Another one bites the dust

At weigh in today I lost 1lb, taking my total loss to 1st 8lb , another step in the right direction.
I feel a lot more positive this week - brought on by having plenty of SW friendly food and keeping the syns in check a lot more.
This week my syns included takeaway pizza (flexy syns!), naan bread, half a garlic baguette, 1.5 cupcakes and a glass of wine - just goes to show that as long as you keep track of the syns and food optimise the rest of the time you can lose weight.

Recipe: Hummus

Syns
Free on EE

Ingredients
Can of chickpeas, drained
2 cloves of garlic
Black pepper
Fat free yoghurt/fat free fromage frais/quark
Lemon juice

Method

1. Put the chickpeas, garlic and pepper in a food processor and blitz
2. Add a couple of tabespoons of yoghurt and a few squirts of lemon juice and blitz until smooth.

Recipe: Peri potatoes

Syns
Free on EE

Ingredients
New potatoes, halved
An onion, diced
A red pepper, diced
Turkey rashers
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Peri peri spice
Paprika
Fry light

Method

1. Put the potatoes in a pan of boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes
2. Fry the onions and pepper in fry light for 2 or 3 minutes
3. Add the turkey rashers to the onions and fry until cooked
4. Drain the potatoes then add them to the bacon and fry until golden
5. Add the tomatoes, a sprinkle of paprika and a sprinkle of peri peri spice to the mixture, then cook for another 2 or 3 minutes (until the tomatoes break up)
6. Enjoy!

Recipe: Peri peri chicken with giant couscous

This was delicious and packed quite a punch!

Syns
Free on EE

Ingredients
Chicken mini fillets
An onion, diced
A red pepper, diced
Frozen peas
Frozen sweetcorn
Passata
Peri peri spice
Lemon juice
Giant couscous
Fry light

Method

1. Put the chicken in a bowl with peri peri spice and lemon juice and mix well
2. Cook the couscous according to the packet instructions
3. Fry the onion and peppers in fry light, then add the peas and sweetcorn
4. In a separate pan fry the chicken in fry light until cooked
5. Add the chicken to the onion mixture, then pour in the passata. Mix well and cook until bubbling
6. Serve the couscous topped with the chicken mixture

That don't tempt me much

Having not had anything to eat yet today I went to the kitchen to grab a drink and was faced with this load of goodies. I must be enjoying being on plan at the moment because I wasn't in the least bit tempted.
Very pleased not only with my will power (which I didn't need much of), but with my sweet tooth disappearing again. It should make food optimising a lot easier.

Time off for good behaviour

For the last 2 evenings it's been my wife's turn to cook, so I've been treated to two fantastic meals!

Last night was sausage pasta (syn free using Joe's sausages), with garlic bread for syns. It was gorgeous and there's enough left over for me to take to work for lunch tomorrow - yummy!!

Tonight was chicken curry (syn free), with naan bread for syns. Another triumph for the tastebuds, and there's some of that leftover too - always great to have syn free food handy.

Super free, smashing, grated

Tried tuna and onion smash pizza for tea last night. It was a big hit with my wife who is mad about pizza, so we will be having more of them in future!

That sinking feeling...

At weigh in today I put on 1.5lbs, taking my total loss to 1.5 stone, a stone heavier than I was at my lowest last year.
I know why I put on (alcohol, curry out, and synful treats), but that doesn't make it any easier to take.
For the sake of my sanity I need to get my food optimising head back on. I refuse to have to throw away clothes because they are too small and I will never be able to wear them again.
Here's hoping for that lottery win so I can't open a low syn SW friendly restaurant. I can but dream.

A lot of what you like does you good.

A curry out on thurs for my bro in law's birthday and a party on sat means I am not expecting great things at weigh in on tuesday. That said, I have enjoyed myself and know it's not a typical week, so will get back on plan and keep my eye on the long term rather than getting obsessed with potential short term gains.

Recipe: Pepper chicken chow mein

I remembered to take a pic of this one, and it was gorgeous!!

Syns
Syn free on EE

Ingredients
Joe's pepper chicken steaks, chopped into bitesize chunks
Mushroom stir fry
Egg noodles
Fry light

Method

1. Heat a wok on a high heat, add fry light and the chicken and fry until cooked.
2. Cook the noodles in a pan of boiling water.
3. Add the stir fry to the chicken and fry for 3 or 4 minutes. Make sure to keep stirring in the bits of sauce that stick to the bottom of the pan.
4. Drain the noodles then add to the chicken and veg. Mix thoroughly and serve. 

Recipe: Chicken tikka

Syns
Syn free if using the pitta as HE.

Ingredients
Diced chicken breast or thigh, visible fat removed
Tikka powder
Fat free natural yoghurt
Fry light

Method

1. Mix the yoghurt and powder together in a bowl.
2. Add the chicken to the bowl and mix until well coated. Store in the fridge overnight or use straight away.
3. Heat a frying pan, then add fry light and the chicken.
4. Fry until cooked then serve with a wholemeal pitta and salad.

The restaurant...

Wouldn't its be great to run a SW friendly restaurant?

If I had the money, the premises, the expertise and the staff I think it could be a great venture. Since I have none of that I will have to stick to experimenting in the kitchen and building up a catalogue of recipes to share with you all.

I wonder how many recipes I would need for a book and how much I would make from it...

Recipe: King prawn chow mein

Syns
Syn free on EE

Ingredients
Medium egg noodles (chilli flavoured work really well)
Pack of stir fry veg
King prawns
Chinese five spice
Dried chillis
Soy sauce or fish sauce
Fry light

Method

1. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions then drain.
2. Heat a woke too a high heat then add fry light and the stir fry.
3. Fry for a few minutes then add the prawns, a teaspoon or two five spice, a teaspoon of chillis and a few splashes of soy sauce.
4. Fry until the prawns are cooked then add the cooked noodles. Mix thoroughly then serve.

Recipe: Pasta carbonara

Syns
Syn free on EE if using the Philadelphia as HEb and the pitta as HEa

Ingredients
An onion, diced
A handful of mushrooms (chestnut mushrooms work better than normal ones), quartered
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, diced
3 or 4 bacon medallions, fat removed and chopped
2 or 3 tablespoons of quark
2 x 35g tubs of Philadelphia Light per person
Fry light
Pasta


Method

1. Add some garlic (or garlic flakes or ground garlic), a few sprays of fry light olive oil and some black pepper to a pan of boiling water then add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions.
2. Put a frying pan on a high heat then fry the onions and garlic in fry light until soft.
3. Add the mushrooms to the onions and fry until soft.
4. Add the bacon to the mushrooms and onions and fry until cooked.
5. Drain the pasta, then add in the bacon mixture and stir until well mixed.
6. In the (now empty) frying pan, add in the Philadelphia and quark and stir until the mixture darkens having taken on some of the flavour of the bacon, onion and mushrooms.
7. Add the Philadelphia sauce to the pasta and stir until coated.
8. Serve with salad or superfree veg and a wholemeal pitta rubbed with garlic then grilled.

I must be doing something right...

Another 3.5 lbs off, taking the total loss to 1 st 8.5 lbs. Only 2 st 5.5lbs to initial target.
Part of that loss must be due to 2 lots of 2 hour walks at the weekend - perhaps dog ownership should be prescribed for weight loss!

A necessary evil?

After a syn free chilli with potato and butternut squash sw chips last night, today was a day where the wheels could nd did fall off.
I had  training course in london which meant a very early start. Food for the day started well - a banana and a fruit salad for breakfast.
Unfortunately hunger set in at the first break and was filled with the only thing available - a danish pastry.
Lunch wasn't low in syns either - mini sausages, plus sandwiches which were on every kind of bread except wholemeal. No fruit on show either, but at least there was diet coke. Other than not eating or adding packed lunch and fruit to the full bag of work I already had, I am not sure what better options I had.
Another day to chalk down to flexy syns, but at least I've not got any others like this planned in a while, so it's back to plan.
Will be interested to see how I fair at weigh in tonight. Fingers crossed!

I'm too flexy?

Weekdays have been pretty good this week - plenty of food optimising going on, and nice food again.

The weekend, on the other hand has involved quite a bit off plan foodwise - let's just say that flexible syns have been used to cover a fab meal out (some of which was actually low syn/syn free) and crumble for pudding after Sunday lunch, all of which were very enjoyable, and following which I don't feel guilty in the slightest. Over the last 9 months I've realised that SW leads to a healthy lifestyle and that weight loss/maintenace is a long term strategy, so blips in the short term are acceptable and help keep a healthy balanced life! Better that than to get into a spiral of guilt and comfort eating/depression.

Going green...

Waiting for me after group yesterday was a fantastic low syn chicken curry made lovingly by my wife (naan was a few syns, but well worth it).

Lunch today was gorgeous leftover moussaka/cottage pie (see previous post) with Babybels followed by weetabix and yoghurt.

That all led to tea - green risotto! Risotto made with onion, garlic, anything green from the fridge and freezer (savoy cabbage, leek, courgette, brocolli and peas) and parmesan for syns - would've been free if not for the Babybels at lunch. This time the peas were there for their free value, the other stuff gave us the 1/3 superfree. Amazing what you can do with whatever you find in the fridge/freezer/cupboard.

Back on track...

Having put back over the last 2 months on half of the weight I'd lost between April and September, it was back to plan with a vengeance this week. I managed to lose 2.5lbs which took my running total to 1st 5lb lost, 2st 9lb to (initial) target.

What helped this week?

• Loads of apples, bananas, blueberries and pears as snacks;
• Varying healthy extras - weetabix, Kellogs fibre bars, mini Ryvitas and wholemeal pittas; Babybels and Laughing Cow.
• Lots and lots of home cooking:
• King prawn, chilli and lime linguine;
• Omelette, SW chips, beans and peashoots;
• Stewy risotto type thing;
• Chicken tikka with fajita veg, salad and pitta;
• King prawn chow mein;
• SW fry up;
• Steak, minted mushy peas and SW chips;
• Pasta carbonara;
• Moussaka/cottage pie;
• Onion bhajis; and
• Mango sorbet.
• Crab sticks!
• Nice treats (e.g. chocolate liquers) as syns.

What didn't help this week?
Thinking that peas were superfree - must make sure to include other veg/fruit next time!