Lost 4lbs in a year!!!!!!!!

[drumsrevolver]

I'm using your mantra of "would I eat this at goal weight?" and finding for most recipes this is a resounding "no chance!" - doubly so if it uses fat-free fromage frais or Quark. Especially Quark as no matter what you do to it - short of adding cream it still tastes of sodding Quark!

So yes it's a shame the sauce didn't turn out nicely but maybe go for a slightly higher syn option just a smaller amount. I prefer toeat steak out rather than cook it myself - usually as I only buy it reduced and am a bit suss about cooking it any way other than well done.

A Pedometer is a great idea - I bet you find it really motivating. I've got a Fitbit Ultra - new version is called FitBit One Fitbit One Wireless Activity & Sleep Tracker which is brilliant. Counts steps, your sleep, stairs climbed , cals burnt etc. It also syncs with MyFitnessPal and adjusts your calorie allowance dependant on what you've burnt up.
When I wasn't working I used to be obsessed with doing the Wii and getting my 10k steps in - now walking home from work I can do about 8000 steps in a day - I love seeing the high figures - it's strange but it really does get you to take the stairs more and spend more time moving about to get extra steps - I used to jog in my bathroom before bed if I just needed a few more steps before I reached a new milestone!

I'm definitely going to start using the Wii more and back into the My Biggest Loser game which I haven't used for ages - it being half-term next week I've got no excuse not to. Always a bit depressing though when you see the size of your Mii .... I think mine's expanded to full fatness width !

 

[bellybling]

I saw the fitbit, looks really good.

I've also got the biggest loser game but a wee bit too much hard work at the mo, prefering the zumba one.

I work from home so steps to work and back about 8!!!

Fun to make other peoples mii's fat when they're not looking, hee hee hee, bad Granma Susu!!

Agree about the recipes but I actually like plain fromage frais!!!! just as long as you don't heat it too much.

 

[drumsrevolver]

Cake! Cake! Look at that cake! :drool::drool::drool: You Susu are a torturer!
Does look delicious - did you make it?? .... I'm presuming the white creamy layers are not plain fromage frais despite you professing your love of the stuff!

 

[bellybling]

There there. I've made it go away. Pretend it was quark and scan bran.

 

[drumsrevolver]

You'll be telling me you love scan bran cake next!

Have you tried out your pedometer? How did you go with your average daily steps? I was quite shocked that I only used to do about 1500 or so on average. I now try to incorporate more steps ie keep going upstairs to fetch things separately rather than just bring it down altogether.

Have had quite a good day so far, my only syns being a fererro rocher and a chocolate biscuit - that's due to my forgetting my usual satsumas and having nothing else at work prior to lunch. Have had mixed melon chunks as a snack when I got in so still on track with my fruit intake.

What's for dinner tonight? I'm having home-made burgers with half a bun, bean salad, greenery and maybe a small spoon of coleslaw.

My SW magazine came through the post in all it's naked glory - not in an envelope like with the first one ... postie used to deliver me BBC GoodFood and now he can see the results of all those lovely recipes with my new magazine choice!

ps I look forward to your next food-porn avatar

 

[bellybling]

Actually I've never tasted scan bran, probably ok with lashings of butter and thick slices of cheese.

I made a chilli for tea but I wasn't enjoying it so made some sweet potato chips instead they seemed to hit the spot. Not exactly on plan but not awful either. Still got some syns left so curly wurly or options later methinks. Funny how some days are really easy and some really hard.

I'm looking forward to a change of food next week. Think I might just try not to be TOO bad. As long as I get 2lbs off by 28/2 then I'll have hit my mini goal and be 50lbs lighter than I was. Daughter has got a taste card so we'll be taking full advantage of that.

Pedometer won't arrive until after I'm back unfortunately. Would have clocked up loads in Edinburgh.

Ooh new sw mag. I'm excited. I tried to subscribe but it kept sending me back to the same form again and again so I gave up. Maybe I can get it in Embra.

Chosen a swimsuit for that holiday yet?

 

[drumsrevolver]

I think if you try to make it too low fat or substitute strange ingredients it doesn't taste as it should and you don't find it satisfying. I was looking at one of the recipes in the new mag for key lime pie and the picture looks wonderful and only 6 syns but when you look at the ingredients it's 3 tsp of sweetener and the filling uses SF jelly - now you know that's going to taste all artificial and nowhere near so satisfying for a sweet treat. However a lot of their savoury dishes look pretty good and have proper ingredients so will definitely check those out.

Shame about the pedometer but you know you'll be getting a good 10k+ in there definitely. Interestingly, the mag said that getting 6k of steps in a day [approx 3 miles] is the point where you lower your risk of diabetes and other age related health issues - so a good goal to aim for. I know when I'm in the house I can do 1.5 miles just by moving around the house and walking from room to room doing chores - that's without having to set foot out the door so definitely doable even when at home - just have to put more strides in ann ....keep crumping!

Change of food will probably do you a world of good, sometimes it kickstarts the metabolism again and if nothing will give your tastebuds a treat. You're so close to mini-goal now - definitely doable for the end of the month.

No no to a cossie. I'm doing no holiday buying now until a month or so before. I've done this so many times - bought summer clothes 2-3 sizes smaller in the winter months and then still end up being too immensely fat to fit into them and panic buying the dregs at the end of August for a September holiday!
I bought a lovely petite length maxi from dotty p's last year and it couldn't contain my boobs! That's coming out for THIS years trip when hopefully I should have come down a few cup sizes. 25 weeks to go

 

[bellybling]

The chilli wasn't a sw version it just wasn't really what I wanted. In times past I would have eaten it anyway and then had the chips!

Some of the savory sw recipes I've tried have been ok, and it's worth experimenting, but I think puddings are better 'real' but less often. Once a week my friend's family has pudding night and it has always struck me as a very good idea.

25 weeks could make such a big difference. Nice to have something to look forward to. I'm really looking forward to a change of routine. Feb is always such a drab month I find. March has daffodils even if it snows.

 

[bellybling]

Lunchtime, still had the chilli and was loathe to throw it away as I'd cut up a rather expensive steak to make it. Couldn't fancy it though. So I thought I would try and turn it into soup and when it didn't work flush it down the toilet. Against all odds it turned out lovely!!!!!!!!! A sort of beefy, beany hearty soup!!! I couldn't believe it!!!!!! I love my new blender!!!

Looked for the new sw mag but the newsagents didn't have it so I bought the ww one instead. It had a free ww popcorn/choccy bar with it which I promply ate.

Also got a funky new taupe coloured colander and new tupperware in a sale. Good day so far.

 

[drumsrevolver]

Glad it didn't go to waste - I'm the same too I am incredibly loathe to throw away food no matter how unappealing ['cept scanbran!]. If it can't be frozen I always end up donating it to my brother the human hoover!

I'm so happy it's half-term now, a long time coming - just need to make sure I don't eat loads more than I would at work. I'm also going to get into my Wii more and try and enjoy some exercise! It's TOM this week I don't feel like I've lost at all but primarily I haven't felt too in control of my eating so I really need to get back to basics this week - try to replicate my first two weeks.

Saying that I'm going to a lovely Nepalese tomorrow but will definitely steer clear of the naan [& sadly the momo's :cry:] - we rarely eat out when not on holiday but no excuse to stuff my face.

Tonight is chicken and chorizo pasta - more chicken and less chorizo for me.

When are you off to Edinburgh bb? I'll be all lonesome on here!

 

[bellybling]

I'm leaving Sunday back Tuesday, so not long.

I think we're having tapas Sun night. I will try to avoid the bread and cheese but I can't really promise.

I think it's good to have a night out / day off plan now and again. It's easy to get bored/resentful/rebelious, if you don't. As long as it's just a day here and there and not a whole week/year (I think it was about 6 months last year.) Note: it took me at least 26 weeks of stuffing my face big time to gain 20lbs, approx 0.8lb a week and that's about the fastest I've ever put on. (rebeling as a result of trying too hard the year before?)

It will probably do you good to get some time at home and to eat slightly differently because you're at the point where the novelty wears off. I love slimming world but next month, around my birthday, I'm going to calorie count and live on cake!!! Not joking!!

If you really haven't lost then you have at least practiced maintaining. Because if you hadn't TRIED it would probably have been a week you gained more. We have got to impliment long term strategies to beat this weight and learn how to maintain. We will always want cake more than scan bran and full fat cream cheese more than quark. Sometimes we should give in and sometimes we shouldn't. 80/20 or should that be 20/80?

Enjoy your wii. Are you doing the biggest loser? I understand that poundland are selling the dvds for, you guessed it, £1.

 

[drumsrevolver]

If you really haven't lost then you have at least practiced maintaining. Because if you hadn't TRIED it would probably have been a week you gained more. We have got to impliment long term strategies to beat this weight and learn how to maintain.

That really resonated with me - thank you for this. Very true - if I hadn't tried the rest of the time it would be so much worse and before I would have thought "sod it - I'll start again next week". As it is I've STS which is great - I would totally deserve any gains and I've just started TOM so would like nothing better than to sit here with a hot water bottle and a Wispa. As it is I've had some scrambled eggs on one slice of toast and will stay off the sweet stuff today.
It's interesting the stats of your weight gain, you seem very aware of the reasons for your previous gains - all the better to enable you to avoid those pitfalls this time around. Rebelling is true - give us constraints and we will eventually burst out of them.

Can't believe Biggest Loser is down to a quid! I paid proper money for that in Amazon - still it's definitely worth the cost - good fun. I can;t remember if I was fatter or lighter the last time I played so I'd quite like to see my old stats.

I think your CC and cake will actually work out really well! With my maltesers and sweet treats I put them all into my MyFitnessPal food diary and I was always under 1500 kcals a day. It gives me control still - I can't go silly and eat 10 celebrations when I know the calorie count of them as it's just not worth it.

I'm going to enjoy our meal out but have already decided to not have a naan and avoid anything to creamy sauce based even coconut which a lot of their dishes are.

Enjoy your tapas too - we can be mindful and still enjoy what we eat - it's keeping the awareness and some kind of counting system - be it syns or calories. You can HexA any cheese and at least, chorizo I've eaten in my weekly chicken & chorizo pasta with no gains, and if you have olives they're only 1 syn for 8 so. A bit of bread to go with them won't do to much damage - around 6.5 syns for a ciabatta roll.
It all sounds lovely - I remember eating albondingas in Barcelona [summat like that!]I think just cos I loved the sound of the name!

 

[bellybling]

I think STS at TOM is just fine. That was my STS as well. So well done.

I think sw, ww and cc all basically do much the same thing (reduce calories) in slightly different ways. ww is more cake friendly but the meal portions (protein, complex carbs) are smallish although sf food has no points.

I once got stranded in Barcelona during a French train strike without 2 pesetas to rub together. Oh to be young!

I got my pedometer this morning, earlier than expected. By 2pm I had done 4392 steps which I'm pleased with as this is a pretty average day and I was expecting less. It doesn't register the first 4 seconds of movement so all the little ups and downs I do don't get counted.

I think it's just the greatest loser dvd not the game. I bought the wii game full price too. I have a vast collection of fitness games, videos and dvd's!!! I must believe that just buying them works magic!

I am definately looking slimmer (though not slim by any means) but I have developed a sort of shelf around my hips. Muffin bottom?

Enjoy your meal I'm sure it will be delicious.

 

[bellybling]

6528 on day 1

 

[drumsrevolver]

6528 on day 1

I read this without reading the post above and thought it was your PIN number or something! Ah but as a pedometer - that's an excellent score - be racking them up in Edinburgh Hope you're having nicer weather than we are her .. wind...rain...sleet - rinse and repeat allllllllll day long - 'orrible!

I have a hip shelf! That's when I know for me I'm too big. I always thought I was destined to have one but it goes away at about 9ish stone and I can wear skirts without looking like I could stack tins of bean on my hips.

Have an absolutely ace time - look forward to hearing about it when you're back

 

[bellybling]

Quick update. Cream crackered will blog more tomorrow.

Sun 39.5 syns SF at every meal 1800cals approx

Mon 118 syns little SF about 1 zillion cals approx

Tues 14 syns little SF still too stuffed from Mon.

 

[bellybling]

Well good morning.

My world is totally white. Sky, hills, buildings, earth. Luckily I don't need to drive anywhere.

Weather in Edinbro was lovely and yes we did do lots of walking. I broke the 10,000 barrier on Sun and the 15,000 barrier on Mon and was so knacked on Tues only did 3,500ish! Number 1 grandson did very well as he must have taken double as his legs are only little.

We galleried, shopped and ate. Daughter was the one wanting to eat all the time. I honestly don't know where she put it. Mon was the day we stuffed and it was all her fault. We had a fry up for breakfast, then tapas for lunch, I felt over stuffed but it all tasted SO nice, and I would have liked something really light in the evening but she wanted to go to her favourite Indian resturant so we went. I ordered tandoori king prawns. I was doing well resisting the naan etc but then gluttony kicked in and I finished off gs's chicken korma and the peshwari naan. Then I had pudding, 1/2 a pineapple filled with ice cream. Dd ate even more, she had cakes and biscuits everytime we stopped for coffee, mine black, hers cappachino, and when we got back to the hotel she got wine, crisps, chocolate and another ice cream!!! She's 5ft 5ins and has 'ballooned' over the last 5 years up to nearly 9 stone from 7st 7lbs (which was far too little)!!!! and is now taking a size 10 in skinny jeans.

Anyway my purse lost a lot of weight in Edinbro. Not exactly the cheapest city in the world.

Good news when we got back. My dd's partner has had hardly any work for the past couple of years and they have been really struggling on just her wages with regular withdrawals from the Bank of Mum. Well, he went for an interview on Fri and when they were driving home from mine last night he got a call offering him the job, subject to passing a medical today. Hope they're not snowed in.

Time now to get back on the horse and I feel all the more motivated for having a wee break. How was your meal?

 

[drumsrevolver]

Sounds like you had a fantastic time ... I drooled a bit at your tandoori king prawns and ice-cream in pineapple. I've found the same when out - even when stuffed to the gills - so much more tastier when someone else has cooked. Given that you actually have a concept of how many syns and cals you ate - you've done really well - glad to hear you sound all fired up and raring to go!
Sounds like you got masses of walking done - 15k is brilliant! Amazing the amount of walking you can get done when you're enjoying yourself - the most I've done is over 22k when we went for a day trip to bournemouth.
I had a lovely meal - poppadums & lovely fresh tasting dips - should have had one - but had 2 as we ordered 4.
Himalayan grilled chicken wing starter which didn't seem to have any visible fat. Then mains a salmon in a tamarind sauce which I hadn't realised came in a creamy sauce so I tried not to have much of that. Also had a green dhal and spinach rice rather than my OH's mushroom rice which was fried. I also had a beer and the choccy mint that comes with the bill! Oh and they gave us free liqueurs - I couldn't turn down free booze so a sambuca too

But most importantly I had a great time and really enjoyed the time and actually the food break too. And you're right the break did me good, I didn't think I'd blown it and come home and scoff loads more goodies and have felt really motivated this week- just like you too.

Fantastic news about your dd's partner getting a job offer - wonderful especially in this current climate. Are job offers subject to medicals in Scotland? Is that not a little discriminatory or does it depend on the job?

Enjoy your snow - I'm glad to get the sunshine back today - shortlived I'm sure but so nice to feel some warmth on your face.

 

[bellybling]

Your meal sounds delicious and I'm very glad to hear you found the change motivating too.

I don't think I could do 22,000 steps without the aid of an oxygen mask but I bought a 'walk your way to fitness' dvd so maybe someday. (Adds dvd to collection)

DD's partner will be coming into contact with livestock so the medical is to make sure he isn't carrying anything nasty. He's really excited.

I got a delivery from Asda today so lots of choice for dinner. I'm thinking salmon and asparagus but I'm not sure what else. BNS, potato or cous cous? Hmm. Life is good.

 

[drumsrevolver]

Ah the medical makes sense in that context - fingers crossed for him - I'm sure all will be well.
I read on one of the news pages online today that regular moderate walking is more beneficial for overall health than more high impact cardio. All very contradictory considering it's only a few weeks since High Intensity Training was the best thing ever.
I personally know that my walk home is less arduous than it was before and even though my heart is still thumping getting up the hill I don't need to stop like I did before. Might be the few pounds off that's making the difference but irrespective I feel healthier. Let me know what the DVD is like - do you get fancy backdrops to walk along too? Sounds intriguing!

Did you order orzo with this weeks Asda shopping ... Enjoy your salmon and asparagus - maybe some crushed new potatoes to go with? or oven bake new potatoes with fry light - taste like baby baked potatoes. Also a simple yogurt, chopped cucumber and chives/spring onion sauce would go very nicely with the salmon.
The OH is making me a special dinner tonight - ie something we can bung in the oven without having to cook everything from scratch!

No chocolate for me as I have decided to give up chocolate , biscuits, cake and the like until Easter. Possibly I'll regret it but I've been eating Celebrations near every night prior to yesterday and over my syns - just a few syns too much each day but I don't like it. There are only the Milky Way and Mars left now - so they're pretty safe from me now. My last treat was a Malteser Bunny - which was completely delicious and well worth the 8 syns.
I'm still eating yogurts etc and I have tried a Shape Delight - Caramel flavour and this too is delicious at 5.5 syns. Lovely and rich tasting with no artificial saccharine undertones - I would still eat these at goal weight so a definite thumbs up for me.