What’s In Your Cupboard?

I am thinking about converting my under-stairs cupboard into a pantry and in the process thinking about what I would want to stock up on and store. Obviously it would need to be foods that I use all the time in various recipes and that are also Slimming World friendly. This got me wondering what would you stock up on? What do you use all the time in your cooking?

Some of the things I want to stock up on are:

• Chopped tomatoes
• Baked beans
• Passata
• Corned beef
• Tinned salmon
• Sardines/skippers
• Jacket potatoes (in appropriate storage)
• Pasta
• Spaghetti
• Noodles
• Rice
• Pudding rice
• Supernoodles, Pasta and Sauce, Savoury Rice etc
• Sugar free jelly
• Stock cubes
• Sugar free pop and squash

The Dream (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Looking at the list it doesn’t look like all that much so I’m sure I am missing a lot of stuff so I was wondering what would you stock up on?

 

My name is Vicky and I am addicted to weighing myself!

I can’t help it! Every morning I have to wake up and know what effect the previous days food has had on my weight-loss. Sometimes it has a negative impact when I have been super good and it doesn’t seem to be working. But on the flip side of the coin when I see that my eating is having a positive impact it is a huge motivator. It also helps me to see how badly I need to get back on track after a weekend of sheer indulgence. I know it is wrong to weigh myself most days but I can’t help it. A couple of weeks ago I went away for the week and I it nearly drove me crazy not knowing what was happening with my weight. But it did help me to break some of the weighing habit so now I have managed to only weigh myself every couple of days. You never know some time soon I might manage to only weigh in once a week in class. That will probably be about the time that I get to target some time after the wedding and honeymoon (I am probably going to end up gaining that week).

Anyway, onto other news…today’s food plan is as follows:

Breakfast – Shreddies (HEB), Semi Skimmed Milk (HEA) Banana (Superfree)

Lunch – Supernoodles (Free), Jelly and Mullerlight mix (0.5 syns)

Dinner – Spaghetti Bolognese (Free) MullerLight (Free)

Sunday 25th November 2012

I’m going to try for a really low syn day today. Although I had a reasonable good day yesterday (if you conveniently forget about the 5 chocolates I ate). It means I really need a low syn day today, so here is the plan:

B – Fruit

S – MullerLight

L/D – Roast chicken

Roast potatoes

Veggies

Gravy 2 syns

S – Wholemeal Toast (HEB)

Margarine (HEA)

It should be a yummy scrummy food day if I can just Say No! On the positive side husband to be has decided to lose a few pounds and so it following it as well. As you can imagine this is a huge help as it means that he is unlikely to want all of those ‘naughty foods’. This week I really want to lose 1lb. I realised today that I have 1lb to lose until my 1.5st award. I would love to get that certificate to display on my fridge.

To help me stick to my diet plan I plan on keeping myself busy through crafting for the wedding, doing some college work, visiting Dunelm Mill to pick up some curtain hooks and of course cooking dinner.

Rice Pudding

Rice Pudding

I thought this tasted lovely but it was really sweet. I was wondering whether using milk instead of Cream Soda would take away some of the sweetness. I also couldn’t help but serve it with a blob of strawberry jam.

Ingredients

• 1 Pint of sugar free Cream Soda
• Half a mug of Pudding Rice
• 1 or 2 spoons of Vanilla Mullerlight

Method

Put the 1 pint of sugar free cream soda and half a mug of pudding rice and boil until all the Cream Soda is absorbed by the rice. Then mix some Vanilla Mullerlight (you dont need a whole one, a few spoon fulls to taste). There is no reason to stick to just vanilla Mullerlight, for example you could use toffee or strawberry.

 

 

Syn Free Pizza (using your HEA and HEB)

Well, it’s a great alternative to pizza and chips. I had some left over bolognese and there just wasn’t enough to make a meal for both me and husband  to be and as I HATE wasting food I flat out refused to throw it away. So I decided to turn it into a meaty pizza!

Pizza and Chips

I used 1 untoasted whole meal pitta bread (HEB) for the base. Spread a spoon of the syn free bolognese  over the pitta and then sprinkled it with 45g mozzarella cheese (HEA). This was then put into a preheated 200degree oven until the cheese is melted and going brown and then served with slimming world chips.

It really was lovely and it has quickly become one of husband to be favourite left over meals! Next I’m going to try it with chilli!

Chinese Slimming World Style

Tonight I am indulging in one of my favourite foods…chinese! I love chinese and look forward to it whenever I eat it. I haven’t had it in a good few weeks though due to the fact I have found that since starting Slimming World and cooking from scratch more I feel horrible afterwards. I’m not talking about that dreaded guilt trip I tend to go down whenever I ‘cheat’ but in myself I feel terrible. It is like my body is punishing me for putting something as fatty as prawn crackers, bbq ribs, egg fried rice and sweet and sour chicken (battered) into my body. It is like I just can’t handle it and to be honest I have now decided that it simply is not worth it. So tonight I will be really strict with myself and I will certainly not be indulging in the ‘really naughty’ chinese foods. Another added bonus to this is the fact that I will be saving a ton of syns. I looked up the syns of some of favourite chinese orders:

• BBQ Spare Ribs = 8.5 syns
• Prawn Crackers = 1.5 syns for 5 and you can guarantee that I could eat 10/15 in a meal so you looking at 4.5 syns
• Egg Fried Rice = 4 syns
• Sweet And Sour Chicken (battered) = 17.5 syns

So for my old chinese takeaway that made me feel terrible is a whopping 34.5 syns! I can’t believe I used to put that into my body and think nothing of it. It really is no wonder I used to feel terrible after that.

This time it will be a completely different story. I intend to not eat any prawn crackers or appetisers and will instead be ordering boiled rice (FREE) with chicken in oyster sauce (4.5 syns). Yum Yum and with this menu choice hopefully I wont be feeling half as bad as I did last time.

What Is A Healthy Weight Anyway?

After weeks of debating I have finally set my target weight this week but the whole target weight setting process has got me thinking about 2 questions. What is a healthy weight? What does a healthy weight look like? In truth I don’t have a clue. I’m not a big magazine reader but everyday I am still bombarded by images of  other women (and men) that are at their so called ideal weights and are the pinacle of beauty. Now, I’ve been using my BMI to help me calculate a good time to stop losing weight and it works out at 7lbs less than I am now. However, I also know that this is not a huge amount of weight and wont change my appearance dramatically. When I lose this weight I will not have a body like so many of the so called celebrities.

While doing a quick scan of the internet I came across this across this post on a site called skinny vs curvy. This article is basically about how Miley Cyrus is underweight and even goes as far as saying her so called weight and height stats. I am 26 and consider myself to have a certain level of intelligence but when I look at this image I think I am looking at the image of a woman that is healthy and fit. I have even seen simliar on the front of fitness magazines. I believe that I am looking at something that I should be.

Source: http://skinnyvscurvy.com/miley-cyrus/touch-miley-cyrus-underweight-100-pounds.html

But then you read and find out that (if the stats are correct) that she is 5ft 4in and weighs 100lb. According to the Slimming World BMI calculator this would make her underweight with a BMI at a mere 17.2. This challenges everything I have been ‘programmed’ to think. It also challenges my ideas of what is beautiful, which can only be a good thing.

Now I’m not saying that everyone that has that body is underweight. I can’t say that because it turns out that I have absolutely no idea what a ‘normal weight’ is. What I am saying is that as I come to the last half stone of my weight-loss I intend to not only work on my outward appearance but also some of the wiring inside. I am going to start to change my thinking about what body beautiful is and try to be more satisfied with my body. I have got a long and happy future ahead of my which involve getting married, eventually having children, watching said children grow up and then have children of their own. To enjoy this I need to be fit and healthy  and at a normal weight that is healthy for me and not what tv and magazines try to tell me is healthy.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Spaghetti Bolognese

This was my dinner, it was delish and it was FREE. Best of all it was filled to the top with free and superfree foods. Yum Yum. Unfortunatly I don’t really have measurements because I tend to throw it all in.

Ingredients

• Dried Spaghetti
• Extra Lean Beef Mince
• Chopped Onions
• Sliced Mushrooms
• Frozen Chopped Mixed Veggies (I used frozen because it is easier but there is no reason why you couldn’t use fresh if you prefer).
• Chopped Lean Back Bacon
• 1 Carton Of Passata
• Beef Stock Cube
• Worcestershire Sauce
• A Good Squirt Of Tomato Puree

Method

1. Fry the onions and mushrooms together in the wok and start to cook until they start caramelising.
2. Add the beef mince and bacon and fry up until the meat is cooked.
3. Start to boil a pan of water for the spaghetti. Once its boiled the spaghetti can be added to it to cook.
4. Add the passata, stock cube, worcester sauce and tomato puree.
5. Add the frozen veggies and cook until the sauce is red hot and starting to thicken into the meat and the veggies are  nice and soft.

I have tried to describe the method as best as I can but as I said this tends to be a throw in what I have lying around type recipe for me. But generally it always tastes yummy.

It’s Friday So That Means…Yesterday Was Weigh Day!!!

And I lost 1lb. I am so pleased about that. It also means that I am now 1.5lb away from my 1.5 stone award and 7lb away from target! It doesn’t sound like all that much but when I tell you that it look me 3 weeks to get that 1lb  (I have been finding it really difficult) it makes the 7lb look like its a million and 7. The biggest problem is that my wedding dress fittings start next week and I get married in January so I am running out of time. I know that 7lb really won’t make a massive difference but what a feeling it will be to be at target on my wedding day. Not only will I know I’m looking my best on the most special day of my life but it will also be the first time in my life (that I can remember) where I will actually be at a healthy weight and inside my healthy BMI! I am determined not to be embarrassed about these photos!

Usually I hate showing photos of myself, especially before photos, but you are in luck today. I thought I would share them today. I feel like it is all good for my own therapy to come to terms with the fact that I am losing weight and I am no longer the size I used to be. It took me a little bit of time to find some actual photos as I used to hide away from all photos and then if someone did manage to get a sneaky photo and I decided I didn’t like it I would then untag myself. But I have found a couple.

Before – Late Summer 2010

This was a weekend in Norfolk and as you can see I am wearing a baggy top but I was starting to actually fill it out.

Before – Christmas 2010

All I can see in this photo is that I look very square. I have lost all shape in my body (I am a natural hourglass shape) and my neck is starting to disappear and become thicker. I just wasn’t happy and looking back I was extremely unfit.

Before – April 2012

Sorry about the cutting off the top of my head, I’m pretty sure it was taken by my 7 year old soon to be sister-in-law but it shows me having lost a little bit of weight. This was 2 months into doing Slimming World. I hadn’t lost tons of weight by this point because I have always been a small weight loser. In fact I am having an amazing week if I lose 2lb (first weeks weight loss and the biggest weekly weight-loss I have had).

My before measurements were:

• Bust = 40″
• Waist = 34″
• Hips = 39″

Before BMI = 28.3

Today – 26th October 2012

You have to excuse the fact that is badly taken in a mirror by myself. I hate these types of photos but when I discovered that I had no current pictures of myself I had to resort to it. I think I am still in ‘avoid all cameras’ mode. I will make it my mission to get a proper and nicer photo taken but I think it serves the purpose. As you can see I am a slimmed down version of the first photos and although you cant really see it in the photo due to the camera, but I have much better chin and neck definition.

 

After measurements are:

• Bust = 35″ = total loss of 5″
• Waist = 29″ = total loss of 5″
• Hips = 34″ = total loss 5″

Current BMI 24.6

Not bad going really and if that is not motivation enough to lose that last 7lb I don’t know what is!

 

 

Back On Track!

As the title of my post says I am back on track and had a good day yesterday as well as today (so far), although I haven’t been doing much exercise. That is unless you count the fact that I spent all of today assembling a table and 6 chairs. The table weighed a ton and I was impressed I actually managed to move it around and flip it over etc.

Yesterday I decided that I needed to do an actual food shop and this alone has helped me stay on track. Before yesterday we were trying to make do until payday. This was alright, until the point where you have nothing left and you have the nibbles. It is at that point where you end up making toast and butter. But now I’m stocked up with plenty of fruit and veggies, lean meat and some cupboard essentials like chopped tomatoes and baked beans.

Actually have food in the house meant we could have something for dinner that wasn’t made up of the spot based on what we have left in the cupboards. So we had a yummy scrummy chicken dinner.

My lovely chicken dinner

It was just what the doctor ordered.

This morning I had a good start with a fruit salad for breakfast and surprisingly enough it actually filled me until lunch!

Fruit Salad

I’ve decided that I just eat way too much high starch food. Generally I have a bowl of Fruit and Fibre for breakfast, some sort of pasta based food for lunch and then my dinner in the evening usually always had potatoes. Plus I might have cereal bars during the day which is another added carb filled item. So for a week I have decided to try to reduce it down a little and swap it out for more superfree foods. Hopefully this will help my weightloss a little bit.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to trying this pancake recipe that I have found. I’m going to use the porridge as a healthy extra and this will make the pancakes free!