I have been so busy for the last few days!  Busy doing fun things that have made me very happy.  One bit of particularly happy news is that I lost 1 pound on Friday which was amazing after last weekend’s over eating and several mistakes with syns during the week.  It just goes to show that if you blow it with the eating, then exercise, exercise exercise!

The significance of that 1 pound is that it means I have now lost 4 stone from my heaviest weight.  Yes, 4 STONE !!!!  I am very happy about that.  It also means I have lost 1 stone and 3 and a half pounds since joining Slimming World in September so I am happy about that too.

I have made this twice recently; once for supper and once for breakfast and I love it.  Such a simple, colourful and nutritious bowlful of pink grapefruit, orange, fig and half an avocado.

On Thursday morning I had a delightful early morning walk along the sea front at Bulverhythe with Milton.

I then walked in to town for a haircut but on the way back I do confess I came up the hill  in the funicular as I couldn’t face the hill.  The little carriages are so cute and I particularly like the West Hill lift as you go through a tunnel.

The walk home from the West Hill lift is lovely.  There’s my street, in the distance.For lunch on Thursday I made a huge salad, using as much as I could from the garden.  I began with the green stuff: lettuce, mizuna, cucumber, celery and alfalfa sprouts.  Go greens!Red for danger.Plus some chick pea “tuna”.Some vegans claim this tastes like tuna so I decided to make it.  You drain a can of tuna, add some vegan mayo, some paprika, seaweed, spring onions and gherkins.It didn’t taste at all like tuna but it was very tasty.In the evening I did another walk, across part of the Hastings Country Park.  I found this field of sunflowers.I had some company on this walk which was lovely.Hurricane Brian has not damaged my garden which is just as well because the slugs, snails and caterpillars are annihilating it!I did another lovely walk on Friday in Surrey with Sally and Michelle. We had lunch in a country pub first (nut roast for me) and that evening I had supper with my Dad and step-Mother which was fun.

Today I woke up very early so I took Milton down to Rock A Nore for sunrise which was invigorating.I made a yummy breakfast; a tofu scramble with chick peas and rice.  It was delicious.I then hopped on a train up to London where I met Lara and we had a bite to eat at Arabica in Borough Market.  I had quite a light lunch as I was still full up from breakfast.I went to London because Lara and I were going to the Waitrose Cookery School at Granary Square near King’s Cross.  We were attending a vegan street food lesson, given by Jackie Kearney, who was a Masterchef finalist in 2012.

The cookery school is next to a massive Waitrose shop which proved useful during the class when we needed anything.It was very well equipped.It was a bit like being in a stage set as the building was actually huge !Jackie was great.  She showed us what to do and then we got to have a go.

This was my lovely partner for the cookery lesson.

Lara was complimented by Jackie for her dumplings and it turns out that she regularly makes gyoza which are the same shape.  Hers were far neater then mine.But mine tasted great too.  We ate them with 2 really hot sambals  that Jackie made while we shaped and cooked our dumplings.Ta daaJackie also showed us how to make a Thai green vegetable curry and then a vegeball sub with a fabulous cheese sauce.This was completely delicious and I will definitely be making this.  We all helped make enough for everyone to have one to take away.I really enjoyed cookery school and came away with one of Jackie’s books so brace yourselves for many street food recipes.