Canada's Getting Smaller!!!

Canadatogo

Full Member
There are two things I love: good food, and [strike]wine[/strike] to whine.

In school, I started growing and 'developing' the fastest. That's not really something an eleven year old wants, and that's when I started putting on weight; to hide my body, and so that I would have something to hide behind. I never really thought of myself as 'fat', just chubby, chunky, or as having some extra insulation (a valid point when the temperature can dip below -50C during the winter.) I also never realised how much food I ate until my last year in high school or in college, when I realised that I was eating for the mojority of the time that I spent at home. During my last year in high school I had my schedule arranged so that I only had classes in the morning (hard concept for you all to understand maybe, just bear with me), and then worked in the local greasy spoon from 4 to 10 five days out of the week. A lot of things happened in that year, and I had a pretty tough time, so I turned to comfort eating as well.

I went to college for professional baking (just a one year course), and now I'm here in the UK, on my own, (looking for work at the mo, btw.) College was a blast, but the stress and the crazy and unpredictable hours didn't help much with my diet. My highest weight was probably last year, though, at about 14 1/2st.

Now, finally, living on my own for the second year (after one in Ireland) I'm ready to do something about my weight. I tend to go between calorie counting and slimfast, which seems to be working for me. Especially because I can see this working in the longterm.

One of my problems is that I'm capable of making a lot of things, and enjoy baking, so I'll whip up caramels, chocolates, biscuits, fudge, cakes, or almost anything on a whim.

So let's see how I get on with this diet of mine...
 
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Trying to eat more low carb foods now, because I've realised that most of the foods that I've been eating have been fairly high in carbs.

A little excited to use the aubergine and avocadoes I bought tonight, not sure what I'll do with them, but I want to try something new...

Weight is finally going back down after a bit of a blip, even though I had an entire packet of teacakes yesterday (was good the rest of the day, so just a little upset that all those calories were empty...) Bought pack of Pink&Whites though, and I've had two and managed to leave the rest alone, so I'm feeling quite proud at the moment.

Also trying to get down 2L of water a day. 2 days so far!
 
Best of luck.... bake away to your hearts content - just find nice neighbours who deserve treats!
 
OMG!!! I got the job I was after!!! I'm going to be a commis chef (specializing in pastry) in a VERY posh hotel near Edi!!!! I can't friggin' believe it! I start monday a week! Eeek, I'm so nervous/excited!!! I need to start looking up techniques, and reviewing procedures...

Best of luck.... bake away to your hearts content - just find nice neighbours who deserve treats!
It was easy when I was working in Dublin, I could just bring everything in to work. Except when I made something specifically to binge on...

So today I've got three goals:
1. Stick to Slimfast 100%, no snacks
2. Get down 2l of water, maybe 2 1/2 or 3
3. Don't buy anything extra at the shop. I have to go for milk, water, and maybe some spinach or salad (I have a vinaigrette dressing that I love, but nothing to have it with)

I have a new long term goal. I know it's really ambitious, but I'd like to lose 30lbs for christmas or new years. (it's one extra week, so not really an excuse to put anything off) If I can do that I'll be in the normal BMI range. I know it's going to be hard, but if I really try I know I can do this. I also have an excercise ball that I want to use today for the first time (just been using it to sit on so far, it helps improve your balance or something...) and then I'll be happy if I use it at least twice a week after that. (I'll only have two days off a week on this job, and the hours are crazy long, so not sure I'd be able to fit it in on workdays, and I don't want to kid myself about it.)

Let's see how well I do on my goal...
 
Not really, gutted, but just really dissapointed in myself for the food choices that I've made in the past couple days. Last night for tea I had aubergine covered with pasta sauce and a sprinking of garlic cheese. They call it a pasta bake, but it just seems like the cheap 'n lazy version of aubergine lasagna. It was really good though, fairly low in calories, and I felt like it was a fairly healthy food choice. And the day before that I had a salad with hard boiled egg and avocado mixed in, topped with a vinagrette.

Then I had popcorn. I went to Morrisons for the first time on friday (actually, they're part of the Safeway brand, which I know from Canada, so it was kind of neat to see the UK version of one of our stores.) I bought a few things I shouldn't have, and a few that I'm quite happy with. Of course, the two bags of caramel popcorn isn't my proudest purchase. It was VERY good. Too good. Friday night I carefully measured out a 25g portion (100cals,) and then I measured out another 25g. And then I thought 'heck' and measured out another 50. I finished the 200g bag. And then last night I finished the other bad. Not good. I still don't have the motivation, or the willpower to just leave it alone!

I did get some rice cakes though, and benefibre, and took advantage of the deal on Slimfast at ASDA (2 for 7pounds) Btw, if you're going to the ASDA at the jewel, they may be out of the vanilla powder, I got the last one!:p

I haven't quite been getting down as much water as I would like, but at least 1-1 1/2l. I don't want to be too hard on myself about it though, because I used to go for days without drinking water.

Last week my weight skyrocketted (okay, not really, but it felt like it!) when my flatmate was on vacation and I was free to make fudge and french toast, and eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. It's going back down, but I'm still up a pound from what my ticker shows. And yes, I'm too ashamed to change my ticker to go back up. I keep a food diary, and the calorie count of all the foods I eat, so I'm trying to be a bit more careful about what I'm having. I like it because I can look back and see exactly what I was eating and if I gained or lost, and what works for me for a day.

Tomorrow's Thanksgiving back home. (A different day from the states) I told my flatmate I'm going to make a litte thanksgiving dinner. I'm not making any turkey though! If anything it would be turkey breast, or turkey sandwiches. So I'll be making stuffing, sweet potato casserole (with the brown sugar-pecan topping, NOT marshmallows!) pumpkin pie or pumpkin cheesecake, and I'll be buying some cranberry sauce. I think it'll take forever if I count the calories while I'm making it, but I'll do my best. I'll probably just do two shakes for the rest of the day, so I don't think my dinner will do too much damage...

I have to go back to Dublin for a couple days this week. I left a set of knives (cheap, so I can't use them at work), a hair dryer, and a box full of baking ingredients, and I want to get them before I start my new job. I'm a bit worried about getting interrogated about bringing a set of knives with me, so I'll be taking the ferry instead of a plane.

I hope everyone had a good weekend, and I hope we all have a good week!
 
good luck with your new job.
x
 
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I made thanksgiving dinner tonight for the first time. Not really anything too fancy (I say that, because 'fancy' to me would mean plating everything and going the whole nine yards) and no turkey (I'm too lazy to do that, and I was only cooking for my flatmate and I) But I did made stuffing, a sweet potato casserole (with a sugary topping) and some pumpkin tarts. The recipe made a lot of pumpkin filling, so I ended up using some tart shells and then using some muffin tins for crustless tarts. I inverted the crustless ones and put them on plates upside down so that I could spoon a little evaporated milk over them as a sauce. It just made it a little more special, without much work.

I did end up eating two of the tarts during the day, and a LOT of bread. I ate an entire loaf (one of the small, 400g loaves) between yesterday and today. I'm not proud of that, and I'm not happy about it. Especially because I say that I'm trying to cut down my carbs! And no, my flatmate doesn't know that I had to go out today to buy a new loaf of bread because I ate the original. The portions I had for tea were on the large side, but not totally unreasonable, and I haven't gone back for seconds (though I am thinking of going for a forkful of stuffing...)

Last night though, I went out to see The Stone of Destiny. I had only met the person I was going to the cinema with once before, so I wasn't sure if she ate popcorn or candy while she watched movies. I didn't want to put myself in a position where I would be in the dark with a giant cinema pack of malteasers or anything, so while I was at sainsbury's (buying my turkey day ingredients) I picked up one of the medium-ish galaxy bars, so that I could still have something if I wanted, but it wouldn't be huge, but I would still be treating myself. Well I let my friend go in front of my in the queue to get a ticket, and she didn't get anything to eat, so when I got my ticket I just got a bottle of water (long story). And you know what? I didn't have the galaxy bar, and I didn't feel like I was missing out! And I didn't have it today either! It's still in my handbag, and I'm still feeling really happy with myself for leaving it there.

Tomorrow I have to pack to go to Dublin for a couple days, and I'm going out for coffee with a friend. So I'm just going to have leftovers for the day (the sweet potato casserole is sweet enough I could have it for brekkie,) try to get down 2L of water, and have something light-ish for coffee.

Superdrug had their Slimfast stuff on 3for2 right now, so I picked up 3 meal bars to bring with me to Dublin. I'm taking the ferry from Holyhead, so travelling will take most of the day. One of the traps that I fall into is that when I'm travelling I tend to eat pretty poorly, so by having the bars with me I'll just have to buy water along the way.

Here's to good choices!
 
:( My boobs seem bigger today. Great. Just what I need.
 
hows that galaxy bar? you did well for not having anything at the cinema. I find it difficult to resist food in the cinema.
how are you finding the slim fast bars?
 
The Galaxy bar still lives! :eek: I left it in my room here when I went to Dublin. But then today, on the way home, I picked up one of the ginormous galaxy bars (it's got raisins and nuts in it too) in one of the train stations for one pound! (Crewe, if anyone's going through.) I'm starting to run short on cash right now, and that's just good value. I don't really have any desire for it right now, so I'll just leave it for a while, and hoefully just have a bit at a time.

And the lady at the shop in the train station chatted with me for a couple minutes, and it made me feel like so much less of a tourist.:) I like it when things like that happen. A lot of people treat me like an absolute idiot because of my accent, but I find that, especially in small towns, some people just don't care, and they talk to you like everyone else. (I did meet one american woman though, she must have been fifty or sixty, on the train to Belfast once, who had no idea how the 24hour clock worked. So I try to cut people a little slack sometimes for making the assumption that I don't know certain things)

I haven't really been too big a fan of the slimfast bars, but I'm trying to warm up to them. I was mostly just using the shakes, because once I eat a bar I always want more food. The bars are a bit cheaper in Ireland though, and they sell the three-packs that I haven't seen here yet. So I picked up a box of the forest fruit meal bars and I'm hoping that the meal bars will work better for me this time around. I bought a couple individual bars just before I left, and, even though I didn't think I would, I really liked the meusli meal bar and the chocolate one as well.

Dublin was a bit of a disaster. Not in the dramatic sense of 'oh no! I can't believe what happened! I can never go back/I'm not legally allowed to ever go back' but it was just a bit boring, and I let myself down diet-wise.
I took the ferry through Holyhead on Wednesday (first train at 1010) and got into Dublin city around 1930. I was staying in Glasnevin, and I'd never been up that way when I was living in Dublin, so I got off at the wrong bus stop and had to take another bus back and try to find the b&b (that's right; I'm young, and I like to pretend I'm posh and all that!) I dropped of my suitcase and had to head out right away to my old house, which is across town of course, to pick up a couple things that I'd left behind. I chatted with my landlady for a while, and ended up catching the last bus to the city centre. Great. That meant I had to get a taxi to the b&b. Of course, I hadn't eaten too well for the day, so I stopped in Londis first to grab a bottle of overpriced water and ended up buying a pack of fig cookies as well. Back at the hotel I ate all the fig cookies. Not good. I didn't get to sleep until 2am. I never get a good night's sleep when I eat crap like that so late, you'd think I'd have learnt by now...
Thursday I got up at a reasonable hour and went to town around 10ish. I had to go to Penny's/Primark for new pants; I just bought a pair (size 20), but they only fit for about a day, and now I'm forever pulling them up, and they have no belt loops, so I had to buy new ones! I'm just very annoyed that I got ONE good day out of them and that's it. My new pants are a size 16, which surprised me a bit, but that's the size I was a year ago when I left Canada. I got a new knife case (the ones I find here are horrible compared to this one!) and I treated myself to a high-end paring knife that matches my chef's knife. (what a treat, eh?) I went to the shop where I worked to pick up my baking ingredients that I'd left there (I knew they would take care of them, and that no one would let anything happen to them- we're like a little family!) I spent a while talking to everyone, and then I had to go back to the hotel to empty my rucksack. I wanted to go to the zoo, so I walked from the phoenix park entrance, only to find out that the ticket office had closed twenty minutes earlier. So then I thought, right, maybe I'll go to the guiness storehouse (I've been to the shop before, but never done the tour.) And I assumed that the luas went on the street in front of the storehouse. Well I assumed wrong. And I didn't have much euro change, so I had to walk a couple of luas stops back and then kind of wander to find an area I knew. I passed the storehouse on my way, but by then I'd already given up all hope that I would be able to get in. I stopped off at Tesco to buy 'something healthy'. I ended up with; six-pack of choc chip brioche-swirls, two apples, pack of dried mango, pack of dried banana, tube of light pringles, 2L of water, and two packs of fruit salad from M&S. I managed to NOT BUY a muffin. I ended up back at my hotel, eating too much in my room. I ate all the brioche-swirls, all the dried mango, half the tube of pringles, and the fruit salads. I went out around nine to get some night pictures of the city and didn't get back until eleven, mostly because I needed to get out of that room where I'd just eaten so much.
This morning I was up just after six to get ready to take the ferry back. I've been on trains all day, and I've barely been able to keep my eyes open. I have a bad habit of falling asleep on trains and buses, so even I'm a bit surprised that I haven't missed any connections yet.

I'm trying Gillian McKeith's 24-hour detox right now, and it's pretty vile. It's four sachets that you mix with pink grapefruit juice, and drink at designated times. Now, I like grapefruit, I do. Sprinkle a bit of brown sugar on top and stick them under the grill a bit and they're great! But I hate grapefruit juice. I'm pulling faces every time I take a sip, and I'm overdue for the second sachet now, so I have to go fix myself another drink. From what I've heard of it, people have had results from it where they've been going to the loo every half hour, but it hasn't had that effect on me yet. In fact, apart from a little gurgling, I don't know that it's done much so far. (haha, I might be back to say I was wrong though!)

I think my weight's stayed pretty much the same in the past couple days. I think that my shape may have shifted a bit, and I think my belly may have gotten a bit bigger. All in all, I'm just not feeling too good about myself lately, and I wish I didn't have to start work when I feel like this.

Right. Getting the second drink...
 
New job tomorrow, eek! Super nervous!!

I started doing the Gillian McKeith plant detox on friday night. I only took two of the sachets because I couldn't tell how I was reacting to them, and I didn't want to take all four if it was going to go badly. I woke up yesterday and basically had the stomach flu, I guess. I was going to the bathroom every couple hours and it was NOT pleasant! Having a well-ventilated bathroom would be a necessity for this detox, as would an empty house, because I was making some pretty funny noises (and not from my mouth, mind.) Anyway, I'm glad I only took the two sachets, because it's finally starting to slow down now (sunday night.) I lost a couple pounds on it though, probably because everything shoots through me before I can actually digest it... (sorry if you had to read that...)

Starting work will hopefully get my diet back on track. I tend to do a lot better when I have a routine or a schedule, so I'm happy to get back to work. I'll be commuting pretty late, so I picked up a pack of nuts and dried fruit that I can have on the bus ride home. I'll try to have a slimfast meal tomorrow morning and see how that goes, but I may switch back to oatabix, depending on how much it fills me up.

Ah, I'm just so nervous about my first day at work tomorrow!! I tend to have really irrational fears, so I usually have pretty bad anxiety before things like this. It's like the first day at school, but ten times worse. Because I'm having a hard time with the accents here, I don't know if they'll say that my knives are no good, if they'll say that I need to take my earrings out (I only have one set), if they'll make fun of my accent, they might not like my shoes, or my hat, or maybe they just plain won't like me. I've been having thoughts like this all day. Great. I just need to get lots of sleep, and I'm sure I'll do fine.
 
I've been working for the last week at my new job, and I really love it. It's frustrating at times, either because I don't have all my tools, or because sometimes it seems people expect me to be able to do everything right away, without needing anything. Overall though, I really like it.

I'm still having some trouble understanding people's accents here, and I don't remember having this much trouble when I moved to Ireland... I was joking with one of the boys that whenever I say 'I don't know' or 'maybe, I'm not sure...' it's because I have no idea what they were saying.

My eating schedule's changed a bit. I have a long commute, so I have to leave the house before 8:30. I usually have a slimfast shake for breakfast before heading out. Sometimes, if I'm working with the pastry chef that day, we have a cup of soup (not cup-a-soup, this is real soup) and maybe a roll around noon. Then there's a staff meal put out in the kitchen for all the kitchen staff and waiters/waitresses around five-ish. I'm still not too used to some of the food here, so for that staff meal I'm usually just picking at the chips or something. I'm going to try to eat more of a balanced meal though. Because I'm not familiar with all the food (even the stuff I'm making) I'm tasting stuff thoughout the day, and sometimes snacking on digestives (dear god, we have an industrial sized box of them!) or oat cakes or scraps of what I was cutting. I'm going to work on cutting out all the snacking this week.

The place where I work is close to livingston centre, where they have a cadbury factory outlet shop. I went last week, and I didn't actually want to get very much. I ended up with a four-pack of nougat bars for less than a pound.

My eating habits on my days off are still not-so-good, but I think as long as I do well while I'm working, it should start to transfer a bit to my days off, and then I won't be quite so bad.
 
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