Saturday's story told Sunday morning!

 I was going to post yesterday's doings but fell asleep. So I am up early - it's a BEEEEEUUUUUTIFUL morning, almost....alllllmost....wrap up in a coat and have that first cup of tea with the birds but there's a sneaky chill in the wind that had me scuttling back inside but it's aaaaalllllllmost light enough to see where I need to pick up the dog without the garden light on! 

STATS

HexA - milk in coffee
HexB - 2 tblspn chia seeds - I never thought Id like them but I do! 
HS - 2 Saturday is trraditionally an eat what you want, snacks galore, all the good stuff from the big shop kinda day. So I scored 2 not for actual real hunger but for that craving at the back of my mind. I have listened to two really good you tube gurus who claim to help with this and SW online have a great article called 

Identify your craving culprits

They say know your enemy, and it’s certainly true when it comes to slimming! When you learn to recognise your triggers, it’ll do wonders for your weight loss so with that in mind I had a chocolate out of my son's xmas tub left over and savoured it. 

SYNS - 12 ! 

2.5  Crunchie bits from Cadbury's Heroes tub , 4 greek yogurt, 3 for Stokes Mayo, 2 heinz salad cream

The Syns sound high but I am not worried, because they are the SW tool that allows you to eat normally within reasons with the ability to lose weight. I could have reduced the syns by using fat free quark or yogurt and lighter versions of the mayo/salad cream and actually quark is a really good carrier of flavour and I used to use quark and full fat mayo combination in 2017-2018 and I may again. But using the syns in this way allows the F8 to come through ( though technically speaking the salad cream would be off limits due to it's sugar content )

Anyway here is how I used those syns in the day

Got up and fasted much longer than planned which is why I probably needed that chocolate the way I did. We went out in the morning after the butcher had been. We didn't get home til gone 2pm I immediately made something to eat. 

I chopped 5 boiled eggs, added greek yog, mayo, salad cream, little English mustard powder and celery salt to make a really luxurious egg mayo mix and I used a half of it piled into some really good celery sticks I have. It was so good and celery is speed. The full fat products really do keep me satiated and really do quell my 'deprived' emotional eating brain messages! 

Tea was a little bit later than I like but the late lunch drove this. 

I had lots of the rice from the Piri piri chicken meal on Thursday night. I've a portion in the freezer too! So I had bought some really beautiful big peppers and cut one in half. I mixed the cold rice with the leftover half tin of cherry tomatoes I had and added some onion granules and my favourite cajun seasoning. I spooned the rice into the pepper halves and baked it all in the oven for a good half hour. I served it with some leaves and pickled red cabbage which is speed on SW and again a bit sugary for F8  - also rice is limited on their but mine is slightly more nutritious and wholesome brown basmati rice which is why I am combining the two regimes. 

It was a delicious and filling vegetarian meal that had me full. I enjoyed some delicious defrosted strawberries with a bit of yogurt for pudding. 

Today is roast beef dinner day and I'm making the crustless quiche shortly now I have all the ingredients. That will be today's lunch and tomorrow's etc! 

TTBLF - successful day done

Friday FISH AND CHIPS?????

 Actually NO! 

 I ordered them to be delivered

Haddock and small chips just salt for Mr 24

Haddock and regular chips, curry sauce and salt n vinegar for the HG.

I paid for them.

I went to the door for them.

I even buttered the bread for them. 

Did I succumb?

No. Weeeelllll just the one pinched chip! I am human plus it's the law. Are you even a fully qualified Englishman if you don't pinch a chippy chip? 

I

had two soft boiled eggs and tenderstem broccoli instead and I really really enjoyed them. I boiled the rest of the carton of eggs for lovely slices on my salad tomorrow. The HG will have a lovely egg mayo butty! 

I had a light tea because I'd had a full portion of the left over piri-piri chicken from last night with the rest of a jar of pickled cabbage at lunch. 

Very unattractive pic - I ate it straight from my container as I was in a rush and it saves the planet by one less pot to wash! 

I partook of a few syns at work.I successfully avoided the absolutely mahoosive chocolate gateaux that was in the staffroom for someone's birthday. But in the afterschool club I handed out these little bags and thought why not! Very enjoyable for not many syns at all. I guestimated 4 syns but they are only 3 syns a bag. I have just looked them up on SW online. I need to check out getting my app working to try out the scanning facility. I need to change the password or something. 

So it's Saturday tomorrow and I am going to make a crustless quiche - I have bought medium eggs and will follow my friend's recipe closely to see if I can replicate how lovely hers is! I have ordered a piece of salmon cut beef from the butcher for Sunday tea. It's so easy to make a roast dinner SW friendly. I will use spray oil and syn it for the roasts as I'm off fry light forever! Lots of veg and you can syn yorkshires and the gravy. I will not be making the creamy rice pudding this week! I'd really like a little loss on Monday to kick off the month of March. TTBLF one more day done! 

Thursday post 2

 Stats

Fasted 8pm - 12noon

Meal 1 pasta bake leftovers with pickled red cabbage

Meal 2 piri piri chicken made by my son 

HEXa 30g cheese

HEXb 0 

HS 0 was fine all day, no cravings or low blood sugar crashes 

Been quite high on sugar via pasta and rice - though the rice was brown basmati in tea

I sliced an extra tomato to bake on top of the pasta bake that was left from the night before 

Tea was a recipe from my new SW fast and easy recipe book that I got free with my 12 week countdown. Verdict - lovely and will made again. 

Today was an ok day, mood and food wise. Back tomorrow for another try! 

How is it Thursday already ?

 So it's been a few days since I updated. It might be a bit rambly. 

Monday evening brought weigh in at class

I was expecting a gain of about 4lbs.  The scales said 2lbs on. 

I am not saying things like 'I got away with it etc' I actually thing I possible could have had a bigger gain but because I returned mostly to my plan, I already re lost some of it. After my Sunday of delicious food something happened that I've worked very hard on and that was I turned off that inner voice of self hatred and diabolical self abusive talk which meant on Monday morning I was perfectly happy to fast until lunchtime without raging so hard over the inevitable sugar cravings. 

A lot of people are all about drawing the line etc and I have decided I'm now overly fond of that because it implies it didn't happen ! I think sometimes that is giving 'permission' as such to have a binge. It is a good way though for re starting. Never give up trying as that IS a good way of thinking.  Someone asked me if the routine of being at work helps me to stay on track as such and my honest answer is not really either way, in fact right now in my current role it makes it trickier. Planning is key, especially when I'm short of time. Planning takes effort. It's the effort that's hard! 

Monday night's class was the special taster night and this particular group go ALL OUT! It really is a feast! Also a little bit funny as most people bring out the slow cookers!! I took an all in one dish that I invented but didn't enter in to the competition. 

I made it in the slow cooker as I was at work but it is better in the oven. It's like a baked chicken risotto but I made it with turkey breast and pearl barley. I grated carrot, added chopped baby leeks and shallot, stock and seasoning. It was tasty but not as good as it usually is which is why I didn't enter. Also it does look like something a cat might barf up! 

The dish that won was a meatballs in basil and tomato sauce. It was good.  The other dishes from memory included

sweet n sour chicken and rice - yum

gin pasta - yum

beef tagine - not a fan as it had lots of olives in it and the taste wasn't for me

a minced beef curry - because it was in the slow cooker it was too mushy in texture so a no from me

A take on Nando's chicken - now never having ever been to Nando's I am not sure what their chicken tastes like to compare but this dish was rather tasty

cheese and mushroom risotto - lovely

pork and cabbage stew - lovely

spicy chicken soup - lovely

my friend took her crustless quiche - she makes it so much nicer than mine - mine always has a watery residue in the dish - hers is firm and lovely - she reckons on 6 medium eggs where I always buy large or extra large so it's maybe that? Anyway her quiche was beautiful as always - I am going to make one this weekend. 

salt and pepper chips - delicious

crusty coated roast potatoes - delicious

A lentil and mushroom cottage pie and that was delicious. I will make that. 

There were salads, syn free hummus dips made with beetroot ( YAK ) and red pepper ( YUM ) and salads and fresh fruit platters!!!! 

There was so much food they had to bring another table out! I'd told my friend about how good they were and she quipped just to think at our group ( in 2017-2018 ) people brought tomatoes on sticks!!!! ( Not that there's anything wrong with that hahahah )

So I've successfully been fasting until lunch and eating well. Poached eggs with tenderstem broccoli, boiled eggs with SW sausages as soldiers. SW  bolognaise that I've had with traditional spaghetti and last night I made a sort of pasta bake with the two portions left. I boiled the pasta and mixed it in the meat with 30g cheddar cheese for one portion of hex a . The other portion I'm warning through for lunch today. Tea will based on the chicken breasts I've taken out of the freezer. Maybe marinated in yogurt and spices and served with rice and salad or roasted for simple roast dinner with veg. CANNOT wait for tomorrow as I've taken some CF Stew out to defrost!

This was tea one night but f SW sausage, boiled potato, peas and carrots and 4syns worth of gravy - lovely on a small plate! 

My pasta bake

I measured out two portions of HEXa cheese - what’s 1g between friends!!! 

I am writing this on my laptop but I might have some photos on my phone ( I did! See above )to add so I will check. I have nothing major planned socially so can just plough on eating healthily and eating well. I am trying to move more - which is so much easier the lighter I get and the less painful my joints get. 22 laps of the playground = a mile and now it's  getting lighter - as much as we can weatherwise we will be playing out at Night Owls so I will start to build it up! Maybe 2 laps a night at first! then three etc

I also will be looking at changing the layout and theme of this blog because I don't like it! 

STATS

Fasting from 8pm last night.....

Black tea and water so far

TTBLF - today going well so far! 

Sunday - well less said soonest mended!

No photos just words. 

No stats. 

 Breakfast - porridge - more than HEXb and made with milk and cream - oh dear 

Lunch - last of the swamp soup from the freezer with some cottage cheese stirred through - speed veg, good ish until I added the crust of the sour dough loaf and thickly buttered it - oh dear oh dear 

Tea - spaghetti bolognaise - 5% mince, all healthy all SW on plan, spaghetti, free food on plan but I had a bigger portion than I should have - pure greed and it’s laughable that I grated the HEXa allowance of Parmesan cheese on it 

Laughable because I made a rice pudding with full fat milk, double cream and clotted cream. 

 Had a small bowl of it. Small bowl was full to brim, AND I licked the serving spoon AND I scraped the skin from the edge of the dish it was made in ( chef’s perks - it’s the law ) 

Oh dear oh dear oh dear 

It’s back to school for me tomorrow. We’ve stayed in all day. It’s weigh in - the first for two weeks after the hen do and afternoon tea. 

The scales will say what the scales will say. It’s me that’s eaten ALL the things today! This blog is got me to be accountable. I think my mindset is changing a little as I’m trying my best to keep that inner voice of hatred and loathing at bay. What I’ve eaten today was tasty, home made and in no way am I going to sabotage myself because of it! 

We’ve been watching a Vera and the HG has just snored his way through the ending - I rarely guess it right - didn’ t get it tonight!!! 

Storm Franklin is raging and seems worse at my house than Eunice or Dudley. Maybe school will have blown away in the wind!! 

So it’s our Taster tomorrow at SW and the group turns out with AMAZING full dishes! I have options 

1. Take some campfire stew 

2. Take the rest of my bolognaise sauce

3. I’ve got out some Turkey breast steaks that I was going to fashion into a kind of risotto but with pearl barley instead.  

No recipe - as ever with me - it’s a chick it in and see. 

With a nod back to Joy’s comments re the source of recipes. Like she said there’s only so many ways you can combine foods into a dish and call it your own! I was keen to source the Pinch of Nom book as the basis for my version of the campfire stew. 

Generally if I am trying a new recipe from a book I will follow it to the letter but then I will alter it next time you o suit my tastes and store cupboard! 

It’s like I make My nanna’s rice pudding - but she will have got it from somewhere and when I ‘creed’ the rice I have no idea if that’s a correct technical term but she said that’s what I had to do so that’s what I do! I’m quite famous for baking Aunty Olive’s which are an old fashioned ginger snap biscuit that Aunty Olive used to make - I have the recipe in her handwriting - she probably got it from the bero book! 

I’m waffling on now.

So I have no plans for tomorrow beyond get up, get dressed, go to work. Fast until 10 ish as the nurture breakfast is at 10.10am on a Monday. 

Lunch will be left over bolognaise sauce with a jacket potato half and some salad and tea will be whatever goodies there are on the taster table. 

TTBLF efforts renewed tomorrow. I do t really do well setting targets but I’d like to be a little less lumpy in my posh frock at the wedding I’m going to at the beginning of April - that’s what I’m going for. 

Goodnight x

Snow day Saturday

 Not recorded my stats today. Fasted until lunch where I had campfire stew, veg and 30g cheese grated and melted on top. So good. So not photograph worthy, I ate it out of the tub to save washing up! 

Tea was going to be a

Prawns and salad but I forgot to take the prawns out. The oven was going on and I really fancied fish n chips so had handful of oven chips none SW so synned two chunky fish fingers  - only ate the coating on one and mushy peas. I wanted bread but had none! 

Had a two finger kitkat with a coffee 

That’s it apart from the three winegums I just pinched from the HG’s bag - ( I’m sat in his chair and they were

In striking distance!!! ) 

TTBLF -

Hopefully will be on Monday! 

Friday egg wrap day

 Today I boiled the quail eggs I bought. They are are a right swine to peel but I loves them. Such a treat! 

Meal 1 when I broke my fast at 12 noon was a tuna wrap n a bed of leaves and the leftover fruit from yesterday before it went off. It’s been a stormy day here and it was the last day of half term for me so I had time to create. 

The wrap is made by whisking two whole eggs with salt, pepper and a few onion granules and dry frying it slow over a low heat. It’s a bit rubbery but perfect wrap texture and much better for me than the wheat wraps in the shops. 

I mixed a tin of tuna with three chopped spring onions, a bit of chopped cucumber, a chopped up red roasted pepper from a jar, a tablespn of stokes real mayonnaise and a tablespoon of full fat Greek yogurt. I added two tspns of apple cider vinegar to cut through the fat and to add flavour. It was so tasty. I was a very greedy mare and ate the lot! I put it on the wrap and added three of the quails eggs! It was so tasty. Photos out of synch. No pic of meal 2 which was identical to yesterday - campfire stew with veg. 

No stats - need to look up the syns of the Greek yog and mayo but feel sure it’ll prob be about 6 in total for both if that. Bluebell had a quails egg on the shell - interesting lawn harvest there tomorrow!!! 

The wind has died down and it’s 9.24pm. The HG is watching telly thru his eyelids and my bed is calling me! I’m hoping come weigh in on Monday night any hen do weight and afternoon tea weight gain will have been damage limitated and I’ll be back where I was! Any off will be a bonus. If it’s on then it’s on and I will carry on eating this way as I feel great! 

 Tomorrow will be campfire stew n veg again and veggie soup with cheese in. Well, that’s the plan. Bit of sad news tonight that I’m not going into on here has sent the emotional eating thoughts into freefall. So far I’ve not let it overwhelm. 

TTBLF x

Thursday 17th Feb

I have decided to add more daily stats and I think it makes more sense to me to add them at the end. 

Today has been a more SW day than F8. Last week this made me feel hungrier. I chose chia seeds and full fat yogurt to keep hunger pangs at bay. I have had a day in my craft room limiting my time in the kitchen. 

Breakfast 10.30am

Lunch 2.30pm

Sausage casserole from the freezer that I made last week. Plus two eggs scrambled into it, plus a good two handfuls of leaves. Filling and warming. All free food. 

Tea 6.45pm

Campfire stew served on a bed of steamed cabbage, cauli and broccoli with 30 delicious grams of fresh parmesan grated on top. 

Absolutely stuffed to the gills. But on track and feeling good about it. 

STATS

Slept - 10-11 on chair, 11 - 5 in bed = 6 hours in total

Fasted from 7pm Wed to 10.30am  Today = 15.5 Hours

TRE 10.30am - 7pm 

MEALS - 3

HEX a - 30g parmesan grated

HEX b - 2 x tblspns chia seeds

Syns - 5 for 125g full fat greek yogurt

HS - 0 but if I had a feel fat scale, because I am full now, I'd be at the top because feeling full = FEELING FAT,

Trying to be less fat, Thursday might help! 

Wednesday of half term.

 Well I was awake at 4 due to the howling wind and my full bladder! 

Came down and drank a pint of water over about 10 minutes at 6.15am 

The tablets and turmeric are not mine! I do take a glucosamine and chondromitin supplement every morning and a magnesium supplement. 

I plan on breaking my fast today about 10am 

I plan on having 3 meals today. 

I plan on live blogging which is why it is written in the present tense and will be posted later this evening. 

It’s now 8.53am and I’m going to have a coffee with a splash of milk. I’ll then tidy round a bit and am going to make some bread. Takes willpower to not sample my own wares hahaha but the menfolk have wagyu burgers to try for tea and I need some buns! 

10am Glass water

10.30am breakfast. " soft boiled eggs - free range hence difference in yolk colour and the paler one actually was nicer than the golden one. I had it with one large baked plum tomato and two large mushrooms which are classed as SW Free food. I saw the bacon as soldiers idea on Face Book and whereas that was a F8 full fat streaky bacon recipe, I used two pieces of maple lean back bacon from the butcher with any visible fat cut off making it free food on SW, also the meat and eggs are protein. 

I had a glass of water whilst I made it and I served it with a glass of water too. 

11.23am - milky coffee made with milk from my HEXa allowance done in my gadget to make a flat white. AM full up so far! 

 1.20pm glass water and out before the storm hits with Blubell 

2.00 - back - I ain’t messing about out there! Glass water

2.28pm cup of tea 

Aaargh the timings went to pot after this 

I got jigsawing! I made buns

and I had one at teatime so no photo. Come on Rachel! This is no good. 

Still half a day ‘on it’ is better than a full day ‘off it’

Tomorrow I will be better at it! However 

Realistically it’s not that bad - I could count it as my HEXB or syn it within syns. It was good food that I made. No artificial additives etc. 

Will have some water before bed and will try to sleep through the storm. 

So STATS 

Fasted until 10.30am 

TRE 10.30am - 7.00pm 

Water - plenty

HEXa -

Milk allowance 

HEXb - bread roll 

HS - 0 - not felt any hunger pangs at all. 

Trying to be less fat tomorrow! 

Back on track

So after the weekend and yesterday’s Afternoon tea, it’s back to it. 

STATS

HS - 8 - it’s been hard to switch the carb w

Switch off in my brain. 

SYNS -  3 for the salad cream on my tea

HEX B  - 2 x weetabix 

HEX A - 250ml milk 

FASTED until 12 

First meal - was going to have eggs and bacon but had weetabix for time ease 

Had a busy ish day of house jobs and moving about 

Second meal was a large chicken salad at tea time. 

Lettuce, celery, spring onion, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, the last of the roast chicken and a large boiled potato in it’s skin with some pickled onions and beetroot and some salad cream over the top - must remember a la Joy - take photo before Salad cream hahahahaha 

The potatoes are a variety called Sun kings and they were on offer in Sainsrobbers billed as an all rounder. 

Well the menfolks were having sausage mash n beans so I boiled the spuds in their skins and put them through the ricer. Bluebell enjoyed the skins as a post tea. snack

I think they tasted a bit like the Matabele potatoes you can get from Asda. 

I will avoid the simple carbohydrates tomorrow a la F8 more. Campfire stew from pinch of nom is in the slow cooker. Looking forward to it so much. I treated myself to some quails eggs but could

Not have them on my tea tonight because eating eggs with chicken makes me morally queasy!!! 

Tomorrow’s plan is to up my water and get the dog out before the winds start. 

Off to bed now. Been fasting since 7 when I’d finished my tea. 

Didn’t photo the weetabix! Will try to photograph everything I eat tomorrow 

Been on a Hen Do

Thank you to Joy for your comments - it’s true re the breaking my fast earlier to avoid sickness - it wasn’t done on purpose- it was that that day was so crazy busy and I was from one thing straight into an other it wasn’t until I was finished with that part of the day that I realised If not eaten. I’d never do it on purpose.  So after a week on plan, Friday after school meant travel to the lakes to be on the hen party that was postponed from two years ago - thanks covid. 

The bridesmaids were chief organisers. We got there to a huge platter of buffet goodness! What I loved about it was - they’d covered the table in foil and just arranged the food on the foil. Zero washing up and it looked AMAZING! 

So sticking to my guns, I only drank water, I chose l

Salad, ham and a few dollops of full fat dips. I had two platefuls

Of salad. I didn’t have any of the cake, brownies and crispies on offer either. I went to bed about 10pm shattered. Next day, I had some strawberries and blueberries for breakfast and then I scrambled an egg, with a little milk in a cup in the microwave 

Then because the planned boat cruise was cancelled due to the horrific weather, we had some time to mooch round the shops in Bowness before the cocktail making at 3pm 

Charity shop -1, teddies bought for Bluebell - 2, small bowl of chips in Bryson’s tearoom -1 ! Lovely with a cup of tea and a perfect pre cocktail making snack. 

Cocktail making was fun 

I had a blackberry gin and lemonade in there before making a pornstar martini which we were instructed to drink with a shot of prosecco - it was good fun - we were behind the bar doing it for real! Then I made something else that was delicious blue sunset on the shore or something  but I forget it’s name. Then we had a baileys espresso shot. Again yum. 

Next we went to the lakeside pizza bar where I had a pink cherry gin which was my last alcoholic drink of the day. I had water after that. I ordered a vegetarian pizza but in a fit of greed I also ordered a garlic bread with cheese. Well I ate maybe 3/4 max of the pizza and 3 slices of GBWC. It was salty. The pizza bases with very thin but I was so full and my mouth had been tingling since!! 

Back at the house where we stayed earlier, myself and two chums had a face mask and a cup of tea! 

Sunday morning - this morning - I had a milky coffee and two poached eggs on one slice of toast. I made poached eggs for the others too. I had the ones that broke!

 Then we packed up and travelled home. I don’t think I did too ‘badly’ as it were. I chose well Friday. I wish I’d not ordered the GBWC  but I did. 

I got home and we nipped to Sainsrobbers for a few bits before going to my Ma in laws: was quite busy and active there. Came home and had a tiny little bit of pate and some prawn cocktail on two thin finger slices of seeded bread. Broke a bit of knackered tooth off round an old filling! So now my tongue is sore from always finding the jagged bit that feels like a cavern. 

I roasted a chicken for tea. I had plain boiled potatoes which were so nice for a change ( men folk had buttery mash as per ) and I did have stuffing made with butter and glazed carrots made with butter, cauli and cavelike Nero. Forgot to take a photo. 

I’ve booked a ‘holiday’ from SW tomorrow as I’m also out for Afternoon tea which is something I do with my friend in honour of her Mum. We normally go quaite posh but tomorrow  we are upping the posh stakes by goi g to Lindeth Howe! 

My plan is to fast until afternoon tea at 1 and probably not bother with anything else until Tuesday when FSW8 or whatever it was I called it, will recommence and it being Half Term means I can get on with it properly! 

I am very content with this week. I almost backed out of going. I’m so glad I didn’t. 

TTBLF after tomorrow! 

Wednesday 9th Feb

 It was a whirlwind of a day.

I had to be at work early for a meeting and then we made the executive decision to go to a peer support group meeting in the afternoon because we had missed ALL of the meetings due to Nurture and we felt like we needed it! 

STATS

HS - 55 about 3.30pm - felt waffy  ( see why below )so had two mini bananas at 3.30pm

SYNS -  13.5 in total - 3 for a mini turkish delight, 10.5 for half packet of veg crisps -  had to try them and won't buy them again as they are SO MOREISH - took a lot of willpower to put them away! 

HEX B  - didn't have

HEX A - didn't have

FASTED until 1.30pm

So I went to work early as had a meeting with a lady from a PRU who was coming to observe a cherub we have in Nurture. Just had the usual pint of water and a black coffee.

<managed to drink water through the morning and had a black coffee whilst the children had their lunch. Then we made the choice to go straight to our Pastoral Partnership ( I coined that name for it ) meeting which is a large peer support group of all the Learning Mentors and the ilk in the area. It was the first face to face one we had been too and although there were the poshest of biscuits out I resisted and just had a milky coffee breaking my fast. 

I'd not missed eating anything as I'd been so breakneck busy all day. It was only when we returned to school at 3.30pm that I said to my work wife that I felt really sick - she commented that she did too. Really sick. I then said - it is because neither of us has eaten anything! So we raided the spare fruit from school - it had been mini bananas and I had two and immediately felt better. I then run the afterschool childcare til 5.30pm so chose to not have the biscuits or crisps that we have in there - and it was hard because we just had an Asda delivery of ALL the different kind of crisps and snacks .

Once home, I found Mr 24 making a traditional sausage casserole for him and the HG and I knew I had mine in the fridge. However I also had the leftover tuna salad that I hadn't had at lunch because I'd not been home at lunch. 

I wanted to colour my roots ( hen party at the weekend and no time to do it Friday ) AND I had an Ocado delivery coming 7.30  -  8.30 so I chose to eat the rest of the tuna salad about 6pm. I added extra beetroot again and it was lovely.

All gone! 

I did my hair. The shopping came as I was just rinsing it off and I came down to see that the veg crisps I spied on the Ocado offers page had come. I should have checked the SW site for the syns because they are quite high and I probably would not have got them BUT they are a new to me thing which is irresistible hahaha and if I was counting calories F8 style, I would have been within the amounts for the day. 

They were delicious.  Proper thick slices of beetroot, sweet potato and carrot. What I SHOULD have had was a portion of my sausage cassoulet thingy but instead I had half a packet of these AND a mini turkish delight. 

It had been a stressful busy full on day. 

I fell asleep as per since covid, very early mid programme ( The Bay ) which was a good thing because I would have probably gone for the rest of the bag! 

RE the Ocado - just noting it here - I have zero supermarket loyalty - I had an email for free next day delivery and love the fact you can get M&S stuff on there now, I miss the Waitrose element mind.  It's also competitively priced for somethings - my broccoli was only 49p for a head! If you've never - give it a try! You find more unusual things - see above! 

Day done !

Tuesday 8th Feb

So at class last night, the leader talked about eating slowly and smaller plates which I thought are good tactics. I was very organised and had a perfect on plan kinda day. 

STATS

HS - 0 I had to force myself to eat some of the lunch because I had made it

SYNS - 4 for 100g full fat Greek yogurt 

HEX B 40g No added sugar muesli

HEX A - 250ml milk in coffees

FASTED until 10.30am

So the first thing I ate today was my overnight oats which in truth were overnight overnight oats, any longer and they'd have been over week oats! The reason being, I think I said, was I'd weighed out the muesli ( bonus raisins included in the Hexb allowance! ) and added some frozen blueberries ( allowed on F800 ) and some frozen peach and nectarine slices ( too high in sugar for F800 which is why I am combining the two theories ) and left them on the side in my covered tub to defrost and then I was planning on eating them for lunch but would add the yogurt then. Anyhoo, when Id gone to work, Mr 24 had helpfully put it in the fridge for me meaning when I came to it Monday lunchtime, it was still frozen! 

So I left it out again, stirred it up and added a few more blueberries and 100g of the full fat greek yogurt, It is a game changer, honestly. It is so much more creamier and satisfying - like I said on my main blog when I properly started the Fast 800 as a trial, it was very hard to ditch the low fat and fat free mentality that had been indoctrined into me. I am NOT gping public at classes with this - would be lynched hahahah 

Anywayyyyyy, at 10.30 on a Monday we were child free for 15 glorious minutes ( one was on exclusion and the others go back to class for story and snack. ) so I broke my fast from 7.30 pm the night before at 10.30 with the delicious double overnight oats. So satisfying, so satiating and creamy and filling. So much so that when it came to 1pm for me to go home and have lunch I really struggled to have any. 

I had got up and been very organised, I made myself a tuna salad whilst I did the HG packed lunch. I chose one of my smaller plates and on it went plenty of speed. Lettuce, 3 cherry toms chopped ( F8 say high sugar so limit them ), 2 x sticks celery, cucumber, 1/4 of a fresh red pepper, 3 x spring onions and one delicious roasted red pepper from a jar of brine - free food and so tasty - quite expensive from the main supermarkets but much cheaper in home bargains type shops. I added a full tin tuna. 

 It is a small plate - 

These are my new 'habitat' plates  from Sainsrobbers. They were in the sale and I really like them because of the lip - stops the gravy from spilling! The side plates are larger than standard side plates, however, a tuna salad which would have filled the large plate would be perfectly acceptable on the SW way of eating. 

Had I not had the oats, I would have managed the lot. But I was not hungry so I waited until it was almost time to back to work. I halved it into a bowl, added some beetroot to eat at lunch and put the rest back in the fridge. 

Tea - had planned to have chicken breast roasted with veg. However, when I went to the fridge I'd bought braising steak instead haha. So into my trusty enamel dish went 

3 x frozen SW sausages from Iceland, halved

1 x tin chopped tomatoes - try the Mutti brand if you find them on offer - SO much better than smart price for depth of flavour - my dears, if you can, you are worth the price of a better tin of tomatoes.  I do have smart price ones in and will use them of course, but since I found these - game changed! 

1 x tin cannelloni beans

2 x handfuls mixed  value pack frozen veg - peas, carrots, tiny specks broccoli, sweetcorn, broken bits green beans 

1 x teaspn cajun seasoning stirred into the chopped tomatoes

2 x shallots chopped

4 x mushrooms chopped

I threw it all in and whacked it in the oven for an hour. I stirred it every 20 minutes, bringing the sausage up to the top to brown. I didn't add any stock or water beyond the splash of water I rinsed out the tin of tomatoes with as the frozen veg and mushrooms released water during cooking. It made a really rich, delicious filling meal. I split it into three portions meaning 1 sausage in each. Doesn't sound a lot, but because it's so rich and tasty and the beans add protein, it's enough. So nice. 

It was later than my usual 7pm ish but I started the FAST ( hahaha see post one about it just being normal eating pattern in the olden days hahah ) at 8pm. 

A good day done!

 

Loss recorded!

 STATS

Fasted - until 10am 

HEXa 500ml semi skimmed milk hot 

HEXb all bran ( had it after class )

HS 8 quite high after coming back from class due to one girl’s obsession with pizza and takeaway .

Honestly she did my head in a bit! 

Just back from class, loss of 3lbs which is fab and means I’m only 1.5lbs to where I got to on Christmas Eve. I’ve committed to the next 12 weeks by buying a countdown. 

I’ve a hen weekend coming up and whilst I’ll not be going all out, there’ll be drinking cocktails and a meal or three out. 

What I will do is 

Be best as I can until Friday teatime and be right back on it when I get back home at lunchtime Sunday. 

Had a pear at 10am, lunch was ham, cucumber, lettuce

Tea was cereal and hot milk. Late for eating but it’s class day - next week I might take my tea. 

I’ve made overnight oats for tomorrow 

- they were supposedly to be for today but Mr 24 helpfully put them back in the fridge! 

TTBLF  3lbs closer whoooo hoooo. 

How was my Sunday?

 It was pretty much on plan

STATS 

Sunday 6th Feb

Fasted  -  until 12 noon

Syns - 0

Hex A x 2 milk in coffee

Hex B  2 x hi fi peanut butter 

Lunch - 2 eggs whisked and dry fried into a delicious wrap - I added onion granules and salt and pepper. 

I added a huge pile of lettuce, cucumber, spring onions, tomato and 2 rashers of maple lean back bacon. Lovely, low sugar and sun free. I had a coffee for afters, 2 x hifi peanut butter bars - I got them to try - nice but oh the additives - joints are protesting! Theyve all gone now as the HG likes them too. An afternoon of relaxing nothingness followed.

Tea was home roasted gammon - so tender and a pile of green veg. No photo as I scoffed it!  I've tried to up my water intake today. Class is tomorrow night at 6.30pm so will be back after that tomorrow to report. 

How was your Sunday? 

Here we go then

 So, I am finally sorting this post out on Sunday 6th Feb morning. It's been in drafts. Once published I will try and add the follower button etc. I am also trying to add labels on this blog. Next week I should be posting daily - I was way to ambitious to promise 2 posts a day - so I think I will post after tea the day's news. But when I can and in the mood, I may post more often. 

I might try a key to save explaining throughout. SW members will recognise terms and conditions! Fast 800ers might recognise some things. Please ask me if I say something you don't understand. 

Trying To Be Less Fat .....or TTBLF KEY!

Healthy Extra A or B ....or HEXa or HEXb ( SW plan includes a measurable amount of fibre rich foods 1 x B and calcium rich foods 2 x A that you should have each day, every day, in order to keep healthy but they are EXTRAS so it's not too worrying if you miss here and there )

FAST 800 ............................F8 

TRE ..................... Time Restricted Eating -  where you eat your meals in a window of hours. In the olden days this was just called a normal daily diet!!! ie Sleep all night - fasting. Eating breakfast, dinner tea before bed ! Time Restricted Eating!!! 

 According to Dr Mosely all sorts of good things happen in your body when you eat zero sugar and regularly fast, When I first learned about this it blew my mind a little as I'd long gone along with the theory if you don't eat within an hour of waking, your metabolism is not kick started and runs low, making weight loss difficult.  But I found it was quite manageable for me and it is better when I can have my lunch break 12-1 but that's not what my timetable is right now so I am having to adapt.  ( Nuture supervision of the children at lunch is do able to eat my lunch but it's if I am prepared which is something I need to work on. 

Slimming World ..................SW

Hunger Scale.......................... HS I might record this on a scale of  1  to starving! eg HS 10 - could eat a scabby horse, HS 1 - could wait a little to eat something -  not fully decided on this but it might be a useful record over time to see what, if anything, affects my appetite.) 

CBA.....................Cannot/Could not be arsed!

First meals....

ONLY JOKING🙈

However, this is what greeted me when I walked in on Friday 4th Feb after work! Mr 24 baking a very delicious smelling and looking cake but no idea what it tastes like because I have not partaken! I have had cake before, I will have cake again, just not right now!

So I went to class Monday night and had a good catch up with my friend. Feeling renewed I posted on here, ready to start.

Tuesday 1st Feb

Fasted  -  only black coffee and tea until 1pm. HS 0

Syns - 2 ( butter )

Hex A x 2 milk in coffee

Hex B 0 

So first lunch of the TTBLF regime was 2 boiled eggs with some tenderstem broccoli that I coated in one level teaspoon of real butter. Worth every syn. I am yet to log on online to SW to get the up to date syn values on things but as one is allowed up to 15 a day and I'm not eating any other synnable things the butter is well included in my daily allowance. 

It is more tasty than you might think! This is a F8 type recipe  

Tea was  left over roast chicken from Sunday tea,  some swede and turnip mash, veg and some roasted celeriac which is what the pale looking thing is next to the chicken. First try - I’m not a fan but then I tried one of the bits that I’d left in the oven too long and it was very well done - and yes, I will do it again! It's a very low sugar alternative to potatoes. 

Wednesday 2nd Feb

Fasted 7pm - 1pm - HS 0

Syns 1/2 - Greek Yog, 2 - olive oil

I made some Swamp soup. Normally I call my soup Manky Veg Soup but this was MVS in a class of it's own.  That’s because it looks like a swamp and it smells like one!

This soup was so good!!!  You wouldn’t think so given what’s in it!  If you'd like to try it for yourself. You will need 

1 x mushroom stock cube ( my favourite - I use KALLO stock cubes where possible and they are on offer)

1 x veggie stock cube

A whole manky cauliflower with bad bits cut off 

See above for prep re 

 2 x Leek,  4  turnips, 3/4 head broccoli plus the stalk, 18 sprouts, 1 x courgette. 

 1 x In date perfectly good shallot 

Boiling water  for the stock - I make it in a jug before tackling the veg. 

Chop all the veg. 

Put in a large pan.

Add the stock so it just covers. 

Bring to boil and simmer until all the veg is soft 

Blitzed with a stick blender and season to taste. 

Makes 4 hefty portions.

Stinks to high heaven, looks like a swamp 

Bloody beautiful!!!

First serving was for my lunch with the addition of some cubed ham and a tablespoon of full fat greek yogurt - 4 syns per 100g so 1 tablespoon is 15g so I will call it 1/2 a syn. It was really filling and I didn't feel hungry until tea time. 

Tea on Wednesday was an adaptation of the Pinch of Nom Cajun dirty rice recipe.

I used chicken breast instead of beef mince. I used olive oil ( 1 tablespoon = 2 syn ) instead of Frylight - I need to buy some of the spray oil that is just oil. I once bought a reusable bottle but don't know where that is. The spray oils reckon it's 2 calories for one spray. SW syns are based on 20 calories = 1 syn so I would use 10 sprays of oil for 1 syn. The spray oils are good for coating veg you want to roast in the oven etc. 

 I was getting help from Mr 24 who likes this too but he likes to follow a recipe to the letter, so when he came to me panic stricken when he had discovered I. Had. No. Carrots. I nearly tipped him over the edge when I said, nonchalantly, oh there's a bag of frozen mixed veg with carrots in it, use a dish full of that. He went pale.  He gulped and did as he was told because he knows better than to argue! so basically you fry off onions, garlic, chicken, add cajun seasoning - I prefer BARTS over any others - to taste. Then add veg - peppers and carrots and whatever else is in the bag of frozen veg mix hahah then stock and simmer for a bit. At the same time cook a pan of basmati rice in a stock cube and a bay leaf. In fact I get the rice on before I start with the meat prep. Once done, drain and stand and take out the bay leaf. 

When meat is cooked, you add the drained cooked rice to the meat mix, stir all together with some chopped spring onions. Its so good, filling and makes loads. It made 5 hefty portions.  We had one each for tea. I had one for the next day and froze two for next week. 

Usually,  according to the principles, a  SW meal is served with at least 1/3 speed on the plate - this is all non starchy veg. However as my lunchtime soup was 100% speed and this had plenty in it, I just had the bowlful you see.  I had planned on having some berries and yogurt for pudding but I was too full! So chose not to. 

Thursday 3rd Feb

Fasted  -  until 10 am

Syns - 0

Hex A x 2 60g grated cheese

Hex B x 0

HS - 5 I'm not sure if it was the earlier breaking of fast, or the high sugar of the banana - and it was only a teeny tiny one that the children at school have for their free fruit, but I definitely was feeling hunger pangs and it was hard to resist snacking before I had my lunch. 

I had a banana at snack time with the children at 10am breaking  no my snacking rules but as it was the first thijng I ate it was my breakfast. Bananas are a big fat NO on FAST 800 but I'm doing FastSW or SW800 or  whatever I called it last post, and a banana is good nutritious food, better than processed junk.  I had a portion of the cajun rice at lunchtime and then the soup again at tea time but with 60g grated cheese in it. So good!

Friday 4th Feb

Fasted  -  until 10am

Syns - 27 !!! 50g grated mozarella, oven fries, ketchup

Hex A x 2 30g grated cheese , 250ml semi skimmed milk hot, in coffee

Hex B x 1 - branflakes

Breakfast was with the children -  I chose branflakes and had them crunchy ( we are trying to encourage different foods and textures so it is important I do particiapte and model what we want but I am finding that when I eat before noon it does increase my appetite and I feel myslef looking forlornly at the cupboard where I know the snacky type things are! ) 

Lunch was soup with double cheese! It was more cheese than soup! The other two soups are in the freezer for next week. 

Tea went a bit awry! The HG was having summat and oven chips. I could have cobbled something together but I was tired out after a very challenging week, I had managed at last to complete an epic referral form that had been ongoing and needed to be finished. But the brain effort and time effort it took was hideous. Work is relentless with no time for a wee break!  So  I definitely had a CBA tea was two handfuls of Iceland's skin on fries and a dollop of tomato ketchup. In the book, it says 5.5syns for 100g of skinny fries. These are skin on ones from Iceland and are not as skinny as French fries. Once I log in online I can scan items and look them up so I know that my two handfuls were probably more than 200g and then I had ketchup ( 1syn per tblspoon )so have put syns at 20 to cover it. I did not snack in between and did not eat after I had them. 

SW allows for flexi syns - where some people count the full week's allowances and knock them down each day -  I suppose what keeps people on plan is best. What kept me on plan was I am glad I had them. They were oven baked. Skin on! Processed but were just potatoes and oil on the ingredient list. I could have chosen to not eat anything for tea and then snack the night away. I didn't. 

Saturday 5th Feb

Fasted  -  until 12.30pm am

Syns - will need to look up but had a tiny Turkish delight mini bar that I found when I went into DANGEROUS TERRITORIES

Hex A x 1 250 mls semi skimmed milk in coffee

Hex B x 25 hazelnuts - grazed on them as made lunch so they were like my starter!

We had my Ma in law over for the day. She has mixed dementia and my Sis in law who does majority of care plus carers x 2 a day couldnt go as my bro in law has covid, so eeven though the rules say everyone else can go about their business, much like the HG did when I had covid ( before he tested positive ) , they stayed away to protect her as much they can. 

Anyway we went into DANGEROUS TERRITORIES before we collected her from home. We needed some coal and I like to have a couple of the cheap firelogs in stock as they are handy for a little fire after work when we don't need a full hog one! I challemge anyone to go into HOME BARGAINS and come out with what they had on their list! 

Up and down the aisles we went. I bought what we went in for, firelogs, coal, lettuce, cucumber and milk. 

And plenty of stuff we didn't go in for. I bought the HG some sweeties, he is a fiend for wine gums, sour pastils etc. I got some biscuits and some chocolate for the HG and Mr 24 and for myself I spied two things. 

 A bag of graze salt and vinegar snack crunchy stuff and some mini turkish delights. YUM YUM 

Now then, I KNOW I said I am not snacking BUT I am human! 

Anyway I tried the crunchy thing and I would describe it as 'Bombay Mix for Wimps.' Its the same kind of dry crunch. I will NOT have it as snacking fodder BUT once I've worked out the syns it says 25g is 115 cals so maybe 6 syns per serve , I think it will be delicious sprinkled on salad or mixed into cottage cheese.  The Turkish delights are 55 calories each so would be 3 syns I'd say. 

Lunch was SW pea and ham soup. Two pots served 3 of us perfectly. 

It is delicious. It tastes homemade with lovely chunks of gammon in it. 

For tea I made minced beef pie at the request of the HG. I made the pastry.

Theirs... 

Mine - I had my mince naked and pastry free hahah served theirs with mashed potatoes and veg. Now then, I didn't peel the potatoes - I have a ricer, and the skins that were left, I drizzled a dribble of oil onto them and some seasoning and shoved them in the oven for 5 minutes whilst it was on. They were delicious! Probably technically counted as a TWEAK on SW - where if you use an  free food alternative to make a synned product/substitute  so they should be synned.  In theory I made crisps didn't I? But I've not counted them except to record it here! 

I had one of the little turkish delights after tea. And fasted from about 7pm again. It's now Sunday morning 9am ish and I was up early to do this and have only had some water and black coffee to drink so far. 

We are having Roast Gammon for tea. I've salad for lunch and I am now going to go download the SW App and see if I can get online. Sometimes there's issues if you have previously been a member and need to reset passwords. 

So thank you for bearing with, if you are still with me! I will publish then go look see if I can add followers buttons etc! 

FCIABLFTLW! 

( Fingers crossed, I'm a bit less fat than last week )