Sophie's Slimming World and Cinema critiques!

[Tetris]

-4lbs today! Wahey!
Nearly killed me to wait a.week for WI but managed to not do a mid week one.

Yesterday we went to TGI's and I had Jack Daniels grilled Chicken breast with cajun spicy rice (asked to substitute the cheesy mash it was meant to come with as god knowd how much butter they would put in it and had already had my hexA) and had aboyt 1/3rdof a brownie and popcorn sundae for desert! Thought that may botch the WI but obvs not had a chocolate brownie sundae at a diner with a friend the other day (to myself!) too, AND an whippy at the festival- am constantly wanting whippy ice cream at the moment! Also had a very sweet cider at the fest but didnt have food- was a pretty crap festival sadly and we all left early! Thowing the paint was cool for about a milisecond before breathing in the dust and getting it in eyes and feeling like we were dying. The music was AWFUL though, that massively let it down. Really poor DJs...

Managed a -4 after all that ice cream though so am chuffed! I havent kept a diary but did a syns tally and it works out I had 75/105 :S huh... Still had spares! I am going to be even more relaxed this week and try and hit 90/105 (spares just in case something comes up!)
Read a sw post saying 105 syns = 2100 cal so wont even make a difference of a whole pound (3500 cal) if you cut them all out. Am defintely going to have more this week, after all the treats this week I am enthralled by a -4. I did do a low syn day to detox between the two sundaes this week but yeah, more EE/green and more syns this week!

Am going to make another awesome chicken paella today mmm. Am grating courgette into all of my cooking at the moment- it gets all lovely and soft/melty so doesnt intrude while bumping up the SF!
X

 

[Paulinegin]

Am grating courgette into all of my cooking at the moment- it gets all lovely and soft/melty so doesnt intrude while bumping up the SF!
X

Sophie, genius idea! I've got a glut of courgettes/marrows from our allotment at the moment, so I'll nick this idea

P x

 

[cheekychinchilla]

Wow another 4lbs off?! That's amazing So pleased for you!! Well done mate.

Sorry to hear the festival was a let down

Your food, on the other hand, sounds nommy I think you'll enjoy SW even more with added syns and you'll find a really good balance for yourself.
So impressed and jealous of your losses!!! x x

 

[Tetris]

Sophie, genius idea! I've got a glut of courgettes/marrows from our allotment at the moment, so I'll nick this idea

P x

Cool I wish I knew how to grow veg!

I bought about 10 courgette's for £1 from the market the other day and am aiming to eat them all before they go bad, hehe. Recently when I just cut them up and fry them in a bit of water they get all squeaky on my teeth, probably over cooking them... but it put me off for a bit. I tried to grate them into a bolognase and slow cooked it on a low heat for a few hours and it was AWESOME! They went to a sort of soft onion texture and it was so good
I just made a pasta dish where I grated a whole courgette, chopped two onions and a pepper and fried them softly for a bit with a stock cube, soy sauce and some sweet chilli- threw the pasta in with it when cooked and it sort of caramelised everything and was so yummy! My very fussy (with veg) bf loved it- whhaaat?! haha. Also like to chop them up, fry light them then roll them in various seasonings (like piripiri or something) and grill them.

Thanks Cheeky as I said to you earlier- so nice to relax after being obsessively stressy about diet (post plateaux, pre holiday) and see great numbers still. Last week was so exstatic to have lost 3lbs the day after a chinese and ice-cream sesh and after getting plastered that week. This week I ate out a few times and had loads of ice cream I can really see this in a lifestyle sort of view now instead of obsessing over minor details. Read recently that when you get to target you can up your Hex's to about 6 of each (and see how it goes) and I am excited about the idea of that I don't need more syns, but to have more bread/olive oil/cheese would ROCK. I was scared to think about doing this 'forever' when I started but now it feels so natural... The only thing I miss is pizza, which I can definitely start introducing when at target heh

 

[Tetris]

Just realised that I weigh exactly 100kg now... 66/100 lbs down and I've hit my 4.5 stone award ^^ so psyched to hit 5 stone award, will feel epic to say I've lost 5 stone/ 1/4 of my body weight

Dinner tonight was syn free chicken paella and I tried some syn free rice pudding earlier (2.5 cups of water, 1 cup pudding rice simmered until absorbed (about 30 mins) then added a vanilla muller light in) but I put too much sweetner in and it left a nasty after taste, doh! The texture seemed about right though, will try it again with a half milk half water instead next time.

 

[Tetris]

Had a kebab today... Sooo good! 7.5 syns for the pita and 5.5 syns for the chicken doner (regular size) - had no idea how low syn they were :O assumed they'd be something to avoid. Yum yum.

 

[Tetris]

Photographing a muslim wedding in Cambridge today and am SO nervous as I screwed up for this company (not massively, but enough for them not to call me for a job for a year until they were desperately looking for a female photographer last minute...) I'm used to working in a team at weddings but this one I'll be alone, which is stressful... Especially as I'll be using equipment I'm not used to (flash cartridge that I don't know how to set up) fkfjelkrjhl *deep breaths* lol. I hate feeling like if I screw up I could screw up someone's wedding photos :/ shouldn't be too bad but I always get jitters when I'm given more responsibility at these things. Desperately need the money though so am grateful the job has come up!
Am packing myself some leftover paella (packed with veg) and some chicken bits to eat before I start to keep me going and avoiding the chocolates and nibbles that will probably be around! Also have some fruit and cereal bars.

 

[cheekychinchilla]

Good luck at the job Hope it goes well and is much less stressful than you think it will be.

I was surprised when I found out chicken donors were low syn. Found out after I stopped eating white meat I agree it's nice to relax a bit and see SW as a lifestyle choice rather than a diet. And even if you do go a bit off plan it's very easy to come back to and put right.

Pizza I totally agree with tho....x

 

[Tetris]

Re: Sophie's Slimming World and Cinema

Wise words as always Cheeky

I was pretty stressed at first as the flash cartridge just didnt want to co-operate (I'll admit- as a natural light fiend who usually does video where you dont use flash, I had no idea how to get the settings right!) which means every 5 shots one would be good, bit scary! But I was able to ditch the flash later which was better. The wedding (a Mehndi night, pre wedding women's party/ceremony) was dull as hell and involved (as usual) ALL the guests coming up to the bride's pedistal one by one to get their photo taken and feed her a berry. Meant I had to be photoraphing CONSTANTLY (3 min break for food) with like 0 creativity. Anyway, all over now and the money will keep me afloat another month, phew.

Food wise they had two thigs on offer- a chickpea dahl and a lamb curry (with barely any meat in it, just loads of bones :S) as it was really cheaply done evening (paper cups/plates and plastic cutlery etc) so I had a bit of both and a small square of plain bread (sort of naan like but flatter) not sure how to syn that- maybe 4 for the bread and like 5 for the other two (the lamb was quite oily but only had like two tbsps of it) and had two small pots of rice pudding like stuff which was quite sweet (hexA + 5 maybe)
Anyway, will call it 15. I barely had anything other than the rice pudding, basically just tasted it, and had had a v small spag bowl portion for lunch. Ended up having my packed pot of syn free chicken paella and an apple in the ride home, so kinda had 4 small meals.
My body aches so much today! Agonising back and arms. Have been doing some wall pressups to try and tone up my arms/be able to.do floor press ups (pathetic but I can't!) bu even the wall ones are.hard after about 10! Stupidly did some more on top of thr previous day's ache the evening before the shoot and my arms were like achey jelly- heavy camera/lens for 6.5 hrs was hard after that! Lesson learned

 

[cheekychinchilla]

Doesn't sound like the most thrilling of evenings! But as long as it's decent money and will get you by
Must be awful to not get a chance to be creative and just take portrait type shots. I've never heard of the feeding a berry thing! What's that symbolise?

The food sounds rubbish as well!!

Hope you're arms are doing ok. I can do a few, very slow proper press-ups, but find the women's "from your knees" ones better. I remember reading online that the women's style strengthens and slims your arms. Whereas the men's style build muscle and bulk. So think the women's ones are better....and easier
Hahaha, as if that's "lessen learned" x

 

[Tetris]

"lesson learned" as in- no more attempts at mild exercise for me LOL
Yeah, I can barely do one woman's press up! Thus starting with wall ones. Interesting that women's ones tone arms better definitely my goal. Read an article about fighting bingo wings and apparently it.is avheivable with press ups and weight lifting exercises! Want to start now before the skin on my arms gets even looser. They used to be fat but firm, now they are slightly less fat but getting floppy!

I've done a few EE days and today a red day, am going to do a mid-week WI tomorrow as I miss them and am nervous about the amount of carbs I've had this week; want to see if I can still lose like this. Had that cooking spurt where I made paella, two bolognases and rice pudding and now am avoiding cooking and hate the idea of even defrosting meat. Had no idea what to make today so chopped up some veg and roast a tray of them with some chicken and bacon.

Still feel like I am having less than 1/3rd veg with standard meals (chopping thigns into the dish so kinda harder to tell) being low on veg in the house doesn't help though!
Forgot to add that I had a forrero roche yest, arent they like 4 syns or something? So probably went over, but had less than 5 today to balance it out. The rice pudding was probably more synful than I gave it credit for too... I tend to quietly lie to myself if estimations happens to coincidentally cap at 15

 

[Tetris]

+1 today for nid week WI- woops! I am delighted to not be remotely put off by this though I knownI havent gone over syns and am not due on so guess I will ease up on the carbs a bit again.

I have started.doing this 30 day bingo wing challenge: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ygr9PrBireU&desktop_uri=/watch?v=ygr9PrBireU

10 press ups
20 chair dips
30 sec bicep curls (I'm using 5.5lbs on each arm)
Repeat the above then 30 sec cobra stretch and 30 sec forearm plank (ouch!!)

Can actually complete it so wont give up fast like I am guessing I would for 30DS. Have done 2 days now and am feeling good also throwing in 20 crunches and some pelvis lifts. I feel so good about it today that I have got the wii games out again and am going to mix in some cardio as the strength work outs will boost the effectiveness of cardio
Am not necessarily going to do 30 consecuitive days of the arms work outs as if I miss one that way I will give up, but aiming to do it 30 times in the immediate future.
Think my wall push upd have helped as am able to do ten womens press ups now :O I dont go down very low, kinda like half ones, but I can do it!! Also can manage 10 second plank which is about double what I used to be able to do. Am going to do 10 sec x 3 and try and build to longer.
Yay motivation!

 

[Summer86]

The challenge sounds mega - I hate my flabby arms!! It's great that you're feeling more motivated to exercise, we have a Wii fit and a Kinect and never use either....such a waste though! Although I do use my gym membership.
Your kebab sounds awesome! Definitely wouldn't have thought of it as a relatively SW friendly option!!

 

[EmmaB]

Wow! Check out your bingo wing busting! Sounds pretty intense. Not sure I'd be able to do it at all. My brother has got these weird press up bars that you hold onto to do press ups. He said it stops you pushing with your chest at all so it's just arms.
I'll maybe try them out with some lady press ups, I'll let you know how I get on.
Im sure ur little gain is just a blip, doubt that's its because you've increased your carbs if ur still below syns xx

 

[Tetris]

Guys, my stomach/torso aches like.HELL! Maybe I did the crunches wrong, I just sort of added them in on a whim... So achey that I struggled to sleep on my front.last night (I always do) and laughing hurts a bit! Wondering if this is just something one puts up with or if I should have warmed up torso better? Did a couple extra press ups last night and it hurt my stomach muscles too much! So maybe it is from the press upd too..m I know my form is way off but I cant do them properly yet so am building up to it!

I did about half an hour of Exerbeat on the wifit then got bored and sleepy. I played that game to death before! Wish there was an option to play your own music but you need to hear their instructions and the music is loud... On the wifit I play the advanced cycling one for an hour with my own music and have way more fun! Am going to do that at some point this week.

So, have day 3 of the challenge today but am so achey I might not get through the push ups... Also the chair dips are killer on my wrists :/ but I'm going to give it my all.

Had a low syn Red day to save syns for tomorrow as some friends and I are driving to the beach (southend) for a picnic and crabbing and to visit the theme park for a couple of rides will make good picnic choices to bring with but may have a drink or two and will probably have some sort of treat- ice cream or whatever on the beach. Dinner before we leave is looking like fish and chips so might try get another chicken kebab instead... Hope it doesnt botch thurs WI but guessing all that heavy food in my stomach probably will might just have a sneaky re-weigh on fri after I've pooped.

Will have another low syn red day today anyway as Sunday we are having lunch out too for G's bro's bday. G's family still dont know I'm on a diet, feels a bit awkward. I havent seen them since JUne though and have lost nearly 2 stone since then I think! It has started to show recently so maybe they will say something... Still not had ONE comment of "you've lost weight!" or anything apart from people who know I'm on a diet. Hmph.

Last night I was parading around in my size 14 corset like polka dot top (it is very snug fit and has boob cups but not tightening stuff or ribbons or anything else corsetty) with a skirt and a waist belt. G looked impressed and said "wow! You're starting to look hot!" LOL!! 'starting'... Thanks love of my life. Anyway he was grinning amd watching me parade around and said I looked really good so I really wanna wear it to the beach and to his bro's bday now new fave outfit! But when I sit down the belt/fabric causes rolls a bit as it is tight :/ but can take belt off.
Have been DYING to dress up and look pretty recently, have spent a week practically in PJ's (which this time of year is pretty much nude )

Will try and get a pic of the outfit to show you guys when we go to the beach. It is definitely an outfit that the arms let down sadly, spaghetti strap oh well, next month it'll look better it has slightly elasticated back so should fit me for a while even as I slim down more

 

[Tetris]

Guys, my stomach/torso aches like.HELL! Maybe I did the crunches wrong, I just sort of added them in on a whim... So achey that I struggled to sleep on my front.last night (I always do) and laughing hurts a bit! Wondering if this is just something one puts up with or if I should have warmed up torso better? Did a couple extra press ups last night and it hurt my stomach muscles too much! So maybe it is from the press upd too..m I know my form is way off but I cant do them properly yet so am building up to it!

I did about half an hour of Exerbeat on the wifit then got bored and sleepy. I played that game to death before! Wish there was an option to play your own music but you need to hear their instructions and the music is loud... On the wifit I play the advanced cycling one for an hour with my own music and have way more fun! Am going to do that at some point this week.

So, have day 3 of the challenge today but am so achey I might not get through the push ups... Also the chair dips are killer on my wrists :/ but I'm going to give it my all.

Had a low syn Red day to save syns for tomorrow as some friends and I are driving to the beach (southend) for a picnic and crabbing and to visit the theme park for a couple of rides will make good picnic choices to bring with but may have a drink or two and will probably have some sort of treat- ice cream or whatever on the beach. Dinner before we leave is looking like fish and chips so might try get another chicken kebab instead... Hope it doesnt botch thurs WI but guessing all that heavy food in my stomach probably will might just have a sneaky re-weigh on fri after I've pooped.

Will have another low syn red day today anyway as Sunday we are having lunch out too for G's bro's bday. G's family still dont know I'm on a diet, feels a bit awkward. I havent seen them since JUne though and have lost nearly 2 stone since then I think! It has started to show recently so maybe they will say something... Still not had ONE comment of "you've lost weight!" or anything apart from people who know I'm on a diet. Hmph.

Last night I was parading around in my size 14 corset like polka dot top (it is very snug fit and has boob cups but not tightening stuff or ribbons or anything else corsetty) with a skirt and a waist belt. G looked impressed and said "wow! You're starting to look hot!" LOL!! 'starting'... Thanks love of my life. Anyway he was grinning amd watching me parade around and said I looked really good so I really wanna wear it to the beach and to his bro's bday now new fave outfit! But when I sit down the belt/fabric causes rolls a bit as it is tight :/ but can take belt off.
Have been DYING to dress up and look pretty recently, have spent a week practically in PJ's (which this time of year is pretty much nude )

Will try and get a pic of the outfit to show you guys when we go to the beach. It is definitely an outfit that the arms let down sadly, spaghetti strap oh well, next month it'll look better it has slightly elasticated back so should fit me for a while even as I slim down more

 

[cheekychinchilla]

Ouch!! Your poor muscles The press-up's definitely affect your stomach muscles too!!
Remember before I went to Sweden I did arm strengthening exercises so I could hold on to the sled for dear life? I was only doing lady press-up's and tricep dips and I saw a difference really quickly. I actually got a bit of muscle!! And they did look a bit less flabby too So all the stuff you're doing should really help!

Sounds like you've got a couple of nice days planned this week. Would love to see your outift??

Lol Gerard made me laugh with "starting to look hot" cheeky f*cker Hope he got a smack upside the head for that?!

Everyone also needs a smack for not drowning you in compliments. Every time I see a pic of you I automatically think "Wow, she's hot!" xx

 

[Tetris]

Hahaha thanks Cheeky I am RIDICULOUSLY photogenic though, unfortunately IRL I look about 95% uglier (partly why I've always had a phobia of meeting guys off the internet!) and I even look slimmer in pics often, I guess being a photographer I know my angles :rollseyes:

I lol'd at "Smack upside the head" - my ex said that once and I thought it was just a dyslexic typo as he used to do that a lot, he was like "It's northern slang" and I thought he was joking because he usually would make a silly excuse for dyslexic slip ups - but you've just confirmed that he was being sincere LOL I had no idea! He was from Harrogate

I'm really excited about wearing my outfit on the picnic there will definitely be pictures. Also- excited that you saw differences really fast from your arm work outs :O cool!
I think the forearm plank is what is really f*cking with my stomach muscles, only did 15 seconds worth today (10 sec + 5 sec then couldn't handle the pain more!) but I used my bed for the chair dips and that was much better than the arm chair I'd been using.

Felt like a champ today as I had two new types of fish for lunch I used to HATE fish and only started eating salmon a couple of years ago, but today I cooked mackarel and herring (I forgot what the second was until I remembered that I used it to act out the holy grail scene "THEN! You must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest, wiiiith... A HERRING!" LOL I love that scene) anyway- they were OK! I didn't cook them amazingly, just shoved them under the grill for probably a bit too long as they were quite chewy, but I felt awesome for eating fish for once. Got them because they were both reduced to clear so like £1 each! Got LOADS of things- bloody hell... had to cook SO much today so that it wouldn't go off. Mad a beef stew, cooked salmon (am going to have it cold at picnic tomorrow with salad + salad cream) and chicken thighs (marinated them then grilled them and am also taking them to picnic) and found some be good to yourself cumberland sausages- 1/2 a syn each apparently :O OMG YAY! They were reduced to clear too; threw them in the freezer and will have them in a couple of days maybe, couldn't cook them today as WELL

Anyway, I was feeling all awesome and like I'd prolonged my life like a Japanese person for having fish when G microwaved his bargain reduced to clear buy- sticky toffee pudding!! FFKJFlrjehflho 1500 calories for the big plate, 4 portions of 380 cal and I cried at the thought of the syns... but I still picked at it so much I had nearly half a portion probably... maybe a third of a portion, I don't know... Am going to call it 8 syns and cry a bit about my failed syn saving today. I had only like ONE other syn today, I was all prepared to balance out my gain yesterday and the beach trip tomorrow, grrr! Damn boyfriend and his stupid sweet tooth.

Haven't had my hex's or dinner today though, I'm going to have a bowl of cereal now - bought some interesting ones after relooking the HexB list in my book sainsbury's puffed wheat and kellogs chocolate all bran, etc

 

[EmmaB]

Hmmm I love my choc all bran
looking forward to pics of your outfit. And I don't care what you say about being photogenic, your beautiful! I am surprised you've not had anybody comment!

Proud of you for eating fish, I can't stand the stuff. Maybe the odd fish finger sandwhich if its got lots of ketchup and squished fingers so not much fish. Lol.
Xx

 

[Summer86]

Choc all bran is the best! I love it with ff Greek yog and fresh raspberries...yum!!

Your outfit sounds great, it's fab when you find clothes that make you feel good about yourself and your body.

I wouldn't dwell on G's comment, if he's anything like my hub he's not great with words and compliments can come across as being a bit off sometimes!!