Lose Weight and Gain Health

Mile A Day

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

I was packing a lot in today so meals were fast.

I made breakfast last night – Chocolate Chia Oats from a newly discovered blog called Sugar Free Mom which my friend Laura recommended for me last night. I mixed together:

40 g porridge
100 g Yeo Valley Natural Probiotic yogurt
150 ml soya milk
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp apricot kernel butter

This lot added up to 13 points. Not worth that many points and I don’t like chocolate for breakfast. It made me want to eat sweets all day 😦

So easy to wake up and there is breakfast, all ready :-).

Talking of Laura, she has been very supportive of my efforts to lose weight and gain health. Laura has been particularly encouraging of increasing activity. So people do not feel daunted by the prospect of adding activity in to already busy lives, she suggests just trying to add a mile a day. If you walk briskly, that only takes 20 minutes. So far this year I have managed to fit it in nearly every day. It is successful because it is not too much but it is enough to bring health benefits and help weight loss.

I earned 7 points today due to activity which is great.

Laura has set up a Facebook page to encourage us all to do M.A.D. Have a look – it is very motivational. http://Facebook.com/MileADayIn2013

After today’s activity, I was starving so made a very quick lunch which was excellent. This beef salad would be an easy thing to do in the evening after a day at work. I think it took about 10 minutes to prepare from deciding to make it to sitting down and eating.

I got the recipe from Donna Hay’s book ‘Off The Shelf, Cooking From The Pantry’. I had some spare steak as James was not home to eat his last night and I have meals planned for the weekend. It would have been a shame to waste it!

Spicy Beef Salad

Ingredients (serves 1)

1 Rump steak
1 tsp oil
Green salad leaves
Celery
Fresh mint
Fresh coriander
Juice from 1 lime
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp spicy Asian paste (I used Thai Taste Tom Yum Paste)
2 kaffir lime leaves

Method

Heat oil in pan and fry steak. I like mine pink but not bloody so did 3 minutes per side.
Set aside.
Make salad with green leaves, celery, mint and coriander and place in bowl.
Mix sugar and lime juice and dress salad. Toss to mix well.
Heat paste in frying pan for 1 minute and crumble kaffir lime leaves on top.
Slice beef and add to pan. Stir to coat in the spicey paste.
Place on top of salad and serve.

This was absolutely delicious. The spicy paste left a warmth in my mouth and was a wonderful contrast to the sweet and tangy dressing in the salad. It was quick and easy to make and another bonus is that it was only 7 points (165 g rump steak = 5, 1 tbsp Tom Yum = 1, 1 tsp oil = 1 and 1 tsp sugar = 1).

One of the best parts of this lunch was the mint. I was dubious about adding it but it combined with the other flavours very well. I now have plenty left to add to hot water for a very refreshing drink and for some exciting recipes I am planning for tomorrow.

I am going out tonight, over the road to Sarah’s for drinks and nibbles which always spells diet disaster. I will try and be good.

I wasn’t in the mood for a meal tonight or more to the point, cooking anything so I had 2 Karg’s crispbreads with butter and Gruyere. Plus an apple and some almonds. Then some more almonds and some dates. So today I have used all my normal points and activity points and some weekly points. Hope I’m going to behave tonight!

Posted in Diet Struggles, Healthy Lifestyle | Tagged Beef, Oats | 4 Comments

Being In Control

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

I woke up feeling very pleased with myself today. Last night I discovered a packet of these in the cupboard. They are my favourite crispbread and I bought them to have at Christmas as a treat with cheese or just butter.

They are very crunchy so no good if you have false teeth. But if your teeth are sound they are fantastic.

We didn’t get round to eating them so they have been sitting in the cupboard since and last night I was desperate to have one or two. I wasn’t going to binge eat the lot. I was going to count points and deduct from weekly extras. However, I need to keep the weekly extras as I have a very sociable weekend coming up. So I wrestled with myself for a long while and the new in control Zoe won. I was happy when I woke up and remembered that.

One evening this week I popped in to Jane R’s and she gave me some good advice. I am in control of what I eat. It doesn’t always feel that way to me and it certainly didn’t during my blip before Christmas but I am (unless you invite me over and I will gratefully eat everything you offer me 🙂 ). So I have been thinking about that and decided to accept that I can take control. Last night was my first test and I passed. So I was very happy when I woke up today. Thank you Jane 🙂

I did have a Dr.Karg’s crispbread for breakfast. Just the one and with no butter. I had it instead with 2 eggs which were scrambled in butter. 8 points (2 large eggs = 5, 1 crispbread = 2 and 1 tsp butter = 1).

The focus of lunch was to be a salad. I had another Little Gem lettuce to use up and wanted to make a gutsy Blue Cheese dressing to go with it. I didn’t have the right ingredients though so I adapted the recipe I blogged about here.

Today’s dressing needs some work so I am not posting the recipe until it is refined. I put chopped garlic and salt in the mortar and ground it to a paste. 1 clove was way too strong though.

I blended in some mustard powder.

Good quality ingredients are essential for a decent salad dressing.

I added lemon juice, Balsamic vinegar (hence the brown colour), avocado oil and cottage cheese. Getting rid of the cottage cheese lumps would have been easier in a food processor but I remembered the bingo wings and decided to press on.

I finally added some Blue Cheese which I cut in to chunks which are lovely to bite in to. The dressing was the same consistency as humous. I wanted something looser, more like yogurt. The Blue Cheese dressing I posted before is better.

The quantity I made weighed 200 g so I calculated the points for a quarter of it which is what I served myself which came in at 5 points (1/2 tbsp oil = 2, 35 g 1.5% fat cottage cheese = 1 and 10 g + 7g Stilton = 2). The 7 g was a cheeky nibble I had while I was chopping the salad veg.

I added a carefully weighed amount of dressing to a large salad I made with Little Gems, lamb’s lettuce, brussel sprouts, celery and cherry tomatoes.

I had some pomegranate on one side of the bowl

and rather weird and not quite wonderful dressing on the other. This was a reasonable enough lunch and the only points were from the dressing which is a good result.I have been feeling quite tired recently and I read an interview with nutritionist Jane Clarke called ‘Eating for Energy’. I am eating and doing nearly everything she recommends apart from her top energy-boosting food which is good quality red meat to get a good dose of iron. I have not had red meat for ages. In fact, I eat far less meat of any kind these days than I used to. So when I popped out at lunch time I bought a large Rump steak to share with the little fella tonight.

I fried the steak in a ridged pan with oil and butter and served it with mashed butternut squash ( I steamed it first) and green beans. I mashed the squash with butter and black pepper. Mashed squash is great for weight loss as it has no points in Weight Watchers and saves eating a carb such as potato. It was really delicious and we both enjoyed it. 12 points for this lovely dinner and I must say, it was worth every single one of them (180 g lean Rump steak = 6, 2 tsp butter = 2 and 1 tbsp oil = 4)

I have eaten so well today I have 7 points left and that is not including the 5 extra I earned for walking for 40 minutes. I think I will leave the day’s eating there though and go to bed very much in credit.

I ate well again today. I did my Mile A Day. I am in control.

Posted in Diet Struggles | Tagged Beef, Cheese, Eggs | 1 Comment

The Big Freeze

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I was really hungry today. Perhaps because I only had a very light supper and I ate that early as I popped out to see friends. Whatever the reason, I woke up hungry so had some muesli with Natural yogurt and a sweet juicy orange.

Oranges are so gorgeous at the moment and work very well with muesli/oat based breakfasts.

This was 7 points (50 g muesli = 5 and 100g natural yogurt = 2).

I was working from home and had a very quick and easy lunch. Reheated frittata. I was still hungry so while the oven was on I baked some pumpkin too. I just sliced it and baked it in the oven until soft.

The frittata reheated perfectly. I covered it with foil and reheated at 170 ° C for 25 ish minutes.

Squash and pumpkins are free on Weight Watchers so this cost 13 for the frittata. I enjoyed it just as much today as I did yesterday.

I am very good at putting things in the freezer but not very good at taking them out. One of my resolutions is to work my through the freezer, starting with the top shelf and working my way down. Today’s discovery was a packet of frozen cod fillets. There were 2 left which was perfect as there are only 2 of us home for supper tonight.

I made such a simple but tasty supper:
Chop up a red pepper and put it in a baking dish.
Place the fish fillets on top (I defrosted these first).
Add 2 tbsp pesto per fish fillet and spread over the fish.
Prick some cherry tomatoes and place on top.
Bake in the oven at 180 ° C for 25-30 minutes.

Served with a jacket potato. This is incredibly easy and very, very yummy. It works really well, if not even better with, red pesto. That delicious plateful cost me 17 points (100g cod fillet = 2, 2 tbsp pesto = 5, 160g baked potato = 6 and 20g butter = 4).

Unfortunately I failed in my Mile A Day today as when I was going to go I had some urgent work to attend to which took the afternoon. Tomorrow I will walk in the morning!

I wonder what I will find in the freezer tomorrow.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cod, Fish, Orange, Squash | 4 Comments

From An Edible Perspective

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

Breakfast and lunch today came from ‘Edible Perspective’, a blog I read regularly because it is a food blog written by a photographer, Ashley, so it has a dual interest for me. Have a look at Ashley’s recipes as I didn’t make the recipes exactly as I didn’t have all the ingredients (but I nearly did). Also, Ashley’s recipes are much more detailed and precise than mine. Both dishes are so lovely you should try them both and the millet crust on the frittata is a genius idea.

The link to Ashley’s blog is here.

The link to Ashley’s citrus parfait is here.

The link to Ashley’s kale frittata is here.

I wanted something light and fresh for breakfast and this citrus parfait was perfect.

Citrus Parfait

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 pink grapefruit
1 large naval orange
200-300 g Natural yogurt.
4 tsp honey
2 tsp pumpkin seeds

Method

Peel the grapefruit and orange, cutting away all the pith.
Slice in to bite sized pieces.
Share the yogurt between 2 bowls.
Drizzle 2 tsp of honey over the fruit in each bowl.
Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top.

I used orange blossom honey which worked very well with this dish.

I loved this. It was juicy, sweet, tangy from the grapefruit, cool and creamy from the yogurt and crunchy and chewy from the pumpkin seeds and only 5 points (2 tsp honey = 2, 110 g Natural Yogurt = 3 and 1 tsp pumpkin seeds = 1).

Lunch was fantastic. It took longer to make than I thought – I must remember to read recipes through before starting! It was worth the wait though. It is one of the tastiest meals I have had in ages and the millet crust is a completely fabulous idea. I can use that instead of pastry. This is a bit like a quiche.

Ashley’s recipe has cheese in it which I would have loved but I made it dairy free so Harvey could eat it too.

Kale Frittata with a Millet Crust (serves 4)

Millet Crust

1 tablespoon coconut oil, divided in to 2
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 cup uncooked millet, rinsed + drained
1 cup stock (I made up 250 ml chicken stock but use vegetable stock if this is a vegetarian dish)
1 cup water
salt + pepper

Heat a saucepan over medium and add 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil.
Once hot, add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds until just starting to brown.
Add in the millet and stir frequently for about 3 minutes until it starts to toast.
Add in the stock, water, salt, and pepper, then stir and bring to a boil over med-high.
Once boiling, stir once then cover and reduce heat to simmer, cooking for 15-20min until the liquid has been absorbed from the top. Avoid overcooking and drying out the millet. Do not stir while cooking.
Towards the end of the cook time preheat your oven to 180 ° C and butter a 9-10” pie or flan dish.
Once the millet is finished, fluff with a fork.

Place in the pie dish and spread around with a flexible silicone spatula and push about 3/4” up the sides. Be sure to pack the millet down firmly. You want about 1/4” thickness on the bottom and sides.

Gently brush with a light coating of melted coconut oil. About 1/2 tablespoon melted.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until just starting to brown.

Kale egg bake

8 large eggs
1/4 cup soya milk ( or alternative unsweetened milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt + pepper
1/2 tablespoon unrefined coconut oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
4 cups chopped kale, rinsed
kernels cut away from 1 corn cob

Kale egg bake

While the crust is baking, whisk together the eggs in a large mixing bowl.
Whisk in the milk, salt, and pepper until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
In a large pan, heat the oil over medium.
Once hot, add the onion and stir for 1-3 minutes until light golden brown.
Stir the kale in and let cook for 2-3 minutes until lightly wilted. Remove from the heat.
Place the kale and onion into the baked crust and add the sweetcorn.

Pour the egg and milk mixture over the top

Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes, depending on your pan size. Bake until just set. Give the pan a little jiggle to test and check every 1-2 minutes after 30min of baking to ensure it doesn’t overcook.

Cut in to quarters and serve.

Eat 🙂

I added some hot sauce which went with it really well.

This was a total success. I enjoyed my lunch very much and when Harvey had some later he wolfed it down and asked for seconds. It reheats well (as long as you don’t over cook it to start with and cover with foil to reheat) plus it is good cold. The top of the crust goes crunchy which is a great contrast to the softness of the rest of it. This recipe is a keeper and I will be making plenty of versions of this in the future.

One quarter of this frittata was 13 points (coconut oil = 2, millet = 4, eggs = 5, soya milk = 1 and corn = 1). It was very filling and kept me going all afternoon and well in to the evening.

There are 2 pieces left and 1 at least is mine for tomorrow and I think I will add cheese to it which can only make it even more amazing.

I wasn’t very hungry for supper so I had some rotten fruits!

I exaggerate. They were not rotten exactly but way past their best so I whizzed up the avocado, mango and lime juice with 1 tbsp Hemp protein powder and 200 ml Hemp seed milk. It was not the best so I added some coconut chips. 14 points (avocado = 9, coconut = 3, hemp protein = 1 and hemp milk = 1).

So from an Edible Perspective, today was a great food day and I did a dog walk so still keeping to those resolutions.

Posted in Dairy Free, Healthy Lifestyle, Recipe | Tagged Eggs, Kale, Millet, Orange, Pink Grapefruit | 9 Comments

Little Gems

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

Unusually for me I didn’t have breakfast because I had forgotten the Oven Fairy was coming to scrape a years worth of dirt and grime off my oven. It meant my kitchen was out of bounds all morning but it was worth it because it is now sparkling clean again. He did a really good job so if you are local and need ~~a miracle~~ your oven cleaned, contact them here. Thank you Mirella for the recommendation 🙂

By the time he left I didn’t have time to make the salad I had planned as I needed to fit in a dog walk between meetings but also needed to eat. Harvey got out all the ingredients and even the pan for cooking the pasta for one of his favourite meals so that is what we had; wholemeal pasta with tuna, sweetcorn and mayonnaise. 14 points (190 g cooked pasta = 6, 56 g tuna in oil = 3, 2 tbsp sweetcorn = 2 and 1 tbsp mayonnaise = 3).

I found a packet with 2 Lebkuchen we bought in Nuremberg which I had forgotten we had. I thought we had eaten all our Christmas leftovers and wasn’t sure whether to be happy or disappointed to find it. Obviously I ate it and it was delicious and cost me 8 points. I had earned 7 points though from an hours walk so that balanced out rather well.

My Ocado order this week substituted my chosen lettuce with Little Gems which I rarely buy as I am not a fan of their stalk to leafy part ratio and slightly bitter flavour. However, I can’t bear to waste food so I ate them tonight with cucumber, red pepper, pomegranate and edamame beans (80g edamame = 3 points).

I liked the pomegranates in this salad – they looked like little jewels. Jewels and gems.

I made a dressing up with 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 3 tbsp avocado oil, a squeeze of fresh lemon and salt and pepper. I used 2 tbsp which is 8 points. This was good but I am still not a fan of little gems. I think I will make a creamy blue cheese dressing to eat with the other one.What else happened? Oh yes, Monday is weigh day and I lost 3 and a half pounds so I am happy with that. According to my scales at home I lost much more than that but I will go with their scales and I am happy with a loss. I am also happy I have been enjoying my healthy food and exercise again.

Posted in Lose Weight | Tagged Lettuce, Pomegranate | 4 Comments

Coastal Walking

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Good morning Ramsgate.

A certain someone was so keen to start his day we were up and outside before the sun had risen in the sky fully. I love early morning, with all the promise of the day ahead so it was no hardship from my perspective.

The restoration of these lovely Edwardian shelters is nearly complete and they are looking good. There are several of them along our road and it is very pleasing to see them nearly ready to be used.

The reason we were out so early is so someone could practise skateboarding.

We walked along here last night where it was decided this was a good place for skateboarding.

It would seem we were correct.

Our main plan for the day was a coastal walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs which is about 2 miles away. Stay for lunch and then walk back. With the sun out I was excited about the walk.

Breakfast was meant to be a ham omelette but the 5th egg I cracked in to the bowl was full of blood. Bright red with blood, not just a few specks. I didn’t notice in time to stop it going in the jug with the other eggs and none of us fancied eating it so the eggs were thrown out. I had my ham with an apple. 4 points for the 128 g ham. Time for our walk which I was really looking forward to as I love being beside the sea.

Oh my gosh, how the weather changed!!!! Less than an hour after getting back from our early morning stroll, the fog had rolled in and we could hardly see anything.

We went anyway because we all like being on the beach and in Winter it is so invigorating. The tide was low so we could walk along the beach. The beaches here are backed by chalk cliffs.

We walked along a combination of promenade and sandy beach.

When the tide is out, the remnants of the cliffs which have been eroded create a landscape full of rockpools.

The cliffs are continually being eroded by the sea. This would be a great place for a geography field trip about coastal erosion.

At Louisa Bay there was a fresh landslide. There are houses at the top of these cliffs!

Having stopped many times for photos and exploring caves and rockpools along the way, we arrived at a very foggy Viking Bay, Broadstairs.

I had my heart set on lunch at Pizzeria Possillipo but we had the dogs with us and couldn’t leave them outside anywhere we were comfortable with so we went back to Oscar’s Festival Cafe, remembering they have a garden at the back. However, Graham, the Manager, insisted we keep them inside with us and gave them dog biscuits. The water bowl outside meant they were fed and watered. It was quite a squeeze in what is probably Thanet’s smallest cafe but they were happy enough!

I still had eggs on my mind so ordered granary toast with scrambled eggs and bacon. I am not a huge fan of big black mushrooms so gave those to James. 16 points (bread = 5, bacon = 3, butter = 3 and eggs = 5).

With Weight Watchers, you have a daily points allowance. Mine is 35. Plus you get an extra 49 a week as extras. Additionally, you can earn activity points. With all the walking I have done this week, that earned me an extra 35 points. I hadn’t used many of my extra points this week so I had 92 points to use today which is loads! My week starts on Monday when the slate is wiped clean and you begin again so it was a case of use them today or lose them. So I decided I had earned a slice of cake. The trouble was, which one?

We chose 3 and shared them: chocolate fudge cake, coffee cake and an Elderflower drizzle cake. They were all good. I wasn’t sure how many points they had so I looked up the highest chocolate fudge cake I could find and used that – 26 points! I suspect that was far too many but I had so many points I felt generous 🙂

After a lovely brunch we walked back to Ramsgate. Our house is one of those on the cliff top.

Unbelievably, the fog and clouds cleared and there was a little blue sky by the time we got home.

We were enjoying Ramsgate so much we decided to stay for the evening. We had no food in the house so popped out to Pizza Express which is in a beautiful building overlooking the marina.

I use the Weight Watchers App which is brilliant. I can track everything I eat and all my activity and it keeps a running tally of my points. It also has points for most High Street food brands so it is really easy to sit with a menu and choose what to have and still stay within points.

I had a Diet Coke and almonds (8 points) to start with. I thought the portion was quite large so I shared them.

Followed by a chicken Caesar salad which had 20 points. This was quite a small salad but I think the points were high because of the croutons and dough sticks.

I gave 2 dough sticks away, didn’t eat the croutons (not nice enough to be worth the calories) and instead had a tiny sliver of James’ American pizza.

So I have ended my first week of 2013 having stuck to my resolutions of walking a mile a day and going back to Weight Watchers. I still have 13 points left but require nothing more for the day so I very happily end the week in credit. I am looking forward to getting weighed again tomorrow to see how much I have lost. Which is a lovely contrast to how I felt last week when I was dreading going to see how much I had put on. I hope I feel the same way this time next week.

Posted in Beach, Healthy Lifestyle | Tagged Almonds, Broadstairs, Ramsgate | 1 Comment

It’s Been A Long Time

Posted on January 5, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

What a happy but busy day we had today. Fuelled first thing by porridge with blueberries, banana and almond butter. 9 points (40g oats = 4, Soya – 2 and 1 tbsp almond butter = 3).

It has been a long time since I spent time in our beach house in Ramsgate. I have missed this lovely view from the upstairs bedrooms. It is nearly a year since I last stayed here as I have been either too tired from a busy week at work or the house has been rented out. After so many visitors last year, this old house needs a lot of work to restore it to how it was so we will be down here a lot in the next few months. Lucky we all love it so much 🙂

I was so organised for my food today. Before I left home I packed everything I need for the next 3 meals. I am so proud of myself.

For lunch I used up some left over black beans which I ate with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and pomegranate. I made a simple vinaigrette with lemon juice to dress it with.

This was very colourful and very tasty. I particularly liked the pomegranate in it. The crisp crunch with burst of sweetness worked very well with the earthy softness of the black beans.

This very enjoyable salad was 8 points (150g black beans = 4 and 1 tbsp avocado oil = 4).

To compensate for all the chores he has to help with this weekend, we took Harvey to Revolution skate park in Broadstairs.

While not the most enjoyable way to spend an afternoon for a spectator, it is fantastic for the kids who whizz up and down the ramps on skateboards, scooters or BMX.

The little fella had a fabulous time.

Back at the house I prepared a very healthy and diet friendly supper. Well, it would be more diet friendly if I left out the cheese or had less tuna but it was all good nutrition. Inspired by a recipe on a blog called Hungry Cupcakes for peppers stuffed with tuna and vegetables, I adapted their recipe to make use of the vegetables I had available. I will give you the recipe I made tonight but it is definitely worth clicking on the Hungry Cupcakes link too to see their version. You can use any vegetables you have really. It is simple to make and really good.

Tuna and Vegetable Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients (serves 3)

1 red onion
1/2 a small squash
2 carrots
Mushrooms
1 small can of sweetcorn
2 cans of tuna
3 peppers
Oil for frying
100 g grated cheese (I used Gruyere and Cheddar)

Method

Heat oil in frying pan.
Finely chop onions and fry gently for 5 minutes.
Peel and finely chop the squash and carrots and fry for 5 minutes.
Finely chop the mushrooms and add to the pan for another 5 minutes.
Add the sweetcorn and tuna and fry until heated through.

Cut the peppers in half and place cut side up in a baking dish.

Place the tuna and vegetable mixture in the pepper halves.

Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes at 180°C.

We ate it as it was with no other accompaniments. It was really rather delicious. The pepper, tuna/vegetables and cheese all combined together very well. This was not very light in points as it was 20. I could have left out the cheese or had less tuna but I have lots of points to use up so I enjoyed my meal (sweetcorn = 2, oil used for frying = 4, tuna = 8 and cheese =6).

3 empty plates are testimony to how good it was.

I stuck to another of my new year’s resolutions which is to walk a mile a day. Even though it was dark, we all walked briskly for half an hour to make sure I did my mile. We walked from the house towards Sandwich and kept going until we got the to the hand and molecule sculpture.

Before dinner we popped out to our favourite local, the Queen Charlotte. This little pub is so original. Inside they have a stack of vinyls and an original record player.

We decided we like everything about this pub: the ambience, the decor, the small cosy size, the people inside, the fact that all are welcome and the friendly bar staff. Definitely worth a visit if you are in Ramsgate. I had 2 x halves of lager which are 3 points each.

It’s not always open but if it is, pop in.

It’s only small and is on Addington Street.

It has been a long time since I slept in this old house. I am going to sleep here, so I can lie in bed and look out at the harbour as I fall asleep. In the morning I can lie there and watch the sun rise over the harbour wall.

It has been a long time since I have consistently stuck to my diet, day after day and it has been a long time since I exercised every day. It feels good.

Posted in Beach, Recipe | Tagged Black Bean, Broadstairs, Oats, Pomegranate, Ramsgate, Red Pepper, Tuna | 8 Comments

Magnificent Muesli

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I dedicate today’s blog to the wonderful muesli I had for breakfast.

This is the muesli I bought from the Town Mill in Lyme Regis on Saturday. It is full of fruit,

seeds and a good variety of nuts.

I had 50 g with soya milk and a pear.

It was delicious and I estimate 6 points (muesli = 5 and milk = 1).

I also dedicate it to the muesli as it was the best thing I ate all day. Lara has gone skiing tonight and then she is back to University. As I am quiet at work at the moment, I was confident enough of making time for a lunch break that I suggested a cheeky pub lunch. Unfortunately, literally as we were about to leave, I had to get involved with something at work. We did pop out but not until 2 pm and then I made a bad choice. I chose Welsh Rarebit with bacon.

I am not saying where I went because normally this place is fantastic and is one of our favourites locally. I do not want to say a bad word about somewhere usually so good. Lara and Harvey enjoyed their meals, I think I was just unlucky. I like Welsh Rarebit to be cheesy but this was more ale and mustard. It was OK but disappointing and I estimate 11 points.

We were out for less than an hour as we did not have starters or desserts and as we had gone late we didn’t linger.

In the afternoon I had an opportunity to use a gadget I had forgotten I had. I found this packet of coconut Adagio tea which I really like. I put a teaspoonful in the little strainer

and popped it in my mug until it was the strength I like. In an attempt to consume less dairy I am having most of my drinks without milk. This was lovely black and the little pieces of dried coconut provided a lovely flavour and mild sweetness.

I didn’t manage my walk today either. I should have gone first thing but I planned to go this afternoon but was then too busy at work. I did contemplate going out in the dark but James wont be home until 9pm and I am not that dedicated. Harvey will not want to come out now so I will have to do extra tomorrow.

For dinner I made a red lentil dahl which was cooked with shallots, butter and cumin seeds.

I have run out of brown rice so I had to use white Basmati which I cooked with coriander seeds and cardamon pods for a bit of flavour. They rise to the top during cooking so are easy to pick off before serving.

Served with some lightly steamed kale. This mediocre meal was 14 points (dahl = 5, 1 tbsp butter = 3 and 60g rice = 6).It would have been better if I had not been distracted by something on Facebook so the dahl and rice overcooked and it was all a bit dry. Harvey managed to eat his with the aid of mango chutney but I did not have enough points left. It was OK but not great. I hope I manage to prepare better food tomorrow. Or maybe I will just eat Muesli all day!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cheese, Kale, Muesli, Pear, Red Lentils | 3 Comments

Gold Rush

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

The warm cosy interior and the intoxicating smell of Monmouth proved irresistible this morning.

I checked on the fab Weight Watchers app and a flat white from Pret is only 2 points. The Monmouth coffees are small so I was confident 2 points would cover it. I went inside :-).

They may be small but they are perfectly formed and I enjoyed every sip.

In the office I enjoyed my breakfast. I made another pot of overnight oats with Chia seeds and soya milk. For the first time I added an orange. It was really good. Probably the best overnight oats I have had. I will use soya milk and oranges again.

It tasted really creamy and was the perfect consistency. This bowl of golden deliciousness was 6 points (30g oats = 3, milk = 2 and 1 tbsp Chia seeds = 1).

At lunch time I managed another walk. I went back to Waterloo Bridge and having checked Google Maps, it is exactly 1 mile from my office to the bridge, It took me 20 minutes to walk there today so I am pleased to say I have done 2 miles today. Plus the rest of the pottering about I did. I am also pleased at that walking rate.

It was very pleasant outside today and mild. This is the view along South Bank, looking East. There were lots of people out strolling around and enjoying the mild weather, it made a lovely atmosphere.

I really like these fish sculptures.

It is a 2 headed fish at the base of all the lamp posts.

Gabriel’s Wharf is somewhere I have never been before.

It contains a fairly funky range of shops and cafes. Nothing to take away that was healthy for lunch though.

This decoration above Blackfriars Station is very ornate.

After my walk I kept going to Borough Market and was tempted by one of these. It is part of a larger display of unusual apple varieties. They are incredibly expensive at £1.60 EACH but I wanted to try one so I treated myself.

It was really good but not extraordinary and I don’t want to pay that much for an apple so that may have been a one off experience. I also bought some grapes without checking the price and they were £3.49 for a small bunch. That was a lot of gold rushing out of my purse today so I will be more careful next week.

I went to one of my favourite stalls, Veggie Table, and bought the vegan burger which I had with 1 tbsp humous and a small dollop of onion relish. I really like these vegan burgers. They are served with salad and the wholemeal seeded bun is moist and chewy.

I wasn’t sure how to calculate the points so I estimated 12 (bun =5, humous = 2, relish = 1 and burger = 4).

When I got home I could have been transported back to Nuremberg as there was a strong scent of gingerbread in the air. My little elves had been busy baking. I had several undecorated gingerbread people and they were lovely. I based the points on the Pret gingerbread man and as I had several I put down 16 points.

Lara had cooked us a Thai Green Chicken Curry which has mushrooms and red peppers in it. To save points I skipped the noodles and had mine on a bed of kale I stir fried in coconut oil. This is a great dieting tip and the kale worked brilliantly. In fact I think I prefer it to noodles, it worked so well. It was a lovely supper and I was very grateful to come home to a cooked meal. 13 points (1 chicken breast = 4, curry paste = 1 , honey = 1, coconut milk = 5, vegetable oil for frying chicken etc = 1, 1 tsp coconut oil for frying kale = 1).My total today was 51 points which is more than my daily allowance of 35. However, no need to panic. I still have 30 of my weekly extra allowance left and 14 additional points I earned from the walking I have been doing so I still have plenty of points left for the rest of the week.

On a final happy note, I was thrilled today to be asked by the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco if they could use one of my photos. They asked for the picture I took of an alligator’s back in the Everglades for a video they are making to demonstrate the toughness and sensitivity of alligators. I am so happy they like it and totally delighted to think people may be seeing one of my photos in a science museum. That has made my day, if not week, and is a definite entry in to the Happiness Jar 🙂

Posted in Healthy Lifestyle | Tagged Chicken, Kale, Oats, Orange, Vegan | 2 Comments

Waterloo Sunrise

Posted on January 2, 2013 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Today I saw one of the best sunrises I have ever seen.

It just got better and better.

The sky was so pink it reflected in the River and we had a pink River Thames!

The sun eventually rose. As you can see, I was back at work.

I made breakfast last night. I put 30g oats, 1 tbsp Chia seeds, 200 ml almond milk, cinnamon, 1 banana and some frozen berries in a pot. I took it to work and ate it at my desk. 5 points (oats = 3, Chia seeds = 1 and milk = 1).

At lunch time I stuck to my NY resolution to walk a mile a day. I am having trouble with my pedometer but am very confident that the walk to Waterloo Bridge from my office and back was at least a mile.

This is the view East from Waterloo Bridge. It was a lovely walk and there are lots of interesting things to look at along the way. I will be doing this walk again.

Back near the office I decided to walk on to Borough Market and support the hardy stall holders, who brave the elements to sell us amazing food. I was surprised and disappointed that no one was there! It was completely deserted.

Turnip was open so I bought 2 mandarins.

And then went to Konditor & Cook for a salmon fillet with 2 salads: sweet potato with fennel and beetroot plus a roasted aubergine and courgette salad. It is difficult to accurately calculate points but I estimated 12 points for this (salmon = 6, 1 tbsp oil = 4 and 1/2 a sweet potato = 2).

Supper was made with these vegetables.

I made a white sauce (25 g of butter and flour with 300 ml semi-skimmed milk) added 80 g Cheddar to the sauce and 80 g Parmesan on the top then baked in the oven for half an hour.

I shared this with Lara so calculated the points to be 16 (13 g butter = 3, flour = 2, milk = 2, 40 g Cheddar = 5 and 40 g Parmesan = 4).

So another successful day of walking a mile and eating within my point allowance. I am so pleased I am back in the groove.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cheese, Oats, Salmon | 1 Comment

Lose Weight and Gain Health

Mile A Day

Being In Control

The Big Freeze

From An Edible Perspective

Little Gems

Coastal Walking

It’s Been A Long Time

Magnificent Muesli

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Waterloo Sunrise

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