MWWWD (or Moonwatcher's Weight Watchers Diary!)

[moonwatcher]

Today, Saturday 2nd November

Breakfast - two slices of home made gluten free raisin loaf, toasted, with butter, earl grey with milk

Last shopping day of the holidays and managed to pick up another work skirt for £3 and a long knitted top for about the same. Also got OH a couple of wool blend jumpers for £4.50 each. Have done really well on the clothes bargains this year, and am pretty happy with my wardrobe at the moment.

OH insisted we go back to the tea shop/bistro I found yesterday, so Dear Reader, I had to go! I had portobello mushrooms stuffed with brie and bacon, with salad and balsamic dressing, followed by an affogato coffee.

I finally gave up and bought new boots (aaarrrggh!) However, the shop had a special offer on to spend £20, sign up to their loyalty card and get a fiver off! The boots were £19.99 (not a bad price anyway) so I added a 50p glasses case and got my £5 off. They were actually a higher heel than I had planned to get, but I just fell in love with them. At this time of year I walk to work in my flatties or my Uggs and change at work anyway.

Went for a walk along the sea wall for about 50 minutes and then home.

Nibbles at home with Strictly, Atlantis and X Factor have been salt and black pepper kettle crisps wirh creme fraiche to dip in, a salami stick, lemon and rosemary olives from my graze box and a gin and slimline tonic. I have just added a Daim bar (didn't they used to be 'Dime')? so will just add that into my calories and report back with a number.

 

[moonwatcher]

Just checked back on MFP and realised I missed out the half a portion of skinny fries at lunchtime, another affogato coffee and a satsuma at home too. I had recorded them on MFP, but missed them out on here.

Total calories today = 2226/2160 (over by 66 calories)

I forgot to WI this morning, so will check the scales tomorrow and report in. The scales have been all over the place this week anyway.

Today is the first day of week 8 of my reset, so one week to go and then the plan is to cut my calories.

 

[UKSerena]

We haven't tried the pineapple cheese yet, but we love the Castello and I imagine it will be similar. What about cheese and pineapple on sticks? Or is it the nuts with it you don't fancy?

Haha. I would choose Treat every time!

I'm taking the Aloe Vera for a few days to really give my stomach a chance to settle down, then I'll keep it for 'emergencies.' I don't like relying on any medications or supplements unless I have to, even the natural ones.

Sweet n Savoury is just WRONG! Whoever thought Cheese n Pineapple on Sticks was a good idea needs shooting! I probably take my AV once a week at most but it's nice to know its there if I need it! X

Not updated food for yesterday. Didn't log calories, but here is the list as best I can remember.

Friday November 1st

Breakfast - gluten free honey nut cornflakes with milk, mint tea

Lunch while shopping - found a delightful little coffee shop, with several gluten free options. I have never seen it before in that town as it is down a side street which I have never been down. I had their home made broccoli and goats cheese soup with gluten free bread and butter, followed by a gluten free brownie with toffee sauce and vanilla ice cream. Washed it down with an affogato coffee.

The shopping was not as exciting as usual - managed to find a nice scarf which matches a skirt I have, for under a pound, and a hat with a built in scarf for going on winter beach walks. I have been looking for a particular style and colour of boots, but no success, despite trawling just about every secondhand shop in the county!

Was absolutely shattered by the time I got home. I think the wheat/gluten episode took more out of me than I realised. OH was also tired after a long day of driving, so we went to a local pub for food, especially as it was still technically holidays! What a disaster - first the waiter forgot to bring the gf menu and wanted to take my order anyway. Fair enough, any one can make a mistake, but then I asked what kind of flavoured ciders they had as I don't like any of the red ones. The strawberry and lime one is nice, he said. Er, no thanks, (isn't strawberry red?) I tried again - what do you have that isn't red? White grape, he said. Brilliant, white grape it is, except when it finally arrived, after about 25 minutes and a polite reminder from OH, it was red grape. They don't do a white grape one said the waitress. So anyway we both ordered a starter and a main. Starters were ok, but for main course OH ordered a Great British Combo from the specials board, which is steak and sausages. chips, etc. When it came, he had the starter dish called Classic Combo, which was hard fried mushrooms, soggy garlic bread, frozen onion rings, two smoked chicken wings etc, which was not what he was expecting at all! The corn on the cob side order was so mushy that we showered ourselves with water when we tried to eat them. The stacked up starter plates were left on the table after the waitress had delivered our main courses, which of course for my poor OH wasn't even a main! One of these things on their own, well OK, sometimes things go a bit wrong, but add them all together and it's not good. OH couldn't face waiting any longer for his proper main to be cooked, which would have meant keeping mine warm, or each of us eating alone, so he made a start on it, but left most of it. They did knock it off the bill when he complained, and took off the cost of the sweetcorn, plus another 10% off, but tbh it ruined the evening.

Wrote so much in the last post moaning about the meal that I forgot to say what I had! Starter was loaded potato skins (bacon and cheese) with salad and my main was steak, salad and potato wedges, plus about a third of a glass of cider!

Oh No :-( What a Disaster at the Restaurant :-( I bet you wish you could of just gone for Take 2 at the lovely little cafe! X

Today, Saturday 2nd November

Breakfast - two slices of home made gluten free raisin loaf, toasted, with butter, earl grey with milk

Last shopping day of the holidays and managed to pick up another work skirt for £3 and a long knitted top for about the same. Also got OH a couple of wool blend jumpers for £4.50 each. Have done really well on the clothes bargains this year, and am pretty happy with my wardrobe at the moment.

OH insisted we go back to the tea shop/bistro I found yesterday, so Dear Reader, I had to go! I had portobello mushrooms stuffed with brie and bacon, with salad and balsamic dressing, followed by an affogato coffee.

I finally gave up and bought new boots (aaarrrggh!) However, the shop had a special offer on to spend £20, sign up to their loyalty card and get a fiver off! The boots were £19.99 (not a bad price anyway) so I added a 50p glasses case and got my £5 off. They were actually a higher heel than I had planned to get, but I just fell in love with them. At this time of year I walk to work in my flatties or my Uggs and change at work anyway.

Went for a walk along the sea wall for about 50 minutes and then home.

Nibbles at home with Strictly, Atlantis and X Factor have been salt and black pepper kettle crisps wirh creme fraiche to dip in, a salami stick, lemon and rosemary olives from my graze box and a gin and slimline tonic. I have just added a Daim bar (didn't they used to be 'Dime')? so will just add that into my calories and report back with a number.

Just checked back on MFP and realised I missed out the half a portion of skinny fries at lunchtime, another affogato coffee and a satsuma at home too. I had recorded them on MFP, but missed them out on here.

Total calories today = 2226/2160 (over by 66 calories)

I forgot to WI this morning, so will check the scales tomorrow and report in. The scales have been all over the place this week anyway.

Today is the first day of week 8 of my reset, so one week to go and then the plan is to cut my calories.

I've never tried Dime/Daim, loads of the Mums at School talk about it but I'm too addicted to Kit Kat Chunky Peanut Butter to change! I'm loving the sound of all your Clothing Bargains, did you see my £7.25 Next Outfit I wore tonight? Was really really pleased with it! X PS-Glad u went back to the Cafe, although it could of been Take 3 ;-) x

 

[Atomic pink]

Hey moonwatcher, how are things?

Its rather pants that so much of your half term was influenced by the mistake in Holland and Barrett. That is rather ridiculous they advised you to buy something that contained gluten. Do understand your reasoning of not wanting to get the individual store in trouble though. Have you been back and spoken to the manager yet?

Some great sounding clothes bargains, and i always like hearing about your cheese purchases! I took my mum to my favourite farm shop while she was here at the weekend and may have indulged slightly at the cheese counter. Only got 3 pieces but quite large pieces of raclette and beavale, along with a small piece of picos blue which i hadn't tried before. Food still sounding gorgeous. How are you feeling about being on week 8? I found it really wierd approaching the end of the reset. Not entirely sure i have completely got my head around going back to eating a bit less yet to be honest! But definitely getting there.

Hope the return to work today treated you kindly.

 

[Atomic pink]

Hope everything is ok. Definitely missed you on here for the last week.

 

[moonwatcher]

Hi all. Sorry not been around for a while. Having a rough time of it at the moment - first the wheat incident at half term which has taken ages to fully recover from, then all sorts of upheaval and problems at OH's work which are majorly stressing him out and caused a massive row between us, which is very rare, then his son got in touch as he and his wife are having problems and they are looking for some advice, been off work a couple of days somewhere in the middle of it all with migraines (no doubt stress related). My new timetable at work is also taking some getting used to, and is a lot less settled than it was - a kind of 'if you're not needed here, then go here instead, and if you are not needed there, then try this third option instead' set up, which is not ideal, as we are then walking into lessons ten minutes late, which gets the teachers' backs up too. Hopefully it isn't a long term arrangement.

Food? Aargh! Officially I started my cut calories of 1950 per day on Saturday, having gained a total of about seven pounds over the eight week reset. That probably isn't a truly fair figure though as the week before I wasn't counting at all, and went up by about three pounds and then suddenly back down again, although I didn't go below my TDEE calories on any days. I found it absolutely impossible to stay at the 1950 level on Saturday. Sunday and Monday, I really felt like I had lost all control over the last ten days or so, but I think I need to realise that occasional losses of that calorie control do not have to lead to non stop eating and subsequent weight gain for ever. I think that is one of the aims of the reset really, although it is an emotional/mental aim and not a physical one. Tuesday, Wednesday and today I have been back on my cut level calories of 1950 and seem to have my head in gear about that now, but I am finding it really tough at the moment to deal with the fact that I am around a stone heavier than I was last Christmas, and that this method could take me until next Christmas to lose it. When I say finding it tough, it is not the science, common sense etc., that I struggle with, as other methods were not working, and with far tougher restrictions attached. It is the fact that all the extra weight has gone back to my waist and stomach that is getting me down. The good feelings about what I have/had lost so far have all but disappeared. I have no intention of going back on a 'diet' plan, as that is just repeating old behaviour of 'gain weight, panic, try another diet' which is not where I want to be, but I won't lie, it is really tough at the moment to stay positive.

I am also so tired, not helped by some of OH's morning starts at the moment of 3.30am alarm call, and some really difficult kids at work. Everything kicked off around the end of half term, so I went back to work feeling like I hadn't had a holiday at all. 5 more weeks to go and I'm already ready for a holiday!

 

[Atomic pink]

Sorry things are difficult at the moment. Fingers crossed things with your OH's work, OH's son and your timetable settle down soon.

I am very much with you about the reset at the moment. I am still really pleased that I did it and *do* think it was the right option but i'm also struggling with being a stone heavier than this time last year and am simultaneously struggling with sticking to my cut calories and resisting the urge to cut my calories quite low to get an immediate and noticeable weight loss. What I think we both need to try and hang on to is the fact that other approaches had stopped working and this really should give us what we both want. Its just going to take a frustratingly long time.

 

[moonwatcher]

We will be seeing stepson and his wife on Saturday night. Could be an interesting night as I know he wants to talk to OH about it, but don't know if he has told his wife that we know things are rocky. She is a lovely girl and we get on well, but I don't think she would want to confide in us/me. Don't think it will be a very relaxed evening.

I have been so tempted to have a week or two of really strict calorie counting, as you say - to try and drop a few pounds really quickly, but I am determined not to cave in, as it would be back to square one again!

 

[moonwatcher]

So, as I am back on track for 1950 calories a day will start recording as from yesterday...

Wednesday 13th November

Breakfast - gluten free golden nut cornflakes with milk and a tiny splash of cream, coffee with milk and another splash of cream!

Mid morning - coffee with milk

Lunch - gluten free seeded bread as a sandwich with a scraping of mayo, bonfire cheddar and tomato, a few more cherry tomatoes, packet of Tesco cheesy puffs, satsuma and a cox apple, cup of vanilla chai tea with milk

Mid afternoon after school - shared a Graze box with the OH - half of bounty hunter mix of cranberries, coconut and choc drops, half of BBQ pistachios, half of a korai chutney with curry rice bites, most of a portion of vanilla pumpkin and sunflower seeds, a coffee with cream

Dinner - chilli and garlic sweet potato wedges with pulled pork, apple and shallot burgers on flat baked mushrooms, topped with tallegio cheese and Jack Daniels BBQ sauce, peas, sour cream, a satsuma, small glass of pear and ginger cider.

A few glasses of water.

Total calories for the day 1947/1950

 

[moonwatcher]

Food for Thursday 14th November

Breakfast - cereal same as yesterday but with a spoon of sour cream instead of double cream, earl grey tea with milk and once at work a coffee with milk (just after we had been told off by the Business Manager as we are all using too much milk - they are putting the same amount of milk in the staff room as they always have done, but it isn't lasting long enough. Seems they have missed the fact that we have more staff than ever, and loads of visitors at the moment! Not exactly rocket science is it? More people = more milk used! Had a coffee with some milk on principle!)

Mid morning - coffee with (cover your eyes!) milk, handful of dried papaya chunks

Lunch - gluten free seeded bread as a sandwich with sweet chilli Philly, bonfire cheddar, cherry tomatoes, cheese and onion crisps, two satsumas, vanilla chai tea with (yep you guessed it!) milk!

At home after school - gluten free jam tart with splash of cream, coffee with cream, five pieces of crystallized ginger

Dinner - quick and easy large jacket potato with a teaspoon of butter, baked beans, Tesco chilli roule cheese (wouldn't buy it again) and a spoonful of sour cream, one coxes apple, another coffee with milk and a splash of milk

Water

Calories for the day 1960/1950 (+10 calories)

 

[Atomic pink]

Great use of the reduced calories Did you make the pulled pork burger yourself? Just wondering how it held together? Sounds like something that would go down very well in this house. I have been tempted by the chilli roule when I've seen it for the past few weeks so think i tend to like similar sorts of flavours to you so if you don't rate it i might give it a miss.

Have you found it difficult dropping the extra calories? I am finding i am still very much missing mine at least half the time. Sure I will get used to it (eventually) though!

 

[moonwatcher]

Great use of the reduced calories Did you make the pulled pork burger yourself? Just wondering how it held together? Sounds like something that would go down very well in this house. I have been tempted by the chilli roule when I've seen it for the past few weeks so think i tend to like similar sorts of flavours to you so if you don't rate it i might give it a miss.

Have you found it difficult dropping the extra calories? I am finding i am still very much missing mine at least half the time. Sure I will get used to it (eventually) though!

Yes, cooked the pork myself - shredded it and mixed it with shallot and a grated cooking apple, some salt and pepper and an egg. They did try and fall apart a bit,
but I beat them into submission! I made the mix into patty shapes with two large spoons and fried them in a little olive oil until they were lightly coloured and could be carefully turned, then cooked them for a few more minutes on the hob before putting the pan straight into the oven to finish them off, so I didn't have to handle them much. Cheese on top just at the very end to melt it down.Cooked the flat mushrooms in the oven on their own, then assembled it all on the plate.

Sadly I wouldn't recommend the chilli roule at all. It was very salty and tasted quite false. It had lost the fresh taste that roule usually has. I would rather grind some chilli and garlic into some ordinary cream cheese. Mine was Tesco's own, so possibly another make would be better.

Interesting you should ask about finding the cut difficult. I have struggled to keep the calories down more than I thought I would. In fact this week I have only managed three days on cut level calories, and the other days I have been at TDEE level, or over! I have actually gained this week, but one thing that the reset has definitely taught me is that there is actually very little correlation for me between the calorie equations always quoted and what actually happens on my scales, so I am remarkably chilled about it. I had actually STS up to Friday, but an evening pizza took me over by about 250 cals so I expected a gain the next day (2lb). Then yesterday we went to OH's son's for the evening and I was over by 400 ish calories, but this morning had lost over a pound of what I had put on! I have decided to record my weight monthly, although I will continue to keep an eye in the scales as I find it fascinating what they do!

 

[moonwatcher]

Just realised I haven't updated my food since Thursday, so here goes...

Friday 15th November

Breakfast- gf crunchy nut cornflakes, coffee with cream

Mid morning - coffee and milk

Lunch - gf seeded bread made into sandwich with tuna mayo, chopped shallot and tomato, cherry toms, one ounce of kettle crisps, 2 satsumas, rose garden tea with milk

At home after school - gluten free cinnamon and raison bagel, toasted, with butter and blackcurrant jam, coffee with cream

We went to the 'Youth Speaks' final at the school in the evening, which was very good. I had a coffee with milk there. It was easy to resist the choc bars for sale at the interval, as they were all containing gluten, so out of bounds for me!

The evening did over run by quite a bit, so instead of coming home to have chorizo and cheese pasta as planned, we drove to the outskirts of Norwich and got a takeaway Pizza from Pizza Hut. Three slices of a gluten free mega meaty, or meat machine, or some such name! Lots of meat on it anyway!

Interesting in that I wasn't the slightest bit tempted to have chips, potato skins or any other extras, like I would have been in the past.

Calories were 2193/1950! Over my cut calorie levels by 243.

 

[moonwatcher]

Saturday 16th November

Breakfast - cinnamon and raisin gf bagel with butter and blackcurrant jam, rose garden tea with milk

Lunch - 2 slices of last night's leftover pizza with Heinz BBQ sauce, coffee with cream

In the evening - every one else was having a takeaway, but as I wasn't sure if I could rely on it being gf, so I popped into Tesco and picked up my own takeaway! I had Coriander Chicken Sizzler, Tarka Dhal and Bombay Potatoes, which fitted in well with their Indian. Also had two cans of cider to wash it all down.

Calories 2374/1950. (424 cals over) Hmmm.

 

[moonwatcher]

Today, Sunday 17th November

Breakfast - gf cinnamon and raisin bagel with peanut butter and blackcurrant jam, earl grey tea and milk

Mid morning - coffee and cream

Lunch/Dinner - only one meal as so full! Slow cooker beef stew with turnips, carrots, leek, shallots, potatoes and stewing beef, three gluten free yorkies (yay - found a recipe that actually tasted like yorkies, and they rose too!) Followed the stew with home made apple pie and custard, with gluten free pastry (also a success, although there is definitely an acquired skill to handling gluten free pastry, at which I am gradually improving! It has no give or elasticity, and tears soooo easily. You can't stretch it together again for instance, which you can with ordinary pastry, but a few well placed apples and leaves as decoration and I had cracked it!)

One satsuma later on, and plenty of water to drink. Also a 'home made' elderflower and lime cider - an ordinary dry cider with a splash of elderflower liqueur and a splash of lime cordial, which worked very nicely indeed!

Calories for the day 1958/1950 (8 calories over! I would have got away with it, if it hadn't been for that pesky satsuma!)

 

[Atomic pink]

Yep, clearly that satsuma that took you over

I might try that pulled pork burger, I think OH would be a big fan. Food sounds very tasty indeed.

Like you, I really like the "relaxed" feeling about food. I feel alot less frantic about it to be honest. And more like a "normal" person when faced with food options. But I am feeling frustrated at having swapped quite a bit of my previous restraint for it. I am sure I will find the happy mid-point between the two soon. As will you.

 

[moonwatcher]

I do hope I find it soon!

Seriously though, I wonder if deep down I am 'waiting' for Christmas to come and go. Christmas is a sort of benchmark - it is the one time of last year that I can quote my exact weight without checking back to see. Realistically at cut calorie levels I *may* lose a pound or so between now and then, but compared to last year, that is nowhere near as low as I was then, and I will probably put that back on over the Christmas break, so I think a part of me is just saying 'maintain - don't worry about it, start again next year.' I hadn't consciously thought about it like that until I started typing this. I have actually gained more since I tried to cut my calories (not very successfully obviously!) than when I was sticking to my TDEE. It seems that as soon as I was putting that restriction back on myself I rebelled against it, and ate more! I know that sounds silly when you look at the cut calorie amounts compared to what I was eating before. I certainly wasn't expecting it to be so hard to stick to it!

 

[moonwatcher]

Food for yesterday, Monday 18th November

Breakfast - golden nut cornflakes with milk, coffee and cream

Mid morning - coffee and milk, packet of Nakd cherry infused raisins

Lunch - gf roll with cheddar and chutney, satsuma, coxes apple, packet of cheesy puffs, tea with milk

At home after school - home made apple pie with gf pastry, custard, coffee with cream

Dinner - gf spaghetti with cheese, cream cheese, chorizo and sweetfire beetroot

Calories for the day 2035/1950 (85 cals over)

 

[moonwatcher]

Tuesday November 19th

Year 7 Impact Day today, which involved a lot of fun and a lot of shouting! My ears have only just stopped ringing!

Breakfast - greek yogurt with maple syrup, coffee with milk

Mid morning - coffee with milk

Lunch - gf roll with ham and BBQ sauce, packet of cheesy puffs, satsuma, coxes apple, rose garden tea with milk

At home after school - gf apricot jam tart with a drizzle of cream, coffee with cream

Dinner - basil roasted butternut squash and smoked garlic and three cheese risotto (tallegio, blacksticks blue and port wine derby) with sweetfire beetroot. This was delicious, although a bit pink, as OH was in charge of the cheese and dumped it all into the risotto, instead of sprinkling the port wine derby on top! Followed it with half a glass of dry cider. Water

Calories for the day 1947/1950

 

[StillTryingJoJo]

Hey MW, how are you feeling after the reset? Are you feeling the pinch with reducing calories, you look to be doing well.. I love reading your diary as I have to google half the ingredients hehe xx