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!)

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. 

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!