Extra Easy HELP - First weigh in, vegetables and milk

D

dannie1991

Member
Hello Everyone,

I wonder if someone would be kind enough to help me?

I have just started my second week on SW. Lost 2.5 lbs on my first week, which is good. However I have done SW before and I lost 6 lb in my first week so I was hoping for a little bit more loss.

I know I've done SW before so I know how this works but I'm worried that I'm not following it properly this time. I'm having issues with vegetables and milk. Obviously not together! :)

I don't eat very many vegetables, it isn't that I don't like vegetables I just never seem to be bothered to stand and cut up the vegetables and then cook them up. I've tried buying frozen vegetables so as to get over the issue of not having to cut them up but it makes no difference. I just don't seem to ever incorporate them into meals. I'm worried this is going to affect my weight loss as my plate is then mostly filled by carbs such as potato and pasta! Anyone have any advice.

So my second issue is milk! I always have my healthy extra A as 250 ml of semi skimmed milk. This is because I drink lots of coffee whilst at work. I've measured out the 250 ml of milk and realised it doesn't cover the amount I use in coffee each day (being at work I can't measure out the amount I'm using) so therefore I only allow myself 10 syns a day.and the extra 5 is then over use of milk. Do you think this is okay? Or does anyone have any ideas?

Sorry this is such a long post but need some advice :)

Thanks in advance,
Dannie
xx
 
You can use your syns for whatever you like. If you want to use them for milk, that's fine.

The vegetable issue is a bit ofa puzzle. You know that they are an important part of the plan - and presumably you also know that they are important part of a healthy diet. And it's not that you don't like them. But you just can't be bothered? I really don't get it.

Would you eat them if someone else put them on your plate? Would you eat them if they came with a meal in a restaurant?
 
The 3rd superfree is an integral part of the plan, if you can't be bothered to have them then you are not following the plan properly. If you can boil up some pasta / potatoes then why is it such a hassel to do some frozen veg. If anything I'd be more likely to have the veg as it's cooked in two mins!

This may sound harsher than I intended it too but I can't find any other way of saying it! :D

Is it that you don't like veg very much?
 
Admittedly I don’t do SW any more but when I did my consultant was very strict about saying1/3[SUP]rd[/SUP] superfree was not optional, both as a way to get the nutrition you need and as a way to fill you up so you don’t over eat on the other part of your meal, basically SWs version of portion control. If your plate is mostly full of carbs with no veg then there is a big chance you’re going to well over eat on them.

If you really can’t be bothered to prepare veg can you buy ready prepared from the supermarkets, less bothersome even than frozen? If it’s the thought of chopping carrots only for them to just sit there fairly unappetizingly on your plate can you make an effort to find recipes to incorporate them into the food so you feel like they are not just an afterthought? Do you use things like chopped tinned tomatoes with pasta and meat which were also superfree I think and useful in getting some veg into your meal, add some onion and peppers to taste and you're well on your way with a tasty sauce *and* superfree. Maybe even make a couple of your favourite sounding vegetarian meals just so you *have* to use them and get over your apparent "block" with them.

I think milk is fine you use your syns of if that is something that is important to you. It’s probably healthier than other options.
 
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Not all frozen veg is minging, I have frozen cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts, green beans & spinach, that's it, frozen carrots I don't like. Why not try a few frozen veggies & see which you like. I often roast my cauliflower & it's yummy.

As for the milk I may not be understanding correctly, so you allow your hexa for milk in coffee which you measure out, but whilst at work you don't/can't measure milk. Would it be possible to take a little measuring container with you to work so you can measure before you pour or take in your own milk so you know exactly how much you've had & syn if necessary.
 
The milk thing - you can of course use your syns on milk, I like my coffee milky and struggled with the small amount of allowance with SS milk. Have you tried skimmed? You get a little more with a 350ml for one HEXA. A little tip on measuring and keeping to within your allowance is to use a sports bottle. I measure out my milk in the morning and pour it into a sports bottle and just use that throughout the day. Finally have you considered switching away from cows milk? I drink only almond milk or coconut milk these days getting a lovely 500ml for the almond and a whopping 600ml for the coconut - some of the unsweetened brands and soy milk are even more!

Veggies - Superfree are an integral (and I would personally say vital) part of the plan. You simply cannot expect to eat a plate full of white carbs (pasta, rice, potatoes) and meat and expect to lose weight in a sustainable way. SW is about changing the way you eat - for the rest of your life - it's about changing your relationship with food and hopefully fostering a love for the more healthy options, such as veggies! Many supermarkets now offer prepared vegetable packs - this is a more expensive option but one worth trying maybe? Or how about using vegetables that don't require much preperation bar a quick rinse under the tap? Broccoli, green beans, spinach, cauliflower? Baby veg is also pretty hassle free - baby carrots, baby sweetcorn etc. I use lots of stir fried ready prepared bags, they're completely hassle free too.
 
I agree with all the advice you've been given so far, with one addition. I work full time, I am lazy as sin, I never used to eat much in the way of veggies and now eating dinner without them feels wrong. I probably used to have your attitude about veggies but given time you will adjust to the plan and get used to eating them/prepping them. Your tastes adapt and you get faster at throwing dinners together (though admittedly it is a hassle sometimes, so have some pre-prepared stuff ready).

If it really isn't your thing, then eat a raw carrot and a stick of celery while you cook your dinner, minimal prep but you get your SF and it will stop you overeating your other foods. I heard someone get that advice at group before.
 
I am admittedly a veg fiend but by the sounds of things you are choosing, broccoli, carrots, peas etc? these can become eaaasily overdone and just taste abit yuck and can be well boring.
You can buy chopped onions, peppers, mushrooms, etc try wacking a load in a baking tray spray with fry light and sprinkle with garlic granuels salt and pepper.
Make enough for a few days and you can just have it cold or warm it up in the microwave or oven, its super tasty I usually end up making enough for a couple of days and eating it for lunch because i like it so much!! As for Milk why not try skimmed or almond milk you get an alot bigger allowance.

Hope this helps :)
 
I agree with the other posters. I love peppers, mushrooms and onions, can throw them into pretty much any meal. When I worked full time, I hated the slog of the prep before the cooking had started so I batched cooked double/triple the amount whenever I made a meal and stuck it in the freezer to zap in the microwave...almost like a healthy ready meal.
 
You have had some excellent advice here. If you like pasta, could you do a home-made pasta sauce? You wouldn't need to do much chopping, just enough to fit it all into a food processor. You could make a huge batch, freeze it, then use it as a basis for curry, chilli, stew etc as well. I make one using whatever veg I have in the fridge: usually onion, celery, pepper, carrot, sweet potato. Whizz it up to a mush in the food processor, then cook with tins of tomatoes/passata and herbs/chillies/garlic according to taste. I usually leave the herbs/spices out of the base mix, and add them according to what I'm using it for.

Also - soup! My flatmate made a brilliant soup yesterday with sweet potato, kale, spinach, red onion, garlic and cayenne. It looked like pond life but tasted sensational!
 
I know its not always appealing with the weather at the moment, but do you do any better with salad? There's very little prep time and you can experiment with homemade dressings which I found fun. It also encouraged me to experiment with combinations of salad that I hadn't done before and veg I hadn't tried in an effort to keep thing different. I tried pomegranate for the first time a couple of months ago.


I did read the suggestion somewhere that if you can face any veg at first then try having a fruit salad before, not after the meal to fill you up on your 1/3 in that way.
 
Salad is another good idea. As for dressings, I strongly recommend investing in a really, really good balsamic vinegar. They are expensive, but you don't need much. And a good one is absolutely delicious - you won't need anything else.
 
Aunt Bessie and Sainsbury's do bags of frozen, ready chopped onion/carrots/celery mix which are life-savers for adding to things like chilli, spag bol, shepherd's pie etc. Using these saves a lot of chopping, and means you're incorporating SF into your meals. Aunt Bessie also does a ready mashed carrot/swede mix which is nice as a topping for your shepherd's pie or to serve with sausages.
 
I both agree and disagree with some of the comments already made. Yes fruit and veg are an essential part of a healthy balanced diet and you've had lots of helpful advice on how to incorporate them into your meals. As regards whether it will work without them well SW worked for 40 years without the superfree recommendation and people still lost weight. And it is only a recommendation, its not mandatory that you have them at every meal or indeed at all xx
 
I`d like to thank you all for the comment`s.

Been on the plan for a number of weeks and have`nt really been doing as well as I should with the superfree. It`s given me some good ideas in how to use more veg on the plan:)

Audrey x
 
At least it's helping someone! People give up all the time, but for those of us who persist, the advice will always be here!
 
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