One more WI till Christmas....

Another hectic week at work and people have started bringing in tins and tins of chocolates "as its almost Christmas!" - despite this temptation I managed to stay on track this week and when I went to WI yesterday I had lost 3 and a half pounds!  So I'm down to 12st 1.5lbs which is good, and it has given me the motivation to stay on track this coming week as well (I was considering just not tracking now until the new year - I know that's not the best way of doing things but it is easier and less stressful!).  

So I worked out what I have coming up this week and the only stumbling block is a night out with some of the guys and girls from work on Saturday (weather permitting - snow has been threatened again this weekend and we know that seems to grind Greater London to a complete halt!) which will mainly consist of a meal at an Indian restaurant - I figure if I try and not use any of my weekly points between now and then I can use them all on Saturday and not worry too much about it, going to study the menu beforehand and decide what food I'm having which should help as well.

And the way I see it, after WI next week it is basically Christmas!  I will have just one day left of work (I have booked Christmas Eve and the time in between Christmas and New Year off) and I can really get into the Christmas spirit :o)  

Woop woop, its the weekend!

So it has been a stressful week, very busy at work which normally turns me to feast on chocolate!  But since WI on Wednesday (in which I found out I had put on 2lbs putting me back up to 12st 5lbs - could have been a lot worse considering the last two weeks I hadn't stuck to the plan at all!) I have stuck to the plan - menu's as follows:

Thursday:

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint of ss milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• 1/2 packet spicy couscous - 5pp
• 15g sultanas - 1pp

Dinner:

• Sweet & sour prawns with noodles - 12pp

Snacks: 

• Pineapple & Mango - 0pp
• Low fat hummus & carrot sticks - 3pp
• Curly wurly - 3pp

TOTAL - 29pp out of 29pp

Friday: 

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint of ss milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• 1/2 packet spicy couscous - 5pp
• 15g sultanas - 1pp
• Prawn, tuna and veg sushi pack (from Tesco) - 6pp

Dinner:

• Haddock fillet (from Aldi) - 4pp
• 40g (dried) pasta - 4pp
• Veg - 0pp

Snacks: 

• 1 banana - 0pp
• 7 Roses chocolates - 9pp
• Crisps (from Aldi) - 4pp

TOTAL - 38pp out of 29pp (9 weekly points used)

So far so good I think :o)  

Going out tomorrow as Stew and I have tickets to see Stewart Lee in his new stand up show (can't wait!) - will probably grab dinner out so really glad about the 40 spare weekly points!

Stewart Lee - comic genius

Snow and non-tracking = bad WW week....

This week has been a complete write off - was doing ok on Monday (after the Chinese binge with the mother-in-law on Sunday) but then disaster struck - London was finally hit with the snow, Tuesday I managed to track ok and was within my points (woop!) but had trouble getting home on the train due to the ongoing snow falling, by Wednesday morning we had about 6cm in southeast London and this caused the trains to stop working!  Therefore I had to bus the 10 miles into the City, which took me an hour and a half, I was frozen by the time I got off and went straight into Pret for a hot chocolate and a chocolate croissant, from that point on my tracking went out of the window.

Not my station but one of the many South Eastern train stations where trains services were 'disrupted' due to the adverse weather...

For the rest of the week I had to find alternative routes to and from work, each as stressful as the next - its silly really as usually door to door my journey is 40 mins (including the 10-15 mins walk to each station) but it has been taking me on average 2 hours.  stress & cold = comfort food needed - everyone at work has had the same issue so there has been biscuits and chocolate bought on mass to be shared.

We also had our work Christmas meal Friday night, we moved it from 8pm to 4pm due to the snow and people being able to get home and lets just say there was lots of food and booze consumed all round.  Had a mega hangover on Saturday and also found my back to be incredibly sore from walking on the icy pavements (must have jarred it on the way home Friday night).

Too much vodka = hangover and lots of comfort food

All of the above plus the snow preventing me getting to my meeting on Wednesday has made it a disastrous week.  But I have decided to restart today and take the hit on Wednesday at my meeting to see what the damage is - don't have anything planned for this week so food wise I should hopefully be ok (fingers crossed!)

Chinese food - why is it so good but so bad?!

So it happened, we ended up going for drinks and then chinese food last night, have no idea what the points were as we had the set menu and had a bit of everything, guessing it was very over my points (including the remaining weekly points I had left).  Two weekends in a row to break the diet, not bad!  

Anyway, well back on track again today and taken it upon myself to make a chilli in the slow cooker ready for tomorrows dinner so I can get convinced to go out for dinner again :o)  Menue for today was:

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/2 pint ss milk (includes the excess amount of tea I had at work today as it was bloody freezing in the office!) - 4pp

Lunch:

• 1/2 packet of couscous - 5pp
• Cherry tomatoes - 0pp

Dinner:

• WWFH Shepherds Pie (frozen) - 6pp
• Baby corn, asparagus, broccoli - 0pp

Snacks:

• Pineapple and mango chunks - 0pp
• low fat hoummus and carrot sticks - 3pp
• 48g galaxy caramel chocolate - 7pp

TOTAL - 28pp out of 29pp

So it finished my dinner and still had 8pp left hence the chocolate indulgence - gotta love this plan!  And with only a couple of days until WI I need to be really strict and keep within my daily points, shouldn't be too difficult (hopefully!)

Sunday morning - Yawn!

Well even though we had the threat of snow for the past few days nothing has materialised which is a shame as I love the snow :o)  Actually started my christmas shopping yesterday which is great as less than a month to go - got some lovely things in Greenwich Market and included a walk through the park which was fab :o)

The view from the top of the hill in Greenwich park yesterday morning, nice and frosty!

 

Last few days have been ok foodwise although I have eaten into my weekly points each day (but that is what they are there for I guess!) - menu's have been as follows:

Thursday:

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint ss milk - 2pp
• banana - 0pp

Lunch:

• Morrocan chicken soup from Pret - 6pp
• fresh fruit salad - 0pp

Dinner:

• Diced chicken breast - 4pp
• Korma sauce - 5pp
• 60g (dried weight) rice - 6pp
• 2 onion bharji's - 5pp

Snacks:

• Half packet of beef jerky - 2pp

TOTAL - 33pp out of 29pp - 4 weekly points used

Friday:

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint ss milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• 6oz Gammon steak - 6pp
• Small bowl of chips - 10pp
• Grilled tomato - 0pp

Dinner:

• Homemade beef stew - 3pp
• Half tub of ready made mashed root veg (Tesco) - 6pp

Snacks:

• Banana - 0pp
• Slice of chocolate swiss roll - 4pp

TOTAL - 34pp out of 29pp - 5 weekly points used

Saturday:

Breakfast:

• 2 choc chip brioche rolls - 7pp

Lunch:

• Wetherspoons sausage beans and chips - 25pp
• Vodka, soda and fresh lime - 2pp

Dinner:

• Veg chow mein - 6pp

TOTAL - 40pp out of 29pp - 11 weekly points used

As you can see yesterday wasn't the best of days food wise but all within my points which is the main thing I guess.  I'm now left with 29 weekly points to get me through to Wednesday's WI which should be fine although mother-in-law is with us from this afternoon for a few days and she does like to go out to eat (as she lives in Cyprus she likes to stock up on the food she can't get at home!) but should still be manageable :o)

WI number 2

So back from WI and somehow I managed to stay the same this week!  Pleased with that considering I went over my weekly points at the weekend :o)

My plan for this week is to stay on track for the whole week, should be do-able as nothing major happening (well nothing planned anyway!)

The day before 2nd weigh in - Tuesday...

Seem to be back on track now I'm back at work and in a routine - Tuesday's menu was as follows:

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint ss milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• Ham sandwich - 7pp (6pp for the bread, 1pp for the ham)
• Ready salted crisps - 4pp
• Melon and grapes - 0pp

Dinner:

• Tesco light choices cod and prawn cumberland pie - 10pp
• Veg - 0pp

Snacks:

• Banana - 0pp
• Low fat hummus & carrot sticks - 3pp

TOTAL - 29pp out of 29pp

WI in tonight, not expecting a loss ofter the weekend but hoping I haven't got a gain (fingers crossed!).

Uh-oh, party time....

Well this weekend was good but in a bad way!  Was on track on Saturday, we had been to the cafe to have something major before the party and this kept my hunger away until we got to the hotel, then I had some crisps which was fine.... then I had half a Snickers duo.... then the party started so had a glass of champagne, 3 sex on the beach cocktails, a couple of double vodka's and diet coke, some cupcakes, sandwiches, onion bhaji, mini quiches...... lots of dancing though which was good!  And then the wedding cake came out, 3 layers, each one a different type of cake!  So I shared a slab of the chocolate layer with Stew and then had some of the fruit layer as well - it was a great way to end the night!  I went to bed thinking that it was ok and 'tomorrow is another day', draw a line and start again....

.... didn't get much sleep due to the firm pillows at the hotel being too firm for me and the soft pillows being just as firm!  So when we got up for breakfast I ate lots to get my energy up - Special K with milk, fresh fruit salad and a spoonful of natural yog, bacon sausage beans mushrooms couple of hash browns and a grilled tomato to finish - it was yummy and deffo needed.  Ended the day with tuna pasta which was not weighed out at all.... lets say tracking was out of the window yesterday!

So today I have been back on track, menu was:

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3
• 1/4 pint ss milk - 2

Lunch:

• Ham sandwich - 7
• ready salted crisps - 4

Dinner:

• Haddock fillet - 4
• 40g (dried weight) rice - 4
• Veg - 0

Snacks:

• Banana - 0
• Apple - 0
• 1/2 big tub of low fat natural yog, raspberries and banana blitzed together - 4

TOTAL - 28pp out of 29pp

So back on track today which is good, hope the weekend doesn't affect WI on Wednesday too much :o)

Second week on PP and gotr a party tonight!

Last couple of days have been pretty standard with work and all but Stew and I decided to get KFC last night as we were both really tired and grumpy - it was yummy and I only used 11 of my weekly points so that made it even better!

Thursday and Friday menu's looked like this:

Thursday:  

Breakfast:

• 2 Weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint SS milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• 1/2 packet of Couscous - 5pp
• 15g sultanas - 1pp
• Cherry tomatoes - 0pp

Dinner:

• Moroccan tagine sauce - 5pp
• Diced chicken breast - 3pp
• 60g (dried weight) rice - 6pp

Snacks:

• Peach slices - 0pp
• Banana - 0pp
• 25g salted pretzels - 3pp

TOTAL - 28pp out of 29pp

Friday:  

Breakfast:

• 2 Weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint SS milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• 1/2 packet of Couscous - 5pp
• 15g sultanas - 1pp
• Cherry tomatoes - 0pp
• Homemade smoothie (banana, raspberries, apple and low fat natural yog) - 2pp

Dinner:

• 2 drumsticks  - 10pp (5pp each)
• 1 side-breast - 6pp
• Reg fries - 8pp

Snacks:

• Peach slices - 0pp
• Apple - 0pp
• 25g salted pretzels - 3pp

TOTAL - 40pp out of 29pp (11 weekly points used)

This leaves me with 38 weekly points which should cover me for the wedding/30th party we are going to tonight.  

Went to the cafe this morning to have something substantial (and we have next to no food in the house!) and I worked out I had about 16pp leaving me with 51pp for the rest of the day, just have to try and not eat loads at the buffet!

First WI on PropPoints...

So went to my meeting this evening, such a long queue in front of me as class size tripled with the new plan which wasn't good as I spent the whole time thinking I had got the plan all wrong - as each person got weighed they were asked how they found it and nobody seemed to have got it!  As I hadn't found it difficult I was really thinking I'd missed something major!  

Anyway, after 15 mins it was my turn to be weighed... got on the scales and...... 

(drum roll please)....

I had lost 4lbs!!!!  

Very happy :o) And impressed as its coming up to girly time of the month, usually I put on or stay the same due to water retention, so really its a double 'woop' this week.  Lets see what happens next week....

Day Six - Tuesday

So I gave in and had 10pp worth of chocolate brownie to top up my points yesterday - very yummy!  Menu for today was:

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint SS milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• 1/2 packet of couscous - 5pp
• 15g raisins - 1pp
• cherry tomatoes - 0pp

Dinner:

• Aldi fish pie - 9pp
• Veg - 0pp

Snacks:

• peach slices - 0pp
• banana - 0pp
• 25g salted pretzels - 3pp
• 1/4 chocolate brownie - 5pp

TOTAL - 28pp out of 29pp 

Starting to get a bit apprehensive about WI tomorrow as I don't feel as though I have lost anything... but then again I never normally do!  

 

Noticed on the WW messageboards that a few people have stayed the same this week as their bodies are taking a while to kick into the new plan - if that happens to me the logical side of my brain will totally understand but the emotional side will be a bit gutted!

Day four and five - Sunday and Monday

Sunday done and Monday almost done, still seem to be staying on track which amazes me!  Feeling really full most of the day and only just starting to have hunger pangs (which is probably because I can smell dinner cooking!) - have to say I'm loving the new plan, just hoping it pays off at WI on Wednesday :o)  So menus for the last couple of days were:

Sunday:

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint SS milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• 1 pack of melba toast (6 slices) - 2pp
• 50g of crab meat (50% white meat, 50% brown meat) - 2pp

Dinner:

• Stuffed lamb breast - 8pp
• spicy roasted pumpkin couscous salad (WW recipe from the website) - 5pp

Snacks:

• apple - 0pp
• 2 bananas and a pot of Tesco low fat custard - 4pp
• 25g salted pretzels - 3pp

TOTAL - 29pp out of 29pp 

Monday:

Breakfast:

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint SS milk - 2pp

Lunch:

• 1/2 packet of couscous - 5pp
• 30g raisins - 2pp
• cherry tomatoes - 0pp

Dinner:

• Homemade beef stew - 3pp
• mashed swede - 0pp

Snacks:

• peach slices - 0pp
• banana - 0pp
• M&S chocolate muffin dessert (Count of Us range) - 4pp

TOTAL - 19pp out of 29pp  

As I seem to have so many left over I may indulge in a chocolate brownie to bring my points up to 29 for the day - will be a nice end to the day me thinks :o)

Day Three - Saturday 13th November

I was back on track today which was fab!  Menu was as follows:

Breakfast:

• Banana - 0pp
• Apple - 0pp

Lunch:

• 2 small packs of melba toasts - 5pp
• 50g of crab meat (50% white meat, 50% brown meat) - 2pp

Dinner:

• 250g pork loin steaks - 11pp
• Veg - 0pp
• Homemade apple sauce - 0pp
• 150g (raw weight) potatoes - dry roasted - 3pp

Snacks:

• 1/4 of large chocolate brownie - 5pp
• Ritz/light philly snack box - 3pp

TOTAL - 29pp out of 29pp

Seem to have got back on track without any problems - on the old plan it would have taken me a day or so to get back into the swing of points and stuff.  Really enjoying this new plan, seems to suit my way of eating better :o)  

Just need to start thinking about what to have for lunches at work, no microwave which sucks.... off to look through the WW messageboards and see what comes up!

Day Two - Masterchef Live!

So went to Olympia yesterday with my mum for the Masterchef Live show - it was so much fun!  Has various food and drink samples which consisted of a lot of cheese and fudge!  Points-wise I couldn't work out what I had over the day but to be honest you can't go to something like that and not try stuff!  Highlight of the day was seeing Michel Roux Jr in action at the chef's theatre (see pic below - Olly Smith from Saturday Kitchen was hosting):

In the evening we met up with the boys and went to an italian resturant in London Bridge - I caved in and had the Calzone and for pudding the banoffee pie.  As it is a family run resturant I can't access the nutritional info to work out the points but I'm going to assume the whole day used my daily and weekly allowance :o)  

So today is a new day, I have planned my meals for today and I have 3 points spare at the moment - have to see how we go!  Got weigh in on Wednesday to keep me motivated so this should help me stick to my daily points throughout the week. 

Day one - Thursday 11th November

Well day one went really well!  Was out and about more than I was expecting so my lunch was just a couple of snacks with some fruit but still felt full and didn't go over my allowance :o)  So here is what I had:

Breakfast 

• 2 weetabix - 3pp
• 1/4 pint of semi-skimmed milk (for on weetabix and with some tea) - 2pp

Lunch 

• Starbucks tall skinny latte - 3pp
• 2 ritz & light philly snack pack - 6pp (3pp each)
• 1 apple - 0pp

Dinner 

• Haddock lightly dusted fillet from Aldi - 4pp
• 40g (dried weight) rice - 4pp
• Veg - 0pp

Snacks 

• Low fat custard pot from Tesco - 4pp
• 2 bananas - 0pp
• 25g salted pretzels - 3pp

TOTAL - 29pp out of 29pp :o) 

So a good start to the week I think, didn't feel hungry at all which is good, think knowing I can have a piece of fruit without it taking up my points allowance is a huge help.  

Today will not be as good, off to Masterchef Live at Olympia today, lots of tasters and free drink with a meal out with my mum tonight but this should be within my daily and weekly points allowance.  Not going to worry too much about today, figure that as long as I try and stay within my daily points for the rest of the week I'll be ok!

Armed and ready!

Went to my meeting last night, got all the info and got my new calculator which will be going everywhere with me!  Feel really positive about it, got most of my day planned so lets see how it goes!  Will post my menu for today tomorrow :o)

New mantra - Carbs, Protein, Fat and Fibre!

New start?!

Well, the new and improved weight watchers plan was launched this week - after 15 years of point values worked out using calories and sat fat they have changed the plan and called it ProPoints which uses protein, carbohydrates, fat and fibre to now calculate the points value of the food you are eating.  This new plan has been designed based on the way your body uses energy rather than the old fashioned way of calorie counting.  

There has been a lot of hype about the new plan on the ww forums/message boards which to be honest appeared to be mainly fear of change although there was also a lot of people who were really excited about the new plan and have seen it as a way of getting back on track.  The leaders of the meetings have been testing the new plan for the past couple of months and let their 'helpers' at the meetings in on the secrets of the new plan a few weeks ago so that they are able to help members once the plan was launched.  The feedback from these people has been amazing with the majority having decent losses in the first few weeks - my leader lost half a stone in a few weeks, weight which she has been struggling to loose since going on an all-inclusive holiday over a year ago.  This in itself is so positive and is making me really look forward to my meeting on Wednesday evening.

I have been a member of ww for almost 2 years, lost 2 stone in the first year but since then have been bouncing around the 12 stone mark and it has really started to get me down.  Silly as it may seem, I am looking forward to the new plan as it means I'm technically starting from scratch, won't know the points in my head so will have to calculate everything and therefore will track everything correctly (as my partner will verify I have been slack on the tracking for the past few months!).  Its strange because I didn't really like the idea of ww - however, signing up with some friends at work to the local ww meeting was fab, had the support i needed there all the time and we were all successful (albeit that I had so much more to loose than they did!).   I had tried slimming world a few years before and that had been good for me as I could eat things like pasta, etc which I love without having to point everything but it stopped working once I had lost just over a stone, I just couldn't loose any more after that.

Now then, I'm not usually the sort of person who writes blogs, or documents day to day stuff in this way - as a little girl I never wrote a diary.  However I have seen a few peoples blogs on this subject and I think it would be another useful tool in my quest to be a healthy weight!  To be honest I'm only doing this from a purely selfish point of view as I think this would be useful for me to look back on and see how I coped with   certain days/weeks/months and I don't expect anyone to read this - but if anyone does and it helps in anyway then that could be a bonus (I know from reading other peoples blogs that it is very comforting to know that other people are going through the same or similar things that you are and you are not alone).

So, next meeting is Wednesday evening, get all the information I need then along with my new calculator (which will be with me at all times for the first few weeks!  That's what handbags were made for right!).  First day of new plan will therefore be Thursday and only major event I have during the week is Masterchef Live on Friday with my mum, but that will be manageable due to the extra weekly points I get with the new plan - woop!