Friday 15 February 2013

Updating Posts

Before I go and delete any previous posts, I am going to try and figure out what the best way of going about recording my meals is. I can post the previous week because I handed in my food diary at class and I can't rememeber everything I wrote down. I'd like to do this daily, but I never seem to have the time. I will get this all sorted out, at least I hope so, because I do really want to keep this blog up!

Monday 28 January 2013

Monday, 28/1/13 & Tuesday, 29/1/13

I am quite excited about my meals tomorrow as I have managed to plan and prepare most of it tonight. Which means I can eat a bit better when it comes to breakfast as I never have enough time.

I am trying to get my meals from the past few weeks up here to catch up with this post. I'm not sure if I can rearrange my posts if I post a new one. So post a new blog for let's say Saturday and place it behind this one. I guess I'll have to experiment. Photo's will be posted up shortly.

Breakfast
2 Slimming World hi-fi light Rocky Road cereal bars (option b), chocolate rice cake (4 1/2 syns), apple

Lunch
Thai Style Mug Shot (1/2 syns), banana, Muller Light Greek Style yougurt (1/2 syns)

Dinner
Chicken, cauliflower, peas, brussel sprouts, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce (2 syns)

Dessert
Shape Delights Chocolate Dessert (5 1/2 syns) with Light whipped cream (1 syn), Coffee & Semi Skimmed milk (option a)

Total Syns 14

Breakfast
25g of Grape Nuts (5 syns) and Semi Skimmed Milk (option a) topped with sliced strawberries and bananas (strawberries and bananas sliced the night before, placed in foil with a bit of lemon juice and sweetner)

Lunch
Baked potato topped with tuna (mixed in 1 tbsp fromage frais and 1 extra light Laughing Cow Cheese (1 syn) ) & corn, salad greens and sliced radishes.

Dinner
Turkey & Roast Veggies (carrots, onions, parsnips and potatoes with 1 tbsp olive oil (option b) )

Total Syns 6

Monday 21 January 2013

Week 1 of Slimming World

So as I don't have any pictures of any of my meals from the previous two weeks, I will just be listing my meals as I filled them out on my 'Food Diary' and the ammount of Syns used, etc. The colors show what group each food falls under. Green being free foods, Orange being superfree foods, Blue being my healthy extra options 'A' & 'B' for the day, and finally Red being anything with a Syn value.

Day 1 -
Breakfast 2 Ryvita Cracker Breads w/ and Extra Light Laughing Cow Cheese, topped with spinach leaves and cherry tomatoes. Light yogurt and raspberries.

Lunch Left over Chicken Sweet & Sour stir fry (stir fry veggies and sauce, prepared with Fry Light) paired with salad greens. Mango slices.

Dinner Mattesson's Smoked Pork Sausage with Sauerkraut and mashed potatoes (mixed in with Light Creme Fraiche)

Snack 2 eggs on 1 slice of wholemeal bread (toasted)

Total Syns 13.5

Day 2 -
Brunch A slice of wholemeal bread topped with baked beans, 2 poached eggs, and 3 pieces of bacon with all visable fat cut off.

Dinner Cod, potato wedges, salad greens with cherry tomatoes and light yogurt with raspberries.

Snack Galaxy Smooth Milk Bar (46g)

Total Syns 6

Day 3 -
Brunch A slice of wholemeal bread topped withbe baked beans, 2 poached eggs and spinach, and a light yogurt.

Dinner Philly cheese steak with peppers, onions, a mix of light cheese and 1 Extra Light Laughing Cow Cheese. Glass of milk.

Total Syns 14.5

I will be finishing this list as I have time, as well as getting my posts up to date.

Sunday 20 January 2013

Starbucks

I am a bit obsessed with Starbucks, have been ever since I worked at one after college back home. I have been looking up syn values in the drinks and what people have posted on forms for what different drinks are. Here is what I found out ( I don't know how accurate it is as I'm sure they went with the Nutrition info and calculated the syns that way, but for the tall at least I would have thought you can use the skimmed milk as a healthy extra option a).

One of my favourite drinks -

 
Iced Caramel Macchiato
 Tall, Skimmed Milk - 6½
Grande, Skimmed Milk - 9½
Venti, Skimmed Milk - 11
 
Caffe Latte
Short, Skimmed Milk – 3 ½
Tall, Skimmed Milk - 5
Grande, Skimmed Milk - 6 
Venti, Skimmed Milk - 8 ½
 
Cappuccino
Short, Skimmed Milk - Syns 3
Tall, Skimmed Milk - Syns 3
Grande, Skimmed Milk - Syns 4
Venti,  Skimmed Milk - Syns 5
 
 
All Sugar free syrups are free
 
I'd like to find out the syn value to a few other drinks I love, Peppermint Mocha, Mocha, Chai Tea Latte, Pumpkin Spice Latte/Frapp. More research to do! I'll update this as I find out!
 
*Update* Here is the nutritional info for all the drinks served in the UK. I don't know how to calculate the syns as it being liquid it's not in grams...
 

Saturday 19 January 2013

Why Weight Loss is Important to Me...

Quite simply put it is for health reasons and to feel comfortable in my own skin and therefore be more confident in myself. I was always told that confidence is key. I think if I had more of it, more things in my everyday life would be a lot easier. I would probably take on more than I have in the past, and as I am 27, I'm not growing any younger! I don't want to look back at my life and be disappointed because of little things like not wearing what I want because the clothes don't fit me, or not doing a dance class because I feel I am not in shape to do so. I want to look back and remember being happy and experiencing things. Granted I have gotten a lot better than I used to be in High School back home. For those who know me now, or even a few years back, don't even know the half of it. I am a different person, but I believe for the better, and I expect to change even more once I reach my target weight. But change doesn't have to be a bad thing. It's only a bad thing if we let it be, so here is to positive change!

I have been over weight most of my life. I have been made fun of by kids at school as long as I can remember, Kinder garden actually (so about 5 or 6 years old). Looking back at pictures, I don't particularly think I was heavy, I was just big bone, that's how I'm built. And in fact I don't think I will ever be as skinny as these models you see in magazines, but I'm perfectly okay with that. But of course at the time, you don't think that way, do you? The constant name calling and feeling like I didn't fit in did a real number on my confidence, on top of personal matters at home. I never really thought I had friends, there were a few people along the way that would talk to me, but I always tend to go off on my own. For a period of time I was afraid to eat in the lunch room around everyone else because I felt like I ate to much and that would give people more reason to pick on me. I remember eating next to the lockers to sort of stay out of sight of the majority of people. When I was 16 I managed to gain so much I weighed about 270 lbs (not quite 20 stone). My dad's mum was for as long as I can remember, bigger, she had Type 2 diabetes, took several pills everyday, had to give herself insulin shots and was hooked up to a breathing tube. So when I got to that point in my life, I freaked out thinking I would do that to myself, so I started losing weight.

A few years later I had a spike in my metabolism, ate healthier and managed to lose quite a lot. Then I went on the Atkin's Diet after someone suggested it to me (around the time when it had just become popular in the States) and managed to gain weight! I hated that diet and will never recommend it to anyone. I remember trying weight loss pills and some kind of Green Tea that was supposed to help lose weight. None of it ever worked and in the end I swore off weight loss diets.

I'm sure I gained more in the period of time, as I was up and down with weight a lot of the time. When I was asked to be a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding I had decided I would try and lose weight as I didn't feel comfortable in a dress (still don't to an extent). I did really good just walking, going to a gym, eating smaller proportions and drinking loads of water (which I am horrible with, at the moment I am not drinking enough water!) I think the lowest I managed to get was 170 lbs (about 12 stone) (not to far from my target), then I gained it all back when I moved over to the UK and have managed to be around 210 lbs (15 stone) since.

So I have decided that as my mother-in-law has done so well in the past year on SW that I had nothing to lose by trying. I paid for the countdown, which gives me more of a reason to stick to it, as it was money I didn't really have to spend (eek). And it's my determination and stubbornness coming through, as my husband said, in a good way! I am doing this for myself, no one else, not even Iain.
And that, I think, makes a big difference!

Furthermore, I want to remain healthy for life. I don't just want to reach my target weight and go off trail again and end up where I am now. I want to learn to eat healthy so I can live longer and enjoy life!

On a side not I think the fact that I was always into things that the majority of people didn't like never helped much as well, but I've been over that for ages. People are different and no matter how many people dislike the things I like, I will always be into them as that is me :)

Revamp

Yet again I am revamping my blog, starting a new, as I am so horrible with keeping up with one. But after a brilliant idea from a fellow member of Slimming World, I have decided to log my progress along the way! I think I won't restrict this to being just a food blog, so you may see some other things I like or don't like creep up every once in a while, but my goal is to keep it going. As well as keep myself on track with my diet and hopefully inspire others. That is always a nice extra! If I have time I will share recipes as well. Overall I'll just see how it goes as I don't always have time get on the laptop, so the posts may come every day, every few days or every week. I'll play by ear with this.

I have been on my diet for two weeks now, and as I hadn't re-started my blog until today, it may lack some details. But I can put what I ate and how much I lost. At least for the first week until I get my food diary back for last week. I attend SW classes every Thursday to weigh in, either at 5:30pm or 7:30pm.