Another week done! How was yours?
Gemma - After the disaster of last week I lost 3.5 lbs this week taking me to -4.5 stone all together. I had another big night out this weekend and I didn't even bother to count points after my 4th large glass of wine. I had veggie burger and chips the next day to cure my hangover and a wispa gold. I've got two days to turn it around before my weigh in on Tuesday. I'm really enjoying all my new found confidence and enjoy wearing all my new dresses but I'm trying not to slip back in to old habits and undo all my progress so far. Why is weight so hard to lose but so easy to put back on?
Charlene - I've finished the Jenny Craig diet and lost a total of 4 inches and 6lbs throughout the 28 day trial. I've got mixed feelings about the diet, but I'm posting an in-depth review later this week so I'll save my thoughts until then. It's back to eating my own foods now, and it'll be hard not indulging in things I've missed. I'm going to try and stick to the eating pattern and bulk up on vegetables like Jenny Craig taught me, so here's hoping for more losses...
Sarah - WW got so much easier for me after the first few days, a couple of the days I didn't even want all of my daily points. I am eating loads of fruit and veg, wholegrains and lean protein but getting the sweet treats that I crave at the same time and life is good!! I still weigh in on a Thursday and lost 2lbs in my first week. I still had 30 weekly points left last week and was hoping to better that this week but after visiting the chip shop on Friday (250g chips - 16 pro points) and a trip to Nandos on Saturday I have already munched my way thru 30 of my weekly points. Ooops.
Sarah V is in the wilds of Scotland this weekend, trying to stay away from fried breakfasts!
Baking Mad Monday - Banoffee Layer
It's Charlene's turn to take part in the Baking Mad low calorie baking challenge this week!
As with the rest of the girls, Baking Mad sent me most of the ingredients, and all I had to add were bananas, dates, low fat spread, lemon juice and crème fraiche.
I was impressed with how quick this was to make - it was ready within 15 minutes, most of that time was spent poking at the dates and trying to get them to turn to 'toffee' as the recipe suggests. I'm not a fan of dates, but the addition of a little bit of sugar made them almost like toffee and a small amount in the layered dessert was a nice addition!
INGREDIENTS:
4 low fat oatcakes
3 tsp half spoon granulated sugar (silver spoon)
1 tbsp low fat spread, melted
75 grams pitted dates
2 bananas
Lemon juice
2 tbsp crème fraîche low fat
1 dark chocolate square
DIRECTIONS:
001. Place the oatcakes in a food processor and process until the become crumbs. You could also put the biscuits into plastic bags and beat with a rolling pin.
002. Mix the crumbs, 2 tsp sugar and melted low fat spread.
003. Place the dates, remaining sugar and 4 tbsp water in a small pan and heat gently until the dates have become soft. Beat the mixture so it resembles toffee.
004. Slice the banana and toss in the lemon juice to avoid browning.
005. Spoon half the biscuits crumb in the bottom of two glasses. Top with sliced banana then the date puree followed by crème frachie. Repeat the layers until all the ingredients have been used finished with a dollop of crème fraiche and banana.
006. Grate the chocolate over the cream and serve immediately.
Mmmm, it felt really indulgent eating these, and it was guilt free knowing that there was no fatty cream, biscuit base or sugary toffee to sabotage my diet! I will definitely be making these again, and also trying them with different fruits. They look great too, so would be a perfect way to impress if you're having friends over for dinner!
As with the rest of the girls, Baking Mad sent me most of the ingredients, and all I had to add were bananas, dates, low fat spread, lemon juice and crème fraiche.
I was impressed with how quick this was to make - it was ready within 15 minutes, most of that time was spent poking at the dates and trying to get them to turn to 'toffee' as the recipe suggests. I'm not a fan of dates, but the addition of a little bit of sugar made them almost like toffee and a small amount in the layered dessert was a nice addition!
INGREDIENTS:
4 low fat oatcakes
3 tsp half spoon granulated sugar (silver spoon)
1 tbsp low fat spread, melted
75 grams pitted dates
2 bananas
Lemon juice
2 tbsp crème fraîche low fat
1 dark chocolate square
DIRECTIONS:
001. Place the oatcakes in a food processor and process until the become crumbs. You could also put the biscuits into plastic bags and beat with a rolling pin.
002. Mix the crumbs, 2 tsp sugar and melted low fat spread.
003. Place the dates, remaining sugar and 4 tbsp water in a small pan and heat gently until the dates have become soft. Beat the mixture so it resembles toffee.
004. Slice the banana and toss in the lemon juice to avoid browning.
005. Spoon half the biscuits crumb in the bottom of two glasses. Top with sliced banana then the date puree followed by crème frachie. Repeat the layers until all the ingredients have been used finished with a dollop of crème fraiche and banana.
006. Grate the chocolate over the cream and serve immediately.
Mmmm, it felt really indulgent eating these, and it was guilt free knowing that there was no fatty cream, biscuit base or sugary toffee to sabotage my diet! I will definitely be making these again, and also trying them with different fruits. They look great too, so would be a perfect way to impress if you're having friends over for dinner!
Guest Post - Exercise and the fight against depression by Liz
Saturday, 11 February 2012
This weeks guest post was written by the lovely Liz from distract me now please.
2011 was pretty much the year from hell. I had a massive bout of anxiety and depression; I had to spend time in hospital, I felt completely unable to function, and I went from being a workaholic to being someone who couldn’t go to work for five months.
By November I decided I felt able enough to start doing some exercise. I always knew that exercising would help, but it took me a long time (and several changes in medication) to find the motivation. I went for a trial at my local gym and honestly haven’t looked back since. I manage to go three/four times a week (unheard of for me, even pre-depression). I’ve found it amazing for beating stress, getting out my extra (anxiety-causing) adrenalin, distracting me, and helping me get to sleep better at night. It’s also given me extra energy; a few months ago I was unable to do anything apart from work and sleep, and now I can normally get to the gym and sometimes go out to meet friends afterwards. That might not sound like much but it’s helping me start to feel like ‘me’ again.
My tips for using exercise to help depression:
* Do it when you’re ready. It’s easy for people who haven’t been depressed to think that the solution is easy, and that sufferers are able to cure themselves if they ‘put their mind to it’. This is simply not true. It takes some people a long time to be able to start helping themselves (it took me about 10 months).
* Be realistic about what you are going to do, and about your levels of motivation. For example, I love swimming but hate walking home with wet hair, so I gave up on pledging to swim three times a week. Popping to a gym that’s just down the road is far easier!
* Remember that it won’t always be easy. Bad days will still come (and go) and when they hit you need to be easy on yourself: just because you miss a couple of sessions doesn’t mean you’ve gone back to square one.
* Reward yourself. Sad fact: I give myself a star on the calendar if I go to the gym (and a tick for going to work). I can’t explain why this works, but it just does. Find a reward that suits you.
Good luck and (I know everyone says it) things will get better. Honestly.
2011 was pretty much the year from hell. I had a massive bout of anxiety and depression; I had to spend time in hospital, I felt completely unable to function, and I went from being a workaholic to being someone who couldn’t go to work for five months.
By November I decided I felt able enough to start doing some exercise. I always knew that exercising would help, but it took me a long time (and several changes in medication) to find the motivation. I went for a trial at my local gym and honestly haven’t looked back since. I manage to go three/four times a week (unheard of for me, even pre-depression). I’ve found it amazing for beating stress, getting out my extra (anxiety-causing) adrenalin, distracting me, and helping me get to sleep better at night. It’s also given me extra energy; a few months ago I was unable to do anything apart from work and sleep, and now I can normally get to the gym and sometimes go out to meet friends afterwards. That might not sound like much but it’s helping me start to feel like ‘me’ again.
My tips for using exercise to help depression:
* Do it when you’re ready. It’s easy for people who haven’t been depressed to think that the solution is easy, and that sufferers are able to cure themselves if they ‘put their mind to it’. This is simply not true. It takes some people a long time to be able to start helping themselves (it took me about 10 months).
* Be realistic about what you are going to do, and about your levels of motivation. For example, I love swimming but hate walking home with wet hair, so I gave up on pledging to swim three times a week. Popping to a gym that’s just down the road is far easier!
* Remember that it won’t always be easy. Bad days will still come (and go) and when they hit you need to be easy on yourself: just because you miss a couple of sessions doesn’t mean you’ve gone back to square one.
* Reward yourself. Sad fact: I give myself a star on the calendar if I go to the gym (and a tick for going to work). I can’t explain why this works, but it just does. Find a reward that suits you.
Good luck and (I know everyone says it) things will get better. Honestly.
A Day in the Life of Weight Watchers #5
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
I have been following the Weight Watchers plan for over a year and I am not bored of the plan yet. You get to eat varied food and you can still have all of your favourite things. For me Weight Watchers is about portion control and gaining a better understanding of you eating habits and what you can do to change them.
This is an example of what I ate yesterday on my day off. I wouldn't normally have such a big breakfast on a work day but I go to my Weight Watcher class on a Tuesday at 9am then come home and have breakfast much later than normal. Some of the combinations are a little odd but I don't like to waste food so I tried to use up all the leftovers in my fridge.
Breakfast
Quorn Sausages - 4
Nimble bread - 1
Egg - 2
Mushrooms - 0
WW Bacon - 2
Ketchup and fry lite - 1
Lunch
Pitta - 3
Roasted peppers, onions, carrot, tomato - 0Red pepper and Chilli houmous - 2
Quorn pieces - 2
Total - 7
Scallops & Chorizo - 5
Potato - 3
Coleslaw - 2
Salad - 0
Total - 10
Meringue - 1
WW cream - 1
Fruit - 0
Total - 2
Snacks
Orange & apple - 0
WW Rich toffee choc bar - 2
Milk for tea - 1
Yogurt - 2
Daily total - 34
Are you a Weight Watchers member? What types of food do you like to eat on your day off?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)