Hannah's Lighter Life: The RTM Edition!

Hi Hannah

Your doing fab, thanks for words of wisdom re holiday weight gain.

As for your boss's wife, she is prob just jealous, she can see you look fab, and i suppose if you been up early at the weekend we would all look tired. Some people find it hard to give a compliment, and saying that you look tired has upset you and made you think, which i think had the desired affect, when you think about the bloke she lives with she probably wouldn't recognise a compliment if she sat on it!

You keep going girl because you look like a picture of size 10 health to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Hi Hannah

Your doing fab, thanks for words of wisdom re holiday weight gain.

As for your boss's wife, she is prob just jealous, she can see you look fab, and i suppose if you been up early at the weekend we would all look tired. Some people find it hard to give a compliment, and saying that you look tired has upset you and made you think, which i think had the desired affect, when you think about the bloke she lives with she probably wouldn't recognise a compliment if she sat on it!

You keep going girl because you look like a picture of size 10 health to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Karen, your message is exactly what I needed today.
You are fab xxxxx
 
Day 6

Today I had the BEST dinner! It was so so yummy!
The menu for today was
Breakfast-Vanilla Shake
Lunch-Vegetable Soup
Dinner...

For dinner I had Salmon with soy sauce and thai 5 spice marinade, with spinach drizzled in balsamic vinegar.
DSC02429.JPG

Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed the salmon!
So here is the 'recipe' for anyone who might want to give it a go!

Ingredients:
1 Salmon Fillet
Soy Sauce
Thai 5 spices (you can find it in all supermarkets pretty much, in the spice section, Mine is a brand called 'simple shake' or something like that, you can see a picture of it in one of my earlier posts)

How to cook:
I placed the salmon on a bit of tin foil, poured over quite a lot of soy sauce, then sprinkled the thai 5 spices on top.
I then wrapped up the salmon with the foil in to a little parcel and baked in the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees celsius.

It was so simple, but so yummy, and had a bit of a kick which I love!
So am feeling very happy and satisfied, would love to have it again tomorrow but have my first weigh in! So I have to be there at 7.30pm, means leaving my house at 7, and I need to get home from work, have a shower and eat so am usually quite pressed for time. So today I bought some smoked salmon, so I can have a quick smoked salmon spinach salad when I get in.

Am quite nervous for my first weigh in on RTM, I would loved to have lost a few pounds but don't want to get my hopes up. Will just have to wait and see! Plus my usual LLC is away for the week so it'll be a locum.

Hope everyone is having a good day
xxxx
 
Hannah - you have done everything right so what ever happens it will be what it will hun, but i know what you mean cos it is so important to us what those scales say, it's the difference between how we feel about ourselves for the whole week after. I have found that even if i have a good loss one week and am on a high, the day after i am on a low worrying about what it will be the week after and what if it isn't so good? It's just madness really but i suppose that because we on a VLCD we have to have those results because of the amount of self motivation it takes.

Good luck hun x
 
Day 7

Hellooo,
Tonights post is going to be a quick one as I am literally falling asleep!

Had my first weigh in and i've lost...
2ibs!
I am honestly so surprised and chuffed! Wasn't expecting to lose anything, especially because I ate my dinner like an hour before my weigh in, whereas on abstinence I would have my 1pm soup, then wait until after the weigh in to have my shake and bar. So am very very pleased!

Today i've had
Breakfast- Vanilla Shake
Lunch- Vegetable Soup
Dinner- Smoked Salmon Salad (picture below)
and about to have a toffee bar.

Made a super quick smoked salmon salad, it was yummy.

Was literally, smoked salmon, spinach and balsamic vinegar!
DSC02431.JPG

After the meeting I went to Tesco to stock up on this week's food (will do a longer post about what I bought tomorrow) Came back and tried a celery stick and a tiny bit of a quark! Celery is better than I thought it would be but i'm not a huge fan...quark however is a strange taste! But think it'll come in handy when cooking.
Was a bit worried after eating the celery and quark that I should have waited until tomorrow instead of 'snacking', but i'm pretty sure they won't do any damage and I should make the most of being excited to try new foods!

Hope everyone is doing well
xxxxx
 
Well done, Hannah. You are an inspiration. :)
 
Well done Hannah, still losing that is ace xxx
 
well done hannah x
 
Day 8

Thank you everyone!
Have had a super busy day today, but am now sat chilled with a black coffee, and have lots to write about!

Had a day off work today so decided to make the most of it, had a bit of a lie in (for me anyways) so didn't wake up till 9am, then went to the gym as have been dying to go. It felt really good to be exercising again, stayed for an hour and the time flew by! Was knackered by the end but really happy I went. Did a mixture of things and burned around 390 cals. Have discovered this AMAZING website, My Plate So inputed all the exercise I did into that. I've also been using it to monitor how many calories i'm eating, as was making myself panic that I was eating too much.

So last night I went on a shopping spree in Tesco's after my meeting (love 24 hour tescos!)
So in Week 2 you are allowed:
Virtually fat free dips. Sugar free jelly and low calorie/diet soft drinks.
New veg includes: Broccoli, cauliflower, courgette, cucumber, fennel, mangetout, mushroom, peppers, radish and spring onion. (still has to be eaten raw.
Dairy products: Curd cheese e.g. quark, fromage frais, skimmed milk and yoghurt and the dairy free alternatives e.g. soya milk.

I decided to be brave and bought some celery as i'd never tried it! I'm not a huge fan though. Bought some quark to give a go, it's an interesting flavour...but it came in handy in tonights dinner recipe! Also bought some spring onion, mushrooms and a red pepper to add to my salads. Stocked up on sugar free jelly and muller light yoghurts.
My shelf of the fridge isn't looking as sorry for itself anymore!
DSC02445.JPG

And bought lots of new spices, and found a really good RTM recipe on another forum that I really wanted to try.
DSC02444.JPG

You can't go wrong with spices as they go with everything!

So today after the gym i'd booked myself in to finally get my hair done, now have some lovely blonde highlights and a side fringe! Am so impressed with the hairdresser as had never been there before but it's the first time i've got exactly what I wanted. Was dead chuffed!
Then popped to the Trafford Centre and bought a new top as was meant to be going out tonight but seems like that plan isn't going to happen.
Didn't get home till way past 7, dinner time! Luckily i'd prepared the chicken earlier.

For dinner I had:
Spicy Chicken
Ingredients:
  • One chicken breast
  • Quark
  • Chilli powder/ paprika half tsp (more or less to taste)
  • Ground cumin half tsp
  • Ground corriander half tsp
  • Garam masala powder qauter tsp (optional)
  • Ginger 1tsp crushed or finely chopped

Method:
Mix all the marinade (except the quark) into a bowl
add yougurt one teaspoon at a time and mix well until you have a paste that will cover the chicken breast but is thick enough to stick to it
Take the chicken breast and score with a knife so that the cuts do not go more than a 1/3 of the way through.
using a spoon or your fingers, spread and rub the marinade on both sides, making sure you cover the whole breast
Cover and set aside for as much time as you can up to 12 hours. If more than 30 minutes, put it in the fridge, but take it out 30 minutes before cooking

When ready to cook, wrap the breast in tin foil and pop in the oven at 180 degrees until fully cooked.
(Recipe from the Lighter Life Community)
It was yummy and had a nice kick to it!
DSC02446.JPG

Had it with a spinach and mushroom salad with balsamic vinegar.

So today i've had
Breakfast-Vanilla Shake
Lunch-Vegetable Soup
Afternoon Snack-Vanilla Muller Light
Dinner-Chicken on spinach and mushroom salad.
Have a sugar free jelly to eat, then a toffee bar.

Feel like I have a lot to eat each day now. Don't think i'll be eating veg and dips as the only veg I like to dip is carrots and am not allowed them until week 5. So think i'll stick to just yoghurt and jelly. But am looking forward to next week when you go from three LL packs a day, to 2. Think that'll be easier to manage.
According to My Plate, i've consumed 685 calories today, but burned 390 so for today my total is 295 calories.
Am hoping this is ok, it just feels funny eating so much!
xxxx
 
Day 9

Quick post tonight as I am absolutely knackered!
Went out last night (but stuck to water!) but didn't get home till near 4, and then woke up at 10 wide awake! Went to the gym since I was awake, and then cleaned my room and by 2 i'd hit a slump. Am now cuddled in bed with my toffee bar about to watch Mad Men.

Today i've had
Breakfast-Vanilla Shake
Lunch-Vegetable Soup
Snack-Toffee Muller Light
Dinner-Salmon with soy sauce and thai spice marinade, with a salad of spinach, button mushrooms and red pepper drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
Snack- Sugar free jelly
Snack- Toffee Bar.

Dinner tonight was the same as I had a few days ago, still very yummy!! Discovered today that I LOVE raw red peppers and before I wasn't even a big fan of cooked peppers!

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. I have to work tomorrow sadly :sigh:
xxxx
 
Day 9

Evening everyone!
Have had quite a 'interesting' day, I always say i've had a bad day so today i'm going to try and be more positive! I'm just feeling really emotional at the moment, got a message from my brother today as my dad showed him recent pictures of me and he said I looked amazing and he almost didn't recognise me. My brother is not the soppy type and has never said anything like that before, so had to stop myself turning in to a blubbering wreck!

Had to work today so was up at 5am (bleurggggh) and was really dreading work. It was a long day, spent in the rain which wasn't great as I was still feeling ill and ended up absolutely chilled to the bone.
So decided to make myself a nice healthy dinner to cheer myself up and to get lots of vitamins down me!

Today i've eaten
Breakfast-Vanilla Shake
Lunch-Thai Chilli Soup (made in to crisps to take to work)
Afternoon Snack-Vanilla Muller Light
Dinner-Spicy chicken with big salad!
and still have...
Evening snacks-Sugar free jelly and LL toffee bar.

Last night I knew i'd get back from work and be tired so decided to prepare my dinner in advance.
So here is my recipe for today!

Hannah's Asian Inspired Chicken

Ingredients
1 Chicken Breast
Quark (2tsps)
Soy Sauce
Spices, I used paprika, thai 5 spice, garam masala and cumin.

Method:
In a mug or bowl mix a glug of soy sauce with a tsp of each spice. Then stir in 2 tsps of quark until it makes a paste. Add a bit more say sauce to taste.
Slice the chicken breast in half. Cut slits into both halves of the chicken but not all the way through. Rub the marinade into both halves of the chicken, then place back together. Put any remaining marinade on the top of the chicken breast for even more flavour!
Leave to marinade for as long as possible. Then when ready to cook wrap the breast in a tin foil parcel and bake in the oven for approx 20 minutes at 190 degrees celsius. (May take longer as I defrosted my chicken breast in the microwave, forgot about it and think it got a bit cooked!)

and voila here it is!
DSC02493.JPG

Served it with my flu busting salad!
In the salad I had spinach, red peppers, button mushrooms and spring onion. Was so yummy and flavoursome with balsamic vinegar. Honestly without soy sauce and balsamic i'd be lost in RTM!
(there is alot more pepper, mushroom etc in the salad it's just all hiding under the spinach!)

RTM has also taught me to try things i'd never 'liked' before (a lot of stuff I hadn't even tried...just decided I didn't like it from looking at it!) But i've really surprised myself! There's been some more successful attempts than others!

Things i've learned I love since starting RTM:
  • Raw red peppers
  • Raw mushrooms
  • Spring Onion

Things i'm still not sure about:
  • Quark (great for making marinades but on it's own...interesting)
  • Celery

Am sure i'll add to the list as the weeks go on!
I'm off to have a bath, early night and will hopefully wake up feeling a bit more alive!
xxxxxxx
 
all your meals have looked yummy hannah, roll on RTM lol x
 
Hi Hannah, well Im on week 13 this week, think i will stay on developers for another 4 weeks then move over to RTM. Ive had so many strokes recently they just keep coming, makes me feel so so good, things are really great for me at the minute and Im very happy x
 
Hi Hannah, well Im on week 13 this week, think i will stay on developers for another 4 weeks then move over to RTM. Ive had so many strokes recently they just keep coming, makes me feel so so good, things are really great for me at the minute and Im very happy x

Ahh Tracy that's brilliant! I'm really happy for you :) And the 4 weeks on developers will just fly by!
xxx
 
Day 10

Not much to write today, went to the gym after work so am turning into a right gym bunny again! Before LL I LOVED the gym, but used to struggle with eating. And now I feel great as i'm combining healthy eating with exercise. Everyone in my house has had the flu but I seem to be immune to it and I really believe it's because i'm living a healthy lifestyle!

Long day at work but going to the gym made me forget all about it, just enjoyed listening to music and people watching!

Today i've eaten
Breakfast-Vanilla Shake
Lunch-Vegetable Soup
Afternoon Snack-Vanilla Muller Light
Dinner- My 'World Famous' Salmon with soy sauce and thai spices (have written the recipe down on here previously, it is my favourite! And my workmate is even going to try it tonight as I rave about it!) and had another healthy flu busting salad just like yesterdays.
and still have a sugar free jelly and hot vanilla shake to enjoy!

I'm really enjoying cooking at the moment, was so excited when I got back from the gym to get chopping up my veggies! The plate just looked so colourful and...can't think of the word but just couldn't wait to eat it!

Am facing a bit of a dilemma though. Next week I go down from 3 LL packs to 2. I'm quite glad about this as sometimes it's hard to squeeze the third pack in. But I can't decide which pack to give up as I have my three favourites! I love the vanilla shake in the morning, find taking the vegetable soup to work really handy and easy and love having a toffee bar or hot vanilla shake as a treat in the evening. Next week I add fruit so could either replace the vanilla shake with yoghurt and fruit, or have a piece of fruit instead of my toffee bar/vanilla shake. Just cannot decide!! Am almost dreading Thursday as I dont want to make a decision!

Hope everyone is having a fab day!
xxxx
 
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Hi Hannah

Wow what a fantastic post, I am currently on day 6 of RTM and up now could not find any info about portion sizes etc.. I think your posts have helped me no end. I think LL should provide more information to RTM users as I believe this is the most important part of the diet.

Will keep reading your posts.

Good luck and a very well done.

Chelle xx
 
Hi Hannah

Wow what a fantastic post, I am currently on day 6 of RTM and up now could not find any info about portion sizes etc.. I think your posts have helped me no end. I think LL should provide more information to RTM users as I believe this is the most important part of the diet.

Will keep reading your posts.

Good luck and a very well done.

Chelle xx

Hi Chelle!
Thank you for your lovely comment. Completely agree that the info you receive on RTM is so vague. Am hoping my blog can others in our situation! How are you finding RTM?
xxx
 
Day 11

Halo everyone,

Have had a VERY good day today! If you've followed me for a while you've probably heard me complain about my job at some point. It's literally been the job from hell, but I haven't been able to quit as it's part of my uni course and just walking out would mean failing the entire course. So i've been putting up with my horrid boss and having nothing to do since June. But today we had a meeting with our uni tutor and we've been given the go ahead to leave the job and find a new one! I am literally SO relieved. It's really been getting me down and i've been feeling really low, feel so elated that I can move on and find a better job! And no longer waste a year of my life!

Lighter Life has really changed my outlook on life. Before I was happy to just stay the same and never change, felt like I was stuck as I was so I might as well get used to it. But now i've lost weight I have so much more confidence and live by the motto
'Take risks in life, be bolder and have fun!'
And I decided that I wasn't going to waste my life anymore!

Today i've had
Breakfast-Vanilla shake
Lunch-Vegetable Soup
Afternoon Snack-Toffee Muller Light
Dinner-Prawns with big salad!
Evening Snack- Sugar free jelly and a hot vanilla shake

Heres a piccy of my dinner
DSC02507.JPG

Yummy! Am still loving salad, never thought i'd enjoy chomping on raw mushrooms!

But I have to admit today was the closest i'm come to having a lapse.
In the morning we (I work with another girl from my uni course and she's become my best friend, would be lost without her and shes glad to be leaving too!) we had to have 'one on one' meetings with our boss as he wanted to give us a quarterly review, it was a weird coincidence he chose the same day we were seeing our uni tutor (he doesn't know were leaving yet)! So in the morning we had to have meetings with him and his wife and they were so awkward and uncomfortable. It cemented in our mind how much we want to leave so we were extra nervous before our uni meeting incase she said no. There's a bakery near our work and she decided to treat herself to a slice of millionaire shortbread to settle her nerves and cheer herself up a bit. And I so wanted to do the same. We then went to Costa to meet our tutor and they had the most gorgeous cupcakes on display.
I was in two minds 1) RTM is about making your own decisions, I could have made the informed adult decision to treat myself and enjoyed eating either shortbread/cupcake. 2) Would treating myself once lead to lots of other treats?
I ended up just having black coffee but I still don't know which option I should have chosen. I just don't want to be afraid of food for the rest of my life!

Right i've rambled on for far too long! Hope everyone is having a lovely evening :)
xxxxxx
 
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