Keto...

Hello my lovelies!

Now you all know been a big fan of Slimming World since my first go at it over three years ago, but just recently I've been hearing about the Ketogenic Lifestyle where you basically train your body to burn fat by eating a high fat, low carb and moderate protein diet.

I first heard about it from the lovely YouTuber Kaeyi Dream from A Wild Kaeyi Appears and In the Little Dream - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVbR82kX83oRAxe9XESvijQ. She uses it to control her fibromyalgia and she says that it also helped her lose weight and gives her more energy.

I'm up for any diet plan where I can eat bacon and eggs for breakfast every day (that's why I joined Slimming World!) so a diet where chicken and coleslaw is an accepted lunch, well I'm in.

To me this is a lot like the SW red days, but without skipping on the fat. No need to trim the bacon and I can cook in oil/butter etc, I'm sure you get the jist. It's a lot like Atkins.

I figure I'll give it a month and if I don't feel it's right for me I'll be straight back to eating the SW way... I'll just maybe add a few more red days to my week.

I also found this very helpful blog detailing one girl's Keto journey - http://www.ketogenicqueen.com/

Let me know if you've ever tried this or what you think about it.

Big love,

Kiki x

Romwe

Hello my lovelies,

I've got quite a lot of bits and bobs gathered up since I've been "treating" myself with makeup and clothing instead of food and am going to do a bit of a haul post about it all for you. Only problem is I'm still waiting on three items I ordered off an online store called Romwe (which I ordered on 25th August).

I'd heard lots of great reviews about it through YouTubers I subscribe to and thought it would make for excellent low-cost "treats" - I don't want to break the bank with these things! Unfortunately I think they are trying to scam me out of more money, which is a bit disappointing. I paid around £50 for a handbag and two jumpers and now they are emailing me asking that I contact them to pay another £20 duty and taxes (they have sent two package and two emails so I presume they actually are looking £40 total), but I have never had to pay duty and taxes direct to a foreign company. Normally the postal service (Royal Mail/Parcel Force) contact me direct about shipping costs.

Considering I bought four bridesmaid dresses from China for my wedding last November and had to pay £40 tax and duty on them (which was calculated based on the total value of the items - £260) I think Romwe are trying to con me out of money. Maybe they don't realise that I buy quite a lot of things from China and know the tax and duty costs and where to pay them?

I've emailed them saying that I'm not paying that and that they need to either send my packages and stop messing around or just refund me. Luckily I've paid through PayPal so can open a case through there and have PayPal refund it out of their account.

Now that I've had this problem I've googled some Romwe reviews and found quite a lot of unhappy customers - people who have not received items and people who have, but the items have been rubbish. I think they must send popular YouTubers items to have them reviewed in order to scam subscribers into making purchasers. Obviously I'm not suggesting that the YouTubers know about this in any way, they probably think they are showing their subscribers affordable fashion from a trusted seller. Of course I could be completely wrong and this could be a big misunderstanding - we shall see.

I'm a bit down about it all really and to be honest I've had two cream buns today to make myself feel better, which actually makes me feel worse because I've probably just maxed out my syn quota for the week.

I've also calculated the costs on the tax calculator I normally use (which has always been accurate) and it has said that I should have to pay £10.13 maximum for all three items. I don't know if you can clearly see the screenshot below?

I've been doing so well with Slimming World, but I am an emotional eater - if I feel bad I eat, if I feel good I eat... see the problem? I've replaced feel good eating with buying little inedible treats, but don't have a replacement for the feel bad eating yet.

I'm sorry this post isn't very helpful or inspiring, but sometimes I just feel like eating a couple of cream buns and putting on my pyjamas to watch NCIS. This is one of those times.

Hope you are all doing a bit better than me today!

Big love,

Kiki x

Motivational Meal Plan Mondays

Hello my lovelies!

I don't know about you, but weekends can be my downfall. It's very easy to fall off the Slimming World bandwagon when your other-half offers to buy pizza... and garlic bread... and chips.... *ahem* on a Saturday night. So today I just wanted to do a quick Slimming world Monday meal plan for you all. I know a lot of you have very busy lives and need something that is not only quick and tasty, but is also SW approved - especially on a Monday! 

When I have a lot on my plate (no pun intended) I revert back to the good old green days - for me carbs are a little gift sent from heaven to make me feel full, satisfied and full of energy.

This is my typical busy day meal plan:

BREAKFAST - HEa & HEb

Two Weetabix with sweetener and semi-skim milk

Coffee and semi-skim milk

LUNCH - 3.5 syns

Uncle Ben’s Vegetable Express Rice (2 syns)

Small can of Heinz curry flavour baked beans (1.5 syns)

Water or a Diet Coke

DINNER - 2 syns

Batchelor’s Pasta ’n’ Sauce Macaroni (2 syns)

Water or a Diet Coke

SNACKS

Muller Light Fat Free Fruitopolis (1/2 syn per pot) - I would normally have a coupe of these.

In general a busy day for me would use up more syns than if I had time to make completely free meals but I don’t think this really matters. SW is about learning how to eat healthy no matter how much time you have and it gives you plenty of options to help you do that. Of course a little preparation would help me stay syn free on these days, but to be honest sometimes I’d rather use a couple of syns and have an easy life than struggle around an already busy schedule to prepare meals in advance. 

Today’s total syn count will be 6.5, which keeps me well under the 15 syn recommendation and I’ll have used 1 HEa and 1 HEb. If I’m feeling a bit luxurious tonight I might add another HEa worth of cheese to my Macaroni… the frivolity!

I hope you are all having a happy and healthy Monday! Don't worry if you've fallen off the bandwagon over the weekend (or even with that cheeky Mc D's on the way to work this morning), every meal is a fresh start!

Big love, 

Kiki x

You are beautiful, unique and valued...

 
Hello my Lovelies!

I know it’s not easy to stay positive when you are on your weight loss journey, and IT IS A JOURNEY. Some of the worst things people can say to me is ‘how much weight have you lost?’, ‘can you eat that on a diet?’, ‘your being very naughty eating that’, ‘that’s such a bad food for weight-loss’ and ‘did you hear that such and such has lost over two stone already’.

I hate the way people think they have the right to judge me based on my weight and what I eat. I am on a weight-loss JOURNEY… and it will take me a while to lose the weight. The most important thing to me is that I am secure in myself no matter what my size or shape. My weight does not define me and it shouldn’t define any of you either. It shouldn’t change the way people talk to me or look at me. No one has the right to judge anyone based on their weight.

I am by no means a gym-bunny, but I’m no couch potato either. I don’t eat pizza and ice-cream all the time, but occasionally I do. That’s not a big deal. It’s life. People eat pizza. If you want pizza, eat it. Life is not about deprivation. Life is meant to be enjoyed. Don’t turn down a dinner invitation because you don’t want to eat something that may not be 100% Slimming World.

I firmly believe that SW teaches us the principles of healthy eating for life-long health. It is not a diet, it is a way of life. By making small changes, bigger ones will come, but it won’t happen overnight. I believe that the slow way is the best way.

I am not going to the classes this time around because I don’t want to be weighed. I don’t want to feel the disappointment if I stay the same weight, or horror of horror, gain half a pound! I don’t want to explain myself if I have a gain. I’m not ashamed to fluctuate in weight. It’s normal. The body stores and loses fat all the time.

Each and every one of you are beautiful, unique, valued and LOVELY in your own individual ways. Embrace and celebrate that.

Big love,
Kiki x

A quick supper of Feta and Tomato Stuffed Chicken

Hello my lovelies!

This is a super quick, super easy slimming world recipe that I threw together last night for a quick supper. This is for two people so just multiply the ingredients as necessary.

I served this with salad and Mash Direct chilli baby bakes. I’m not too sure how many syns they are, but I don’t think they could be that many. If you are worried at all about using something that you don’t low the syns for then please just use the baby boiled potatoes in the micro bag (the ones from Tesco - I hope you know what Im taking about) or rustle up some SW chips or a baked potato.

I was also going to use up the rest of the asparagus and tenderstem broccoli for some extra super free but they had gone off… oops!

STUFFED CHICKEN

2 chicken fillets

50g feta cheese

Handful of Plum or Cherry tomatoes

1 chopped scallion (green onion)

4 strips of bacon (fat cut off)

LETS COOK!

1. Get your oven heated up to 190oC and chop up your tomatoes and scallion.

2. Place the chicken breasts on a large piece of grease-proof paper and give them a bash until they are about 1.5 cm thick (I cover them with greaseproof paper before bashing so the chicken doesn’t stick to the rolling pin)

3. Top them with the copped tomatoes, scallion and some crumbled feta. Cover with bacon and put in the oven. I just put mine straight onto the rack on the greaseproof paper.

4. Cook the chicken for 30-35 minutes depending on how crispy you like your bacon.

(Sorry, I had already started!)

It was super quick to make and really tasty! I hope you like it. Let me know if you try it or if you have any quick supper ideas like this. Bon Appetit!

Kiki x

Slimming World style Jamie Oliver Cajun Chicken

Hello my lovelies!

I know in my last post I wrote that I would try and make Sundays my outfits of the week post, but to be honest I've been putting them on Instagram daily and I feel like it would just be too repetitive to do a whole post on it, especially since my Intagram feed is linked to this blog in the panel on the left.

So instead I'm dedicating this post to food.. what else, ha!

A lot of you may not know this but I am super interested in cookery books and have amassed a little collection on my kitchen windowsill.

One of my favourite TV chefs is Jamie Oliver. I watch the majority of his cooking programmes and his food always looks soooo good. My lovely husband bought me two of his cookery books for Christmas two years ago, but I never got around to making any recipes from them because it was right around that time that I started Slimming World and just automatically assumed that none of the recipes would be suitable for SW. Oh how wrong I was. I recently got back into watching his 15 minute meal series and realised just how SW friendly his meals are!

The majority of the 15 Minute Meal recipes can be really easily adapted to be SW friendly - and more pocket friendly. Seriously, who buys corn on the cob over a tin of sweetcorn? And who has a griddle pan just laying around the house? Also, Jamie must have a seriously big stove top because trying to fit all these pots and pans onto the stove at the same time was just ridiculous. Rant over. For now.

Anyway, I tried out the Spicy Cajun Chicken with Smashed Sweet Potatoes and Fresh Corn Salad this week and although it took me 30 minutes, not 15 (thanks Jamie!) it was still a beautiful meal, really high quality flavour and a few tweaks made it 100% SW friendly. It was honestly delicious. I divided the ingredients in half because I was only cooking for two, but the below is to serve four.

So here are Jamie’s recommended ingredients and my tweaks:

SALSA:

4 corn on the cob - substituted 2 cans of Tesco Value Sweetcorn

1 small bunch of fresh coriander

1/2 fresh red chilli

4 spring onions

3 ripe tomatoes - substituted a handful of plum tomatoes that were on offer in Tesco

2 limes - didn’t bother with these at all

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - left this out

SMASH:

800g sweet potatoes - 3 or 4 sweet potatoes depending on size

2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce - this was syned at 3 syns between 4 people - I counted as 1 syn each to be safe

CHICKEN:

4 x 120g skinless chicken breasts

1 tbsp Cajun seasoning

1 tbsp polenta - did’t use this

olive oil - substituted for Frylight

2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon - make sure the fat is cut off or use the rindless medallions

175g okra - substituted for asparagus and tender stem broccoli (come in a double pack in tesco)

20g feta cheese - used as HEA (or 5 syns - split between 4 I would count that as 1.5 syns per person to be safe)

Jamie says to get the kettle boiled and get a griddle pan on high heat. If you have a griddle pan, great, get it going. I don’t, so I got a non-stick frying pan on the go.

If you want to follow Jamie’s recipe, i.e using corn on the cob then I recommend you get the book or have a wee look online, I’m are it’s on his website. From here on out I’ll be changing the steps to fit how I did it SW style.

START COOKING

1. Drain the corn and cook it with some Frylight in a pan.

  

2. Wash the sweet potatoes, peel, then finely slice. Put the sweet potatoes into a large pot, then just cover with boiling salted water and the lid.

3. On a large sheet of greaseproof paper, toss the chicken with salt and the Cajun seasoning. Fold over the paper, then bash and flatten the chicken to approx 1.5cm thick with a rolling pin. Put the chicken into a frying pan with some Frylight, turning after 3 or 4 minutes, until golden and cooked through.

4. Drain the cooked sweet potatoes, return to the pan and mash with the sweet chilli sauce, pop the lid on and leave on a very low heat. 

  

5. Slice the bacon and add to the frying pan (use the same one as the chicken if you have room, if not get another pan out, or take the chicken out of that pan). As soon as the bacon starts to crisp up, add the tenderstem broccoli and asparagus to the pan.

6. When the corn is slightly charred, put it in a bowl. 

7. Roughly chop the top leafy half of the coriander and add to the corn. Finely slice the chilli and trimmed spring onions, chop the tomatoes, and add to the bowl, then mix well. 

  

8. Serve the sweet potato smash with the chicken and veg, crumble over the feta, and serve with the fresh salsa on the side.

 I also added some rocket salad to the plates just to get a bit more super free food in there.

I’m thinking I might make a bit of a series of this - maybe trying one or two of the recipes from the book per week? What do you think? Would you be interested in that?

I really hope you give this one a try, it is super good. I have never been keen on mashed sweet potato, but with the chill sauce and the corn salsa and the whole combination of flavours, it was just so darn tasty that I actually crave it a bit! 

I reckon you could do this recipe with any meat too, it doesn’t have to be chicken. This is aimed at being an ‘extra easy’ day recipe, but you could easily leave out the chicken (substitute with a Quorn fillet) and the bacon to make it a totally green recipe. For a red day you would have to leave out the corn, and I’m not 100% on the sweet potato, but I’m certain you can use some substations for it, maybe butternut squash? I’ve never done the red days so I’m not too sure about it. If you do red days and you know more about them please let me know.

I hope you enjoy this one and you are all staying motivated and body confident. Remember that you are all fantastic no matter what your size or shape. Your weight does not define you!

Big love,

Kiki x

Curvy Confessions, Confidence and OOTD...

I have a confession ... since I dropped off the Slimming World bandwagon and put the weight back on, I haven't been too concerned with what I wear. In fact I've hardly given it a second thought - the last time I went shopping was before I got married last November. 

I have been in a bit of a denial about the weight gain really and simply refused to purchase anything in a bigger size, after losing weight on the plan and being very happy at a size 12/14. But this hasn't helped matters at all, it has in fact I think hindered me. 

I used to love buying new clothes (both before and after doing Slimming World for the first time) and the fact that I have become complacent about my appearance has got me in a bit of a rut. Does this ring true with any of you ladies?

So to get back to feeling more myself I had a little clear-out, got rid of everything that doesn't fit (too big or too small) and only kept what actually fitted me. The worst thing is trying something from your own wardrobe on and having it be too small, I don't know about you but that just really puts a downer on my whole day.

What was left was actually pretty decent on the whole and I have had a mini-splurge online for a few bits and pieces that will update everything that's left. I'll upload a haul when everything has arrived.

So I thought I would make my Sunday posts Outfit of the Day posts. For this week I only have two outfits, but since I have decided to do OTTD posts it will give me the motivation I need to dress well everyday and hopefully every Sunday I will have seven detailed OOTD for you all. I'll also upload daily pictures to my Twitter and Instagram and would love you to share your OOTD with me too. You can find my Instagram and Twitter on the panel on the left.

So these are my Saturday OOTD. I went out and about vintage furniture shopping during the day then had a quick change to go meet a friend for dinner. Apologies about my dirty mirror and non-existent camera skills!

For my day outfit I'm wearing:

Black & White Flats - Matalan - £12 (which will be in the haul post)

Black Supersoft Skinny Jeans - Primark - £8

Black & White Stripe Oversize Jumper - H&M - £18

Curvy girls can absolutely wear skinny jeans. I think they look gorgeous paired with over-sized jumpers and flats or boots.

I was in a bit of a hurry to get changed and out the door again to meet my friend for dinner, but still wanted to make an effort. It was a casual dinner at a lovely local Chinese place so I stuck with the same flats and the handbag I had used during the day to save on time.

For my evening outfit I'm wearing:

Black & White Flats - Matalan - £12

Thick Black Tights - Primark - £2.50

Grey Swing Dress - Matalan - £14

Cream Oversize Cardigan - Tesco - sale item approx. £10

The only new item I'm wearing here are the black and white flats from Matalan, everything else was already in my wardrobe. It's amazing what you can find when you get rid of all the clothes that don't fit! What do you think?

Big Love,

Kiki x

Quick update on the past year....

So I've had a little think about how I'm going to sum up the goings-on of the past year without making it too drawn out and boring and have decided to just make a quick five point list, and if anyone is interested in hearing more detail about a particular thing just leave me a comment or send me a tweet (@MrsKirstyWJ) and I'll get on it... like a car bonnet - mad apologies about that, couldn't resist.

1. We bought a new house
2. We got married
3. We went on honeymoon
4. We renovated our new house
5. We got another puppy

I wish I would have documented the whole renovation process a bit more but to be honest it was buying the house and starting renovations that kept me away from here for so long. It was a really difficult task, especially because we were doing it on a spend as we earn basis so there was no bulk loan taken out for the work. Glad of this now... not so happy about it at the time, because everything was so slow and so much hard work even though we had a lot of help from friends and family. We are just putting the finishing touches to the house now - finishing off the front garden and the attic so at least I'll be able to share that with you as we do it.

Oh, and for all of you that followed my 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' blog where I uploaded a lot more diet related stuff, I just want to say that I am still eating healthily, not totally slimming world approved all the time but it's going good. I try to make a lot of freezable meals on Sundays as during the week I can be too busy to cook and don't want to resort to take-aways too much - not only for the healthy factor, but also for the pocket factor! I'll hopefully do a Sunday evening post with my meals for the week. And if anyone would be interested in me doing a food shopping haul video (of affordable healthy eating on a budget) let me know.

Talk later,

Kiki x

Lists are taking over our lives!

I am a list person... I make lists for everything an anything (although I should point out that the pic above is not one of my lists), but for the past week and a half the amount of lists made in our house has been ridiculous! The count down is now on to get everything ready for November... it may seem like a long way away, but trust me it isn't. Last July when we got engaged I thought I'd have everything done and dusted by December... now we are in to April and I've still masses to do!

It's the little things that take up a lot of the time, so we sat down last week and made a list of all the little things we still have left to do - for instance, we completely forgot the we need new shoes!

We need to get the invitations sent out pronto so that we get the RSVP and menu choices back in plenty of time to make up the table plan and the hotel needs at least 10 weeks notice of the menu choices... and J has to find his birth certificate so we can get the marriage license... it's all the little things that need to come together!

We've also been considering taking on a renovation project... so have been working out the figures for that!

So I haven't been keeping up with the squat challenge, in fact I never made it past Day 1, but I do want to give it a good shot, so I'm getting back on the wagon with it today I'm starting all over again. I have also been quite naughty and been a little too flexible with my syns... back on track now though which feels good!

Goodlife Sausages and the 30 Day Squat Challenge

I popped in and bought a box of the Goodlife Glamorgan Sausages - had a look at the syns online, but could only find the ones with cheese in them... also tried the syns calculator, but it would only let me add one free food. The main ingredients are onion, leek, potato and cauliflower - so it isn't really acurrate to use the syns calculator. I would guess they were about 2 syns if I only syn the synful ingredients - rapseed oil and rice starch. I don't think there's much of either in them.

I've also started the 30 Day Squat Challenge...

50 squats DONE... not looking forward to the 250 in 30 days time... I'll keep you all updated on my progress though :)

J's furnace is now up and running and he has a fair few ingots created already... he's now on to making the moulds to create his masterpieces's... I'm very proud!

Week Two of the Scan Bran Challenge Day 1

So I'm now into my second week of the Scan Bran Challenge... the idea being to add more fibre and less useless calories into your diet on the Slimming World plan and kick start your metabolism... I had my weigh-in last night and had lost 2lbs... I am very happy with that, would have been better if I had gotten 3lbs off, but 2lbs if definitely better than nothing, or worse - a gain!

I'm sticking with the Challenge this week too, I've enjoyed getting so much from my Healthy Extras... in fact I don't know how I would manage to stay on plan without them!

I love the Good Life veggie sausages (the vegan ones without cheese) but can only ever find the syns online for the cheese filled ones. I'm going to do a little bit of top up shopping (yoghurts, jellies, veggies etc) so I'll buy a box and run them through the syn calculator online. They are delicious, and should be pretty low in syns, so fingers crossed!

Scan Bran Challenge Day 7

So this is the final day of my Scan Bran Challenge... I really should call it the Finn Crisp Challenge! If you are giving this a go too, but hate Scan Bran, just substitute it for Ryvita or some other high fibre HEb crisp bread. I've actually really enjoyed the challenge and will continue using the Finn Crisp next week as well!

Just to give you a better idea of how I've been doing the challenge, here is my food diary from last Thursday -

Breakfast - Three Finn Crisp with three Laughing Cow Extra Light + coffee with 15ml skim milk
Lunch - Syn free noodles + Spelga fat free yoghurt + glass of water
Afternoon Snack - Three Finn Crisp with three Laughing Cow Extra Light + coffee with 15ml skim milk
Tea - Slimming World Chips + two Tesco Galmorgan Meat Free Sausage + Peas + Oh So Lean Peppered Sauce + Glass Diet Coke
Evening Snack - Sugar Free Hartley's Jelly
Supper - Two Alpen Light Double Chocolate Bars + tea with 15ml skim milk

Healthy Extras -

6 Finn Crisp = 1 HEb
2 Aplen Light Double Chocolate Bars = 1 HEb
45ml skim milk = allowed 250ml as HEa
6 Laughing Cow Extra Light = 1 HEa

Syns -

Tesco Galmorgan Meat Free Sausages - 3 1/2 syns each = 7 syns
Oh So Lean Peppered Sauce - 2 1/2 syns for tub = 1 syn
Sugar Free Hartley's Jelly - 1/2 syn
Total = 8 1/2 syns

I do Green Days, so all my meals are meat free. It is the only way that works for me. When I eat meat I put on weight, when I don't I lose it... strange but true!

I'm keeping everything crossed for a loss tonight now that I have changed back to doing Green Days and I'll do an update tomorrow on tonight's weigh-in!

Scan Bran Challenge Day 6...

So it's day 6 of the can bran challenge. I have been very good (aside from some pizza on Saturday night) and am hoping that the Scan Bran Challenge will help me shed some pounds and I'll see the number on the scales go down tomorrow night at weigh-in. I've been using Finn Crisp instead of Scan Bran... the Scan Bran tastes like cardboard.... I couldn't stomach it! I have always loved Finn Crisp, so am happy that I can have 6 as a HEb on the plan. I haven't weighed myself at all this week, and I plan to wait until weigh-in tomorrow night to see if there has been any progress.

I am aiming to have hit my target weight by September (for my hen party), and then maintain for my wedding in November. I all honesty I don't have masses of weight to lose to get to my personal target. Doctors say that a woman of my height, 5 ft 9, should weigh on average about 145 pounds (10.5 stone)... My personal target is 11.5 stone, so I don't have a lot to lose before September, then if I want to carry on and lose the extra stone I can do that, but I wouldn't be too concerned about it to be honest.

We had a pretty good weekend - spent Friday night watching TV in the house and on Saturday we headed out with some friends. Things went downhill on Sunday though - I had a terrible migrane and from about 4pm onwards I was laying in the dark in the bedroom with some painkillers! Then of course it was sod's law that my car (not even a year old!) wouldn't start on Monday morning... apparently it's something about it being an eco-car and the sudden temp change and rain affected the electrics and made the petrol gauge go all wonky... sake... got it to go eventually, but too late to go to work - by the time I drove there I would have only had two or three hours in the office before heading home, so took an unexpected day off and got some house work done.

Everything's back to normal today though! I'm actually glad to be back in the office! I hate sitting at home with nothing to do, it would drive me crazy not to have a job!

Made a list of everything we still have to get done before the wedding... it's not a long list, we already have most of the things done, it's just a few things we need to do - get our shoes, send out the invitations etc... all in all, we are pretty organised, which is a GREAT feeling!

Scan Bran Challenge Day 2

Okay, so it's day two... and I've switched from the cardboard-like Scan Bran to the Finn Crisp Original Thins. I was surprised to find out that I could have 6 of these as my HEb as they are very high in fibre! I loved these before I started Slimming World... but I used to eat them with peanut butter and cheese... yummy, but not too good for the waistline! I had a look in my local Tesco's last night for the Laughing Cow Extra Light (6 for a HEa) but I couldn't find it... so I stocked up on the Laughing Cow Light (5 for a HEa).

I had four of the Finn Crisp for my breakfast with three Laughing Cow Light cheese triangles...

Rather than use milk as my HEa, I'm just syning it... 15ml of skimmed milk is only 0.5 syns, and since I've cut down to two cups a day, I think I can spare a syn for milk and save my HEa for some tasty cheese!

Night times are usually my downfall... I get home and I'll be so hungry that I will snack while I wait for my dinner, so last night I made sure that I had some fat free Spelga yoghurts in the fridge (the fruit flavours are all syn free) and I had a strawberry one as soon as I got in... that staved off the hunger until dinner was ready so no snacking! For dinner last night I made slimming world chips, boiled rice and oh so lean curry sauce for over the top... all free on green. I had a chat with a lady from my Slimming World group who said that Extra Easy didn't work for her either... glad to know I'm not the only one who can't lose weight on Extra Easy!

Some things I also stocked up on this week are -

The Slimming World hi-fi light Rocky road bars are delicious! Problem is they just aren't big enough. They are very tasty though and so satisfy the chocolate cravings. They are 3 syns each or you can have 2 bars as 1 HEb

 The Alpen Light Double Chocolate bars are new o the range and absolutely delicious! The are much bigger then the hi-fi bars but still the same syns - 1 bar is 3 syns or you can have two bars for a HEb

 The Pink N' Whites are a new thing to me, but at only 2.5 syns per slider (and they are pretty big) I'll munch them down to kill the sugar cravings! And they are pretty tasty... two of these and a cup of tea and you feel like you've really had some serious naughtiness... but you haven't!

I have always like Spelga yoghurts so I was pretty pleased to see these in the refrigerator aisle! I found the Muller Light's were a bit too watery for my taste, but these Spelga ones are just perfect! All the fruit flavours are free and the vanilla with choc sprinkles is 1 syn for the pot... I wouldn't recommend it though as the chocolate pieces in it have much the same taste as the ones in the Muller Lights vanilla and choc... which I didn't really like... they leave a strange taste in the mouth. I'd rather save my syns for something else

These little sugar free jellies are only 0.5 syns per pot and are a fab snack or after tea treat.

I also stocked up on Galaxy Chocolate fingers - a long finger of galaxy chocolate, only 6.5 syns each. I bought them in Home Bargains in Newtownards beside the Tescos. I couldn't find an image online to show you what they look like. Crunchies are another one of my favourites - they come in at 9.5 syns, but for a whole chocolate bar that is not bad at all. Cadbury flakes are only 6.5 syns too... so I popped some of them in the trolley. I can't not keep chocolate in the house because J loves it, and is always rifling through the cupboards for bars, but if I only buy chocolate that is low in syn then even if I am tempted I can stay within my syns for the day - good idea I thought!

So in an earlier post I was telling you that we were going to go for dinner and see The Host in the cinema on Wednesday night... I had a gain in weigh in before we went so I went off the idea of going out to eat and instead had a Slimming World friendly tea in the house. I have read The Host a couple of times now (the phrase 'dog-eared' is apt since Turf chews the corners of the books as I read them!), but to be honest was a bit worried about seeing the movie as the trailers made it look BAD! But the film was not at all like the trailers, in fact it was brilliant! I would thoroughly recommend it. You don't have to have read the book to enjoy it. 

I'm an avid reader - and I've been very (very, very, very, very, very) slowly (for me) making my way through the  Call the Midwife trilogy - I stopped reading them so I could watch the series, but now I'm back reading the last book - Farewell to the East End. They are excellent. I had a massive collection of books which I recently sent to the charity shop... I now only download books onto my ipad - keeps them all in one place and it's highly portable. Anyone else reading any good books at the minute?

Scan Bran Challenge Day 1

This week I am doing the Scan Bran Challenge... or going to try to! I've just had my first bite of the scan bran (of which you are allowed 5 as your HEb) coated in Laughing Cow Light (of which you are also allowed 5 as your HEa)... I forgot how just how much like cardboard these things taste.

I use small bites and plenty of chewing to get them down...

You get 10 Scan Bran in each pack, and I am glad that I only bought the one to try first... I think I might substitute the Scan Bran for the Finn Crisp Original Thins (6 count as 1 HEb) and if I can get my hands on some Laughing Cow Extra Light (6 count as a HEa) that would be perfect!

I think the idea for the Scan Bran Challenge is to get plenty of fibre into your diet, so swapping the Scan Bran for something equally high in fibre should help the weight-loss just the same.

I had two of the Scan Bran with Laughing Cow Light for my breakfast with a glass of water and a cup of coffee - using milk as syns (15ml of semi skim is 0.5 syns). I am pretty full now so we will see how long that lasts! I have a 0% fat Spelga yoghurt, syn free noodles, 0.5 syn jelly pot and 3 more Scan Bran and Laughing cow Light to get me through til tea time!

Syn Free Pho Ga...

So yesterday I discovered these lovely syn free instant noodles. I just had them for my lunch today and damn were they delicious! They are called Pho Ga noodles and you can generally find them at your local Chinese supermarket or in the foreign section of your local supermarket - I got mine in Tescos.

They are essentially rice noodles in a chicken broth. They are free on Green and Extra Easy and 2 1/2 syns on Red, which I think is pretty good if you're having a red day but just want something super quick and super filling that isn't meat.

These noodles come in their own little container, all you have to do is add boiling water - this makes them especially handy if you are heading away for the weekend camping or such and you really want to stick to plan but don't want to eat BBQ the while time. I will definitely be stocking up more of these. At only 50 calories a pot you could have a lot of these in a day and gain no weight at all... maybe that's why Chinese ladies are so skinny!

They aren't a really big portion too, so you could easily have two pots and not feel too greedy!


I already posted about going back to the Green and Red days rather than the Extra Easy, which just doesn't seem to work for me. But I also wanted to mention a little trial I am doing as well. J's mum and dad did the 5:2 diet for a while and it worked really really well for them! My problem is I like to have a treat EVERY day though so I will be doing the 5:2 diet the Slimming World way... 5 days of green and 2 days of red or extra easy. I like the idea of mixing it up a bit and the last time I did Slimming World I did 5 green days and two red/extraeasy - my red days were generally Wednesday (I had a low fat chicken dish from the chinese after weigh in) and I had an extra easy day on Sundays, when I cooked a Slimming World friendly roast dinner.

I am very excited about tomorrow night - J and I are having our first date night in a loooong time! We haven't had a date night since Valentine's day. We have been saving so hard and paying for bits and pieces of the wedding so we decided that tomorrow night we will go out for dinner and see a movie. We are seeing The Host (I re-read the book on Saturday and Sunday in preparation) and am very excited! Haven't decided on where we will be having dinner - generally we choose a place for burgers before the cinema, just because burgers, milkshakes and movies seem to go so well together (or is that an American idea?). I'm partial to the burgers in Makhulu 5, whereas J prefers a Big Mac! For a change we might go to the Mandarin Chinese in Bangor... yum, I love that place! It's sooooo much better than the China Buffet up the street... better quality food, service and price! Papa Joes is good too though! Oooooh decisions! I'll let you know what we decide and how the movie was (minus the spoilers!)

Back to basics...

I'm finding it a lot harder to lose the weight this time around than I did last time... Slimming World is a great way to lose weight and make a real change for life, as long as you stick to it... but I find it harder this time than last time. Maybe it's because I like chocolate and crisps and all the bad, sugary, fatty things that aren't good for our bodies, but last time I seemed to have more willpower with them... this time I don't. Last time I used my syns for things like gravy or curry sauce with my dinner, or a glass of wine, I found it incredibly easy to forgo chocolate... this time I am not finding it so easy, so I have had to rethink my eating.

The Slimming World Light Rocky Road bars are great... and I've gone back to the green/red days rather then the extra easy. I find the extra easy to hard and time consuming, especially as I am partial to things like noodles, rice, beans, pasta, potatoes more than I ever am meat - last time I did Slimming World I was vegetarian so it was very easy for me, I would go home and stick some sweet potato wedges and some syn free tesco meatfree chicken style burgers in the oven... but since I've started eating meat again it hasn't been that easy, I'd rather have beans or peas on my plate with a low-syn vegetarian option instead of a breast of chicken or some grilled fish with salad or steamed broccoli.

Going back to the green/red days also means I have 2HEb and 2HEa... which is a great help as I can have 2 of the Rocky Road bars for 1HEb AND still have my weetabix in the morning - or if I'm particularly wanting to have a lot of chocolate I can have four of the bars spread throughout the day as my 2HEb and if I STILL want chocolate after that, then providing I haven't used any syns, have a crunchy (9.5 syns) at night with a cup of tea. I'm hoping this will help.

Has anyone else been having trouble losing weight/staying away from synful foods? Feel free to let me know any of the tips and tricks you use!

New clothes in smaller sizes...

So everyone who has been on any kind of healthy eating and exercise plan knows that one of the most expensive things about losing weight is buying new clothes... especially the clothes that are only 'interim' clothes - the clothes you wear while you are inbetween your old size and the size you want to be...

In my post earlier this morning I wrote of how I have started rewarding myself with clothes when I lose weight... now I just want to point out that these are not expensive items... take a look a these examples and guess how much each outfit cost...

OUTFIT 1 - BLACK SILK SHIFT DRESS WITH RED MOHAIR CROP JACKET AND BLACK SUEDE GOLD TOE BOOTS

OUTFIT 2 - VINTAGE STYLE MAROON BIRD WRAP DRESS WITH BLACK SEQUIN WEDGE

OUTFIT 3 - BROWN FITTED TROUSER WITH CREAM KNIT JUMPER AND BLACK SUEDE STUDDED PLATFORM SHOE

SOME MIX AND MATCH EXTRAS FOR WITH THE BROWN TROUSERS...

 FUR TRIM BOOT

 STUDDED TENNIS SHOE

 CROCHET KNIT LACE TRIM JUMPER

LEATHER SHOULDER KNIT JUMPER

Did you have a guess at the price of each item? Bet no-one got it right.... all 12 of these items cost a total of £60... FOR THE LOT. Each item I have pictured here cost £5 each... that's right FIVE POUNDS EACH... cheaper than a Chinese takeway, and better for you too! Check out the items I have pictured here and loads more at everything5pounds.com

Happy Shopping!