jenniebellie

{Feeling Good}

I'm doing absolutely fine this week, I'm feeling slimmer, and the scales showed me my lowest weight yet this morning, so feeling positive.  I've just got to keep an eye on my syns this week, as they are a bit higher than I normally have.

Today I taught a class in my local scrapbook shop, and I hadn't seen the owner since before Christmas, when I was a size 18, I was looking forward to her seeing me and being surprised.  But she didn't even notice, not  even when I took off my coat, and said "Can you tell?"  She just looked so embarassed when I told her.  I will never do that again, it was so unfair of me, but as she is someone with a very enviable figure, I really thought she'd notice.  Anyway, she very graciously congratulated me on my stone and a half loss, and said I did look thinner in the face, and didn't ever think I'd looked that big before! However, I did agree that my baggy clothes didn't help, but I am definately not buying new clothes yet. Oh well, I better bitemy tongue next time, and wait for the compliments rather than fish for them.  A lesson learned I think.

{Managing being away}

I'm back from a lovely weekend away.  I spent the whole day on Saturday with some cool crafty friends, you can read what that's all about over on my main blog, but it involves spending the day doing projects, chatting and eating.  This particular event is BYO food, so I stacked my cool bag with loads of grapes, strawberries, apples, Ryvitas, Laughing cow cheeses lite, a tub of Batchelor's 98% fat free noodles, Mullerlight yoghurts and plenty of Diet coke for Breakie and lunch.

As I was then staying over at My Pa's, and he is 72, and couldn't possibly cater for a SW diet, I took a Baked potato, 3 x baby bel lights, a can of baked beans, a hifi bar, Mullerlight, a Mugshot noodle packet and some more fruit, which got me through another three meals, Tea, breakie and lunch with two water biscuits added, I was surprised they are only 1 syn each, and I quite like them.

Pa is a great wine drinker, probably where I got it from, and was floating glasses about, but I stuck to my diet coke, and even my sister who also stayed the night, had a couple of glasses, despite the fact that she gave up wine to train and run the London Marathon in April.  So I was very proud of my resolve.  However my sister who has spent from the age of 14 being overweight, which I haven't, finally lost all her weight over the last two years, and has taken up running.  She got up at 5am and did 12 miles while I laid in bed 'til 11am !! So I am very proud of her, she's looking stunning in her size 12 jeans, while I was feeling chuffed that my size 16s are just begining to feel lose.  Hopefully next time I see her, I shall be a stone lighter again.

I cooked a big roast dinner tonight, although completely on plan SW style, I did have one yorkshire pudding at 3.5 syns, they are lovely, but I used to have three, so I am pleased I have cut it down to a sensible, one. I had Quorn sausages, syn free roasties, mashed swede, with a splash of milk, but wrote this down as a HE A option, roast parsnips, peas, and gravy made from Veggie Bovril, and a tsp of horse radish.  I am so stuffed now, my stomach is totally bloated.

Tomorrow I am visiting a friend.  Some one I know well as a cyber friend, we've met two or three times, and she has just had a baby, and this will be the first time I am going to her house.  I am really worried about what food she'll provide, and I am just going to have to eat it, 'cos, I just don't know her well enough to say, I can't eat that I'm on a diet!!  However, she does read my main blog, and should be aware that I'm losing weight, and hopefully she'll notice as I haven't seen her in the flesh since early December, and I'm 17lbs lighter.

I have to keep saying that to myself, I'm 17lbs lighter, 'cos, I really don't feel it at the moment, despite being good all week, I feel much heavier.  Strange that!

More later.

{An emotional Day}

Firstly, I want people to understand that this is my blog, and it's my space, and what I write on here comes from the heart, warts and all.  I have been a blogger for nearly two years, and this blog is a side line to my main blog here.  I started this blog so I could record my emotions, my sucesses, failures, mistakes, new discoveries, food I ate, my progress, my planning, well loved recipes, and my thoughts about how I might motivate myself, whilst losing my weight.  I follow the Slimming World plan, because it suits me best, because I am a vegetarian, and in all honesty, it's a healthy eating plan not a "diet".

Please read my blog with a health warning, what I write on here, isn't necessarily SW advice, it's what I think works for me, and I enjoy experimenting with my SW plan, and will continue to do so, I may make mistakes, but I will learn from them.

I love it when people tell me I inspire them, and they feel motivated reading my blog, and I love the support they give me, and today has been one of those days I've needed it.  I left a simple post on a forum, stating I had won Slimmer of the Month, with a link to this blog, and I "felt" like I got knocked back flat, for things I had written in my blog that may not be good advice to myself or others if you are following the SW plan.  That hurt, I was annoyed, and wondered why I was being preached at. I probably over reacted, but I explained my reasons for my blog entry, and the other person explained their side of the story, and I think we have come to a mutual agreement to accept each other's comments.

I feel vulnerable writing this post now, but it's my blog, and here is where I write how I feel.  I'm probably just over sensitive, and don't want advice given to me when I haven't asked for it.

OK, enough of that, but I just wanted to state how I really felt about it, away from the forum, I don't want to cause anymore hassle there. If you want to comment, then please comment on my blog here.

So how has today gone.

I ate lots of fruit, including strawberries, which are a superspeed food, and I got them for a pretty reasonable price. I ate my tandoori quorn chunks, but DH cooked them too long when I went off to do a kid's pick up, and it was like eating bullets, but it still tasted lovely, and everybody on my team at work, kept coming to have a look at what I was eating, I felt quite embarrased.  Oh yes, Quorn chunks are also a speed food. I had a pasta salad, but the tomatoes were so sour, I had to bin a lot of it, but I did eat the pasta tubes. I'm going off the Kraft Italian syn free dressing, I loved it, but now I find it insipid.  I'll have to go back to mixing VLF Fromage Frais, and Hellmans x lite as a dressing, I usually thin it down with a bit of water, or vinegar.

Then I finished off my red lentil and tomato soup.  I've had some everyday this week. It's my keep me warm food in this cold weather.

Tomorrow, I have a whole Craft Day away from home, so I need to pack up a big lunch, and then I'm stopping over at my Pa's, and I will need to take a baked potato, baked beans etc, so I know I can eat safely. He rarely has anything in the house other than white bread, cheese and butter!

I tried to increase my Healthy Extras Today, and had milk and Pistachio nuts.  I love those nuts, but it's confusing how many you can have for a healthy extra.  I mean how many is two dessert spoons!!?? Apparently you can get 2 nuts for 1/2 a syn, so I counted out 6 syns worth, 24 nuts, and ate them, but it looks too many to be honest. But a HE usually equates to 6 syns.

More Later.

{Still a bit worried}

I'm still a bit concerned I'm going to gain at my weigh in tomorrow.  I ate sensibly today, just eating fruit and veg, and my tomato and lentil soup, so I have done my best today, and will do the same tomorrow.  I guess I might be losing inches rather than weight.

If I do gain tomorrow, this will be my signal to start exercise.  I was going to start walking or cycling, but it just didn't happen this week, but I really must make time next week.

I have been drinking a lot of diet coke this week, and I wonder if that is what is bloating my stomach.

Wish me luck though, and this will be my first time I'll dread getting weighed, I normally get so excited about it.

I'll upload my food diary for this week in the right hand margin.

{A pair of jeans}

It's been a few months since I got my largest, size 16 pair of jeans on, probably last September, I put a lot of weight on at the end of last year.  Well yesterday, I got them on again, quite easily as well, and wore them all day.  I was really chuffed about that.  My next pair of  jeans to try on are size 14, so it's going to be a while beofre I get them on, but it's something to look forward to.

I've been eating a bit more sensibly this week, a few more healthy extras.  There is no doubt though I have significantly lost my normal raging appetite, and I am going to have to attribute that to some medication I am taking.  I used to really get hunger pangs in the evening, and eat cheese and ryvitas, but I don't even want to do that now.  Maybe giving up drinking wine, has a major effect.  I often used to think a couple of glasses of wine in the evenings used to make me hungry, so I've probably made a wise decision to give up drinking wine.

{The end of another week}

It's weigh in day again tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to it, because I am sure I have lost at least one lb, but I'd like it to be between 1.5 and 2lbs. It's been a difficult week, being so ill, dehydrated, and popping so many pills and lemsips, but I'm feling better now, and ready to go back to work again tomorrow.

I made some great tomato and red lentil soup for lunch, it always warms me up.  I ate so much I couldhardly stand afterwards, and when it came to supper time, I just made a bowl of syn free chips.  However I did make everyone else a toad in the hole.  That wastotal temptation, I adore it, but didn't let it pass my lips.  I feel quite saintly about that, and consider it as my first real temptation that has tested me.

More tomorrow, with good news I hope.

{Not feeling so good}

I've got the flu, it appeared very suddenly yesterday morning,and I've spent most of today either in bed,  or lying on the sofa in my PJs.  I ache from head to toe, can hardly walk, and have terrible sinisitis, plus the nrmal head cold. In fact I am really feeling very sorry for myself.

I have been eating, but not much, I stomach pains, I think caused my swollen glands, but managed a yoghurt for breakfast, ryvitas for lunch, and DH cooked a veggie spag bol this evening.  I couldn't complain, but I had to add up all the syns, tomato puree, olive oil, half a glass of red wine, it soon mounts up, but I had a very small portion, so I have probably overestimated my syns today.

Lem Sip Max, seems to be all we have in the house, and it 's working to a point, and having had 4 today, I was pleased to find out they are only 0.5 syns each, so that's only 2 syns for today.  My syns are much higher this week, and I've eaten much less free food, so we'll see how it goes, but I think a lb loss this week will be all I can expect. But when a girl's ill what can she do?  I'll hopefully feel a bit better, so I can get out to the shops and buy some free food, to prepare for my lunches next week.

{Another Good Day}

My lunchbag was very full today, I made myself a pasta and sauce quiche yesterday, and took half for my lunch today, plus some homemade and syn free hoummous, loads of fruit and a rocket salad.  I have a bit of a thing for rocket at the moment.  I love the wild, organic rocket.  It's fiercely expensive, but I just love the strong peppery taste in a salad.  My dh says I might as well eat dandelion leaves!! (Gosh aren't they poisonous!!)

The scales are still looking kind, and I'm hoping for a 2lb loss on Thursday, I'll get my half stone award if I lose one pound, and I'll go down into that next stone.

I watched "You are what you eat" tonight, and felt positively slim and saintly, when I looked at all the rubbish those people eat.  However, it did make me think a bit more about doing some exercise.  I'm doing nothing at the moment, not even walking much. Exercise was something that I knew I would eventually start, not just yet, but perhaps when my weight loss slows down a bit, I may start swimming, something that is not too strenuous, but I want it to be something I'll keep up, and the thought of getting wet is not my ideal.  I'd really love to get out on my bike, so once the evenings begin to draw out, I think this will be my focus, but I mustn't over do it, as this will do my health more harm than good, but a 30 minute bike ride will be something I would look forward to, two or three times a week.

I've only had 13.5 syns this week so far with one more day to go, so I am going to treat myself to a bar of chocolate, and a cup of something hot before I hit the sack.

Midweek ponderings}

My appetite is definately waining, yesterday I went all day on a Hifi bar for breakfast, and didn't even contemplate food, until 5pm. I cooked a roast, which I had no problem in eating.

Syn free roast potatoes are as good as the real thing, if not better.  Stirfried savoy cabbage is another one of my favs, except there wasn't much left after everyone else had tuacked in.  Quorn sausages were again served up, and they are beginning to become my staple diet.  I did make a pretty good gravy though just for me.

I fried onions, mushrooms and a couple of cherry tomatoes in fry light, until they begin to char, add some (veggie) beef bovril stock, the normal one without BEEF written on it, a touch of sweetner, and any herbs etc you fancy, I use thyme and coriander. And keep cooking for as long as possible while the rest of the meal is cooking.   As the liquid begins to reduce, it becomes quite thick and syrupy.  You can strain out the veg if you want.  I leave mine in, and pour over your roast whatever.  I treated myself to a Yoorkshire pud, 3.5 syns, and was completely satisfied, I couldn't believe I used to have three!

It's DH's BD and our anniversary on Friday 19th, and I'm going to book us in to an Indian restaurant.  I'm lucky it's the day after my weigh in, so I shouldn't have to worry too much about my syns.  I shall be sensible, and I've decided not to drink, I'd like to keep up my aclcohol free stint up for just a little bit longer.  It's definately helping me with not snacking in the evening.

In the past, even when on SW diet, I have always wanted to snack in the evening, ryvitas and laughing cow cheese, or a packet of crisps, a Hifi bar, or even a hot chocolate, but desire is just not there, so I'm thrilled,.

I weiged myself this morning and my moving average is going down each day, and I'm just hitting under the 14 stone mark, which is fab, but I'm feeling fat today, a bit bloated, and that always worries me, that I'm not going to lose this week.  I hate that feeling, especially when you know you have been as good as gold!

{Well prepared}

Today I was spending the whole day in a hall with lots of other ladies, "scrapbooking", and these ocassions often involve syn laden food, and a trip to Tesco's at lunch time for a fattening sandwich crisps, creamy dips etc.  So I had to get organised last night, and prepared breakfast, lunch and some extra snacks to take with me.

Breakfast
Mullerlight
Grapes
Satsuma
Apple

Lunch
Pasta salad, tomatoes, cucumber, mushrooms, red pepper etc
3 x Baby Bel Lite
3 x Ryvitas
Cherry Tomatoes

Snacks/tea
Walker's French Fries
VFF Cottage Cheese
Hi Fi Bar

I was away from home for 10 hours, and all I ate was my yoghurt, grapes and salad!  I certainly didn't need the rest.  I do seem to be losing my appetite in comparison to say three weeks ago.  I'm not complaining, but it's unlike me.

I got home and cooked myself some syn free chips, and a tomato and mushroom omelette, sprinkled with parmesan as I hadn't had any A or B Healthy Extras, with a blob of tomato sauce.

I've definately noticed my trousers are about an inch looser around my middle, this week, so good news there.