Chicken Chow Mein

This was a hot favourite at our taster day and I think it is every bit as nice as the real thing and what's even better is that it's all fresh ingredients and probably about 100% healthier than a takeaway version.

Serves 4

1/2 syn on Extra Easy

4 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp hot chilli sauce

2 tsp chinese rice vinegar or white wine vinegar

4 crushed garlic cloves

2cm piece ginger grated

1tsp chinese five-spice powder

3 chicken breasts diced/sliced

200g dried egg noodles 

frylight

bag of stir fry veg

spring onions

1 level tbsp sweet chilli sauce

4 tbsp dark soy sauce

chilli flakes

Mix together light soy sauce, hot chilli sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and five-spice powder.  Add the chicken and marinate for 10 minutes.

Cook the noodles as per the packet instructions and drain.

Spray a large wok or frying pan with frylight and add the chicken and stir fry for 5 minutes until lightly browned.  Add all the vegetables and stir fry for 5 minutes.

Add the noodles, sweet chilli sauce and dark soy sauce and cook for 5 minutes.  

Garlic Dip (Syn Free)

No more Saturday night blues as I now have a recipe for garlic dip - and it's syn free!! Saturday night crisp and dip nights are back on!!

Kim our group leader brought it to the taster day today and I can't believe it's so easy and simple and really tasty!!  

Fat Free Natural Fromage Frais

Garlic Powder/Granules

Chopped Spring Onion

I just had a couple of tablespoons of fromage frais, shaked in some garlic granules to the required taste and added some chopped spring onions - simples!!

Week 8

Happy - 2lb off!!!  Which means I am only 2.5 lbs from reaching my first stone!  I really, really, REALLY want to try and get the 2.5 lb next week as my hubby comes home next weekend after being away for 5 weeks and has no idea of the weight I've lost.  He occasionally asks how it's going but I just play it down and thought I would leave it and see if he notices when he comes home - hope he does!!! lol.  Would love to have my 1 stone award to show him!!  So I'll be pulling out all the stops for next week.  Don't know if I can do it - but I'll certainly be trying hard!!

Today's class was fab!  It was 'taster day' and there were lots of yummy things on the table for us to all try.  I took along my syn free onion bhajis - I kind of hate taking things myself because 'what if nobody likes what you've made?' That would just be the worst!!  Luckily though they seemed to go down well!  Phew! I took a few recipes home with me and have a few ideas too to try out.  When I was in class I bought the new mag and also the Asian recipe book and the Curry recipe book - so I've got lots of goodies to try out but have no clue what to make first!!!

So - my progress so far....

week 1  4 lb off
week 2  on holiday
week 3  on holiday
week 4  2.5 lb on
week 5  3.5lb off
week 6  3lb off (got my 1/2 stone award)
week 7  1.5lb off

week 8  2lb off

I love this sign - I've actually never noticed it before, but I took the time to read things around me today while I was waiting and this is so true!! It's the sign at the 'weigh in' desk.  "Remove excess baggage" - that's totally me....off comes the ring, the shoes, the cardi - I even saw one woman a few weeks ago taking off her socks!! lol - it might come to that next week! haha

Smash Pizza

Pizza!  Made with instant mash base!  Now I didn't think I was going to like this as anything with the words 'instant mash' just makes me shudder - but give this a go as I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

120g bag of Asda Instant Mash

250ml hot water

Garlic granules/powder

Dried mixed herbs

3 tablespoons passata

1 tablespoon tomato puree

1 tsp salt

black pepper

Frylight

Topping of your choice

25g grated cheese (5 syns or HeA - although it you are using your HeA allowance you are actually allowed 30g)

Add the instant mash to a large bowl and add in about a 1/2 teaspoon each of garlic powder and dried herbs.  Add water and mix till becomes dough mixture.  Kneed a few times to mix it all in.

Line a baking tray with baking paper and spray paper with frylight.  Add the dough mixture and begin to flatten it out with your fingers then with a rolling pin until it's about dinner plate size.  It won't stay round by the way and will be very uneven around the edges!

Cook in the oven for 15 minutes (at around 200 deg C), then turn over and cook the other side. (Turning over was a bit of a scutter but I placed another sheet of baking paper (sprayed with frylight) on top and then flipped it over and then peeled the paper off it rather than trying to peel the pizza base off the paper).

Whilst the other side is cooking, make your pizza sauce.

In a bowl mix the passata, tomato puree, salt, pepper, garlic powder and mixed herbs.

Once the other side of your pizza is cooked, add the sauce and toppings of your choice and cook for roughly 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted.

It turned out quite tasty and I will def make this again!  I don't think I will add as much cheese next time as I'm not really a 'cheesy' person and to be honest it didn't really need it, the base itself has enough flavour in it. I made it for myself but the whole thing was far too big for me to eat on my own - half the size would have been more than enough!  Maybe my stomach is shrinking!! haha (I wish!!)

Syns?  I don't really know.  Some say if you are having it as your main meal then it's fine (obviously allowing for the cheese) but if not it's classed as a 'tweak' and the instant mash has to be synned.

Macaroni Salad

This is delicious - I'm not a fan of mustard so didn't think I would like it but how wrong was I??!!  The recipe is from 'Eat Yourself Skinny' and I have adapted it only very slightly and really only slightly in that I only substituted the chopped peppers and celery for some cucumber and tomatoes. 

I really had to try and figure out the syn value per serving - but roughly speaking the entire weight of everything combined was just over 900g - so for a 100g serving it worked out at about 2.5syns if using light mayonnaise and 1.5syns if using extra light mayonnaise and that was me over estimating.

250g dried macaroni

10 tablespoons of light mayonnaise 20 syns or extra light mayonnaise (10 syns)
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard (1 syn)
2 tablespoons of white vinegar
2 tablespoons of artificial sweetener
1 teaspoon salt
ground pepper
1 red onion chopped
1/2 large cucumber chopped
3 tomatoes chopped

Cook the macaroni, add the mayo, vinegar, dijon mustard and mix.  Add the sweetener, salt and pepper and stir through - add chopped ingredients and mix.

Refrigerate for about 4 hours before serving - or overnight.

Sticky Chicken

I've seen this on quite a lot of different Slimming World forums.  It's very quick and easy - which I love!

Serves 4 (2 syns per person)

3-4 chicken breasts diced

3 level tablespoons honey (7.5 syns)

3 level tablespoons balsamic vinegar 

3 level tablespoons light soy sauce

Stir fry the chicken with frylight until browned.

Mix the sauces together in a bowl and add to the chicken and cook for about 15-20 minutes until the sauce reduces and thickens.

Tasty enough but I think next time I might add some chopped garlic and some dried chilli flakes to give it a bit of a kick.

Done!!

Onion Bhaji (1 syn for batch of 12)

Update March 2019 - since I first posted this recipe a few years ago they are no longer syn free but the asda chickpea dahl is now 1syn - but 1 syn for the whole lot isn't bad :)


I saw this recipe online.

These were a triumph and will definitely be making them again!

1 packet of Bachelors curry rice (cooked)

1 can of Asda Chickpea Dahl

2 eggs (beaten)

2 onions (finely chopped)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp mild chilli powder 

Preheat your oven to 200 deg C.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and divide into muffin cases - mixture should make 12. 

Cook for 15 minutes at 180 degrees.  The recipe said to cook for 15 minutes but mine weren't cooked and took about 60 minutes - so I cooked until browned and cooked through. 

Also lovely cold served with a salad :)

Crisps!

I am in crisp heaven!!  Crisps are my favourite thing to nibble on and low and behold I've found a Slimming World friendly recipe!!

Peel a potato then cut in half - then very thinly cut into slices.  I have a peeler that allows you to 'shave' the slices.  Spray some baking paper with frylight (or a microwavable plate) and arrange your slices being careful not to overlap.  Spray the slices with frylight and pop into the microwave for 2-3 minutes.  I cooked mine for 2 minutes then in 10 second intervals after that as even 10 seconds too long burned them to a crisp (pardon the pun!).  Then when they turn golden brown and crispy lift them off the paper onto a plate and allow to cool. If they are still a bit soggy to the touch then try another 10 seconds. Season with salt or seasoning of your choice!

I have read various posts online as to whether these are syn free or not.  Potatoes are free on Extra Easy BUT seemingly because you are having them as a snack and not a bulky 'potato dish' they need to be synned!


SYN ALERT Update!! Yes they do need to by synned - classed as a 'tweak'.

Week 7

Lost another 1.5 lbs this week - delighted as this now takes me down to a new 'stone' number!!  My weight loss so far is 9.5lb and I only have to lose another 4.5 lbs to reach my first stone.  I say 'only' but as we all know sometimes even losing a lb is so hard to do.  I'm not in any real rush though, I'm happy with whatever I lose each week as it's still a step in the right direction and I'll get there when I get there....

I'm really enjoying Slimming World and really enjoying the food and finding it such an easy plan to follow.  I'm keen to try and find new recipes so I don't get in a rut and become bored as a lot of the foods I have are quite 'samey' so I've been browsing online and on youtube and have a few that I'm going to try out.  It's taster week next week in class so hopefully I'll have discovered something nice this week that I can make and take along and hopefully I'll see something nice next week at class which will be nice and tasty to make.

So - my progress so far....

week 1  4 lb off
week 2  on holiday
week 3  on holiday
week 4  2.5 lb on
week 5  3.5lb off
week 6  3lb off (got my 1/2 stone award)
week 7  1.5lb off

Chilli con Carne

Love this.  I make a batch of it and then divide it up and freeze for using during the week.

This is a Slimming World recipe but I altered mine slightly - I added a carton of chopped tomatoes instead of actually chopping up tomatoes, added a tablespoon of tomato puree and instead of kidney beans I added a can of Asda Chilli beans (syn free) which gives it a bit more of a kick - oh and I didn't bother to add the peppers.

• 1 large red onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 fresh chillies, deseeded and chopped
• 500g lean beef mince (5% fat or less)
• 2 tsps ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp paprika
• A pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 green pepper and 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 4 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped
• 300ml beef stock
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 400g tin of red kidney beans

Spray a pan with frylight and fry the onion and garlic for a few minutes until soft.

Add mince and cook until browned.

Add chillies and spices and fry for a few minutes

Add peppers, tomatoes and stock, stirring well and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 15-20 minutes then add the kidney beans and cook for 5 mins.

Serve with rice.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

This is lovely and I had this for my lunch almost every day this week!  I had to add rice to mine as I had no noodles, but was equally as nice. Really easy to make too which is always a big thumbs up in my book!

Ingredients:

1 pint chicken stock using 2 chicken stock cubes

2 sticks celery finely chopped

1 onion finely chopped

1 clove crushed garlic

1 carrot finely chopped

1 chicken breast diced up into small pieces

1 teaspoon turmeric

60g dry noodles chopped 

salt and pepper to season

Throw everything in a pot and bring to the boil.  Simmer for about 30 minutes.  Add the noodles at the end.

This is also nice with a squeeze of honey added in at the end (but remember to syn it!)

Big Mac in a Bowl

OK now apologies for this looking like a dog's dinner but I tried to titivate it the best I could!!  This is Slimming World's Big Mac in a bowl - the recipe is all over the internet and Youtube.  I'm not a big big fan of McDonalds but everyone who had posted this recipe said it was better than the real thing so I thought I would give it a go!

The verdict - it was ok and it was nice enough.  Wouldn't call it a firm favourite but would have it again if I was ever in the mood of a burger type dish.  I must admit that I didn't eat it all although I wasn't all that hungry when I made it.  I felt it needed something to accompany it, maybe something like slimming world syn free chips - however if you are a Big Mac fan then you will probably love this!  

It was really easy to make - the ingredients are:

shredded lettuce

1 finely chopped onion

crushed garlic

250g extra lean beef mince (or less than 5% fat mince)

1 tablespoon of Kraft reduced calorie Thousand Island Dressing (1/2 syn)

mini pickled gherkins (you either love them or hate them - personally I love them, I think it makes it the whole Big Mac taste)

3 light cheese slices (this is a Healthy Extra A - otherwise you would have to syn them)

Spray a frying pan with frylight and brown your beef and drain away any excess water.

Fry the onions and garlic for a couple of minutes until they soften and then add the mince.

Cook for 5-10 minutes and season with salt/pepper.

Layer a plate with shredded lettuce, add the mince, thinly slice a couple of gherkins and add them, drizzle a tablespoon of the Thousand Island dressing (or as much as you want but just remember to syn it), and then chop up the cheese and layer on top.  Voila!

You are allowed 3 cheese slices as your Healthy Extra A but I only used 2 and actually probably could have only used 1)

Week 6

Yay I got my 1/2 stone award!! I am so chuffed!! I needed to lose 2lb to reach my 1/2 stone but I actually lost 3!! I'm amazed...this week saw me return to work which I was worrying a bit about as I didn't feel I was as organised food wise as I should have been.  Bread is my downfall and really trying to cut it out and I didn't want to have to grab a sandwich at lunchtime because I had nothing prepared - so last minute I made some chicken noodle soup (although I had to use rice as I had no noodles).  That managed to keep me going most lunchtimes and the odd day I had a baked potato or some pasta - so all worked out in the end.  I've been using up all my 15 syns every day as well so I am just amazed at a 3lb weight loss.  I have been really sticking to the plan though and haven't felt hungry and have been feeling really satisfied and I've still been having my packet of crisps at night and the odd nibble - so all is good!!  I've been drinking lots of sugar free squash which has maybe helped as well.

So I've lost 8lb in total - and to keep myself positive I've been saying to myself that I only need to lose another 6lb and I've lost my first stone! Although I'm a bit worried for next week as I have a night out on Friday and Saturday is my weigh in day - eeek!! I shall just have to do extra dancing!!

So - my progress so far....

week 1  4 lb off
week 2  on holiday
week 3  on holiday
week 4  2.5 lb on
week 5  3.5lb off
week 6  3lb off (got my 1/2 stone award)

Week 5

3 1/2 lbs off - whoop whoop - over the moon!!  That brings me to 5 lb loss so far.

If I hadn't had that 2 week blip when I over indulged on holiday I would be well on my way!!  Never mind though - I am totally focused and on the right path now and feeling very positive for the week ahead.  My only worry is going back to work on Monday after having 5 weeks off as I've done so much walking in the last few weeks which I think has really helped the weight loss.  Luckily it's still light enough at night so I should be able to keep a lot of it up.  I am definitely a comfort eater as well as a boredom eater and unfortunately my job can be really stressful at times - and when the stress hits, healthy eating can just go right out the window and I just grab the first piece of junk I can get my hands on - normally CHOCOLATE !! I will just have to make sure my willpower stays strong over the next few weeks.

I transferred to a different group today and the group was lovely.  Everyone was really friendly and there were lots of laughs and the class had a really nice atmosphere. I'm going to stick with this one as I think I will get on much better and get more out it.  I know Kim the leader also which I think helped too.  She has just recently taken over the group and is doing a great job - and is living proof that the diet works as she herself has lost a lot of weight and looks terrific.

Here's to next week and hopefully another good one!  I am hoping for a 2 lb loss next week as that will take me to my 1/2 stone mark - so fingers crossed!

So - my progress so far....

week 1  4 lb off
week 2  on holiday
week 3  on holiday
week 4  2.5 lb on
week 5  3.5lb off

Spicy Prawns

Oh this is a new firm favourite!! It did look much nicer in real life than what it looks in my picture!! 

This recipe came from a lovely blog http://www.eat-yourself-skinny.com

It tasted delicious and the spice mixture was just right. Will definitely be having it again and might even be able to convert my prawn hater husband into liking them! haha

It's so quick and easy to make and all you do is mix all the ingredients - add it to the prawns and either fry or grill them.  I quickly fried mine in frylight for a couple of mins until they were cooked and they went teeny, but as the author of the blog says, this would be delicious using big king prawns and making skewers with them. 

This recipe is for 2lb of prawns, but I only had a fraction of that, so I just adjusted and halved the amounts.

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon curry powder (mild)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients together and add to the prawns, mixing until they are all covered.  Stir fry with some frylight for a few minutes until the prawns are cooked.  Squeeze lime juice over the top and serve.  

Tuna Pasta in Chilli Garlic Sauce

This was so simple, quick and easy to make and really tasty!  It was nice actually to have something tuna based that wasn't in mayonnaise either.

I fried some chopped onion in frylight until it was soft then added a tablespoon of Chilli Garlic sauce, added 1/2 can tuna and mixed through for a couple of mins.  Then added it to some cooked pasta.

It was that simple!!  The sauce I used was from the 'ethnic' aisle in Tesco, it's just a little jar.  I worked the syns out online and for the tablespoon that I used (10g) it was only 1/2 syn!  I did add a tiny sprinkling of grated parmesan once I had plated it up but to be honest it really didn't need that added as it is tasty enough without it.  It had a wee bit of a kick in it - not much but just enough!  So I wouldn't bother adding the parmesan again.

I had this warm but I think I will definitely make some up ready to have at lunchtime when I'm at work.

Trying to take my mind off food!

This is to try and stop me grazing! Night time is my downfall.  During the day I can be so good and have tremendous willpower and really stick to the diet, but come evening I can ruin it all in one fell swoop!!  I've been going out walking a lot with the dogs...but as soon as my bum is on that couch with the laptop in front of me I'm on the look out for food!  Normally crisps or a bit of chocolate!  Which is ok if I have syns to use but it puts me on the slippery slope as I maybe wouldn't stop at the one!

So everytime I'm feeling the urge I'm going to try and do a bit of crochet until it passes.  I'm no expert at it whatsoever but it occupies my hands and my mind!!

It's all about damage limitation! 

Anyone need a scarf?? lol

Getting Inspiration

Sat out in the sun this afternoon reading the new Slimming World magazine.  I love reading all the success stories and love seeing the before and after pictures, which made me think about my own 'before' pictures.  I have quite a few tucked away which I have been so disgusted with when I've looked at them, but instead of deleting them I've always thought about keeping them in the hope that one day I too can have a set of before and after pics to proudly show off.

I loved reading this lady's story.  There is a bit in it when she talks about going into the changing room and trying on a size 12 for the first time and it fitted her so comfortably.  She was just over the moon and almost overcome with emotion.  I love that.  I would love that to be me.  I can't remember the last time I wore anything size 12 - hopefully one day..........

Syn Free Pancakes

Had 2 brekkies this morning! Lol

I made syn free pancakes for the first time and wasn't sure what I'd like them better with. First few were a disaster but got better as I went on. I preferred the taste of them with the banana as they are quite sweet but the ones with the bacon and beans were better pancakes. As far as breakfasts go though overall I preferred the bacon and beans as I'm more a savoury person than sweet.  I didn't eat them all by the way!! Lol

Made with 3 eggs, 35g oats (HEb) and a toffee mullerlight yogurt.  Beat the egg,add the oats and mix till they are mixed through and then add in the yoghurt.  Sprayed a frying pan with frylight and then cooked on low for ages - at least 5 minutes either side.  Add a tablespoon of mixture and then flattenen it out. I had had about 5 in my pan at the one time. The post I got the recipe from said not to be tempted to turn too quickly or you'd end up with a scrambled mess - they were right! lol

It was a bit of a faff to begin with as I was trying to turn them too quick and they were just slop but once I got the hand of them and sussed out how long to keep them going for before turning - it was a doddle! The batch made loads (at least 12-15) but I lost count of how many I made as a few were binned.

The site I got from the recipe from was http://onebusywahm.com/slimming-world-pancakes/

Chicken Tikka Masala

I've been making this curry for a while now and when I looked at the ingredients it was perfect for fitting in with Slimming World.  I just made a few tweaks to make it syn free!

I had some mini poppadums with it which was 3 syns for the 13g - but the curry is free.

Serves 3/4

Marinade 4 chicken breasts (diced) with 2 tablespoons of mild curry powder, 1.5 teaspoons of paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 cloves of garlic (crushed), 6 tablespoons of natural fat free yoghurt.

For the sauce - 1 large onion finely chopped, 2 cloves of garlic (crushed), 1 tablespoon of mild curry powder, 2 tablespoons of tomato purée, 2 teaspoons of artificial sweetener, 1 teaspoon of salt, 350ml of water.
Fry the onions & garlic in frylight for a couple of minutes and add the rest of the ingredients.  Simmer for about 5 minutes and then set aside (or if you have a fusspot in the house like me who hates any signs of veg - then blitz in the blender)

Spray a pan with frylight and add the marinaded chicken and cook for about 5/10 mins. Then add the sauce and simmer for about 15 minutes.  I also add a bit more yoghurt as it's cooking as the spices can sometimes taste a bit bitter and that tones it down.

Then serve with some boiled rice :)

Tomato & Lentil Soup

I love tomato soup!  Heinz Tomato soup is my all time favourite - it is a cure for everything - even hangovers!! haha

So I was keen to try and make a Slimming World friendly version.  I found various recipes online - all similar with variations and decided on this one. 

I wasn't sure if I was going to like it as one of the ingredients is celery which I can't stand, but it was chopped up so small in the food processor then blitzed at the end, you could barely tell it was in there.

I kept tasting it along the way and felt it needed a lot of seasoning, so I added Worcester Sauce, Tabasco and some Swartz red & black pepper (one of my cupboard staples!)

I am a great bread lover and that is one of my downfalls as I could just live off sandwiches, toast, bagels etc...so I'm trying to cut out as much bread as I can.  Normally I would have a great big hunk of bread with soup, so I added some croutons just for the crunch effect which were only 1 syn for the 5g that I had, but the soup itself is syn free.

So this was how I made it:

1 carton chopped tomatoes in garlic, 1 large onion, 1-2 cloves garlic, 2 sticks celery, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, pinch of cayenne pepper, 140g red lentils (rinsed),  pint of vegetable stock, salt and pepper, worcester sauce, couple of splashes of tabasco, a shake of black & red pepper.

The onions & celery were chopped in the food processor then fried off for a few minutes with Frylight.  Then added the tomatoes, lentils, stock, spices and brought to the boil. Simmered for about 30 minutes until the lentils are soft . Then blitzed in a blender.

I just seasoned as I went along till I found a taste that was right for me.

Turned out really nice and would get about 4 servings.  You end up with quite a thick soup so I watered mine down just a bit.  It's not quite up to my Heinz Tomato soup standard but will carry on with my quest.  It did have a slight kick in it though which I liked.

The only downside was the nice white t-shirt I had on was splattered - will I ever learn?!

Jelly

My friend Karen gave me a great tip - make up a sachet of sugar free jelly.

I checked online and the entire sachet is 1.5 syns - but the amount I'll be having is so minimum, it would be 1/2 syn at the very most.  I don't think I'll be munching my way through a pint of jelly in one go...lol :)
  

You could add fruit or serve with fruit and fat free yogurt.  

Potato & Tuna Salad

I was struggling to make anything for lunch as I needed to get shopping in - I love potatoes and tuna and so just cooked some baby potatoes (about 16 potatoes cut in half), mixed in 2 tablespoons of light mayo (5 syns), 1 can of tuna in spring water, added the only veg that I had in which was tomatoes, red onion and carrot - and voila! 

Normally I would add cucumber and peppers but I didn't have any!

Quite basic, but was nice enough - and it was served warm.

This gave me 2 servings - so 2.5 syns per serving

Chicken Fried Rice

This is a firm favourite but need to broaden my horizons or else I'll be living on it!

Serves 2 - Syn free on Extra Easy

2 cups of cooked rice (cold)

200g of cooked chicken

1 small finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon grated ginger

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

half red pepper finely chopped

generous handful of grated carrot or 1 small carrot finely chopped

4 mushrooms finely chopped

handful of frozen peas

3 tablespoons of light soy sauce

2 eggs beaten

2 spring onions finely chopped

Frylight Spray

Spray a wok with Frilight

Add the onion, garlic & ginger and cook for a few minutes to soften

Add pepper & carrots and fry for a couple of minutes

Add soy sauce & chicken and fry for a few mins to heat through

Add rice & peas and mix. 

Make a hole in the middle and add the beaten egg.  Stir until the egg starts to cook and mix through.

Add spring onions at the end.

Delicious!

Introduction

This is my attempt at creating a lifeline for myself and letting me lose the weight I so desperately want and need to lose!

I have joined Slimming World half heartedly on several occasions - I've tried juicing, shakes, fasting, atkins, very low carb, cambridge - you name it I have probably tried it!

Out of them all the only success I've had was 3 years ago when I was turning 40 and I was determined to change my life for the better - so I signed up for The Moonwalk (26 miles walking marathon which starts at midnight and you walk all through the night - which makes it very hard) and at the same time I joined Slimming World.  From the January to the June when the walk took place I lost 2.5 stones and felt fantastic.  I still had more to go but I felt great and really fit with all the walking.  So a combination of following an eating plan and walking definitely did the trick and doing them both was certainly the key to my success.  I'm not going to call it a diet as it certainly never felt like a diet as I was able to enjoy all my favourite foods - potatoes, rice and pasta - all the things you aren't allowed or allowed only little amounts of on other diets. That used to throw me that I could eat all the heavy carbs and still lose weight yet other diets it was a big no no.

My husband is a very active man and swears that healthy eating and exercise is the only way - it might take longer than all the fad diets and it might be a struggle at first, but the more you do the lighter you get the fitter you get, the fitter you get the faster you get, the faster you get the more you burn - so it's just a cycle that gets easier.

Sadly after I did my Moonwalk - the walking stopped - and so did the diet and by the end of the year my weight had creeped up yet again.  So I signed up to do the Moonwalk again and did so for the next 2 years but the walking alone just didn't do it - I barely lost any weight.  I was a lot fitter which was good, but I certainly wasn't losing.

So here I am again - and I am determined.  We all know what we need to do to lose weight but unless you are in the right frame of mind, it just doesn't work.  There is a switch inside all of us when we just get to that point where enough is enough and it just makes you WANT to do it.  I NEED to do it - I worry for my health.  I hate how I look and feel.  I am bloated constantly and my belly just juts out bigger than my boobs!  I am only 5ft 2 which makes me look even worse.  I really need to do this for myself - so this is it!!

I'm not going to tell you what my starting weight is as that's all too shameful but I have given myself a goal of losing 4.5 stones - a lot of weight to lose but I have a weight in mind that I want to get down to.

I joined Slimming World 3 weeks ago on the 9th July 2014 and after the first week I lost 4lbs (yay) - then was away on holiday and had a lot of family coming to stay....and you know how it is....I ended up putting on 2.5 lbs back on!!  So enough is enough, my husband has gone away offshore and the visitors are over - so here it goes!!

I will try and post my progress each week!  Wish me luck!! :)