It's All About The Figures

This week was all about figures and most of them were bad!  I'm being a bit hard on myself because I had 4 good days where I'd start off with this sort of thing for breakfast:

And have this as a treat, only 1.5 SYNs for 120g and it really is lovely.

Another low SYN treat this week was mini Kinder bars, a real chocolate hit for only 3.5 SYNs each!

But the bad figures were 31 SYNs at Nandos and a hot dog for 19 SYNs....I wish I'd taken a moment to check the SYN value before I'd eaten that!

I did manage to get lots of Body Magic in, because the weather was so lovely I went for a walk in the park every lunch break :)

Unsurprisingly, with having a grand total of 137.5 SYNs this week I had a half a pound gain.  It could have been a lot worse if I hadn't been writing EVERYTHING down....even those little things our hands pop in our mouth when our eyes aren't looking :)

So I didn't lose the 3lbs I wanted to but I did try a new fruit, in fact I tried two!  I got myself some figs and although they were lovely they weren't very filling:

Then I got gifted this fruit:

My friend's husband had read how I want to try a new fruit this week so they treated me to a Singo pear and, funnily enough, they gave it to me at bingo!  If you haven't tried one it's a very crunchy, sweet pear and it's VERY filling.

I also tried a new recipe which I thought I'd share with you:

Garlic & Herb Baked Chicken

To serve 4 you will need:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2tbsp all-purpose seasoning
1 large garlic clove crushed
6 tbsp quark
small handful of chopped parsley
low cal cooking spray
2 red onions peeled and cut into thin wedges
4 strands of cherry tomatoes on the vine

Mix the garlic, quark and parsley:

Slice a pocket in each chicken breast and rub with the all-purpose seasoning:

Stuff the pocket with the garlic, quark, parsley mixture:

Place in a baking tray and surround with the onion and tomatoes and then spray the whole lot with the low calorie cooking spray:

Bake in the oven on 200 for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked though.  I thought it was delicious but Maddie thought the parsley made it too lemony. The bonus is there are zero SYNs per serving!

I haven't ended the week feeling disappointed, I know why I had a small gain and I know it could have been a lot worse.

This week I am committing myself to:

1. Try a new vegetable.
2. Exceeding 10,000 steps on at least 5 days.
3. Losing 2lbs.

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Week Forty Three

Week forty three was a quiet one, here are the highlights:

I had lots of cuddles with this boy...when he wasn't engrossed in a TV program!

I went for a lovely long walk after work, I haven't been doing my evening walks and I've missed them.

I got up to date with Project Life :)

I had a night out with my bestie :)

I added more squares to my mood blanket while Alfie snuggled on the blanket!

Dirty pudding :)

The boss treated us all to Nandos for lunch :)

I actually managed to get Maddie to come shopping with me!

And got cross that out of date food was on the shelf!

I did some late night scrapping :)

And made a smart choice when Paul took me out to lunch :)

We had a night out at bingo with friends and Paul had a win!

Me and Paul had a trip to Ikea, it was rammed but he wanted to be like a tourist and go during the weekend! Me and Maddie always go midweek when it's a lot quieter :)

I enjoyed a glass of wine and my new candle :)

And then Paul went home so I enjoyed a cupcake while watching Downton Abbey :)

This week is going to be another quiet one and, now that the clocks have changed, I'm looking forward to getting cosy indoors after work and making some Christmas presents :)

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

The Road is Long!

Lots of people know that I've been on a journey, a very long journey with Slimming World! I've been doing it for 3 years, and that's not a problem because it's not a diet it's a lifestyle, but this year I have only been maintaining my loss.  The loss I've maintained this year is 3 stone (52lbs) and while I'm pleased with that I still need to lose more, a lot more!

I had become complacent and I know I won't be happy going another year with only maintaining and not losing, for that reason I've decided to keep myself on track by sharing my weight loss highs and lows, ups and downs (hopefully more downs than ups on the scales!) on my blog.

I weigh on a Thursday evening so blogging my week and, I hope, my weight loss, along with recipes and tips, on a Friday will help me to remain focused.  This is something I could have started at the beginning of 2016 but why wait when I want to focus NOW, I would love to lose a stone (14lbs) by Christmas.

I had a very disappointing gain this week, 1lb in fact, and I was upset because I had tried so hard and really thought I was going to have a good loss.  This post would probably have been a lot different if I had of had a loss, it would even have been different if I'd written it this morning when I was still feeling dejected if I'm honest.  Right now though I'm feeling fine about it and I'm looking forward to the week ahead :)

One of the things I'll me making to help me be prepared and stay on track are delicious muffins, yes muffins that will keep me on plan!  The muffins I'm making are 1.5 SYNS each or 4 muffins for a Healthy Extra B choice, I normally have them as a HEB and eat 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening because they are so filling.

To make them you will need:

4 Weetabix
4 beaten eggs
1 toffee Mullerlite
8 tbsp sweetener
4 cap fulls of salted caramel flavouring:

Put all of the ingredients in a bowl:

And combine well:

Divide in to 8 muffin cases:

And bake for approximately 20-25 minutes at 190/200 degrees or until golden, voila:

Very quick and easy to make and I think they are lovely.

This week I am committing myself to:

1. Try a new fruit.
2. Try a new recipe.
3. Lose 3lbs

Wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by
Jo xx

Week Forty Two

Week forty two saw me having the week off work and, boy, did it go quickly!  Here are the highlights:

I made some Slimming World friendly Weetabix muffins that were delicious!

My very last Studio Calico kit arrived, the delivery driver insisted it be signed for and I thought that was funny because, every month for the last 2 years, they've just dumped it on the doorstep!

I got to spend time with my amazing friend Allison :)

And I spent plenty of time with my niece Alice :)

I tried a new Slimming World recipe, this was quick fish stew and it was amazing!

I got bang up to date with Project Life!

And I showed my album to my friend Sarah :)

I had cinema night with my girl :)

The cinema was empty but the film, The Walk, was brilliant :)

My mum's neighbour, Dee, enjoyed looking through my Project Life album :)

I had a hair cut :)

And a night at bingo with Sarah.

I spent a whole day crafting with Sandra:

And of course I spent plenty of time playing with The Bears :)

We had our Christmas party at Slimming World :)

I tried another new Slimming World recipe. Creamy prawn and mushroom pasty was quick, easy and delicious :)

Dirty pudding :)

Alice the nutter, she makes me laugh so much :)

After much complaining and shouting on my part the scaffolding came down!

I spent a lovely weekend with Paul :)

Who is so pleased with his new hi vis waterproofs!

After completing our 10,000 steps before lunchtime we allowed ourselves this treat :)

Pippy was pretty as usual :)

And I had a lovely afternoon crocheting and watching TV.

Before my forth new Slimming World recipe of the week, Apple Betty :)

Alfie was very pleased to see me home on Sunday though :)

Back to work today but feeling very refreshed and looking forward to the week ahead.

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by
Jo xx