Progress....or lack of!

Well it's just been one slippery slope, probably since about January.  I lost my mojo a bit,  stopped going to class as the New Year resolution gang joined enmasse and class took forever...I mean forever!! Things cropped up socially and with the kids that stopped me going every other week. I started having a bit of this and a bit of that. I then started having more of this and lots more of that. I gained a little. I went on holiday to Tenerife a wee bit heavier than I was but still felt acceptable.  Which brings me to round about April time. I work in a school and April to July is the busiest term ever. It was s#?t! I was stressed. Mega stressed. I'm not sure if I was consciously over eating on junk but I know that stress causes weight gain due to a hormone it triggers. The rest is just a downward spiral from that moment on.

I have tried several times to get myself back into slimming world. I know how it works. I know the plan. I have the books...I start off my day well but by evening it's all been sabotaged by eating crisps, a biscuit, sometimes chocolate, maybe a sandwich thrown in there and possibly more crisps!!!

Why oh why?! I hate the weight I am. I hate how I look and yet it doesn't seem to be enough. It's got to come from within and I just don't know or understand why I am doing it to myself because I end up every night feeling grumpy and frustrated with myself for not sticking to it, vowing that tomorrow I'll be better...and the wheel just seems to go round and round!!

I buy jeans that fit...and then another size smaller for when I can fit into them. I have heaps of smaller clothes with labels still on them! Even that doesn't seem to be incentive enough. It's the wrong kind of pounds I'm losing!

So browsing through my kindle and I find this book. A comedy about a couple trying to lose a bumper amount of weight in a competition to try and win the big cash prize of £50,000 and all the ups and downs of trying to lose weight.

I'm hoping that I can relate to the problems they encounter...and hopefully get some motivation back!!

Failing that....I think it's wired jaws and a zip!!

Turkey Burger

This was quite nice.  I wanted to have a burger, but the last time I made them they were quite bland.  So looked online for some recipes and found a fajita seasoned burger.  They had a bit of a kick in them, but still not 100% there on the flavour - so next time I will just add more.

The seasoning recipe was for 500g turkey mince.  Basically add to the mince, mix, pound and then make into patties - then pan fry them - 3/4 minutes either side.

To make the seasoning:

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

salt and pepper (to season the top and bottom of burger before grilling)

Gain

Oh dear!  I've been slipping for quite a while now and it's been a bit like one step forward and 10 steps back.  My heart hasn't really been in it.  I had missed class for various reasons, mainly due to being away for a few weekends and as my class is on a saturday, with working fulltime, sometimes a saturday can be busy with appts etc.  So today I stood on my own scales and saw that I was probably going to be about 3 or 4lbs heavier than the last time I went.  I know the diet, I know what to do, what to eat etc so thought to myself that as my heart wasn't in it, I would probably be better giving the class up and just plodding along doing it myself and saving myself the £5 each week.  Although I did feel quite guilty about giving up.  However, a quick chat with my pal Karen who also goes to Slimming World, changed my mind and I was back to class before I knew it and feeling motivated again to carry on.  Sometimes when you slip it's quite hard to get back into it, and I find that when hubby is home it just all goes right out the window!  However - I'M BACK and am raring to give it another go!!  I only have 4.5lbs to take me into the next stone bracket - so if I could manage that before I go on holiday I'll be quite happy!  As I've said before, I'm def taking the scenic route and my journey is such a slow one - but I'll just keep chipping away at it and hopefully one day will be a size and shape that I'm much happier with and a lot more confident about.  Onwards and upwards!!

Strazzers

The strawberries in the supermarkets are so big at the moment.  This one was almost the size of my palm, in fact nearly the entire punnet had strawberries this size.  They are big but they are certainly not nice and juicy like the ones bought in the summer.  I do like strawberries though and they are still nice enough - local is def best though - can't wait for summer, can almost taste them from here :)

Risotto

This is one of the things I make with my leftovers of roast chicken. It's so quick and simple to make.  I add some chicken stock to some risotto rice, add some shredded chicken, chopped onion, frozen peas, garlic, salt and plenty of black pepper.  Cook in the oven for about 20/25 minutes until the liquid has absorbed and the rice has softened and then at the end sprinkle with grated parmesan.  I love it :)

Measurements for 1 serving approx 75g rice and 250ml chicken stock.

Slow Cooker Ham and Diet Coke

That's the ham all sliced and sorted ready for tomorrow night's tea :)

Yay!

Loving my fitbit :)

Pizza

Double yum! Homemade pizza made from Warburton sandwich thins (5 syns) topped with cheese from HexA, spicy chicken, some red onion and sprinkled with dried herbs. Def worth 5 syns for the 2 squares of yummy pizza!
p.s. Never bothered with the tomato sauce on the base as I was scared it would go too soggy,  but never missed it in the slightest,  it was so tasty!

Flexi Time

In an attempt to move myself I've treated myself to a Fitbit Flex. I've seen lots of posts about it on instagram from sw people I follow, so thought I would give it a go. So far so good and it has certainly made me go out and take the dogs a longer walk than I could really be bothered doing!  Hope I can keep motivated with it. It's amazing how many steps you do doing just normal day to day things! Maybe get my stone off in time for Tenerife after all!

Tuna Melt & Potato Wedges

Yummy! Could have ate it twice over!  Wedges made in actifry and tuna melt was warburtons sandwich thin (5 syns), tuna mayo (1 syn) - with tablespoon of fat free fromage frais added, red onion and grated cheese (Hex A).  Yummy, yummy, yummy!

Chicken and Oyster Sauce

Seeing as it was Chinese New Year - I thought I would make something Chinese.  Oh this was so yummy and so, so tasty and far healthier that a takeaway!

1 serving

1 chicken breast thinly sliced

crushed garlic (I used a heaped teaspoon of the lazy garlic)

chopped veg of choice

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

1 tablespoon of light soy sauce

2 tablespoons of oyster sauce

1-2 tablespoons of water

grated ginger 

Stir fry the chicken until browned, add veg and crushed garlic and ginger and stir fry for about 5 mins.  Sprinkle over the black pepper.  Add the soy sauce/oyster sauce and water - and you're done :)

Chins

Just as it says - oh to just have one chin!!!  If only I could just lop it off - along with half of my body!!

Water

As well as it being better for you, I am trying to boost my weight loss by drinking more water.  Oh I really struggle drinking it.  So to try and enjoy drinking it a bit more I added a slice of lemon - very nice it was too.  Since I started drinking more water I haven't really had much else to drink except for a cup of tea.  Today I had a glass of diet coke and it really tasted horrid.  It left such an aftertaste - maybe all that water has cleansed my tastebuds!  If only it did that to crisps and chocolate too!

Poached Egg Yumminess

I am fair beginning to master this poached egg malarkey.  I'm not a big egg fan but have discovered that I quite like a poached egg.  Thanks to my pal Karen who introduced me to the most fab silicone egg poachers.  They are a doddle and  have it cooked to perfection now - 5 mins once the water has boiled and it's not too hard and not too soft - delicious :)

Tomato Salad

Mix chopped tomatoes, cucumber and red onion with some salt/pepper and a sprinkling of dried dill and mix through some dressing.

Dressing

1 teaspoon sweetener

3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/2 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

Potatoes in slow cooker with Italian Seasoning

For 4 servings

Spray bottom of slow cooker with some frylight

Add potatoes (approx 3 large potatoes cut into cubes  - I used small baby potatoes and cooked them whole)

Mix 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Add 1 tablespoon of homemade Italian Seasoning and mix though

Cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-6 hours.

Italian Seasoning

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon oregano

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon basil

1 tablespoon parsley

2 tablespoon salt

Blackened Salmon

Think this is my new fav way to eat salmon. So tasty and has a kick!

Serves 4

2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Mix all the herbs and spices together.  Spray 4 salmon fillets with frylight and sprinkle the spice mixture over (both sides - or just one side if your salmon has skin on one side).

Cook in tin foil in an oven for 20-25 minutes 

I served mine with some honey roasted veg - delicious :)

Slow Cooker Chicken

I make this at least once a week. The chicken just falls off the bone and there is very little left over and what is left over usually goes in a curry the next night.

Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for at least 5-6 hours.

Place 4 small balls of kitchen foil on the bottom of your slow cooker to stop the chicken sticking.  I rubbed a seasoning on my chicken ( 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp each of oregano, thyme, basil). Then placed chicken upside down in slow cooker and sprinkled remaining seasoning on top.

Sometimes I cook it with garlic butter and some herbs too.

Baked Oats

This was a nice change for a breakfast this morning. Baked oats served warm with fruit and sprinkled with cinnamon.

35g oats
50ml milk
1egg
1 tablespoon sweetener.

Mix and bake in oven for 20mins @ 200 degrees

Salmon Stirfry

I had some leftover salmon, so flaked it and stir fried it with garlic powder, ground ginger, medium curry powder, soy sauce and noodles....oh it was delish and had a right punch in it! Oh and it was syn free! :)

Body Magic

Been doing this once a week since before Christmas.  I quite enjoy it.  It's not that tiring but depending on what trampoline you use, you can def feel it in your legs once you step off and start walking! It gets me out and it gets me moving....boing, boing, boing!!

Club 10 Award

Finally! Got this last week.  Oh it's been a long time coming.  My journey is def a slow one!  I seem to be one step forward, 5 steps back! However, I am still 20lbs lighter that I was when I started and as the award says - I've lost 10% of my starting weight.  Yay :)

Starting the Year....