Healthy Tuna Salad …

… adapted from my friend’s recipe:

Tinned tuna in brine (I used two cans but we have to oblige four greedy cats!)
2 medium carrots
1 small red onion
1 red pepper
1 yellow
2 heaped tablespoons of % fat natural yogurt

Drain tuna, finely shred all veg add yogurt and mix together. It would benefit from a squeeze of lime juice but I didn’t have any! I served it with Moroccan cous cous (sinned) cucumber, beetroot and tomato. It would be a great jacket potato filling or in a wrap etc.

A bit of a break through …

I’ve been struggling to lose weight these last few weeks … almost like something was blocking me from breaking through the 15st. barrier … I’d got to within 1/2lb of losing 31/2stone but then I just seemed to sabbotage myself by gaining gaining a pound, taking off half a pound, gaining another pound … just like a yo-yo!!!  But I’ve kept on going to my Slimming World Group because they are so supportive and inspriational … and I’ve stuck pretty much to the Food Optimising Plan.

Weigh-in this week I was 14st 11.5lbs … a total loss of 3st 9.5lbs

I’ve had an interesting week – made some decisions and ironed out some twisted thoughts in  my head – got rid of a couple of skeletons in my cupboard if you like … and it’s like there’s been a huge shift in my energy … and finally in my weight!

I still have a long way to go – I reckon about another 3 or 4 stone … but I am feeling totally confident again – bring it on! 

Medical Motivation

Since having my second daughter in 1999 I have had high blood pressure … triggered in pregnancy and including a potentially life-threatening eclamptic fit during delivery … I have had to take a 5mg Amlodipine tablet every day since … well I say “every day” but I sometimes forget!

I don’t do “sick” very well – and so this was a bit of a blow to say the least.  I think that the most devastating part of this diagnosis was the news that I could no longer be a Blood Donor – I had come to blood donation fairly late in life but once I started I was committed – I managed to reach the first “award” of 10 donations before I became pregnant – of course I had to stop during pregnancy and for the first year after the birth.  I was looking forward to getting back to it as soon as I was allowed – only to be told that because I was taking this medication I could no longer be a blood doner: Gutted!

I’ve had a hell of a couple of weeks – two trips to Nottingham (for pleasure) and a couple of weeks of stress (for work) and so when I ran out of my medication I kind of forgot – pushed it to the back of my mind.  That was about three weeks ago – things have settled down a bit now and so I plucked up the courage to visit my GP today – to confess my sins and get a repeat prescription.

I got bonus points for losing weight – on the GP scales this morning (with shoes) I was 15st 2lbs … and my blood pressure was 140/85 (text-book “borderline high”).  My GP must have been impressed because he has promised to monitor me over the next 6 months … if I continue to lose weight and maintain my life-style changes he will half my dosage in 3 months and knock it on the head in 6 months.

Music to my ears – and just the motivation I need to keep my on track with Slimming World Food Optimising

… and a slight flicker of light at the end of the tunnel that may lead me back to the vampires down at the Blood Doner Service.

Flap Jack and Cheesecake … hmmmm

I know that I need to take responsibility for what I decide to put in my mouth and eat … but sometimes other people have to accept their share of the responsibility too!

I have just returned from a lovely trip to Nottingham – taking youngest daughter to stay with her sister and her partner for a week.  I was greeted at the door with a plate a Mary Berry flap jack – made with butter and covered in a liberal amount of melted chocolate – followed by a Mary Berry Lemon Cheesecake – which I had to try a moderate slice of – I managed to stop at the one slice … and when I left there was still a couple of slices in the fridge “singing” to me – but I managed to resist the temptation.

I could blame my daughter for making the said flap jack and cheesecake … but I rather think I should set my sights higher and blame these two characters:

Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry – judges on the TV programme The Great British Bake Off  … who have captured my daughter’s imagination and inspired her to bake cakes and the like! All very well if you have a naturally svelte figure a busy life and a high metabolism (like my daughter) … not so good for us middle-aged folk who are battling against a sedentary job and an inherited “fat gene” (I come from a long line of small round women!).

So if I gain weight this week – Paul and Mary will have to take some of the blame … as well as my lack of will-power to say “NO THANKS” when delicious sweetmeats are wafted under my nose!

Not always plain sailing …

Life is not always plain sailing – and this week has had its ups and downs … and as far as my weight is concerned its been down – that’s not down in a good way either!  I’d had a tough day at work and so I was tired when I went to my Stokesley Slimming World Class on Wednesday evening … and I have to admit to being disappointed to have gained 1/2lb.

Now I know in the great scheme of things 1/2lb. is neither here nor there – but it is annoying when my overall aim is to lose weight not put it back on!

Lorraine (our SW Consultant) keeps telling us if we don’t like the results we get on the scales we have to look at what we are going to change in order to get what we want (a weight loss) next week.  So this week I’ve been reflecting on what I am doing wrong … or if not wrong – could be doing better!

I have come to the conclusion that I have become complacent … I have been following SW Food Optimising since the end of August 2011 … and I think I know what I am doing … but this is where I have come unstuck – I’ve become too cocky and clever when really I am kidding myself that I am doing it right.

I can have between 5 & 15 syns a day and so I’ve learned the syn-value of some of my favourite “treats”:

Lidl Gelatelli Neapolitan Ice Cream Sandwiches, 10 pack, 48g each = 5 syns

Nestle, Kit Kat, Milk, 2 fingers = 5.5 syns

Walkers Crisps, all varieties, 25g bag = 6.5 syns

All well within my daily allowance – so what’s the problem?

The problem is … I’ve got into the mind-set that I am “allowed” these treats because I know the syn value etc … and I’ve fallen into the habit of having an ice cream after my evening meal – and then an hour or so later I might have a packet of crisps – and then I might have a kit-kat with my mug of tea at bed-time …. and as I eat each one I’m kidding myself that I’m sticking to my SW Food Optimising Plan 100% …oh then there are the additions that I am “forgetting” to count – like:

Ainsley Harriott Moroccan Medley Couscous, excluding oil & butter, 100g pack = 1.5syns

Honey, 1 level tbsp = 2.5syns

Flora Cuisine Oil, 1 level tbsp = 4.5syns

So I convince myself that I’ve done really well and I act the holier than thou martyr who has the willpower and resolve of a saint – when in actual fact I am sailing into stormy waters on a regular basis – which accounts for my disappointment on the scales on Wednesday evening.

I can hear Lorraine say “So what are you going to change?”

This week I am going to write down my syns – all of them!

I am going to take back control of the helm and steer a steady course through much calmer waters … which will lead to a good weight-loss!

Land Ahoy!

 

Fish n Chips …

In the last week I visited our local Fish & Chip shop … shock horror!!!

I hasten to add that I was purchasing chips for my daughter (slim and gorgeous with a high metabolism!).

Then today I found myself in town – gazing in a jewellery shop window – with the smell of freshly fried chips wafting gently on the spring breeze … and to be quite honest I felt a bit queasy … I certainly had no desire to eat the offending food-stuff!

I think that I have managed to cure my taste for fatty foods – not on my own of course – I’ve had the continued help and support of my Slimming World Class … but I believe that I have come thus far and now it has become a way of life … a healthy way of life!  I really cannot imagine wanting to eat fish and chips again … hope the cure is permanent!

Reaping the rewards …

This has been a good week as far as following Slimming World Food Optimising goes … so good I have lost 3lbs!

I felt so guilty at the weekend for preventing my husband from making me a special Mother’s Day dinner … but I am so glad I did!  We still had a lovely meal – but all “free-food” that allowed me to stay on track – and this committment showed on the scales this evening.

It is not always easy to stay focussed and it would be so easy to wander off track – but the only person who would suffer is me.

What motivates me to keep going? One of the best “tools” is the replica lump of fat that we have at my Slimming World Stokesley Class.  If I have gained weight or maintained then it is a great motivator to get me back on track … and when I have lost weight I love picking it up and “weighing” it in my hand – and I think “Wow – I’ve lost this much”