Restaurants

March 22nd 2016

Weigh in

Another pound lost and tonight I changed my target officially to motivate me to do it.  I didn't get weighed last week and if I'm honest it would have been a slight gain after all my meals out so my aim for next week is 2lb which will mean I achieve my 10% award.

How to survive eating out...

So the last two weeks have been a flurry of catching up with friends and family, involving various meals out.  Trying my best to stay on track, here are my suggestions for the restaurants I visited:

Miller & Carter

Their menu states that you could enquire about their lighter steak accompaniments - so I did!  They swap the lettuce wedge for a tomato and mozzarella salad, chips for new potatoes and no onion loaf.  A pretty good effort as long as you save your HeA choice for the mozzarella.  I decided to create my own healthier meal and opted for the lettuce wedge with bacon and honey mustard, no chips, potato or onion loaf and I requested no butter on the steak.  So a few syns for the honey mustard dressing but overall a fairly Slimming World friendly meal.

New Inn Wombourne (A Marston's pub)

An unexpected lunch out with a friend, I chose a jacket potato with barbecue pulled pork (syn the BBQ sauce) and a salad.  Again I requested this without butter - beware though, neither the menu nor the waiting staff advised me that it was topped with cheese. 

Britannia Northampton (Chef and Brewer)

Another lunch out and I didn't have time to have a look at the menu prior to my visit but armed with the Slimming World rules, I opted for the Asian-style chilli duck noodles.  This was a delicious meal of noodles, duck and pak choi.  I am certain there would have been a few syns in the cooking of the noodles with oil but I cut the skin off the duck to minimise the syns.

Plough and Harrow Aldridge (Marston's Premium Country Pub)
This time I did have a look at the menu before I went and was planning to have Prawn and chorizo linguine.  However, when looking at the specials, the salmon with potatoes and tenderstem broccoli seemed like a better option.  It was served with a white wine sauce but there was only a small amount of sauce.  

My advice - try to check the menu before you go (most are now online), keep your app handy in case you need to search for something you are not sure about and don't be afraid to ask for your meal exactly as you want it (Most restaurants will be open to you asking for alternative accompaniments or no butter, no sauce etc. Just be aware that some meals will be pre-prepared and unable to be changed) and if all else fails, have a few SP days to compensate!

Stay positive

March 8th 2016

Weigh in

Stayed the same! I feel a bit let down with that as although I have had my Syns, I have stuck to the limits and I've also swapped potatoes and rice for vegetables on at least two main meals this week.  I will not be defeated though and will persevere.

Positive Comments

I've had a few comments recently from friends and colleagues that they have noticed my weight loss.  It's always nice to hear that when you have been putting in the effort.  I am also going to mention my Slimming World group leader Claire.  I had attended a different group before I found Claire and I only continued going there to meet up with the friends I had made.  Claire is an inspiration, we have a weekly text about the topic for class and she has a Facebook page for us to share ideas and get news.  I have also received personal texts from Claire, when I've done well she acknowledges it and when it's not such good news she provides support and encouragement. At a particularly bad time in January she even sent me a card which was such a lovely gesture.  I may only have lost a stone but I can't thank Claire enough for everything she has done, a real credit to Slimming World. 

Working Life

I don't think I have mentioned my work life before other than my shift patterns.  I'm not using it as an excuse but I read another Slimming World blog today about a lady who works with food and I thought it appropriate to mention that I do too!  Three days a week I am an Assessor of Hospitality Apprentices and two days a week I am a Hotel Receptionist.  I have had to learn to say the word 'No' a lot!!  To assess students at their full potential, the best time to visit them is meal times when they are serving the most customers, this often means being offered whatever is being served while I am there and not always being able to eat my lunch at the right time.  I tend to start and finish early where possible so as I mentioned I take my breakfast and coffee to have on my car journey and I have to take a packed lunch prepared the night before.  My receptionist job is Saturday 3-11pm and Sunday 7am - 3pm which means I have to be super organised before I leave for work on a Saturday to make sure I have dinner, snacks, breakfast, lunch and even Sunday night's dinner planned otherwise the staff meals (almost always involving chips), left over buffet and cakes are too much temptation.  

I'm sure you all have difficulties when it comes to sticking to plan so I know I'm not alone.

The next two weeks

I have a few days off work and a lot of meeting up with friends and meals out so I will see you on the other side....

Try something new every day

March 1st 2016

Weigh in

I did it! 2lb loss and my 1 stone award. I am so happy! Yes I know I'm not a great advert for the Slimming World diet as it has taken me since last July to achieve this award but I stuck with it and I've finally achieved the award.   

Something new
My challenge to myself this week was to try something new everyday.  I don't necessarily mean a new food although most of them are!

Wednesday: Cloud Bread
I had heard of this before but an item on the radio yesterday morning made me look into it to see what it was all about.  Cloud Bread is a carb free, gluten free alternative to bread and it turns out that is the case because it is predominantly egg!!  Now as I have said before, I don't do eggs but I decided to give the bake a go.  The recipe I followed was 2 eggs, separated, whisking the whites with 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder until stiff peaks and mixing the yolks with 2 tablespoons of cream cheese (I used Quark to keep it totally Syn free).  You then fold the yolk mix into the white mix until pale yellow and cook in an oven at 150 for about 20 minutes (to create bun like shapes).  It is not something I would have again but I did try it.  To give you a better idea, I gave it to some friends and I had comments such as 'tastes like Yorkshire Pudding' 'It's like eating cotton wool - not literally, its just very light and fluffy!', 'It's a bit like souffle', 'It tears exactly like bread' and 'I'd be happy to eat that with a slice of ham!'.  So the verdict - definitely worth a try - you can add herbs or spices to the mixture to give it a different taste.  Search Cloud Bread on Google for a selection of recipes.

Thursday: Cauli Rice
I started to talk about cauliflower rice in my 'Vegetables but not as we know them' blog and I have been putting off trying it until today, but in the spirit of trying something new I decided it was time to open the pouch.  I purchased Cauli Rice plain in a pouch for £1.99 in Sainsbury's.  You can heat in the microwave or, as I did, warm it in a pan on the stove with just a couple of tablespoons of water.  The smell is quite pungent when you open the pouch but this goes away as it cooks.  I added cumin to the 'rice' and served it with a Slimming World version of Chilli Con Carne.  My verdict: It was better than I expected and I would have it again, great if you are doing an SP day or want to cut down on your carbs.  It's not rice but it's not a bad substitute.

Friday: Exercise on the Wii
Using the Wii to exercise isn't new to me but we've had a problem with our machine so it's been a while since I've used it.  While I was in Game searching for a gift I came across pre-owned Wii games and one in particular - Dance on Broadway was only £2.99 so I made a purchase.  I love musicals and its full of songs I know so i have enjoyed dancing along to the characters on screen and some of my favourite songs from the musicals.  Body magic is encouraged by slimming world and its all about moving more so while the weather is still a bit grotty I will be dancing around my living room!


Saturday: A different hair colour
Like many women, I colour my hair on a regular basis to keep it looking fresh and to cover my (very few!) greys.  I use Avon hair colours as they are very reasonably priced and suit my hair but I always use the same colour which is basically my natural brown hair colour.  On my last Avon order, however, I ordered one with a reddish tint and today I tried it out.  It's always a slightly nervous moment after you have coloured your hair as the colour does not show correctly until you have dried it but I am pleased with my new colour and will be purchasing more of it, and maybe even another different one!

Sunday: A fresh(er) start!
An article in Essentials magazine (April p65) suggests 5 ways to start the day with a spring in your step.  In the article they state that coffee on an empty stomach stimulates hydrochloric acid and promotes the release of stress hormones, so today as they suggested, I have had a glass of water as my first drink to kick-start my metabolism. (I've still had my usual coffee, just delayed so it wasn't on an empty stomach!).  I will continue doing this to see whether it makes a difference.

Monday: Carrot crisps
I was purchasing petrol in Tesco and came across Crunchy Carrot Slices by the till.  All natural (tick), oven dried (tick), 1 of your five a day (great), ingredients listed as only carrot and lemon juice - fab, or so I thought.  Thinking how virtuous I was to have chosen these over crisps or chocolate I ate them on my journey.  When I finally had time to input the details into my App to find out if there were any Syns (I was expecting 2 or 3 at the very most) I was shocked to find they contain 5.5 Syns! Needless to say I won't be purchasing those again (they are £1 for 30g if anyone is interested and they also do sweet potato and apple versions) 

Tuesday: Nespresso Caramelito
After yesterdays disappointment over the carrot slices I was concerned that the new flavoured Nespresso capsules I had purchased would be dangerously high in Syns.  Nespresso is not listed on Slimming World so I hunted the internet in search of someone that might know.  There are many sites and forums on Slimming World but none of them have come up with a conculsive answer, giving anything from zero to 5 Syns as a guesstimate.  Once again I checked the packaging and the nutritional information states 0g in all areas, making it zero Syns...Yey.  Now I can have a Caramel Latte (using my HeA) with none of the guilt.