Donna's five stone for fifty

DonnaMT66

Full Member
Day 1

Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee

Lunch: Large jacket with beans and chop-chop salad:

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Dinner: Turkey burgers with lean turkey mince (no idea if this will be synned)

Chop-chop salad

Ainsley lemon, mint and parsley cous-cous (I think 3 syns)

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upside down pictures - no idea why, they're the right way up on my files!


Snacks: frozen fruit, fresh mussels and a glass of white wine left over, which I think will be 6 syns
 
Day 2

Day 2

Pay day is still more than week away, and I'm already almost broke. I was tempted to wait until I get a big shop done, but decided that there are probably enough bits in the freezer and cupboard that I can make use of. Could go on forever keep putting it off!

Breakfast - 2 cups of coffee; a banana

Lunch - same as yesterday with a twist: jacket potato and beans, but mixed dry fried onions and mushrooms in the beans. Large salad

Dinner: p. 20 of the May/June magazine - tinned potatoes roasted with thyme and spicy bean salad, though replaced the cannellini beans with butter beans that I already had in and used a tablespoon of olive oil. Served with turkey burgers left over from yesterday's dinner.

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This was really tasty, and will definitely be doing the beans again. Was a little bit dry for me, so dolloped a tablespoon of Ex-light mayo to dip the spuds in.

HexA - milk for my coffees
HexB - possibly the oil I used for the spicy bean salad.

Syns - Ex-light mayo - 1

still stuffed from dinner, but if I fancy something sweet later than will probably go for a mincemeat stuffed baked apple, have that for HexB and count 6 syns for the olive oil (to be on the safe side, though it was probably less)
 
Been a bit of a 'meh' day today, mostly spent typing up my notes from the archives and avoiding any sort of housework! So not much exercise other than the usual 20 minute walk with the dog and a trip to the shops for supplies


Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee, a banana around 10 O'clock

Lunch: a huge omelette, stuffed with mushrooms and bacon, tomato and cucumber salad on the side:

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Dinner: 2 Linda McCartney rosemary and red onion sausages, ton of SW chips, two eggs, baked beans, tomatoes and mushrooms, squib of brown sauce. Mushrooms/tomatoes were cooked in a tablespoon of olive oil

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Looking at this I'm pretty sure it didn't meet the 1/3 rule with veg. Two tomatoes and about 4 mushrooms in contrast with that mound of chips! But it tasted good and was budget friendly, definitely filled me up.

Snack: fat free Greek yoghurt with a teaspoon of honey (there's the sugar creeping back in, after a sugar free Lent!)


HexB - 1 tbspn olive oil
HexA - milk for coffees

Syns: brown sauce - 1
honey - 1
 
Day 3

Been another lazy day, though very relieved that issues with accessing some of the archive documents I needed have been resolved. Still trying to eke out the last licks of the monthly income. Roll on pay day! Still, it's making me a bit more creative.

Breakfast: two cups of coffee


Lunch: a packet of Batchelors Super Rice from the cupboard. I don't like many packet foods, but these always taste like a blast from the past, and I occasionally get a fancy for them. When I was going to class last year, this was free. Hope it still is. Served it with a generous salad, thanks to the reduced section in Asda got a ready prepared bag for 45p. Then a nice, soft poached egg on the top.

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Dinner: really fancied a big curry, so picked up a butternut squash. It was only 90p, so a lot cheaper than buying some meat in and really just as tasty. I chopped up about half of it, peeled the chunks after they were cut, because I find it easier. Then roasted the chunks with a spray of Frylite and some cumin seeds. They began to blacken in the oven, but were really delicious just on their own. I think they'd be nice tossed through a salad. I made my usual sauce, using a tablespoon of olive oil and slowly cooking off onion, garlic and a red chilli, then stirring some dry spices through. Today it was ginger, cumin, curry powder and turmeric, with a tin of chopped tomatoes. Just mixed the bns and some mushrooms in the sauce, then served it with the rest of the bagged salad, some chopped tomato and cucumber and a little dressing to cool it down. The dressing was fat free greek yoghurt and mint sauce. It was really good, cheap and very satisfying!

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Snacks: satsumas, banana and apple

HexA - milk for coffees
HexB - olive oil

Syns: Mint sauce - book says 1/2 syn per tbspn, I only used half a teaspoon, but will count the 1/2

maybe have a snack of something naughty before bedtime - I have been having a slice of white toast from a 400g loaf, with a teaspoon of low fat spread and a teaspoon of jam, with a cup of tea while watching old episodes of Luther. I've calculated that at 6 syns. Having said that, there's still curry left!
 
Day 4 - holiday food

Been a bit of a meh day today. Maybe it's the weather, but feeling not great. Had a lovely, comforting old fashioned dinner again - well, old fashioned for me. Like the savoury rice, instant mash reminds me of holiday dinners when I was young. Every year my family would rent out a couple of holiday park chalets, and we'd all pile down there with suitcases and packets of dried and tinned food. It always felt like 'special' food somehow - Fray Bentos pies, instant mash, tinned peas and corned beef. Even the typical British holiday weather - much as it is today - didn't seem to matter.


Breakfast: two cups of coffee

Lunch: 3 egg omelette with mushrooms (no picture today). The cheapo salad I picked up yesterday was no good today, but hoping the stack of mushrooms in the omelette will count as my 1/3

Dinner: Instant mash, mixed with a teaspoon of sugar-free Dijon mustard and a teaspoon of low fat spread; several slices of cooked sandwich beef (which I'm not entirely sure were syn free); loads of broccoli and carrots; gravy

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I have some fresh pineapple, grapes and a Muller Turkish Delight for Friday night treats

HexA - skimmed milk in coffees
HexB - nothing yet


Syns - mustard is 1/2 syn for a tablespoon, I only had a teaspoon
teaspoon of low fat spread - 1 syn
gravy 1.5 syns

Really unsure about the beef - if it is synned I reckon I'm still within my daily limits
 
Day 5

Today I was back in the archives. This means that I was shut in a room with no food or drink for the best part of 5 hours, so no lunch.

Breakfast: bucket of coffee and a banana

Lunch: no lunch, but ate a mini bag of grapes and a satsuma while waiting for the bus home

Dinner: stuffed trout with couscous and a large salad. You'll notice our little dog was very interested in it!

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The trout was delicious, picked it up from the reduced counter in Asda for 80p! I have to be honest, no idea what the syns are in it, though I'm guessing it might not be as healthy as it sounds. It was stuffed with spinach and ricotta and I ate the skin on it too.The couscous was Ainsley Harriot, sun dried tomato and garlic flavour. It worked well with the fish and it all certainly hit the spot.

Snacks: grapes, satsumas and I have a fat-free Greek style yoghurt

HexA: milk for coffees
HexB: :/

Syns - no idea because of the fish. Going to go (hopefully) safe, and say a full 10 syns for the fish and couscous.
 
Day 7

After a triumphant wi on Sunday morning the day went pretty much down hill eating wise and was almost totally off plan. Yesterday I had a very full day in the archives and it wasn't until 4pm that I suddenly realised I'd not eaten all day. So I headed home on the bus with a very rumbly tummy and cooked a fairly fast and on plan meal.

Breakfast:- coffee

Lunch:- nope

Dinner:-


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I cooked the last pasta left in the jar, which was a bit of a mixture, some home-made ragu from the freezer, a large salad and some veg left over from Sunday lunch. Afterwards I had a Muller bananas and custard with a banana.

Snacks: nope
HexA: milk for coffees
HexB: olive oil on the salad

This is not a great start to the week, but the archives are going to be a very regular event over the next few months, so I'm going to have to come up with a plan.
 
Day 8 - another busy day

Another busy day. Up and out early to walk the dog, then shopping for paint for my daughter's bedroom. This afternoon was a meeting with my academic supervisor at uni. Also - it's pay day!!! Despite this, i resisted temptation to indulge in anything naughtier than a can of diet coke.

Breakfast: cup of coffee and a banana

Lunch: Mushroom omelette with some of the nice salad from yesterday - I love Asda's bistro salad, it has pea shoots and beetroot

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As I prepared to serve the omelette I suddenly remembered I meant to put some lean back to the pan. Not one to miss out, I chucked the bacon bits in the pan and tipped it over the salad

Dinner: A tin of Asda's own veggie chilli and some rice. I was already eating it when I remembered to take the photo:

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The chilli was really nice, but I'm not sure how many syns it might have. I do remember a similar version being syn free and I'm hoping this is the same.

HexA - milk in coffee
HexB - nope

Treat - can of diet coke
 
Breakfast: today, for a change, I had a breakfast and used my HexB all in one go! 35g porridge cooked with water and a teaspoon of sugar. Chopped apple.

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Lunch: nope, had a satsuma at the bus stop when I was heading home

Dinner: I got dinner on the go before heading out this morning. It's the first time I've made a dhal, but it was really delicious and super cheap. The recipe was from the BBC food site, but basically:

300g split yellow peas
chopped tomatoes (I used fresh, but tinned would do)
1 chilli, 2 cloves garlic, one onion and a thumb sized piece of ginger, grated
good tablespoon of garam masala and a 1.5 pints of vegetable stock.

I think that was it. Put it all in the slow cooker and left it on low for about 5 hours it must have been. It was lovely and creamy. I had mine with rice, salad, two mini wraps and a drizzle of fat free Greek yoghurt mixed with a teaspoon of mint sauce

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Plenty left over too, but I shall definitely be making this again. Really hit the spot after missing lunch.

HexA - milk for coffee
HexB - porridge oats

syns: 1 teaspoon of sugar - going to count this as 2 because it was a heaped teaspoon

mint sauce - 1

Discovery mini wraps - no idea. They were quite small, going to say 3 each for a total of 6
 
No pictures for yesterday because it wasn't a wildly exciting day. Very busy, and today looks to be the same.

Breakfast: 3 cups of coffee, banana
Lunch: nope
Dinner 3 tortilla wraps with leftover dhal; banana and custard muller

HexA: milk for coffee
HexB: no

snacks: a squished satsuma that I found in my bag on the bus home
syns: the wraps - have a feeling they might be a fair bit :/
 
SW friendly shopping

I've not eaten anything wildly exciting over the last couple of days. Friday was another full on day at the archives: banana for breakfast, skipped lunch and threw together a salmon omelette for a quick dinner. The salmon was from a little packet of trimmings, only £1.35 from Asda and I used what was left to make some fishcakes for tea last night.

Last week Sainsbury emailed me a code for £15 off a £60 online grocery shop, plus free delivery. This seemed too good an offer to refuse, so I used it towards this stash of SW goodies:

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Then yesterday afternoon had a bit of cooking session, making several portions of SW chilli and Hairy Bikers Bhuna and beef goulash and a big slow-cooker pot of split-pea dhal for the freezer. I'm planning on doing some more, but ran out of chopped tomatoes.

This morning I weighed in and was pleased to have lost another pound and a half, despite the sometimes erratic eating patterns and little exercise. This morning I had a very naughty piece of white toast with low fat spread and strawberry jam. I still don't eat much sugar, and not had chocolate in almost two months now, but for some reason every so often I get a real fancy for toast and jam. Childhood favourite I guess.

Going to be decorating today, so maybe that will burn it off!

x
 
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