Im Back! :-)

I am back, I will try to post once per week atleast. So what diet am I on now you ask? I am simply eating less calories and burning more. How simple does that sound? I will post photos of my favorite meals since I started this. How much have I lost? well, Almost 9KG.. almost 20 pounds! So I am now back at my weight that I left myself get to before I then decide that I need to go on a diet, so yes I have a long way to go and I cant believe I let myself get that fat! How long has it taken? these things cant be rushed and we all know its not good to do these things too quickly. It has taken exactly 3 months, and we have had valentines day, easter, pancake day and a few trips away in between = lots of chocolate and meals out. Aside from that we have had a takeout every week but it's worked because I have made sure that i make up for these things by doing some exercise, whether a walk or session at the gym and I have been compensating with healthy meals at work and at home monday - friday. How far will I go? My goal weight is in 5/6 kilos time! Best bit? there is no gimmick, no strict guidelines its as simple as eating less and moving more. I am aiming for approx 1200 calories per day but am probably averaging about 1500/1600, and I am walking during my lunch hour and some evenings, (racking up an average of 7 miles a day!). Thanks for reading! Cookie x

Teryaki Chicken and noodles

A quick and simple dinner. I just marinaded my chicken in teriyaki sauce and honey and stirfried some peppers, mushrooms, cabbage, carrot and spring onion with noodles and a sachet of amoy hoisin stir fry sauce.

17 minutes in the airfryer at 180 and the chicken was lightly charred in the sticky areas and succulent in the middle. All in all a good mid week dinner, not too much fuss or too many dishes and relatively healthy.

Tonights dinner

Tonight I gave the Airfryer a little rest, sort of.. I seasoned a chicken breast with a little fajita seasoning to give a barbecue flavour and put this in my preheated (180c) Airfryer for 16 minutes. I turned halfway through. I was sticky and flavoursome, I cut this into little pieces, mixed with a little reduced fat mayo, I added this to a sandwich made with small wholemeal bread (60cal per slice) for tomorrows lunch.

For dinner I had beef stroganoff, which I made using thin steak strips, mushrooms, onions, spring
onions, chives, paprika, olive oil and sour cream.

It was yummy! I served it with 50g of basmati rice.

Cookie x

 

New beginings.. AGAIN

So new year new me.. new diet? No, I am giving up on dieting. I would like to lose weight because, yes I am fat again, but I haven't had much success with diets in a long time.

I am not going to restrict myself too much, I will simply be a bit cleverer in my choices and cook a little slimmer.

A big part will be cooking, and not reaching for the takeaway menu which we know is all too easy!

This Christmas my other half bought me two new gadgets, one is a spiralizer and the other is the Phillips Airfry (I bought him  pizza slicer and a cheese cutter..)

So far I have made a few goodies in the Airfry and im loving it, so you will probably find that a few of my posts and meals will revolve around this wonderful tool!

Pork, Spring Onion and Ginger Gyoza, filling put into defrosted store bought pastry sheets, sealed with water and a fork, then lightly brushed with oil prior to air frying.

                                   

3 mins in the Airfry at 190, turned and then on for a further 2 to 3 mins

                                    


New Years Meal; Home Cut Airfried Chips, Gyoza, Pork Patties, Tzatziki, Raita, Houmous and Veg Crudites

Cauliflower Crunchies, Sweet potato, Carrot and Parsnip Chips and Mac  Cheese

 

These are made by boiling cauliflower, draining and mashing with salt and pepper and a handful of cheddar, I also added a handful of breadcrumbs. I refrigerated,  rolled in flour, egg dipped and dipped into some finely crushed panko breadcrumbs. 

 

Sprayed with olive oil on both sides and put into the preheated Air fryer at 200c                          

 

I just had to have the tinned mac and cheese, it acted as a good dip for the chips and the crunchies, they were a little dry but had good flavour.

 

I only had half a tin a s I cook for two, so as a quick side 182 cals isn't too bad

 

 Thanks for reading, any questions or comments please drop me a line. Good luck to all the new year dieters and those of you embarking on a weight loss challenge!

 

Cookie x

Wasted day..

Today was a good day diet wise, but it seemed to go so quick and I hardly left the house (only to the butchers down the road.. Oops!)

Is started the day with a smoothie of a whole small pineapple and some chia and flax and beetroot powder and coconut milk.

Lunch was scrambled egg with spring onions and the leftover raita from the other night with some cucumber to dip.

Snack - half a honeydew melon blended with some filtered water

For my dinner I had a baked sweet potato and bolognaise style mince. (I have some of this left so will either have it for dinner tomorrow or the next day either with roast veg or with spelt pasta, which I am yet to try)

Snack - fruit and nut 9 bar, it was ok but I need to start baking and being a little more adventurous to see if I can come up with something better.

Thanks for reading

Cookie x

Day 7

I can't believe that's it, a whole week has gone by and I have been mostly good, yes I've had some little slip ups however I would say on average I have been consuming less than 1500 calories per day therefore I feel I should have lost something. We'll find out tomorrow at the weigh in. I am thinking my scales are slightly dodgy and regretting not weighing myself at boots or somewhere that I feel may be somewhat more reliable.

Breakfast - Forest fruits shake, and as I suspected this was absolutely rotten!

Mid snack - small tub of hummus with some cucumber and a 30g piece of cheese

Lunch - Roasted pepper and tomato soup, and again this was rotten!!

Afternoon snack - x 1 scrambled egg, it was a large egg and was a double yolker.

Dinner - x 1 Duck leg with a small amount of parsnip mash (I know on the avoid list), carrots, roasted pepper, onion and courgette.

Supper snack - 30g soft cheese and some strawberries

Not much to update on today. I am thinking of getting some exercise in next week as my do in on Saturday and I am hoping to have lost a few pounds for then and just generally feel a little slimmer/more comfortable in my dress.

I have been painting, hoovering and cleaning for most of the day so I'm sure that has burnt a few calories, well I hope so!

Cookie x

Day 6

So as expected because of the weekend and inevitable lye ins the diet has gone to pit slightly.

I weighed myself when I woke up before it all went wrong. 76.8, so a 1.8 kilo loss over 5 days, not amazing but i'll take it.

Breakfast - I slept in so I missed this

Mid snack - blueberries and x 6 small salmon and cream cheese appetisers

Lunch - we went to subway and the other half had a foot long chicken temptation with sweet onion sauce, of which I had a bite.

I asked for a tuna salad box and was hoping for cheese and lots of southwest sauce, didn't get any cheese and they were being very stingy with the sauce so I think diet wise this was a good choice, it included to tablespoons of tuna mayo, lettuce, green peppers, some chopped olives, pickles, jalapeños, onion and cucumber.

Snack - x2 celery sticks with 30g soft cheese and wrapped with x3 slices ham

Dinner - Chocolate shake

So the other half ordered dominoes to eat whilst I enjoyed my shake although I did offer to cook him some dinner.

It arrived and I am not keen on the pizza but I love the garlic bread, of which he saved me 2 pieces which I accepted.. Doh! They were so good.

Now I'm eating strawberries..

Hopefully tomorrow will be better

Cookie x

So today I have had an apple, 2 yogurts and my ham cheese and pickle sandwich. I used a wide potato peeler to thinly slice the 33% less fat cheese so there wasn't a great deal of it, just enough to taste.

I went to the hairdressers to dinner was a bit of a write off! I was very organised and made spicy parsnip soup, however I did think we needed a little something to go with it. So nipped to M&S before going home and picked up some bread and then 2 chicken legs and then some packs of wraps..Oops. we had a little picnic in the kitchen, although none of it diet food except the soup!

I have my gym membership for now and I am going to give it another go. I have been meaning to cancel my subscription however I don't want to rush into it.

So nothing more to report today except I hope to do better tomorrow!

Good Night! :-)

Day 39 - PP

Yesterdays weight: 73.5 - after a week of bread, rice, potato, pasta for breakfast - not too bad I guess, i tried a little of everything. I did not have large portions, I had mainly meat and cheese and a bite here and there of the carbs or just carbs at one daily meal.

Todays weight: 72.6 close to my leaving weight so I havent done too bad really, I just hope its not too difficult getting back to my regime

Breakfast: scrambled eggs x 2 and smoked proscuitto

Lunch: went shopping and bought some trainers :-)

Dinner: Naughty I know but I had lamb cooked in a little oil and then added some paprika butter, to accompany this I had some full fat halloumi which was fried in a little oil and oregano..Ooops but OMG the best meal in a while. I liked the romanian food very much, there is a lot of cabbage based dishes and tonights dinner was so tasty..

Snacks: coconut yogurt with light cocoa

Summary: after buying all the sachets of light hot choc and taking the oatbran with me again..no discipline there. I dont think my brother had a microwave but one thing was certain they would not let us make our own breakfast, they waited on us hand and foot, not something i'm used to. Anyhow, breakfasts were very pleasant we had feta cheese, tomatoes, olives, cucumber, a selection of meats and a little pasta with sweet milk, all very delicious!

I could not wait to get home as I thought I would have gained aleast 5 pounds.. I am very good at gaining weight.. lots of practice I guess. Now that i'm home I feel a little lost and would love to go back. Work again on thursday so back to reality. I hope everyone else had a good week.

Day 34 - PV

Yesterdays weight: 73 Kg

Todays weight: 72.5 Kg RESULT..so happy with that I am going to boots to get a receipt printed with that on the weigh machine!! okay so their machine I always way a little more and I have just scoffed a pound of salmon but hey it should be one of my lowest weigh ins there in years!! The pessimist/realist in me is thinking there will be a gain tomorrow but will hopefully leave me weighing less than yesterday..fingers crossed!!

Breakfast: half fat cheese with some salmony cream cheese in yum! thank god for m & s sandwich fillers (probably not the lowest in fat but i have eated in quite often and not done too badly.. the cheese is low fat and boy it tastes that way!)

Lunch: packet of smoked salmon 100g.. ugh I feel sicky smokey salmon overload!!
Saturday shopping times, going to get my boobies measured as im thinking they have shrunk somewhat..result again, I can almost reach my short arms around to fasten my bra as opposed to putting it over my head :-)
Need some trainers as the ones I bought in march are falling to pieces, obviously a sign that i walk a lot or I am so heavy that my shoes cave in..

Dinner: I made a vegetable moussakka using minced mushrooms, celery, carrot, and aubergine. I used a little cornflour and skim milk for the white sauce and half fat grated cheese, was rather yummy and had some low fat coleslaw with it, and OMG I was full so quickly I couldnt finish either!

Snacks: I may have a piece of diabetic chocolate or two later.. the coffee one is okay.

Summary: Well has been a good couple of days. I made an effort when I went out today, I put foundation on and heels, i must wear foundation like once a year I am a lazy bugger really. Felt good. Hope every one is having a wonderful weekend

Day 18 Cruising PP

yesterdays weight: 74.6kg lbs

Todays Weight: 74.1kg lbs

Breakfast: oatbran with skimmed milk and 40 calorie cocoa

Lunch: 1 pack sliced chicken, a light babybel, 1 pepperami

Dinner: 4 teriyaki beef kebabs

Snacks: 1 low fat low carb vanilla yogurt

Summary: I have been to the gym, 500 calories and weights, I have been going very slow, i used to feel the need to burn 1000 calories but since I am restricting carbs etc I am not so strict with working out and I am not going anywhere near as much I have in the past, suprisingly I would go almost everyday for a hard workout and see very minimal results at the end of it, hopefully slow and steady is the way to go!! I am really wanting to see 73.?? soon enough on the scales...comeee onnnn!!

Realisation..just remembered I had a skinny frappe although I do believe I saw the girl who served me using the blue top milk.........:-( I would normally have said something but she was just so rude to start with I did not have the time

Day 17 - PV Cruising.. still

yesterdays weight: 74.2kg lbs

Todays Weight: 74.6kg lbs Nooo!

Breakfast: oatbran with 1% fat milk and a tablespoon of highlights hot chocolate, maybe less next time it tastes more salty than chocolatey if im honest!

Lunch: mattersons twisted tails, hog roast flavour was utterly manky and I wont be going there again! I got a salad from the sandwich shop, lettuce, cucumber, egg, pepper, tomato, again a few half olives and a sprinkling of feta, and a pack or pork loin slices on top,,, yummy!

Dinner: My mum made roast chicken, and I made a mushroon gravy to accompany, it was good!! I had roast beetroot and my spiraliser arrived today so i had some carrot spirals too, was lush with the gravy and the crunch ;-)

Snacks: very bad I know. Yesterday I made a gluten free, dairy free orange and almond cake, infact I made 3.. miniature cakes that is, they are about the size of a saucer and i had 1/6 of one..it was soo good!

Summary: I feel really let down by eating that cake, and im trying to rationalise that I have consumed much less calories than I was consuming each day before this diet, and it's not like I went on a mental binge, but I still feel I have failed. I hope this does not affect the next few days, i want to pick up where I left off and have no more slip ups, this week atleast.

 I am going to see dolly, yes it is a sad dream of mine to see the queen of country live. so I am sure that I will have a drink then and I will have to be extra strict now for whatever slip ups occur during that couple of days spent in liverpool... Looking forward to decent shops, we currently have choice of about 8-9 clothing stores here..

Here is the yummy orange cake, which will be great for the stableization phase, oviously I am never thinking of overdoing it, but I feel this cake is a treat and will be a treat and is only 250cals per slice and is low on sugar and carbs in comparison to other cakes, and it only used 4 ingredients.

Day 15 - PV

yesterdays weight: 74.5kg lbs

Todays Weight: 74,2kg lbs  now thats better!

Breakfast: 2 low carb sausages baked mushrooms and a tbsp of low sugar ketchup

Lunch: bag of mattersons twisted tails 108 cals, seasoned pork

Dinner: pork cottage pie with celeriac topping and a few grams of parmesan on top

Snacks: skinny frappe

Summary: So the cottage pie went down a treat, walked around town so theres the exercise for the day, hope for more loss going forward, id like to lose a lb a week. went to the scales in boots for today for my weekly official reading, they were broken..boo! It wasn't me ;-)

yesterdays weight: 74.6kg lbs

Todays Weight: 74.5kg lbs 100g of weight loss this week, finally..its pretty shocking really so I need to assess where i’m going wrong!

Breakfast: bowl of oatbran porridge with tsp of cocoa pwder and 1% fat milk, we ordered in from work, 2 fried eggs and two sausages so I wont be suprised if the scales are reading high the next few days

Lunch: I have made some chicken nuggets to bring to work with ketchup and unlike yesterdays omelette quiche my dad did not decide they look nice, I’ll have them. but they are scrummy, I did have to hide them in the fridge

Dinner: I have my katsu curry left, although today is no veg day, I cant have the apsaragus and I shall have to strain the veg from the sauce, not to worry really, all under control. I did not have the asparagus.. but i cba removing the carrot from the sauce

Snacks: I got offered a choccy biccy but I said no..thank you

Summary: I need to do some shopping, I am allowed veggies tomorrow and I would really like to make a cottage pie topped with celeriac mash, hopefully the family will eat this without fuss.

Shopping list
celeriac - makes great coleslaw also, low fat feta if such a thing exists, oat bran, babybel light - were allowed these right??, smoked salmon, 1 whole trout.

Chicken Katsu Curry sans rice

Ingredients - serves 2

spray of oil
2 chicken escalopes or breasts
1 egg
3 tablespoons of oat bran
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp chilli powder
0.5 ground corriander
1 garam masala
few sprigs of rosemary chopped

sauce
whole bulb of roasted garlic (it is sweet and you wont require any sugar in cooking), alternatively just use 3 cloves of chopped fresh garlic
carrots chopped into fine squares
half a white onion chopped finely
It would have been nice with a chopped stick of celery
3 cups of chicken stock
few twists black pepper
1 tsp of corn flour
1 spray oil
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp curry powder
0.5 tsp chili powder

serve with some veg on a PV day, goes great with asparagus, spring onions, spinach, pickles whatever you fancy!

Step 1. add 2 tsp of the oatbran to the egg and whisk, add 1 tsp of curry powder and the rest of the herbs and spices and whisk.

step 2. dip the chicken in the egg mix, then spoon on the remaining oatbran with the other tsp of curry powder mixed in and black pepper.

step 3. spray a pan and fry the coated chicken

step 4. whilst you chicken is frying spray a small non stick skillet and fry up some onions until starting to soften, then add the cubed carrot and celery if you desire.

step 4. add the spices and the corn flour, mix until incorporated with the veg,

step 5. add the chicken stock and leave to simmer until thickens, you can strain this but i decided to leave the carrot in, less hassle really.

Day 12 - Day 2 'Cruise' PP

yesterdays weight: 74.7kg lbs

Todays Weight: 74.6kg lbs back to where i was the other day but it is a loss i guess in the grand scheme of things thats okay in my books!

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with 2 slices extra lean corned beef

Lunch: 4 slices lean sliced ham and a pot of passionfruit mousse, this had a weird funny taste and i could not for the life of me fathom what it could possibly be - however I did notice it had rice flour in and was loaded with carbs..wrong move to check the labels after consumption!

Dinner: 2 venison burgers, i really like them but they do leave me with a slightly oily mouth which is odd because looking at the label they arent loaded with fat like a lot of other burgers on the market. I had some spring onion and a chopped gherkin to garnish, were allowed to use these things for seasoning right..just happens that the seasoning looked remarkably like a salad.

Snacks: 3 pieces beef jerky. small pieces they do remind me of doggy treats.

Summary: All in all not a bad day, was in a meeting most of the afternoon so I did not have chance to snack which is always good, productive and not snacking..go me!

feeling super organised as I have already made my quiche for lunch tomorrow. recipe and pictures to follow

Day 9 of Dukan - PP

yesterdays weight: 74.9kg lbs

Todays Weight: 74.6kg lbs

Breakfast: Lunch: 2 low carb gluten free sausages cooked on the george foreman grill with 1 slice of fat off bacon and 1 venison burger 1 tbsp ketchup low sugar/salt variety

Dinner: 1 piece poached salmon which I blended with low fat cream cheese 1/2 tsp tomato puree and lemon juice and wrapped in smoked salmon, this had a vile texture so I couldnt eat it all, and I was rather naughty indulging in 3 gherkins. I also was making flapjacks for my dad to take to work and ended up eating a small piece of apricot and a pinch of the mixture so bad but soo good.

Snacks: 3 tablespoons of low fat cottage cheese with some chopped onion to flavour and 1 slice of ham with a low fat laughing cow triangle.

Summary: I really think I am going to look at the scales and see a gain which is a pain because I have been so good for so long..just slipped up a little today.

Day 8 dukan PP

yesterdays weight: 75.2kg lbs
Todays Weight: 74.9kg on waking and 74.6kg after BM 164.78lbs  164.12lbs

 Breakfast: ice lolly made with low cal cordial. spray of oil fried 1 slice bacon and 2 sausages and an egg

Lunch: big breakfast was had!

Dinner: 2 venison and onion burgers from m&s, very nice with a heaped tbsp of low fat cottage cheese, 1 tbsp ketchup and 1 laughing cow light

Snacks: oatbran porridge with stewed rhubarb

Summary:

yesterdays weight: 75.4kg lbs
Todays Weight: 75.2kg 165.4lbs

 Breakfast: oatbran porridge with a little agave syrup, breakfast order at work, scrambled egg and 2 slices of bacon with fat off

Lunch:3 chicken kebabs dipped in a little heinz low sugar and salt ketchup, they literally stunk the office out.. wont be taking them to work again!

Dinner:really bored of beef so I had a little of the mince from yesterday and 2 low fat gluten free sausages fried in a spray of oil.

Snacks: low fat chocolate mousse, less than 5% fat

Summary: I am feeling quite satisfied today (maybe because I am full of food from day 5 onwards), not a huge amount of weight loss but again its in the direction. I have not been to the toilet since day 5 and even then it wasnt anything to write home about..sorry for posting that here but it has to be said, high protein and low fibre = constipation! I am going to have to get some herbal remedy on the go to help me go if this persists!

Day 6 of 'Attack Phase' Dukan

yesterdays weight: 75.6kg lbs
Todays Weight: 75.4kg lbs

 Breakfast: oat bran porridge with a little agave syrup and 1% fat milk

Lunch: 2 mini quiches made with serano ham and filled with bacon a whisked egg and etra light cream cheese, yogurt and I have had a packet of sliced chicken

Dinner: beef mince cooked with onion and bacon and tomato puree and a stock cube to make a bolognaise sauce, lots of seasoning

Snacks: raspberry flavour yogurt, gerkin x 1,

Summary: so todays been okay, not a huge loss but a loss not the less. I havent done too much excerise just walking to start with and when i fully introdue veg then I will get back to the gym, hopefully  I will have a tad more energy. my mum is encouraging me to do the full 10 days attack phase but i feel that a week is probably sufficient, not sure, i guess ill see if it stays this easy and I may consider it.