Last time diary

[NotsofattyPatty]

I tried magic porridge once - never again! Too sweet, odd texture and yes, wrong temperature. Have you tried using unsweetened almond milk? It is a bit expensive but as you get almost a whole litre as an HExA, a little goes a long way - you'd only use about a Syn's worth in your porridge and still have your full A choice. I think it's worth it Synning it or very slightly reduce the amount of milk/cheese you use.

As to using a few extra Syns over the next few days, I don't think you need to worry as you've still got a deficit on the 15 a day allowance. You will still (rightly) feel you're in control and, if you're like me, it's easier to keep going with that feeling. Where I still have a tendency go off the rails is when something happens to make me feel I've lost control as I still tend to think I've 'blown it' and overindulge as a result. Sometimes it's a relief when bedtime comes and makes me stop eating! It doesn't happen too often these days, but when it does - oh dear!

 

[lornameg]

I go back to France for 6 weeks starting from Sunday, so the next few days are real eating up days.
B toast HEB with egg, vlf spread and scrape marmalade...2 syns
L bacon, baby tomatoes cooked in balsamic vinegar, beans and a few cold new potatoes
D cooked up bits of veg...cauli, broccoli. Small steak. Cous cous.
Syns...woosh lolly from Aldi, 2.5 syns. Cereal bar, 6 syns.
10.5 syns left for tomorrow.
i like the idea of weekly syn totals, but think I will allow myself 15/ day. All 3 children and their families coming to France to stay for a week each...difficult to keep on track, but am determined to do my best....thinks...baguette, butter with salt crystals, pain au choc, runny brie.....
weigh in tomorrow...

 

[lornameg]

Yeh, lost 0.7 kilos at weigh in this morning, thats about a pound and a half. Couldn't have done it without you Patty.
B fruit and fibre, half HEA milk and a banana
L salad to eat up, so piri piri chicken fillet and mixed salad. Vinaigrette...2 syns
D WW meal, forget which one but the blue book says it is 2.5 syns. Frozen peas and cous cous. ....1 syn
Ff greek yogurt, mixed berries and 2 tbsp lf creme fraiche ...2 syns for a luxurious pudding.
cereal bar...3 syns
going to allow 15 syns per day...105 per week, so with 8 for today, thats......
97/105

 

[NotsofattyPatty]

That's a good loss and thanks for the compliment but you flatter me! It sounds as though you can stick to an average of 15 Syns a day and still have a loss. If so, use them and don't reduce until you have to - it'll make coping with your family/visitors easier!

There are far too many tasty treats in France aren't there! I tried to stick to one or, at the most, two a day but didn't always manage and of course, it sooo easy to have just than little bit extra each day. White baguette doesn't really appeal to me, but I ate far too much pain complet or pain rustique!

 

[lornameg]

Todays food will be strange, but as I am away for 6 weeks nothing can be left.
B toast HEB with 2 eggs, low fat scrape and marmalade.....2 syns
L anything saladlike, lean ham slices, 20 g lf cheddar and a chopped apple. Ff yogurt vinaigrette 2 syns
D Aldi ready meal 6 syns, with more frozen peas, mixed berries with nat yogurt.
syns so far...10. I always get the evening munchies so an Aldi cereal bar at 3 syns will do the trick.
have to be in bed early, as my flight is at 0700, so need to be up at 04.30.
85/105

 

[NotsofattyPatty]

Safe journey and I hope you have a lovely time.

 

[lornameg]

Thank you. I will keep the diary going.

 

[lornameg]

Sitting in the airport, waiting for my flight. Am pleased to report that I bypassed the sausage baps and had HEB porridge with a squeeze of honey, and a skinny latte...reckon 2 syns and half HEA.
L salad with tuna and ham, vinaigrette 1 syn
D pork vindaloo ( free) with 3 grain rice...half a syn and mixed, braised vegetables
P mixed berries, ff greek yogurt an 1 heaped tbsp lf creme fraiche...2 syns
I made up my syns with a measured amount of bitter chocolate with orange peel in.
74/105, 3 days done so an average of10.5 syns a day.

 

[lornameg]

A stormy day here, just like in Uk. Such a shame for the people here on holiday.
DH has been doing SW on his own for the last 3 weeks and is doing well. He likes to plan a weeks menus and stick to them, so I am happy with that, I think at the moment we are on the weeks menu from the aug/sept last year magazine.
so
B usual toast and egg . Vlf and scrape ...2 syns
L chicken and salad, with mixed beans. Vlf mayo.....2 syns
D says we are having tagliatelli with bacon and mushrooms, DH is cooking it so I await with interest.
4 syns so far...have bought fun size chocolate bars, 4 syns each, have given them to DH to hide, I'll ask when I want one...1 tonight will be 8 syns, plus a mini cone...46 cals so 2.5 syns
63.5/105...4 days done

 

[lornameg]

Second day on the magazine week of menus. Was 100% yesterday, so that was good.
old scales packed up so bought new ones...shows me a good mid week weight loss, but it will be the next, comparative reading which will tell the tale
B HEB porridge with ff vanilla fromage frais, mixed berries and a banana
L lunch box salad...cooked pasta with tuna, salad anf 2 tbsp vlf mayo....1 syn. Ff fruit yogurt and nectarine
D red pepper tortilla...a new recipe for me, with baby new potatoes....syn free
HEA will be half in milk, half in 15 g cheddar.
syns so far ...2
update.....forgot my cheese....may have it today.
syns for the day finished at 15, a controlled choc evening. Have given DH my mini choc bars to hide, i have to ask for one and my pride won't let me ask for more!!
syns 48.5/105...2 days left.

 

[NotsofattyPatty]

I think it must make things easier when you're both doing it and eating the same things. OH tries every so often, but half-heartedly, and because we don't like the same sort of things, I find it a struggle - it's hard enough concentrating on my own food, let alone his as weel. It's further complicated by the fact that I still work full-time but being older, he is retired and if often out for coffee or lunch.

I had to change my scales but they didn't show exactly the same weight as the old ones. But as you say, it's the comparative weight on the news ones which counts.

Did you see Le Tour? It's surprising how quickly the cyclists whizz pass, isn't it?

 

[lornameg]

Your hubby sounds like mine used to...though these days he is a real SW convert, makes life so much easier. I go to Toulouse today, a 3 hour drive, to see the back surgeon...one of my rods is broken, I hope I have made enough new bone to cover the break....
so eating today will be topsy turvy.
B egg on toast, vlf spread and scrape of marmalade....2 syns
L. Probably main meal, motorway stops are brilliant here, and no dearer than anywhere else.....I had a lovely, bloody lean steak, with a big salad, refused the chips, just drank water.
D probably use 6 syns for bread for the roast beef sandwich our weekly menu suggests. Made some SW chips to go with it, felt really decadent
lots of fruit and a couple of yogurts.
must push fluids whilst out...you can ask for a free glass of chilled water when you have coffee, so will do that
syns....will update this evening....8 for the day and a mini cone at 2.5....
thats 37 /105, ...hecky thump, does that mean I have all those syns for one day....surely not, but started on Friday weighin!

 

[lornameg]

very hot day today, 35 last time I looked. The poor cyclists in the tour must be melting.
B HEB Porridge, vanilla fromage blanc and a banana
L omelette with half hea Cheddar, other half im milk for cuppas, salad with Balsamin vinegar
D Veal steak, SW wedges and cherry tomatoes cooked in balsamin.
snacks...ff fruit yogurt, fruit.
syns so far....none., now its evening, so I have measured out 10 syns worth of chocolate, and am taking it to eat in bed...sheer luxury
27/105
have some weekly syns left...can I store them up for a meal out next week??

 

[lornameg]

Well, a good weigh in again, about 1.5 lbs off, that feels really good!
B HEB bread as toast, with egg, vlf spread and scrape of marmalade....2 syns
L Dh watching tour, so my choice.....its so very hot, ...since I wrote this we have had a violent thunderstorm, DH and SIL sitting in the village square, eating a meal whilst watching the tour pass by, they will be drenched. It a MAN thing, I think. I changed my lunch to potato, cold chicken and baked beans, up the SS.
D pre-cooked pork jalfraisi with rice...free. Loads of fruit and a couple of ff yogurts
3 syns so far, so 8 syns as 30g chocolate=11 syns.
94/105

 

[NotsofattyPatty]

Ooh - good loss! Well done.

Technically, Syns are on a use 'em or lose 'em basis. Like your HExs, if you don't use them on a day you are not supposed to carry them over so even the weekly allowance you are currently doing isn't really on plan. However, it seems to be working for you and I think it is important to find ways to fit SW into everyday life.

As I'm sure you know, SW advocates 'flexi-Synning' which involves allowing a certain number of Syns - maybe 25 or 30 - and then carrying on as normal ie not being extra strict on the other days, but being prepared to accept a STS (at best)! Having said that, you are thinking of doing something which seems more akin to how I think! It's not as though you are planning on saving Syns for several weeks to that you can have a major blow-out lasting several days. Try it and see - if nothing else, you'll know whether it works for you!

 

[lornameg]

thanks, Patty
i am in this for the long haul, so, like you, I am prepared to see what works for me. I must say, though, it seems counter- intuitive to have free meals all day then have my syns in chocolate.
having read other threads, I see that I am not having much superfree, lots of salad- type free things, though.
have been asked to go for a meal to the local...all you can eat....chinese restaurant nearby...any ideas please?

 

[NotsofattyPatty]

Do you incorporate a lot of veg in your cooking though? I use a base of chopped onion/celery/carrots for almost every sauce-based dish - it all counts towards SF intake as do tinned tomatoes and pasatta.

I very rarely have Chinese but I do know to steer clear of anything fried - sesame/prawn toast, spring rolls etc - and to pick plain rice. Have a look at the eating out thread as I'm sure you'll find some help there. Also do you have a SW book, as I think there is a section at the back?

 

[lornameg]

yesterday was not a bad day at all, so here we go again.
thank youPatty forthe advice re. Chinese meals, SIL is visiting and wants to take us for a meal, DH opts for chinese before I could stop him, so there we are. It is one where you take your raw food and the man cooks it on a wok, so I can have loads of veg, chicken etc, just got to get him to do it without sauce or oil!!
my main downfall there is the coconut ice cream....
will be as syn free as possible all day...
B nat yogurt with berries
L salad and tinned salmon. Balsamic vinegar for dressing
D mixed meats, noodles and vegetables stir fried with a little oil and a bit of sate sauce, boiled rice with 2 slices of duck, then melon, peaches and banana.
80/105

 

[lornameg]

another unusual day, always the same when we have visitors...and we have family staying pretty well from now till September..
Today we went to an open air concert in the village square, a good live band, a breton dancing group strutting their stuff, and loads of stalls selling food, ...chinese, roast duck baguettes etc. i went for a meal from the maroccan stall, kebab meat, salad and chips, passed over most of the chips. They had a deal, though that if you took your plate back, you had a free dessert...sugary, coconut etc!!
B HEB toast with scrape and marmalade...2 syns
L as recorded, + 2 mouthfulls of desserts, just to try. No wine, just water.....all my syns I reckon.
D yogurt and fruit, with mayne some lean meat and pickles if I get peckish, need to use half HEA on cheese.
loads of fruit
ended up a flexisyn day.

 

[lornameg]

Right, will try harder today, card playing and chocolate offered by SIL led to a small blowout.
B cereal and banana
L salad with free meats.
D chicken madras cooked in slow cooker with rice.
problem starts then, neighbours have asked us round for aperos....drinks and nibbles, mostly dried fruit and nuts, which they ply you with insistently. Will say I use all my syns there and will do my best to limit what I have.