Remember Me?

Right, it's about time I started writing this again. It's meant to be a diary of my slimming world journey and I owe it to myself to keep this diary as it's just one more step to proving i'm committed to losing this weight. So, my absence doesn't mean that I fell off the wagon (well perhaps just the once!) The weeks since my last post I lost 1.5lbs, then gained 3lbs, then lost 3.5lbs, then lost 1.5lbs, then lost 2.5lbs and finally that takes me up to lastnight where I gained 0.5lbs!! So that takes my total loss to date up to 1st 12lbs.  Last week I weighed in at the morning class but this week I was working so couldn't do that and my consultant says that's what's to blame for the gain but in all honesty, I had let some things creep back in that I shouldn't have. Like the Mcdonalds, followed by cream cakes, the big packet of Walkers crisps (and I mean the share bag!!), and a big bag of counters (again, the share one!!! What is wrong with me!?!)  So....I think I deserved the gain eh!!

I'm blaming my poor food choices this week on me feeling a bit low and down on myself. I had my period so that never helps. Looking back at my weight losses, or gains as it so happens to be, the weeks that i've had my star week i've had a maintain, a 3lb gain and then this 0.5lb gain lastnight. I really need to look at those weeks and try to make better choices. Man, it's hard being a woman!!

It's now only 4 weigh ins till this bloody wedding and i'm really starting to panic about what i'm going to wear to it. I had been hoping for a 3 stone weight loss by then, and i'm going to try my very best to get as close to it as I can so it's back to basics. Keeping a food diary, plenty of superfree, counting every syn that passes my lips. I'm so determined to do it that I know i'll get there.

I will update today's food in tomorrows diary as i'm planning on blogging every day but i'm on a green day today so I'm having my mushroom and lentil loaf later with some veggies and wedges!! I've also made a huge pot of minestrone soup that will do for tomorrows lunch. Can't have any today as it's got bacon in it and i've already got my B choices all planned out! My blog today isn't very interesting due to lack of pics but here's one of the minestrone soup that basically consists of every bit of veg I had in my fridge, chopped tomatoes, passata, stock and bacon! Yummy.

Thanks for reading xx

Food, glorious food!!!

Don't you just hate self righteous buggers??? Well I do!!! I NEED to leave the SW Facebook group as the people on there frustrate me sooooooooooooooo much!!! I posted a few pics of todays food on there and all I got from the people on there were jumping on me (not literally, thank god!! hehe) but just questioning the syns on everything in the photos.

Now 6 weeks ago prior to me joining sw if I was out and about at lunch time I'd have eaten a LOTTTT of syns in the form of McDonalds, cakes, chocolate, crisps etc so what I did have was a major improvement on what I would normally have so I can only speak for myself and say I was very pleased with myself. I will know in future not to post anything on that group as I really can't be bothered getting everything scrutinised!!

Just before I got the alleged syn-laden salad I had been into Home Bargains and I came out feeling very very proud of myself. As I walked into the shop the first thing that almost hit me in the face was a mahooooosive bar of Galaxy chocolate (my fave) for just over £2. I was honestly looking at it for ages, fighting with myself as to whether I should buy it or not. It went something like this

Bad Me...'Oooooooooh, I'm going to buy that',
Good Me....'No you're not, think of the syns',
Bad Me.....'But it's only £2, too good a bargain to pass up',
Good Me.....'But think of how bad you'll feel once you've ate it'
Bad Me.......'BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT!!!!!'
Good Me.....'I WILL NOT GIVE IN, I WILL NOT GIVE IN, I WILL NOT GIVE IN'

And so it went on until eventually I forced myself to leave that aisle and carried on with my shopping. Now if that's not a NSV I don't know what is!! I came out of the shop and who did I bump into...none other than my lovely sw consultant. I told her about the chocolate and she told me how proud she was of me and that I was doing so well. I was chuffed to bits. I was on my way to get my salad at this point so we just had a quick chat then I made for subway to get my yummy scrummy salad.

Anyhoo....onto today's food. I decided to have an Extra Easy day today as I had taken out some burgers from the freezer to have for dinner. so this is what today looked like

Breakfast....the sw mousse thing I was telling you about yesterday. 1.5 syns for the whole thing but this was half the portion but i've just counted it as 1 syn for today and will count the 0.5 when I have the other portion (probably tomorrow)

I also had an apple with this but forgot to photograph it!

I then thought i'd better head out to the supermarket as I haven't been shopping for days but I got sidetracked my texting my sister to ask if she wanted to go to the local cat and dog home to have a look as she is wanting to get 2 cats. I'd like to get a cat too as I am really missing my two wee poochies since they both went to doggy heaven last year. I don't think I could commit to getting a dog again but I really would like to get a pet of some sort. Hubby says no though so I do need to win him round.

On my way over to my sisters I munched on some roast beef and cherry tomatoes as I didn't want to get too hungry while I was out. I also had an alpen light bar while I was out.  Sorry no photo as I was in the car whilst munching on these!!

So, after looking at lovely kitty's....many of which I wanted to take home with me there and then, I dropped my sis off home and headed to my local shopping centre where I got a few essentials then made my way to Subway for a delicious turkey and ham salad with southwest sauce.

I had to bloody eat it in the car as all the seats were taken up by people just sitting at them whilst waiting for their partners or friends who were in the queue getting their food!!! I absolutely hate it when people do that. It really bugs me!!!

After i'd been to Asda for the essential shopping like fat free greek yogurt, bananas and other bits n bobs I headed home to collect Roo from nursery and when we got home I started making the dinner. And boy was it tasty

2 Braveheart burgers, with 2 rashers of bacon served with sw chips and salad. I put 1tbsp of tomato sauce on the burgers but had taken the photo before I did this!!  Mmm...Mmmm...Mmmmmm

Afterwards my hubby and my 2 boys were having ice cream and I didn't want to be left out so I used my other half of my B choice on some cooked apple with cinnamon,  with sweetened fat free greek yogurt, and I drizzled 1tbsp of golden syrup over it for 2.5 syns. It was delicious and felt very naughty!!!

Then what did I have?? Oh yes, a Skinny Cow ice lolly. I think these are 4.5syns but for some reason I can't find them on the website. I've used the 1 syn per 20kcal rule so hopefully it's correct. These are so so good and I have one almost every night, which reminds me I had one lastnight which took my syn total for yesterday up to 9.5.

So I had the ice lolly then I had 5 syns worth of Metcalfe's popcorn which is delicious and I love it!!!!

Soooooo, after all that, if my calculations are correct, this is the syns i've had today:

Mousse................1 syn
Southwest Sauce: 4.5 syns
Golden Syrup......2.5 syns
Tomato Sauce.....1 syn
Ice Lolly..............4.5 syns
Popcorn..............5
Total..................18.5

This takes my total so far up to 28. I'm more than happy with that.

Night all xxx

MMmmmmm......chips!!

Well have I been a busy girl today or what? Yes is the answer to that question!!!

This morning I had already decided that I was getting rid of this tummy bug whether it liked it or not so I got Callum off to school and set about making a mushroom loaf. This is a recipe that I got from the Minimins website. I made enough for 3 portions so i'm going to have some tomorrow then i'll keep the other 2 portions for other days. Here is what it looks like:

I also made a SW mousse type dessert thing....pics to follow. I've not had any of it yet but it was an easy recipe to make.  I often don't really try slimming world desserts as I never really find any that I like. I'd rather either have the proper non sw version and syn it!! I don't think i'm going to have any of it tonight but i'll let you know what it's like tomorrow when I try it.

The other thing I made was a scan bran curly wurly cake. It works out at a HEB choice plus 8 syns. Tonight I have eaten half of it so that's 4 syns and half a B choice. I also had a rocky road hi fi bar for my other half of my B choice.

The rest of the day went like this

Early morning breakfast of 2 shape yogurts before I took Callum to school. I had this with a mug of hot water

When I came home after dropping him off I had this.  A banana chopped into some fat free greek yogurt with added sweetner

I then had my cooking frenzy and after this I made lunch for my little Roo and I had a little snack too as I don't like him eating on his own.

A B Free wholegrain wrap done like a quesidilla just on the frying pan in some fry light and I put a HEA of cheese inside it and served it with cucumber. It was delicious and felt very naughty!! Nom Nom

I then took Roo to nursery and came back for the main event....my all time favourite sw meal. Eggs beans and chips (well it is chip week!!!) 1 syn for the brown sauce, taking my syns up to 5 so far for the day.

This afternoon was spent just relaxing, doing some comping and checking out facebook and the likes.  Callum was going to one of his wee friends houses after school and one of my friends had kindly offered to take Roo for me to give me some more rest so I had a good few hours to myself and boy was it nice.

I munched on the scan bran cake whilst I was chilling out but now my tummy is all gurgly again so i'm not sure it was the best thing to have considering how i've been feeling lately.

For dinner I had my quorn swedish meatballs with pasta and my other HEA of cheese (parmesan this time)

Phew, that's quite a lot of food isn't it!!! Well, I did say I was determined to get back to eating the sw way and I certainly have done that today!!

I still have 10 syns to use if I want them. I don't know if I will though but I will let you know if I decide to have anything else in my blog tomorrow!! See and now i've said i'm going to write one I'll have to do it!!!

See ya xxx

Time to get back to normality!

Hi all,

Well, It was weigh in tonight and I am pleased to say that I lost 2.5lbs. I'm really happy with that but of course a little bit of me was hoping to get the 3lbs off to get me my 1.5stone shiny but alas it wasn't to be. I'll definitely be getting it for next week though. I'm determined not to let anything get in my way.

So, since my last blog post things have carried on in the same vein, i.e I'm still not well, still going to the loo and having bad stomach cramps although I must say that aside from this morning when I was paying another trip to the loo (sorry tmi) I have been feeling a lot better today. Up to the point of weigh in tonight I still hadn't had anything proper to eat apart from toast and a few hi fi bars and my hubby had asked me to pick him up some dinner on my way home from class so I stopped off at the local indian takeaway as he'd requested chicken pakora and chips so that's what I got him and I found myself ordering a veg pakora for myself!!! I just couldn't help myself. I am sick of bloody toast! I want to get back to eating normally and I thought that vegetable pakora was the way to do it!!! *Sigh*.

Well, as of tomorrow I am starting back having my fruit and yogurt for breakfast and I'm going to eat the slimming world way if it bloody well kills me!!! I'm not giving into this stomach bug or whatever it is. I'll keep you posted on tomorrow's events as I'm determined that I'm going to blog more frequently.

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately of fellow slimming worlders (I don't think that's a word is it!!) and I've got a lot of inspiration from them. So, Karen Mitchell, Karen Pursey and Hayley Murphy, if you are reading this then thank you for the hours of entertainment and inspiration that you have given me over these past few days.

I'm afraid there are no pics in this blog as like I said i've not had much to eat lately but from tomorrow that's all going to change, sore tummy or not!!!

Tune in for the next installment tomorrow!

xxx

Apologies and excuses

Wow, it's been sooooooo long since my last blog. Apologies for that. My excuse is that i've been so busy with the boys during the day and at night i've been relaxing with the hubby. We've started watching 24 and for me it's not the kind of thing I can watch whilst multi-tasking as I need to concentrate on what's going on in it.

So, the past few weeks have been much the same as before except that my first weigh in since my last post was a bit of a disappointment when I STS on the scales. To say I was gutted was an understatement and I was really flummoxed about it. However when I looked back I could see that a few things had crept on in my diet that I hadn't really noticed.

I got right back on it the next day after my maintain on the scales and I managed to lose 3lbs on Wednesday so I was very pleased. Total weight loss so far in 5 weeks is 1stone 4lbs. Can't argue with that can I? lol

Anyway, onto the food and here are some of the things i've been enjoying over the last few weeks. Mmmmm

Whipped up a yummy baked potato with tuna and spring onion, served with a superfree salad.

My yummy quorn swedish meatball dish with spaghetti.

Simple Sunday dinner. Roast chicken, roast potatoes and veg.

1/2 syn roulade. I actually didn't like this very much but I think it's because it was too thick and I didn't have enough filling in it. I would make it again though but I'd do it differently

Yummy cooked brekkie....Mmmmmmmmmm

This is a chicken biryani that I'd made with the left over roast chicken. Just 1.5 syns for the pataks curry paste

Simple dish of pasta, with onions, garlic and mushrooms, with 60g of low low cheese mixed in

 This was one of the B free wraps and I filled it with my quorn meatball concoction, topped it with cheese and then I baked it in the oven and served it with savoury rice. It was lovely.

So those are the things that have helped me lose my 3lbs this past week. I went to the doctors on Thursday as she weighs me every 8 weeks and told me that i'd lost 4kgs since I was last there, which I really don't understand as I've obviously lost more than that. She wanted me again to try the Orlistat tablets and I agreed as I thought that every little helps. She'd mentioned it to me pre slimming world and I'd said no but I thought i'd give them a go. What harm could they do eh!! Well, I took two tablets on the Thursday, one with breakfast and the other with lunch and i've been ill with tummy pains and diarrohea since then. :-(  I really don't think I should've taken the tablets in hindsight as I have a very sensitive stomach at the best of times and often have to go to the loo about 4 or 5 times a day and that's on a normal day. 

So, since Friday morning all i've had to eat is toast and a few digestive biscuits. I'm meant to be working tomorrow but I had another trip to the loo this afternoon and I'm sure i'll need to go again so I don't think I should be going in. The problem is that if I don't i'll leave them very short as the other nurse I work with is on holiday this week. 

Anyway, I'm off to lie on the couch now and watch Frozen with my boys. 

Sorry it's not been a very exciting blog. I'll try and do better next time.

xxx

Non-Scale Victory!

Evening all,

Just a wee quickie before I go to bed to tell you all about the NSV I had today. I was asked lastnight by my old boss if I could help them out by doing a shift for them as they were short staffed. For those of you who don't know what I do, I am a nurse. I used to work in a very busy ward working 12 hour shifts but in September last year I got a new job in a clinic, doing 9-5 hours.

Well, I did the shift today and took in all my sw friendly food to have for my breaks but on a 12 hour shift I am and was always starving. I had taken in quite a lot of food, enough to do me breakfast and lunch but after lunch I don't get another break. Anyway, there was literally chocolates, biscuits and cakes coming out of every cupboard that I opened and the whole of the tea room was surrounded by them!!!

Oh it was so so hard not to give in and have something along with everyone else but I didn't allow myself to be led astray and didn't touch any of it. Now, this for me is a major achievement as it would've been so so easy for me to slip into my old ways as I was really hungry mid-late afternoon and until I finished my shift at 8pm but my willpower did me proud today and I came away feeling like I had really conquered a big demon.

I realise this probably sounds silly. It's only chocolate after all, but believe me. For me, it's a big thing that I was able to say no and I'm proud of  myself for doing it.

So, I came home after my shift and stopped off at the chinese on the way home and got myself a vegetable chow mein. I only ate half as it was a huge portion and was going to keep the other half for lunch tomorrow but my greedy hubby asked if he could have it, despite already having had a huge pizza for his tea earlier!

So, that's all i've got to report. I didn't take any pics of my food today but I had yogurt and fruit for brekkie and speed soup for lunch. Oh but here's a pic of what I ended up having lastnight after I couldn't be bothered making the burrito.

I made smash pizza with sw chips and it was so so good.

I'm off to bed now. So very tired after a busy but enjoyable day.

Night night xxx

1 down, 7 to go!!!

Hello,

Apologies once again for leaving it so long between blogs but I'm afraid this may be the norm for me as I just don't seem to have the time to blog every night. By the time I've got the boys sorted and in bed I just want to slob in front of the tv and do nothing. Sorry.

Anyway, onto the events of the past few days. Well, I had weigh in lastnight and I managed to lose 5lbs!!! I'm amazed but super pleased. I honestly thought i'd stayed the same or might even have had a gain due to my syns being at their max but I must've been doing good on other things. I know that i've been drinking more water this week, and also trying to eat more superfree. Not to mention mixing the days up a bit. I've actually had 2 red days in the past week which has helped keep the bloated feeling away.

Here's some of the meals i've been enjoying over the last few days that helped me get that 5lbs off.

Yummy breakfast on an EE day. 1 syn for the venison sausages. Potato scones were made with smash.

This is a soup I just whipped up with fridge items. Mushrooms, brocolli, onion and garlic. Delish and free!

Salmon fillet, roasties made with fry light and lotsa green beans. The salmon is sprinkled with Nando's peri peri salt. Free meal on EE

Simple free breakfast on EE. Bacon, scrambled eggs and mushrooms.

I had this for lunch the night after I'd had the salmon with potatoes as I'd cooked 2 salmon fillets so had one left over. Yummy salad with plenty of superfree. Dressing is balsamic glaze....1/2 syn for a drizzle

This isn't a sw recipe as such as you're meant to coat the chicken in flour but I don't do that and it's just as nice. It's chicken with a lemon, leek and garlic sauce. Served with boiled rice. Free on EE.

I had this yesterday for lunch when I was at the soft play with Roo. Baked potato with beans and cheese, served with salad.

I had this for a quick dinner lastnight after weigh in as I was bloody starving. It hit the spot.

This was breakfast this morning. 3 ryvita crispbreads (1/2 B), 30g choc philli (4.5 syns), banana (Free)

Lunch today. Lots of superfree salad with pickles, beetroot and boiled eggs. With balasmic vinegar drizzled over it (1/2 syn)

So....that's you all up to date. Tonight for dinner i'm going to attempt a burrito style wrap thing filled with mixed chilli beans, mushrooms, tomatoes and onion, using a b free wrap and i'll use both my A choices of cheese with it. I'm going to have this with sw chips. I hope it works. I've been dreaming of it all day!! lol

I am really pleased with my meals over the last few weeks. I've been trying new things and eating a wide variety of foods which I think really helps with the weight loss. I'm going to continue to do that and hopefully I'll get my 3lbs off next week as that's my own personal weekly target.

I am so pleased I have re-joined slimming world as I am determined to lose the weight and feel better about myself. The class I go to is fabulous and my consultant Linda is so supportive and no matter how many times I have walked through her sw doors she never passes judgement and welcomes everyone whether it's their 1st time or their 5th time of joining. I'm lucky to have such a supportive group of friends there. I'd highly recommend going to a group for anyone who is doing it alone.

Well, it's time for me to go and get ready for the school run. I'll let you all know how my fake burrito turns out.

Oooh, I almost forgot, I promised i'd update my pics for every stone I lost. Well, now that I have lost 1 stone, 1lb, here is the first comparison. I can't see much difference tbh. I am still hugely obese and disgusting but hey, that's what i'm doing this for eh!

Here they are:

Eugh!!!

Bye for now xxx

I am a bad blogger!!!

It seems I am not very good at updating my blog. Life as a busy mum of two boys just takes over sometimes and it's hard to get on here to write anything decent so I apologize for that. I will try my best to update daily. I think perhaps mornings are the best time for me to blog as at night once i've got the boys in bed I just want to chill out on the sofa with the favourite man in my life right now.....Dexter!! Never did a serial killer seem so attractive! Lol.

Ahem, anyway, onto the food i've been munching on over the past day or two. I had a red day on Saturday after my carb heavy day on Friday and I did feel better for it. I had my usual breakfast of yogurt and fruit then I went out with my boys for a few hours (the weather was honking and I was tempted to just stay in and mooch all day but I was craving a Subway salad. So that's what I had and boy was it yummmmmm!!

It's normally 4.5syns for a serving of the southwest sauce but the guy serving was somewhat generous so I counted 6 syns for the salad. I had it with turkey and ham and lots and lots of lovely salad veggies.

For dinner I had some fish. I think it was Pollok and I put some Nando's herbs on it and served it with some roasted peppers, mushrooms and onions. Another tasty meal and I have to say I didn't miss having the carbs with it at all

I snacked on a Curly Wurly (6syns) and a Skinny Cow ice lolly (4.5 syns) whilst watching the delectable Dexter!! So my total syns for the day were 16....whoopsie!!!

I didn't really take pics of my food for yesterday as you've seen it all before but I really enjoyed my meals but once again went over on my syns!! Double whoopsie!!! So i'm going to stick to 10 syns today and tomorrow to get back into the proper syn allowance for the week.

Yesterday I had to eat:
Yogurt with blueberries and strawberries for breakfast
Speed soup for lunch
Quorn meatballs in a tomato sauce with spaghetti and cheese (HEA) for dinner

Syns
Muller yogurt......0.5 syns
Popcorn...............5 syns
Jelly snakes........1.5 syns
Quavers.............4.5 syns
Curly Wurly.........6 syns
Total.................17.5 syns

Really must do better today and tomorrow if I want a weight loss on Wednesday.

Off to get the boys ready for the day. See ya xxxx

Mmmm...feeling confused!!

Morning all,

Just thought i'd put a wee update up for yesterday, including how the rice balls and jelly sweets turned out. Firstly, here's what I had to eat yesterday. I started off the day with the usual:

Greek yogurt, with strawberries and blueberries (1syn for the yogurt)

I didn't really do much yesterday morning apart from experiment with making the rice balls and the jelly sweets and i'm really pleased at how they turned out. Here's the pic of the rice balls 

So, the recipe is as follows: 1 packet of batchelors savoury rice (I used thai sweet chilli flavour), cooked

                                          Some potatoes, peeled, chopped and boiled till ready then mash

                                          Mix ingredients together then once cooled a little, shape into small balls

                                         Spray baking tray with frylight and place balls onto tray then spray with frylight

                                         again. Oven cook at 200/Gas mark 6 for about 15 mins then give them a turn. 

                                         I did this a few times so that they were nice and crispy. 

So,that's those. They tasted nice but I felt that they were missing something. Maybe some extra flavouring would have been good. I put mine in a tupperware dish and took them to my sisters and I must say I preferred them cold as they'd hardened up some more, but they could still have done with some extra flavour I think. I made a quick hummus and nibbled some of them whilst at my sisters to stop me munching on anything else!!

So now the jelly sweets. These were easy peasy and they are essentially just a bit like eating the kind of jelly you get in a block, although I added yogurt to mine. So here they are:

The recipe I used for these was:

1 packet of sugar free jelly crystals (any flavour you like. I had strawberry in the cupboard)

2 sachets of gelatine powder (I got this from Asda)

1/4 pint of yogurt (I used greek yogurt as it's all I had in but I've heard of people using a mullerlight)

Make the jelly up using 1/4 pint of boiling water. (If you don't want to add the yogurt, just make jelly up using 1/2 pint of boiling water) Stir in the gelatine sachets.  They add in the yogurt, if using, and stir well.  Put into a container or ice cube trays. I used a square silicone mould. Then put in fridge to set. This took about 2 hours maybe. When set, cut into squares and enjoy. 

Now, I really liked these. They weren't chewy or anything and they did as I said previously, taste a bit like jelly cubes but with added yogurt but they were sweet and I think they'd be perfect for nibbling on or taking to the cinema etc. You could try different flavours of jelly, try it with lemonade (diet of course!!) 

So, those were my experiments and I think they turned out quite well. I am going to make another batch of the jelly sweets today but without the yogurt and i'm going to cut them into lines so they look like jelly snakes!! lol

For my dinner, I made my sister and I egg, beans and chips. It was yummy. My favourite sw meal!! 

    So, as for syns and worrying about what i'd have to eat while I was there.....I was actually very good, and stayed clear of the crisps and had some choc instead. A cadbury's caramel and a fudge is what I had. 

So, my syns for the day are as follows:

Greek Yogurt ..1 syn

Pasta n sauce....1 syn

Brown sauce....1/2 syn

Shape yogurt....1/2 syn

Jelly Cubes.......1 syn

Caramel........11.5 syns

Fudge.............5.5 syns

Total syns for day....20.

I only had 8 syns yesterday as I knew I might be indulging in naughty stuff lastnight so I had plenty to cover me. The thing I'm confused about is when I got up this morning I feel really really heavy. Like if I were to step on the scales right now, I know I'd be heavier than I was on Wednesday. I know I went a bit over my syns yesterday but I feel so fat that it doesn't make sense. It feels like I felt before I lost 10lbs!!!! I don't know why.  One thing I want to stop is using syns on yogurt!!! I keep buying the shape crumble ones and the morrisons greek nume yogurt, which although it says fat free, it actually has 2 syns per pot which is very annoying. 

I haven't really planned my meals for today yet but I think i'll have speed soup for lunch and some fish for dinner. I have salmon and whiting in the freezer so I'm going to take one of those out and have it with some nice veg and potatoes for my dinner. I'll be on an extra easy day today if I have the fish so will aim to snack on plenty of super free throughout the day. 

I've rambled on long enough so I'll go and get myself organised for the day and hopefully this feeling of bloatedness will go away as the day goes on. 

xxxx

                               

A test of my willpower

Good morning readers (if there are any...lol)

Well, I'll start this blog off by reporting a 3lb weight loss on the scales this week. Woohoo!!!! That's me lost 10lbs in 2 weeks and I'm well on my way to my first mini target of 3 stones by the 1st week in May. Which means if I manage to lose 3lbs every week then i'll actually have lost 3 stones 10lbs by then. I think that is a big challenge but boy am I going to try to do it. I'd feel super proud of myself if I did manage it. Lots of speed soup and super speed foods every week should help.

I did actually make a huge pot of speed soup this week, although I only had it twice since making it before i got weighed. I'm going to aim to have a bowl of it every day to see if it boosts my weight loss. In saying that I think the plan works just fine without having to try all these extra things to speed up your losses but every little helps eh!! Plus I actually love the speed soup so it's not like i'm forcing myself to eat something just for the sake of it.

I know it's been a few days since my last blog post so here's a wee selection of the meals i've been munching on over the last few days.

This first pic is a yummy baked potato with beans and cheese from Morrisons. I almost caved and got the tuna but I knew it might be in oil and didn't know what type of mayo it would've been so I'm very proud that I went for the beans!!
                                           

                                 
I made these SW chips lastnight for my dinner as I couldn't be bothered making anything else and they were so tasty. I don't par boil my chips. Just cut into size then dab with kitchen paper then I sprayed with fry light and shook some Nando's Peri-peri salt over them then cooked in oven for half an hour or so. They were yummy!!

I went out with my wee one last week and it was tea time while we were out so we went to subway. I got a turkey and ham salad, with cheese (HEA) and southwest sauce (4.5syns) It was delicious and I really prefer this to a sandwich now. Yum yum!!

Ooh, I remember this meal. It was delicious. It was a Birds Eye salmon fillet with lemon and herb sauce (free) and I made sw roasties with it and served with a salad. It was very nice.

Mmmmm....who doesn't like mince and potatoes??? Okay, maybe someone who's vegetarian won't!! hehe. Anyway, i've not had this for soooooo long and after this pic was taken I mashed it all together and it was very very nice and so filling.

This is my usual breakfast. It's half a tub of fat free greek yogurt, sprinkled with sweetner, with fresh fruit mixed into it. I like this as it's nice and free and means I can save my healthy extras for a few hours later when i've dropped my boy off at school.

Okay, I didn't know whether to post this pic as it's not really sw friendly but it was my dinner post weigh in on wednesday. It was basically 2 braveheart burgers (free on ee) with plenty of salad, tomato sauce (1syn) but I put them inside 2 white rolls. Now I should have got wholemeal ones, and I would have but hubby had got them from the shop and since it was post weigh in I decided it would be okay as a wee treat. They were lovely.

So, there you have it. A selection of the meals (apart from the last one) that has helped get me my 3lbs off this week. These photos above are the reason why I love the slimming world plan so much. You can eat plenty of yummy food and you never have to feel hungry or deprived.

This morning I have been busy trying to prepare some healthy snacks as I am going to see my sister this afternoon and this evening. We've already decided that i'm going to make us eggs, beans and chips for dinner but usually we have lots of crisps and lots of chocolate whenever we see each other!! It's kind of a tradition and i've been worrying about what I am going to do and how I am going to stay in control when I'm with her, as my will power will be well and truly tested!! So, this morning I've made these rice ball things that I heard about in class last week. It's basically a packet of batchelors savoury rice (I used thai sweet chilli flavour), cooked then mixed in with mashed potato then you form into small balls and spray with fry light then cook in the oven. So I made them up earlier and have them chilling in the fridge just now (that wasn't a specification of the recipe but I thought it might help them keep their shape) and i'm going to put them in the oven after i've typed this so i'll let you know how they turn out.

I've also made some jelly sweets which I've got in the fridge. Hopefully they will set okay and will taste nice then i'll take them along with the rice balls to my sisters later today and will try very very hard to stay away from all the chocolate etc.

Wish me luck xxx

Long Lie's and Lee-way

As the title of this blog suggests I had a lovely long lie this morning and didn't get out of bed until 11.30am!!!! Now, I don't think since having my first child 5 years ago, have I ever slept this long and boy did I need it. Especially since I didn't get to bed until 1am lastnight. Oops! Lol. I was definitely making the most of not having to get up at the crack of dawn this morning!

So, onto the lee-way part of the title. After much deliberation both last night and this morning I have decided to cut myself some slack over yesterday's events. I am notoriously hard on myself, as I think a lot of overweight people are, and instead of being able to relax last night after a lovely day and evening with my hubby, I spent most of it feeling guilty about what I had to eat throughout the day. But then I started thinking about what I would've ate had I not been back on the slimming world plan. For a start i'd have had the breaded mushrooms and garlic dip for a starter, followed by a burger and fries at the Italian, most probably with a glass of wine. I'd have definitely bought a bag of chocolates like minstrels to share with hubby whilst watching the show, then dinner would have looked a whole lot different with my salad having lots of extra, fattening bits added to it, not to mention a couple of bread rolls. Then I'd have went for the chicken burger with cheese and bacon after that.  I'd then have came home and cracked open the wine and no doubt would've munched more naughty things whilst watching the telly.

Shocking eh!! Not to mention very gluttonous. Well, that's exactly how I used to eat, and is exactly the reason why I'm over 8 stones overweight. This is something I'm really not proud of,  but what I am proud of is how I didn't let myself have a complete blow out yesterday, and how today I am back on track 110% and am still hoping for a decent weight loss on Wednesday night.

When I think back to my wedding day which was only 6 years and 4 months ago, this is what I looked like.

So, with that in mind, when I got up I had a yummy syn free brekkie/lunch.

I really do need to work on my fried eggs to make them look more appealing don't I? Hehe. Anyway, they tasted nice and I was glad I had something nice and free and healthy to get me back to feeling good about myself after yesterday.  I had some melon and grapes after that and then we went for a nice family walk to the park and the boys had fun before it started bucketing down and we had to head back home.

For dinner, I had some of the leftover meatballs from the other day but I had it with penne pasta as I wanted to cook extra to do me for work tomorrow and there wasn't enough spaghetti for that, so that's what I had with my HEA of grated cheese mixed into it and it was as good as I remembered it. So i'm definitely looking forward to lunch tomorrow at work (yes, already!!) lol

Since I'm on a green day today and I wanted to use minimal syns after yesterday I kept my B choices till tonight when me and hubby were watching tv. So I had my 2 aldi benefit bars and two rocky road hifi light bars along with a packet of quavers for snacks.

That means total syns for the day have been 5. As I used half a syn on some brown sauce with my brekkie and 4.5 syns went on the quavers. I'm hoping that by doing this I'll manage to have at least a 2lb weight loss this week. I was, and still am hoping to lose 3lbs each week, although I know this may not always be doable and that's okay. Oh and I also got my period this afternoon so will need to account for that.

Well, after a rather successful day on plan i'm off to bed as I have to be up early for work tomorrow.

Night night xx