Tracey's healthy yummy lovely journey

[vintagepockets]

Also why not switch to reduced fat cheese. It's just as nice and you get 42g (this may have changed). Do you have tea and coffee throughout the day and do you syn/count milk as yor HEXa?

I totally agree with you about the yoghurts - I hate the taste of sweetener so avoid mullerlights now. Shape 0% are ok, as are activia 0% yogs but I definitely prefer Greek yoghurts like total 0%, danio and chobani. Yum!

You are doing really well hun so don't be too hard on yourself. It can be frustrating to be on a diet especially during social events. I love eating out and it was definitely one of the hardest things for me to avoid but you do what you can and make healthy choices where you can.

Enjoy your meal tonight and maybe have that as your dinner out for the week and try to have a 100% weekend. Instead of going out for dinner with the OH why not make a lovely SW friendly picnic and go out somewhere green and enjoy the sunshine (if you're getting it there!) xx

 

[jadeelizabeth]

Enjoy your meal tonight huni!

I also get a bit relaxed about measuring my cheese which is very naughty of me, especially when it's my fave food! I don't usually use my full weeks syn allowance so that covers it sometimes.

I don't really worry about Aspartame, despite the horror stories in the press. My consultant mentioned in class week that it was a hot topic at SW headquarters but scientific experiments with rats showed that unless we are eating our body weight in sweeteners every day they are not harmful to humans x

 

[xJoanneJJx]

Hope you are having a nice out and that you're able to make it a good weekend SW wise! Re the scales, mine are digital and if it starts doing dodgy measurements like yours, I find that new batteries solve the problem xx

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[Applekath]

Hope you're having a good weekend?

No there is nothing on my diary from you ;-)

 

[jadeelizabeth]

Hope your having a fab weekend huni! x

 

[xJoanneJJx]

Hope you've had a lovely bank holiday weekend Tracy and you've done alright food wise! xx

 

[newbee89]

Hey lovely,

Scales are very strange creatures - I don't think I will ever understand them! Mine are up and down like a yoyo - I try to only let myself get on them once a day or else I drive myself completely nuts! I can't imagine what I'd be like if I went to group and had two sets to contend with! If you're feeling slimmer, that really is the main thing. Are you taking measurements too? Especially if you're exercising, you'll definitely have weeks where you don't lose pounds, but do lose centimetres/inches, so it's a great way to keep motivated. When I look back at my measurements when I started, it's totally shocking!

I totally agree that it's hard to stay on track at the weekends. The period between Christmas and March I pretty much maintained for the same reason - I could stick to plan during the week, but I had so much on at weekends that I couldn't/wouldn't say no to, that I couldn't actually shift any weight. It's not easy to make the decision to be stricter - and you, like me, will have some friends who really pile on the pressure for you to drink/eat the wrong food etc. But if you have a time frame in mind to get to target, then I guess you have to make hard decisions. It definitely sounds like your head is in the right place so I'm absolutely sure that you can get some fab losses over the next few weeks.

Sounds like work is crazy this week! It's lovely you can go out tonight and celebrate the fact that it's almost Friday! Have a fab night. xx

Thanks for the lovely message hun The scales are definitely strange creatures. That's why I'm looking forward to getting back to the SW classes where it will be one official weigh-in every week and I'll think no more about it after that. It's the easiest way. Oh I totally relax more at the weekend and I know I shouldn't. I think I'll start saving some syns during the week so that I had an extra 15 or so each weekend day to allow for the treats. It's near impossible for me to be 100% on plan at the weekend though. I know you can't have everything but I really love our lunches out etc. I suppose I need to just be more careful about what I am actually ordering.

I hope you had a lovely long weekend xxx

Hey hun I'll read your post more thoroughly in a mo but quickly wanted to comment re relaxing at weekends. I found that unfortunately if you want to consistently lose you need to be 100% at least 90%-100% of the time. Being strict in the week and having the weekend off (to an extent) is a fantastic way to maintain, but in my case, I only lost the weight by staying with syns and HEXs everyday. It can be hard sometimes but it's totally worth it in the end. I did notice that you don't syn booze. I really recommend that you do even if you hardly drink as those syns add up a lot quicker than you think and they are empty calories. I used to drink a glass of wine almost daily and I think that cutting this out had a big effect on my weightloss. I gained loads of weight at uni and as soon as I left I lost a stone without even trying and that was down to not drinking as much.

Re the scales, I've had to return 2 pairs for the exact same reason and in the end went for a manual pair. They aren't accurate to the half pound but they will give you an accurate reading. If you want to stick to electronic scales leave them in the same place and don't move them around. I also fluctuate throughout the day so only weigh first thing in the morning as I can gain 4/5 lbs by the evening.

Hope this helps hun xx

Thanks for the input hun. I agree with you about the alcohol. Totally. But it seems impossible. Put it this way, if I am going out I'll have probably the equivalent of two bottles of wine which is like 50 syns! I would never have that many syns, unless I saved like 10 a day during the week. But I feel like if I was to save all those syns and only eat more or less free food during the week I would be less inclined to stick to plan. The syns give me the wiggle room I need that actually makes me enjoy the plan, you know? So when it came to the weekend just having the incentive to have a couple of glasses of wine wouldn't be enough for me. I am not that excited about alcohol! However I know I'm going to have it if we're going out so it's a catch 22. I might not drink for 2/3 weeks so it genuinely doesn't feel like an obstacle for me. A weekend like the one gone with two nights out is extremely rare. In general it's probably once every two weeks, if even. Alcohol is just outrageously high. I feel like if I stick to plan all week and have one night with a couple of glasses of wine it shouldn't make me gain! I know it's empty calories but it doesn't feel THAT bad when it's not often. And as I said, the only way to save 60 syns is to resist any syns during the week which is impossible for me or I'll really go off the rails. I feel it's more what alcohol leads to in my case (bad food such as pizza this weekend, and crisps).

Any suggestions? When you say I should syn alcohol, what did you do? Like did you save 10 syns a day for a week? or did you just not really drink when you went out? Any suggestions would be a great help!

I do totally agree with you about the weekends. I can't afford to relax this much. It's a third of the week afterall. I think I can allow myself a little wiggle room but I need to syn everything and make much better choices. Definitely.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it x

Enjoy your meal tonight huni!

I also get a bit relaxed about measuring my cheese which is very naughty of me, especially when it's my fave food! I don't usually use my full weeks syn allowance so that covers it sometimes.

I don't really worry about Aspartame, despite the horror stories in the press. My consultant mentioned in class week that it was a hot topic at SW headquarters but scientific experiments with rats showed that unless we are eating our body weight in sweeteners every day they are not harmful to humans x

Hey hun Cheese is my weakness too. I love the stuff! I find that 40g of reduced fat cheddar is usually a good option though! I need to not guess though because you can be sure that I'll under-syn and over-indulge.

Interesting about the Aspartame too! You're probably right! I just find I don't enjoy the 'taste' of it in Muller Lights any more.

Hope your weekend was lovely xx

Hope you are having a nice out and that you're able to make it a good weekend SW wise! Re the scales, mine are digital and if it starts doing dodgy measurements like yours, I find that new batteries solve the problem xx

Thanks Joanne! Weekend was lovely, how was yours?

Oh really? That seems weird. It's only new and turns on and off and works perfectly, it hardly needs new batteries after a couple of weeks? :/

x

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Hope you're having a good weekend?

No there is nothing on my diary from you ;-)

Whoops, it musn't have posted properly. I'll saunter on over there now. Hope your weekend was lovely

 

[newbee89]

Hello One and All,

Apologies for being MIA this weekend. It was a jam-packed busy weekend it was indulgent so I felt like a bit of a hypocrite if I posted in here when I wasn't being good. Realistically I was probably in denial because posting here may have helped me.

It was a rather unusual weekend because OH and I had two nights out, both with different groups of his friends. One was a house-warming and the other was a going away party. Both two of his really good friends. They live out where he used to live in North Dublin so rather than forking out €50 on taxis each night we stayed in his parents house. It was nice! To be honest I was extremely anxious all weekend. It's something I suffer with. It's a general anxiety disorder and it can be really bad sometimes but is always there in some way. This weekend it was really bad so I was just looking forward to both nights out being over. Impossible to explain why and where the anxiety came from. That's the beauty of it, there may be no real reason. I just know I was happy come Monday morning when it was all over and it was a day off work because of the bank holiday. You'd swear it was a bad thing we had to go to, but as I said it's a bit more complex than that.

Both nights involved wine drinking and shots (one shot was 72%... how clever of me!) but I was fine and happily drunk and merry both nights. The second night I only had 3 glasses of wine so I took it easy.

After the house party on Friday we got pizza. My weakness! There was also pizza AT the party which I had one slice of. I ate about 4 huge slices of our pizza. bold bold bold! When I get a drink in to me I crave bad food. It always ends badly! It's something I really need to keep an eye on. Damn lack of inhibitions and control!

Sunday morning involved a cold slice of pizza (strangely amazing) and some SW friendly Spagettit Bollognaisse for lunch with some not so SW friendly garlic bread. We then went out for dinner to a thai restaurant. For starters I had duck spring rolls, and for mains I had prawn penang curry. It was unbelievable. Like the nicest curry I have ever had. The prawns were huge. It was in a lovely restaurant by the harbour in a gorgeous harbour town in Dublin. I also had prawn crackers and a few chips. So it was all just so unbelievably non-sw friendly. It wouldn't have been so bad with boiled rice and without the chips!

Yesterday was another indulgent day. Breakfast was a brown bread toasted sandwhich with ham, cheese and coleslaw with a packet of crisps. Lunch was a burrito from an amazing burrito bar in Dublin. I actually got tacos now that I remember. It was three very small tacos with pulled pork, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheese and lettuce. Synful, but really gorgeous.

In the evening I nibbled on varioud naughty things too!

See??? It was just all so off-plan and I feel really guilty about it all
I totally know where I could have made so many changes that would have made it a million times better. To be honest I was in such a bold mood though. I knew what I was doing and it was like I couldn't eat enough!

I am back on plan now and I plan to be very good for the next 4 days before my holidays. Hopefully it will at least make up for the gain that this weekend would have lead to. I think I'll just not bother weighing myself till Friday before I go on holidays and that will give me a proper pre-holiday weight. Seeing a gain now would only deter me from being good, and not seeing a gain would make me too relaxed, if that makes sense.

I went on a long walk yesterday (in my new lovely exercise clothes) and I plan to do the same tonight. I also have zumba tomorrow evening. So here's to a few really good days of being on-plan and reflecting on how I could have approached the weekend differently. I am definitely a comfort eater, so the anxiety probably lead to some of the bad eating. Not making excused though.

Fresh Day Today. Here is my food diary...

breakfast - Alpen light (3) banana and lf vanilla yoghurt (.5)

lunch - sandwhich from Tesco because I forgot my lunch. Chicken, bacon, lettuce and mayo (HexB + 7? there wasn't much bacon or mayo) packet of treat size rancheros (2.5) apple and grapes

Dinner - pulled pork. not sure what recipe to use yet! We got a pork tenderloin. I need to find one that used the spices we have at home. I don't have anything like garlic powder. Can anyone recommend anything? Will have this with a 60g wholemeal bun (6) and SW 'fried' rice with vegetables!

Dessert - fresh strawberries, pineapple, and grapes with fat free natural yoghurt.

HexA - None yet. will have a cuppa later!
HexB - two slices wholemeal bread on pre-packed sandwhich

Syns - 19. Still not quite in syns but the pre-packed sandwhich fecked things up. had I been more organised I would have not had bread and used the bun at dinner as my HexB,

Still, not a bad day overall I don't think.

Any pulled pork suggestions would be great. I don't have a slow cooker and I get in from work at 6 so hoping to make it in about 2 hours so we're not eating horrifically late.

x

 

[Applekath]

HoLa! Looks like you had a top weekend

I did the same last week re the shop bought emergency sarny.

Was that shot bicardi 151 per chance? Lost a while evening on that once :-(

You need to get a slow cooker! Depends on the size of your pork but 2 hours is cutting it fine.

 

[xJoanneJJx]

Good luck getting back on plan I don't have a slow cooker so used the recipe from the mag which uses the oven- took 3.5 hours though my pork shoulder was about 1.7kg I think! xx

 

[vintagepockets]

Thanks for the input hun. I agree with you about the alcohol. Totally. But it seems impossible. Put it this way, if I am going out I'll have probably the equivalent of two bottles of wine which is like 50 syns! I would never have that many syns, unless I saved like 10 a day during the week. But I feel like if I was to save all those syns and only eat more or less free food during the week I would be less inclined to stick to plan. The syns give me the wiggle room I need that actually makes me enjoy the plan, you know? So when it came to the weekend just having the incentive to have a couple of glasses of wine wouldn't be enough for me. I am not that excited about alcohol! However I know I'm going to have it if we're going out so it's a catch 22. I might not drink for 2/3 weeks so it genuinely doesn't feel like an obstacle for me. A weekend like the one gone with two nights out is extremely rare. In general it's probably once every two weeks, if even. Alcohol is just outrageously high. I feel like if I stick to plan all week and have one night with a couple of glasses of wine it shouldn't make me gain! I know it's empty calories but it doesn't feel THAT bad when it's not often. And as I said, the only way to save 60 syns is to resist any syns during the week which is impossible for me or I'll really go off the rails. I feel it's more what alcohol leads to in my case (bad food such as pizza this weekend, and crisps).

Any suggestions? When you say I should syn alcohol, what did you do? Like did you save 10 syns a day for a week? or did you just not really drink when you went out? Any suggestions would be a great help!

I do totally agree with you about the weekends. I can't afford to relax this much. It's a third of the week afterall. I think I can allow myself a little wiggle room but I need to syn everything and make much better choices. Definitely.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it x

I suppose I just didn't drink. I didn't really save my syns but still synned it when I did drink. At least then I wasn't in denial about the amount of syns I was consuming and it actually put me off alcohol for a while - it just didn't seem worth it. When I would have the odd boozy weekend I normally found that I would at least STS (if not gain) even without going overboard with the food. To be honest hun it's whatever works for you.

Unfortunately I did have to cut down on eating out and found this to be the hardest thing to do. I know it seems hard as I absolutely love eating out and it's a big part of my social life but I just had to keep thinking of it as a short term sacrifice for a long term gain. I still don't eat out as often as we used to (which would be 2 times a week at least) which has proved good for our bank balance as well as my waist line! I find that if we eat out I have the best intentions but once I'm there I think f*** it and have something naughty. At least when I cook I have no choice and I genuinely enjoy experimenting and cooking for me and others.

Ooh where are you off on your hols? Xx

 

[xJoanneJJx]

It's easy for me to say cos I don't drink wine! But could you switch to a lower syn drink? You'll get more for your syns xx

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[newbee89]

I made 'pulled pork' tonight but I used a recipe that doesn't involve a slow cooker or an oven. It was kind of poache and took about 1 hour 10mins to cook and it turned out gorgeous. I took different elements from different recipes and just sort of came up with my own to suit my tastes. It turned out absolutely gorgeous. I had it with a wholemeal bun, spinach and hexA cheddar cheese.



I went for a long walk with my two cousins. We walked about 5k. It was lovely but there were midgies flying around everywhere. Ugh i'm getting itchy just thinking about it. I came home and had a lovely big bowl of freah pineapple, melon and strawberries with natural yoghurt which was gorgeous.

 

[newbee89]

HoLa! Looks like you had a top weekend

I did the same last week re the shop bought emergency sarny.

Was that shot bicardi 151 per chance? Lost a while evening on that once :-(

You need to get a slow cooker! Depends on the size of your pork but 2 hours is cutting it fine.

It was great! Hope yours was nice?

No it was callsd Tetrus Tea or something. I had had one glass of wine and I looked hammered!!

 

[Miss_Corset]

I made 'pulled pork' tonight but I used a recipe that doesn't involve a slow cooker or an oven. It was kind of poache and took about 1 hour 10mins to cook and it turned out gorgeous. I took different elements from different recipes and just sort of came up with my own to suit my tastes. It turned out absolutely gorgeous. I had it with a wholemeal bun, spinach and hexA cheddar cheese.

<img src="http://www.minimins.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=89849"/>

I went for a long walk with my two cousins. We walked about 5k. It was lovely but there were midgies flying around everywhere. Ugh i'm getting itchy just thinking about it. I came home and had a lovely big bowl of freah pineapple, melon and strawberries with natural yoghurt which was gorgeous.

Ooh that looks delish. Definitely on the menu for next week!

Well done on your walk although shame about the bugs - how annoying!xx

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[newbee89]

I suppose I just didn't drink. I didn't really save my syns but still synned it when I did drink. At least then I wasn't in denial about the amount of syns I was consuming and it actually put me off alcohol for a while - it just didn't seem worth it. When I would have the odd boozy weekend I normally found that I would at least STS (if not gain) even without going overboard with the food. To be honest hun it's whatever works for you.

Unfortunately I did have to cut down on eating out and found this to be the hardest thing to do. I know it seems hard as I absolutely love eating out and it's a big part of my social life but I just had to keep thinking of it as a short term sacrifice for a long term gain. I still don't eat out as often as we used to (which would be 2 times a week at least) which has proved good for our bank balance as well as my waist line! I find that if we eat out I have the best intentions but once I'm there I think f*** it and have something naughty. At least when I cook I have no choice and I genuinely enjoy experimenting and cooking for me and others.

Ooh where are you off on your hols? Xx

I hear ya hun. At the moment we probably eat out twice a week but I might look at reducing that to once and really making good choices. I think I will start trying more new recipes as well because that keeps me motivated and inspired.

I think I'll have to ditch the wine too. It's far too fattening. Something like Vodka with a diet mixer or soda and lime would be easier to syn and might even be more refreshing in the summer months.

Thanks for your in put hun. I can't have my cake and eat it too, so changes definitely need to be made.

Ooh that looks delish. Definitely on the menu for next week!

Well done on your walk although shame about the bugs - how annoying!xx

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Thanks hun. It was gorgeous! Let me know if you want a recipe. There are loads out there but this one only takes an hour and a half in total and it's an alternative to 5-6 hours in an oven or slow cooker. I would love to try that method but I just didn't have the time.

Really enjoyed the walk but the bugs completely ruined it

 

[newbee89]

I had a whole entry written there and it got deleted

I'm really glad I took the control back yesterday. When I got in from work I was feeling lazy and decided I wasn't going to go for a walk. I also was starting to have 'sod it' thoughts on the food front. I was thinking 'oh come on, I'm practically on holidays now, I'll have what I fancy'. But no, that is just an excuse for me to binge. I could easily gain three pounds after a few days eating with that attitude and I don't want to feel disgusting when I am away. I ended up going for my walk and eating lovely food that was on-plan so I am really delighted with myself.

Tonight I have ZUMBA! So excited. My little sister is coming with me too so it will be extra fun-filled.

Only three days till my holidays. I really can't wait. We are going to Feurteventura which is a Canary Island off Spain. We just both can't wait for a week of relaxing, nice food, pool and beach. It will be great to just get away from and not think about work for a week and spend proper quality time together. I am really on the homestretch now. Tonight I'll be organising my summer clothes and deciding what I want to bring (and need to iron, ugh). Then tomorrow I'll be properly packing. Friday will more of less be work, home, dinner and bed because we are up at 4am to leave for our 7am flight. That's why I want to be all packed come tomorrow evening. I have an appointment to have my eyebrows waxed and tinted and a manicure and pedicure after work on Friday which I'm really looking forward to.

Today's Food Diary...

Breakfast - Fruit salad of melon, pineapple and strawberries

Lunch - M&S Prawn Layer Salad. It says it's for 2 but I know I'll finish it as I'm always hungry when I don't have bread with lunch (7) psnack size packet of rancheros (2.5) and a kiwi

Snack - Mugshot (these are so processed and unhealthy, and salty, but sometimes they are a god send like today when Im hungry about 2 hours before my lunch) alpen light bar (1/2 HexB) and a banana

Dinner - Small Wholemeal Pita made in to 'pizza' and topped with passata, peppers, mushrooms, ham and HexA 30g cheddar cheese. BBQ sauce (1) with spinach leave salad, tomatoes, radish and light salad dressing (.5)

Post Zumba - Something light like yoghurt and a cup of camomile tea.

Early night for me tonight I think. And by early I mean I hope to be tucked up and ready for sleep by about 11.30. That's early for me!

x

 

[jadeelizabeth]

Hi sweetie, food is looking yummy today!
How was Zumba? How old is your little sister?
Ooooo how exciting about your holiday, not long to go! You will have to tell us all about the weather! I am off to Tenerife in July which i am mega excited for... that and the waterpark!
I had my eyebrows threaded for the first time last weekend and i've come up in lots of little spots above my eyebrow where she did it, can't get rid of them and they're all sore and look a right mess! Maybe I should try waxing next time xxx

 

[Bettyboop23]

Hey hun
how are u getting on? xx

 

[jadeelizabeth]

Hope your having a fab holiday huni!!! x