pebbles sw food diary- get a grip!

hi, i am Dee, otherwise known as pebbles. I am divorced with 2 kids - gosh this is sounding like a different forum altogether. I am a nurse and midwife and work mostly day shifts plus 1 night shift a week.
I have done sw for years on and off after each baby mainly and have been chuffed with the losses.

During and after my split with the ex husband i lost 2 stone. After a while, i met a new man (aaahhhhh) and at 12 st i was happier and felt better about myself, something i had not felt for ages.

Then over the last 2 years of popping out to coffee shops and having take aways and generally feeling happy with life, we suddenly noticed our clothes getting tighter and were convinced the elves had visited to restitch our wardrobes.
Alas, it was the 'happy lifestyle' - does that mean by the way that thinner people dont have a happy lifestyle??? ive never understood that statement ;
'Oh its because you are happy thats why you've put on weight'
WRONG!!!! i think its because ive eaten too much.!!

So, at 14stone 8lbs, together we have started doing SW again. We dont go to a group, as i have all the books, and know the plan pretty well and to be honest i have all the support and kind wishes from this forum to get us both through. The menus, tips etc are great on here and i have to say im enjoying it far more this time around. I regularly post my meals and pictures on the threads; 'whats for tea tonight' and 'post your meal pics here', i find that helps a great deal. there are so many fab ideas. If there is a recipe you need, you can bet your curly wurly, you'll find it on minimins.

I want to keep this food diary for myself for quick reference and to track what im doing in case i'm missing anything. But also for anyone who may get a tiny amount of help or support or at the worst a good giggle from what i ramble on about. And if you havent already gathered it- boy do i ramble.

I have to say i am quite visually orientated and organised, (otherwise known as anal!) i have stickers on all my jars and packets in the cupboards and fridge with the syn values on.
I have a treat tin with the syns stuck on so if i grab something, i take the sticker off and stick it on my food diary that way i can keep track of where i am at. I write everything down on a food diary sheet and try to keep track of things as much as possible.

I do mostly red days but 2 or 3 green days too. I dont do extra easy just because i enjoy the red and green, and at the moment that works for me.

I did some shopping online last week with the idea that if i am not in the shop then i wont spend as much but the problem with that is, when the order arrives they tell you they didnt include your lamb mince and couldnt find a substitute so you end up going to the shops anyway. grrrrr
I do my veg and fruit shopping in aldi or the market cos its cheaper by loads in aldi, and mostly fresher in the market. butternut squash in the market yesterday was 75p, aldi 69p and sainsburys was £1.30. just an example.

I will be back tracking this diary a bit if thats ok. As i feel that some of the days gone by may be helpful to look back on.

To date i've lost 9lbs and i want to get back to 12 stone and then maybe even lower, so i have a way to go yet.

I am absolutely loving it and have become completely obsessed with the minimins website and the recipes and food diaries. My kids think i am 1 slice short of a 'b' choice taking photos of my meals but i am so into this that i could kick my heels up over my head and dance the fandango - but i will spare myself the pain, and you the image.

sorry for the long version , but i dont do brief!

valerie11 said:

hi dee nice to meet u i have been following s/w for a few months i love the flexibility of it good luck getting to 12 st

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oh Valerie, thanks so much. nice to meet you too.

So, we made a plan to start on the 17th jan which i was really looking forward to. i weighed in at 14st 8lbs, a very uncomfortable weight for me as i was struggling to bend over in my clothes without cutting off my circulation.

it was a 'break us in gently' kind of week as we had planned a weekend away in brighton with friends. friends who like to eat alot aswell. - oops. so it wasnt really the best time to start but i figured if we got on plan leading up to the weekend we may lose a couple of pounds. better to do this than carry on as normal and then put on over the weekend. so by the friday night i had lost 1lb.

We had a fabulous weekend which entailed an eat as much as you can chinese buffet to die for, and when i saw the chocolate fountain - believe me i could lie in it and gladly die.

For breakfast the next morning i steered clear of all the greasy stuff and had as good a breakfast as i could. monday morning we started seriously and was glad to see i had not put on anything over the weekend.

Our first week went well, i logged onto minimins and soon became hooked. i found a link to a recipe website - britmums site called slimmingeats. this has fabulous recipes and i soon started trying them out. the aubergine lasagne was gorgeous and had a really lovely white sauce.
I had a mix of red and green days, breakfasts were (and still are ) muesli or fruit and fibre with fat free natural yogurt and berry fruits. lunches - dependent on whether i was working and needed a packed lunch, or home and needed some willpower to keep me from eating the carpets.
Surprisingly i found i wasnt feeling hungry, and felt mainly satisfied between meals.

we have always eaten alot of veg but not so much fruit. i have always cooked from scratch so rarely bought packet meals and sauces etc, obviously this didnt always mean healthy eating so something had to change and not just short term either.
I increased my fruit and veg intake alot and got the kids eating SW recipes too.

By the end of the first (proper) week, weigh in day being thursday, i had lost 4 1/2 lbs. yeehah! I was really motivated - more than ever. i went to a zumba class that week and had great fun. We are already members of a gym so i made a promise to myself to get into gear and make an effort to get there.

The next week was much the same as the previous one with the exception of a family lunch out at 'jimmy spices' which is a buffet style indian and chinese. i was very sensible and had only veg and meat with no deep fried or battered starters. i ate lots of salad items and stir fried veg.
i became hooked on cauliflower cheese SW stylie, with gammon and egg and loads of mashed swede - yummy.

At the end of this week i had lost 2lbs.
i was delighted but concerned that my water intake was very poor. i bought a water dispenser from ebay for about £4. it holds 8 glasses of water which is the recommended daily amount. my goal for the week was to drink as many glasses as possible. pretty soon i felt i was swimming! but i felt so much better for it.
another aim was to try mugshots, which i did and really liked the sweet and sour one. i also discovered low low cheese spread - thanks to mrs wilsoncroft. check out her 'diary of an ickle hippo' if you havent already and also her 'food porn' pages on facebook. she is a massive inspiration to me and her recipe photos are great.

Tried the 3 bean chilli and loved it, also the beef hotpot. britmums syn free gravy, and SW hummus, and SW quiche. love it love it!

On the whole i have around 8-10 syns, not necessarily planned that way. sometimes spent on choccie mini treats and sometimes on a crumpet or snack quorn eggs, laughing cow cheese if already used HeA's, low cal shandy, options.

So by thursday i had lost another 1lb, total of 7 1/2lbs :bliss: oh god it felt good. oh yes oh yes.

That weekend we were invited to join friends for a trip to the park with all the kids. There was a total of 13 of us so when invited to go back to theirs afterwards for a meal, i offered to bring a lasagne. on the saturday i prepared a full fat lasagne and a smaller SW lasagne for me and OH. I was so proud of him because whilst the others all sat and devoured a chocolate fudge cake, we had a toffee mullerlite and mini aero bubbles each. He felt really embarrassed turning them down in favour of a muller'flaming'lite, but he soon forgot that when he discovered the next day he had shed an whooping 1 stone in 3 weeks. - bloody show off!

note to self- must spike his packed lunch with calories and fat!

A great start to week 4 - valentines day was here and i made a lovely meal if i do say so myself.
starter was asparagus and parma ham with olives and mini boursins.
main was a SW recipe from this months magazine, the steak with a blue cheese sauce, rosemary potatoes and garlic spring greens. oh my word it was lush. more valentines meals are required each year please god.


accompanied by a glass of wine and managed to keep it all within plan.

The other highlights of this week were tuesdays garlic chicken roasted with veg from this months mag,


wednesdays slimming world kfc, my first attempt, and i was impressed

thursdays toad in the hole

Which incidentally reminds me of weigh in - get me ! another 1 1/2 lb off.

Friday means my long shift at work, so muesli berries and yogurt for breakfast, sw quiche, salad and a muller and fruit for lunch. after work we headed for the gym and did 12 lengths in the pool. Then - get this, other half says lets get a chicken kebab and chips to celebrate how well we've done.
Erm excuse me ! i dont think so.
so i cut up the chicken into chunks and griddled them. i used an asda wholemeal pitta (heB) shredded some cabbage and lettuce and onion. i made sw chips and made garlic mayo with extra light mayo and garlic. Then i searched the forum for a chilli sauce which was devine. The whole meal was gorgeous. And within plan.


Saturday came with a craving for a curry, i went to the local market and gathered all my ingredients then went back home to delia my way around the kitchen. i decided on a green day.
We had a fab curry feast with rice, spinach and potato curry, classic chicken curry, mushroom curry and onion bhajis at 1 syn each.


sunday was a red day which consisted of bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, poached eggs and 2 slices of toast.
sunday lunch was roast pork with yorkshire pudding, gravy and veg. yogurt and pineapple for dessert and a shandy whilst watching tv.



As ive said before i dont have the urge to empty the fridge of its contents nor the cupboard of the kids packed lunch snacks. i feel full after dinner and seem satisfied for longer. I am going to the gym and feeling much better about myself. I can now fit into an old nursing uniform thats been waiting in the wardrobe for a slimmer me. I know its only 10lb so far but my goodness it makes a difference already.
Dont we walk differently when weve lost some weight, our head seems higher and we walk taller! its amazing what a bit of self confidence does to us. Think of how many bags of sugar your weight loss is equivalent to. Thats an eye opener.

:happy096:

your recipes look yummy can i come for dinner :crazy:

aislingb said:

your recipes look yummy can i come for dinner :crazy:

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of course you can but its a bit far , so stay a week and we can motivate each other.:airplane:

sorry the photos didnt all load for some reason.

here are the toad in hole , sw kfc, oven roasted chicken and steak with blue cheese sauce

Love your food diary! I am back on SW again after a year off and a brief encounter with WW. The SW KFC sounds delicious, i am off to track down that receipe for tomorrow's dinner.

Tracie23 said:

Love your food diary! I am back on SW again after a year off and a brief encounter with WW. The SW KFC sounds delicious, i am off to track down that receipe for tomorrow's dinner.

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hi, and welcome back. thanks for staying the time to read my waffle. let me know if you cant find the sw kfc recipe and i'll post it for you.xx

So, monday was a long working day and i had a breakfast of muesli, fat free yogurt and mixed berries, i am really liking this combination. i am the last person to think i would actually get to like this breakfast.

lunchtime i had butternut squash soup which i had made sunday, really tasty and loads to last a few days. i also had 4 scan bran, 4 laughing cow extra lights and 2 tomatoes- my gosh you really have to eat your way through these. gonna take some getting used to i think. they are like corrugated cardboard because its literally all bran compressed down. lets hope they have the desired effect later- nudge nudge wink. lunch was rounded off with a yogurt and fruit.

dinner was a weight watchers ricotta and spinach canneloni - and i know why i am not doing weight watchers - it was so processed tasting. i shant be doing that again.

i crushed a garlic clove and spread it over 2 slices of wholemeal bread and baked in the oven for a few minutes, that however was really nice.

supposed to be getting an early night tonight as i am working a night shift tomorrow night but drat it- its already 2am. :nightf:

tuesday 22nd- and 2 days until WI, am really intrigued to see how i am doing. i've been very good and not strayed at all despite the goodies around me at work. i just dont want them.

kids are off school and have been playing poker using celebrations chocolates as poker chips. i love how imaginative they can be.

we had a poached egg with tomatoes and mushrooms done in frylight, on top of a slice of nimble wholemeal toast.

couple of cups of tea during the morning and sadly no exercise to speak of except dancing to JLS new song whilst hoovering. my kids think i am so cool -----actually they dont i am lying!

Need to drink more water!! must put a note on the kettle- 'have some water first whilst i boil'

thinking about going to work tonight and what to do about snacks and the rest of the days menu. if i make it a green day then i can take crisps in to eat plus some pasta. yes good idea. so for lunch i made myself and the kids some SW crisps. (basically thinner SW chips but cut in circles.) we all had a nice bowl ful, then they had jellies and a chocolate bar and i had 2 plums.

Tonights dinner was to be tuna and pepper pasta bake. i'd never tried this recipe before usually just made one up as i went along, but this was very nice and really filling. the kids loved it too, i made them a separate one without the courgettes. definitely worth a go.

Tuna and pepper pasta bake
1 onion, 1 courgette, 1/2 red pepper, 1/2 a green pepper.
garlic clove
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 heaped tsp of chicken bovril mixed with 100ml water
1 tsp of dried chilli flakes, oregano (i used dried)
454g tuna canned in brine
400g boiled pasta
salt and pepper
113g grated cheddar

serves 4 original and green = syn free
add 6 syns if not using tuna or pasta as HEB. add 6 syns if not using cheese as HEA. preheat oven to 200'c/ 400'f/ gas 6
chop onion, courgette and pepper and add to a frying pan sprayed with frylight. add garlic crushed and cook for 3-4 mins.

stir in tomatoes and bovril stock with chilli flakes and oregano, bring to boil and cook for 1-2 mins.

remove from heat, stir in tuna and pasta and season well. transfer to ovenproof dish, top with cheese and bake for 10 mins.

the girls at work liked it so much they took down the recipe. result!

Im at work now and i didnt manage to eat all by HEX's so far. i am allergic to milk so have my drinks black so its usually cheese for me, but i forgot to pop some cheese into my lunch box. not good!

In my box i packed a pot of SW chips to share with the other midwives and a bowl of tuna pasta, satsuma, apple, pear a weight watchers yogurt and a mini milky way (5 syns).

One of the other girls is on ww and by 3am she was hungry so caved in to a healthier choice coop hot cross bun. 4 1/2 points to her but 8 1/2 to us SW 'ers. i didnt even feel the need to indulge.

To my delight, 2 of the other girls had joined SW since i last saw them, and were doing well. we shared some tips and recipes and of course i encouraged them to sign up to minimins - well i would wouldnt i seeing as im on here every waking minute. i'd like to send my biggest 'you go girls hugs' to both 'DM' and amandadoyle74 for WI tomorrow morning. xxxx :hug99:

so the night is getting on and its quiet on the front, so i'll have my milky way with a cuppa. i love slimming world. cant wait to get home tho and pop into pyjamas and cuddle up to the kids. i hope they dont want to be too energetic today as i'll be missing a sleep. thats the only problem with working at half term.

Back home now and the kids are up and about. i am shattered but no time for sleep. enjoyed a non nhs cup of tea and am now grilling some waitrose extra lean sausages, bacon and will have it as a sandwich with a frylight egg - oooohh yummy.

Today is a red day so its minted lamb chops for tea, not sure about lunch yet as i can barely keep the matchsticks wedged in my eyes. the brain is starting to frazzle. kids may want to have a junk food lunch maybe McDonalds or similar, i'll just sit and nod off in my coffee with sweetner grrrrrrrr. god i miss sugar. i use half spoon sugar at home (half sugar, half sweetener, so you only need half as much) wish they'd make a portable tablet type too cos i like the taste of that one. the sweeteners leave a yukky aftertaste and make me feel sick after a couple of drinks.

really will make an effort to drink water today, and report back.

how do you maintain your fluid intake girls???

Hi!

Where did you buy the bran scans from? I might give them a go. If i am at work i can easily drink 2ltrs of water a day but at home i barely drink one glass... must try harder

Tracie23 said:

Hi!

Where did you buy the bran scans from? I might give them a go. If i am at work i can easily drink 2ltrs of water a day but at home i barely drink one glass... must try harder

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hey there tracie, gosh well done on the water thing at work, you camel you. i am the same at home though and bought this water dispenser thingy which i love but i have ignored its towering pleading image this week for some reason. hang on ...................right, water in hand as i speak now.
what did you ask me? oh yes the scan brans, they sell them at group classes but if like me, you dont go to group, you can buy them in holland and barrett health food shop. they are about £1.35 for a pack of 10 but at the moment they are doing buy 1 get one half price. 1 syn each or 5 for a HEB. they are tough going though.
good luck.

so confession time, after i had eaten my breakfast (2 syns + 1HEb) i was so tired and should have gone for a nap but instead i had a cup of tea and 2 mikado sticks (1 syn) and a packet of crisps (6.5) aaaarggggghhhh! what a twit. Oh well it could have been much worse.
Then - i went to sleep for a couple of hours. up now with a better frame of mind and watching the kids playing card games for go ahead biscuits ! are my kids insane and are they going to live a life based on food? the nutters. luckily they are both fab fruit and veg eaters and dont really like fast food that much - HOW LUCKY AM I! dont get me wrong, i love fast food and yes they will ask for a kfc or pizza etc if we are out for the day but it isnt top of their list and remains an occassional thing. Now me, i could eat a kfc bath let alone a bucket. Oh why did i mention that, one day i might have some but for now its the sw version for me.

feeling a bit brighter now and a bit more energy , so gonna have a Wii fit night with OH and kids. think i'll do some stepping while tv is on too. just having some butternut soup to keep the elephants knocking at the door.

Just had minted lamb chops with gravy (2 sins) jacket potato (2nd heb of the day) with butterbuds (1/2 syn) and leerdammer cheese (heA) runner beans carrots, broccoli, and cabbage. was lush yum scrum.
sugar free jelly to round it all off.

so total syns for day so far 14 -- oooh better stop there, no darling put the low alcohol beer back in the fridge for another day.
HEx's 2 b's and 1 a. will have a bit of cheese and apple later.
did 20 mins step aerobics on the wii fit whilst watching coronation street. now the kids are on the jogging section, i'm sitting this one out for a while as i'd like to keep the jelly down!

going to go shopping tomorrow in lunch hour as we are out of diet drinks, ham , eggs and yogurts. and there is a recipe i want to try for a twist on the sw quiche. Thanks to cathiec for this one;-


new SW flan recipe

bit of a twist on the old slimming world flan. ham stilton and broccoli!
boil some broccoli florets for 6-8 mins
spray a flan dish with fry light and line with some smoked/dry cured ham, sliced spring onion
crumble 35g of stilton into a tub of quark
beat 3 eggs combine with the quark and pour over ham and onion. bake in oven 200/gas m 6 for 20-30 mins till golden.
extra tip crumble blue cheese into quark the
night before and leave in the fridge. quark takes on the flavour of any strong cheese and makes a lovely dip too!
enjoy!

I am doing the super speed soup later this week so i am posting the recipe here so i can find it easily. It needs to have the beans in it to be superspeed and aid the weight loss. but its not free on a red day remember.

Super Speed Soup


1 can mixed bean salad
1 can green lentils
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 can baked beans
Handful of split lentils
2 large leeks
1 large onion
4 large carrots
2 parsnips
Green, red or yellow pepper
2 beef stock cubes
Salt & pepper
Mixed herbs
Water (enough to cover all ingredients)

Chop all veg and put everything in pan, cover with water bring to boil and simmer until veg are soft. then blend or leave chunky if you prefer

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