Lose Weight and Gain Health

Everything I consumed today:

Black English Breakfast tea.  I usually add milk but someone had finished the milk and not bought any more! Another black tea.  Still no milk. Omelette. Made with 2 eggs, a slice of ham, a huge handful of spinach and another of mushrooms.  Cooked in a little butter. Mug of instant coffee with …… milk.  Yay! Glass of water. Lunch !  Stir fried onions, mushrooms, spring onions and mushrooms, gently cooked in coconut oil. With a very small chicken breast.  Marinated in about a square inch of ginger which I minced in a garlic crusher.  It adds a wonderful flavour.  Stir fried. Served with a spoonful each of walnuts, hazelnuts and Cholula, a hot pepper sauce. Deeelicious!English Breakfast tea, with milk.
1 slice of toast with butter, cream cheese and a ripe and juicy tomato. Another slice of toast.  One half spread with butter and Marmite, the other with butter and Macadamia nut butter.

A cheeky trip to the local pub where I enjoyed 2 white wine spritzers, salted popcorn and a glass of soda water.  Plus the company.  I obviously really enjoyed the company 🙂

I think I will have a mug of herbal tea and head to bed soon.  the winds woke me up very early and kept me awake.

My thoughts are with my neighbours and others, who have to repair damaged property and possessions.  Let’s hope tomorrow is a lot calmer.

What a fun weekend we have just had.  We ate plenty of nourishing, delicious and sugar free food, had a sleepover in London at my sister’s and saw the Boomtown Rats.  It was all really good fun and very enjoyable.

Saturday began with a slight disappointment as the scales at the Leisure Centre were out of order.  I have been trying really hard recently and wanted to see how I had done.

I bought some provisions at my favourite local shop, Hartley Dyke Farm Shop This Rye bread was wonderful but Harvey and I both thought it was quite sweet so I need to check if it contains sugar. I had one slice with butter and then another toasted with a perfectly cooked boiled egg which is an eating experience of pure and simple joy. For lunch we had some Halibut I had bought from Hartley’s Fishmongers which was delicious.  It is a lovely fish, quite meaty and with a good but not too strong flavour.  I served it with some homegrown potatoes, aubergines and peppers I had roasted in the oven in coconut oil.  It was delicious. In the afternoon we travelled up to North London where my sister Lucy and her family live.  She had cooked a delicious shepherd’s pie which was served with lots of steamed vegetables.  I managed to be very good and resist seconds, even though it was delicious. We left the children watching a film in the home cinema with a babysitter

and the four of us headed off to The Roundhouse in Camden to see the Boomtown Rats.

They were excellent.

As was the venue.  I have never been to the Roundhouse before and it was really good.  I prefer standing at a concert as I think you get a much better atmosphere and most of this venue is standing room only.  We enjoyed a couple of beers, some fabulous music, a bit of a dance and a wonderful atmosphere.  It was brilliant .

In the morning I was treated to some homemade spelt and soya milk pancakes with cheese.  I had 2 of these and they were very moreish. It would have been too easy to sit about drinking endless cups of tea and chatting but Sunshine (the dog) had other ideas so we set off for Hampstead Heath.  The architecture in North London is lovely.  There is such a variety of periods and styles it is an absolute pleasure to walk around. Holly Village is quite enchanting. The sun did its best to shine through the clouds and occasionally managed to brighten up our day even more. We walked through Parliament Hill Fields and almost immediately walked right past Ed Milliband.   Then another political commentator whose name escapes me.  

If you ever want a beanfeast, head up to Parliament Hill and this place will cater one for you!

What a lovely walk it was.  There were lots of people out on the heath today, walking, running, jogging. scootering, chatting, pushing strollers, sitting and watching the world go by.  The mob on the right hand side of the photo below were enduring British Military Fitness – quite the thing to do on a Sunday morning it would seem judging by the numbers of different groups hard at it.  Not my thing at all.  For us, we enjoyed walking along, chatting and admiring the views of London in the distance.  It was quite hazy but we could see the Emirates stadium, part of the Olympic stadium, Canary Wharf, The City, St.Paul’s, The Shard and even the Roundhouse, where we had been the night before.
It was so good to spend time with my sister and her lovely family. There are several ponds on the Heath.  This was the male swimming pond and there were 2 brave souls in it.  I really want to swim here one day and it is on the list of things to do. Not in the male pond, obviously!  There is a mixed pond and women’s pond too. After a lovely long walk and a coffee we headed down to Covent Garden.  The boys went off to Forbidden Planet ( a huge store selling comics, action figures, Lego etc) and the girls managed a bit of shopping.  Well, someone has to 🙂

We all met up at Jamie’s Italian for a much needed meal. We had a late booking and were all very hungry.  We shared 2 bread baskets between 8 of us which we dipped in to olive oil.  Balsamic vinegar contains sugar so I had just oil rather then the dish of oil and vinegar mixed together.  We were in a booth which I always like.  It is more private and less hectic.

I had the Jamie’s burger with a green salad and 2 glasses of red wine.  It was all fresh, full of flavour and very delicious.  I had one chip and several polenta chips with it followed by a Cappachino. Thank you Lucy and Trevor for such a lovely weekend.  It was wonderful to spend time with you all and a bonus to do so many fun things.

Our train journey home took at least twice as long as it should have thanks to signal failures and cancelled trains.  We now have a severe weather warning in place in Britain tonight and tomorrow, with a major storm coming in from the Atlantic.  So batten down the hatches, be safe and only travel if you have to.

I worked from home today and Harvey had his friend Lucas over for the day.  I was hoping the last day of the week would be relatively easy and that I could fit in a dog walk with the boys.  Oh my goodness, it was crazy.  I didn’t even manage to have an uninterrupted lunch!  I had many meetings booked which are by conference call but in the background my mobile kept going too so I worked flat out at an intense pace all day.

I was very glad I had started my day early with a swim and a nourishing breakfast.  I am conscious that having stopped eating sugar, I may have taken David Gillespie’s advice of eat what you like to get over the cravings a bit too far.  There is plenty of fattening and unhealthy food that does not contain sugar!  So I made a big effort today and am rather pleased with my efforts.

The colours of a traffic light!  I prepared some pomegranate, pumpkin seed and 1/4 of an orange to add to my breakfast.
I made porridge and added some Chia seeds to the porridge and then topped it with the pomegranate, orange, pumpkin seeds and Macadamia butter. WOW!  WOW!  WOW!  That Macadamia butter is amazing.  Very rich and creamy tasting.  I brought it back from Australia this summer and am very pleased I did.  If I had known how amazing it was I would have brought back more.  The nuts were harvested by hand, the butter was packaged on the farm and the farm is solar powered so it ticks lots of ethical boxes too.Lunch was simple.  Jacket potatoes with butter, a little Cheddar, one fresh large tomato and half a can of sardines.  I have not had enough oily fish lately so it was good to eat some today.
Late afternoon I was peckish so I had the Pecans left over in this jar and a cup of green tea which kept me going until supper. Thank you for the home laid eggs Eula 🙂 This is really gross!  Lurking in my fridge was this pot of Vanilla soya yogurt!  I was quite fascinated by the range of colours of the moulds. For supper I am going to have cauliflower and broccoli cheese, which I made yesterday.  It is in the oven warming through as I write this blog.

I suspect I will then have a large glass of wine and snuggle up with my lovely boy in front of the tv for the evening.  I feel very tired but relieved I managed another sugar free day, and one that I managed to fit in some swimming and added some really healthy foods.  Have a happy and healthy weekend!

I was so well looked after during my trip to Devon you may think I would be reluctant to be back to the grind in my own kitchen but I wasn’t.  I love going away and staying with my family (and friends) but I also love being at home and today was no exception.

I ate too much bread and cheese while I was away so I made every effort today to not have bread or cheese.  I was working from home so I had to make healthy meals which were quick and easy as I was very busy.  So how did I do?

I started with a smoothie made with soya milk, coconut chips (no added sweetener), frozen blackcurrants, hemp seeds, Lucuma powder, Acai powder, Maca powder and protein powder.  Plus some supplements. I used the coconut chips as a balance to the blackcurrants which can be quite sour. The quantities pictured above created quite a modest sized and very thick smoothie.  It was good and I enjoyed eating it. How about this for a very colourful lunch! A red cabbage, nasturtium leaves and tomatoes from the garden. With some pomegranate.This pomegranate was perfectly ripe and it was sweet and very juicy.
I made up a salad with mixed green leaves, tomatoes, red cabbage, sugar snap peas, cucumber and yellow pepper. The tomatoes are so full of flavour when you grow your own. There was a lovely variety of colours and textures in this salad bowl. It looked great too.  I added no dressing at all.  The veggies were so fresh they did not need any and the olives had a little olive oil which was the perfect amount to add a light gloss to the leaves. I added olives and humous.  It was delicious.  These olives had some cubes of Manchego so not a completely cheese free day but it was only a little bit. For supper I had a go at making this curry my sister Abi had recommended.  I believe most Supermarkets in England sell this brand.  You get a packet of sauce and a sachet of herbs and all you have to do is cook the rice and the protein.  We had it with large prawns. I also picked some leeks and Swiss Chard as a side dish. I cooked the spices in some coconut oil, added the prawns (I used raw tiger prawns) and then the sachet of sauce.   In a wok I stir fried an onion with the Swiss Chard and leeks. Dinner took about 15 minutes from start to finish – super easy and really tasty.  Definitely worth buying and I will make it again.

I do feel peckish though.  I should have cooked more protein with it so I think I will succumb to more cheese with biscuits!  I have some sugar free oatcakes and some Cheddar which are tempting me.  I gave myself 4 weeks to adjust to no sugar and then move on with really losing weight.  This is the beginning of week 4 so I shall give in to my temptation.

We have endured crazy weather today down here in the West Country.  Fortified with a delicious poached egg on toast and plenty of coffee, we set off to visit one of our favourite places.

On the way we stopped by the sea front in Sidmouth where the waves were wild. The sea was dark red due to the colour of the sand and the noise was quite deafening as the waves sucked up tons of pebbles and then smashed them on to the beach. I love being on the beach in all seasons and this was just as enjoyable as a fine sunny day but obviously completely different. It was very invigorating being down by the sea. After a good walk in Sidmouth we drove on to Lyme Regis.  I have so many happy memories of this beautiful little seaside town. Whenever I visit I like to walk along the Cobb. The wind was so strong the waves were crashing over the Cobb today! Some of these little boats were sinking.  The kayaks added a good splash of colour against the very grey sky. I have visited this beach most years of my life. It is always a pleasure and today was no exception. The beach huts have been spruced up.Harvey and I had a fun visit to my cousin Miranda’s and we all walked back in to town together.  The kite surfers were out.  Rather them than me!
Full moon means very high and then very low tides.  I have never seen the harbour with no water left in it before.
Our next stop was Axminster. Home of the River Cottage, my favourite chef Hugh F-W’s eatery.  I have never eaten in there before and was really looking forward to it. I had the seasonal vegetable mezze board with organic leaves.  I shared chips with aioli and buttered greens with Helen and Harvey.  It was all delicious, the service was friendly and efficient, and the ambience was relaxed and easy going.  I was not disappointed and will be going again. In the afternoon we watched clever Aunty Hillary in a wonderful concert with her orchestra.  I enjoyed it all, especially Faure’s Pavane op.50 .  I was very impressed with Harvey who sat and listened to the concert too. My strategic decision to sit him next to the guide dog was a good move 🙂 After the concert was a tea and cake smorgasbord and I was very pleased with myself for managing to resist them all. We then spent a delightful afternoon at Aunty Hillary’s and Miranda joined us too.  We had glasses of fizz and far too many delicious nibbles and it was all very wonderful. When we arrived back at Ian’s there was more food.  Which was of course delicious so we ate again.

So I feel like fois gras and can hardly move.  I did manage to resist sugar today which I am pleased about.  But I ate at least twice as many calories as I should have.  I will have to behave much better tomorrow.

We woke up today at Grandpa Ian’s and Helen’s in a not very sunny Sidmouth which is in Devon.

We braved the potential rain storm and walked in to town, through an arboretum.  This is a Gingko Biloba tree, the leaves of which are used in many natural medicines. This Monterey Pine is incredible.  It is so huge and it looks as if some branches have become so huge they just grow along the ground because they are too heavy for the tree to support. In town we saw some fudge being made.  The smell was way too tempting for me though so I walked away. We went in to a fantastic shop that has only changed slightly since it opened 200 years ago. It was very charming. I enjoyed pottering about in Sidmouth which has many small and independent shops. I really enjoyed looking at the architecture which was very varied. These 2 houses have thatched rooves which are made by piling on reeds. This little cottage is completely covered in pebbles. We had a lazy afternoon which was just what I needed as I have been too busy lately.  It was great to just stop and relax. There are few places I feel so comfortable in that I can do that but this is one of them.  She breathes a deep and happy sigh of contentment. Eating today was not diet friendly but it was sugar free – whoop whoop.  A poached egg on toast for breakfast. Half a Scotch egg with ham, cheese and tomatoes for lunch.  I did have more ham than this and half a slice of bread. I had some lemon in water to drink. In the evening my Uncle and Aunty came for dinner.  We started with Cantaloupe melon and proscuitto and then had a Lancashire hot pot (made with lamb cutlets) served with green beans and the first Brussell sprouts of the season. Plus this amazing bread – it was a Foccaccia stuffed with rosemary and olives. I did have some mango for dessert and then cheese instead of cheesecake.

So a lovely happy and relaxing day with too much food but at least no sugar, apart from the wine I drank with dinner.  Tomorrow I am hoping to go somewhere very healthy for lunch.

I feel I have to give Australia a special hello today so G’day to you all.  Yesterday was my second highest ever day of number of readers of my blog with 850 views, 498 of which came from Australia!  Thank you to all of you who read my blog, wherever in the world you are.

Country	Views
Australia	498
United Kingdom	121
New Zealand	105
United States	53
Canada	12
Netherlands	6
Ireland	5
Brazil	5
Germany	5
India	3
France	3
United Arab Emirates	3
Czech Republic	2

I was out last night and didn’t have a chance to blog so here’s 2 days worth.

Wednesday

Breakfast was an old favourite.  Well, a new favourite really but I have had it 3 days in a row which is unusual for me so it is classified as an old favourite now.

I put more yogurt in than the day before and more nuts plus Chia seeds. This was a perfect quantity as it kept me feeling full and comfortable until lunch time. My office is near this Street with it’s architectural mix of old and new. I really like the 2 tall warehouse buildings. This one is even called ‘The Tall House’ and believe it or not, is the location of a Chinese restaurant on the ground floor. I went out with 5 of my work colleagues. I passed on the chicken and sweetcorn soup as I suspected it would have had sugar in it.  It was actually very hard to choose something that I thought would be sugar free because most meals had a sauce so I went for the chicken fried rice.  I was disappointed by the lack of vegetables.  And chicken.  It was just rice really.  I would hesitate to recommend it because although mine was adequate, 2 of my colleagues were sick in the afternoon! I was out again in the evening!  This time with the Mums from Harvey’s class at school.  We went to an Italian restaurant called ‘Simply Italian’ and it was great.  We all shared olives and bread to start with.  I couldn’t dip my bread in the oil because it had Balsamic vinegar in it which has sugar in it so I mainly picked at the olives.  They went very well with a large glass of red. I chose a pizza.  This is the Vesuvio and it had lots of chilli on it which was great.  No one had dessert so that was one temptation less.  When I look back at yesterday’s eating, it was definitely lacking in vegetables so I made a better effort today. Thursday

Guess what I started with?  Yup, natural yogurt, blackberries, pecans, almonds, chia and pumpkin seeds. I love this combination.  I like the taste, the varied textures and how pretty it all looks.  Give it a go! I made lunch at home and took that in to work too.  I bought a chicken at the weekend and I have had 8 meals out of it; 3 x roast chicken dinner, 3 x chicken soup and 2 x salads.  So it may have been an expensive chook but we got our moneys worth.In my salad pot today were mixed salad leaves, spring onion, yellow pepper and the last piece of the sweet potato flatbread.
That sweet potato flatbread was a brilliant thing to have in the fridge as it was so easy to cut it up and put it in the salad.  It tasted delicious cold so I will definitely be making that again. I had a very frustrating day today so went out for a walk at lunch time and for some reason decided I need a bottle of Badoit.  It is my favourite naturally sparkling water which I rarely buy because I try to not buy products in plastic bottles – think about the landfill!  I also bought a bag of Doritos.  They are full of terrible things but no sugar and I was craving a strong flavour.  They did the trick. I wasn’t very hungry this evening and I was back later than usual so I made a simple 2 egg omelette with mushrooms and cheese.  It was perfect.

So there we are, 2 more days of no added sugar in anything.  Farewell Australia and the rest of the world who reads this.  Enjoy your evening – happy birthday Sandy 🙂