Today was the 23rd birthday of my little brother Sean - so after work Joel and I went round to Mum and Dad's for a healthy birthday tea, which consisted of:
Diet Coke, beer and red wine to drink
Smoked Trout pate and crispbreads to start
Cheesy Pasta (recipe coming soon) with Garlic Bread for main
Birthday cake or Raspberry meringue nests for dessert
And THAT, my friends, is how you make an amazing-and-totally-NOT-preachy Slimming World-friendly Birthday tea!! Although it did annoy me how everyone acted like I'd killed the Queen when I took one palm-sized slice of garlic bread. Guess I shouldn't embrace moderation at all and just go for flat-out restriction, right? Ugh.
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Pros and Cons
Not much happened today. I emailed Louise and Alex the recipe for Chicken liver pate, and to amuse myself at work, wrote a "Pros and Cons of losing weight" list (I do love making lists). Was slightly alarmed at how many Cons I could easily come up with - but the Pros more than outweighed them in the end.
LIST ***********
LIST ***********
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Back on track!
In the end, I opted for Chicken Liver Pate. And it turned out to be absolutely STUNNING. Only took about 15 mins to make, as well. Still can't believe it's Free - I was practically licking the spoon half way through......
Had Mum to thank for that, who gave me the recipe last night. So that's currently settling in the fridge, along with the chocolate and vanilla Ice Pops I prepared on Sunday - which were absolutely delicious AND only half a syn each (found the recipe in the August magazine)! Tomorrow night I'm going to make SW vanilla ice-cream in the blender, and have planned some delicious Free teas for the week (thanks to that Market trip for fish and meats) which feels pretty good. I do love being organised! Not to mention getting my cooking groove back - if you count ice pops and pate as "cooking!"
Today was quite good. Leapt straight back on track by getting a 3 for £5 deal on boxes of fruit (well, one fruit salad and 2 "Berry Medleys" - despite the fact that the so called Berry Medley contained grapes.....) from the Co-Op, so could sit there nibbling on fruit everytime I wanted a snack. Still can't REMOTELY comprehend how people on SW say they ENJOY eating fruit as a snack - sweet as the fruit was, every second annoyed me and felt like a total chore. And I got hungry about 10 mins afterwards. Oh well. Takes getting used to, I guess. Can always wash it down with water, as long as it gets in my body somehow.
Tea was pretty gorgeous, if I do say so myself! Was told how to poach an egg at work and was asked by Joel to incorporate the soon-to-be-expired smoked salmon into tea tonight - so made Poached Egg and Salmon on toast - using 2 slices of wholemeal bread as my Healthy Extra B choice. Even got my Syns for this evening all allocated and planned - it's quite nice knowing what I can have without using more than 10!
So, all is well and organised in the O'Connor-Moore household. Let's hope it lasts the week!
Had Mum to thank for that, who gave me the recipe last night. So that's currently settling in the fridge, along with the chocolate and vanilla Ice Pops I prepared on Sunday - which were absolutely delicious AND only half a syn each (found the recipe in the August magazine)! Tomorrow night I'm going to make SW vanilla ice-cream in the blender, and have planned some delicious Free teas for the week (thanks to that Market trip for fish and meats) which feels pretty good. I do love being organised! Not to mention getting my cooking groove back - if you count ice pops and pate as "cooking!"
Today was quite good. Leapt straight back on track by getting a 3 for £5 deal on boxes of fruit (well, one fruit salad and 2 "Berry Medleys" - despite the fact that the so called Berry Medley contained grapes.....) from the Co-Op, so could sit there nibbling on fruit everytime I wanted a snack. Still can't REMOTELY comprehend how people on SW say they ENJOY eating fruit as a snack - sweet as the fruit was, every second annoyed me and felt like a total chore. And I got hungry about 10 mins afterwards. Oh well. Takes getting used to, I guess. Can always wash it down with water, as long as it gets in my body somehow.
Tea was pretty gorgeous, if I do say so myself! Was told how to poach an egg at work and was asked by Joel to incorporate the soon-to-be-expired smoked salmon into tea tonight - so made Poached Egg and Salmon on toast - using 2 slices of wholemeal bread as my Healthy Extra B choice. Even got my Syns for this evening all allocated and planned - it's quite nice knowing what I can have without using more than 10!
So, all is well and organised in the O'Connor-Moore household. Let's hope it lasts the week!
Monday, 17 September 2012
Beside the Seaside!
GAIN: 2.5 POUNDS
Shit. That's all that can be said, really. I don't know why I'm surprised. I had an awful weekend. Well, not true - I had an AMAZING weekend, but in Slimming World terms, my weekend was appalling.
I could spend ages relieving how brilliant it was in a blow-by-blow account, but this is only a food diary. Suffice to say:
It was at the Palace Hotel and the theme was "Beside the Seaside" - which meant free ice cream, popcorn, candyfloss and donut stalls...... and a Fish n chips buffet.
Prizes for all the games were drink tokens - which meant I barely spent a penny all night, but said drink tokens only extended to beer and wine. I basically drank ALL the wine. But won a LOT of games, and partook in lots of Body Magic by riding a bucking surfboard, dancing my little heart out, and beating several big blokes from Servicing at the Test Your Strength game. Felt very satisfying to hear the weight hit the bell - not to mention a teammate took a VERY flattering photo of me in my outfit, holding the hammer. In fact, it's the first photo I've seen of myself that didn't make me wince, so that's good news!
To cure my hangover the morning after, Joel stood me a Macdonald's after dragging my hungover ass to Bury so we could visit the market. I did get to meet Martin Platt from Corrie, though!
So, whilst I knew all this was making me fail, I was still horrified and upset when I got weighed. Even more so when Joan told everyone HOW MUCH I'd gained during Image Therapy. REALLY didn't need that.
Anyway, I've decided to do the "Sucess Express" for this week - which involves reducing my Syns from 15 to 10 a day, and eating a SHITLOAD more fruit/veg/Superfree foods every day, to speed up my weight loss. Spoke to Louise and Alex on Skype again (both had amazing losses, but don't really want to think about it right now, as I'll get jealous!) who were very upbeat and certainly cheered me up about my horrific gain. So it's all hands back on deck, starting tomorrow. At least I have no more social engagements to distract or trip me up, until Joel and I go away on the 5th October. And Mum's even lent me a food processor for the week, so will have to see what yummy things I can make that need blending!
Shit. That's all that can be said, really. I don't know why I'm surprised. I had an awful weekend. Well, not true - I had an AMAZING weekend, but in Slimming World terms, my weekend was appalling.
I could spend ages relieving how brilliant it was in a blow-by-blow account, but this is only a food diary. Suffice to say:
My workplace threw a "Recognition event" (to thank us for hard work)
It was at the Palace Hotel and the theme was "Beside the Seaside" - which meant free ice cream, popcorn, candyfloss and donut stalls...... and a Fish n chips buffet.
Prizes for all the games were drink tokens - which meant I barely spent a penny all night, but said drink tokens only extended to beer and wine. I basically drank ALL the wine. But won a LOT of games, and partook in lots of Body Magic by riding a bucking surfboard, dancing my little heart out, and beating several big blokes from Servicing at the Test Your Strength game. Felt very satisfying to hear the weight hit the bell - not to mention a teammate took a VERY flattering photo of me in my outfit, holding the hammer. In fact, it's the first photo I've seen of myself that didn't make me wince, so that's good news!
To cure my hangover the morning after, Joel stood me a Macdonald's after dragging my hungover ass to Bury so we could visit the market. I did get to meet Martin Platt from Corrie, though!
In the evening, we went out with his mates for a birthday/leaving do, which meant I drank again AND had buffet for tea.
I then fell into the CLASSIC "oh screw this, I've already failed, I'm going to eat ALL the sandwiches, paninis, bread and chocolate for 2 days straight" trap (NB: I didn't eat these together)
I then fell into the CLASSIC "oh screw this, I've already failed, I'm going to eat ALL the sandwiches, paninis, bread and chocolate for 2 days straight" trap (NB: I didn't eat these together)
So, whilst I knew all this was making me fail, I was still horrified and upset when I got weighed. Even more so when Joan told everyone HOW MUCH I'd gained during Image Therapy. REALLY didn't need that.
Anyway, I've decided to do the "Sucess Express" for this week - which involves reducing my Syns from 15 to 10 a day, and eating a SHITLOAD more fruit/veg/Superfree foods every day, to speed up my weight loss. Spoke to Louise and Alex on Skype again (both had amazing losses, but don't really want to think about it right now, as I'll get jealous!) who were very upbeat and certainly cheered me up about my horrific gain. So it's all hands back on deck, starting tomorrow. At least I have no more social engagements to distract or trip me up, until Joel and I go away on the 5th October. And Mum's even lent me a food processor for the week, so will have to see what yummy things I can make that need blending!
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Mags and Pins
Whatever else is going on with my weight, there's one thing I'm always sure of: I have a cracking set of pins.
However big my thighs may be, or however abhorrent my stomach, I can always console myself with the knowledge that I have a great pair of legs. Provided the top half is covered by an adequately long dress or skirt, the bottom halves - it has to be said - are brilliant.
And it's this that has helped me get through the fact that I ate a whole Dominoes pizza this evening.
Today was my scheduled day off. And despite waking up FULL of good intentions (and the joys of spring) for Body Magic - I ended up not leaving the sofa ALL day. To be fair, I spent it emailing Louise and Alex ALL the SW guidelines, copying recipes from Mum's magazine back-catalogue and writing shopping/meal lists. And I chose a gorgeous outfit for a work's do on Friday night - a black, white-spotted dress that tucks in at the waist and comes thigh-high - topped with a short black cardigan and bottomed with some black and white spotted high heels. Going bare-legged for the first time in a while, so kinda nevous about that - but it does look good in the bedroom mirror, so hopefully that half-stone will be noticeable! (Just to add some interest, I'm going to attempt the 1930's Hollywood look - red lipstick, red nails, black smokey eyes and false eyelashes, with straightened wavy hair).
However big my thighs may be, or however abhorrent my stomach, I can always console myself with the knowledge that I have a great pair of legs. Provided the top half is covered by an adequately long dress or skirt, the bottom halves - it has to be said - are brilliant.
And it's this that has helped me get through the fact that I ate a whole Dominoes pizza this evening.
Today was my scheduled day off. And despite waking up FULL of good intentions (and the joys of spring) for Body Magic - I ended up not leaving the sofa ALL day. To be fair, I spent it emailing Louise and Alex ALL the SW guidelines, copying recipes from Mum's magazine back-catalogue and writing shopping/meal lists. And I chose a gorgeous outfit for a work's do on Friday night - a black, white-spotted dress that tucks in at the waist and comes thigh-high - topped with a short black cardigan and bottomed with some black and white spotted high heels. Going bare-legged for the first time in a while, so kinda nevous about that - but it does look good in the bedroom mirror, so hopefully that half-stone will be noticeable! (Just to add some interest, I'm going to attempt the 1930's Hollywood look - red lipstick, red nails, black smokey eyes and false eyelashes, with straightened wavy hair).
The end result: taken on the night!
Monday, 10 September 2012
Achievement!
LOSS: 2 POUNDS
YES!! YES!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! I DID IT!!! I BLOODY DID IT!!!! HALF A STONE IN 3 WEEKS!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem, please forgive the orgy of capitals. But, as you may have guessed, I had rather a success tonight. And quite frankly, I am stunned. Especially after that disastrous weekend I just had, I was no WAY expecting a loss. Or not a loss like that, maybe just a tiny half-pound or something. But no, there it was, on the scales in front of me - 16st 12lb.
It was strange, really. It sort of came as a shock, but not totally. I don't know - for some reason I was half expecting a gain/maintain, but in the back of my mind, subconciously, it felt like this week would be the one where I lost 2 pounds. It felt inevitable somehow, after all my goal-setting and planning, that today would be the day I reached Half a Stone.
And there was no smoke without fire, either. Because in the afternoon leading up to Group, I had four - count them - FOUR people telling me I look like I've lost weight. How great is that?! Although I'm still TOTALLY unable to spot any difference in my own physique - I didn't believe any of them. I thought they were just attempting to placate or motivate me with empty words.
With the first one, I just shrugged him off when he told me "this isn't a come-on, but from a distance you looked like you've slimmed down." With the second, I laughed when he stood above me at my desk and said "you look like you've lost some off your face." With the third (my brother) when we greeted each other back home, I laughed and joked that our parents must have promted him to tell me "you can tell you've lost it." And by the time my godmother was telling me "your bum's disappearing!" as we headed up the stairs to Group, I was ready to believe them all. So there you have it. I guess Half a Stone really DOES make a difference!
Once again, I cheered as I got weighed. But rather cruelly, decided to withhold the news from Mum, so I could see her face when I got my award, instead. So when people asked, I told them about the 2 pound loss, but made them swear not to tell Mum. When Mum finally asked me herself, face all lit up with anticipation, I forced myself to look disheartened and told her I had simply maintatined. And boy, did I feel bad when she gave me a huge hug, told me not to be diappointed and that I can always start again. Rebecca (who sits next to me) was trying to smother her giggles, as I told her I was mad at myself, but "at least it's still something to aim for." Felt a tad guilty, but it definately paid off when Joan read out the names of people who'd won Half-Stone awards this week. Seeing Mum's face go from Confusion to Annoyance (at suspected admin error) and then to Shock and Joy as I shouted "Surprise!!" was completely worth it. "But you said you Maintained!" she said. "I lied," I shrugged, happily. "Fooled you!"
Again - totally worth it. And having people come up to me telling me how impressed they were with Half-a-Stone-in-3-weeks never ONCE got old.
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Aside from that, it was a pretty normal day. Went back to work, had Healthy Extras as my snacks and my usual chicken and bacon salad for lunch (with hot chicken, mmmm.....). Was on a Long Monday today (where I finish at 6 instead of 5) so had to haul ass straight to Mum and Dad's afterwards, where my coat and bag were ripped off and a Mugshot forced on me before leaving. Didn't have any tea when I got home, as the Mugshot made me feel bloated and queasy after having such a large salad for dinner, but Mum sent me home with a portion of chicken, spinach and tomato curry, which I'm really looking forward to!
Skyped Louise and Alex who both had losses too, so all very happy in Virtual Slimming World! Calculated that with our consecutive weight losses (5, 2.5 and 7) we had lost just over a stone in total between us, which definately put a few things in perspective!
So all in all, an amazing day. And that's one of my goals, done and dusted! Have put my target down for next week as a further 2 pounds, but not sure if that's just wildly optimistic after a lucky beginning. Who knows? Just can't wait to reach my 1st stone - don't think I've ever lost a stone since I started putting on weight. Oh well, one goal down......!
YES!! YES!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! I DID IT!!! I BLOODY DID IT!!!! HALF A STONE IN 3 WEEKS!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem, please forgive the orgy of capitals. But, as you may have guessed, I had rather a success tonight. And quite frankly, I am stunned. Especially after that disastrous weekend I just had, I was no WAY expecting a loss. Or not a loss like that, maybe just a tiny half-pound or something. But no, there it was, on the scales in front of me - 16st 12lb.
It was strange, really. It sort of came as a shock, but not totally. I don't know - for some reason I was half expecting a gain/maintain, but in the back of my mind, subconciously, it felt like this week would be the one where I lost 2 pounds. It felt inevitable somehow, after all my goal-setting and planning, that today would be the day I reached Half a Stone.
And there was no smoke without fire, either. Because in the afternoon leading up to Group, I had four - count them - FOUR people telling me I look like I've lost weight. How great is that?! Although I'm still TOTALLY unable to spot any difference in my own physique - I didn't believe any of them. I thought they were just attempting to placate or motivate me with empty words.
With the first one, I just shrugged him off when he told me "this isn't a come-on, but from a distance you looked like you've slimmed down." With the second, I laughed when he stood above me at my desk and said "you look like you've lost some off your face." With the third (my brother) when we greeted each other back home, I laughed and joked that our parents must have promted him to tell me "you can tell you've lost it." And by the time my godmother was telling me "your bum's disappearing!" as we headed up the stairs to Group, I was ready to believe them all. So there you have it. I guess Half a Stone really DOES make a difference!
Once again, I cheered as I got weighed. But rather cruelly, decided to withhold the news from Mum, so I could see her face when I got my award, instead. So when people asked, I told them about the 2 pound loss, but made them swear not to tell Mum. When Mum finally asked me herself, face all lit up with anticipation, I forced myself to look disheartened and told her I had simply maintatined. And boy, did I feel bad when she gave me a huge hug, told me not to be diappointed and that I can always start again. Rebecca (who sits next to me) was trying to smother her giggles, as I told her I was mad at myself, but "at least it's still something to aim for." Felt a tad guilty, but it definately paid off when Joan read out the names of people who'd won Half-Stone awards this week. Seeing Mum's face go from Confusion to Annoyance (at suspected admin error) and then to Shock and Joy as I shouted "Surprise!!" was completely worth it. "But you said you Maintained!" she said. "I lied," I shrugged, happily. "Fooled you!"
Again - totally worth it. And having people come up to me telling me how impressed they were with Half-a-Stone-in-3-weeks never ONCE got old.
.JPG)
Aside from that, it was a pretty normal day. Went back to work, had Healthy Extras as my snacks and my usual chicken and bacon salad for lunch (with hot chicken, mmmm.....). Was on a Long Monday today (where I finish at 6 instead of 5) so had to haul ass straight to Mum and Dad's afterwards, where my coat and bag were ripped off and a Mugshot forced on me before leaving. Didn't have any tea when I got home, as the Mugshot made me feel bloated and queasy after having such a large salad for dinner, but Mum sent me home with a portion of chicken, spinach and tomato curry, which I'm really looking forward to!
Skyped Louise and Alex who both had losses too, so all very happy in Virtual Slimming World! Calculated that with our consecutive weight losses (5, 2.5 and 7) we had lost just over a stone in total between us, which definately put a few things in perspective!
So all in all, an amazing day. And that's one of my goals, done and dusted! Have put my target down for next week as a further 2 pounds, but not sure if that's just wildly optimistic after a lucky beginning. Who knows? Just can't wait to reach my 1st stone - don't think I've ever lost a stone since I started putting on weight. Oh well, one goal down......!
Sunday, 9 September 2012
Recipes and scarfing
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Look at that. Is that a sexy picture, or what? That, my slim and attractive readers, is what I made for tea last night. Tomato chilli and garlic Prawn Linguine. Which I realise is just a posh way of saying spaghetti with prawns and stuff chopped up in sauce, but there you have it. And it was absolutely FANTASTIC. I am truly getting the hang of this cooking business by now.
As for meal planning - well, despite being in work around lunch time and only getting a 10 minute break, I was able to maximise my Healthy Extras and just have those until I got home. But sadly, for NO REASON WHATSOEVER, I found myself - both yesterday and today - getting a load of snacks, and just SCARFING them as soon as I got home. Crisps, wraps, birthday cake, ice creams, cheese...... nothing was safe. And I have absolutely NO idea why. I wasn't depressed, or bored, or angry, or tired. It was nothing more than a stupid f***ing blip on 2 consecutive occasions, and I am damn mad at myself right now.
If I've screwed up my 2 pound weight loss this week...... well, I won't be surprised but I'll be pretty pissed off.
Tried to claw back some health this evening by going for a nice hour-long walk in the park and getting Joel to cook a lovely Free tea - since I was out earning the bacon (for the last day of my Overtime!) - so here it is: Roast lamb heart with potatoes and carrots:
Not bad, eh?
As for meal planning - well, despite being in work around lunch time and only getting a 10 minute break, I was able to maximise my Healthy Extras and just have those until I got home. But sadly, for NO REASON WHATSOEVER, I found myself - both yesterday and today - getting a load of snacks, and just SCARFING them as soon as I got home. Crisps, wraps, birthday cake, ice creams, cheese...... nothing was safe. And I have absolutely NO idea why. I wasn't depressed, or bored, or angry, or tired. It was nothing more than a stupid f***ing blip on 2 consecutive occasions, and I am damn mad at myself right now.
If I've screwed up my 2 pound weight loss this week...... well, I won't be surprised but I'll be pretty pissed off.
Tried to claw back some health this evening by going for a nice hour-long walk in the park and getting Joel to cook a lovely Free tea - since I was out earning the bacon (for the last day of my Overtime!) - so here it is: Roast lamb heart with potatoes and carrots:
Not bad, eh?
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