry. 

All with one head of cauliflower, it was a big one lol.  I hope you get something from the video, it's the nearest thing I can do to a 'talk' at the moment and if there's any subjects you'd like me to cover, message me and I'll see what I can do. 

Actually yesterday wasn't all about the cauliflower, I actually had this too, it was half packet of leftover microwave rice, it'd been in the fridge in an airtight tub for a day or two so I decided as I hadn't heated this half up yet, it would be okay and it was because I'm still here.  I fried a couple of mushrooms and a bit of red pepper then added the rice, once it was warmed through, I stirred in a whisked egg and made egg fried rice, topped with another egg, it was lush, it was actually breakfast!  I know I'm odd, but it works for me.  

My shop comes today, I delayed it by a couple of days and I've only spent the £40 this week, just need some fresh stuff and I can use some of the frozen stuff to go with it, keeping an eye on the old purse strings.  I might make a dhal later, that's really filling and money saving.  Oh here's the recipes for the white sauce and eggs. 

Simple white sauce

40g plain flour

40g low fat spread

450ml skimmed milk

Bung it all in a pan, don't worry about how it looks just put it on the hob, keep stirring & heat up until it thickens.

Note: Add cheese for a cheese sauce.

Egg muffins.

Eggs - I used six

Any veggies really but I used cauliflower rice and spring onions

Protein cheese (I prefer the Arla)

Real cheese to top them. It doesn't take much.

Mix it all together and put in muffin cases and bake till they look cooked. I cook everything on 180 fan oven 😝

Right I need to go shower ready for work, I look forward to seeing some of you today at the scales, I'll at Short Heath Methodist Church, 8.15-9.15, 9.30-10.30 and 5.30-6.30. 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me.  

Magic or Manic Monday?

 Monday 7th September 2020

You've mastered survival mode, now it's time to live.

After my virtual workshop yesterday, I decided to have brunch and delicious it was, I miss my eggs so will be going back to having them in the mornings, I enjoy them with mushrooms and they keep me going.  When I eat carbs in the morning such as the muffin, I want more carbs and more throughout the day!  My body likes protein with a little carbs, not carb on carb on carb.

Oh now my main meal wasn't portioned controlled as you can see, but it was immense I have to say, those are those cheesy mash potato crispy muffin bites and they are off the scales, but there really is too many on the plate I'm sure lol, I've always said cauliflower cheese shouldn't be on the same plate as gravy as it's a meal in itself but ooo cheesy mash bites, well that with gravy was seriously good and that's one of the Yorkshire's I made that I froze, I really think I need to seriously consider a freezer for the shed, just need to make the room first, then I could freeze more stuff that I cook and I think it would save money long term.  My £3 chicken did me two days though and that's with mom and Alfie having some, so that's defo a money saver, I just can't resist the chicken skin!  But seriously if that's the only bad fat I have all week?  Oh okay, I've just looked and it's 17SP for 100g - oops!

Anyway as was suggested in the virtual yesterday, take it one meal at a time, if you have a bad day, get up and follow it with a good day, both good pieces of advise especially after the weekend!  

What I would say as a WW coach of course, is go to your workshop and have a chat with your coach, especially right now as we are there at the scales for the full hour so you can have that little bit longer, also once you've been, we can then follow up with you if needed throughout the week. 

I've got a cauli that I'm not afraid to use today lol, I'm going to try a Jamie recipe, maybe I'll film it at the same time depending on moms mood!  I usually like to have a subject I want to cover whilst cooking and filming but I can't decide which one I fancy, if you have any suggestions let me know. 

It's looking like another lovely day out there, Alfie took me for 2 walks again yesterday bless him, 71 active minutes and they'd all be with him as we sat watching tv the rest of the day, mom was good until whatever time it was my bro accidently called me, we were half way through watching 'singing in the rain' when she turned and we didn't watch the rest of it but everything after that was 'shit' .  Hey ho, here's hoping she's good this morning, I can hear her moving around so I'll get going. 

Here's to a Magic Monday!

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Love a Sunday don't you?

Sunday 6th September 2020
A smile is happiness you will find right under your nose.

Some peoples idea of a 'treat' is chocolate or crisps, mine is cooking a whole chicken so I can eat the crispy chicken skin, make some gravy with the juices and just indulge in that combination.  That's what I did yesterday, but I made it even better by adding these; 

I always cook too much mash, I cook for 4 and there's only me!  Yesterday I decided to make something with it try and make it tasty using what I had in the fridge, so I diced up a bunch of spring onions, cut up the last of the bacon I had in the fridge that had today's use by date on it and fried them together, the I added it to the mash with a large egg and 75g of cheese, I'm using Sainsbury's Extra mature because it's half the price of Cathedral City lighter, I'm take the hit with the points, it also means I don't use so much.  I'd use the Eatlean Protein cheese too for the mixture though, but not for the 25g I sprinkled on top.  This is a mini muffin case which means they get extra crispier and delicious, just mix everything together and put it in the holes then top with a bit more cheese.  SO GOOD.  Honestly they didn't need the bacon, I only added that because it needed using, let's be honest cheesy potato bites don't need anything really!  

I'm gonna keep it short this morning cos my besties just messaged me and we're gonna have a chat.  Plus I have so much going on in my brain at the moment, I feel it may explode so I'm trying to give it a rest. Then I plan to get a pen and some paper and do a brain dump of everything to try and sort it all out - wish me luck lol.  

I'll see some of you at ten in the Stafford group, here's to a lovely sunny autumnal day. 

xx 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

You gotta love a Yorkie!

Saturday 5th September 2020

Start each day with a grateful heart.

I tried to turn off yesterday from stuff, but it's difficult isn't it when you have things on your mind, I did manage to have a couple of walks with Alfie thought, I indulged in this big breakfast which was delicious, if a little high on points thanks to the couple of slices of streaky bacon!

14SP 💚10SP💙10SP💜 

Mom let the carer visit for a couple of hours, which meant I was able to have a good walk with Alfie and spend a little time in the kitchen, I was going to make toad in the hole but I don't like the soggy bits of yorkie when you have that, so instead made Yorkshire pudding and ended up with deconstructed toad in the hole chicken sausages (thank you

Penn Road Butchers

) mash and peas with onion gravy. So good! 16SP 15SP 12SP thank you to the Food Gods who make all this food possible. Alfie was impressed with PRB chicken sausages too, he had a few, I might have a sarnie for breakfast with the last few user them up.

I'm not gonna lie I was so pleased with these Yorkshire puddings, having not made on for years, I had to message my sister to ask for the recipe!  Mom could always make a mean Yorkie and my sister's are off the scale, I'll go try and find a photo of hers in a minute.  The secret is to get the fat really hot, I put my tray in the oven with the oil for a good 20 minutes before pouring the batter in.  Oh and most of the fat was still left in the tray when they were cooked, they work out at 2SP each. 

Yorkshire Pudding

vegetable oil
2 large free-range eggs
100 g plain flour
100 ml milk

Preheat the oven to 225°C/425°F/gas 9.  Add a little vegetable oil into each of the 12 compartments.  Pop into the oven for 15-20 minutes so the oil gets really hot.   Meanwhile, beat the eggs, flour, milk and a pinch of salt and pepper together in a jug until light and smooth.   Carefully remove the tray from the oven, then pour the batter evenly into the compartments.  Pop the tray back in the oven to cook for about 20 minutes, or until risen and golden.  You can always watch Jamie showing you how to do it https://youtu.be/nUvIJqhq0KQ 

Well the scales haven't given me a loss this morning but I know I've had a very, stressful week this week and I believe stress affects the metabolism, I've eaten more than the last couple of weeks but I haven't consumed more than I've burned so I'm not going to dwell on the scales, I'm eating better than I've eaten and more in control than I have been doing so it's all good.   

Well it's time to get ready to go to work, just watching a news piece on BBC1 about cuddles and how much everyone's missing them, it's such a simple thing, just another thing we need back in our lives. 

Right let's have a wonderful weekend, take care of you and yours.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Feeling Good Friday

Friday 4th September 2020

Everything is hard at first glance, so look again and again and again

Let's be honest 2020 has been difficult for everyone but we're still here (well if you're reading this you are, my heart breaks to think about those that aren't and this dreadful disease, let's not dwell).  Working from home had it's challenges and going back to the new norm has too, but I have to say just a handful of members, the chat and the banter reminded me last night of everything I love about my job and I do love my job so much, I've been with WW as an employee since December 2004 but I've been with them as a member since I left school back (I'm now 50!), it hasn't just helped me lose weight over the years (again and again lol) but it's helped me find my tribe, my community, my family and I love them so much, I found my besties through WW, probably 90% of the people I know and care about deeply know me because of WW, even people I've only ever met through Facebook.  I'm all sentimental this morning but for the first time since returning to work, I actually feel 100% like me again and that's a great feeling. 

Moving on, food is never far from my mind, which is another reason I'll always love people who get that about me, (Becky last night, we connected over our thoughts on Lockdown and we both chuckled and felt better for it, love you lady).  Breakfast yesterday was 3 satsumas, I didn't fancy anything and was in a rush, but of course by mid morning I started to get peckish and used that as an excuse to have a packet of WW protein balls which are my favourite treat before I sell out as I think they're being discontinued.

I was very grown up at dinner time when I got back from workshops, I'm working on my portion sizes and I had a packet of Cumberland sausages which I had planned on making the pie from Jamie's cook book but I wasn't in the mood but they needed using and I've not got Penn Road Butchers sausage to use in the pie, will try to do that today.  Anyway, I could've easily eaten all 6 sausages but at 4SP per sausage (ouch), I realised I only needed 2, 2 is the suggested serving size and 2 would satisfy me physically, the same with mash, a suggested portion of mash is 180g (4SP) and again I could've eaten loads more but didn't, I cooked leeks and gravy and this meal more than satisfied me, even if I did look at the plate thinking there's not a lot there!  Maybe need a smaller plate, I had big bowls I used as plates but I've smashed them over the last few months (clumsy ain't I!). 

 

After 5 workshops and a long day, the last thing I wanted to do was cook, I hadn't planned my tea - that's what I need to do actually, the week I did that, I was much better prepared and had a great week.  

Because I wasn't organised, I ended up looking in the fridge and cupboard, seeing some leftover cooked cabbage, so thought, yeah that'll be the veg, opened the freezer and there were so cod pieces, so I put them in the oven and had it with half packet of microwave rice (5SP).  This filled me up enough, but I did have a couple of crackers with a scrape of real butter on an hour later because I fancied them not because I was hungry.

What will the day ahead bring, will mom let the carer visit?  Will Alfie be in the mood to walk?  Will I actually cook a sausage and mash pie?  Whatever happens I plan to stay on track, this is my third week on track now, not done that in a long time, I'm proud of me, especially as it hasn't been a stress free week.  There are so many things we can't control but how we choose to take care of ourselves we can and that's what I'm doing.  Now what to have for breakfast, I'm feeling a muffin and maybe a bit of bacon with an egg ooooooo and tomatoes lol, see I get all excited when I plan food, maybe I'll do my meal planner today too. 

Let's make Friday fabulous shall we? 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Anyone else awake at Stupid O'Clock!

Thursday 3rd September 2020

Inhale confidence - Exhale doubt

Another day working at being healthy, it was a strange day and I won't lie I was glad when it was over, I've got a lot on my mind at the moment and I've been awake since 3.30 partly because of that and partly because mom woke me up.  

These were my meals, I even indulged in 12g of real butter on my breakfast muffin - because I can!  It's not the individual food that's the problem, it's the quantity we consume that causes the problems.  There is so much information out there about diet and what and when we should eat, how's the best way to lose weight, blah blah blah, in the end we start to become confused about what to eat!  We have to be the only species on the planet who gets confused over what to eat - you don't see a cow standing in a field questioned what to eat!  Can you imagine that!  Picture a Giant Panda looking at a pile of Bamboo and thinking, oh I don't know, is this what I should be eating today, I ate this yesterday?  All this information we're being giving, all these options, it's truly confusing us to the point where because we don't know who to believe, 'high carb, low carb, high protein, low fat, non dairy', we end up not doing anything.  We're on what you could call a High FaCt Diet, see what I did there!  We need to go back to basics, I talked about portions and how diets work on my video the other day https://youtu.be/RmHB88NQtkI but let's be honest we all know that if we're not losing weight, we're eating too many calories, so we need to cut down and that's what I'm working on, eating to my appetite.  

 

Now these were both well thought out meals with portions that were appropriate and suited my appetite and the time I ate them. 

This meal was not thought out and in control (and that's okay sometimes), I'd had an extremely difficult day, very stressful and when I got home after work I didn't fancy cooking and spending loads of time in the kitchen, so I checked the date on stuff in the fridge, the beef mince was 3/9 which is why I took that out, I had planned a recipe but not a chance was I doing that, so I threw the last of the chestnut mushrooms in a pan with the mince and a couple oxo cubes and it turned out delicious.  Stuffed it into 3 taco's and bunged on a pile of Spinach. 

Truly I only needed two of those tacos, but I ate with such ferocity that it was gone before I blinked, the truffle pig in me came out for sure, I even had a slice of bread and spread to wipe the pan out when I went back, I put what was left in the pan in a container, but kept pinching a bit more because it was so good.  It didn't sit well in my stomach later though, that's another thing I'm doing, paying attention to the effect the food has on my body, I haven't had heartburn or indigestion for a few weeks now since I started paying more attention to my food and the portion sizes.

I made it through the day on track and that's all that matters, today's my long day, I'm at Bloxwich this morning and tonight, it's raining outside at the moment, let's hope that knocks off sooner rather than later. 

Yoga was a bit of a wash out this morning, I managed 10 minutes but my knee gave out, hopefully that'll be okay tomorrow, or I'll just find a routine that doesn't involve being on my knees.  20 weeks Saturday since I started doing yoga and I haven't missed a day on the mat yet, I'm quite proud of that.

Right my lovely, let's have a mindful day, enjoy every bite of whatever you choose to eat.

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me x 

Deep breathes

 Wednesday 2nd September 2020 
You are enough, a thousand times enough!

The only constant in life is change, thankfully yesterday one of those changes was realising my tastebuds have changed, I used to absolutely love this chicken and bacon pasta but stopped buying in because of the SmartPoints in it, but this week because of that Tesco order I did, I decided to treat myself and have it as a meal with salad, it wasn't worth it, it was very bland.  I sat up the table in the kitchen and gave the plate my full attention and it wasn't anything special at all, I could make something much tastier and a lot healthier myself, Alfie ate some of it, I refuse to eat food I'm not enjoying anymore.   

Fast forward a few hours and I got home from work extremely shaken up and upset, long story that I don't want to go over it again, I called V because I needed someone to talk to and calm me down and all the time I was talking to her I was opening and closing and reopening the fridge looking for.... well what was I looking for?  Comfort, calmness, distraction, I don't even know, but food is my friend so maybe I was looking for that!  Thankfully as I was talking and crying, I realised what I was doing and said it out loud, told V what I was doing which made me realise it wasn't going to help the situation.  When our call ended, I didn't want to spend ages in the kitchen, I wanted my mom, she had suddenly come back to the now and was being my protective, loving caring mom.  I had this which took 20 minutes in the oven and it was actually delicious if not very attractive looking. 

If we've learned anything this year, it's that life's very precious and should be cherished.  It's that our bodies are the one thing we really need to take care of, if you don't take care of yourself you won't have the energy to take care of others. 

I'm not gonna lie, I've had a very emotional time lately, I'm scared for the future, but I refuse to just let it happen, I want some control in how it affects me.  How about you?  How do you feel?  It's okay to not be okay but it's not okay to pretend you have no control over what happens next ...

Here's to a calmer day, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me xx

Got my cook on yesterday!

Tuesday 1st September
The best way to predict the future is to create it.

First of the month, shall we make it a Super or Splendid September as some of my members have suggested or a Blue September as one commented, I instantly thought no don't be sad, then I realised she meant the WW blue dots on the app - well I hope that's what she meant!

I got another day being healthy in the bag yesterday, I'm eating when I feel hungry and I'm thinking about my choices and what I actually want, this breakfast was absolutely off the scale, I was a little sad that my egg cracked before I'd finished plating up but there are much worse disasters in the world right now I know and it was still delicious - English breakfast muffin (4SP) guacamole (2SP) streaky bacon (2SP) egg (2SP 0SP) & zero heroes 1/2 diced yellow pepper, 3 diced spring onions & 3 sliced mushrooms. I've got to say I really like the Tesco Gaucamole I bought this week, it works out at 8SP for the tub, the app is incorrect with the nutritional info when you scan it, so it comes up as twice that, I must remember to report that error.

Later on as this meal kept me going a good while, me and Alfie had been for another decent walk, went to bed with just shy of 10k steps, I remembered I was going to do a video, by now I'm in my pj's ready for chilling but well you've all seen me looking rough most days lol, I'm not exactly vain at the best of times so I thought I've got to cook my dinner anyway and I've got stuff about dieting I want to say so let's do it.  

I have to say when I was cooking it, I wasn't hopeful, but Jamie didn't let me down, it was delicious Mushroom Cacio E Pepe, taken from his 7 Ways cookbook that's just been released and is £12 in most places.  As you can see, I'd already dived into mine when I remembered the photo on the left, the one on the right is my arty farty cooking wonder friend Clare, she's made hers look all fancy ain't she, I reckon there's a few filters on that photo too ;) I can't be doing with filters. 

 

It was a really tasty 12SP quick meal for sure that I'll remember for the future, the chestnut mushrooms grated were a gamechanger, quicker than dicing for sure! 

You'd have thought that would be enough for the day but nah, a couple of hours later I wanted more, I fancied a big salad, I was chuffed I'd manage to get one of those coleslaw mixes where it has the sachet of mayo in the bag, I love them and I added Heinz salad cream 30% lighter instead, made the entire bag up but put the rest in tubs in the fridge.  Grated some Arla protein cheese, another dollop of Guacamole, if you're not keen on avocado, still give it a go as the flavours of the tomatoes, red chillies and lime make you forget you're eating avocado, well it would except for the bright green colour lol. 

 

So that was my food day, I tried a new Pinotage wine from Tesco, it was okay, I wouldn't rave but then again, I could taste it another day and it would taste completely different. 

If you haven't already, when you get 15 minutes, watch my video, especially if you're struggling to lose weight, or if you lose it, then regain it!  I can help you, but you've got to have a little more patience, stop with the I WANT IT NOW attitude and be prepared to try a different approach, you can come see me at any of these places this week, if you come 20 minutes after the start times, the rush has passed and I can spend more time chatting with you about your journey.

Right I need to shower and get ready to be at that Short Heath one, all this cleaning I have to do when I get there, my house has never seen such cleanliness from me like I'm having to be at work!  

Let's have another great day, stop thinking you can't, stop thinking 2020 is a washout, it isn't - we have 4 months left of this year and there might be a lot of things we can't control but there's still lots we can!  I've taken back my power, I'm working on a tweak each week, it's taken me since April to get to the weight loss bit because I was busy working on other habits, like my yoga and my stress levels etc.  Now I'm feeling good and ready to continue the journey back to me x

Hope you join me, 

Mwah, luv ya 

Love me