Slimming world update #2

This was my second week of Slimming World and it's gone quite well. I've not really struggled and managed to stay on plan all week, even when my husband and daughter made the nicest looking millionaires shortbread. Well ok, I had the tiniest corner you can imagine and kept the rest for after my weigh in later that week. It's the only day I have a treat without counting syns really.
We've had some super tasty meals and I'm really trying to stretch myself when it comes to recipes we've not had before. I'm not a picky eater by any means, but do find I cook the same meals quite regularly, probably out of convenience, so it's been nice to think outside the box.
One of my favourite recipes this week was the Surf & Turf stir fry.

Seriously, this was soooo good and I'll definitely be making it again. It was very filling, full of speedy veggies and best of all completely syn free!
Talking about syns, I had a few more than in my first week. I usually end my days at around 10 syns, which is not bad considering I'm allowed 15 a day, but this week I had a few days where I maxed out. It's the snacking at night that got to me a bit, and I definitely have to look around for a few healthier alternatives. There's only so much fruit I can eat without wanting a biscuit or chocolate after all!
Breakfast wise I've switched it up a bit as well this week and my favourite was Chocolate and Orange overnight oats. OMG where has this been all my life!

This was super easy to make and seriously tasty. I made enough to last me two days and I found that one those days I was full a lot longer in the mornings. Having such a filling breakfast stopped me grabbing for my 10 o'clock snack. I'm planning on making more overnight oats this coming week  I've found so many amazing recipes and can't wait to try them all. While browsing for breakfast ideas I came across some waffles and pancake recipes...who knew you could have all this on Slimming World right! Watch this space for what will probably be an overload in pancakes and waffles pictures and recipes.

I've stuck to drinking water and have even been taking my HydrateM8 to work, just need to remember to take more sips. I've flavoured my water with lemon and lime slices for that touch of flavour.

So, how much did I lose this week?

Not as much as I'd hoped but still, a loss is a loss and this means I'm now a whole two pounds lighter than I was two weeks ago.

In the end it all adds up.

Hoping for another loss at my next weigh in.

Did you stick to them?

  A few weeks back I was thinking about my long forgotten new years resolution. The one about losing weight. You can read it here if you want. New months resolution? What was I thinking!! Anyway... It all started out really well back in January, and even February wasn't so bad...for a few days. Now it's mid August and I can definitely tell you I did not stick to it at all. nope. I gained two pounds instead since then! Time for a change I think.   Luckily there are these two great girls who've decided to do a weekly link up, to motivate, inspire and get fit. Raven and Kristen, I can't thank you enough!  

  So I am ready to lose those two pounds, Oh yessss, followed by a whole lot more!   My starting weight is: 78.5 kg = 173 pounds EEEEEEKKK!   So this week I am planning to get a whole lot more active. Hello treadmill, remember me? I'll also we watching what I eat and track my food intake / calories and I'll definitely be eating a lot of these  

  I made this salad earlier this week and was surprised with how well the fruit and veg go together. This salad had lettuce, one tomato, cucumber, tinned mandarins, blueberries and black berries. It was so YUMMY I made another the next day.  

  This salad contains lettuce, red pepper, avocado, mandarins, black berries, blueberries, croutons and king prawns. Soooooo good!   So here we go (again) I'm hoping I will feel as optimistic as I do now this time next week. (And a few pound lighter!)  

Lunch was gooooood!

Oh yes I did enjoy my lunch today.

I had some leftover green salad from yesterday and added some carrots,

radishes and a some salmon in a mayo dressing.

It tasted soooo good!

I also had a slice of sunflower bread.

Now just in case you are wondering about last night's

pasta and meatballs

It was gooooood, and as you can see I really did limit my portion.

That is a small plate, I promise.

To help me keep on track of what I eat I am using My Fitness Pal

It is so easy (and completely free) and has helped me out so much already.

One thing I do need to keep an eye on is

water

I need to drink a whole lot more of it.

Another thing I need to

think about is our weekend trip (yep, we are going away for

the weekend ladies and gents!).

 I don't want to undo all the hard work I've done so far.

I plan on packing a bag full of healthy goodies to keep me on track,

but more on that tomorrow.

Oh, and I've also made a tracker

This should let me know exactly where I am and hopefully

motivate me a bit on hard days.

Now, where's that glass of water!

Back to healthy eating I go

I love the summery weather we are having these days.

I love that I can wear skirts, dresses, shorts and sleeveless tops.

Except

Maybe I shouldn't.

The summery weather made me realise I forgot all about the good

intentions I made at the beginning of the year, especially the one

about losing weight.

Dresses I had bought in the beginning of the year with the intention of

fitting into them are a bit too tight and let's not even talk about the white

cropped pants I bought that I can't even fit into.

What a disappointment.

Anyway

What better time to change my ways and get back on the healthy waggon.

I weighed myself Monday morning and have been eating healthy ever since.

Let's hope there will be some change in the numbers on the weighing scale next Monday.

This morning started out with an Oat so Simple, raspberry and pomegranate flavour, yummy.

I added some frozen fruits and have to say it was very delicious.

Lunch consisted of a tomato soup and some crackers with

cottage cheese and cherry tomatoes.

Not bad at all.

For dinner tonight I'm making a healthy meatball pasta.

Do you hear alarm bells ringing? Pasta and meatballs?!

I know.

I plan to have a big salad and limit my usual big portion of pasta AND meatballs.

The thing is that I am not just cooking dinner for myself but also for my husband and

two young kiddies. Don't think they'd be impressed if I would give them

a bowl of salad every day.

So

family friendly meals it is but with a healthy twist.

Exercise is another thing I need to get back into.

Time to start my running plan up again

and I'm off to do that right now.

Time to get sweaty.

Have a great Wednesday my friends!

Fruit fruit fruit!

The weather has been so nice lately and I don't know about you,

but when the sun shines I'm so much more likely to eat yummy fresh

fruit.

It's so healthy and full of goodness.

I've got a bowl full of different fruits in my kitchen.

Grapefruits, apples, satsumas, bananas, mango, kiwis, avocados, lemon

and

I've got blueberries, grapes and a cantaloupe melon in the fridge.

I offer my kids fruit every day, they have two pieces of fruit

in their lunchboxes, have a fruit snack in the afternoon and most days

have fruit salad for bedtime snack.

Sometimes the fruit I've put in the lunchboxes comes back...

because eating a piece of fruit by itself is boring.

(according to my oldest)

Boring, can you believe it!

Let's have a look at how we can make eating fruit FUN.

Mmmmm, looks good!

Think I might have one of these later.

Cute idea for serving melon balls

How cute are these strawberry fruit cups, my kids would

go crazy for them!

Great idea!

ideal healthy snack for a kids party.

Fruit pops, perfect healthy snack on a hot day.

Most awesome idea ever!!

All images can be found on my Pinterest board

I think most of these would be winners in my house.

Thinking of making the fruit cones for after school snack today.

Sure they won't find it boring at all.

I'm still on track with my running plan as well, in case you were wondering,

although not much has changed from last week.

Have a happy, healthy week my friends!

Linking up

My weekly running plan: week 4 + shopping list

This week I've been back on track and

I have finally tackled those four minutes of running.

I'm not going to lie, it has been hard on me.

Luckily fitness improves fast and I am finding it easier

every time I step on the tread mill.

So here's what I've been doing this week:

Warm up: 5 minute brisk walk

Minutes 1 and 2: run

Minutes 3 and 4: walk

Minutes 5 and 6: run

Minutes 7 and 8: walk

Minutes 9, 10, 11 and 12: run (hard four minutes!)

Minutes 13, 14 and 15: walk

Minutes 16, 17 and 18: run

Minutes 19, 20 and 21: walk

Minutes 22, 23 and 24: run

Cool down: 5 minute brisk walk

This week I will be continuing this and adding another 4 minutes of

 running, slowly building up until I am ready to run for FIVE minutes.

So apart from running I've also been eating more healthy.

Later on I'm going grocery shopping.

                                              I always make a shopping list and stick to it.

I usually sit down and make a weekly menu plan first.

That way I can see exactly what I need to buy. I also check my

cupboards and fridge/freezer to see what we still have so I don't overbuy.

Here's this weeks menu.

I do add loads of snacks as the days go by,

but usually they are quite healthy snacks such as

fruits, yogurts or rice crackers.

You may also notice that I eat the same breakfast every day.

I just find the porridge (Oat so Simple with sultanas, raisins,

cranberry and apple) very tasty and filling. I usually have this with

a coffee and have my grapefruit later on in the morning...it makes for a

delicious mid morning snack.

On the other side I write down my shopping list

I like to categorise my items by aisle, it just makes it so much more

easier to shop and I don't find myself running back and forth between the

aisles and getting distracted by other items.

 It also makes shopping a lot quicker.

I NEVER go shopping on an empty stomach.

I did once and bought a whole load of stuff I did not need.

Mainly freshly baked pastries...so hard to resist the smell

of chocolate croissants when hungry.

Linking up

Have a healthy happy week my friends

xxx

My weekly running plan: week 3

This week I only ran once!

very disappointing, I know.

I had a good reason (excuse) though, my husband

had surgery and was in hospital all week, so after

running back and forth between the hospital, picking kids up

from school, cooking dinner, helping with homework,

bathing kids, bedtime stories and housework I was pretty

exhausted.

I know I could have probably squeezed in  half an hour

in the mornings...

I just felt I didn't have the time.

Excuses right!

Maybe I should have titled this post

excuses, excuses

as this is exactly what I'm going to talk about this week.

1. I don't have time! (my excuse)

Make little adjustments to your every day tasks, that

way you can "save" some time for exercising.

You could also try to break up your exercising time, for example if you

normally exercise 30 minutes (like I do), do 15 minutes in the

morning and 15 minutes in the evening. Your body still gets the

same benefits.

You could do some of you errands running or run while playing

with the kids.

Turn the TV off and exercise instead or go on the treadmill

while watching your favourite programme.

2. I'm too tired!

When you are tired it's hard to get motivated, but going

for a run will energise you. You will feel less

tired the more you exercise and feel a lot fitter.

If you feel tired at the start of a run just start slowly and

build it up.

3. The weather isn't on my side!

Dress appropriate. Lot's of layers when it's cold,

a wind and waterproof jacket when it rains and remember to take a

water bottle when it's hot.

4. I don't like running in public!

Don't worry about what others think and be proud of

yourself for exercising and doing something healthy.

If you don't like running by yourself you could find a running partner.

If you don't like running outside use a treadmill and run in

the comfort of your home.

5. Running gets boring!

Listen to your favourite music while running and

if you run outside look around and enjoy the scenery.

Try and shake up your run by taking new routes.

You could join a running group or go running

with a friend.

Just remember

I'm ready to start a new week and am ready to

tackle those 4 minutes I was talking about last week.

No more excuses for me!

Have a happy, healthy week everyone!

xxx

Linking up here today

My weekly running plan: week 1

I've never been much of a runner.

I've never enjoyed it and have never really been

able to run for very long.

After about a minute I'm usually gasping for air and

regretting even starting.

So you'll probably be surprised if  told you 

 I ran 4 times last week.

Yep, four times!

Me and the treadmill are slowly becoming friends.

I've been doing the walking/running method

and am very pleased to say it seems to be

working incredibly well for me.

I'm still gasping for air but am starting to find this whole

running business easier

and more enjoyable.

Here's what I've been doing this first week:

Warm up: 5 minute brisk walk

Minute 1: run

Minute 2: walk

Minutes 3 and 4: run

Minutes 5 and 6: walk

Minutes 7 and 8: run

Minutes 9 and 10: walk

Minutes 11 and 12: run

Minutes 13 and 14: walk

Minutes 15 and 16: run

Minutes 17 and 18: walk

Minutes 19, 20 and 21: run

Cool down: 5 minute brisk walk

It did this every other day, it is VERY

important to give your body a day to rest

and recover.

Those last 3 minutes of running were HARD on me,

especially the first time, but I puffed my way through it!

I also listened to some good tunes, which made

it all a lot easier!

Tuesday I'm shaking my programme up a bit

and starting week 2.

A bit more running, a bit less walking.

It will be hard but I am SURE I can do it.

Linking up here:

Have a happy week everyone!

Smoothie recipe

Tomorrow I'm going grocery shopping and I'm

definitely putting some bananas and

strawberries in my trolley.

Bananas are always on my shopping list.

Strawberries not that often, I'm more

likely to buy them when they are in season,

or when we can go to the fields and pick them ourselves.

So why, do you ask, am I buying them now?

Let me tell you...

I've got smoothies on my mind.

Especially strawberry banana smoothies, yum!

They will make a welcome break

from my usual breakfast of cereal and grapefruit.

Here's my recipe:

8 strawberries

1 banana        

                      2/3 cup apple juice (or any other fruit juice)

Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth and serve immediately.

Easy peasy.

Enjoy!

To try or not to try?

As I was browsing Pinterest this morning I

came across before and after

photo's of a lady who'd done this 30 day shred.

The difference was AMAZING!

It got me thinking that I want to try this...

not sure if I will cope though, it looks

hard.

Would love to hear if you have tried this

or know anyone who has.

Maybe....maybe...maybe...

I will give this a try.

Just maybe.

Fit Club : 2 pounds, oh yes!!

Today was weighing day and the day couldn't

have started out any better.

I got on the weighing scales with a heavy heart,

not sure what it was going to say...

but hoping it would be good.

And was it?

Oh yes!!

I lost just over 2 pounds this week! Woohoo.

I'm sooo happy with this progress,

honestly I don't think the smile has left

my face all day!

I thank the yummy grapefruits (I think)

I have had half a grapefruit every morning before I ate

anything else.

Half an hour after that I had the rest of

my breakfast, porridge.

I've also been doing sit ups  with the help

of this. Genius!

A friend of mine lended it to me about a year

ago and it's been gathering dust under

my bed ever since...up till last week

that is.

Other than that I haven't changed much.

I kept remembering one of

the photo's I posted last week every time

I felt like having something sweet, and that kept me

on track.

I hope everybody's week has been as good as mine!

Keep it up fellow Fit clubbers :)