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I think you've found what I'm looking for Minimumnchkins! Yoghurts that don't have some form of sugar listed as the second highest ingredient. Thank you! Now I just have to find somewhere that stocks them. :-) Fructose is fine - but I think that fructose in a lot of products is not just coming...

Hmmm... I've been eating Mullers but the second ingredient listed on mine is fructose. Which is just sugar by another name, isn't it? Lactose is fine - I think that's unavoidable in yoghurt. But I'm really wary of any other "'tose" because it just seems (to me) to be a way for the manufacturer...

Ok, I know I live in backwater, so my local supermarkets don't have a huge range. But I've googled this and can't find an answer either. Am I nuts, or does a fat free, sugar free flavoured yoghurt really not exist? I know I can put sweetener and vanilla essence in plain yoghurt, but darn it, I...

Seconding Aldi - I love the super six. Tell you what else is good though: Tesco reduce things at about 5-7pm each day, and continue until the store closes. On Sunday they reduce at about 3:30pm. I often pick up superfree veg for silly prices if I go then. Like a bag of organic carrots for 6p...

Mine come out great, and always go down well: 500g lean mince small onion whizzed in the food processor generous squirt ketchup salt pepper 1 egg pinch mixed herbs good shake of Aromat I serve with jalepenos, gherkins and sliced onion, plus a dollop of mayo. It's the ketchup and onion that...

I can report that this is AWESOME! I did a test run with the lowest fat greek Yoghurt my tiny Tesco had, and some Indonesian chilli paste. My Kilner muslin was rubbish - everything just leaked out! So I put the muslin in a clean linen tea towel as well, and that worked fine. Had to press it...

It is. I'll eat half for breakfast, and have an Alpen Light as a snack later. Then eat the other half the next day.

I make this about three times a week and eat half for breakfast. :-) It's just one B and no syns for the entire thing. AAAAAND it includes 1/3 superfree right there in the cake. If this isn't the ultimate SW recipe, I'll eat a scan bran straight from the packet. :) INGREDIENTS 5 scan...

I've seen a few posts lately from ppl new to SW who are daunted by the thought of the 1/3 superfree. I think we automatically think of it as having to plonk some salad on the plate, when really you can be much more versatile. We might forget for example, that any sauce made with tomatoes goes...

Sunday dinner in a bag (chicken breast and veggies, baked in a foil parcel for about 30 mins at 200 degrees) gravy - 1 syn a whole WW whip pudding with milk from allowance - 2 syns Waterstones in Amsterdam is just across the square from where I work, and they are stocking more and more...

Oooooohhh, don't open that jar. Once you do, it's like Nutella - there's no going back, and it will caaaaalllllllll you from the cupboard. ;)

Not so much 'nice' as 'not completely disgusting'. You don't want to slather your pancakes in it, but a little bit is alright.

Frankenfood means that it has never been near a piece of fruit, or egg, or dash of milk anywhere in the manufacturing process. :-) If you look at the ingredients, then it's all gums and fillers and expanders and E numbers. Quite scary. It's basically water, with chemicals added for colour...

I think if you're looking for something you can stick to long term, then SW is it. I've been doing it for 5 months now, and still going. I've slipped up, had bad days that turned into bad weeks, but I'm still here, plodding on. Despite all the slip ups, I've not gained back any of the weight I...

It looks to me like you aren't eating enough, to be honest. This diet really isn't about crispbreads and cottage cheese, and if it was, most of us (except the weird ones who LIKE crispbreads and cottage cheese) wouldn't stick to it. ;) How hungry do you get on a day like the one you describe...

SW chips and gravy. Feels so naughty, but only costs 2 syns. :-)

My new favourite food. SO easy to make but tastes so good! INGREDIENTS About two handfuls of berries: raspberries are best, strawbs work fine too. I used about a tablespoon of raspberries and 5 or six strawberries. sweetener about 200 mls fromage frais and/or quark couple drops vanilla 1...

You know what I say to that? "I know! It's cheese! And I HAVE to have it on this diet! And I'm losing weight on it too!" With a a BIIIIIIG smile. And then I pull faces at them when they turn around. ;)

It honestly doesn't taste like Scan Bran. Not like the chocolate cake does. The flour, eggs and baking powder make it more like a real cake. I actually put more carrot than this in too and that reduces the scan bran taste and texture to almost nothing. Plus I use the SB sprinkles - which you can...

I'm not a big SW tweaker, despite living in a whole different country and not being able to get most of the products you get in the UK. But I've rediscovered a great product that I know a lot of you will be INSANELY jealous of and I was wondering if i can get away with using it as a Muller...

The key to work lunches is preparation I think. Usually I make an extra portion of dinner the night before and take that to work, warm it up in the microwave. And I always take a pudding, (I make two a week and put them in individual pots in the fridge), some sort of HEXB (scan bran cake or...

My favourite by far has to be my tweak of the Butternut Squash Risotto from the Extra Easy recipe books. Oh. My. God. I would take it over burgers any day. Pumpkin Risotto Serves 4 FREE on Extra Easy. FREE on Green if you count the bacon as a HEXB INGREDIENTS: 1 leek about 500g of peeled...

Just made this up as I went along and it came out really good. Even past the non-SW-person taste test. :-) Ingredients: 5 scan bran 20 g self raising flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 1/2 tsp cinnamon about 1/2 a cup powdered sweetener 2 eggs 20 g raisins juice...

Prozac popper here and losing just fine. My mum swears they make her gain weight though. So I think it's a case of just trying it. If you find it hard to lose weight on one of them, then there are plenty of others to try. Personally, I find that having an anti-depressant helped me focus on...

I'm still here. And still losing. I'm a size 20 now - that's 3 sizes down in just 3 months! And yesterday I went to the shops to see what size I am and I was getting into size 18 skirts AND trousers with ease. My boobs and spare tire are still stubbornly a size 20 though. ;-) So that's grand...

Oh lord, I had loads of days off plan last month. I went to London for a few days and spent most of them completely off the wagon. And then after a week of being on plan, I had gone down a size. I think you just give your metabolism a little push, trick it into thinking that there's going to...

Still here.... ... again. :) Went off the rails in London. It involved beer. Lots of beer. And Cadbury's. And, lord forgive me, Burger King. :confused: I don't even LIKE Burger King. I started off great, took my bag of free and superfree foods and Alpen Lights everywhere, but the beer...

Tuesday March 15th: Red Oh dear. Did it all wrong today. I had a small breakfast, then a brunch, wasn't hungry at lunch time so skipped it, and then... well then it went rather downhill. I ate a whole Kit Kat. Those seem to be a trigger food for me. I know I often just have one finger...

Monday March 14th: Red I woke up at 2 this morning with my stomach almost imploding from hunger. Normally I'd just roll over and go back to sleep, but there was no chance of that happening. I really didn't want to get up and eat, because that's exactly where the slippery slope started last time...

I like foreign supermarkets too! You can always find something fabulous in the little ethnic supermarkets, and something surprising on the big megamarkets. :-)

Oh gawd, EVERYTHING. Last week was my tough week so I made loads of low syn treats: scan bran carrot cake tofu chocolate pudding SW jelly sweeties SW jelly and kwark 'blancmange' flourless pancakes rice pudding All recipes that make good use of free foods. Or maybe some would see it as abuse...

Sunday March 13th Green Day Day out today. We took The Boffin to the natural history museum in Leiden. He's autistic as well as boffinny, and my hubby has ADD and Asperger's, so a day out means getting there early and b*ggering off home before the crowds arrive and drive them both nuts. It's...

The plates look pretty chic don't they? But they're from the cheap shop! Well, cheap by Dutch standards anyway. My mum has similar ones and she got them from Au Naturale I think. The trick to the fried eggs is really simple - you put a lid on it! Wait until everything else in your pan is...

Aw thank you! :D :D I'm dead chuffed to bits that you're enjoying it! I do actually write for a living. I haven't got the imagination or discipline to write proper books, so I'm a copywriter. Amongst other things. Editor. Buyer. Till dolly. Tidy-upper. But mostly I write, and feel very lucky...

Oh that's a frustrating and uncomfortable position to be in. I think you can tell her all this once. Then it's up to her. If she goes ahead with her no syns plan, that's up to her. If she crashes and burns, let her. We have to learn from our own mistakes. The lesson sinks in better then. But be...

You can actually get regular bacon at the supermarket now! :-) It's shockingly expensive mind, but no more than it would be buying it from the English toko. AH has Marmite and HP Sauce too, and sometimes Colemans mustard. I've been here sonlong that it still tickles me that I can have a proper...

Oh :-( {{HUGS}} We've all been here. We're all prolly going to be here again. We use food as a quick fix. Lots of other things that make you feel good are frowned on, or they take time and faff, but you're allowed to eat, right? And it's easy and fast. SOOOO handy when you have kids and a job...

Saturday March 12th Trying a red day today. I've got loads of salad greens to use up, so it was easy to just chuck a bit of protein on a plate and load up with salad. Actually quite nice not having to faff around with a carb to go with it. We had a HUUUUUUUUGE joint of lamb in the freezer...

Ooh I've made this a LOT lately. The quark in Holland is quite thin compared to the UK stuff, but the trade off is that we get it in different flavours. :p You could do it with flavoured yoghurt though. If you added some vanilla to your quark, and used a strawberry jelly, you'd have a...

Cheesecake! One from Britmum's site - they're ALL yummy!

I find those two piece ones to be really annoying - I'm forever pulling mine down. So I'd go with the one-piece - it's a really nice shape. Black is the most flattering, but personally, my first thought if I see someone wearing a black all in one, is that they mustn't feel very confident. Coz...

Blimey. Thanks Jules. :)

Friday March 11th - first ever green day! I've been too much of a scaredy cat to try red and green days so far, and just stuck to EE. But this morning I used up a lot of a HEXA for breakfast, and then remembered I'd promised my hubby Britmum's carbonara tonight, which would need another HEXA...

Apologies if I'm sticking my nose in where it's not wanted, but I might have an alternative to carrying a bit of paper round with you to write your food diary. :) I put everything on a google spreadsheet. I can get at it from wherever I can use a computer. I use it to plan my meals for the...

Haha! Laughing my wobbly butt off over here. :-) Got to laugh though. I'm sure I give all our neighbours a giggle when I put The Small Boffin on the school bus in my cycling shorts, 3 sizes too big t-shirt and my super sexy socks and too-big pink crocs underneath. :) Not much evening aerobics...

Teehee! :D What a picture!

Thursday March 10th 2011 Nothing to report today except that I woke up ravenous and had a big breakfast. And then nommed through most of my syns before lunchtime! BREAKFAST 2 weetabix (b) vitamins (1) satsuma 2 rashers bacon 1 egg mushrooms courgette LUNCH pasta courgette bolognese sauce...

Ha! I don't know what was going on there actually. I find it really hard to stop with any kind of chocolate, normally. I thought it was a bit odd, being able to have just one. Made up for it today by having 2 and a half. ;)

Ah, thanks Jules. I'm doing great actually. :) How about you? You're quite close to target now, aren't you?

Wednesday March 9th I think I got my mojo back. Halleluja. :D I've felt more in control yesterday, much more in control today. We went for all-you-can-eat sushi again, but I planned what i was going to eat beforehand and stuck to that. OK, I could have stopped eating earlier, but it was a big...

Tuesday March 8th BREAKFAST vitamins (1) 1 slice WM toast (b) 1/2 can beans mushrooms quorn melon LUNCH smash pizza made with: 42g low-fat cheese (a) loads of home made tomato sauce mushrooms quorn spinach bacon chocolate tofu pudding with coconut (1.5) DINNER...

Bratwurst! Preferably with gluhwein. In the snow. Followed by a Belgian waffle with whipped cream. Mmmmmm... You know it was exactly what you said - hearing my parents have the same conversations that they've always had and then having the same conversations with my mother as I've always had...

I just do whatever stroke I feel like doing. I reckon as long as I'm moving, then it's all good! A couple of people go all gung ho and do the little flips and wear Speedos and goggles. :-) But the morning laps sessions at my pool are a sea of grey haired people chatting while they swim...

Hey, go you! :-) 30 mins five times a week is enough, right? No plans for tomorrow - early start at work and then date night with my hubby. Should manage something the rest of the week though.

Swam. :-) Only half an hour, very slowly. But it's a good start. :-) How about you?

I made this today, and even with much less cocoa it was delicious. :D I added coconut flavouring and sprinkled dessicated coconut on top. It worked out as less than one syn for a quarter of it - 4 tsp cocoa, 8g coconut. Can't for the life of me work out why the tofu would be synned - it's...

Ah, do you think? Thank you. I did wonder if it was the obsessive way I was listing everything. But I do feel like I'm always eating! About half of each meal is superfree, so maybe it is ok. We'll see in a month or so, if I'm a size smaller. Or - eek! - bigger. ;-)

STILL got the munchies, still craving sweet stuff. Still fighting them with low-syn treats. :-) At least today I was prepared for it, and didn't go over my syns. I feel guilty eating the yummy stuff, feel guilty for using my HEXB for snacks... I just have to believe that as long as my portions...

it does take a while to get back into it. I was doing an hour at a time before my holiday. Not done any today but I'm either cycling or swimming tomorrow. If I've not reported my time tomorrow night, you can give me a verbal butt kicking. ;-)

I made flourless pancakes today, had them with golden syrup and calorie-free caramel sauce. More like a fluffy omelette/meringue than a pancake, but REALLY nice! And free!

SW is quite a shock to the system, LOL! it took about 2 months for my body to get used to it. LOTS of fun. Hang in there, it gets better.

Geddaway with you, you've not seen me on the bike. I take a very leisurely approach to it, take time to enjoy the scenery (of my attic). ;-) I think 30 mins brisk walking is ace.

I just found a BRILLIANT solution to my sugar munchies. :D Flourless pancakes with Walden Farms Caramel syrup on top. SYN FREE! Ok, Walden Farms products are Frankenfood, some of them taste terrible, and they have a bit of a nasty nutrasweet aftertaste. But desperate times call for desperate...

Oooh, lemon curd and coconut! I think I know what my next SW lemon meringue pie is going to have in it. :-) I've ordered all three flavours from Ebay. Coconut was hardest to get and I'm paying a small fortune for it. Lots of companies in the US carry it but don;t do international shipping...

The recipe is here, for anyone else who wants it. :-) http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world-recipes/194046-perfect-scan-bran-chocolate-cake.html

These are fab ideas. I'm going to print a list of them out and hang them on the biscuit cupboard. :-)

Sunday March 6th PMT is driving me nuts with the munchies, but I'm keeping the damage to a minimum with lots of low syn treats. Would have been only a tiny bit over syns today if I hadn't given in to some lovely, crunchy, spice covered chicken skin. :sigh: BREAKFAST Up at the crack of dawn...

I'm back off to England again next week for a weekend. This time I'm going to London, and I'll be right in the center, staying near King's Cross. I'll be there for a few days and I really, REALLY, REALLY want to try to stay as on plan as possible. Trouble is I've been away from England so long I...

Ha! I brought 30 of those back with me to Holland last week. The corner shop owner thought I was bonkers, but he was glad of the custom. :-) They really do hit the spot! I took one to the cinema last week, with some SW jelly sweeties and felt like I'd had a big piggy bag of sweeties for just 2.5...

You star! Found it! Thank you! I buy nearly everything else on Ebay. Can't believe I didn't think of looking there!

What is it about parents, even when you adore them, that slightly unhinges you? I really thought I'd be fine this time. I ADORE my Mum. And she does SW. AND I was in charge of cooking all week, so I only have myself to blame. Ah well. I was aware of doing it, and why. And there was only maybe...

That's an AMAZING site! Good tip. :) For other stuff though, coz they don't have the extracts either. Just essences, which are fake.

Does anyone know where you can buy proper extracts? Yesterday I used the synthetic coconut flavoring in my Thai green curry and frankly couldn't taste it at all. And I used synthetic almond flavoring in a carrot cake but it just tasted bitter and chemically. I've looked and looked online -...

Saturday March 5th So. Nearly two weeks off plan. Not disastrously - those G-stars still fit - but not great either. Something about being back home with my parents sends me running to the biscuit tin. And then a stressful, busy week back in Holland, plus PMT made it really hard to get back on...

Are you using Options in your cake? I make mine with proper cocoa - it has far fewer syns and makes a MUCH more chocolatey and indulgent cake. That's been my life saver when I'm struggling. I make one cake with 5 scan bran and eat THE WHOLE LOT in one day for about 4 - 8 syns syns (depending on...

Done! 20 minutes on the bike. And a sunbed session as a reward. :o)

I've become rather an expert in what I call SW picnics. :D Here's what goes in mine (not always all at once) sushi ham chicken roll cherry tomatoes mini babybel pasta salad carrots cereal bars cut up fruit scan bran cake crab sticks couscous salad various low-syn sweeties

Oh lord, me too. I've not done any for about two weeks. The only way I know how to get back into it is to tell myself all I have to do is get my kit on. Then I just have to sit on the bike. And then I just have to cycle for 5 minutes. And then I just have to get past the first 20 sucky minutes...

It was probably a mistake to make these because I can't stop eating them. ;) Jaffa cakes aren't too bad calorie-wise but these work out as fewer syns than real jaffa cakes and I actually think they're nicer. Unfortunately I was making this up as I went along, so I'm not EXACTLY sure of how I...

My weakness is ice cream too. :-) I've been making slimming world ice cream lately which is not the same as my old pint of Ben & Jerry's, but it does his the spot and it's usually free. I actually made an apple pie flavour one this week. :) If you do a search for 'slimming world ice cream...

Help! Post your tips for avoiding the biscuit tin when stressed! I have my own techniques (stop, think, and if all else fails go for a walk, but sometimes, when I have THIS much to do in this much time, another Jaffa Cake seems like the only thing that's going to help. Any idea what i can do...

Still here.... Slowly getting back on the wagon after a couple of days off. On plan today but eating portions that are too big. I'll get there....

Saturday February 19th Oh dear. Yesterday didn't go very well. It started with not having time for breakfast and thinking I could wait until I got to my Mum's house. But seeing as I was up at 6 ish and didn't get here until about 6 hours later (well she does live in a whole nother country) that...

I'm sure I read that somewhere on an official SW page or in book, but I can't remember where. In fact in my EE booklet it says "one third of your plate with superfree foods each mealtime." Hmmm..... maybe someone can give the official answer? Never really been an issue for me because I have...

Thursday February 17th Major breakthrough today: I saw myself sideways in a mirror and nearly jumped out of my skin with surprise: my belly no longer sticks out more than my bazoomas do. ;-) On the way home from work I realised I had hardly had any syns today and I wasn't in the mood for...

Oh I am SO making this! I thought the base for the SW lemon mousse would make a great lemon curd but it was too tart. Never thought to add fromage frais or quark. I can see another SW lemon meringue pie in my future too. :-)

I've never seen those in Xenos! But you have to be quick I suppose. I will watch out for them, AND visit the Xenos more often. I work near the one on Kalverstraat so I can go every day if I want. Never seen golden syrup there though, or in the big Albert Heijn. I know I HAVE seen it in a...

Do you know, now that I've had a syn tin for 6 weeks, I'm not really much interested in eating what's in it? This last couple of weeks I've been reaching for it less and less. I know I can have a treat, I know I probably should, but then I think, ach, I'll have one later. And then forget...

Ooh, that's a good idea. I've never thought of making it into buns. Did they still come out moist?

Another Wednesday, another concert. But no Bacardi at this venue. And the bar closed during the concert for some reason, so I had a wine before it started, and that was all. I had syns left over and spent them on a choccie muesli bar. I went out straight from work, so I needed quite a bit of...

Here's the recipe: Mini Oreo Baked Cheesecakes | Slimming Eats - Slimming World Recipes They're 3.5 syns each, but you can use HALF an oreo for each cake, and put fewer oreos in the cheesecake, compensating with adding some cocoa powder. I did that, got the syns right down and they were...

Oh my goodness, wearing all my clothes on the way back. Don't give me ideas. My wardrobe is tiny anyway now that barely anything fits, so I probably could! Luckily I'm taking my son with me, and he has child-sezed clothes and a grown up baggage allowance. Should have plenty of room. :-)

Oh I can probably get Golden Syrup from one of the English grocers in Amsterdam. But since it's imported it'll be priced as though it's actual liquid gold! Not spending my curly wurly money there when I can bring a tin back from home. ;-)

Mini Oreo cheesecakes. You'll be the star of the tasting session. ;-)

Men just do not get it sometimes. And a lot of men have trouble buying presents and fall back on chocolate and flowers, poor things. How about you put them in the freezer? Work out the syns per chocolate and take them out of the freezer just a couple at a time and eat them as part of your...

How about a fishy week? Seems to be working for me. Or upping your superfree from 1/3 to 1/2?

Like you would not believe! :D I can't believe it's been this easy and this fast! Gawd I LOVE LOVE LOVE SW!

Just imagine that none of the convenience foods you use for SW are available where you live. What would you want to have people bring you? This weekend I'm going home to England for a week. First stop is ASDA to fill a suitcase with essentials that I can't get here. :) I've got an idea of the...

Tuesday February 15th Guess what I'm wearing today? :-))))) Hubby's old G-Star jeans. :-))))) AND I can breathe in them and everything. In other news, as predicted, I made myself ill by eating too many mussels. Totally worth it though and an antihistamine soon sorted me out. BREAKFAST...

What works for me is getting as many veggies in as possible. I am turning into a bit of a salad drawer evangelist. :-) Easy ways to sneak veggies in are: Sneaky veggies in your tomato pasta sauce! Grated carrot is GREAT. You won't notice it's there. Or a couple of extra finely chopped...

You're right - eating extra food to follow the letter of the law rather than the spirit of it is completely daft. You only have to have two of your three meals a day follow the superfree rule though, so you don't have to have it with your breakfast. I can tell that the 1/3 superfree rule...

It's brilliant isn't it? I never thought a diet could actually make me HAPPY but SW does. :-)

The way I did it, the mousse was already set when I put it on the base so it didn't leak. But a leakproof tin might help. ;-)

Britmum's site, Slimming Eats, has a lush baked strawberry cheesecake recipe that hit the spot for me. :-)

Ha! That's EXACTLY what I was trying to recreate! I have craved that pudding ever since I left school at 18 and I'm so glad I figured out how to make it. :-))) I'm sure that would work. Any recipe for a citrus mousse would, probably. I think next time I make it I'll make the base...

I've made so many SB cakes over the last couple of months, and I think I've perfected the recipe: moist, fluffy, chocolatey cake, for just 1 syn a slice. (For quarter of the whole cake, if you count the Scan Bran as part of your Hex B.) TIPS: Scan Bran Sprinkles work best, but if you can't...

I am a humungous geek so I keep everything on a spreadsheet, one for each month. It automatically tells me how much exercise I still need to do and how many syns I have left for each week. I plan the whole week out on it, on a Friday night, and change it as needed as the week goes on. And then...

I've had a nice array of eating disorders over the years and when I've tried to do diets, I've been utterly obsessed too. So I worry, and the people around me worry. Nobody wants to see you go back to the way you were. Everyone on a diet is obsessed. We're the biggest bores in the world...

Monday February 14th BREAKFAST 2 rashers bacon 2 scrambled eggs mushrooms tangerine LUNCH pasta tuna salad greens red pepper cherry tomatoes free dressing DINNER mussels SW chips home made coleslaw (1.5) mayo (2.5) EXTRAS apple 2 tangerines options (2) muesli bar (b) 3 squares dark...

Sunday February 13th BREAKFAST 2 scan bran (2) 2 Laughing Cow lights (a) banana tangerine LUNCH sushi stir fried veg 1/4 St Clements Chocolate Crunch (b)(7) DINNER tomato and vegetable soup quark EXTRAS 3 tangerines 150 ml semi-skimmed milk (a) 1 tsp cocoa (1)...

You could probably make it without the egg whites actually. All they do is give it a light, fluffy texture like mousse. Believe me, the mixture is yummy enough without the egg whites... it nearly didn't make it onto the chocolate base when I made it!

Saturday February 12th Start of week six and it's going to be a fishy week! Will have to be careful because I LOOOOOVE shellfish, but I'm also a bit allergic to it. Oops. :-) It's just for fun. Oh ok, and also to get those stupid pants (and the coat) a bit nearer being wearable. I'm going home...

Bit late to the party, but I came up with a great quick lunch at work using Laughing Cow the other week. I was in a hurry so I chucked some cooked pasta, chopped raw courgette, cherry tomatoes, sliced up ham and black pepper in a tupperware box. Unwrapped 3 LC lights, and bunged those on...

Makes 8 portions. (5.5 syns per slice, or 3.5 syns and 1/2 a HexB) INGREDIENTS 4 eggs, separated 170 g fromage frais or quark juice and grated rind of 1 lemon juice and grated rind of 1 orange 5 sheets gelatine (or about 2 sachets) pinch of salt 10 tablespoons sweetener 112 g Bran Flakes...

Friday February 11th I now have no sensible coat. I have a size 26 wool coat from Next that I really cannot wear anymore. I've moved the buttons over as far as they will go. I have a size 24/26 leather coat that's fairly warm but now looks like a big old bag on me. I have an adorable size 20...

Here's what's in mine" Mini smarties = 3.5 syns Mini Bros (aeros) = 2.5 syns Curly Wurlies = 6 syns Mini snickers = 4.5 syns Muesli bars = 5 syns Mini Breaks = 5 syns Never really bother with the last two TBH. I think my mother in law eats them for me, while I go mainly for the first three.

I'm usually the sort that can not rest until AAAAALLLLLL the chocolate in the house is gone. And then the biscuits. And then the crisps. But I have a syn tin. And I LOVE it. And I've honestly, in the 5 weeks I've been on SW, only gone mad once and had 3 curly wurlies in one go. Don't ask me...

Thursday February 10th BREAKFAST bacon sarnie - made with 4 small rashers on wholemeal bread (b) tablespoon HP sauce (1) vitamins (1) clementine LUNCH pasta bolognese peach quark DINNER speedy soup pasta ham cherry tomatoes 3 lauging cow lights (a) EXTRAS mini bros (2.5) turkey roll...

Went to a concert tonight and I was SO good. I love my beer, but I swapped it tonight for three pints of diet cola. With a measure of Bacardi in each one mind you. They cost me... wait for it..... about 9 euros each. Which is a bit more expensive than Heineken, I can tell you. I should be used...

Thanks Jules. I bloomin' hope so. I'm just going to consider it an interesting challenge this week to get through the next two days without going more than a couple of syns over 105, and managing to make up for the exercise I missed yesterday. I'm a big girl. I can take it. :-) So can you...

Tuesday February 8th Today I had a working lunch. I was prepared. I had a good breakfast. I ate some scan bran cake and fruit and had a big mug of tea before we left. I planned what I would eat - tomato soup, the only suitable thing on the menu. And then when it came to placing my order, I...

Today I came to a sad realization. I have about 5 gorgeous size 22 Monsoon skirts that have been waiting patiently in my wardrobe for the last two years. I gave most of my smaller clothes away but couldn't bear to part with these - far too pretty. I've been trying them on this week. They...

It is yum! It's based on Britmum's recipe. Mine ended up quite eggy because I think the volumes per tub or pot are different here. I used a different biscuit, and a different margerine so had to work out the syns from scratch. But it was all still very nommy. :-)

Monday February 7th Still got PMT. Grrrrrrrrr.....Luckily nobody got killed today, though my hubby keeps looking at me in abject terror. :-) I was at work today so I had a good distraction from the munchies. I ate carrots, tomatoes, grapes and scan bran cake between meals to keep me going, and...

I use mine on Curly Wurlys. :-) And mayonnaise and yummy low-syn cakes. I do tend to use mine on sweets because I think that stops me bingeing. I nearly always use all of my syns (or more! oops!) and I'm losing weight quite fast. I DO however eat way more than 1/3 superfree which probably helps...

Hi Lolacola, thanks for stopping by. :-) I don't why I'm managing to exercise 5 times a week. It seems like magic sometimes. :-) I always just told myself that I had to at least get my shorts and t-shirt on, haul my butt upstairs, put on a good documentary and sit on the bike. If I really...

Definitely got PMT so today was another munchy sort of day. But I've stayed under 15 syns and the munchies have gone now. I snacked a lot though the day. I think this worked because I'm working SO hard on eating normal portions and stopping eating when I have had enough, but that does mean...

BREAKFAST vitamins (1) 2 rashers bacon 1/3 can of beans mushrooms courgette cherry tomatoes tangerine LUNCH 1 bowl speedy soup (pumpkin, carrots, onions, red pepper, courgette, aubergine, beans, a few peas) wholemeal roll (b) 2 big slices ham 5g low-cal marge (0.5) small slice cheesecake (2)...

Oh I'm not being really virtuous through the day. I mean that I eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full, eat a balanced diet and regular portions. (Wasn't always like that but considerably improved over the last few years.) I'm getting better at identifying what I'm trying to achieve by eating...

My worst habit, the one that kept me fat, has always been eating at night. I could eat like a normal person through the day, but after the sun goes down, the voice in my head starts up, reminding me about the crisps/chocolate/biscuits/leftover pasta in the kitchen. The voice does not shut up...

Saturday February 5th Urg. Had the munchies today. Started when I got hungry again after lunch, at about 2. So I had some fruit. And some turkey roll and a couple of crab sticks. Much better. I made a strawberry cheesecake which came out great. It's only 2 syns for a slice. So I had three...

Evenings are my worst time. I got into the habit of NEEDING something after about 7pm. I've been using Brit Mum's site and the sw cookbooks to make low-syn treats. Most of them are so good they are nothing like like diet food! Really worth checking out. I think it's fab that you've stuck at sw...

You need Brit Mum's site. Loads of low-syn things to bake there! Recipes | Slimming Eats - Slimming World Recipes

Get a coolbag and some of those camping ice packs. Then you should be able to keep all sorts of things cool long enough. Couscous salad works well cold. I make mine with lamb rubbed with cumin, peppers, aubergine, dried apricots (synned) and chicken stock. I take a tub of cucumber in a free...

Hi Jules - missed your question about apple quark! It's basically fat free, sugar free kwark with cinamon and bits of apple in it. Holland is great for dairy products and you can buy a one litre pack of FF SF yoghurt, and a pint tub of FF SF flavoured quark. :-) I'm using those instead of...

Friday February 4th Last day of my first month today. :-) BREAKFAST vitamins (1) 1 slice wm bread with 5g low-cal marge (0.5) 2 bacon 1 egg mushrooms cherry toms tangerine LUNCH pasta turkey roll courgette aubergine tomatoes red pepper mushrooms 3 laughing cow lights...

That's a good idea!Thank you! :-)) I'm so out of touch with what you can buy in England now. I usually spend all my money in ASDA when I come home you see. :-) If you can think of other good solutions for staying (sort of) on plan in London, let me know!

Thursday February 3rd Today I am rather proud of myself. Only because I had the foresight to take soup to work with me to have when I'd finished my late shift. I just had time to warm it up while we were cashing up and drank it from a screwtop beaker on the way home, making sure I didn't fail...

The film was pretty bad. I'm absolutely not a prude but I really don't want that much graphic shagging in my romcom thank you. Gyllenhal and Hathaway were a treat to watch though. :-) Sushi has to be the bet eating out option. Going to London next month for work and have NO idea what I'm going...

Wednesday February 2nd Date night. :-) Except hubby was tired so he went home and I took myself to the pictures to see Love and Other Drugs. (Wasn't that good TBH). And that meant another cinema picnic. Forgot to take all my happy pills this morning so I wasn't in a great mood when I got home...

Hi Jules, the all you can eat sushi place is in the center of Amsterdam. Right across the square from where I work. Deadly! LOL! I don't know how they do it - they have the best sashimi I've ever had, everything they serve up is delicious and cooked to order, and you pay 22 or 28 euros (cheap at...

Tuesday February 1st BREAKFAST Omega 3 & vitamin D capsules (1) 2 rashers bacon mushrooms cherry tomatoes tangerine LUNCH None. Oops. DINNER SW fish and chips (3 syns for the breadcrumbs) Salad (1.5 for the dressing) 2 mini chocolate oreo cheesecakes (5 syns. OMG. Amazing. Tweaked the...

It is a HEXB. :-) I think you can have 5. One syn each otherwise. The best way to get them down is with LOADS of spready cheese. Or in a scan bran chocolate cake.

Oh sweetheart I know exactly how you feel. You feel stuck and powerless and disgusted with yourself. *hug* I know that when I used to binge (and I'm not ruling out doing it again because it's part of who I am) it was because I was not feeling emotions that I was ashamed of or guilty about or...

SW fish and chips Salad with garlic dressing (low cal mayo, quark lemon juice, vinegar, garlic paste, salt and pepper) Followed by mini chocolate oreo cheesecakes (2.5 syns each!) and low fat ice cream. Nom! I love this diet. :-)))))

Monday January 31st Oh dear. Inventory day at work today, and the company laid on a lunch. I sort of planned to have one bagel and a banana juice. But that turned into... well you'll see below. I actually wanted to take my own food into work but didn't want to be the weirdo. It turned out that...

Sunday January 30th 2011 I think my appetite is getting smaller. It's happening more and more often that when dinner time comes around, my first thought is "Oh gawd, not more food!" :-) I managed a bit of dinner tonight - ate all my veggies like a good girl, picked at the rest, and then decided...

Saturday January 29th So this is the start of week 4. With the exception of the times I had eating disorders, which don't count, this is the first time I've stayed on a diet for longer than 3 days I think. :-) I thought I could only have ONE slice of bread for a healthy B. Turns out I can have...

How can I have lived here for 13 years and not know that De Tuinen is Holland and Barrett? They seem so different to me! I'll have a look there for Scan Bran, or ask if they can get it. In my defense, I am sufficiently ingeburgerd - I DO eat haring. :-) That's a good tip, using a mister instead...

Thanks!

I'm not a huge fan of the healthy A choices in the SW books i have. I like cream cheese though. :-) Do you think I could use Philadelphia Light as a healthy A? It's 3 syns for 28 g.

I have a few favourites that I have when I've got time for more than a bowl of Bran Flakes: Cinnamon French toast with fried apple. 3 scan bran with TWO dairylea lights each, ham, cucumber and tomato. I have the other 2 scan bran in a Scan bran cake that I take to work to snack on. The famous...

Friday January 28th 2011 Today was a very baconny day. Well it needed using up. :-) I had a HUGE lunch and ended up not being able to eat my dinner. And unlike in the old days, I didn't force myself - I just froze the leftovers. :-) It did mean that at 9pm I was hungry, but I just snacked on...

Thursday January 27th Late shift today, so meals were all over the place. Decided on Brunch at 10, dinner at 4, and snacks of fruit and scan bran cake. Worked out fine. Last week I dug out an old pair of jeans - hubby's old size 40 G-Stars which always looked FABBY on me - to see how far I...

The toko! What a great idea! Why didn't I think of that? There's a multi-culti one nearby that I think sells Sharwoods. I live in Hoorn, work in the center of Amsterdam. It's surprisingly easy to follow SW here - the only thing I can't get is fromage frais, surprisingly. Fry Light isn't in...

I was hopeless with rice too but my hubby showed me how to do it. And it's ridiculously easy: 1. Bung rice in pan with a bit of salt. 2. Boil kettle. 3. Pour boiling water over rice, enough to generously cover it. 4. Bring back to boil in pan and boil for 10 minutes. 5. Remove pan from...

When I got skinny first time round I found that I was losing inches even when the scales stayed the same. The more exercise you do, the more muscle you build up. Muscle weighs more than fat apparently, but it helps you burn fat. So as long as you are following the plan 100% and moving your butt...

Wednesday January 26th Date night tonight, and since hubby and I had some serious stuff to talk about we went for dinner. The good thing was that we went for sushi and I made EXCELLENT choices. The bad thing was that it was an all you can eat sushi restaurant and I ate all I could eat. Mind...

Tuesday January 25th BREAKFAST Omega 3 & vitamin D capsules (1) 3 scan bran (b) 2 funny cow (a) 1/2 tsp nutella (1) 1 tangerine 4 cherry tomatoes LUNCH Quorn frittata green salad free dressing DINNER SW Beef stew Cabbage Mashed potato with low-cal mayo (1) Apple...

Help me settle an argument with my mum. :-) I've been mixing my HexAs and she says it's not allowed. For example, instead of 250ml semi-skimmed milk OR 5 laughing Cow Lights, I'll divide each of those by five and take a portion of each. Usually it's three Laughing Cows and 100 ml of milk...

Monday January 24th I think I'm getting the hang of this. :-) Still loving it. Can see myself keeping this up for a long time. Starting to notice the difference too - I feel less sluggish, there's a spring in my step, and exercise is getting easier. I've been worried about my portion sizes...

Sunday January 23 2011 I tried making Smash pizza today and I wasn't very hopeful. But it turned out great! I made a sauce from herbs, pasata, onion and garlic, and froze the leftovers. Topped with my hexa and lots of mushrooms and ham, it was ace! Better than when I make it with a ready-made...

Well, I feel much more at ease about it now. Thank you! I suppose it comes from so many years of dieting and restriction. SW often feels too good to be true! I think I'll go half and half. Did that today, and saved my HexB for a muesli bar to have tonight. :-)

Five things that are helping me stay on plan for the first time EVER: Make meals ahead and freeze them. I make 4 portions and freeze three. Use for lunches at work, or dinners when you can't be bothered to cook. Write the syn value on each portion. Bag up treats into smaller ready-to-go...

YOU are a GOOD writer. Really, really good. And I'm speaking as someone who edits, who writes, who works with books and who has to read a lot of debut novels that are complete rubbish, and self-published novels that are even worse. You've got talent. :-) I'm hooked on this story and want more...

Saturday January 22nd Well, today went a lot better than yesterday. :-) I made the SW doner, but couldn't get lean lamb mince. I was grateful to find lamb mince at all really, coz people don't really eat lamb here. It was really yummy though - even my hubby ate it - so I think I'll go see the...

It must be that kind of day. I just sent a full bottle of HP sauce smashing and skittering across the kitchen. It went everywhere - up the walls, on the door. I'm going to be finding bits of HP everywhere for the next few days I think!

Well what I was thinking that treats would be too many extra calories IF I was replacing the other sensible food with free foods. For example, I could have an extra slice of bread and spend a few syns on that. Or I could swap the bread for spuds or pasta, which would probably have the same...

I have a spreadsheet with all the days and meals and have it set up to keep a running total of my syns. On a Friday night, I sit down with the recipe books and plan a couple of main courses that can be frozen. I usually plan one pudding I can make too, pref one that I can freeze. And then I...

I think yoghurt might be a bit runny and not very creamy. I can't get fromage frais where I live, so I usually just use quark instead. Turns out ok most of the time. :-)

I love the idea of spending my syns on Curly Wurlies. :-) But I worry a bit about how that will affect my losses. What do you spend your syns on? Treats? Or do you use a lot of them in your meals?

Ooh I've got one. I love that I can (mostly) leave it alone and not feel the urge to eat everything in it all at once. This is a totally new thing for me! Low-cal muesli bars - 5 syns Fun size Snickers - 4.5 syns Fun size Smarties - 3.5 syns Curly Wurlies - 6 syns Mini Bros (like Aeros) - 2.5 syns

Something I remember from being pregnant: Peaches, plums and pears poop. Bananas bind. :-)

Oh dear. I'm going to start this diary before the day is even over in the hope that it stops me going completely bonkers and eating the entire contents of the syn tin. Today started off so well - sensible breakfast, bit of cycling, followed by putting on a pair of jeans that had been so tight...

Thursday January 20th Late shift at work today, so a bit of a weird day foodwise. I have to leave for work at noon, get there at one, break is at 4, and that's when I get to eat. Home at 10:30pm. Last week I took scan bran and Laughing Cow to work to eat in the evening. Ran out of Laughing Cow...

Wednesday January 19th Date night after work yesterday. Usually that means grabbing a sandwich and a cookie and smuggling them into the cinema. Never got into the habit of getting popcorn at the pictures so I don't miss that. But since one healthy looking sandwich from the shops could blow...

January 18th Hmmm stuffed now after my dinner and haven't used all my syns. What a weird feeling. Really don't want to eat any more though, so I'll save those syns for later in the week. It's *week and I've noticed I'm using my syns on sweet stuff. It feels wrong, but my mum says that's fine...

Hi Liv82 - I've seen that list. Thanks. :-) Trouble is that I can't get ANY of those yoghurts here. :-/ Could some very kind soul please put this through the syns calculator and tell me if they are free? Optimel Raspberry Yoghurt Per 100g Calories: 40 Protein: 3.4g Carbs: 5.7g Fat: none...

Give yourself a week or two to get used to the plan. Be kind to yourself. I know you want results now, but you've got plenty of time to get the hang of this. I went over my syns every day the first week just because it was all a big adjustment to make. Focus on the free and superfree foods for...

Oh I love it in a cake. That's fine. I suspect that even poop with chocolate on it would taste good to me. :-) But half an hour later I'm still chewing my way through my breakfast. It feels like I'm spooning the bottom of a hamster cage into my mouth. Blergh....

Straight away. It's meant to fill you up so you eat less of the higher calorie stuff. I make myself eat the superfree foods on my plate first, before tucking into the meat and carbs.

.... this morning - as I was eating my breakfast of fruit quark and scan bran crumbs - that if you blindfolded me and got me to chew on a chunk of chipboard and a scan bran... I seriously believe that I would not be able to tell the difference. Yum! :D

Natalie I'm just like you. That's how I got so fat. Can't just have one biscuit. Can't just have one handful of crisps. It's the whole bag or nothing. Or was. :-) I think what's working for me now is dividing everything up into small portions and keeping it in the freezer if possible. Made a...

Put it on a big piece of foil. Add salt, pepper, a couple of slices of lemon and some fresh chopped dill. You can also add veggies that will cook quick, like sugar snaps or peppers. Fold the foil over and scrunch the edges up nice and tight to make a sealed packet. Make sure there's a bit of...

January 17th Today was one of those days when I kept thinking "This is a diet? Seriously? Can't be!" :-) I don't think I've ever eaten this well or gotten so much pleasure from my food. It's making me so happy! The rainbow trout I had for dinner was divine - tasted so buttery but there wasn't...

I think you might be my SW twin! :-) I'm 36, about 17 stone, and I have sore knees and back because of onset of arthritis. I was constantly tired and sluggish before last week. I'm mum to a lovely 6 year old boy who I also sit and watch rather than play with. I also work, but only 3 days a week...

BREAKFAST 2 rashers bacon, fat cut off 2 slices medium sliced wholemeal bread (b)(4) 1 tbsp HP sauce (1) apple omega 3 & vitamin D capsules (1) LUNCH home made hummus crudites (mange tout, peppers, cucumber) lemon meringue pie (weetabix, lemons, eggs, low cal marge, sweetener)...

Tsk! Thank you! Have edited it to show the carbs. :o

Could someone please please help me figure out if these are syn free? I can't get Muller Lights here in Holland and I'm hoping these will make a good alternative. Thanks! Optimel Raspberry Yoghurt Per 100g Calories: 40 Protein: 3.4g Carbs: 5.7g Fat: none Fibre: 1.3g Optimel Peach Quark Per...

I was going to make the syn-free lemon mousse from the puddings book today. Then I found out half way through that hubby had brought home strawberry jelly instead of gelatine. Oops. :rolleyes: I had the lemon and egg bit done already so I McGyvered it into a lemon meringue pie. :happy036: It...

About 1.5 to 2 litres is healthy. I drink a bit more than a litre of water, usually half a litre of diet coke and then about 4 big mugs of tea. I never include coffee or booze cos I think they dry you out, don't they?

Been doing EE SW at home in Holland on my own using my Mum's books for a week now. Loving it. :-) Last week was a good week, but I went over my syns a lot while I was getting used to it. Fine by me - I have about 40 kilos to lose so it might not even be bad idea to start out slower. A bit like...

I'm doing the plan in Holland and that means that I can't get LOADS of the branded products that are in the SW books. It's mostly good because I'm forced to eat fresh food rather than processed. ;) I was wondering though, I see Muller Lights mentioned loads on these boards, in recipes and as...