Tracey's healthy yummy lovely journey

FatGurlSlim said:
Hi There!

Just been reading your diary, and I may be able to help with regards to the tomato-ey, gross taste of putting passata in pasta. Basically, you have to cook it into a pasta sauce first, otherwise it's just plain tomato, which is not that tasty.

The good news is, you don't need much oil! It's really just a case of cooking it down with some nice flavours. You can chuck some fry light, and very thinly sliced garlic in a frying pan for a few minutes (quite low heat, or the garlic will burn). Then just put in the tinned tomatoes/passata, and turn it up to bring it to the boil. When it's boiling, you can put in a dash of red wine vinegar (optional) then turn it down to simmer for an hour or so. It's not an exact science. You can salt it to taste. You can basically put anything in there - onions, veg, I prefer to fry all that BEFORE putting in the passata. Then it's a case of just cooking it to improve the flavour. You can even bung some stock in there if you're so inclined. I recommend looking up some sauce recipes - Jamie Oliver does a good one.

With regards to emotional eating - I really sympathise, as I do the same thing. I have lost about three stone over the last 14 years, losing it, putting it back on. SW has been the most effective 'diet' for me, as this is the longest I've gone without putting loads back on, but I have put on a few pounds over the last couple of weeks. I have various stresses at the moment, and have literally been eating to the point of feeling sick, and thinking about food constantly. I went back on SW yesterday, and really hope to stay on the wagon now. I don't have any tips or anything - I just try and keep busy, and try to focus my mindset, but sometimes, I can't force myself to stick to healthy eating, I just have to wait until something inside my head clicks, if that makes any sense?

Hope you have a good day. :D
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Hi Fatgurlslim,

Thank you so much for the thoughtful comment, and apologies for not replying sooner, I have been so busy and haven't been on minimins in a couple of days. Thanks for the tips regarding the sauces. I actually usually do that with the garlic, onion and herbs etc but I just still find something is missing that makes it way less appealing then restaurant sauces or even prepacked ones, I feel it may be parmesan and oil. I still really enjoy the pasta sauces I make though, I suppose you can't have everything.

Regarding emotional eating, I have been out of control lately. Exactly what you said about literally thinking about food constantly and eating to the point of feeling sick. it's disgusting and I feel like I have so little self control at the moment. I would say I have easily gained 7 pounds over the last two weeks, probably more. I feel rotten about it but I also know that sitting around feeling crap about it won't lose the 7 pounds. I need to just get back in to the right mindset I think, as you said it has to 'click' for you and then you know you are in the right place and properly committed. Thanks again for the comment, I really appreciate it, and WELL DONE on the amazing weight loss so far, very very inspiring! :D
 
Just popping in to say hi and good luck on your journey :) had a quick scan of your diary but havent read it properly yet,Im joining back myself this week after a few months off and quite a few pounds gained!
 
Bettyboop23 said:
Just popping in to say hi and good luck on your journey :) had a quick scan of your diary but havent read it properly yet,Im joining back myself this week after a few months off and quite a few pounds gained!
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Thanks Bettyboop, nice of you to stop by :) Our goal weights are the same. Race ya? haha yeah right! What plan are you following? Slimming World is it? I wish you the best of luck! x
 
I have returned from Portugal alive and well. But most noticably, returned nice and FAT! Nice is definitely sarcastic. My god I ate and drank myself in to oblivion over there. Mainly all horrifically unhealthy stodgy processed food because it's such a touristy place. Its all the usual stuff aimed at British and Irish tourists and EVERYTHING is served with bloody chips. Nobody forced them in to my mouth I know. Anyway, I would say I gained well over a stone in the past month or so. I can feel it in every fibre of my being. Today in the lift in work I looked in the mirror and I could really SEE it though. That's the worst part. My face looks puffy, my belly looks huge, and my skin is in really awful condition which I feel to be a true indicator of just how much crap I have put in my body lately.

Once again i am back and raring to go. Then again i feel I haven't really had a proper clean slate at Minimins yet. I have always had a wedding, birthday, holiday and finally (though sadly in other ways) nothing is looming in the near future that can make me go completely off the rails. The odd night out etc but all very manageable.

Game Plan :

OK so between now and Monday I am healthy eating. Being as good as I can be without actually counting or strictly following a plan. Trying to eat lots of fruit and veg and drink lots of water etc. Monday morning is Day 1 of an absolutely angelic week I plan to have sticking to the Slimming World Plan. I will be re-joining Slimming World a week from that day and I know between now and then I could lost 2/3 of what I have gained. Scary thing is I don't reeeeally know what I have gained. The plan is to be good for the next few days and Monday I will probably weigh myself in a chemist or something. I would imagine that right about now I weight within the 15 stone region which would be roughly a one stone gain. after three weddings, weekends away, my brothers 21st and 10 days in portugal i would say thats realistic, but knowing my body it could be more. I really genuinely did it so much junk. So much fried food, lots of salty things, crisps, chocolate, ice-cream and fattening cocktails to name but a few. Anyway, for this Golden Angelic Week (I like that, it will be sticking) I am setting out some rules for myself to really give myself the boost I need.

Rules for Golden Angelic Week Starting Monday 29th October 2012.

1. No bread. In ANY form.
2.No chocolate or crisps in any form.
3. Atleast two pieces of fruit each day.
4.Fruit and Vegetables with every meal.
5.Drink only water of Skimmed Milk in tea and coffee. Also limit my tea and coffee intake.
6.Stick to the Slimming World plan stictly and post in my food diary on minimins every single day to be accountable.

Exercise : I don't care how busy I am. I WILL be going for three long walks between now and then. I may even try and run again (I done couch to 5k earlier this year). I can do this on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and even the Sunday too. Actually feck it, this is a goal I am making, I am going to wean myself back in to running and aim to run 3 times a week from now on. I did it once so there is no reason I can't do it again. It's hard but nobody ever said worthwhile exercise was easy.

I also plan to stay away from processed foods as best as I can. I'll make a pasta dish for work that will last two days. Even something as simple as Pesto (syn'd of course) with pasta and lots of veg. I'll make rice dishes the other days. I'll need to be organized and go shopping but I don't get paid till Wednesday so Monday and Tuesday will be improvised based on what food is in the house.

I am feeling completely determined now. I am the kind of person that can be in denial for a period of time and honestly feel fine. then one day (today) I get a slap in the face and I have to make myself cop on. It's complete self-sabotage. I feel awful in my clothes, everything feels tight, and I want to feel GOOD again.
so far today I have had Belvita Bbiscuits for breakfast, which isnt great. Lunch was a yummy greek style muller light yoghurt, mango and a pita bread with a Tesco pasta salad. The salad happens to be very high so again not good. I have my course tonight so Ill have an apple before and probably some popcorn during it. Again, not perfect, but the next few days are just about easing myself back in to healthy eating, and its a LOT better than yesterday when I had McDonalds for dinner...

OK, i'm gonna stop talking the talk and Im going to walk the walk.

I really hope Minimins app on my phone starts co-operating so I can post pics because I really feel am missing out there :(

Hope everyone is doing great!

*runs off excitedly to read all your diaries, 2 weeks of catch up*

Tracey x:D
 
I was a very good girl today! Before my course i needed something to fill me dinner-wise because i don't get home till 11pm. So i stopped at a noodle place and got noodles with chicken and loooooads of veg!

image-2453417314.jpg

I also resisted a kitkat in work, things are looking up :)
 
I don't know what's going on with me but I've just been a bit off the rails lately. Yesterday was looking good right up till the point that I got home and in the space of about ten minutes ate two slices of bread, crisps, a bounty bar, some chips with curry sauce, and God knows what else. This is definitely my biggest downfall though. I am a sucker for picking at things and impulsive eating. I should have went straight to bed and avoided the kitchen. In that moment all I cared about was how good the food tasted. I immediately felt like utter crap after though.
This weekend won't be easy in terms of being good because I'm going out tomorrow night and then we are having a family meal on Monday etc but from Tuesday morning onwards I will be doing my Golden Angelic week. It will be back to basics for me, and hopefully i will lost a chunk of what I have gained.

The more I think about this running stuff the more scared I get. I would do the 30 day shred but it wouldnt work for me because when i get in from work the tv is preoccupied by one or all of the 6 others who live in my house. I am also considering Zumba as an option so that could be a possibility. I know I have it in me to run again, I just can't forget how incredibly difficult it was, and all the tears and struggle. But i also remember it felt AMAZING and the sense of accomplishment is out of this world. I need to believe in myself and know I can do it again. When I was doing it before I felt if anything my weightloss halted, anyone have any insights about this? I dont want to run if its going to be an obstacle for weightloss, I want it to be a way of making it happen quicker and easier!

Go team go!
 
Do you think these would he free? Ingredients are just porridge outs and 3% dried strawberries. I just added boiling water. This could potentially be the answer i've been looking for in terms of breakfasts. We don't have a microwave in work and i get bored of wheetabix. I'm also off break this week. This little pot of warm porridge was perfect in this cold weather and i know it will fill me till lunch. It cost EUR1.09 which isnt the cheapest, basically EUR5.50 for the week for breakfasts but i would have a clear conscience and feel much more organized this way. I got this in the little shop near my work, but i'm guessing the likes of Tesco would stock them too, and probably for cheaper.

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My lunch!

In the lunchbox is pasta, brocolli, carrot, cauliflower, mushroom,prawn, pesto (about 1.5 tablespoons and still have to figure out the syns) and one thin slice of cheddar.

Muller light honey-peach greek-style yohurt and some grapefruit.

Normally its so easy for me to syn things like the yoghurt and pesto because i have the SW app which has a directory of syns but as i havent been to group in 4 weeks theyve disabled my access to it and i wont be able to see it till i rejoin next monday :( any advise for finding a list of syns in meantime?

I am so motivated and happy to be back on track.

No idea what i'll be having for dinner because we dont have much in the house at the moment and ive no money to shop till tomorrow. I am eager to see what syns i will have left after the pesto and yoghurt!
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Hi Tracey. Good luck with your weightloss journey. I really recommend trying out some SW recipes. It's amazing what you can make for 0 syns and I've really got into experimenting and trying out new recipes - I find it quite fun even!

I recommend you weigh out your HEXs like your cheese as it's surprising how easy other is to go over!

I'm looking forward to reading your diary!

X
 
Re the porridge oats I'm not sure of syns as the app doesn't take into account the porridge and milk as HEXs. I imagine the dried strawberries will be synned and if the oats are more than your allowance of 35g then the extra will need to be synned too.
 
Hi Vintage Pockets. Thanks for the well wishes :) i can't imagine the porridge would have syns because its definitely a smaller portion than the portion i would have when having porridge as a HEB! The dried strawberry is a weird one though. There was only a teeny bit of it like, and my gutt is telling me its probably free. Hard to know though!

I'm definitely going to experiment with new recipes. Your diary has become one of my favourites already. I love all the recipes you try! Something like the mustard sauce would make dinners so much more exciting too. I am going to try a new recipe over the weekend probably and take it from there. I love cooking and i love variety, i just find it hard to find the time lately with being gone to work from 7.30am-7pm and then most days it is 9pm because i will be visiting my nanny in hospital or doing my course etc. even if i try a new recipe once a week, that would make a big difference!

I am feeling so good about this :)
 
Random dinner! I came home and had a serious craving for slimming world chips but we had no potatoes. I'm broke till payday so i didnt have anything nice to cook so i decided to just have the Spagetti Bollognaise that my stepdad made. There was oil in it. He said there wasn't much but i can't be sure. The mince was lean from what i can tell. I had it with pasta, a side salad and some coleslaw. It was nice and very comforting in this very cold weather but i wasn't 100% happy with it because of the oil and i overdid it on the coleslaw i think.

Syns for the day : pesto (5 syns) i am guessing, next time i will actually measure it. It was hard to judge because i was making a large batch. I also had a muller lite greek style honeyed peach yoghurt, omg sooooo good and incredibly creamy so what a bargain for half a syn. So basically about 5.5 syns before my dinner and i can imagine that i would need to allow 5 syns for my dinner to cover the sauce and oil in the bollognaise, and then about 3 for the coleslaw. So yeah, not a perfect day but a LOT better than i have been so i definitely feel good about it.

Tomorrow i will be going for lunch with my boss and two co-workers as one of the girls is leaving tomorrow. Its a 'nice' place so I am hoping i can get some sort of nice healthy dish that i can syn with not too much difficulty.

I am feeling good :)

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To be honest I am actually very happy about today.

Breakfast : Porridge (HEA), Banana, Muller Lite Greek Style Honeyed Peach Yoghurt (half a syn)
Lunch : We went out to lunch, me and my co-workers. It was a treat from my boss because one of the girls was leaving today. I had two courses. For starter I had a creamy soup with Leek and Smoked Haddock. It was served with bread and I had every intention of not eating the bread but then I seen it and I couldn't resist. It was one medium sliced, not-so-thick slice of reeeally dark brown bread. The soup was AMAZING but it definitely had cream in it. For mains I had Grilled Leek and Pork Sausage. It definitely tasted grilled and it just honestly tasted clean and my gutt was telling me it wasn't that bad. It almost tasted like Quorn. Maybe it wasn't pork at all actually! Anyway that was served with Champ which of course would have had butter in it, some veg, and some gravy. Do you guys think it is realistic that 9.5 syns covered the cream in the soup, the butter in the champ, the sausage? The sausage was grilled an genuinely didn't taste like it was fatty. It wasn't like a normal Pork sausage at all.It also wasn't a huge portion. Throw the bread in there too because I used my HEB on the porridge.

When I came home about 8pm I had a small dinner. It's our home's traditional halloween dinner. Its Curly Kale (Collcannon) served with mashed potato, onion and topped with a fried egg. It was a pre-packed one so there may have been a little butter too. It was so tasty. With it I had a Roast Chicken Mugshot (free as far as I know).

All in all between the slice of bread, butter in the champ and collcannon, whatever was in the grilled sausage and the cream in the soup I am hoping it didn't exceed 15 syns. I would say it was in or around that anyway. The day could have been way worse so I am actually quite delighted with myself today.

Healthy Extra A was in the form of Skimmed Milk in my tea (about 3 mugs today so well under 350ml, I should really start to measure it but its such an effort).

Tomorrow I have my nightcourse straight after work so the plan is to get some noodles to have before in a little cafe.They are egg noodles, with lots of veg and chicken and not too much sauce. I will request that they are cooked using little or no oil and they should be under 5 syns as I just need to allow for the sauce, which there isn't much of, it's relatively dry but very tasty. I'll also eat some fruit and maybe a yoghurt or something. Lunch will be more or less syn-free tomorrow, as will breakfast. I will try to keep the syns under 10 tomorrow for sure.

I feel really good about being back on track, like REALLY good about it. I have decided that Friday night is the night I will try a new recipe. I don't know what it will be yet but maybe something Idiany resembling a take-away. I am excited.

I am now snuggled up in bed watching Nottinghill. Bliss :)
 
I am SO on track and feeling so great for it.


Last night before my course i decided to go to a chinese place and i got beef with blackbean sauce and boiled rice. I asked them not to use any oil and they said only a little bit and i then lied and told them i am allergic and it makes me sick haha! So they agreed. I also asked could i pay extra for extra veg and that was no issue. It was amazing!!!! Huge portion so prob over 5.5 syns but then again there was no oil so maybe not?? Omg it was divine. See above for pic!

Todays lunch was a mugshot. Same as yesterday. I find that it feels more substancial when i make it in a cup and then put it in a bowl so its like a noodley soup, it works a treat. Had an apple with it and a 5 syn bar. Not great for superfree so prob should have had another piece of fruit.

When i left work i felt cranky and was craving chocolate. Instead i filled my travel mug with options belgian hot chocolate and had it on the bus home. It totally hit the spot, i am thrilled! Need to check the syns though i know its verylow, maybe 1 syn or 2 max. Definitely not 15 which is what a normal chocolate bar would have cost!

I have been so excited for dinner all day. Its friday and i just cant wait to chill-out and relax watching tv tonight. I planned on making annew recipe, something 'take away' like but in the end i have decided on sirloin steak, slimming world chips (new because technically ive only ever had them made for me), green beans and mushrooms with a mustard sauce (thank you vintage pockets and britmum for recipe idea) and the sauce is brand new for me so that was my goal. For dessert i have greek style coconut muller lite yoghurts! Omg SO excited :) unfortunately it will be 9.30 before i can cook so about 10 before i eat but i'm ok with that. I have tea to keep me ticking over! And tea :)

My dinner was expensive because i had to buy things like frylight, pepper, dijon mustard, chicken stock cubes, potatoes which normally you might have at home. Oh and i finally found fat free fromage frais! Hooray for that. I'm going to make a coleslaw tomorrow with the remaining part.

I honestly feel great. Hopefully come Mondays weigh in i will have lost 5/6 pounds of the 12/13 i gained. Heres to a weekend of resisting temptation but having yummy food!

X
 
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