BHS Stage 2 Results!

I passed!! I was one of 5 people that passed all units out of 17 candidates! So delighted with myself :-)

BHS Stage 2 - Done!

So I wasn't able to make my WW class last week because I wasn't in work on the days it's on, because I was studying for my BHS Stage 2 Exam! It was held on Friday and was on from 830am until 5.30pm, loooong day. But I'm delighted to say that I think it went pretty well! So fingers crossed, I'll find out in a week or so! That's all the studying until next year now as I only have riding exams during the rest of this year, so practice, practice.

Will let you know how this weeks WI goes! I wouldn't be under any illusions mind you after the grabbing food on the go situations I found myself in a good bit of the week , between studying and flying up & down to the stables at every oportune moment! So fingers crossed for that too! ;-)

Ziplist.com - It's fantastic!

I have recently started using this site, Ziplist.com - It's fantastic!

http://get.ziplist.com/

So you register & start browsing for recipies. I started saving ones by Laa Loosh & Skinny Taste etc. Then you can go into the 'Discover' tab and it brings up hundreds of suggested recipes based on the genre you've been saving to your recipe list. So I have now found a load more sites that are WW and low fat friendly that I hadn't come across before! Plus there's an option to 'add to your shopping list'. So if you choose a few meals that you'd like to try this week, just select add to shoping list & bring with you when doing your weekly shop so you'll have all the ingredients at your fingertips.

Bellissimo!!

WI Week 14 Results! Stone #1 Reached!

Hi everyone! Well I've only gone and reached my 1st stone and also my 5% whoop! It has taken me 4 months, but the fact that I'm there now makes me not give a flying about how long it took! Am absolutely delighted! I was sick last week and didn't even make my meeting, so I honestly had no idea what the scales would say today, I could've been up 2lbs for all I knew! Thankfully not!! :-)

Now I'm going to say that that's goal #1 reached, now onto the 2nd goal and the 2nd stone!

I find that I have lost most on the weeks where I looked up 5 or so new recipes on sites like Laa Loosh and Skinny Taste etc, pointed them to check that they're within my point range & then went shopping for the ingredients for the week. You really cant beat it for knowing how many points you're having & making some yummy dishes while you're at it! Plus I find it enjoyable making new dishes I haven't made before & even more so when you find something really tasty for low points that you can make again. :-)

I have my BHS Horse & Yard Mgt exams next week eeek! So am hitting the books & stables hard ha ha! Wish me luck!! :-/

Hope you're all having a great week!

Whoo Hoo !!

WI Results Week 12

Another 1lb down at WI today! Whoop!
Just that half lb to go to the 1st stone now!! :-)

Am so motivated today! "The only way to achieve anything, is to give it everything"! I'm studying my butt off for my BHS exams and couldn't be more on the WW wagon at the moment. Going to look up some new recipes before going shopping this weekend and shake things up a bit to keep it interesting.

I hope you all have a great Easter Weekend! Enjoy the eggs & don't forget to points them prior to consumption!! LOL :-)

Carrot Cake Cupcakes 4PP

I made these from LaaLoosh's website and they are scrum-diddly-umptious and only 4PP!

Crisis of WW Faith, Calypso & WI Results Week 11!

Hi all! Well it's been a week and a bit since I posted. I've been having a bit of a crisis of faith, in myself to keep motivated and keep up the work required to work the WW programme. I think I mentioned before that my horse riding had to be changed to a Thursday which was the night I used to go to my class. It was a really great class and leader, but she only did a Thursday night and the other classes were mornings which I can't do because I'm in work. So I started going to a class that's right next door to me in work. Totally convenient, but I just don't really feel it from the leader. So I've gone there the last few weeks, but she's just not really excited for you when you loose and doesn't give any encouragement when you're up, so felt like I was just coasting along. I was only half tracking the past few weeks and that's of no use to anyone. So I decided earlier in the week I was going to try another one or two classes, although they're hard to find close to me on days I can go. So I went to another one close to my office (not the other one right next door though). I walked in, and the leader was a guy, which I hadn't even considered and wasn't sure how I'd feel about it. Up on the scales I got and firstly said 'I don't expect this to be good news by the way', he just laughed and said 'well we'll see', and then low and behold - down 1.5lbs! I couldn't believe that for starters! I'd been pretty good if I actually thought about it, but I'd been feeling so down and guilty for not tracking and thinking I wasn't going to last the pace that I had convinced myself that I was a disaster and would be up for sure. Just goes to show, self loathing is the devils work & not a true reflection ;-) So during the meeting he wasn't too weight watcher-ish and very relaxed and had some great 'real' tips. The one I had been visiting right next door to my office just seemed to be rattling off the WW programme all the time and giving tips on what WW foods/meals were good etc, no real life experience if you know what I mean. He included the class members a lot in the class too, all by name and 'you were doing so well last week, what happened you this week' and 'Ok you're at goal, when are you gonna stop loosing, another 2 off this week ha ha', so on a personal level too. I have to say I'm delighted now that I've found a good class that I feel has motivated me and I feel really good now about going forward. 1.5lbs to go now to my 1st stone and I'm going to take baby steps going forward, not put so much pressure on myself to loose. If I follow the programme, I may be up some weeks but it does work and I'll be down overall.

My BHS exams are on 27th April, so am busy busy studying for those at the moment, so wish me luck! Below is a photo of Calypso! He's my horse 2 days a week :-) I'm leasing him since I started studying for my exams, he's my practising subject! ;-)

I hope you guys are all doing well! Onwards and downwards :-)

Meet Calypso !

WI Results Week 10

Awh guys, up a half a pound :-( God damn it, I thought I'd be down around 2lbs. Now the leader did say that the denim jeans prob didn't help as I have never weighed in them before (I organised a charity day in work), but even so would have sts. Ah well, just need to step it up this week now. The only thing is, this weekend won't help eeek! Going to ensure that I work off whatever I indulge in over the weekend.

Have a great St. Patricks Weekend! x

Chocolate Philly - Yummo!

Just have to share for those that still might not know that there is now Chocolate Philadelphia available, and it is YUM! It's 2pp for 30g and gorgeous spread on crackers or rich tea biscuits for a snack, with crumpets for tea or with banana and frozen yoghurt for dessert. I absolutely love it & the options are endless! Enjoy! :-)

WI Results Week 9

Well I was not expecting any loss this week, having not really tracked. But on the scales I got, and I'm down 1.5 lbs! Whoop! Although I hadn't tracked, I'd still made good food choices and I did a good bit of exercise in the form of horse riding, yoga & my Davina DVD. So I have to say I'm delighted with that! Have already done some more exercise since my WI too in case it was a fluke ha ha :-)

Hope you're all having a good week!

Very Tasty Treat & Great Value for Points!

Just have to share these! They've saved my bacon a few times from those damned sweet tooth cravings. They are Harvest Morn Benefit Cereal bars from Aldi. I get a box of the Sultana and Apple and a box of the Chocolate and Orange. They come in a box of approx 6 bars and are similar to Special K bars but actually much tastier because of the sweet tasting yoghurt on the top. I have one of the apple and sultana ones mid morning and then instead of a chocolate bar I have a chocolate and Orange one with a cuppa mid afternoon. They are fab! And drum roll please..... Only 2 propoints per bar. Now could you beat that with a stick?! ;-)

WI Results Week 8

Hi all! I stayed the same this week! My own fault for failing to track. I don't know what got into my head. I think when my weeklies rejuvenate after my WI the previous evening, I think I've more than enough to cover the following day or two so there's no urgency to fill it in now and I can fill it in the following day or so. But then it gets to the middle of the week and I can assume the weeklies are gone and sure why start tracking now sure my WI is in a few days. Not correct mentality at all, just laziness really I think at the beginning anyway. So I must make sure regardless to track there and then no matter what, and as per usual to step up the exercise! I've also started a yoga class on a Tuesday, so at least that another activity ;-) And am loving my horse riding at the moment, am so glad I found my way back to it. And hopefully as I get better and stronger I might lose a pound or two along the way haha :-)

I hope y'all are keeping well x

Small Crisis!

Ok, so I'm doing relatively okay so far this week.. If I hadn't gone out on Friday that is! I've stayed off the drink since the beginning of January, so how much of a heart attack did I have when calculating away on Saturday! Weeklies - gone. So I have been struggling a bit to stay within my 27 points per day, but sure we'll see.
Also, my regular meeting is on a Thursday evening and now I have to switch my horsie stuff to Thursday! It'sust the way it's worked out. So I've to find a new meeting uh huhh :( My regular one only does mornings beside my Thursday evening one. There's one right beside my work, convenient as hell! But I don't really tend to do well in that one, my regular leader is so great, motivating and supportive whatever the circumstances. So wish me luck! I've a feeling I could go through a few before finding one I feel I'm a good fit to :(

WI Results Week 7

Well it seems I need not have worried – 1lb down this week whoop! I wasn’t great this week in that I only kinda half tracked, which I know must have meant I was over my points. But I did exercise a few times, and I reckon I’m probably making better choices now out of habit as opposed to eating whatever I feel like having regardless of calories or fat like I did pre WW. So I must make a conscious effort to work hard at trying new recipes this week to ensure I don’t get repetitive and board and also keep on walking, doing the Davina dvd and horse riding in case this week was a fluke! ;-)

Hope everyone’s having a good week!

Pancake Tuesday

Throwing caution to the wind for pancake Tuesday! Apple, cinnamon & golden syrup pancakes and Banana & Nutella pancakes. I did not point, please do not follow my bad example! But very yummy pancakes ;-)
After quite the debacle with my OH as to whether we have dinner and pancakes or just pancakes on pancake Tuesday, we (or more so I, to make lighter the amount of work in the kitchen!) decided to fore go dinner & go for the pancakes!

Basic Pancake Recipe

100g Plain Flour
300ml Skimmed Milk
Pinch of Salt
1 Lg Egg

Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Mix well so there are no lumps. Leave standing for 30 mins. Pour enough for a thin pancake, flip when you see a number of air bubbles.

For the Apple filling chop apples & put in a pot with some cinnamon and golden syrup. Heat through & serve with your pancakes with some cream or ice cream.

Yummo! :-)

WI Results Week 6

Hey all! So I was down another half a pound at my WI. No great shakes, but still going in the right direction! So that's down 9lbs in 6 weeks. Must get off my butt a bit more now this week ;-)

Valentines Day :-)

Hi all! Well did everyone have a nice Valentine's day?! And get spoiled rotten by the OH (other half!)?! :-) Well myself and my OH decided we were going to splash out and get a take out and watch a movie for Valentines Day. So that's what we did! I had a personal pizza from pizza hut and some nachos. Now I think I'm over my weeklies by about 10 pp, but couldn't be 100% sure. But you know - I'm owning the fact that I'm only human, and you do have to live your life! So I'm up on the scales or STS (stay the same) this week I won't mind. I'm never going to be perfect every week, and why would you want to be?! You have to splash out and celebrate sometimes, but once you get back on track afterwards you'll be fine in the long run. And as I keep saying I'm in this for the long haul, so as long as I stick to my WW plan 90% of the time, I will certainly be celebrating life with those I love on certain occasions. Within reason of course, I'm not going to suddenly pig out on an extra large pizza with everything! But have something of what I like, enjoy it and not over fill myself. As this is a life change and not a diet, there will of course be weeks where we are up and sts, sure if we just kept losing for the rest of our lives there'd be nothing left of us! ;-) There'll even be weeks where we should definitely have lost, but our bodies are not having it, and that's just the way it is, but those weeks will be few and far between hopefully. I've been walking at lunchtime every day for 40 mins and was good for the rest of the week. So watch this space!! :-)

Now the evening before Valentines Day the OH had said he hadn't gotten me anything, which is fine, and we usually just exchange cards and make a nice dinner. But I knew that he was looking into getting some new earphones. So I did some research and found some that had good reviews and were not too expensive. Now as it turns out, the 'over the head' earphones are very square and my OH's head is quite round, and we both nearly passed out laughing when he tried them on! So as it turns out, I now have a new set of earphones haha! :-) So this is still the evening before Vals day and he said he felt bad that he hadn't gotten me anything and decided that he was going to head off and make me a card. I know, so funny! So he pops his head into this sitting room a few minutes later 'do we have any blue tack?!' So I mentioned where we might have some blue tack. Then another few minutes later 'do we have any of those long white bendy things?!' No, we do not have any pipe cleaners! What are you planning to make with blue tack and pipe cleaners haha?! So he comes back in and is finished apparently, but I cannot have it until the morning. Right so, no problem, I can wait till the morning :-) So we're going to bed and he says 'I couldn't find stuff to make you anything, so I haven't made a card!' Ha ha ha, and after throwing me off the scent with all the questions! So funny! So I said again that it was grand, coz sure I wasn't expecting anything anyway! So that was that. Now I decided that I would get up and make a hot breakfast on Valentines Day morning (amazing wife that I am!). So while he was out walking the dog at 6am, I got up and went down to start breakfast, and when I opened the fridge, what was hiding in there only a card and a bottle of my favorite perfume!!! Amazing! It has to be said, he is the master of deception!! And absolutely hilarious! Thank you darling! xx

I hope you all had a great Val's Day and are doing well on your weight loss journeys!

WI Results - Week 5!

Hey all! Am just back from my WI! Now I said I was going to get off my butt did I not?! Well get off my butt I did this week! I did an hours horse riding, my Davina workout DVD twice (fantastic workout by the way, 40 mins all in) and I did a 50 min walk twice during lunch. Now I don't add up points earned from activities to eat later. I just think that the exercise helps your weight loss along and that's that. So I exercised, stayed within my propoints aaannndddd..... 1.5 lbs down! I'll take that thank you very much! That's 8.5 lbs down in 5 weeks now, that's fairly good going as far as I'm concerned! I was unsure of how my WI would go to be honest, because the totm arrived and that can play havoc with water retention among other things, so you may not have a loss when it comes to the scales no matter how hard you worked. I might not have had a loss at all had I not gotten a little active! So totally worth it, and I plan to keep it up.

See less of you all same time next week! :-)

PS. I ended up throwing together scrambled eggs on brown toast before my horse course yest, phew! ;-)

Horse Course Starts Tonight (and brings with it a foodie dilemma!)

So I've mainly been 'fooding' on here to date, but as you can see in my description I have mentioned that I'll be starting horse exams also. These are my two resolutions for the year 2012! To lose weight and to get some BHS qualifications under my belt. (The BHS is the British Horse Society for those that might not know).
So while I cannot wait for my first class tonight (woo hoo!), it does pose my first foodie encounter also - I get home at 6pm, change and head out the door at 6.20pm to get there for 7pm. What am I going to feed myself?! That's not enough time to get changed into my gear and make something to eat! I'll be starving & probably get trodden on because of my slow reflexes due to food deprivation ha! And not only is it only a few minutes to grab something, it'll have to be propoint friendly. This thought should've honestly crossed my mind last night, I'm obviously not as dedicated as I though haha :-)

Okay, so wish me luck this evening & here's hoping that I get devine inspiration on what I can have to eat before then!! :-)

Oat Cookies - 2pp Each

Hey all! I made some delish-iohso oat cookies the other day for 2pp per cookie! Can't beat that with a stick for pp value :-)
The recipe is from the March issue of Easy Food.

Oatmeal Cookies - 36 Cookies at 2pp per Cookie

(This recipe also had added raisins, which I have omitted.)

200g Brown Sugar
180g unsweetened apple sauce*
1 lg Egg White, lightly beaten
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Vanilla extract
120g Rolled Oats
140g Plain Flour, sifted
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Pre-heat your oven to 180C conventional oven or 160C fan assisted ovens.

Whisk together sugar, apple sauce, egg white, oil and vanilla until smooth.

* I did not have any apple sauce, so made my own no less! 1st time! Just chop up 1 cup of apples, add half a cup of water and simmer for approx 15 mins, until apples are soft. Then blend. Ya Daa! :-)

Then in another bowl, yes a separate one to the wet ingredients, add the oats, plain flour, wholewheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix well.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon until just blended. Then I placed walnut size balls of the mixture onto a baking tray approx 1-1 1/2 inches apart and baked for 15 minutes! :-)

Let cool (if you can wait!) on a wire rack & enjoy!

Veggie Stir Fry & Noodles

Hi all! For dinner this evening I made a vegetable stir fry. It's been years, literally since I made a stir fry so wasn't so sure how it would turn out, especially as I didn't have a recipe and was winging it :-) Well it was divine! Even the OH said so, and that is saying something believe me haha :-)

4 Portions at 5 Propoints per Portion

2 Carrots
1 Red Onion
Some Sugar Snap Peas
Some Baby Corn
A Medium Sweet Potato 4pp
(All chopped)
3 Cloves Garlic grated into the veggies in the pot (as I love it!)

For the sauce -

2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
2 tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil 4pp
1/4 tsp Chili Flakes
Juice 1 Lime

2 Packs Straight to Wok Noodles 12pp

So veg into a large pot or wok with some spray oil. Keep turning so they cook evenly for approx 8 mins. Grate in the garlic & add your sauce. Stir for a minute. Add the noodles and stir every now and then for another 5/6 mins or when everything is tender and hot. Very tasty, so easy & great value for propoints! A definite staple in my weekly meals going forward :-)

WI - Week 4 Results!

Well at least it's a loss haha! Down the half pound it took to get my first siver seven whoop! So that's been 4 weeks, not bad at all, over all. But the half a pound is not the best in fairness!
Right need to get my act together, eat more veggies I think and get off my butt!! ;-) Have horse riding on Sunday and swimming on Wednesday and going to walk in between. WW say all you need starting off is a half hour 5 times a week - totally achievable. So no excuse this week! Up and atom and bring on the next half stone! :-)

The Nicest Thing I Ever Ate!

Warm Apple Crisp, need I say more?! Oh the warm cinnamony deliciousness of an apple crisp with low fat cream or ice cream. Just sooooo fulfilling for those of us now watching our sweet intake. Believe me, a little goes a long way to satisfaction with this baby! Quite simply one of the nicest things I ever ate. (Like the show on Food Network haha! Okay, too corny, I know :-) And so easy to make! Literally chop apple and top with mixture! You will not regret making this I tell you! The only problem may be stopping at one portion :-)

Okay so here's the recipe! Oh and enjoy..... :-)

Apple Crisp
10 portions - 6pp per Portion

4 medium cooking Apples
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Oats
1/2 cup Plain Flour
1/3 cup Low Fat Spread
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
3/4 tsp Nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 180C.
Peel and core your apples, cut into roughly one inch cubes.
Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl and then work in the butter with your fingers until you have a crumble texture.
Grease your baking tin with low fat spray, put your apples in and spread evenly, top with your mixture and also spread that evenly.
Now into the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Add low fat cream/low fat ice cream/Greek yoghurt or anything else you fancy for a completely delicious and totally satisfying dessert!

After the Weekend!

Well what a roller coaster weekend I had, food wise! For the first Friday in I don't know how long, I didn't have any work or shopping etc to do. So myself and the OH decided we'd have pizza and a movie, just to celebrate Friday night! :-) Now we're still off the booze since Christmas, which is at least something! Because I dread to think of the extra points I could've clocked up if I had've added in a bottle or two of the auld vino ;-) So it turns out my pizza ( yes, mine alone!) was 26 points! Jesus, Mary, Joseph & all the Saints, I nearly passed out with the shock, and why I only pointed it AFTER eating it is madness! I obviously didn't want to know in advance, but I'll definitely bite the bullet in future and check before consuming item :-) So Saturday brought an Indian, Chicken Korma, rice & a nann. I looked it up online and the general consensus is 15 for the chicken korma, 13 for the rice and 7 for 85g of a nann. So needless to say,my weeklies are well gone! Now yesterday, I got up, spent a few hours cleaning the house and then made brunch. 2 bacon medallions, a poached egg, a slice of reduced fat cheese, a tbsp ketchup and an english muffin. Yep, you guessed it, I made myself a bacon mcmuffin at home, for 11 points :-) Later on I had a cookie with a cuppa for 3 points, and then I went horse riding, came home and made cauliflower soup and fruit salad for the week, had a bath and then went to bed. Totally forgot about dinner haha! So at least I reined it in after Friday and Saturday night ;-)
Am now prepared for the week, and am looking forward to the routine the week brings :-)

I hope you all have a great week too :-)

WI - Week 3 Results!

Well I got up on the scales tonight in anticipation of having 2lbs down and getting my first silver seven! I was all giddy and nervous like a teenage schoolgirl! My leader asked how my week was, and I told her that while I had stayed within my points, I had not done much exercise (I went horse riding once ahem ahem). So up pops the screen and, drumroll please................ 1.5LBS down! Curses!! You'd want to have seen me, hands up to my face, nooooooooooo! Ha ha ha :-) She said why, whats wrong and I told her that I'm only a stinking half lb from my 1st silver seven, and true enough she says but your down 1.5lbs that's a good weight loss, and that's now 6.5lbs in 3 weeks, that's an average of 2lbs a week. Not bad going, and know that you'll get your silver seven and hopefully more next week. So after both cursing and laughing at myself for not exercising and sharing the news with my OH, I rebalanced and settled in for my meeting.

Hopefully see less of us all next week!! :-)

You would never think it's WW - Lasagne!

This evening I made the lasagne recipe from the WW book, the Complete Kitchen.
Well, you would not believe how good this is! I actually feel like I'm after having seconds I'm so full, and have to remind myself that I'm within my points! And it is so full flavoured, really delicious. I even made extra to freeze & for lunch in work tomorrow. So here it is, and I won't have to tell you twice to.... Enjoy! :) (Now I added some oven chips, so they are not included in the points mentioned below, much to your dismay I'm sure!) :)

WW Lasagne - 4 Portions - 11pp per Portion

I added mushrooms and a tsp of Oregano to this recipe, which spread over the recipe is 0 points per portion.

For the bolognese -
Chop 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 garlic cloves and (I added) punnet of mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and put in a bowl until later.
Cook 250g of lean mince until browned in your pan. When browned add back in your cooked veg.
Add a tsp of mixed herbs and (I added) a tsp of Oregano, 200mls of beef stock and a tin of chopped tomatoes.
Leave that to simmer on a low heat, stirring every now and then for 10 minutes.
To make the béchamel sauce -
Add to a pot on med-low heat 450mls skimmed milk, 40g plain flour, a bay leaf and 40g of low fat spread. Stirring constantly until it thickens and forms a sauce, approx 8-10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf.
To assemble the lasagne -
Put some sauce on the bottom of your lasagne dish for the pasta sheets to stick to. Place your pasta sheets on top. Place some of your bolognese on top of that. Scatter some low fat mozzarella on top of the bolognese. Then start again with the pasta sheets, the sauce, the bolognese, the mozzarella, more pasta sheets, more sauce and then sprinkle some Parmesan on the top of the lasagne.
Put into a preheated oven at 190C for approx 40 minutes!

Seriously tasty! You have to try it!

Silver Seven in Sight!

Hi there!
So went through my usual routine yesterday of disappearing into the kitchen on a Sunday in preparation for the working week ahead! I am actually so motivated to not go overboard this week. With my weigh in in sight for Thursday evening, where if I am lucky and loose 2lbs, I will get my 1st silver 7! Excitement! Now thank God for the weekly allowance of points we get in addition to the daily points, because I just use them on any given day when I find I need a little something extra to get me through. I haven't had any major nights out since the start of the new year, so don't need to save them for a night on the booze or a meal out. I am currently doing a course in horse care and stable management so all my funds are going into that, much to my waistlines delight I'm sure! :) So in work I am sticking to my 0 point veg soup for lunch and a 0 point fruit salad in the afternoons to ensure I stick within my points to hopefully get my target weight loss for this week!

Fingers Crossed!!

This week I made the following.

Fruit Salad - 0 ProPoints

Chopped mango, kiwi, pineapple, peaches and grapes. With a squeeze of lime juice over it all to prevent from browning.

Broccoli Soup - 6 Portions at 0 ProPoints per Portion

A chopped Onion, Carrot, Celery, 2 cloves of garlic - all sauteed in 1 tbsp olive oil (1pp) for 5 minutes until soft.
Then add a tbsp of mixed herbs (1pp), a litre of water and 2 chopped heads of broccoli.
Simmer for 15-20 mins and then blend.

Banana Bread - 12 Portions at 3 ProPoints per Slice

I use the American cup measurments for baking, much easier than measuring everything out :)

Mix -
1 cup mashed Banana
1 large Egg
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Sugar

In another bowl mix -
1 and a half cups Plain Flour
Half tsp Cinnamon
Quarter tsp Baking Soda
1 and a half tsp Baking Powder
A pinch Salt

Preheat fan over to 190C.
Mix both together. Use spray oil to grease the inside of a loaf tin and turn your mixture into it.

Bake for 15 mins at the 190C it's already at, then turn down to 160C for another 20-25 mins. It's done when you pit a skewer down into it and it comes out clean without any of the mixture on it.

WI - Week 2 Results!

Well all, I'm just back from my 2nd WW weigh in. Now I felt I had been a bit of a chancer with the plan this week :) I barely got off my back side I have to say and only went walking 1 day. Not the best in fairness! Now I did stay within my points, but literally, to the point! When I had a few points left over at the end of the day, I would be looking for something nice in the presses to use them up. I should've really saved them towards my weight loss, but sure tis done now and I'll try not to 'treat' myself with my leftover points this week and have something healthier instead. So I have to say I didn't have any ideas of grandure going to my meeting. But.... low and behold, 3lbs off! I'm delighted! My leader said that I had followed the plan and that's that, it works. She actually said not to add up activity points earned from exercising, just not to complicate things that much. Just to stick to the daily points and the weekly points and exercise because it helps your weight loss and you know it's good for your health. So I am definitely committing to doing some sort of exercise every second day this week and see where that gets me.

So onwards and downwards for next weeks WI! :-)

Preparation for the Working Week Ahead!

So I did my weekly shopping this morning & have barely left the kitchen since I got home! All in preparation for my working week ahead.

At the office where I work there is a canteen where I could buy a relatively healthy lunch. But I am one of those people that would have the best intentions of getting a chicken & salad wrap, and then I get to the counter and visions of coleslaw & egg mayonnaise take over! So for my own good, I bring lunch and anything else I may need to get me through the day with me. Honestly without it, I wouldn't manage to stay within my points for the day!

So I have made Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup and a fresh fruit salad to bring to work for the week. I've pointed the soup at 2pp per portion of which I got 5 out of this recipe and the fruit salad is 0pp which can only be a good thing! :)

For the soup -
1 Butternut Squash
1 Sweet Potato
1 Carrot
1 Onion
1 Clove garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 ltr veg or chicken stock
1 tbsp mixed herbs
Salt & black pepper to taste

Peel & chop all your veg into 1 inch chunks. The best way I have found to tackle a butternut squash is to cut both ends off 1st. Then cut in half. Then you have flat surfaces to work from to peel. Put one of the halves flat side down on the counter and peel with a knife downwards. When that's done, cut in half downwards again. Then scoop out the inside with a spoon, much easier & safer than a knife. Then chop away to your hearts content :)
Heat the oil in a large pot on low- medium heat. Add the onion and grate in the garlic. You can finely chop your garlic either, I just find it easier to grate straight into the pot. Let soften stirring occasionally for approx 5 mins. Add your herbs, salt & pepper and stir. After another minute you can add all your other veg, toss everything around together in the pot so all the flavours rub onto each other. Then add a ltr of veg or chicken stock and stir.
Place a lid on your pot, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 mins. When done, put into a blender and blend until smooth. This will keep well for at least 3 days refrigerated. Simples! :-)

For my fruit salad I simply chopped kiwi, apples and pears. I added in tinned pineapple chunks and peach slices, both in fruit juice not syrup. Stir to mix & then squeeze the juice of a lemon or lime over your fruit and toss to coat everything in the juice. This will prevent from browning. This will also keep well for at least 3 days refrigerated. Enjoy!

Am loving the iWatcher app by the way! Fabulous that once you have pointed something it's saved to your favourites so that you never have to point it again! Anything for an easy life I say! :-)

Week 1 - The Results are in!

Well I went to my first WI last night. I have to say, I thought I would have a mild heart attack before I got on the scales with the anxiety of wanting to do well! So needless to say am ecstatic to say, 1st week, 2lbs down! Yew haw!
Now for those of you that loose 2lbs and think it's not that much or you could've done better.. Have you ever held 2lbs of fat in your hands?! Because I have! And I tell you when you look at a vacuum package of 1 or 2lbs of animal fat from the butchers, you will never be so happy that that is no longer clinging onto your insides somewhere! Urgh! :-)
So am more than determined for the coming week now! Once you see that loss on the scales, it's like an addiction! You just want more and more weight loss! I wasn't too hot in the tracking last week, so I've now downloaded the iWatcher app for the iPhone and am going to use that to track everything! Will let you know how it works out!

Onwards and downwards! :-)

1st WI tomorrow Evening! Mexican Chili for dinner

So I have joined back to weight watchers! As I'm sure so many others have too given the time of year! New Years Resolutions & all that. So I was in weight watchers before 2 years ago to loose weight for my wedding. I lost 1 & a half stone which was fab, and has also crept its way back on which has resulted in the determination to not only loose that, but hopefully 3 stone this time! Now this is the first I've heard of the new ProPoints system, so am trying to wrap my head around that this week. It will take some getting used to having been used to the regular points system previously. But Rome was never built in a day, and I'm not in a mad panic to loose the weight. Slow and steady wins the race, so I'm aiming for at least 1 pound a week and I'll get there for this time next year. My 1st weigh in (WI) is tomorrow evening and I am hopeful, at least that the 1st pound will have been lost, so watch this space!
In lieu of my WI tomorrow I made a gorgeous Mexican Chili with brown rice. I used 125g of lean mince at 6pp, 60g dry weight of brown rice also at 6pp, a load of veggies and spices! Veggies I used are corn, kidney beans, mushrooms, onions, chili's and garlic. All no points except the corn & kidney beans, both at 2pp for 2 tbsp. Spices are cumin, oregano and coriander, a tbsp of each.

And as I did not eat this all in one sitting obviously! I am having the leftovers in a wrap for lunch in work tomorrow! Happy days!

Fingers crossed for tomorrow evenings WI!