Day 50

I managed to salvage things yesterday. Yes I did give in to the food craving and bought chocolate, but I didn't go for the jaffa cakes (7.4g of carbs each so no way I was having 3 of those!) Instead I bought a small bar of dairy milk (not my first choice, but the lowest carb choice of the options in the machine) and broke it in half. I had 3 squares and the other 3 I gave to Kev. So whilst I wasn't good, it wasn't a complete disaster. Also due to a lack of time when I got home I had a protein shake for dinner which meant that I actually managed to stay within my carbs for the day, even with the chocolate. Won't be making a habit of the chocolate though, would be too easy to get hooked on it again, but may have to take some dark chocolate to work in case of emergencies.

Today I desperately need to go shopping to get back on track, however I am running short of time. I have decided to skip yoga tonight, not because I don't want to go, but because I don't think I can physically manage it this week. My hayfever is so bad at the moment that my nose is completely blocked. So blocked that I can't even smell the olbas oil that I've doused just about everything I come into contact with in the hopes of smelling something. As yoga is all about breathing, and 99% of the breathing is done through the nose, I don't think there's much point in going as I'm having trouble breathing through my mouth let alone just nose. I had problems last week and I was nowhere near as bad then. However, my Geribody yoga dvd arrived today so I might have a go at some of that later - doesn't matter if I grunt and snort on my own *LOL*

I know that today should be weigh day, but I haven't bothered this week. As its TOTM I'm unlikely to have lost weight (I don't feel as if I have) and don't really need to demotivate myself when I'm in a wobbly patch anyway. I need a nice long workout on the glider and some nice new food to get me motivated!

It's Hard ... So Hard

Well it's become obvious that this new WOE is very easy ... as long as you're organised. And up until now I have been. Very organised. Every week a shopping list containing only the ingredients for the week's food. Every day preparing the meals so that I always have something good to eat and every day's meals planned out with military precision, ensuring the requisite right balance of carbs, protein and fat. Until this week. Last week I didn't plan my meals in advance, didn't make a proper shopping list and just wandered aimlessly round the supermarket putting stuff in my trolley randomly. OK, I remembered the staples - soya milk, avocados, mushrooms, salad, but what I didn't account for was the sudden change in temperature. When it's cold and gray like this I don't feel like eating salads. I want something warm and comforting, and so instead of the salads I was going to have I've been using up my stash of faux shepherds pie with lovely green vegetables in butter.

Being off work for an extra day hasn't helped either. Not having to make food in advance for a few days soon got me out of the habit. So at 11.30pm last night I found myself in the situation of having hardly any food in the house and having not made any breakfast or lunch for today. Yes, I could have chucked together a mackerel & rocket salad (about the only things left in my fridge) but I couldn't be bothered. And I had nothing that I could do for breakfast. Luckily I have a canteen at work that sells breakfast items so was able to have bacon, scrambled eggs and mushrooms, and I had a meeting in another building today, so walked past a Pret a Manger on the way back and bought a crayfish and smoked salmon salad, but these two meals cost me almost £6 (completely outrageous for a few bits of nothing much) and leaves me with nothing for dinner (as I forgot to get the chicken breast I have left out of the freezer last night).

This is particularly bad for two reasons. Firstly, because I am going to the cinema with Lynne tonight and don't have time to cook anything much or wait for the chicken to defrost, and secondly because today is my TOTM hungry enough to eat a horse day. Normally I would be eating everything I could lay my hands on, but of course I have nothing to eat. Am manfully trying to resist the chocolate, and especially the jaffa cakes ... but I can feel my resolve weakening because of the lack of anything else to eat instead.

This lack of planning is a head thing - I am on week 7 of the IPD and it's all going well, so my head has decided to try and sabotage me. By not having bought enough food, I can be coaxed to eating the wrong things thus proving that as always in the past, this WOE isn't working. However, this WOE works and I am determined to not let my head get the better of me (although I am giving in on the jaffa cakes). Tomorrow I will be compiling my weekly menu, constructing my shopping list and getting back on track.

Oh and why does my hungry day always come the day before weigh day?

Miserable Monday

Feeling pretty miserable this morning. I think it's the dreadful weather. After the fantastic sunshine last week, there has been nothing but rain for the last 3 days. It's so cold I had to put the heating on last night. Also I seem to have picked up a cold. Thought it was hayfever, but now I'm so bunged up that I can hardly breathe, and worse still almost all food has lost its taste.

Yesterday I started with my usual protein shake ad made a nice omelette with courgettes, green peppers, mushrooms & cheese for lunch. Unfortunately, because of the lack of taste it seemed a bit bland so ended up having another plain chicken breast with mayo to go with it (at least I didn't attack Vicky's cheddars!) Dinner was pepper steak with mushrooms (of course), cauli mash with asparagus, green beans & courgettes in butter, followed by the last of the custard. I also had some smoked salmon roll ups for a snack. Feeling very lazy last night so I didn't use my glider, instead exercising my wrist by surfing ebay. I will make up for it today.

Today I have had my protein shake and was supposed to have mackerel salad for lunch, but the weather is so dire I'm thinking I'll have shepherd's pie instead, with tarragon chicken this evening before I go to work.

I measured myself yesterday and am pleased to report another 2 inch loss - from my hips and thighs ... looks like the glider is beginning to work. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll really notice the difference using the slendertone belt as well. I also weighed myself again (very naughty I know) and I'd lost 1lb.

This morning I was even more naughty and weighed myself again - another 1 1/2lb lost so I've actually done really well on the week. Amazing, and proof that this way of eating (and I guess all the extra exercise) really does work. No more measuring till Thursday now.

I had no carb hangover on Thursday or Friday, in fact getting back onto IPD was a breeze, however today it really hit me. Woke up hungry and so I had my protein shake much earlier than I would normally do on a weekend. The pub was really quiet and so I had eaten my lunch (smoked salmon, avocado & philly roll ups) by 2pm, a knock-on from the early breakfast I guess but it didn't fill me up. We served a lot of food today and it all looked & smelt lovely. I spent quite a lot of time trying to convince myself that chicken dippers would be OK to eat (they most definitely aren't!) but in the end got Mel to cook me a plain chicken breast which I cut into strips and had with some mayo. I nipped over to Bluewater after work as Holland & Barrett have changed their sale again and the protein shake powder is reduced to £9.99. I am so addicted to the shakes that even if I stopped all the dieting tomorrow I'd still happily have the shakes (although I'm not giving up the IPD tomorrow or any other day). Dinner this evening was some lovely home made burgers with chorizo, onion & dijon mustard which I served on portabello mushrooms with a mixed salad and blue cheese dressing. The burgers and mushrooms were cooked to perfection in my new Palson Gourmet pan, which is completely fab and a total bargain, but absolutely huge (it takes up most of my kitchen work top!). This was followed by some of Passley's custard (I made some more yesterday but split it between 3 bowls this time to make it last longer).

Yesterday I also had a go at making some IPD friendly meringues with the whites left over from the custard. Unfortunately they didn't turn out very well. All seemed to go OK right up to the point that they went in the oven and then it went downhill fast. They seemed to be missing that crispness that meringues have and so they ended up in the bin. Not sure where I went wrong - I used a mixture of egg whites and splenda and added a couple of drops of vinegar (thanks Nigella) to stop the eggy taste. So if anyone can tell me where I went wrong I'd be grateful 'cos I lurve meringues and would it would be good to have them occasionally (and it is a good use of the egg whites as I'm not entirely sure what else to do with them).

I got some of those control pants from QVC and wore them to work today. They definitely made me trimmer as I could get out of my jeans without undoing them, but because they pushed up my bottom the jeans looked all funny and baggy in the wrong places. Think they'll look better under a more tailored outfit or skirt. Definitely need to invest in some more, although they're not very sexy.

Hmmm

Well I survived the day at the Chelsea Flower Show. Had a brilliant day and ate and drank exactly what I wanted. Fortunately I didn't suffer with any particular side effects or carb cravings so was able to get back on track with no problems today.

Started the day with a cooked breakfast of bacon, sausages and scrambled eggs (very ipd friendly). This was followed later in the morning with an ice cream, in fact more specifically, a dark chocolate magnum. This was my first chocolate for 43 days and my first ice cream for about 3 months so I was really looking forward to it. The first bite was nice, but soooo sweet, the second, ok, but still very sweet. By halfway through the bar I realised I actually didn't really want it any more as it was making me feel quite ill. I had to drink half a litre of water straight after finishing it to try and get rid of the sweetness. Lunch was fish and chips and yet more water sitting in a shady spot (it was quite nice but I don't think I'll be bothering with fish and chips again until next year's Chelsea, especially as it made me feel quite bloated within about 15 minutes of eating it). In the afternoon we spent a couple of happy hours sipping quite a lot of Pimms, sitting in exactly the same place as last year (although of course the weather was far far better this year) and I turned down a second ice cream as even looking at them and the chocolate coated cone made me feel quite queasy. Instead on arriving home I had some faux sheperd's pie - back on the wagon already!

I weighed myself this morning and have gained 2lbs (as usual), however considering the food yesterday I'm not surprised. Also I have been doing so much more exercise, that I am sure my fat is turning to muscle and of course that weighs more. Tomorrow I shall measure myself and see if there is any difference - I really hope there is. I don't mind not losing weight if I am losing inches.

I have replaced the batteries on my slendertone belt and wore that whilst I was working out on the glider today, yet one more way to tone up, and it really makes me stand up properly. I do really need to get some new pads for it soon though. Yoga this evening was even more strenuous than last week and I can really feel it in my thighs and abdomen tonight, probably a result of the other working out too.

Oops!

I slipped off the wagon a bit today. Had a very boring meeting this morning which finished early so we ended up in the pub for lunch. I managed to resist the very tasty looking baguettes and piles of chips and sterlingly ordered a water, but felt in the mood for a drink and so ended up having 3 glasses of white wine. Not the end of the world, but not great either, however I refuse to beat myself up about it. Off to use my glider shortly - shall glide extra fast to try and burn off the calories they accrued.

Tomorrow is a planned cheat day as I'm off to the Chelsea Flower Show with Lynne. This is a yearly ritual which involves eating a cooked breakfast, Harry Ramsden's fish & chips for lunch and bucketloads of Pimm's, along with cups of normal tea with milk and ice creams. I may even have a banana! I've been looking forward to this day out for ages so yet again refuse to worry about falling off the wagon. Thursday morning I shall be going shopping to stock up with all the good things I am allowed to eat on ipd and will be having a marathon session or two on the glider to get me back in check. And of course I'll be off to yoga in the evening too.

Time to Catch Up

It's Day 39 and I just thought I'd give a quick update on how things are going.

Firstly, and most importantly, I've broken the 1 stone barrier. Against all expectations I did lose weight this week and it took me just over that magic stone. I am really pleased with this. I didn't measure myself this week, but hoping to see a difference when I do it on Friday.

As predicted the buffet was all sandwiches and fruit - and very nice it looked too. There was a cheeseboard so I had a little of that and stuck with my roll-ups. Got a few funny looks, but I felt virtuous for sticking to the ipd regardless.

On Thursday evening I had my second yoga class. Once again very enjoyable, but much harder than last week I thought (although several of the older members disagreed). It left me feeling on a high again and looking forward to next week's class already.

On Friday my xl glider arrived and I immediately set to work putting it together and having a go on it. I did 2.5km on the first day, and have used it every day since, although the distance has not been so great as very busy pub shifts has left my feet in a lot of pain, so I've only managed the morning stints. I am really pleased with the machine. It is almost completely silent, eliminating the need for turning the music up too loud and although I've only clocked up a total of 5.5km so far, I can already feel it in my thighs, arms and tummy so hoping shortly I'll notice some effect in the clothes department. All I need to do now is get rid of the treadmill and I'll be sorted.

Last night I went to the pub and had a couple of small glasses of red wine. I had decided that I was going to have a drink as I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to fall over drunk at Chelsea Flower Show on Wednesday after not drinking for so long. To be honest I didn't enjoy the wine, and didn't really need to have it, so probably should have just stuck to the water all evening.

Foodwise I've been sticking to the old P1 favourites - steak, celeriac dauphinoise, smoked salmon, cheese & avocado roll-ups, omelette, faux shepherds pie and protein shakes. I have noticed that my appetite has decreased considerably, in fact has almost completely disappeared sometimes - something completely new for me. Hopefully this is a good sign that things are shifting downwards too.

Just another day

Well the title says it all really. Just another day (Day 35) and all is well. Don't think I'm going to have lost any weight this week as I feel a bit bloated, but I don't care. Just waiting for my xl-glider to arrive so I can get exercising, and of course tomorrow is yoga night. Breakfast today was the muffins from the pb, lunch was a prawn and avocado salad and dinner was faux shepherds pie with asparagus and green beans followed by cinnamon pecans & cinnamon creme fraiche.

Tomorrow I have a meeting with a buffet lunch, it's very unlikely that there'll be anything I can eat as it's always sandwiches, fruit and biscuits so I've made some ham, cheese and avocado roll ups which I shall take with me instead.

Hungry Day

Had a hungry day today and I've eaten loads. The good thing is that it was all P1 friendly and didn't really overdo the calories or carbs. I started out OK with the usual protein shake - which I actually didn't want as I wasn't hungry, but gotta stick to the 3 meals a day. Then everything went downhill from there. Having a stressful time with the work I'm doing, so slow cooked some sausages & onion marmalade for a late lunch and to make breakfast muffins with. Was still trying to work at 5pm and felt peckish so had smoked salmon, avocado & philly roll-ups. Dinner was a steak with a mushroom sauce followed by some custard. So I feel full, not stuffed and also feel fat. Definitely need to up my exercise but the weather is not conduicive to walking. Just hope my xl-glider arrives soon.

New Breakfast and More

OK so now I know I've cracked the breakfast problem. Was transferring the remainder of Saturday night's cauli/broccoli mash into a storage container yesterday morning when I caught a whiff. Smelt lovely so I had a couple of big spoonfuls for my breakfast. Can you believe I'd of ever said that? No me neither! Of course I did have bacon and eggs just after so not completely weird, but at least I no longer associate only certain foods with breakfast. Lunch was wafer thin slices of ham (Asda do little snack packs containing about 7 slices) rolled up with avocado and philadelphia cheese, but in contrast to Saturday, the pub was so busy that I didn't have a chance to finish it till after work. Dinner was tarragon chicken again as I had a chicken breast to use and the sauce is so tasty and easy to do, once again with cauli mash, spinach and also some green beans and a couple of spears of asparagus. Divine. And to follow I had a slice of cheesecake as my carbs/calorie count for the day was a bit too low.

This morning I started with a protein shake - perfect for when I'm busy working at home as it fills me up for ages. For lunch I had some mini bratwurst that I needed to use up and I chucked a couple of mushrooms in the pan too, then mixed up some eggs and cream and chucked that in too. For dinner I will be having seared lime and ginger tuna with more veg and the last of the cauli mash.

This afternoon I made Passley's custard - it is completely fab and a breeze to do, just takes a couple of minutes. Apart from a couple of small spoonfuls from the bottom of the pan, I've been really good and divided it into 2 bowls to chill for later.

Saturday Musings

This morning I woke up feeling sick. Not sure why this was but maybe I have picked up a slight tummy bug as I was sick twice before going to work, although I didn't feel at all ill apart from a slight headache. I managed to have a protein shake for breakfast and cooked a ham, mushroom and cheese omelette with sundried tomato & basil olive oil for lunch. As work was so quiet I finished this early (usually I don't get to finish eating it till after my shift), so was ready for a snack by the time I got home. A couple of slices of the almond bread with marmite set me up nicely for dinner which was the ultra quick tarragon chicken with broccoli & cauli mash and buttered spinach. I realise that I haven't had enough to drink today as I was still feeling a bit hungry. Also wanting a drink (only because I always have a drink when the Eurovision Song Contest is on) but I managed to resist that, instead having a cup of choco and a few pecans.

Duh!

Well in all the excitement of the other posts I forgot to mention my good news. After the depression yesterday of not losing weight, I woke this morning feeling thinner (can't explain that feeling) and realised my jeans were looser than ever. This prompted me to jump on the scales (I know it's supposed to be once a week but ...) and I weighed the same fully clothed today as I did naked yesterday. So of course I had to strip off to get a correct reading (probably not a great idea when I had to be out of the door for work 10 minutes later) and I've lost 3 1/4lbs. This means I am now only 1/2lb off 1 stone in weight loss.

I've been very naughty this evening. Turning on the TV I was tuned to QVC who were showing the x-glider which they were selling on 4 payments. Now I have tried and tried to use my treadmill but it makes too much noise which means I can only use it during the day on my days off (not good for every day training) as the girls downstairs go to bed early (about 8pm) during the week and to not die of boredom I have to have my music or tv turned up very loudly so the combined noise would definitely keep them awake. Also when I was at Jo's I tried her cross trainer and really liked the way it worked you without putting too much strain on joints and feet. So I've bought one. I think that I will be better off with this item as its pretty silent so I can use it any time of the day or night, and apparently using it for 30 minutes a day (not all at once either, if need be you can do it in 5 minute stints) means that you'd lose 1lb a week in weight. This will definitely give my exercise the boost that it needs. Once I get my other equipment back from Lynne I'll be all set to really get exercising hard. Then I just need to sell my treadmill. I'm afraid we're not really suited for each other however hard I try!

More Food Talk

Last night I made the perfect omelette. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love omelettes and how crap I am at cooking them. Even having a proper pan and following recipes doesn't help, for some reason they start out OK and end up a complete mess. But no more. Now I am a domestic goddess an omelette is no challenge. Well, it is actually - but last night I made the most perfectly proportioned, perfectly cooked, exquisite cheese and mushroom omelette which I served with a salad of baby leaves - it was almost a shame to eat it.

This morning I had breakfast with Annette at the Metro cafe which we were checking did cooked breakfasts for when Lynne and I go to Chelsea Flower Show in a couple of weeks time (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). Had bacon and scrambled eggs, which was very nice but didn't keep me filled up all morning. By 11am I was starving, but made do with a handful of pine nuts to tide me over to lunch (don't have this problem with the protein shakes). Lunch was a salad nicoise which was tasty, but I was wishing was a bit bigger.

Someone on the IPD forum has posted a recipe for an almond pancake type thing which can be used as a base for a pizza, as a sweet dish with cinnamon & splenda or even better still, toasted and eaten with butter and marmite. I can't explain how incredibly excited I am at the idea of being able to eat marmite on hot buttered anything (yes I know my life really is that sad), and other people who've tried it have all said it was wonderful. Looks like I shall be baking again tonight.

Day 30

I've reached day 30 of the IPD. So how am I feeling? Well actually I feel great. I love the food, I even love shopping for and preparing the food and I feel generally happier than I have done for years. I feel healthier, I'm sleeping better and I don't have any of the bloating, or over-full feelings that I used to spend so much time with. No sudden stomach cramps and best of all no wind!

I haven't had any chocolate, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, fruit, vegetables that aren't green, milk or yoghurt during the 30 days and with the exception of bananas (not sure why it was those) I haven't missed any of them - not even during the TOTM as I had the lovely P1 cheesecake to keep me company. I have now had a few glasses of wine, but that is going to be an occasional exception rather than a rule as I know it will stall me if I get back on the alcohol - I really would love a Jack Daniels though! I am sure that my attitude towards food is finally changing and I am thoroughly enjoying all the food I eat rather than just treating it as fuel and love trying new recipes and new foods - so many things I've discovered I adore that I'd never tried and probably still would never have done without the IPD.

Best of all, 30 days in and I'm still feeling incredibly positive about this whole way of eating. I am sure this is right for me, and the fact I feel so good proves it. Normally by now I'd either have given up or got so used to the routine I'd have let it slip a bit, but I'm still completely on top of sticking to P1 and don't feel any hardship doing so. Long may it continue.

As we say on the IPD forum onwards and inwards!

Feeling Down

So today was weigh day. I guess the alcohol etc. was more of a staller than anticipated, and although I was feeling thinner, I have lost no weight and neither have I lost any inches. This left me quite down and the crappy weather doesn't help. I can put up with not losing weight or not losing inches, but to stay exactly the same when I've worked so hard is really difficult to take. Still I suppose at least I didn't put on this week.

I know that I really need to increase my exercise. The walking I do currently just isn't enough, even including the walking up and down stairs that I am doing at work now. I really do HAVE to find time to use my treadmill and build it up to the 5 miles a day that is recommended (the weather is too foul to go outside atm). I am starting yoga classes tonight, but I'm not sure that'll show too much in the short term so the walking it has to be.

Meanwhile I need to closely examine what I'm eating. I am trying not to have too many creamy things in 1 day or too many cheesy things, but this isn't always easy. I may have to go back to sticking to the book religiously for the next couple of weeks - it seems to go wrong when I have to make up my own menus!

Anyway today started with a protein shake (thinking that I may have to change the formula of these a little too, although annoying as I've found the perfect forumla for me), followed by lunch of 1/2 butternut squash roasted in garlic olive oil covered in bacon and a little melted cheese. No decision on dinner yet.

Not too far off track

OK So I went out for lunch with Pauline and Kev. There was much discussion of where to go, Pizza Express (lovely salads), a pasta place (lovely salads) but we ended up at the Tappit Hen (lovely sandwiches!). Yep they don't really cater for the ipd'er, however they did do a few sharing plates that were the closest I could get. So we had share plates of cumberland sausages with mustard mayo (somewhat pricey at £6.45 for 2 sausages I thought!), feta cheese, olives, hoummus and pitta bread (I only ate the cheese) and nachos with all the trimmings (which I didn't eat any of, although it was really hard not to). So I am really pleased with myself for managing to stick as close to the diet as possible. However, I did have 3 small glasses of wine and boy did I notice it!

Getting back to work we had a staff meeting and Ozzie had bought everyone chocolate doughnuts from MacDonalds. I was really good and didn't have mine, instead sipping on rooibos and vanilla tea and water. Feeling very virtuous I felt justified in having a lovely dinner.

And it was lovely, although made up of bits and pieces as I really need to go shopping later. I had the other portion of pork stroganoff that I made last week, with celeriac mash, buttered spinach, beans and broccoli, followed by cinnamon pecans on a spoonful of cinnamon creme fraiche with 2 cups of rooibos and caramel tea.

Feeling nice and full now and ready for a snooze, but I really need to go shopping before I go to bed as I have no food for breakfast tomorrow.

Sugar Cravings

Well today has been a strange one. Started the day well with a protein shake (surprise surprise), followed by lunch of bacon, eggs and tomato again. Then it went a bit funny. I was working on some boring spreadsheets and suddenly felt a major craving for something sweet. I had a glass of water, but that didn't diminish the problem. I had a peperami, but it was definitely sweet stuff I was craving. I posted a message on IPD hoping to get some ideas of what I could have, but instead I got a lecture on the perils of keeping chocolate in the home (I have a stack of it, but it wasn't craving chocolate I was craving it was a banana) and told to go for a walk. That wasn't a viable option at the time, so I did a bit of washing up and then found a recipe for some pecans so I microwaved them with a little butter then added some splenda and some cinnamon and gave it a good shake. Very nice and just what I needed to get over the craving. This evening I had steak in a pepper sauce with an avocado salad and a little cauli/broccoli mash. Tomorrow I am going out for lunch with Pauline and Kev so dread to think what I'll be eating and drinking!

Head Issues

Haven't posted for a few days as I've been a bit busy and also because I needed to think what to write. Although not surprised at my lack of weight loss last week, I was obviously a bit disappointed, and even more so when a friend from UKS who has started doing the slimfast diet (and not very well either I might add) announced that she'd lost 9lb in 5 days! Yes I know that me losing it slower is likely to keep it off longer and that most of what she's lost will be water retention, but it's still hard to take, especially when you read the amount of crap she is eating every day. In fact I started Saturday morning feeling more depressed than I've felt for ages. Fortunately, my mates were all supportive and helped me through my mini crisis without any slips.

I had been out on Friday night for Annette's birthday and had 2 small glasses of wine over the course of the evening, as well as several pints of water. It was interesting then to see the level of depression that hit me the following day over the weight issue, which was out of all proportion. Now I know my mood swings have been fairly stable since starting ipd, so I shall be keeping an eye on my moods after alcohol in future, as this obviously does affect me.

Saturday evening Andrea, Chris and I went to the pub for the evening. I had decided that I was going to have a drink, but then couldn't decide which of my limited options to go for and in the end drank water all evening instead. This wasn't a hardship and I still had a good evening.

I've changed my weekend food routine slightly, firstly in a bid to not get bored with the same food and secondly because I've become addicted to the protein shakes. On each day I've had a protein shake for breakfast. On Saturday I had my usual breakfast - smoked salmon, avocado and philly roll ups for lunch followed by a chicken & bacon salad with lemon & white wine vinaigrette for dinner, with a piece of the cheesecake for a late night snack. Yesterday I had an omelette for lunch (which I never got to finish until after work as we were so busy) and a late night meal of faux shepherds pie with green vegetables.

It's that time again

Yesterday was weigh-in day. Wasn't feeling very optimistic as its TOTM but had to do it anyway. Sure enough I'd gained 2lbs. Managed not to feel too bad about it though as I'm sure it'll shift eventually. It helped that I'd lost another 3" from my bust, waist & hips and I think in some ways losing the inches is more important than the pounds anyway, although I do feel like I'm doing the okie cokie - gain 2lb, lose 3lb, gain 2lb. I need the whoosh fairy to come and visit.

I also need to examine my diet. I've been using fitday to keep track and while I know it isn't perfect it does give me a good idea of what I'm putting in my body. I had read somewhere on the forum that the balance should be 70% fat/25% protein/5% carbs, however yesterday India said that when she was doing hardcore phase 1 she had a ratio of 60%/35%/5%. Doing a report for the last month shows that my levels are 67%/27%/6%. Now this includes a week of the WW plan so it'll be another week before I get my true ipd reading, but I've noticed that on a daily scale my fat levels are a bit high and i'm not even getting to 20g of carbs on some days. Bit of tinkering will be required I think as I know I have to have fat at every meal, but I need to make sure I'm not overdoing it and need to eat more green leafy vegetables.

Talking of which, anyone know how to cook spinach properly? I had buttered spinach with my chili bake yesterday lunchtime and tbh it left a bit to be desired. My method was to wilt it in a steamer for a few minutes and then having got rid of the water put the spinach in the pan and chuck some butter in. Frankly it tasted like pond weed so I'm sure I must be doing something wrong. I tried creamed spinach a couple of weeks ago and it turned out similar. Help please with any ideas for great spinach.

So I finally got the chili bake made on Wednesday evening and it was scrummy (thanks again to Bee for a fabulous recipe). Yesterday's meals were a protein shake for breakfast (I'm really getting into them and they are really filling), some more chili bake for lunch (although I couldn't eat the whole portion as I was stuffed) and after an evening of cupboard sorting, which left me not feeling very hungry I had some ham, philly & avocado rollups, which was then followed by an attack of the munchies so I also polished off the 3 sausages that I had left over from the other day. I did manage to keep away from the cheesecake though.

Getting Sorted ... Slowly!

Didn't have time to post last night as I was busy cooking again and didn't finish until almost midnight. On Monday I finally cracked the problem of protein shakes. I usually have a shake on Monday evening to save me having to cook before work and on days when I'm not feeling hungry, however they are not the most inspiring drink in the world (although I have the chocolate one which I understand is slightly better than some of the other flavours) and I find that after a couple of hours I start to feel hungry again. I had spotted a thread on P2T about protein shakes and a suggestion was made that a spoonful of peanut butter be added to the mix. I still had cream/soya mixture left from the celeriac dish and I used that plus a little more soya with the peanut butter to create a 400ml drink instead of the 250ml one I usually have. It tasted lovely and better still kept me full up all evening.

In fact it kept me full up for longer than that as I wasn't hungry when I woke yesterday and eventually had to force myself to have another shake (there was no way I could manage anything else) at about 11am. Of course this had the knock on effect that I wasn't hungry for lunch and ended up having some mini bratwurst at about 3pm. So dinner, which was supposed to be chili bake ended up being pushed later too.

Of course, if I'd bothered reading the recipe closely I'd have realised it took about 3 hours to make and would have started making it earlier, instead I started at about 8pm. By 10pm the mince was done but it needed to cool before I could make the topping. I realised it would be too late by the time it was finished, and wasn't sure about how the topping would reheat, so decided to leave the bake till this evening, instead knocking up a couple of burgers from the left over mince with some onion and mushroom blended in which I had with a salad and mayo - very tasty!

Then I made another batch of breakfast muffins in my new muffin tin. They were absolutely perfect, and I had 3 of them this morning, leaving 3 for Friday morning. Finally I prepared a prawn salad with lemon and dill mayo for today's lunch - which unfortunately I left at home this morning. Grabbing a box quickly on the way out the door, I managed to pick up the remaining lettuce rather than my beautifully prepared salad. Not the most exciting lunch ever, although I did manage to get a tina pot of tuna from the canteen for £1 and the mayo helped to disguise the taste of the lettuce somewhat.

I also got the all clear to take up yoga from the doctor yesterday afternoon and have ordered my mat (the only essential item apparently) in purple of course. Hopefully that will arrive this weekend and I can start classes next week.