Update in Pictures

I'm still here in case you were wondering where I was!  I thought I'd give you an update in pictures this time for a change :) 

1st February relaxing at home

An overnight trip to Bournemouth with the Hubster, pub number one

Still in Bournemouth, pub number two

17th February hard at work, thought I'd share my mouse mat with you

23rd February relaxing at home with Columbo

Followed by Miss Marple

25th February my winning arrow against the Hubster at lunchtime (yes, it was a Monday!!)

28th February a view from the pub in Bath - another over night trip away

Whilst in the pub enjoying this

Evening meal at a Moroccan restaurant in Bath  - this starter was shared by us both

Not terribly Moroccan for me, sizzling fajitas, YUMMY!

4th March relaxing at home again

And this is what I do to balance out all the above!

Nice shoesies

The view from the treadmill in the work gym

Working up a sweat 

Feeling virtuous

Until next time x 

Reasons (Excuses!) Not To Lose Weight

As you all know I'm a member of an online weight loss forum, WLR.  A few days ago a member posted this onto one of the boards there.  I have obtained his permission to reproduce it here for you guys.  

Thanks Roy :)

Well, no matter how you look at it, Christmas and the New Year are well behind us now, and with them go a handy little bundle of excuses for putting on weight, not going to the gym, having an extra biscuit and a hundred other sins.

Let's face it, for the best part of a month a lot of us having been saying things like, "Office Do's" "Mince Pies" "Family Dinner" and rubbish like that to justify loosening the belt just a notch or so. 

And the excuses of "Snow is forecast" "Don't make non-essential journeys" and "Police advise you to stay indoors and keep warm" as reasons not to go out for a walk, jog or go for a bike ride just won't cut the mustard as we creep closer and closer to the spring.

So what the hell can we look forward to then?

Fortunately, it appears that there are still a few useful little jokers that you can keep up your sleeve to buy you a little time when the the bathroom scales start telling porkies by suggesting that you are starting to get a little more porky.

For instance, this coming Friday is Burns night. And it doesn't matter whether you hail from north of the border or not, any excuse to tuck into venison, haggis, shortbread and a mug or two of whisky has to be a good one.

Saturday is Australia Day, so that'll be sausages, burgers, giant prawns and cans of ice cold beer. After all, we wouldn't want to upset our convict cousins, would we?

Creeping in to February we simply have to enjoy the Chinese New Year (year of the snake this time round) which means sticky ribs, crispy duck and all sorts of yummy rice dishes. It would be rude not to. But then that is followed up by Pancake Day a couple of days later. Have them with lemon, maple syrup or just a sprinkle of sugar - they'll still make your arse look big.

The problem is that just a breath after that comes Valentines day, with ... chocolates, champagne and a lovely romantic meal; Hard life, isn't it?

March doesn't bring any relief - Mothers day brings that smashing Sunday lunch at a local restaurant - or even better - cooked by the other half at home. But that's then followed up by St Patricks Day, when we all pretend to like Guinness and eat meat pies and various pork products. The end of the month has a sting in its tail, because Easter comes early this year! Hot Cross Buns are an absolute favourite of mine, but then there's Creme Eggs, chocolate eggs and a shed load of other scrummy teeth rotting goodies. You may even run to a full Turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

However, April provides us with a breather. At least it does until St Georges Day - when it is the law that we all eat roast beef, drink beer, and generally fall over. As a proud patriot, I shall definitely do my duty.

May looks fine - except that's when my gorgeous daughter Liz gets married. And on that day every single calorie for everyone one on this site has a value of zero. 

So that's the day when my weight loss for 2013 will kick in.

Pointless trying beforehand, isn't it? :p
Til next time x

Work Beckons

Where does the time go to I wonder?  

It's now 3 weeks and 2 days since my operation and I'm ready to return to work.  I have been in touch with the doctor and obtained a ''fit note'' as I'm officially signed off sick all this coming week but I really don't think I need it.  

This is where working shifts comes in handy, I will return to work on Tuesday for two day shifts before having two rest days.  Eases me in gently :)

I'm not sure that I really have the time to go to work though!  These last couple of weeks in particular I've done so much at home like purging my admin, sorting my wardrobe and ditching over 30 kg of clothing for which I raised just over £20.  (Actually, half was mine, half was the Hubster's).  This last week in particular has seen me going to the gym for *real* workouts and this has speeded up my recovery I'm sure.  

I've had a couple of naughty off track days as far as food is concerned, but on the whole I've stuck to healthy eating and have been logging my food and keeping track of my calorie intake.  I've not given up wine at all, however I have been diligently measuring out smaller amounts (150 ml) and having it in a smaller glass.  This all came together for me on Thursday when I had my official weigh in and found I'd lost 1.6 kg over  the previous week (a little over 3 and a half pounds in old money).   I'm now *almost* back in my Happy Range and feel loads better for it.  

The top picture was another Hairy Dieter's recipe, this time for a bolognese mix.  That isn't spagetti you see but shredded cabbage.  A very low calorie alternative which wasn't bad at all.  

The next picture was a massive chunk of smoked cod loin, steamed peas and tenderstem broccoli.  Really tasty.  

That's the good stuff.  Here's the naughty ;)

This was an apple and custard lattice from Morrisons that had the calorie count printed on the package which I thought was a great idea.  I've seen more places offering that information recently, I think that can only be a good thing :)
Til next time x

Reasons not to go to the gym

Plus I see on FaceBook that the gym is closed anyhow due to the fact that staff can't make it in.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to venture out as I'm told the main roads are pretty clear, so fingers crossed the gym will be open and I can go work up a sweat.

I'm still off work having been signed off for a further 2 weeks, although I'm hoping that I will be able to get into work the week after next.  We'll see.

In the meantime, I'm still calorie counting and trying to make the best of the calories that I do have.  Hasn't always been successful, but on the whole it's way better than when I've been off work sick before!

Meals like:

This was a lunchtime thing.  roasted butternut squash with rosemary and thyme sprinkled over and some sliced chicken breast.  The BS was a little bland to be honest so I need to look at jazzing it up a bit.  

Last night we had a tweaked version of the Hairy Dieter's fish gratin.  It doesn't feature on their website at the moment so I can't post a link, but it's dead easy to make.

the base

topping of breadcrumbs and a smidgen of grated cheese

finished product

It was very tasty and dead easy to make :)  We used a supermarket ''fish pie mix'' as the base cooked in with the sauce (cornflour & milk).  I would recommend using a stronger flavoured fish if you do want to do this to add to the taste, fish such as salmon, prawns, smoked cod/haddock rather than white.  I think it may be a little bland otherwise.  

And all for under 400 calories a portion :)

Til next time x

Food Glorious Food

First meal is courtesy of the Hairy Dieters Recipe Book.  Lemony kebabs.  

The recipe called for a dressing and salad as the HD boys served it up in warmed pitta bread.  As you can see, the Hubster and I opted for a stuffed pepper.  In the pepper was Ainsley Harriott's Lemon, Mint & Parsley cous cous.  

Verdict - bloody gorgeous though next time we will have a different flavoured cous cous as this one was a little bland.  Also, it felt like pepper overload given that we had chopped peppers on the skewers also.

Before

Just dished up

About to tuck in

Next meal was dinner last night.  Coincidentally a pepper stuffed with cous cous, this time Ainsley Harriott's Moroccan Medley which we also crumbled some feta cheese into before stuffing the peppers and baking them in the oven for about 20 minutes.  Served up with a plain salmon fillet that was grilled and stir-fried yellow pepper, red onion and mushrooms.  

Verdict - heaven on a plate :)

Tonight's delight has been Mung Bean Curry.

Really cross with myself that I didn't take pics of the work in progress as the ingredients were actually quite colourful :)

This was the first time we'd done this having been given a flyer at Whole Foods Market when we went there a few days ago.  It was a good first effort but definitely needs tweaking as it was very mild and needed a bit more in the spice department to give it a bit of a kick.  

250g rinsed mung beans
2 tbspn oil (this is as per the original recipe but we reduced the amount used to just over a tbspn)
1 chopped onion
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 cm ginger, finely grated
2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
½ tspn ground cumin
1 tspn ground coriander
½ tspn turmeric
salt, to taste
2 diced tomatoes
1 tspn cumin seeds
1 tspn mustard seeds
8-10 curry leaves
50ml plain yogurt (we used low fat)
handful of chopped fresh coriander

Put the mung beans into a saucepan and add 600ml water.  Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and cover.  Cook for approx 30 minutes until tender.  Be careful not to overcook, they should hold their shape.  Do not drain - the water is needed later.  In a large saucepan heat half the oil.  Add onion and cook, stirring frequently until just softened, around 4 minutes.  Add ginger, garlic and chillies and cook for a further 2 minutes.  Add cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, salt and tomatoes, stir frequently for 2 minutes.  Add the cooked mung beans with the cooking water, adding more if needed.  Stir in the yogurt then add the fresh coriander and the curry leaves.  Leave on a very low heat. 

In a small pan heat the remaining oil on a high heat.  Add the cumin and mustard seeds and cook until they start popping.  Add to the mung mix (called Dal) and immediately cover the pot leaving it to stand for 5 minutes before stirring and serving.  

This recipe has been copied from the flyer given out at the shop as mentioned above. 

I've entered it into my recipe database on WLR and the above mix, split three ways, comes in at 333 calories per portion.  (That's with a reduced amount of oil).  The flyer did say ''serves 4'' but we are greedy :p

Next time round we are going to spice it up a bit and add either lamb or chicken as I think that would work pretty well.  

Til next time x