What I ate in June 2022

 As promised to myself, here are most of the things I’ve eaten in June. 

It’s been my birthday month and the butterfly cakes you will see are made by my son, so light as a feather - I had one a day for three days! 

Mostly on track. A few days of hit and miss. I restarted my SW official progress as a tool to help me forge ahead with shifting this flab. 

My reasoning was if I had to re lose stupid pointless pounds to get where I was…I might not! It’s drawing that line that I have been scathing of a little in the past. 

I have a new mantra for any lapses, not relapses. See a previous post. 

There’s time for the day to get better. I have used this and it worked. Another way for me to stop that I’ve had a biscuit I might as well have the packet, and then a large unhealthy meal. Even if your last packet of crisps was 10pm 

There’s still time for the day to get better- have a large glass of water and go to bed! Instead of then having chocolate at 10.10pm ! Honestly, it’s a wonder I ever get anything done with this inner voice going on and on and on! 

I am still fasting and still believe it’s this that has helped in the gain and gain some more usual habit of my past 40 years of dieting. I have definitely stopped the immediate self loathing. It’s now a so what?  I tell you, if I think of this it deeply saddens me that that is my life. So we go on! 

As part of my role in the Pastoral Team at work, we had a well being celebration as part of our peer support group. In my line of work this is definitely needed. And we did some forest bathing stuff. In a teeny tiny public wood led by a wonderful human being who made me feel reenergised and enough. It’s true that at this moment in time, every form of human being on the planet seems to be recognised and accepted, yet never ever truly embraced across all walks of life are those who are larger. Why is this??? I don’t know if you ever watched a TV programme where a beautiful girl who I think is great, Scarlett Moffatt who came to fame via Gogglebox. Well they took their semi detached house and went to live with an African tribe. There was a scene that was powerful where she was invited to join in the village ceremony for coming of age for the girls I think it was. The just was the tribal women wear necklaces and a maybe a sarong to hide their nether regions but are bare naked elsewhere. I half understood her reasoning as she is on tv etc but the main reason was because of her self loathing and disgust - but the genuine love and admiration and messages from the tribal women about how her body and her shape was the desired one in their world and how she should never be ashamed had me in tears. Gosh I’m going off on a tangent here. 

So some stats to keep me going! 

Wearing smaller knickers and bra again. 

Definitely more comfortable moving about.

If I’ve lost this week I’ll get my stone award for this attempt! If I was talking in old money, ie. the SW card before this one it would have been my 2.5stone award. But I’m in new numbers for this time around and the next new number bracket, although a way off, means that some of the smaller clothes stashed in my wardrobe will finally fit again. 

Not every day’s food but a snapshot of what’s going in!! 

The baked cheese and honey crisps - YUMMY - but not buying them again! Dangerous!! 

Lots of love for now.

Today can still get better xx

Some of the meals I’ve had in April and May - photo heavy

 I just want to record some of the delicious meals I’ve enjoyed on this way of eating I’m doing. When I look at them, it amazes me why I revert in a lapse to boring beige stuff (crisps, chips, bread and biscuits although the empire biscuit shown is very colourful but that’s only on as it’s my absolute favourite treat when we go to DaisyClough ( pronounced cluff for my none local chums ) Tearoom ) 

Eggs Benedict

Greek chicken kebab

Mushroom omelette and salad

Sunday Roast beef

Omelette, bacon and tomatoes

Cajun dirty rice chicken

This is GRILLED tender stem broccoli a la James Martin - TRY IT with poached eggs and mushrooms

Jacket potato, synned full fat coleslaw 

Manky veg soup with lean ham

Full fat synned chicken liver pate in celery with salad

SW ready meal, halved with steamed sweetheart cabbage and leek.

Ham and egg salad

Plain salad

Manky veg soup with 30g cheddar grated on the top,
with strawberries and yogurt for pud.

Mmmmmmmmmm hahaha

Mixed salad to go with quiche at the caravan. 

Beige but healthy coffee and fruit salad with yogurt

Beginnings of a quiche

The pre roasted innards of a quiche

Overnight oats

Afore mentioned quiche

Chicken salad

Think I’ve shown this before, beans on a homemade bagel

SW ready meal with salad

Bonus freezer find campfire stew on cabbage medley

Tuna sweetcorn innards for another quiche

Another day, another overnight oats

Two Tuna sweetcorn quiches 

The SW ready meal featured in the pics  yummy

Steak and veg

Sunday Roast Chicken Dinner

Good stuff packed in my overnight oats
Pictured above. 

SO, having collated all of these, it is easy to remind myself that I am in no way being deprived or missing out. Yes, it takes a little effort and planning sometimes to have a good and varied daily menu, but most of the time it does give me joy. 

Doing this post has inspired me to post an honest and truthful record of everything that I am going to eat in the month of June. 

Challenging due to lots of birthday celebrations with friends and family. 

So as it is the 1st June, I will get started. I will somehow meld the photos and try and do one a week so will have 4 posts. I will also record my weight and measurements and note any difference- here’s hoping they are all going the preferred way hahaha. I am still combining the F8and SW. I have said it before, but it’s what has kept me going. I think, either of the regimes on their own, would have seen me with big sustained gains. I’m still far from target but still two and a bit stones lighter than I was in November 2021. 

Let’s see how I fair in June. TTBLF as ever x 

Still at it!

 I know, out of sight out of mind! 

But I am still making quiches and getting certificates and shiny stickers!  I WAS 1lb away from my 2 1/2 stone award but I had a lapse. All is well. The lapse is over and the carbs are being weaned off again! Back to this blogging lark soon. 

Catch up post!

 Well am here after a month and a bit with news and shiny stickers! After two weddings, much peri menopausal symptoms putting up with, days of sugar seeking I never gave up! 

I have, to be honest, pissed about with the same 5-6lbs for four weeks- up and down like a bride’s nighty. One thing I’ve stuck to is the intermittent fasting and I am convinced that it’s this that has minimised the gain on the days where I’ve chosen to ignore the healthier option and eat sugar. I’ve finally sorting out my password credentials on the app and can work the barcode scanner. It has helped stop me in my tracks sometimes to realise how many SW  ‘syns’ are in something. 

Last night I went straight from work at 6.45pm ( Ofsted rang, so I needed to double check the room and  my files etc were in order. I didn’t have my book or my card - I just got a life off my work chin. The girls in the social team gave me a new card. On the scales I jumped. ( gingerly stepped ) and 

5.5lbs off to get my 2stone award, Slimmer of the week ( very unusual for our group to be no fresh produce - mind you , I did take the tinned carrots - hastily grabbed ) and best of all I’m a pound and a half into new numbers! So my mini self target this week is to stay in new numbers! I had promised myself, as a foodie reward for losing, I was having one of the bagels made by my son at the weekend. I did have one. Toasted. With butter. And beans on for tea! 

Bloody lovely. 

I have still been choosing full fat Greek yogurt. I’ve eaten lots of salad, protein and veg. Not once felt deprived and I’ve made a real effort to up my water. Some of my meals have been amazing and some less so! Jeitting publish as this has been languishing in drafts! Much has occurred since I started writing this on Toesday morning! 

Big clue 

Sat in the SAT tests, Headteacher gets THE phone call 

IN THE SATS 

It’s been BRUTAL 

Back soon 

Wedding weekend

 So, I’m half a stone lighter than I was at the Hen do. Which, if I’m ho set could have been more but hey ho. I’ve two choices of posh frocks as a result. I am ready to proper buckle down for a good couple of weeks at least - as my friend said, Weddings don’t come along so often so enjoy it. 

I chose the best I could from the wedding menu and opted for the melon fruit platter starter I think ( will update after the event ), the roast beef dinner and the white chocolate to let one cheesecake ( there was sticky toffee pudding and a cheeseboard on offer too ) I love cheesecake and never have it at home because there’s only me that likes it and it’s a very posh hotel so the plates will be huge and the portions teeny. I’m not planning on drinking much. A few glasses of wine with soda I think. 

Back home tomorrow after breakfast which I’m just going to look at the menu now 

Hmmmm I’ll probably go for the full English, but I do like the vegetable option.Also I do love pancakes and the eggs portobello look good. Decisions decisions. All of it will taste amazing and be fully appreciated because someone else has made it for me! 

Once back home and unpacked. I’m planning on going to class. Not looking too deeply at the numbers because they will most definitely be up, but in the bigger scheme of things it’s ok. Too much else in the world to worry about. The numbers will come down again for sure. 

Ttblf one wedding at a time ! 

Another day, another quiche!

 Morning all! 

Well Monday was the taster party night as two lovely members are leaving to move out of the area. 

I hopped on and off the scales and dare not peep! Yes it wasn’t a loss but I’m so glad I went because it was nowhere. Eat as bad as I thought! 

Efforts renewed! Also with Mr 24 with his new job means I’m walking Bluebs at lunchtime so less time to be in the danger zone ( the kitchen ) and more steps but my watch needs charging so I’ve no idea how many steps I’m getting in! 

So yesterday I had a jacket potato with cheese and some beans that were open in the fridge - when you are being as sugar free as the F8 part of my plan, you can really taste how sweet baked beans are. I thoroughly enjoyed them and that’s why I’m loving the SW part of my plan. 

So the quiche that’s good n the oven right now is 

Onion, leek, ham & mushroom with a smattering of tomato and flame roasted red pepper. 

Just about to go in the oven. 

Here’s how…

I used 7 sprays of olive oil at 2 cals per spray according to the bottle. I slowly fried a sliced onion then when that was on its way, I added a thinly sliced leek. 

Once this was on its way I added 4 large mushrooms sliced, cooked them down, so next was added a few slices of wafted thin ham that I’d ribboned. I seasoned it with some season all and some onion granules. I then added the chopped bits of the tomatoes not used for garnish and the chopped bits of the flame grilled pepper from a jar I decided to put in. 

I then let it cool slightly. 

I used 3/4 of a tub of my favourite Longley farm cottage cheese with 5 medium eggs. I stick blended them together with some more onion granules and some black pepper. It goes to a double cream thickness and texture. I grated 120g of mature cheddar meaning if I eat 1/4 of the quiche a day, it’s a full half a healthy extra A. I mixed half of the cheese in with the egg mix.

 I dried off some tomato and pepper for garnish. Put the onion mix in my dish, stirred through the egg mix, garnished as per photo above and baked in the oven for about half an hour until now! It’s well browned and firm. Probably a tad browner than I planned ( but that’s where blogging gets you!!! ) - it will still be delicious and will slice up lovely! 

I am really looking forward to my lunch today! 

Hope your Wednesday goes well. I am trying to rein it in before I go to a wedding on Sunday with a stay over and a luxury breakfast included in the swanky hotel I’m paying ££££££££ to stay in! 

TTBLF one caramelised quiche at a time!!! 

Take my own advice!

These are about the healthiest meals I’ve had all week! I need to look back at my posts and take my own advice! I am STILL suffering ( woe is me ) with this effing cough and even though I am trying every single day, I am not being 100% on it and then getting annoyed with myself when I’ve been languishing in this stone bracket FORRREVERRR. 

This is me. 

Ho hum 

Let’s try again today! I have made overnight oats but with shredded wheat! Frozen peach slices and raspberries - will have that at lunchtime. Cold roast chicken salad for tea. That’s the plan! 

 

Friday

 Well I have a proper chesty cough and sore throat and itchy ears and I'm moaning! I've LFTed and thankfully it is negative. Im too tired to really waffle on for a while. 

Been pretty much on track really. I baked two sweet potatoes and have had them for tea yesterday with the campfire stew and salad. I had one today for lunch with leaves and some branston pickle thats 4 syns but I really fancied some. 

Tea tonight was mix a bag of quorn pieces with a nandos paprika and lime seasoning for 2 and a half syns and shared it with my son. There's half left so I had a quarter. Was so fast and nice. Am off to watch comic relief. Not sure how much sleep I will get tonight with this cough. moan whinge. 

TTBLF a nandos quorn piece at a time!

Mid week catch up

 How is it Thursday already? 

The lapse/relapse thing is quite the powerful tool and it has really clicked in my mindset. 

I’ll share a little more about the planning tools they talked about. But this is stuff that’s been widely out there for slimmers for ever. 

1. Plan an escape route - you do feel good when you are ‘clean’ - for me, this means NO secret eating of crisps and chocolate and bread etc all the beige food! 

So deep down because you already know how a binge will make you feel even as little as 5 minutes in to it have a plan there - a real touchable paper/visual that you can use. 

Write down a list of tasks/activities that you can easily do at a moments notice within your means. 

Eg it’s no good planning to go for a swim unless you’ve a private pool or you can be in the water in 30 seconds. 

The self talk around it is 

“I know this urge will pass, I will have the things I want now but I’m going to do x or y first. In 15 minutes if I feel the same, I’ll have the crisps. 

Things like washing up, hoovering/sweeping stairs, tidying out a drawer, polish the family silver! 

Classic paint your nails, brush teeth, face mask, have a shower

Ten minutes weeding

Puzzle books, read a chapter of a book , look through your SW book at successes, work out how long in minutes, hours, days to next weigh in , try on some of your clothes that don’t fit. 

After the task- decide - is the urge still there? Is it close enough to a mealtime? ( the amount of times I’ve binged before a meal, then eaten the salad like I’m St Rachel of Lettuce is uncountable. If the answer is yes to the first, do another task. It’s all about letting your adrenaline subside - that adrenaline that’s gearing you up for the actions. Make your meal and have you lunch at 10am. Who says you have to have lunch at noon? Try something different to break your habit. 

One that is hard and possibly dangerous to do would be to go lay out on the worktop, all the things you are planning to eat and be brutally honest. Leave that room. Do not go back until you are in control and the urge has passed. Now go look see at the damage you COULD HAVE caused. 

The ideas are limitless and you can no doubt come up with your own as like that dangerous one that just popped into my head!!!   - because it has to be something created by you for yourself. I’m going to do the dangerous one  next time I’m about to revert to the old ways. That’s a plan! 

The times of meals came to me because since doing the F8, it’s all about meals like meal 1 2 or 3 really. We call them breakfast lunch dinner tea supper because everyone does. That’s fine but for me it’s about trying to change a lifetime of being fat to being less fat! 

Meals I’ve enjoyed since my last post have been on the right track. 

I’ve taken some homemade meals out of the freezer and yesterday I had paprika pork with cauliflower rice and side salad and it was lovely. 

I felt full and again went for a light meal after work of boiled eggs! I did have 3 digestive biscuits with a brew later on - not checked the syns but very probably 3 per biscuit so still within my allowance. I didn’t want yogurt as I’ve found if I have dairy just before bed my mouth is horrible and claggy the next morning! I’ve also taken a small portion of the Cajun chicken dirty rice out of the freezer and hip hip hooray - some campfire stew! I may have it with cauliflower rice and some ribbon mix! 

Ribbon mix is what I call a little stir fry/salad of carrot, parsnip and courgettes peeled into ribbons with a veg peeler. 

So it’s 5.30am and I’m about to go make a cup of tea. I’ve a sore throat and a cough that’s come from nowhere. I may LFT but don’t feel covidey. There’s only 2 members of staff yet to get it at work. 

TTBLF ‘one minute at a time if that is what’s needed.’