Thread: *deep breath* my journey to a thinner / healthier me

hi Emmy, I just wanted to say how brave you are for taking the plunge and doing a diary! I'm like you well over the weight I should be and want to start thinking about trying for a baby soon so need to get myself into gear becuase I think I've got about ten stone to lose.

If you want anyone to chat with or support, keep in touch and good luck on your journey, hopefully we can can keep each other motivated x

Originally Posted by EmmyR1984

I wish my fella would join, but he hates fruit and veg so he wouldn't do too well

Mine is awkward too. Had to get my food optimising book out and make a note of the superfree foods he willa ctually eat so I know what to add into meals and substitute (had to swap courgette for broccoli today etc) men eh! Cant live with them, can't live without them xx

Originally Posted by BopKatie

Mine is awkward too. Had to get my food optimising book out and make a note of the superfree foods he willa ctually eat so I know what to add into meals and substitute (had to swap courgette for broccoli today etc) men eh! Cant live with them, can't live without them xx

Would that cheesy tuna pasta bake work with peas and mushrooms do you think? I have to admit I'm fussy with veg too, but I love salad so I get my superfree from fruit and salad Also, where did you get the recipe from hun? It looks so yummy I just have to try it

Hi emily, just found your diary and wanted to wish you luck on your journey. You sound so focused, I know you'll do well.
Kat x

Originally Posted by EmmyR1984

Would that cheesy tuna pasta bake work with peas and mushrooms do you think? I have to admit I'm fussy with veg too, but I love salad so I get my superfree from fruit and salad Also, where did you get the recipe from hun? It looks so yummy I just have to try it

It would work with peas yes The only thing is the peas are free not superfree so you would have to add something superfree in too.
The recipe is in this months magazine but i'll pop it here for you

Serves 4, free on extra easy

375g dried pasta shapes, 8 spring onions, finely sliced, 3 courgettes, coarsely grated, 200g frozen sweetcorn, 250g pot quark, 100g fat free fromage frais, 2 tsp dried herbs, 400g can tuna drained, 120g cheddar cheese (If making for 4 it counts as HEXA, if doing it for 2, halve it or count 6 syns)

I made a few tweaks, i substituted half an onion for spring onions, i changed the courgette to broccoli, kept the sweetcorn and added a red pepper too.

to make it I cooked the pasta and halfway through chucked in the broccoli and sweetcorn to soften them, whilst it was cooking i gently fried the onion and pepper in some fry light, then I drained the pasta, tipped it back in the saucepan, added the onion and pepper, stirred in the quark/fromage frais, the can of tuna and half the cheese.
Popped this into an ovenproof dish, sprinkled over the rest of the cheese and then put under a preheated grill for about 10 minutes, till the cheese was bubbling and browning.

Sounds complicated writing it out but it was really so easy!!
xx

EDIT:: Just seen you've said to add mushroom in as well, that would be fine, if you were taking out the onion and courgette i'd suggest adding something else superfree, or you could change the sweetcorn to baby corn..which is superfree x

I don't know where I got peas from lol, I might try taking the seeds out of a few tomatoes and see how that goes

Can't wait to try it

tomatoes would be nice! Taking the seeds out probably a good idea with the creamy sauce but I think that would be really tasty!

Hope you like it as much as we did! xx

I'll probably do like you did and put philadelphia in instead of quark as I tried it once and it made me gag and I've never been near it since Just so long as I syn it where necessary it should all be good Would it be ok to freeze as well? Chris won't touch fish so I'd need to freeze the other portions or eat it the next day

I've made that first step and I'm feeling quite pleased with myself

Breakfast - I woke up late so had a fibre plus bar (hexb), a toffee muller light and 2 satsumas, I had planned on having a pot of porridge but thought I'd be too full at lunchtime if I did

Lunch - is going to be mushrooms fried in frylight, grilled tomatoes, grilled bacon, maybe a poached egg and some beans with a pot of lychees afterwards

Dinner - is going to be chilli with a bit of pasta and some cathedral city light (hexa) sprinkled on top

Snacks wise, I might have a bag of peanut m&ms tonight (11.5 syns for the 45g bag I have) and might have another muller light

Sounds like a great food day! X

Thanks hun

Just had lunch, but haven't had the lychees as I'm absolutely stuffed. Not too keen on poached eggs when the cases for the pan has been greased in fry light, they tasted a bit odd, so I may have to syn margerine next time I have them otherwise they just stick. I managed my 1/3 superfree foods as almost a third of the plate was mushrooms, and I had 2 grilled tomatoes on top of that

Not felt tempted to reach for the crisps or bread, which is a fantastic thing for me, and I'm almost at the end of my first litre of water for the day, I'm feeling quite proud of myself

Originally Posted by EmmyR1984

Thanks hun

Just had lunch, but haven't had the lychees as I'm absolutely stuffed. Not too keen on poached eggs when the cases for the pan has been greased in fry light, they tasted a bit odd, so I may have to syn margerine next time I have them otherwise they just stick. I managed my 1/3 superfree foods as almost a third of the plate was mushrooms, and I had 2 grilled tomatoes on top of that

Not felt tempted to reach for the crisps or bread, which is a fantastic thing for me, and I'm almost at the end of my first litre of water for the day, I'm feeling quite proud of myself

So you should do hun, sounds like you've made some fab food choices to make the first few days easy on yourself! Its a great feeling when you get into control of your cravings and even if you have bad days where they win and you give in, you know that you can pull it back the next day, draw a line under it and start fresh. Like they say we will have bad days but its a complete lifestyle change so when things do go wrong we can pick ourselves up and carry on xxxx

Originally Posted by BopKatie

So you should do hun, sounds like you've made some fab food choices to make the first few days easy on yourself! Its a great feeling when you get into control of your cravings and even if you have bad days where they win and you give in, you know that you can pull it back the next day, draw a line under it and start fresh. Like they say we will have bad days but its a complete lifestyle change so when things do go wrong we can pick ourselves up and carry on xxxx

I've had a fun size mars bar (8 syns I think), so I'm not taking the peanut m&ms home, I'm going to leave them here at mum's so I'm not tempted to scoff them and go over my syns

And I'm on the last mouthful of my 1 litre bottle of water, need to refill it now, ready for the rest of the day

Originally Posted by EmmyR1984

I've had a fun size mars bar (8 syns I think), so I'm not taking the peanut m&ms home, I'm going to leave them here at mum's so I'm not tempted to scoff them and go over my syns

And I'm on the last mouthful of my 1 litre bottle of water, need to refill it now, ready for the rest of the day

Awesome hun though I have some good news. A funsize mars bar is 4 syns if its the 18g one

I have a big bottle of water too that I keep with me all the time to remind me to keep drinking!!! xxx

Originally Posted by BopKatie

Awesome hun though I have some good news. A funsize mars bar is 4 syns if its the 18g one

I have a big bottle of water too that I keep with me all the time to remind me to keep drinking!!! xxx

It was the 36.5g bar, so 164 calories, which would be the teensiest bit over 8 syns, yeah?

I think my chocolate of choice is going to be maltesers, 9.5 syns for a standard size bag if my calculations are correct. Though I do find if I want a choccy fix and I haven't had my hexb I might have one of those fibre plus bars

I've spotted a pair of scales on the argos website for £13 that go up to 180kg (really hope I'm not above that or I'd cry), but I have to say I'm really tempted to buy them so I can weigh myself once a week on a monday