Calories - 30th September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 100 calories
Some banana and strawberry smoothies, an apple and a decaff tea
Lunch - 350 calories
Lettuce, cucumber and avocado sandwich with a hot marmite drink followed by some oat biscuits a chocolate truffle and a green tea
Afternoon - 150 calories
A banana, chocolate truffle and decaff tea
Evening Meal - 450 calories
Pasta with home made sauce with green beans, carrots and soya beans with a green tea followed by some red grapes and a decaff latte
Evening Snack - 100 calories
Bread and jam with decaff tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1300

EXERCISE :

30 mins /250 calories on exercise machine - running
100 minute walk

Recipe : Chocolate Truffles

I really wanted some rich chocolate so I made these semi healthy rich chocolate truffles. I only made a few as I had an idea that I would not be able to resist them!

10g cocoa powder
5 cashew nuts
15g sultanas
1 tbsp agave nectar (or fructose syrup)
1 tbsp finely ground oats (or oatmeal)

Put the cocoa, nuts and sultanas in a food processor and mix until powder. Then add the agave nectar and oats and stir until mixed. Roll into 4 balls and put in sweet cases (roll in cocoa powder if you wish) and refrigerate.

Approximately 60 calories each - makes 4.

I Resisted Temptation!

I was feeling a bit down about my lack of weight loss and on the way through town, after dropping the boys at play group, I convinced myself that a bar of chocolate would help me to lose weight. I went into Thorntons with the intention of buying a diabetic chocolate fudge bar but after waiting at the counter for a few minutes and no one serving me I walked out empty handed. I came home and had some strawberry and banana smoothie and apple and decided to try to make myself a healthy cocoa bar sometime!

Have I Hit a Plateau?

My weight stayed the same despite me being back on track. I am not sure why but I will keep going with it and perhaps up my exercise a bit today.

My husband lost weight, which was fantastic and is now 15 stone 13 pounds which is great. We both put on some rousing music when we were exercising last night and worked out much faster but enjoyed it more so we will be trying that again.

Calories - 29th September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 150 calories
Cocoa, oat and raisin bar and some bread and carrot.
Lunch - 200 calories
Lettuce, cucumber, red pepper, avocado and carrot salad with a boiled egg with green tea
Afternoon - 100 calories
melon and grapes with decaff tea
Evening Meal - 600 calories
Roasted butternut squash with broccoli, french beans, carrots and rice in a curry sauce with Quorn dippers and green tea
Evening Snack - 150 calories
Peanut butter on toast and decaff tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1350

EXERCISE :

30 mins /250 calories on exercise machine - running
75 minute walk

Weight Gain

Despite being good yesterday my weight went up to 10 stone 4.8 pounds. It has just filled me with determination to keep working at it and I am looking forward to going out for my morning walk in a minute!

My husband put on weight too but he had lots of sweet and sour sauce and chicken nuggets for his evening meal and did not do any exercise as his felt unwell. Hopefully he will get back on track again today. He is still looking trimmer which is fantastic!

Calories - 28th September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 100 calories
An Apple, a banana and strawberry smoothie with green tea
Lunch - 150 calories
A salad of spinach, cucumber, spring onions, red pepper, yellow pepper and tomatoes with a toasted Quorn ham sandwich and a decaff tea and a green tea
Afternoon - 200 calories
Apple crumble and decaff tea
Evening Meal - 400 calories
Noodles and stir fry onion, yellow pepper and pak choi on a bed of sweet and sour lentils followed by a decaff tea and a decaff latte
Evening Snack - 200 calories
Some Quorn ham a peanut butter a strawberry spread sandwich and decaff tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1200

EXERCISE :

30 mins /200 calories on exercise machine - running
30 mins / 200 calories on exercise machine - cycling

News of Yesterday

Well by bad start to the day was not improved very much. I did not exercise except a very short walk. I made an apple crumble (very healthy with apple and sultanas cooked in a bit of apple juice and topped with a crumble made from oatmeal, ground pecan nuts and seeds). My son also wanted to make some scones so I made enough mixture for just two and we had a quarter of a small scone each with some butter. We had fish and chips in the evening too - home made with olive oil so healthier than take out ones.

Despite this I managed to lose weight and I was 10 stone 3.6 pounds this morning. I think it was probably due to the lack of exercise and therefore lack of weight gain through muscle formation but I am not sure really.

My husband did brilliantly - he kept his portions low and although he only did a short walk as well he is back down below 16 stone. I am really proud of him.

Cancer Preventing Foods

I have been studying about cancer prevention today and thought it might be useful to provide a list of foods which are seen as good for cancer prevention:

Tomatoes
Green leafy veg
Green veg (peas, green peppers, broccoli)
Carrots
Berries
Melon
Cauliflower
Onion
Garlic
Mushrooms
Beans especially soya
Tuna Fish
Wholegrain bread and cereals

It is also useful to reduce the amount of red meat, exercise regularly, keep a healthy body weight, have a low salt intake, do not drink much alcohol and do not have too much fat in the diet.

Today's Weight

I weighed this morning and my weight had gone up again to 10 stone 4.2 pounds. I was pretty disappointed because I thought that I had been good but while out shopping today, I noticed the calories on the dried mango and realised that I had miscalculated and probably had three or four times more calories worth than I had recorded.

Today has no got off to a good start as I had a latte in Costa and ate up the remains of the boys croissant with butter. I will have to try to calculate how many calories I have had and be good for the rest of the day.

Recipe : Chocolate Milkshake

1 heaped teaspoon cocoa powder
1.5 heaped teaspoons splenda
150ml semi-skimmed milk
1 small ice cube

Just blend it all together and taste - add more sweetener if necessary. My recipe was 125 calories.

Calories - 26th September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 100 calories
Cocoa and raisin bar with green tea
Lunch - 125 calories
Spinach, cucumber and spring onion salad with a Quorn ham and pickle sandwich and green tea
Afternoon - 250 calories
Decaff Tea, organic oat biscuits and dried mango
Evening Meal - 450 calories
Pasta with home made sauce, fishcake, cabbage, carrots and peas followed by a kids strawberry yoghurt and a green tea
Evening Snack - 225 calories
Chocolate milkshake, banana and green tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1300

EXERCISE :

35 mins /300 calories on exercise machine
100 minute walk
20 minute muscle toning video

Is Exercise the Key?

I was reading a diet magazine yesterday. There was a person in there who weighed more than me but was a size 10. She could of course been taller than me but I am pretty tall at 5ft 7 but I am a size 14. It got me wondering about how she could be such a small clothes size.

This morning I was thinking about how pleased I am with how my figure has been looking over the last few weeks. I have only lost about 4 pounds over that time period though but have been doing more exercise. This work on the exercise machine, extra walking and toning exercises. Perhaps it is the exercise that is making a big difference and I will be able to get down to a smaller dress size without losing significant amounts of weight.

What are your thoughts on this?

Mixed Success

I managed to put on nearly half a pound yesterday and my weight was 10 stone 3.6 pounds this morning. Hopefully I can get that back off today. The good news is that my husband lost some weight and is now nearly back down below 16 stone. He has a work lunch today which is where he can easily slip up - free food! He said he is going to try to be sensible so hopefully he will stick to his word.

Today's News

I started off the day really well with a weight of 10 stone 3.2 pounds which a one pound loss, my poor husband didn't lose weight again.

I was at my parents house today so I had to work hard with my willpower again. All in all I think I did pretty well. I started with porridge and green tea and then had an apple and decaff tea mid morning, a children's portion (which to me looked the size of an adults one) of baked potato and beans with a large orange juice for lunch, 1/4 of a banana with a decaff tea in the afternoon and a salad of spinach, avocado, tomato, red pepper, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, beetroot, hard boiled eggs and bread followed with decaff tea and strawberries. When I got home I had a Quorn ham and pickle sandwich with green tea.

I did a fair bit of walking but slowly and did 30 mins on the exercise machine. I was pleased with the way that I resisted delicious paninis at lunch and had a boring (but the healthiest option) of baked potato and beans and was pleased that I thought of having a children's portion. I resisted the temptation to have a cooked meal again in the evening, as I was offered one and didn't have the omelette I was offered either but just one hard boiled egg instead. I admit that I did have some of the children's left over bread and butter which was delicious and worth the calories, but I am sure I will regret it tomorrow if I have gained weight...I will just have to wait and see.

Omega 3

I think most of us are aware as to how important Omega 3 is for us. We also know that it is in oily fish and seeds. As a vegetarian who eats some fish I sometimes find it quite difficult to face eating fish. I have been into the supermarket a lot lately and looked at the salmon and oily fish, knowing that I should be buying some but just not being able to face it. I have therefore been putting seeds into stir frys and crumble toppings and other dishes to get some Omega 3 from them. Today I was thinking how I could get the children to eat more Omega 3 and put a tablespoon of mixed seeds into the pasta sauce hoping that it would mask the taste. In fact I could taste a sort of nuttiness to the sauce which was very nice (rather like a pesto) but the children did not mention any difference in flavour.

If anyone has any other ways of getting more Omega 3 into our diets then I would appreciate you help!

Strawberry Milkshake

A punnet of strawberries

Milk

Sweetener or sugar



This is really easy to make and you can reduce the calories by using skimmed milk and sweetener instead of sugar. All you do is blend the strawberries in a blender until runny and then sieve out the seeds. Wash out the blender and then put the strawberry juice back in. Add the same quantity of milk as there is juice and then blend. Add sugar or sweetener to taste.

Calories - 24th September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 150 calories
Kids yoghurt and cocoa and raisin bar with green tea
Lunch - 100 calories
Tomato and cucumber sandwich with carrot sticks and green tea
Afternoon - 200 calories
Strawberry Milkshake and dried mango with green tea
Evening Meal - 450 calories
Pasta with home made sauce, veggie sausages, carrots, cabbage and French beans with green tea and decaff tea
Evening Snack - calories
A Quorn ham and spinach sandwich with mustard and spring onions with 2 cups decaff tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1050

EXERCISE :

30 mins /200 calories on exercise machine
160 minute walk

Weight News

We had mixed fortunes this morning. After a day of good eating for me and my husband and decent exercising neither of us lost weight. My weight stayed the same and he put on about a pound. He was quite upset about this but there was one factor which was similar for both of us that I feel could have influenced it - we had a broken nights sleep. We were up for about two hours in the night with the children and I am wondering whether that effected things. I also woke up very thirsty and I doubt my husband drank very much yesterday as he does not tend to (I made him extra drinks yesterday when he lost lots of weight).

I will therefore try an experiment today and drink extra fluids myself and see if I can get him to drink extra during the evening. I will also ask him to try it during the day if he can and we will try to get a good nights sleep - wish us luck with that one! I will report again tomorrow on our progress.

Getting Better Habits

I have been looking back at the food I ate when I first started this blog and I have noticed that I have got a few really good new habits now. I always include some vegetables or fruit with my lunch which I did not always do before. I have at least 3 different vegetables with my evening meal - I used to only have two. I have fish more often - at least once a week. I am doing more walking each day (which was forced on my by the boys starting play group!) I do not keep high fat snacks such as crisps in the house any more and so do not eat them as often. I eat more nuts and seeds than before.

It is great to think that these healthy changes are now part of everyday life for me so it is more likely that I will be able to continue with my healthy lifestyle on a longer term basis.

Calories - 23rd September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 100 calories
Banana and green tea
Lunch - 200 calories
Home made tomato soup with toast followed by a plum and decaff tea
Afternoon - 250 calories
An oat, raisin and cocoa bar and a banana and some cashew nuts with decaff tea and a glass of water
Evening Meal - 350 calories
Smoked cod and mashed potato (made into fish pie) with broccoli, carrots and peas
Evening Snack - 100 calories
Pecan nuts and decaff tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1150

EXERCISE :

30 mins /200 calories on exercise machine
100 minute walk
20 minute gentle relaxation and stretching

So Happy!

Well my endeavours were well worth while yesterday. I am aching a bit this morning but still proud of myself for doing so much walking and other exercise and especially for resisting the chocolate bar. I lost 1.4 lbs which now takes my weight to 10 stone 4.2 which means that I have taken off everything I put on through my weekend binge and a bit more. I am thrilled. The icing on the cake was my husband. He has been finding 16 stone a massive barrier and he just could not get below it. After a day of good eating and me making him exercise for 30 minutes last night he is down to 15 stone 9.4 pounds. This means that he is no longer obese but still needs to lose a stone and a half to come out of the overweight category. I am really pleased for him and hope that I can gently encourage him to keep it up.

I Deserve to be Thin

I was shopping today and went down the chocolate aisle and picked up a bar of sugar free chocolate. I looked at the calorie and worked out that the bar would be about 600 calories for the whole thing and I know that if I buy a bar, I have to eat the whole thing at once. I decided to have a think as to whether it was worth it. I had a long walk to that supermarket but I would not have burned off that many calories. I decided that I deserved to be thin, I have been working hard and have never felt thin before. I put the chocolate back on the shelf and searched for something else that would curb my chocolate cravings without costing me so many calories. In the end I found some children's Organix bars which had cocoa, raisins and oats and they were just over 100 calories each. There were 6 in a packet and so the total calories would be the same as the chocolate bar. However, I know that if they are individually wrapped I will not eat them all at once and they also contained healthy oats and raisins and no sweeteners or sugars. I was thirsty and bought a fruit smoothie too and felt fantastic when I left the store. So proud of myself and the fruit just seemed to make me feel zingy and lightened my step up the hill as I set off for home.

Calories - 22nd September

My hard work yesterday paid off and my weight is not as high as I expected - yesterday morning it was 10 stone 7.2lbs but I had a drink before I weighed. This morning it was 10 st 5.6lbs so still up a bit but I hope to be down to below 10 stone 4lbs by Friday.

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 200 calories
Fruit smoothie and cocoa, raisin and oat bar
Lunch - 100 calories
A red pepper and tomato omelette with some cucumber and green tea
Afternoon - 250 calories
A peanut butter and jam sandwich and some banana with 2 mugs of decaff tea
Evening Meal - 400 calories
Mashed potato, Quorn dippers, green beans, carrots and soya beans followed by 2 plums and a cup of decaff tea
Evening Snack - 100 calories
A spread cheese and vegemite sandwich with a cup decaff tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1200

EXERCISE :

30 mins /200 calories on exercise machine
160 minute walk
30 minute muscle toning workout

Calories - 21st September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Weetabix and a plum and green tea
Elevenses - 300 calories
an apple with some diluted red grape juice and a raw foods cocoa bar
Lunch - 100 calories
Tomato and cucumber sandwich with green tea
Afternoon - 100 calories
A boiled egg, cup of decaff tea and a small iced decaff coffee and a glass of water
Evening Meal - 500 calories
Stir fry chick peas, onion, red pepper with some broccoli and carrots and brown rice with a Southern Fried Quorn burger followed by a kids strawberry yoghurt and a green tea.
Evening Snack - 100 calories
Bread and jam, water and green tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1250

EXERCISE :

30 mins /200 calories on exercise machine
30 minute walk
30 min aerobics video

What is size zero?

We hear all this talk of 'size zero' but I am not actually sure what it is. I know that I am UK size 14 but surely a size zero is not 6 sizes lower than my size. I would have no body fat at all to be that small and even then I expect my hips and shoulders would still be so broad to fit in clothes that small - surely only children are that small? Where would you buy clothes if you were that small, shops in the UK tend to only go down to a size 8 (and that is rare)?

Damage!

I seem to have done a lot of damage over the last few days. On Friday I had a chocolate bar, lots of bread and butter, crisps and chips. I did do my normal walking and exercise machine as well as some toning. Yesterday we were out and I had my normal porridge breakfast, peanut butter sandwich mid morning, beans on buttered toast for lunch, crisps in the afternoon and pizza and salad in the evening followed by a couple of plums. I didn't do much walking but I did the exercise machine and had a go with my punch ball for a while. I am going to get back to working hard again today - it is unlikely I will be walking as my son has a sore leg and I will need to be careful at the supermarket but I will get more exercise done as I can already see the difference in how I look with the pounds that I have put on and I want them to disappear!

Plan for Today

I put on a little weight yesterday and was 10 stone 4.6 pounds this morning. I think it was probably not so much due to the peanut butter cookies but the fact that I started my period this morning and I tend to retain water for a few days. I have decided to take it easy on myself today as I feel like my blood sugar is a bit low and so I will not be strictly counting calories. However, I will be exercising this evening with my husband again as I need to encourage him to keep to the routine. he was out for a meal last night but said he was very restrained and just helped himself to 3 sausages and a roll with some potato salad. He didn't get much sleep and left very early in the morning to come home and see us before he went to work. He was a bit stressed about a few things but he should be able to straighten them out today. Hopefully the lack of sleep won't have effected his weight too much.

Recipe - Peanut Butter Cookies

100g Peanut Butter
100g Wholemeal Flour
some water

Mix the flour and peanut butter thoroughly and then add enough water to make a soft dough. Mould into small flat discs and pop on an oven tray and bake until they start to brown. I made 25 tiny biscuits which were 30 calories each and they were delicious sandwiched together with some strawberry fruit spread.

My son had seen this picture of peanut butter cookies on a blog I was looking at yesterday and asked me to make him some.

Calories - 18th September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 75 calories
2 tomatoes and some grapes with green tea
Lunch - 250 calories
Quorn ham, tomato, lettuce and cucumber sandwich with green tea and some grapes
Afternoon - 100 calories
Plum and some melon and a glass of water with a decaff tea
Evening Meal - 700 calories
marinated tofu, pasta with home made sauce, peas, carrots followed by peanut butter cookies and green tea
Evening Snack - 100 calories
Banana
TOTAL CALORIES - 1375

EXERCISE :

30 mins /200 calories on exercise machine
120 minute walk

First Night of Exercise - result

After the boys went to bed me and my husband did our first evening of exercise. I had already had a long walk in the morning and done 30 minutes of cardio on the cross trainer so I decided to try a muscle toning DVD which seemed a bit slow but hopefully I will start to see some difference. My husband did 30 minutes on the cross trainer. This morning we eagerly weighed to find out the result. I had lost over half a pound and my weight is now 10 stone 4.4 pounds again which is great. My husband had amazingly lost 2 pounds. He said that he had done no walking during the day, he had eaten a Caramac bar extra to his normal food.

Weight Loss Tip

I was in the library toda and took a look at a nutrition book. I had a good read of the weight loss chapter and most of the information was what I already know such as having a healthy diet, exercising, cutting down portions etc. They did mention that it is a good idea to eat less on a day following a day when you eat a lot. This made a lot of sense but is not something I have thought about before. I heard people say they are skipping breakfast if they are going fr lunch and I always found that odd for several reasons. Firstly I was never brought up to skip meals and also I have low blood sugar so feel unwell if I do not eat regularly. However, I can exercise more and eat sensibly if I know that I am going to be having a high calorie day. It is certainly something that I will now keep in mind.

Calories - 17th September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 150 calories
a banana and some orange juice
Lunch - 150 calories
Salad - avocado, sweetcorn, lettuce, orange pepper, cucumber, tomato with strawberry milk and green tea
Afternoon - 250 calories
Peanut butter and jam on toast with some apple and green tea
Evening Meal - 550 calories
Stir fry with chick peas, green beans, yellow pepper, onion, broccoli, parsnip with some potatoes followed by strawberry milkshake and green tea.
Evening Snack - 30 calories
A plum and a cup of decaff tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1280

EXERCISE :

30 mins /200 calories on exercise machine
200 minute walk
30 minute muscle toning video

New Fitness Plan

I have decided that my husband needs to get fitter and lose weight (well I decided this a long time ago as I am worried because he is obese). I have been trying different things to try to make him healthier but I have little control over what he eats, especially when he is at work. I think that exercise is part of the answer and therefore will work on that first.

He always says that he is better exercising in the mornings but then finds it hard to get up early enough to fit it in before work. I have therefore decided that we will do 30 minutes together once the boys are in bed. They settle really well these days so it is unlikely we will get disturbed and we do not watch TV that early in the evening. When I suggested it I was surprised at how keen he was on the idea but he did say that he wanted the exercise machine. That is fine with me as I can usually find time in the afternoon to use it and will use the evening to perhaps do more toning exercises as I will have done my quota of cardio. I do hope that this works for both of us and helps us to get fitter and lose a bit more weight. I will keep you posted.

How Thin People Think and Eat

I have just been reading a very interesting article on How Thin People Think and Eat. It is well worth a read but to summarise it says that thin people eat exactly what they want, when they are hungry, enjoy and savour their food and stop eating as soon as they are no longer hungry.

It led me thinking whether we can ever change our way of thinking from food=happy or 'I must clear my plate' to this think way of thinking. It is possible or are these 'fat' thoughts something we were born with? I would love to know what you think.

Today's News

Well my weight was down a tiny bit again this morning to 10 stone 4.4 pounds. I have decided not to count calories today as my parents are over for lunch and it could be pretty hard. I have made some healthy food for us all so hopefully I will not do too much damage.

I made a small salad of finely shredded cos lettuce, grated carrot, cucumber, tomatoes and orange pepper all chopped very small. A potato salad with red onion and a low fat dressing. Some deviled eggs - just hard boiled an egg each and mashed the yolk with a small amount of mayonnaise and a pinch of smoked paprika. There is also some sweetcorn and some veggie sticks for the boys and then the naughty bit - a granary baguette with some soft cheese or butter! I also have some avocado I will probably offer. I made an apple crumble too - soaking some sultanas in orange juice and then cooking them with the apple and a splash of water. For the topping I finely ground some porridge oats and pecan nuts adding a tablespoon of fructose syrup to sweeten and stick it together. Although it will not be low in calories it is at least healthy! Lastly I bought some wholemeal scones to have for afternoon tea with sugar free fruit spread and butter.

Calories - 15th September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 200 calories
Porridge and green tea and orange juice
Elevenses - 75 calories
banana and green tea
Lunch - 250 calories
Quorn ham and pickle sandwich with a little bit of bread and butter, a kids yoghurt and green tea
Afternoon - 150 calories
2 x Hovis digestive biscuits and an iced coffee
Evening Meal - 400 calories
curried sweet potato, parsnip, carrot, onion and broccoli with green tea
Evening Snack - 150 calories
banana and half a Hovis biscuit with some soft cheese on and green tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1225

EXERCISE :

30 mins /200 calories on exercise machine
100 minute walk

Update

My weight went down just a tiny bit yesterday to 10 stone 4.6 pounds. I have decided that I would like my weight to get to 10 stone and stay around that amount. I think this is a realistic target for me. It is a healthy weight for my height (can be between 11 st 6 and 8 st 6) so is right in the middle and it means that I will still be able to fit in the new clothes that I have just bought! It would be nice to be 9 stone something though so I may change my mind once I get to the 10 stone target. I will make a decision then!

Calories - 14th September

Well the hard work was worth it yesterday - I think the combination of eating sensibly, walking for 5 hours and having a good nights sleep was what helped me lose so much weight - I am now 10 stone 4.8 pounds.

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 200 calories
Porridge and green tea and orange juice
Elevenses - 50 calories
apple
Lunch - 100 calories
Pea tops, avocado, red pepper, carrot and cucumber salad with green tea
Afternoon - 250 calories
Quorn ham sandwich and custard with
Evening Meal - 600 calories
Battered haddock with potato and parsnip wedges, carrots, mushrooms and peas followed by a decaff latte
Evening Snack - calories
green tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1200

EXERCISE :

15 mins/100 calories on exercise machine
short walk

Eating Out

Eating Out is so difficult. I had lunch out today with my parents at a Yates pub and I found it so hard to find a healthy and low calorie option. I ordered a baked potato and a side of veggies for the boys which they picked at - they do not tend to eat much at lunchtime. I also had a baked potato with beans and no butter which came with lettuce and cucumber with some salad dressing on. I also had an orange juice as I am getting a cold and wanted to make sure I had enough vitamin C. I did have an iced coffee later as I was really hot and thirsty but had semi-skimmed milk in it and couldn't drink it all! I will see tomorrow if my efforts were worth while.

Calories - 12th September

Despite feeling much better, I couldn't resist the left over chocolates!

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 400 calories
Chocolates and 2 plums with green tea
Lunch - 100 calories
Pea tops, avocado, red pepper, carrot and cucumber salad with green tea
Afternoon - 50 calories
an apple and green tea
Evening Meal - 250 calories
Shepherds pie with Quorn mince, onion, carrot, peas, broccoli, gravy and potato followed by a cup of coffee
Evening Snack - 100 calories
sugar snap peas, pecan nuts and green tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1050

EXERCISE :
180 minute walk
30 mins / 200 calories on exercise machine

Thank you!

Thank you for the support I got from some of you yesterday, it was very much appreciated. Well my eating got worse as I had take out pizza in the evening and my weight this morning was 10 stone 7.2 pounds - yes an increase of nearly 2.5 pounds!! I will be getting back on track today, hopefully starting with buying some new trousers, which actually fit me! I feel like ditching my scruffy 'Mumsy' image and looking more elegant and showing off my figure so have started the day wearing a nice skirt and long boots. I do feel better despite the fact that the skirt is far too big (it does feel good though when my size 14 clothes are too big)!

I Feel Sick (and disappointed)

I have officially eaten more chocolate than any person should eat in a week in about an hour! This was early this morning and I still feel very sick. The chocolates did not make me feel any better - just very guilty and I have some left which I feel like throwing away - what a complete waste of money and dieting efforts.

I was very stressed about my Mums test results (which were okay - she will have to have heart surgery but she isn't at a huge risk now as it is likely she has had her condition since she was very young) but I should not have eaten as much as I did - I am sure a small bar would have curbed my cravings without making me feel so sick, guilty and costing so much money! As a consequence of the caffeine high and then low I now feel tired and listless, depressed and my blood sugar is low. I also have a sore tummy from the artificial sweeteners, a sore throat and a headache. My husband is kindly looking after me and hopefully after a nights sleep I will feel better again and get back on track with the healthy eating.

Why do I do it to myself??!!

Comfort Eating

Why do we do it? I am stressed today and I just want to go and eat half a loaf of buttered toast or a huge bar of chocolate. I made some custard tonight which helped a bit, until the full feeling went away. Perhaps I just need a big hug - my husband is out this evening so perhaps I should hold off eating anything until he comes back.

The silly thing is that I am stressed out because my Mum is having tests on her heart tomorrow. I know that heart problems run in the family and I should look after myself but I still want unhealthy food when I am stressed about it .... logically I should be craving a long jog and some fruit and veg....why is my brain so messed up!!

Calories - 10th September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 100 calories
plum,banana and green tea
Lunch - 300 calories
Cucumber and avocado sandwich with orange pepper sticks and buttered toast
Afternoon - 100 calories
apple, grapes, kids fromage frais and water
Evening Meal - 750 calories
quorn pop corn, rice, soya beans, french beans and stir fry veg followed by custard and decaff tea
Evening Snack - calories
none
TOTAL CALORIES - 1400

EXERCISE :
100 minute walk
30 mins / 200 calories on exercise machine

Loads of Weight Lost!

I am amazed at my weight this morning! It is 10 stone 4.8 pounds. I am so pleased! I did do extra walking yesterday and moved faster on the exercise machine so I assume that was what it was. Was much better than the half a pound that I was hoping to lose. I am so glad that I did not buy the chocolate bar that I was tempted by!

Calories - 9th September

I lost half a pound yesterday making my weight 10 stone 6.0 which is good. Another half a pound loose today hopefully and then I will be back to what I was before the naughty weekend!

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 100 calories
banana and green tea with two very small oat biscuits
Lunch - 200 calories
Scrambled egg on toast
Afternoon - 100 calories
a plum, grapes, cashew nuts and a glass of water
Evening Meal - 500 calories
Fish fingers, couscous, avocado, orange pepper, carrots, cabbage followed by kids yoghurt, cappuccino and decaff tea
Evening Snack - 100 calories
Spread cheese and vegemite on toast with green tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1150

EXERCISE :
145 minute walk
30 mins / 200 calories on exercise machine

Resitance is Futile!

Why can I not buy a large bar of chocolate or packet of biscuits and just have a small portion and leave the rest until later? I do not know what it is but even if I have a bit and put the packet away, it is constantly in my head hat it is there and I am so distracted from whatever I am doing that I have to go and get the rest so that I can concentrate again. Is it just me that does this? If anyone else does it have the found a solution? The only solution I have is not to buy it in the first place or to buy a small amount or give the rest to the children.

Calories - 8th September

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and decaff tea
Elevenses - 250 calories
Boots diabetic milk chocolate wafer, apple, plum and hot Marmite drink
Lunch - 300 calories
Cucumber and orange pepper sandwich with carrot sticks and a slice of buttered toast and green tea
Afternoon - 150 calories
2 cups green tea and a banana with some Greek yoghurt
Evening Meal - 450 calories
baked potato with Quorn sausage, carrots, cabbage, French beans followed by yoghurt and decaff tea
Evening Snack - 200 calories
Crisps, pecan nuts and decaff tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1500

EXERCISE :
100 minute walk
30 mins / 200 calories on exercise machine

Fat Does Not Fill You Up

I learnt on my course the other day that fat does not fill you up. When you eat food your stomach stretches and this sends a signal to you that you are full. There are also hormones released to tell the brain to stop eating. It did not explain why, but it said that fats do not fill you up. This explains why when you eat fatty foods, you want more and more. Your brain is not getting the 'full' message and so wants you to keep eating.

Weekend Update

My weight stayed the same on Saturday after I was very good at the party on Saturday and didn't eat too much. I didn't have any Pringles - I didn't even want any and just ate small portions of the things that I did want. On Sunday I was less healthy as I was at a BBQ and there were veggie burgers and salads but most of the salads were covered in mayonnaise and I had some pudding - jelly and cream. I also made fish and chips when we got home as the boys all wanted it and they have colds so I wanted to make sure they had something they would eat as they have been off their food and didn't eat much at the BBQ. Again I did no exercise on Sunday. My weight on Monday morning was up exactly one pound at 10 stone 6.6 pounds. I am happy with that - I do not regret the things that I ate and will get back to things properly again today.

Thrilled!

My weight this morning was 10 stone 5.6 pounds and I was so pleased with myself! I felt really nice wearing all clothes in size 14 including a new top and it was nice to dress up a bit and feel like I looked good. However, today I have done no exercise, been out for the day at a party so not really eaten well so it will be interesting to see what my weight is tomorrow. I ate my normal porridge breakfast, a banana, small piece of lasagne with undressed salad, more banana, 2 cheese sandwiches and 2 mushroom pate sandwiches, 3 slices quiche, some carrot, and cucumber sticks and a slice of cake and a slice of toast with low fat spread as well as lots of tea and two glasses fruit juice.

Calories - 5th September

My weight stayed the same at 10 stone 6.4 pounds this morning. I so wish I could get it down to below 10 stone 6 and that will then be the least I have weighed this year.

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and decaff tea
Elevenses - 100 calories
banana, grapes and detox tea
Lunch - 150 calories
Toast with homous, carrit and cucumber sticks and decaff tea
Afternoon - 150 calories
Peanut butter on toast and decaff tea
Evening Meal - 400 calories
Pasta with home made veg sauce, carrots, peas, sweetcorn and a Quorn sausage followed by grapes and yoghurt with decaff tea
Evening Snack - 100 calories
Crisps and decaff tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1150

EXERCISE :
100 minute walk
30 mins / 200 calories on exercise machine

Optimum Meal Planning

I have decided that once I complete my nutrition course I would like to plan out several days work of balanced meals. People say that to be healthy you just need a balanced diet, but the course has already shown me that my diet isn't as balanced as I thought it was. Therefore I think it will be really useful to plan out a few days worth of food to see what needs to be included in order to make it balanced. I would like to do the same thing for the children as well, so that I know that if they just have smaller quantities of the food that I eat, that they will get enough nutrients. I just cannot wait to learn more and get us all eating more healthily.

Protein

I have just finished studying the protein section of my course. When I was a vegan people were always worried that I was not getting enough protein but most vegan information that I read said that it was very unlikely that anyone would get a protein deficiency. I have calculated the amount of protein that I had in my diet (very approximately) on the day when I looked at my daily food intake in detail. I had extra milk and yoghurt on that day and my protein intake is still lower than the recommended amount. I am wondering whether this is just because my portion size is perhaps too small as my proportions of dairy and meat alternatives were fine. Once I have completed some of the other sections and calculated the amounts of other nutrients in my diet, it will be interesting to see whether this is likely to be true as my proportions were pretty good for everything so if the amounts I am eating is too low for them all then it certainly implies that my portion sizes are too small. Increasing portion size and losing/maintaining weight will be an interesting challenge and I guess that increasing my exercise may have to be the answer. Hopefully as I learn I will reveal the answers to these questions...!

Website Review : Portugese Menu

I would like to say thanks to Mize of Portugese Menu for providing such a lovely review of this blog and in return I am doing a review back.

Portugese Menu is not a weight loss blog but a recipe blog. Therefore before you take a look be warned that it is full of delicious recipes that may tempt you away from your weight loss plan! Having said that, most of the recipes are very healthy and as long as you can manage your portion control, you should be fine. What I like about the recipes is that they are so completely different from anything that I would cook. I don't know about you, but I tend to be pretty stuck in my ways with cooking and make the same dishes that I have cooked for years. It is a really good idea to take a look at some new ideas from time to time and see whether you can incorporate some new ingredients into your diet to make it even more balanced. I was really interested in the Portuguese Fish recipe as fresh fish is something that I have never cooked and I really want to as I know it is so healthy. Hopefully, if you take a look, you will be able to find something inspiring too.

Calories - 4th September

My weight went down to 10 stone 6.4 pounds this morning. I was really pleased but am aching a bit from the extra exercise!

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and decaff tea
Elevenses - 100 calories
banana and herb tea
Lunch - 125 calories
Houmous and cucumber sandwich with hot marmite drink
Afternoon - 100 calories
Pecan nuts
Evening Meal - 600 calories
Avocado followed by Quorn sausages, omelette, potatoes, french beans, cabbage, carrot and peas and decaff tea
Evening Snack - 75 calories
Grapes and greek yoghurt
TOTAL CALORIES - 1150

EXERCISE :
100 minute walk
30 mins / 200 calories on exercise machine

Calories - 3rd September

My weight remained the same at 10 stone 7.6 pounds this morning.

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and decaff tea
Elevenses - 200 calories
banana with yoghurt and lemon tea
Lunch - 200 calories
Avocado and cucumber sandwich and lemon tea
Afternoon - 200 calories
Peanut butter toast and decaff tea
Evening Meal - 300 calories
rice and stir fry veg (pak choi, yellow pepper, onion, courgette and seeds) with Quorn bacon and decaff tea
Evening Snack - 100 calories
Crisps and decaff tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1150

EXERCISE :
75 minute walk
30 mins / 200 calories on exercise machine

A Balanced Diet

I came to a very interesting exercise in my course yesterday. It is an easy way to check if you ahve a balanced diet. You keep a food diary and then roughly add up how many portions of food you have in the following areas - cereals/bread/potatoes, dairy, meat, fish and alternatives, fruit and vegetables and fats & sugars. The diet should consist of 33% cereal/bread/potato, 33% fruit/veg, 15% milk/dairy, 12% meat/fish/alternatives and 8% fatty, sugary foods. I looked at my food intake yesterday and calculated the percentages and they were pretty spot on apart from dairy. Although that was okay on that day, I had a lot more than normal which showed that I am not having enough. I think that I see it as something non-essential and fatty that I can cut out, but I now realise that I need to make sure that I have a yoghurt and some milk or some cheese each day to keep my diet more balanced.

Calories - 2nd August

My weight was 10 stone 7.6 pounds this morning.

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 50 calories
Apple and satsuma with green tea
Lunch - 300 calories
Edam cheese on toast with houmous, tomatoes and carrot and cucumber sticks with green tea
Afternoon - 100 calories
Banana and blueberries with green tea
Evening Meal - 350 calories
Quorn sausages, rice and stir fry veg (pak choi, yellow pepper, onion, courgette and seeds) followed by a kids fromage frais and green tea
Evening Snack - 175 calories
Quorn bacon sandwich with ketchup and 2 x decaff tea with milk
TOTAL CALORIES - 1125

EXERCISE :
50 minute slow walk
30 mins / 200 calories on exercise machine

Nutrition Course

My course officially started today but I couldn't help myself delving in early and finished the first section last week. It was quite general and covered quite a few things that I knew already but also revealed some very interesting things that I was not aware of.

- There is no specific nutrient requirement per person - we all are different and have different needs
- It is only when we have a complete deficiency in a particular nutrient that we can see any effects as we have a store of most of them - even when deficient it can still be hard to tell
- If we reduce the amount that we are eating then we are more at risk of not getting enough nutrients
- We have a hormone which tells us when we are full and there is some evidence that obese people do not tend to have such large quantities of this hormone and so do not get the 'full' message so quickly

Calories - 1st September

My weight was 10 stone 8.2 pounds this morning - not as low as I had hoped but the toasted tea cake didn't do as much harm as I expected.

FOOD AND DRINK :

Breakfast - 150 calories
Porridge and green tea
Elevenses - 50 calories
apple
Lunch - 150 calories
Toast and houmous with a spinach, tomato, and cucumber salad with carrot sticks and green tea
Afternoon - 100 calories
cashew and pecan nuts, water and a hot marmite drink
Evening Meal - 550 calories
veggie dippers, pasta with home made sauce, peas, sweet potato followed by a kids strawberry fromage frais and cappuccino
Evening Snack - calories
crisps and green tea
TOTAL CALORIES - 1100

EXERCISE :
120 minute slow walk
30 mins / 200 calories on exercise machine