This was on the SW site a while ago, but thought it was worth posting again as it may help you SJ:
This is the story of Mrs Ivy Been So Good.
Ivy was really disappointed this week having maintained after ‘such a good week’. She couldn’t understand - her Food Diary was perfect! Ten Syns per day… maximum! Let’s take a closer look at a typical day...
Ivy has her normal breakfast of branflakes, milk and a banana. She tips them into the bowl, and then thinks. ‘I’d better just check the weight of them - I want to get a few pounds off this week!’ She puts them on the scales to find they weigh 1½oz. ‘That’s my first Healthy Extra ‘b’ choice,’ she thinks, taking out the excess and unconsciously popping them in her mouth.
As she puts the milk away she spots an open carton of orange juice and decides to have a small glass whilst making a boiled egg for her daughter’s breakfast. When clearing up the dishes, Ivy spies two left over soldiers. ‘I can’t remember the last time I had REAL butter!’ she thinks, and into her mouth they go!
After breakfast it’s a trip into town shopping. Armed with a Ryvita Luxury Goodness bar, just in case temptation strikes, she sets off.
In WH Smiths, her daughter gets restless in the buggy and Ivy opens her a packet of crisps to keep her quiet. And she ends up testing a couple herself – just for freshness!
Lunchtime comes and the shopping trip is not done yet - there’s still money left on Ivy’s credit card! And as she knows she’ll be a while she decides to grab something from Marks & Spencer’s healthy Count On Us range as ‘it’s bound to be low on Syns!’
Spoilt for choice, Ivy scans the range. She’s already decided to go ‘Original’ today and spots a Hoisin duck sandwich. ‘That’s a great choice… the bread will be my second Healthy Extra ‘b’ choice!’ she thinks. She buys it as a meal deal, along with a diet coke and a packet of salt and vinegar crisps - to eat later.
Later on, Starbucks beckons and Ivy stops for a coffee. ‘No cake for me though!’ she say, savouring the skinny latte she’s treated herself to thanks to her second Healthy ‘a’ choice! – There’s no syrup of course! As she takes the weight off her feet she congratulates herself for not needing the 'emergency' Kellogg's bar whilst out today.
Back at home after shopping, she makes cakes with her daughter. She resists the fairy cakes when they come out of the oven… but CAN’T resist licking the wooden spoon!
She feeds her daughter early – a chicken nugget and two chips remain on the plate – and they don’t go in the bin!
Dinnertime comes – a nice juicy steak, fresh salad and a filling jacket potato. She weighs her 8oz jacket potato which is a Healthy Extra ‘b’ choice and puts a spoonful of Quark in it. A tablespoon of Hellmann’s Light Mayo goes on the salad – ‘only 2½ Syns’! She says, ‘my first today!’
Her hubby prefers mashed potato with his. She wouldn’t dream of eating it herself, but she does just taste it to check it contains the right amount of butter and milk!
Dessert for Ivy is a Müllerlight yogurt. Hubby has sponge pudding and custard. ‘It just doesn’t bother me,’ Ivy says, licking the spoon she used to stir the custard!
By 9.30pm Ivy fancies a ‘little something else’. Remembering the crisps she picked up with the meal deal, she checks the Syn value and finds they’re only 7 Syns. ‘Only 9½ Syns today’ she thinks, ‘that’s a perfect day!
...Or was it?!
How many Syns do you think Ivy really had?
The actual amount is 76½ Syns!
The breakdown:
½ oz branflakes
2½Syns
Orange juice 125ml
2½Syns
Eggy soldiers
4 Syns
Couple of crisps
1 Syn
Sandwich
12½ Syns
(6 Syns can be deducted if using bread as Healthy B)
Latte
8½ Syns (Grande from Starbucks)
Cake mixture
4 Syns
Jacket potato
16 Syns (Healthy Extra ‘b’ choice already used
which she forgot!) (2 Syns per oz)
Mayo
7½ Syns (it was a heaped tablespoon
not level!)
Chicken nugget
3 Syns
2 chips
3 Syns
Spoonful of mash
3 Syns
Spoonful of custard
2 Syns
Packet of crisps
7 Syns
Just to put this into perspective, those 76½Syns are the equivalent of; an average portion of Chicken Tikka Masala, Pilau rice, 1 naan bread, two pints of beer, and two small vegetable samosas! We’d all know if we ate that!
