Still In The Fight!

You haven't heard from me in quite a while, I have been AWOL from Weight Watchers the last few weeks. I had all but given up entirely. I had a lot of changes in my life over the last few weeks, I finished up being a leader with Weight Watchers and I started a new job working at Benefit Cosmetics. I love my new job, but as I was settling in over the last few weeks, I found it to difficult to focus on that & eating right. to be very honest, I didn't care one single bit, I didn't want to do weight watchers any more, I was tired of it, I wanted to eat whatever the heck I wanted and not care about gaining weight. that was true for a while, I truly didn't care, I was eating anything I felt like and I was happy, for a while at least.
Then the novelty wore off, I started to notice the lbs I had gained, I started to feel sluggish & tired and I became very unhappy & distressed over my weight, but I didn't know what to do, I felt like I couldn't stop and go back to Weight Watchers & my healthy habits. So I continued on that path for a while, guilty & miserable but pretending I was happy with my choice.

I feel like I have been through 10 rounds in a ring, I am emotionally battered & bruised, my will power is hanging on by a very, very fine thread. But I have realised that it's still there, that I do want this & I am still in the fight! I have hope that I can get back to my fighting weight.
So, I took my battered self and my tattered will power off to class this morning & I emerged from that class feeling shiny & new again, my will power firmly back in its place. I can do this, I will do this! Just the act of attending class this morning and knowing that I am now back on track has made me feel lighter, honestly it has. I feel in control again. its a wonderful feeling.

So, if you have been struggling & giving up hope, if you have stopped going to class, go back. it will help. Attending class is honestly the only way to do this, we need the motivation & support of our leaders & fellow members, Think of them as your coach and your cheerleaders. They want you to succeed!

1 Pro Point Mini Pizzas

When it's May and it's supposed to be summer but it's cold and wet outside you need a little bit of comfort. For me this week that comfort was pizza, I just wanted pizza! I started thinking about the mini pizzas from my childhood and how I loved them. I wanted the mini pizza comfort of my childhood, but I didn't want the Pro Point damage so I created a version that is surprisingly tasty and satisfies the need for comfort food.

Mini Aubergine Pizza

Whole recipe - 6 Pro Points
1 Pro Point per 2 Pizzas

Ingredients

1 Aubergine
2 Tbsp Tomato Puree
80g Light Mozzarella
Dried Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Fry Lite

Method

Slice the Aubergine into 6, 1cm rounds,
Place the rounds on kitchen paper and sprinkle with a little Salt,
leave for 30 minutes (this draws out excess moisture & stops the Aubergine from going soggy)
Spread each round with Tomato Puree,
Sprinkle with Pepper & Oregano,
Slice the Mozzarella into 6 & top each pizza with one slice,
Spray with Garlic Fry Lite & bake at 200oC for 15-20 minutes or until the Mozzarella is bubbling & golden.

Serve & enjoy with a side salad & home made garlic bread (make sure to add extra Pro Points)

My 13 Week Challenge - Week 3: A Huge Sigh of Relief

Tonight I had my 3rd weigh in of my 13lbs in 13 weeks challenge.

Week one, I did plenty of activity, but over did it with the Easter chocolate and gained 2lbs.
Week two, I kept up my activity and worked hard at making the right food choices, unfortunately 2 days before weigh in my period came and I gained another 2lbs, I was so upset and annoyed that I couldn't bring myself to blog about that one. I moved on from that and used my anger as fuel to have an absolutely fantastic week.

This week, I kept up my activity, I even went on a 13km walk with my friend and I clocked up 28 activity points over the week. I put in a huge effort with my food and stuck with Simple Start for the week. I did go off track for one meal out when my parents came to visit, but I managed to reign it back in right away and I am so proud of that. I had a very enjoyable week and I feel great.

So you can imagine my huge sigh of relief when I stepped up on the scales tonight and finally saw a minus. I was secretly hoping for 2lbs but I wanted to be OK with any loss so I was trying not to get my hopes up. I lost the 2lbs, but not only did I lose the 2lbs I had my single biggest weekly loss ever. I lost 4.5lbs!

Thank Goodness! I am so relieved to see a loss after 3 weeks. It was definitely well deserved on my part. Now I am on schedule with my 13lbs in 13 weeks challenge.

8.5lbs to go and 10 weeks left. I can do it!

Avocado & Greek Yoghurt Dip With Home made Tortilla chips

Chips & dip is a wonderful combination, great for parties, for snacks, nibbles for watching a movie. Unfortunately they are typically very high in calories and therefor not so great for us weight watchers. I have come up with a wonderful chip & dip combination that wont break your Pro Point bank. And if I do say so myself it's absolutely delicious!

Avocado & Greek Yoghurt Dip with Home Made Tortilla chips

Serves 2

7 Pro Points per recipe on the Pro Points plan

4 pro Points per recipe on the Filling & Healthy plan

Avocado & Greek Yoghurt Dip

Ingredients

1  Large Avocado 

Juice of half a Lime

3 tbsp 0% Greek Yoghurt

2 garlic Cloves, Crushed

1 Inch piece of Ginger, peeled & grated

Half a tsp Smoked Paprika

Half a tsp Cayenne pepper (optional)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Small dash of water\

2 Weight watchers Wraps

Calorie Controlled Spray

Sea salt & Ground Black Pepper

Method

Half the Avocado, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh,

Add it to the blender,

Then add the remaining ingredients,

Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides half way through

Home Made Tortilla Chips

Preheat oven to 180c

Cut the wraps into triangles,

Place on a lined baking sheet,

Spray with Calorie Controlled Spray,

Sprinkle with Salt & Pepper or seasoning of your choice,

Bake for 8 minutes or until crisp and lightly golden

leave to cool

Serve & enjoy a very tasty savoury snack!

   

My 13 Week Challenge - Week 1: The Easter Bank Holiday

Last night was weigh in night and the first one of my 13 week, 13lbs challenge and I was up 2lbs!
Ok, so it didn't go to plan, I didn't lose the 1lbs I was aiming for but i'm not disappointed with myself either...sounds a bit strange I know but I feel fantastic!

Let me explain.
My plan for the long weekend was not to drink any alcohol, just eat one Easter egg worth 25 Pro Points from my weeklies and do plenty of activity and loose 1lbs.

Beautiful beach

Here is how it went.
My week started of with a great start, I woke up last Thursday morning and I headed out for a walk, I hadn't gone for a walk in weeks but I managed to do a 5Km walk and I felt great. I came home and I ate well for the day. Thursday night we headed down to west cork for an extra long Easter weekend. Friday got off to a great start, the weather was gorgeous, we went for a walk on the beach and later that evening we climbed up to The Beacan at Baltimore to see the sun set.

The Beacon

Ok...so I did eat some chips and shared a slice of cake with William before hand, but still not so bad. Saturday came and we went for a wonder around the local market, and I decided to make some dessert for Sunday lunch the next day. I made a raw food, chocolate & avocado tart, it was amazing! we went for dinner Saturday night, I really wanted pizza but I ordered fish instead and just had one very small glass of wine. I opted to be the designated driver so that I couldn't drink more alcohol and I resisted more wine when we got home but I did eat a couple of triangles of Toblerone...oops!
Doesn't sound too bad now does it, my weeklies would have covered the treats I did have.

My Chocolate & Avocado Tart

Then came Sunday and that's where things started to slip. The sun was scorching, we were having 12 people over for Sunday lunch and I got carried away in the buzz of the bank holiday weekend. we climbed the small mountain behind the house before dinner, it was tough but I made it!

I drank more than I should have on Sunday. Cold beer just tastes so good sitting in the blazing sun in a beautiful garden chatting with friends and I ate far more chocolate than I had planned, we had an Easter egg hunt in the garden that morning and I couldn't resist, Monday was similar to Sunday, more chocolate and an ice cream cone on the drive back home. 

Sunday morning egg hunt

So as you can see gaining 2lbs is not that surprising really. I was kinda hoping that the activity would make up for all the chocolate I ate but I knew that was just wishful thinking. I don't regret my weekend because I had an amazing time with friends and family, it was almost like a mini holiday and those kind of weekends don't happen very often.

At the top of the little mountain

I feel fantastic because I did more activity that I ever did when I was losing my weight originally and I have kept it up too. I went for an 8km walk on Tuesday and a 6km walk on Wednesday. I am setting up a great habit for myself and I am learning to make activity a part of my lifestyle and enjoying it too!

I didn't reach my goal that I had set for the week, but I conquered one thing, activity and I am proud of that. This week I will conquer tracking and I know I will have a loss next Wednesday night.

one challenge at a time, one day at a time, one meal at a time and I will get there because Slow & steady wins the race.

Confessions of A Perfect Person

I started this blog as a means of tracking my weight loss journey & keeping myself motivated, It turned into so much more along the way and I have loved every second of it. I always wrote about the good times but most importantly I wrote about the bad times,

Me before I started at 13st 10.5lbs  & when I reached goal at 11st 7lbs

The last few months have been difficult for me, my bad habbits crept in, I lost control and my weight crept up and I have found myself 13lbs over goal. During the last few months I have avoided blogging, I felt that if I couldn't blog from a positive place then I shouldn't do it, I became a leader a year ago and since then I have felt that I needed to be seen as 100% focused and on track all of the time, I needed to be perfect. I was afraid to come on here and tell you all how horribly wrong things were going because I was trying to maintain the image of a perfect leader. So I didn't tell you about the time I ate a whole pizza, or the time I ate an extra large chocolate bar in one sitting or the time I went to the cinema and had a medium popcorn, 2 scoops of Ben & Jerrys and a share bag of minstrels all to myself...yes I have done all of these things! The truth is I am not 100% perfect.The truth is there is no such thing.

Me now at 12st 6lbs

I am a perfectly normal human being.

I have my struggles
I have food issues
I have weight problems
I can fall of the wagon
But I can get back on!

So that is what I am doing right now, I am owning up, I am being honest, I am writing about the bad times and I am getting back on track.

where I will be for the next 13 weeks and beyond!

I am setting myself a goal. I want to loose 13lbs and get back to my goal weight by July 1st, That gives me 13 weeks. I know this goal is realistic and achievable and that's very important, I lost 31.5lbs in 32 weeks to get to goal ,so I averaged out at a 1lb a week weight loss.

Do you need a goal to help keep you focused? Why not join in my challenge and aim to loose 13lbs by July 1st. In 13 weeks I will be confident in my summer clothes and fingers crossed wearing a bikini to the beach! who's with me?

Apple Pie Cookies - 3 Pro Points Each

I had an urge to bake today, I just love to bake! I didn't want to do any damage so I thought about possible low Pro Point treats. William suggested cookies and the result is these delicious apple pie cookies. They are so full of flavour. they do not taste like a ''diet'' treat at all. I guarantee if you make these everyone in your house will eat them, they may not even last a whole day!

Apple Pie Cookies

(these are a soft, chewy type cookie)

Makes 15

3 Pro Points per cookie
or 2 cookies for 5 Pro Points.

Ingredients
100g Porridge Oats
90Gg Plain Flour
1tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
1tsp Vanilla Extract
30g Coconut oil
1 Large Egg
120ml Maple Flavoured Golden Syrup
120g Pink Lady Apple, Finely Diced

Method

Mix together the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder & salt.
In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, coconut oil & vanilla together, then stir in the golden syrup.
Mix in the oat mixture until just combined, then fold in the apple
chill for 30 minutes

Preheat oven to 160c
Line a baking tray with baking paper
Using your hands form 15 tablespoon size balls from the dough and place on the baking tray and flatten slightly.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden.
Leave to cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Serve with a cup of tea, still warm from the oven, simply delectable.

Store in an air tight container, they should keep for a few days, if they last that long!

Chocolate & Marshmallow Cupcakes

Happy Valentines Day!

I love you all very much and that's why I am willing to share these yummy, Weight Watchers Friendly, Chocolate & Marshmallow Cupcakes with you...well the recipe anyway, you will have to bake them yourself. Trust me, they are worth the very small effort involved.

These cupcakes are super easy, so don't shy away if your not a baker or a confident cook. They are so fool proof you could even ask your special someone or children to make them for you as your Valentines gift! 

Chocolate & Marshmallow Cupcakes

Serves 12

2 Pro Points Each 

Ingredients

1 box of Betty Crocker Devils Food Cake Mix.

1 can of Coke Zero/Diet Coke

12 x Dr Oetker Heart Shaped Marshmallows

4 Tbsp Marshmallow Fluff 

6 Squares of dark or Milk Chocolate (I used Tesco Finest 75%) 

Method

Preheat oven to 160oC Fan Oven

Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners

In a mixing bowl whisk together the cake mix and can of Coke Zero. Mix well.

using an ice cream scoop, fill each liner with one level scoop of batter

bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean

leave to cool on a wire rack

When the cupcakes are cool spread the top of each cupcake with 1tsp of Marshmallow fluff

Melt the chocolate and dip the top of each cupcake in the chocolate, covering the marshmallow fluff, place a heat shaped marshmallow on top and let the chocolate set (I put my cupcakes in the fridge for 5 minutes to help set the chocolate)

Serve & enjoy because your worth it!

A great start with a Chorizo & Feta Omelette

Happy New Year to you all!

This week is back to class time, as the kids get back to school, us weight watchers members get ourselves back to class and on the scales. It's a scary, daunting prospect for a lot of us, but it's a step in the right direction and its onwards and downwards from there!

I have a lovely recipe to get you inspired and you won't feel like your on a diet at all, thats the joy of Weight watchers, nothing if forbidden you can have everything in moderation, so there is no need to eat dry, bland food in order to loose weight.

Chorizo & Feta Omelette

Serves 1

7 Pro Points per serving
or
3 pro Points on Filling & Healthy

2 Medium Eggs
1 Tbsp Skimmed Milk
1 Tsp Oregano
Salt & Pepper to taste
30g Chorizo, diced
30g Light Feta, diced
1 small Onion, diced
1 tomato, halved & sliced
1 tsp Balsamic vinegar

Heat the grill to 200 degrees.
Whisk the eggs, milk, oregano, salt & pepper in a jug and set to one side.
Spray a small/medium frying pan with fry lite and heat to a high heat.
Fry the onions for one minute & add the chorizo, fry for a further minute.
Reduce to a medium heat.
Add the tomato & balsamic vinegar and simmer until the balsamic has caramalised with the tomato.
Pour over the egg mixture and sprinkle the feta over the top.
Cook until bubbles appear on the surface.
Place the frying pan under the grill until the omelette is fully cooked (alternatively you can flip and cook the other side on the hob)


Serve with home made potato wedges or a side salad & enjoy!