Moving Blogs

Apologies for not continuing on with this one.  For many reasons I feel like this blog and I cannot continue.  But I’m up and running here if you’re interested.  Please follow me on Bloglovin if you dont do Blogger! 

 

Lots of love!!

 

http://theslimmingstrategy.blogspot.com/

Carrying on

I’m waiting for a parcel.  I keep thinking about it and all I want is to rip open the small box that I shall receive in a few days time and show you guys.  I’m both excited and nervous and the anxiety comes from knowing that whatever it is I’ve purchased, it will tell me the truth about myself.

The product I recently bought will show me a) just how lazy I really am and b) just how much determination I have… or lack. 

Can you guess what it is?  I shall keep you posted….

It’s like…ta da!

Hello my positive well-being fanatical folks, how are we all doing these days?  Apologies for not being around so much on this blog and you know why… I’ve been off the rails again.  I’m starting to form a schedule of my blogging now…you know I maintain three different blogs and a Youtube account as well as many other ‘things’ online so bare with me.  I won’t ever forget you guys!

So I don’t know what got into me this morning; perhaps God looked at me and said "you, fat girl, see some sense" or perhaps my gut (haha) was telling me something.  But I woke up with this extreme determination to lose weight which was kind of strange because I wasn’t acting like myself (at least the person who I’ve been for the last few months). 

So on the food front I managed really well.  I didn’t cheat today and while I didn’t calorie count, I ate clean and I didn’t give in.  I was so focussed today I actually didn’t find myself suffering too badly.  I want to relish moments like these because they don’t come often.  Today I ate:

Breakfast – Muesli with semi-skimmed milk (we ran out of red milk!)
Lunch – Tuna salad …with a few spoonfuls of Mum’s congee!
Dinner – a small piece of seared coriander and lime tuna, with brown basmati rice, steamed vegetables.
Dessert – a small portion of strawberry angel delight  and a nectarine.

You can’t fault today’s food intake too much right?  How good was I?  I also managed to drink a tad more water than usual but it wasn’t the greatest achievement ever.

I hope to wake up tomorrow with the same determination.  I’m off to see my cousin tomorrow and so that means shopping, cinema and eating out. 

Don’t forget me tomorrow, God!

Snack bite(s)

I just wanted to share with you a quick snack I enjoy eating.  It makes me feel really fancy but it’s not; it’s filling, satisfying and delicious!

- A few Krisprolls
- Few slices of light  mozzarella
- A few halves cherry tomatoes
- Fresh basil and chives
- A sprinkling of extra virgin olive oil
- Cracked sea salt (or sometimes onion salt ><!)
- Cracked black pepper

Yum

Calorie Counting

It’s been a good few days since I’ve decided to start losing weight and my willingness and the fire in my belly is still roaring to go; this is a good sign that it might stick for at least a good while.

I wanted to talk about calorie counting today because while I have little to say about exercise (seeing as I do little and am still dissatisfied with my efforts of it) I can tell you a lot about calorie counting because I know how to do it and I know it works.  So you wonder why I haven’t lost all the weight off yet?  That is to do with willingness, motivation and controlling my emotional eating.  When I have all that sorted, the weight comes off with clever calorie counting.

Calorie counting is the basis of successful diet regimes such as Weight Watchers; and while it takes some while to grasp it can be the easiest way to monitor what you’re eating.

In order to maintain your weight it said that one must eat approximately 2000 calories if you’re a lady and 2500 if you’re a gentleman.  Now obviously, not being a dietician, I couldn’t give you exact figures but I’m sure we all know that this is all a guideline because one should look at how much exercise they do etc.  However having done much research and dieted all my life, I know a good amount of calories I should consume in order to lose a steady amount of weight is between 1300 to 1500 calories a day.  This should in theory allow me to lose up to two to a few pounds a week.  It all depends on how much exercise I do but considering I haven’t thought that through properly yet this is what I shall be doing in the mean time.

Of course everyone is going to be different but by using some brains its easy to tailor your own calorie allowance.  This is mine:

Breakfast: 300kcal
Mid morning snack: 100kcal
Lunch: 300kcal
Mid evening snack: 100kcal
Dinner: 300kcal
Dessert: 200kcal

This comes up to a grand total of 1300 calories a day and if I accidentally eat a possible 200kcals extra I should still lose weight because it’s still  under the 2000 calorie mark.

The reasoning for my allowance is this: I have to have proper meals and if I don’t I will get upset.  300kcal per meal is usually enough from what I recall and it’s going to be something like a small bowl of cereal and a fruit providing you pick a good cereal to have.  If you choose sugar free muesli it’s about 210kcals for 50g which isn’t too bad.  You can then have a small bit of skimmed milk and a small banana.  It’s not a lot compared to my usual huge fry ups and biscuits (I know) but you’ve got to start somewhere.  I will make sure to drink plenty of water (or a cheeky cup of tea) in order to keep me satisfied.

I have in there two snacks because I’m a natural born snacker.   It’s what snacks are there for and if I don’t get to nibble on something I usually go nuts when it comes to my meals. 

Now a 100kcal snack is quite generous and for instance if I choose to have my 74kcal cassava crisps I can add 26 more calories to my lunch which is all very exciting.  100kcal snacks can be something like an Alpro dessert accompanied with a fruit tea, a small banana or even a juicy ice lolly (wait, or even a Skinny Cow Chocolate Sandwich!)

The need for a dessert allowance is extremely important to me.  Having tried this over and over again, my life is quite sad without dessert because I am more of a dessert queen than I am a natural born snacker or a main meal obsessive.  I need a dessert in order to really feel comforted and the only way to do this is have it but be smart. I have given myself a 200kcal allowance for it because let’s face it, since when can we get a decent pudding for 100kcal? (Unless it’s an Alpro dessert I suppose!).  So this could a small helping of a skinny apple crumble, a medium fruit salad or even a small slice of cake. 

In order to be calorie smart you must get used to looking at labels and scrutinising everything you eat.  If you’re going to eat out then ask for them to cut out the fatty dressings and pick something close to what you can and have made at home (or at least know the round abouts of calories it is).  Places I recommend easy eating would be somewhere like Leons if you have one nearby; Itsu or EAT.  Lots of food places will now state how many calories each products are so now it’s even easier to eat out than before.

More on calorie counting another time, it seems this post is quite long!  If you choose the calorie counting path, best of luck, and I show give you an update very soon!

Helen

Learning to persevere + Grocery Haul

Like I said yesterday, I woke up early to attempt some morning, metabolism kicking exercise; it started off quite bad because I woke up two hours late.  However, this didn’t stop me!  I put on a determined face and my trainers (also other clothes, if you must know) and started to climb the stairs.  I have to admit it was a gigantic fail on my part because I managed only a few minutes…OK I think it was more like two minutes before I a)got bored b)got tired and c)got sleepy.  So I thought OK what the heck I shall attempt my fitness DVD.  Nope, that didn’t quite sit well with me because I just wasn’t enjoying it and my forever fear of sweating hit me and I just stopped.  I went for a cold shower and continued to beat myself up over it for the rest of the morning.

So it was pretty much of a fail on the exercise front of things and like it has been most of my life, exercise and I just do not go.  It not that I hate exercising; I hate doing things that feel like a chore which is why I think my next attempt soon will be to take up walking. I walk a lot and when it comes to shopping I can walk for nine hours and not be tired.  Maybe in a few days I will try it out and perhaps drag my beloved Sister with me.

Nonetheless the day continued and I went food shopping which perked me up. I was pleased with myself because I had a low calorie grilled breakfast in which I will show you another time but I am about to do something I have never done before here on this blog; a haul!  That is basically showing you what I purchased but true style of mine I will try to explain why I bought these things and how shoppers (and food lovers) like you all may find these helpful.

First of all I will say I’m quite the Sainsbury’s kind of girl but you will find I do shop in ASDA or Tesco’s from time to time.  Also I love buying from markets, interesting stalls and exotic fancy foods so more to come on that. 

At home I have become in charge of grocery shopping; we find that if my Sister shops she gives into naughty things for my brother in law.  If we let Mum shop she will come back with 50% ‘no-go foods’ and well if my brother in law goes there will be nothing but sweets and drinks.  Therefore I have taken the liberty to buy food every week and make sure we keep bad food levels in the house as low as possible! 

 

These are very low fat ham and chicken slices you can find at Sainsbury’s.  Your average sandwich meat is about 30-60 old calories per slice but these are a skinny 21 calories per slice and taste perfectly normal which is great.  This is especially important for those who have children who perhaps eat a bit too much and consume too much salt!

 

How can one live life without mozzarella cheese?  And I’m telling you you will not notice the difference once you get used to light mozzarella.  A little goes a long way and it can be used almost any how on anything.  You will love it.

More cheese except this is a soft cheese from Philadelphia and why this bad boy is important is because it’s EXTRA LIGHT.  Boys and girls it’s not ‘lighter’, ‘light’ or ‘less heavy’ it’s EXTRA LIGHT.  It weighs in a skinny 33kcal per 30g; I call that a bargain in the market of diet food choice. 

I believe every person, whether they are on a diet or not, should take part in the daily eating of Total’s 0% fat free Greek style yoghurt.  It’s fat free, it has no nasties in it and it’s so thick and creamy.  I love that it’s actually an incredibly versatile product and this stuff helps me lose weight every time.  Make sure you buy the pink one, not the blue one. 

 

Similarly for the cooks amongst my readers I suggest Weight Watcher’s low fat creme fraiche.  It’s significantly lower fat than Sainsbury’s HALF FAT creme fraiche and tastes perfectly good.  You can use this for sauces, dips and fillings; it’s versatile and definitely sin free.

 

If anyone watches "How to cook yourself thin" you will know and hopefully adore Gizzie Erskine who I think has become my idol of the moment.  She religiously uses Fruit Sugar and this stuff incredibly sweet, has no after taste and low GI.  We usually use Splender but I’m seeing how to goes because the consistency is much more pleasant than splender as well.

 

Many times in my life I try to eat muesli and I have to say it’s not my favourite breakfast food by far.  But I keep hearing the experts bang on about how good sugar free muesli is to have in the morning so I’m giving it a go seeing as ‘I don’t do porridge in the Summer’.  Jordan’s Natural Muesli with no added sugar was rounded up as the best choice as it was better value and it was of good quality and ticked the boxes in terms of health.  Fingers crossed, I shall update you. .

 

This is a good one for those who just cannot resist a dessert, even for breakfast.  Alpro Soya desserts are absolutely amazing and I have tried all three flavours of Soft Caramel, Vanilla and Dark Chocolate, all of which I adore.  However my favourite is the Soft Caramel because it actually tastes extremely indulgent but only comes in at a stick thin 103 calories per pot!  The best thing is that these desserts are very filling as well and will hit your sweet tooth just at the right spot.  I cannot live without these; these have a very long shelf life and by eating these you actually save the world, find out on their website for more information on that. 

That’s it for today, it’s become a very long post so I will show you the food I’ve been making some other time.  Tomorrow I face the challenge of going out to eat and staying over a friends and I know inevitably it will be take away.  So tuned for more on my Mattermorphsis.  How is yours going?

 

Helen x

A Summer to Slim

It hits you like a crashing wave doesn’t it?  Or is it more like an arrow right in between the eyes?

As I walked into elevators today I stared at a really familiar person in the mirrors and the fear took a hold of my heart, literally.  I was looking back at the same old, fat and unhappy me.  I peered at my forever gigantic arms, my bulging belly, my protruding double chin and my awfully hefty bottom.  I quickly snapped at my Mum and said "how did you let me get this fat again?!" and she replied in such a way that I had to hold both my hands up.  She said "you do most of your eating outdoors, what can I do?"

And she’s right once again.  The last semester really has done it for me because in a week I would eat out every day and due to my high amount of stress I’ve been ‘kind’ to myself and let loose.  The result?  I’m back to where I was two years ago, almost, and I’m not letting it happen again.  This is exactly what I was thinking about… as I walked towards the Vietnamese restaurant for my lunch… And let’s not talk about dinner. 

I’ve recently been watching the program "How to cook yourself thin" and I think it’s an absolute magnificent program.  I am personally very much in love with Gizzie Erskin and the program is inspiring and informative.  It’s really pushed me to start losing weight again and I want it to be a success this time because I have no excuses; I’m unemployed, not in education, I have nothing to do but to concentrate on this and my own hobbies. 

So it started off with a bold promise.  I turned to Mum today who has been cooking and buying my food for me up until a year or so ago and I said "Mum, from now on, I’m doing the grocery shopping".  Luckily she wasn’t too perplexed about it all and I think she was mildly pleased.  The point of this is so that I have as much control as possible over what I eat and what the family eats.  I started this weeks shop with chicken which I will no doubt grill or stir fry; plenty of summery vegetables such as organic tomatoes and cabbage; I’ve picked up some more herbs to keep food tasting great; I’ve made such I bought real low fat desserts and stocked up on an army of good fruits, cereals and yogurts. 

Bar the remnants of (actually the mass accumulation of) naughty foods in the house, i want to start filling it up with good foods I can cook with and everyone can enjoy.  I am now treating it like my own kitchen and this is exactly how i lost weight last time.  In the last semester I barely saw my own room let alone the kitchen.

Getting back into the motion of cooking has taken some time to get used to.  I’ve forgotten my little tricks and how to do certain things but I will be on top form again.  I will post lots of recipes, pictures and updates on my weight loss.  I promised to update on here more often and I will keep hold of this promise.

I know what else you’re wondering as well.  Am I going to exercise?  I am damn well going to try with utmost determination.  I cancelled my gym membership not long ago as they raised the prices up again and since I have no done much exercise at all.  I didn’t do any as a member either to be quite honest.  Therefore I’m challenging myself to make sure I do a bit of exercise everyday and in order to do this I’m going back to basics.  No more of these machines and memberships; I’m going to climb stairs, use a fitness DVD and watch 4OD whilst toning with cans of beans and bottles of water.  It’s the cheapest way to do it and while I’m not an expert on exercise at all, evidently, I think I’ve seen and heard enough for me to work my way through it. 

In order to do this I plan to sleep more as well in order to get enough energy hence why I am writing this post before midnight which has probably never been done before or at least not in the last few posts.  I would like if I could climb my stairs for fifteen minutes a day and for when I have more time I will do the DVD etc.  Will my mind feel as determined tomorrow?  I’m not sure but fingers crossed I will.

I will weigh myself tomorrow and fill you in on my goals and how I’m going to do it.  For now I’m going to climb into bed and have an early night at 12 midnight!  Bizarre I know however I do plan to walk those stairs before 9am and that way when everyone wakes up, I will have sweated, huffed and puffed and probably made a delicious, low fat breakfast for everyone.

How has your Mattermorphisisng gone?  Done anything new recently?