Lose Weight and Gain Health

Feast or Famine

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Monday = Fast Day. Monday also appeared to be the day to cancel all my trains so instead of catching the 6:56 I was on the 7:40 today, which was delayed so I got to work an hour later then usual. Not the best start to the week.

To compound my bad start I felt dreadful this morning; completely bunged up so I walked to work via Boots chemist and bought some Berocca to give me a vitamin and mineral boost plus some energy and some Sudafed to relieve my blocked sinus and nose. I also bought a bottle of water as I feel very thirsty at the moment. Then I nipped in to pod to get a black coffee. Having taken sufficient medication and stimulants from the double dose of caffeine I ventured in to the office.

My strategy today was to fast all day and have a normal meal this evening. Another bottle of water for lunch and I took another Berocca which is against the advice on the packet but the vitamins are water soluble so I would lose most of them.

By the time I returned home I was very hungry and VERY grumpy. So I had 60g Cheddar to keep me going while our fish and veggies cooked.

Lara joined me on my fast today which was kind of her to be so supportive. We had 1 and a half fillets of the red snapper Harvey chose on Saturday. We cooked it wrapped in a foil parcel, seasoned with salt and pepper and baked in the oven at 180 ° C for 25 minutes. Plus tenderstem broccoli, green beans and 4 small new potatoes. The fish was fantastic and I am amazed at how low calorie it is. I am definitely adding a lot more white fish to my diet from now on.

I was within target.

Breakfast	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sugar	Sodium
Berrocca – Vitamin 1 tablet	5	0	0	0	0	16

Lunch
Berocca – Mixed Berries Flavour 1 tablet	5	0	0	0	0	40
Add Food
Dinner
Boiled New Potatoes , 60 g	40	12	0	1	1	10
Red Snapper, 5.25 oz	165	0	4	30	0	144
Tenderstem Broccoli, 80 g	30	1	1	4	1	0
Green Beans, 24 g	6	1	0	0	1	0
Cheese – Cheddar, 60 g	242	1	20	15	0	373
	483	15	25	50	3	527

Totals	493	15	25	50	3	583

So I stuck to my fast again, even though I found today extremely difficult. I was motivated to stick to it because of my feasting over the weekend. I know the 5:2 book says to fast twice a week and then eat what you like for 5 days, but I over-eat when I am given free reign. I seem to be either feast or famine. So this week I am working on moderation, which is definitely not my inclination. Wish me luck!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Fish | 2 Comments

Saucy

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I definitely needed a nutritious start today as I had rather an arduous task ahead of me today. Passionfruit! I find the pips irritating but in a blender they are blitzed smooth just leaving the flavour which is the bit I like.

Added to the blender with spinach, banana, chia seeds and coconut water.

Plus some Matcha powder for some extra green goodness.

Thus fortified Lara and I set off for Ikea. Walking through the door makes me want to run out screaming but we had things to do so we got on with it. We started with a coffee and shared this rather anaemic looking and tasteless ham and cheese panini.

We had planned to pop in to Dad’s for a cuppa on our way home, but he was having a late lunch with my sister Lucy and her family so we joined in too 🙂

This is a tiny plate with a small amount of roast duck, 2 potatoes, peas and baby carrots. My Dad is a very generous host and had we said we were going for lunch there would have been plenty of food but we had said we would pop in for a cup of afternoon tea so we just got left overs. We did rather well, gatecrashing their lunch and it was lovely.

My Dad is very partial to all Dairy products and in particular, cream and butter. After some lovely mango cheesecake we also had clotted cream ice-cream with cream! Dairy overload. I tried both flavours of ice-cream. Both portions were quite modest but in total that was one huge amount of full-fat and high sugar food!

Followed by a good strong coffee.

It was lovely to see everyone.

My Dad collects postcards. Mainly historic photographic cards but he also has a large collection of saucy seaside style postcards which were rather amusing to look through.

They are definitely of their time!

As are the notes people used to write on them.

Back at home we were treated to a lovely fish pie which James made for us.

Served with a selection of green vegetables.

I think I have been taking the “eat what you like” between fast days too literally. I have totally pigged out this weekend. Tomorrow is another fast day and I am going to track everything on My Fitness Pal to reduce calories and portion sizes and mainly, cut out sugar. I did have a lovely weekend though and was very happy to spend so much time with my family, which was a real treat.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Happy Day

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

What is it that makes a day a happy day? Sometimes it is the excitement of a particular occasion or going somewhere special. At other times though, like today, it is the simplicity and ordinariness that makes it happy.

For me, the main ingredient of a happy day is the people I am with. I am also happy when I have no agenda or schedule to stick to. The nature of my work means my working day is about the schedule, agendas, meetings and deliverables. So a real day off involves none of those things. Much as I love my big extended family and friends, sometimes I like to have a day all to myself. I am usually happy at home. So to wake up, knowing both my special people were under the same roof and that we had no itinerary today, put me in a brilliant mood to start the day with.

I began with a healthy smoothie. I had a sore throat so was keen to bump up the nutrients to help my immune system. I started with 2 old favourites; raw spinach and mixed frozen berries.

Plus half an avocado, Chia seeds, cacao nibs and Acaii powder.

Blitzed to a lovely thick and smooth consistency with some coconut water.

When I was ready to go out, I ran some errands in Cranbrook with the little fella. I am happy to support my local shops and very happy to tick some errands off quite a long list. At Hartley Dyke we visited the Farm Shop and the Fishmongers.

We are so lucky to have a wet fish shop down the road.

I know all their fish is not sourced locally but the variety is superb.

And the owners are so helpful and friendly it is a pleasure to shop in here.

Harvey wanted these 2 Red Snappers.

I didn’t know what to do with them but the lady behind the counter told me how to cook them and then proceeded to fillet and bone them 🙂

Lunch was nutritious, delicious, home made but took no time to prepare. What wonderful inventions freezers are 🙂 . I made this Black Bean Soup back in February 2012 and blogged about it here. I had 4 portions in the freezer which was perfect for today as we are a 4 again :-).

Served with some Cheddar cheese and a dollop of Natural Yogurt. It was delicious. I managed to avoid the bread and ate a modest bowl full.

After lunch we went shopping in Tenterden.

We stopped for an afternoon treat; I had a slice of lemon Victoria sponge and a small Cappuchino.Despite the poor weather, Lara and I took the dogs for a walk. Well, she ran and I walked and enjoyed listening to some music as she lapped me several times.

I really enjoyed sitting down later with a glass of wine, making notes and researching many fun things we need to do and to make decisions on.
I lay in bed this morning finishing a book set in Savannah, Georgia. The book referred several times to fried chicken and I was intending to make some for supper. Well actually, I was originally making a fish pie, as that is one of Lara’s favourites, but she was invited out for supper so we are having that tomorrow instead. In my favourite local Supermarket I came across a box of seasoned breadcrumbed chicken that just needed baking in the oven. Sold to the lady with the hankering for some Southern fried chicken 🙂 Another quick and easy meal and served with a simple salad and new potatoes. Plus mayonnaise and some butter. It was really good.

To round off this happy day, I am having a bowl of lemon sorbet and a bit later I will have a glass of red wine. I hope yours was a happy Day too.

Posted in Keep It Local | Tagged Black Bean, Chicken, Spinach | 2 Comments

Big Brekkie

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I was so hungry overnight after my fast I had trouble sleeping 😦 . So I was very excited about getting a big but healthy breakfast so I made it at home and took it to work. This breakfast needs at least 2 hours soaking to make the oats swell up and soften the almonds for ease of digestion.

2 Hour Oats with Nuts and Yogurt

Ingredients (serves 1-2)
1 banana
30 g almonds
1 tbsp chia seeds
50g oats
Hazelnut milk (or milk of choice)
Probiotic yogurt

Method

I mashed a large banana in to my pot.

Added 50g oats, 10 g Chia seeds and 30g almonds.

Poured in some hazelnut milk and added 100g probiotic natural yogurt.

Stirred it all together and left it to soak for the 2 hours it takes me to get from home to the office. It was delicious.

It was also surprisingly high in calories and sugars so I will cut down the oats, yogurt and nuts next time.

Breakfast	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sugar	Sodium
Tetley – Tea – With Semi Skimmed Milk.	69	6	3	4	6	57
Yeo Valley Organic – Natural Yogurt, 100 g	83	7	4	5	7	0
Organic Jumbo Oats, 50 g	188	34	3	6	1	0
Raw – Chia Seeds1 Tbsp.	35	4	2	2	0	0
1.5 banana (medium)	158	41	0	2	21	2
Natural Raw Almonds, 30 g	181	1	16	8	1	5
Hazelnut Milk, 200 mL	101	13	5	2	5	0
Totals	815	106	33	29	41	64

I spent a very pleasant lunch time in my favourite travel agents, discussing this summers exciting plans 🙂

On the way back in to the office I grabbed a Feta and Spinach wrap with salad from the Turkish stall. This was the best one yet. First time I have tried the Feta and Spinach but definitely not the last!

I was able to leave the office slightly early tonight so I could get home to see Lara who has returned home for the Easter holidays. I had a very unhealthy but delicious supper of fish and chips, wine and chocolate. Oops!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Almonds, Banana, Chia Seeds, Oats | 2 Comments

Fast City

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I have lost count of how many fast days I have done now but I am definitely in the swing of them. It was freezing cold again this morning but sunny and bright which is lovely for walking in.

I walked many miles today as I had some errands to run at lunch time in the City plus in the afternoon we had a meeting in another office which was another opportunity to walk. It was lovely being outside today.

I was wondering how to fill my blog today with the meagre rations I was allowed to eat so I just looked around. There is so much history in the City and significant events are remembered with these beautiful ceramic blue tiles which are placed on the outside of buildings.

At lunch time I called in at pod for a protein box. I was feeling really hungry and thought that would keep me feeling full for ages.

It was delicious and definitely satisfying. There was salmon mixed with dill, one and a half boiled eggs, prawns with fresh mint and red chilli which was a surprisingly good combination and sesame chicken. Really enjoyable.

The protein pot worked very well and I lasted the day with no cheating:-)

In the evening I had about 150 calories left so I rummaged round the fridge and pulled out some fruits and vegetables: half a pink grapefruit, 1 celery stick, 1 large broccoli floret, some button mushrooms and a Gala apple.

I weighed everything, calculated the calories on My Fitness Pal and sat down to munch my way through the salad which I had with a cup of green tea.

I should try and eat such light and healthy suppers more often.

According to MFP, I had 458 calories today so I am under my total. I can’t be bothered to chop anything else up though! I am astonished at the sodium content of my protein box and thinking it is probably the prawns and salmon. The main thing is I ate healthy food and stuck to my 500 calories a day limit so I go to bed happy.

Lunch
Pod – Protein Box, 1 box uncooked	342	1	15	51	0	4,500

Dinner
Celery – Raw, 50 g	7	1	0	0	1	40
Broccoli – Raw, 20 g	7	1	0	1	0	7
Waitrose – Organic Royal Gala Apple, 115 g	58	14	0	1	11	0
Waitrose Organic – White Button Mushrooms, 30 g	4	0	0	0	0	0
Grapefruit (1/2 Red or Pink – (3-3/4″ Dia)(123.0 g), 1/2 grapefruit	40	10	0	1	8	0

Totals	458	27	15	54	20	4,547

	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sugar	Sodium

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Chicken, Prawns, Salmon | 1 Comment

Humdrum Days

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Today was one of those days! Unlike yesterday which was another type of a day entirely. I woke up on Tuesday to a snow covered landscape but not as deep as had been forecast. It was enough to cause cancellations and delays on the trains but we finally got going. The view from the train was of a wet, cold and incredibly windy countryside.

To try to make up time, some bright spark decided to send my train on to Waterloo and not bother stopping at London Bridge. So I had a very long commute which took 3 hours door to door!

It was on OK day apart from that and then a splendid evening as I met Michelle for a cocktail and then supper in Borough Market. We ate and drank what we wanted and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire evening. I would like to thank the very kind guard at London Bridge who kept his foot in the door so I could run along the platform (there was a sight for sore eyes!) and just catch the train, thus sparing me from a half hour wait on a freezing platform.

Today dawned bright and sunny. I had a black coffee and porridge from pod, with blueberries and pistachios. It was probably nice when it was hot but when I got round to eating it, having had to move desk 3 times (down side to hot desking with no designated hot desks!) it was barely warm and so mediocre.

The day then became rather humdrum. I was bored. When Zoe is bored she drinks lattes and eats chocolate or cakes or biscuits 😦

I went to the Whitecross Market for lunch and chose a vegetarian burrito. The people who run this stall are fantastic. They are friendly, efficient and best of all, their burritos are delicious.

If you ever go, look out for the green van and treat yourselves. The vegetarian burrito has rice, black beans, cheese, tomato salsa, lettuce and guacamole. Yum!

I also had a chocolate chip and hazelnut cookie and another latte. I remained bored all afternoon and was happy to get home.

Tomorrow I am fasting so I prepared myself for it. Trial and error have shown me that if I eat a healthy meal the night before, I find the next morning much easier – so here’s hoping!

Steamed broccoli, cauliflower and green beans with a corn on the cob plus butter, salt, pepper and a tin of sardines in tomato sauce.

And here’s hoping tomorrow is not so humdrum!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Black Bean, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Guacamole, Oats, Sardines | 2 Comments

Fast Vegetables

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

It’s Monday so it must be fast day :-). I am beginning to look forward to it because I actually enjoy feeling empty, especially after a weekend like I just had which involved lots of eating.

I skipped breakfast quite effortlessly, thanks to several cups of tea. It is definitely harder fasting after you have drunk a little bit too much and eaten rich food. So I used 106 calories on 225 mls semi skimmed milk which I added to tea and a coffee and that got me through the morning.

By early afternoon I was ready for lunch. I wanted to eat a lot of healthy nutrients so I went for some foods full of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants etc. Yes, vegetables plus some fruits.

The basis of my lunch time salad was half an avocado and half a grapefruit. Instead of lemon or lime juice, I used the lovely juicy grapefruit to stop the avocado turning brown.

I put that in a bowl with 2 sticks of celery, 1 carrot and 3 medium sized tomatoes.

No dressing other than salt and pepper.

I wouldn’t say that grapefruit and avocado make a complementary flavour pairing necessarily.

But they do look pretty together. This lunch was slowly munched while I worked at home.

I had 175 calories left for supper which I used on some lightly steamed broccoli and cauliflower and 10 g butter. Simple, quick and easy to make and it tasted good too.

I have realised I under-estimated my sodium intake as I did not add the slt I sprinkled on my salad or dinner. I don’t add much but I did add some.

I am astonished that such a healthy day of eating put me over my daily recommended sugar allowance!!!!!

I was within my 500 calorie allowance though so I am happy with that. I have just enough milk left for one more cup of Rooibos tea – what a crazy rock and roll lifestyle I lead 🙂

Breakfast	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sugar	Sodium
Yeo Valley – Organic Semi Skimmed Milk (Corrected), 225 ml	106	11	4	8	11	90

Lunch
Celery – Raw, 100 g	14	3	0	1	2	80
Carrots – Raw, 1 medium	25	6	0	1	3	42
Tomatoes – Red, ripe, raw, year round average, 200 g	36	8	0	2	5	10
Avocados – Raw, 67 g	107	6	10	1	0	5
Grapefruit – Raw, pink and red, all areas, 89 g	37	9	0	1	6	0

Dinner
Broccoli – Raw, 155 g	53	10	1	4	3	51
Cauliflower – Raw, 169 g	42	9	0	3	4	51
Yeo Valley Organic – Butter, 10 g	73	0	8	0	0	67


Totals	493	62	23	21	34	396
Your Daily Goal	1,630	224	54	61	33	2,500
Remaining	1,137	162	31	40	-1	2,104

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Avocado, Pink Grapefruit | 3 Comments

Mother’s Day 2013

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Happy Mother’s Day, to all the mothers around the world. I had a really special day and I hope all my friends and family who are Mothers did too.

I had a lovely weekend actually. I am including Saturday’s breakfast as it was the healthiest thing I managed all weekend. I had a green smoothie, with hemp protein, Hazelnut milk, chia seeds, spinach, mixed berries, cocoa nibs and Acaii berry powder.

Delicious.

The rest of Saturday was descended in to a cake fest, bread fest and boozy 3 course dinner with lovely local friends.

So Sunday dawned and I felt reasonably chipper. The little fella requested egg on toast so I was happy to oblige. Seemed rude to not join him.

We then went to my sister Abi’s for lunch where I started with a gin and tonic plus crisps, humous and falafel.

Love the tulips my neices and nephew bought their Mummy.

I love their Mummy too.

Waiting for lunch.

My brother-in-law, Jim is a fabulous cook. He doesn’t cut corners and everything tastes delicious. Today we had slow roasted pork with roast potatoes, roast carrots, roast parsnips, spring greens and broccoli. It was just wonderful even more so because I didn’t cook or even help prepare any of it.

Followed by home made pavolva with lots of berries.

As if all that were not enough, my niece Charlotte had made some delicious caramel cupcakes.

I was totally stuffed. Thank you to Jim for cooking such a feast and for looking after us so well. I had a fabulous afternoon, eating and drinking far too much, chatting and laughing with Abi and doing no chores at all. I have worked so hard and been so busy lately, a day off was just what I needed. Thank you – big hugs.

At home I lit the orange and neroli candle my little cherub bought me today. I thought again, about my Mother and how she never knew the special young man who is her Grandson that she never had the privilege to know. And he never had the pleasure to know her either.

My Mother only met one of her Grandchildren, my lovely Lara. Here we are taking Lara to Lyme Regis for the first time.

She was so thrilled to be a Grandma. Such a shame it couldn’t be for longer.

I haven’t seen you Mummy for more than 20 years. I still miss you xx.

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Supermarket Salad

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Hurrah, it’s Friday. This has felt like a very long week for some reason. I am so happy it is now the weekend.

I began with an unusual breakfast for me but one that is quite a tradition on a Friday in the City. A sausage sandwich. Usually chosen to help a hangover as Thursday is quite a big drinking night in the City. I wasn’t hungover, just hungry as I only ate lightly the day before.

It was rather tasty, served between toasted granary bread and with ketchup.

It was pouring with rain at lunch time so I popped round the corner to the closest place to the office which is Waitrose (a supermarket). I decided to try their salad bar as I was feeling as if I had not eaten enough fresh fruits and veggies recently.

I chose 3 or 4 salads and a pot of smoked salmon parcels wrapped round cream cheese.

There was a good vaiety of vegetables in the salad but it tasted chemically. Not quite right.

I also bought a bottle of sparking water, a mandarin and a pot of rhubarb yogurt.

I managed to resist the doughnuts I was offered in the office but I did succumb and buy a Snickers when I went to get tea during the afternoon.

I also bought a bottle of red wine and a large bag of spinach in Waitrose. The red wine was taken to Judy’s and I had a glass with her when I went to collect Harvey. The spinach was added to the blender with a frozen banana, frozen berries, vanilla soya yogurt, milk and some cashew nuts.

I was still a bit peckish so had some almonds and raisins.So not the best days eating but it did have some really good nutrients included. Have a happy weekend 🙂

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Almonds, Green Smoothie, Salad | 1 Comment

3 Day Catch Up

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I have been rather busy this week hence no blog since Monday but I will have a quick catch up today.

Tuesday.

I broke my fast in one of my favourite places in London. Despite the queue and my busy schedule I decided work could wait an extra few minutes for me so I could enjoy my first Monmouth coffee in a long time.

I also treated myself to one of these wonderful almond croissant which was silly because it then set me up for a day of craving sweet things. Gosh it was good though.

Aaaaah, the best coffee ever.

For the rest of the day I ate the wrong type of food. A sandwich and a piece of cake from Eat for lunch and then in the evening a steak followed by chocolate fondant at The Great House with Fee and Judy. A lovely evening but not a diet day of eating.

Wednesday.

Much healthier start to the day with a pod Superfood: scrambled eggs with spinach, tomatoes, seeds and Feta cheese plus a slice of granary toast with a latte.

I walked round to the market at lunch time and returned once again to the Turkish stall. This lady sits there all day at her little table. In a large tub next to her are pieces of bread dough. She rolls them out using the long thin rolling pin you can see on her lap. Then she places the stuffing over half of it and folds the other half over the top. In this picture she has filled the dough with chicken and onion which is what I had. She then cooks it on the domed hot plate next to her.

I had mine stuffed with salad, saurkraut and garlic mayonnaise. Completely delicious.

Supper was a very simple one of brown basmati rice with fried onion, 2 eggs, broccoli and soy sauce.

Today (Thursday)

I did not plan for today to be the second fast day of the week but it is. When I arrived at the office this morning I felt slightly unwell. I had a headache and felt really bloated and not fancying anything to eat at all. So I just had a cup of tea with milk.

I was meeting Olivia for lunch at Itsu so I headed off early and once there decided to make today a low calorie day and have a light lunch. Itsu considerately list the number of calories beside each dish in their display cabinets.

There’s that lovely young man again 🙂

I had the “Slim Salmon” which had 3 salmon sushi, crab California maki, herb salad, roasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds and edamame beans with sweet chilli dressing and soy sauce. The crab maki are my favourite.

This delicious box of health and yumminess was only 288 calories 🙂

I still feel bloated and uncomfortable which is very strange. So I am having a cup of rooibos tea and an early night.

This was a very easy way to do a low calorie fast day as I am not at all hungry so it has been effortless. But I hope I feel better tomorrow.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Salmon | Leave a comment

Lose Weight and Gain Health

Feast or Famine

Saucy

A Happy Day

Big Brekkie

Fast City

Humdrum Days

Fast Vegetables

Mother’s Day 2013

Supermarket Salad

3 Day Catch Up

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