…hubster and myself took a long, long drive up to Manchester. It was a hot, sticky day and I think Michael would much rather have stayed home and shaved his head with a cheese grater. But because he’s my husband, and my best friend and has the patience of several saints, he drove me the 200+ miles up the M5 and M6 for one very special reason. To see this man do what he does best:
Continue reading about Slimming in Public Week 4 - One Year Ago Today…
Greetings Sports Racers. Sorry, hubster and I are currently working our way through one year of the show with zefrank and it’s kind of rubbing off. We’ve been spending the weekend discovering each other’s power moves, which was just as much fun as it it sounds.
Anyway, yes, that diet thing. As you may have guessed from the Take-That-Covered-By-Lolcats title, my enthusiasm for Food Optimising is back with bells on. Really hit my stride last week, but sadly not soon enough to avoid a 3lb weight gain. Bugger. Having decided to take the gain as the ass-kicking I desperately needed, I’ve been able to stay on plan ever since.
So, armed with a 5lb weight loss target for the week I’ve been Optimising like a good ‘un, and walking further than I have ever walked in my entire lazy life. A total of 10 miles over three days probably doesn’t sound like much to real sports racers, but it’s a major achievement for me.
Continue reading about Slimming in Public Week 4 - Re-light mah fi-yah!
Well here I go again with yet another attempt at a full week on plan. Fell waist deep in a bucket of wine and chinese food on Thursday night after group and didn’t manage to winch myself out and back onto plan until yesterday. But I’m back in business now, yesterday was a green day and contained my favourites - potato wedges for lunch, and noodles and mushy peas for dinner. All free on green, and all lovely and comfort food-y.
Today, then, is original (or red). I find I get the best results when I stick to a red/green cycle throughout the week. Mixing it up sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t. And as Katrina, my new consultant, said at group last week:
Don’t play with the Plan, because the Plan will play with you.
Continue reading about Slimming in Public Week 3 - note to self…
Kicking off another week where I intend to stay on plan 100% no matter what. Now, nobody die, dump me, fire me or do anything else to me that’s likely to take me off course, ‘k? Ta.
Sunday and Monday saw me backsliding again. Although Monday was really just a Green day with an assload more syns. Today’s excuse was that I was considering how Slimming World fits into my life and what I could do to shake things up a bit.
Firstly, I decided to join another group. Katrina runs a class on a Thursday evening that I can get to straight from work, it’s a nice walk, and it’s over and done with in enough time for me and the fella to still have an evening together. Also, believing strongly that variety is key to the success of this thing, I think the change would do me good. We shall see.
…and on the seventh day, I rested.
Not the spectacular excursion off-plan as done in previous weeks, but off enough for me to enjoy a drink at the aforementioned ditty, a panini at teapots, and a pasty at home.
This week has been an interesting experiment, and one I will continue. It’s kept me thinking about my weight-loss mission, food and my lifestyle and for the most part I’m happy with how things are going, but I think it’s time for one or two things to change. So for this coming week I’m going to be working on those changes and making the most of what I already know works a treat.
More adventures to be had next week then. But for now, it’s time for a break. We’ll be right back.
Continue reading about Slimming in Public Day 7 - and on the seventh day…
If it wasn’t for the heroics of my husband, putting his foot down with a firm “You cannot has takeaway”, I would now be wallowing in guilt and prawn crackers. But he pulled me through a particularly murky moment and again I managed to stay on plan all day.
It’s how it goes every time. I’m tired, feeling a bit grumpy, and there’s a huge great yak in the kitchen demanding some Gillette action before we can get to any food*. There have been many, many times in the past where we would have left the hairy bugger to entertain himself and headed out to the chinese chippy pizza kebab shop.
But Michael stepped in and saved the day. Here’s my food diary:
BRUNCH - The legendary Mad Hatter’s Brunch which consisted of - eggs, bacon, mushroom, tomatoes, beans (B) and 2 slices of white toast (8 syns).
The brunch saw us through the morning and our 3 mile walk around town. I didn’t feel a single hunger pang until about 5ish when I had…
Continue reading about Slimming in Public Day 6 - *So* Close
Well here we are. Friday night. The mother of all ‘let your hair down and be excessive’ times. Work’s done for the week and there’s a lot of winding down to be done. In the flat right now there is beer, cider, wine and whisky, and I’m kicking back with a refreshing pint or two of…
…sugar free appleade.
Yep. I’m sticking to my plan this time. No booze. Only used 8 and a half syns today. The only thing left to consume on my menu is tea. Here’s my food diary for today’s delicious green day:
BREAKFAST: 2 nimble toast (B), beans, tomatoes, salad leaves (yes, salad for breakfast. Why not?), banana.
LUNCH: Cous Cous and Noodles. I needed a carb boost so I made the most of the foods available on the Free list.
DINNER: Fishcake (4 and a half syns), veggie crispbake (4 syns), potato wedges, mushy peas, salad, cucumber, tomato, celery.
SNACKS: Peaches and 2 Alpen Light bars (B)
Continue reading about Slimming in Public Day 5 - Un-bloody-BREAKABLE!
Looking back on the week so far it’s not surprising the home scales weren’t offering any encouraging news this morning. So I hit the books again today, over a coffee in M&S (where the hard sell tactics of the staff is really starting to get on my nerves), and planned a good, back to basics Food Optimising day. Choosing to do the Original plan, here’s how my food diary panned out for the day:
Breakfast: Tomatoes, 4 slices Nimble toast (taken as 1 Healthy Extra B choice and 5 syns), marmite. Followed by a banana with my coffee.
Morning Snack: A pear and some strawberries
Lunch: Sardines with salad, followed by a yogurt
Afternoon Snack: More strawberries, a hi-fi bar (another healthy extra B choice), grapes
“Just in from work and I need something quick while dinner’s cooking”: cooked chicken pieces (half a syn)
Dinner: Coley fillets with ham, asparagus, tomato, sugar snap peas, salad leaves, cucumber and celery. Followed by a yogurt.
Continue reading about Slimming in Public Day 4 - that’s more like it!
Well here we are. Mid-week. And I just knew it was going to be one of those days. My plans to stay on the wagon were scuppered once some bastard nicked the seat and replaced it with a bottle of Beaujolais. I did my best to limit the damage, but the call of the wine and the chocolate was too strong. But sensible choices with the food meant a flexible syns day made it possible for me to enjoy a few glasses of wine and a few bits of chocolate and keep my syns to a sensible level.
So today I started with the intention of doing Mix2Max again but soon realised this day would be better as Green, so I could lunch happily on sushi from M&S. Evening meal was veg crispbake, and a fishcake with couscous and salad, and my glorious slide into the world of Flexible Syns began once hubby pulled the cork on a fine red that my boss bought me a couple of weeks ago (thanks, Carol!).
This is the relaxed approach I wanted. This is the way I’m going to get to the end of my journey.
Continue reading about Slimming in Public Day 3 - it could be worse…
Inspired by a good meeting last night and armed with a couple of facts I didn’t have before, I started today with every intention of sticking to plan 100%. And I did. Go me.
To recap, I’m doing the “Mix 2 Max” plan where you choose whether to have Original or Green foods by the meal. So basically you can have a nice stodgy lunch and a light, meaty (or fishy) dinner. And I found out that my own daily Syn allowance is more than I thought it was. If you’re a member of a group, it’s always worth checking with your consultant what your Syn allowance is. Between 5 and 15 is the norm, but if you have a lot of weight to lose, like I do, you may be able to have more.
Here’s my food diary for today:
Breakfast: 2 slices of toast (nimble 400g loaf - 5 syns), marmite, banana
Morning Snack: Alpen Light cereal bar (3 syns), satsuma
Lunch: Noodles, beans, and a little grated cheddar (healthy extra ‘a’ choice), shape lasting satisfaction yogurt