Wheat free day 4...

Ok, so last night - Tuesday - was a bit of a mish-mash of a dinner. It's the day when both Mark and I are busiest with Soccer, bootcamp and the timings are all over the place. 

Bootcamp's not till 730, which means that when I get home from work I HAVE to eat some thing! Otherwise I am famished, and not really able for the class. So, I decided to give the porridge another go. This time i thought there might be a way to make it, and then fry it to give it a bit of a crispy edge. Nope, there's not - but it does create a lot of mess... :-( I did remember that I had a heap of frozen blueberries in the freezer - so I added a handful of them to the gloop, and then i diced 1/2 a cox apple and added that too. The apple saved the day - it definitely made the difference between it being gloopy and palatable. Added one teaspoon of golden syrup and ate it - three points. Same as a slice of toast sans rien - and considering I had progressed to toast with peanut butter I am better off with the porridge. sigh - I do love my PB. After bootcamp we both had really enjoyable bowls of roasted butternut squash soup, and today I am going to make a roasted tomato, garlic and basil soup which will be minus the butter, and will make a smaller quantity as I've only about 2 lbs of tomatoes in the fridge and its really just for tomorrow's dinner for me, and lunch for Mark - all we need is a couple of bowls. If it works out then I'll stock up on tomatoes over the weekend and make it again.  

Only good thing about winter is the soups... :-) 

Today's lunch is a scraping the bottom of the fridge lunch - there's spinach leaves - end of bag, sun-dried tomatoes - end of jar, beetroot - end of jar, chicken - end of the cooked chicken, and 40g of cheese - so end of the cheese too. I think it will be nice - i also added 1/2 a tsp of oil to the salad to give it some gloss. 

The scales today showed 10.1 (141) - but briefly briefly flicked to 9.13.8 :-) All I want is tomorrow to be 10 stone heading to my weigh in. I'd feel a lot better - I absolutely hate the fear of going to WW and knowing that you've cocked up! 

Also - i changed my tracking system. Instead of using their books, which are bright green and a bit ridiculous, I have decided to use my own notebook, and just stick within the 29 a day, and then track for 5 week days, and as much of the weekend as I can. I am not going to be that girl writing down her points while she's hammered in the chipper at 3am - but I'll do the best I can to stay out of the chipper :-) Good thing I'm not hitting the pub this weekend! 

The scales...and wheat free day 3

So last night's dinner was hake, spuds and veggies, and then i followed it with a three point curly wurly - the best value (points wise) chocolate you can get - they take so damn long to eat! 

I needed a snack before I went running and had 25g of apricot, raisin and nut porridge (my first attempt at eating porridge as an adult), with some golden syrup to sweeten (we had no honey!). 

Yesterday the scales said 10st 3.2 (143 lbs), today they said 10st 1.2 - (141lbs). Note - the scales and home, and the WW scales never tell the same story for me. The WW scales are about 2 pounds over what I need to be. However, this is all good news on the wheat front - As I was not hungry yesterday, and at the same time I was not bloated, and I still showed a down tick on the scales. I even stood on them twice to make sure! 

Weigh-in day is normally Thursday, but it might be Wednesday this week as I might go see my mum on Thursday instead. We'll see! The last time I went I was 10st 7.5 on the scales in WW - and the week before I'd made it to 10st 5 (145 lbs) - which is only 2 short of my goal. 

I have to remember that when I started I was a WHOLE LOT HEAVIER... 

Taken in 2008 - long before WW was even on my radar...

June 2010 - 6 months before WW - so I was still gaining! 

November 2010 - still pre WW (I had to donate this leather jacket last year as even with a hoody inside it it was swimming on me - it felt good!)

July 2012... over 55 pounds gone! :-) (I'm actually wearing shorts!)

Filling, healthy and warming...

Chunky Vegetable Stew with Chorizo and Sweet Potato 

1 medium sized sweet potato
1 can of butter beans (including water)
1 can of tomato puree
1 can of tomatoes
1 medium - large red onion
4 cloves of garlic
2 courgettes / zucchini 
2 peppers / bell peppers 
4 inches of chorizo smoked sausage
3 tsp of italian herbs 

Slice and add to a lightly greased large pot the onion and the garlic
Gently fry off on a medium heat
Dice the peppers, the zucchini, the sweet potato into chunks - keep the zucchini a little longer so it keeps it shape.
Sprinkle the herbs into the pot and keep stirring 
Add the chorizo and the other veggies - stir until coated for a few minutes
Add the remainder of the ingredients and cover and simmer for 30 mins

This dinner was only labour intensive for the chopping, but then simmering away and splitting it into 4 portions was no hassle at all. I ate it just now, and can tell you, that with the low points that this dish has, and the fact that I had it with a litre of water, a banana and a yogurt I am completely full, and I should be OK till after boot camp later! 

Apologies for the terrible photograph - I should have cleaned up the bowl a bit before hand but I just was tooooooooooooo hungry!! 

Quick lunch to prepare on a rushed evening...

There are many different types of lunches that we all enjoy - everything from a grab and go sandwich to a nicely prepared stew can hit the spot just right on the right day... however - time is the crunch factor!

This last weekend we were crazy busy and only got back to Dublin on Sunday evening, with limited food, and more limited energy!! Here's what we had yesterday then for lunch!

40g of pasta per person (4PP) - boiled and cooled. 
1/4 punnet of cherry tomatoes
1/4 ball of mozzarella light
1/2 can of tuna 
Squeeze of lemon
Slug of balsamic 

This does not sound inspiring, and when I put it all together it didn't look great - however it came in at only 7 WW PP and after cycling home, pottering around for a while and then doing a run I realised I hadn't, for the first time in ages, had any snacks - and I was still alive. I did have it with a banana, and a yogurt (3pp)

So, snacking, as we all know is as much of a habit, as it is a necessity. 

Yesterday I pledged to improve the amount of water that I consume - this is normally about 2 litres a day, but because I think I am exercising a lot I probably need more. So, yesterday I had 4 litres of water, and a ginseng drink and another glass of water. I was fine all day, didn't need to pee too excessively, and didn't need to pee during the night either! So, obviously that was what i needed after my hard weekend. 

Guest Post!! :-) Thanks Linz!

So, today's guest post comes from one of my weight-loss friends, and one who has completed the journey - YAY!! Well done! 

This is a great idea for lunch, especially the techniques used, as it fools us into thinking that we're actually getting more than we are! 

Chicken Pasta Salad
Use either 1/2 a chicken breast (diced), or 1/3 of a packet of cooked chicken pieces - 2 propoints worth
30g of penne or fusilli pasta, boiled and then cut in half and cooled 

Put the two ingredients in the lunch box, and start prepping the rest of the ingredients:
1 apple cut into small chunks  
1 stick of celery diced
1/2 red onion (or less, or spring onion if you want something milder)
2 tbsp of fat-free / low-fat natural yoghurt  (1pp / 2pp)

Maybe add a squeeze of lemon too, if it suits, or a good crack of black pepper for your own personal taste. 

This works out as 7 pro-points, and I've been reliably informed that it's very filling!! :-) 

Here's the pic Linda supplied!! 

Asian Chicken Noodle Salad

Asian Chicken Noodle Salad

1/2 breast from roast chicken (skin off - diced) (2pp)
1/2 carrot (diced diagonally)
1 spring onion (diced diagonally)
1/4 red onion (sliced thinly)
some small broccoli florets
parsley 
some mange tout (about 4 diced diagonally)
30g (dry weight) noodles (4pp)

Dressing: (this made enough for 2 salads)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil (1pp/p)
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce (1pp/p)

What was missing!! I tossed the noodles in the dressing and then added them to the lunch box, i think this might have been a mistake, its the first time I dressed it that way any way. They absorbed all the lovely dressing and the rest of the salad was then a bit dry

Next time I am going to add in some orange segments - really small slivers for juice, and a couple of jalapenos to make it have a bit more of a kick.

This was pretty packed full of vitamins, good fats and protein, so it will be enough to do the afternoon - and bootcamp later! 

I made up tomorrow's lunch last night - its looking delish, and should be good for you too!! :-) 

Monday.... trying to not roll downhill after a rocky start to the week!!

Monday's just suck don't they....

Thankfully I had my lunch planned out from last night, if I'd had to do my own thing this morning I'd be enjoying lunch from McDonalds or some other such fast food delight... 

Last night we roasted a chicken, we do this  a lot on a Sunday, and have it handy then for lunch during the start of the week. I marinaded the chicken in about 1/3 of a bottle of sweet and chili marinade. Roasted it for 90 mins and then had the most golden looking chicken come out of the oven. What was great was a lot of the marinade, and the fat was not absorbed by the chicken, but there was enough to just give it a bit of flavour, and look the part. 

Today I enjoyed some chicken salad, using the leg (drumstick and thigh) of the chicken, some spinach for iron and vitamin c, olives, pickles, roasted red peppers and some sun-dried tomatoes. Fantastic by all accounts. There was no processed carbs today for me (well, I had a couple of biscuits at tea time) for lunch. 

I added to my lunch with a bowl of homemade roasted veggie soup, and two pieces of fruit - a banana and an orange. 

Any one who has done WW knows that soups are fantastic for being filling and low in points - this one has zero - recipe is below. I find that soup is something I pretty much only eat when I am cold, or trying to not use any points. I never order it in a restaurant, and I feel the ones I make at home are good for filling me between dinner at 730 and getting home at 5, without adding to my points allowance. 

Total lunch points: 5

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Butternut squash / small pumpkin diced 

4 - 6 cloves of garlic (depends on how much you want someone to talk to you that day)

Red onion diced

Red pepper diced

4 tomatoes quartered 

Oven at 200C

Add everything to a roasting tray and season well with salt and pepper 

Add a few shakes of smoked paprika, chili flakes

Crumble over a stock cube

Add two cups of water to the dish (this stops everything from sticking)

Cover with foil 

Bang in oven

After 30 mins take off foil and return to oven for 15 - 30 mins - the veggies should be going crispy and brown around the edges

Remove all to large saucepan

Add 1 cup water and blitz using a stick blender 

Add more water to thin to personal taste - and leave some chunks if you like chunky soup...

Tips - Add one handful of rinsed lentils to the soup to thicken and give it more bulk - that = about 2 points per serving 

Use any veggies that are red / orange / white in colour to this - we often use celery if it's lying around, and I would use sweet potato/ regular potato /parsnip if I had them in the crisper - just adjust the points accordingly. 

Now... why was Monday so shockingly terrible... WELL - this morning, I GOT A PUNCTURE while cycling to work. Bad enough if it happens on the way home, but on the way TO work!! No fair!! So, I had to walk the bike 8km to the office, and then shower / get ready and land at my desk 60 minutes later than planned!! Disaster! Off to get the puncture fixed later...

Hope everyone had a good weekend! 

Why this blog....

So, for the last couple of weeks I ditched the work canteen in an effort to 

• save money
• eat better
• loose weight

and then I found myself up against a brick wall - what the hell am I going to make for lunch every day. 

I had already decided against the plain ol' sandwich... it's boring, I can get one any where, and it is not particularly filling. So, I had to come up with my own ideas. 

In this blog I will be photographing my lunch each day, and adding up the Weight Watchers pro-points, as well as the calories (assuming I can work them out) and nutritional information on each element of lunch. 

I hope you guys enjoy, welcome to my lunchbox!