Weigh in after holiday and only up 0.5lbs

I arrived at weigh in and joined the cue and grew ever more anxious as I got closer to the scales. I was assuming I would be up at least 4lbs and I just wanted to get weigh in over and done with. I didn't believe it at first when the screen showed I was up a half. I had to look again, it just couldn't be true, my eyes had to be playing tricks on me, was that really a 0.5 and not a 5?
It was true and I am so happy with myself. I really enjoyed my holiday and I didn't deprive myself but I didn't go crazy either and it really payed off.  I do think I will have to be carful this week though, I am aware that the last couple of days may not have caught up with me yet.
I am determined to loose 1lb next week so I can get my first sticker for the summer challenge of loosing 8lbs in 8 weeks, I am 2 weeks behind so I need to try and catch up. Its a good motivator for getting back on track after the holidays. I am also attending my first roller derby skate training session on this sunday so I am hoping that 2 hours of skating will go a long way towards helping me loose that 1lb.

Hopefully I will look more like this ...

... than this!

My holiday

I arrived back from my holiday at one am monday morning. I felt like I had been away for a month, it was a very fun filled and relaxing week in the sun, but I was glad to be going home to my own bed and getting back to 'normal' food. I will be facing up to the damage at weight in tomorrow evening, but whatever it is, I will be ok with it and get back on track. I was on holiday after all and I enjoyed myself and dont feel guilty about it.

Me, happy and relaxed on holiday.

Now I was good in some ways, but I was also very bad in other ways. My resolve to track everything went out the window the minute I arrived at the airport and I treated my self to some fish and chips and 2 glasses of wine from the bar while we waited for our flight.
On the holiday we had a buffet breakfast where we were staying in the morning and we made rolls for lunch most days, unless we were going off travelling in the car, then we ate out. We had our evening meals out in various resturaunts, sometimes myself and will shared a starter and some nights we got our own but we only got dessert twice over the course of the week. The bad stuff was mostly all the wine and cocktails that I drank, and I drank a lot of cocktails! I also had a few ice creams by the pool during the week, the good magnum kind!

Mojitio - one of many cocktails.

We arrived late at night and grabbed some pizza and went to bed, the next day I noticed that my stomach was very bloated and hard which I put down to flying and thought it would go away, but it didn't it actually got worse. By the end of the holiday I was mostly only able to eat half my dinner before feeling too full. It felt very uncomfortable and I have no idea what caused it, I was drinking plenty of water. Maybe it was a change in food? Because of that I was feeling that my weight gain after holiday was going to be huge, but i'm home now and most of the bloating seems to be gone now. William (who speaks fluet German) befriended a lovely elderly German couple who were our neighbors, they didn't speak english and I dont speak german but I noticed the woman pointing at me and then at her belly, when they left I asked william if she had asked was I pregnant, she had but he didn't want to tell me and upset me. That is how bloated my stomach was, I looked pregnant!
we did a lot of walking during the holiday, our apartment was located a bit away from the main strip in the town so we walked 20 mins to and from restaurants every day. we also rented a car for three days to explore the island and we trekked up some cliffs to look at the amazing views. I am hoping that the activity we did during the holiday will have ment that I gained a little less than I would have if I had been lying by the pool all week

Panoramic view from a little cliff

up 1lb and prepping for my holiday

I was a very disappointed to find that I was up one lb at weigh in this week, but after talking it through at the meeting and having a little think about my last 2 weeks I now realise that I have probably gotten what I deserved over all. I really was shocked last week that I lost 2lbs, so i'm sure all the bad stuff I had is after catching up with me and I did splurge a bit over the bank holiday too. I've had 3 bank holidays since I began weight watchers and they have not been very kind to me, down a half the first one and gained one on the 2nd and 3rd, so heres hoping there isn't one for another while!

During class we all got these very cute cards from our leader. we had decided last week to set a little summer goal to loose 1lb every week for 8 weeks. Now i'm going on holiday on sunday for a week so I really doubt ill have lost 1lb the week i'm back so i'm gonna have to try and make up for that.

I also got some good advise on how to handle myself on holiday, I decided that I probably wouldn't mind being up 2lbs but having been up 1lb this week I would rather only be up 1lb after my holidays. So I asked in the meeting if I should bring my tracker with me and everyone agreed that I should and even if I go over my points I should write all down anyway. I thought this was a good idea because having the tracker might stop me from thinking 'oh what the heck, I'll eat whatever I want'. So i'm going to bring the tracker and make good healthy breakfasts and lunches in the apartment we are staying in and then go out for meals at night and snack on plenty of fruit and drink lots of water during the day. I am also thinking that I would like to get up in the mornings and go for a walk before it gets too hot, but I know what i'm like in the mornings so i'm not sure I will summon the will power for that.
But for now I have 4 more days to be extra good in preparation for my holiday :)

May bank holiday weekend - Road trip, BBQ, Face painting, Roller derby and pie!

My bank holiday weekend kicked off with a lonesome road trip from cork to kilkenny to visit with my parents, the visit also tied in with a face painting job for a fundraising BBQ on saturday. My mom was having dinner of chicken curry for me when I arrived friday evening, but I usually have dinner when I get home from work so I couldn't wait the 2 and a half hours drive before dinner, I was starving and I stopped off at Mcdonalds and I got a happy meal, I figured that a small amount would give me the taste satisfaction and keep me going till dinner and it really did, the happy meal was 13pps, I had lots of daily points to use and all my weeklies so I didn't feel guilty for the treat.
On saturday I started off the day with a big breakfast, a slimbo, 2 rashers, mushrooms and baked beans al for 8pps. I wanted to make sure I would stay full for a while so I wouldn't be tempted by all the free ice creams and BBQ food at the fundraiser. I was face painting for 6 hours and it was extremely busy so thankfully the ice creams never got a look in with me and I managed one quick break and grabbed a burger for 10pps which kept me going until I got home. It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day (the proof is on my very sunburnt face) so I was drinking lots and lots of water. I got home at 6pm and my mam had kept me a yummy dinner of bacon and cabbage, my favorite! which I was very surprised to find was a low 6pps. My brother and his wife came to visit and later that night we snacked on some chicken and garlic bread, I didn't eat much but it amounted to 9pps.
Sunday started off again with a lovely cooked breakfast to keep me going for my drive home, I was driving home and going straight to the roller derby open skate day. The open skate went great, I loved skating and I was surprisingly good at it and I only fell once. I'm definitely going back, it was great exercise I was sweating buckets. I decided that I had earned 5pps for the hour of skating, it could have been 13 and although it was a really good work out and I was sweating loads I took a few breaks so I decided to stick with the 5pps and play it safe. I now cant wait to buy my own skates and start learning roller derby, its hard work so its gonna get me really fit and its fun!
Sunday night myself and will headed over to some friends for a little early birthday dinner for will as were all going to be away for his real birthday next week. I had 3 slices of pizza for 12pps, 3 peices of light garlic bread for 4pps and a small portion of chicken poppers for 6pps. I drank 2 vodkas and diet 7up for 6pps and the creme de la creme was the key lime pie that Mandi had made as a pre birthday cake for Will, it tasted amazing! one big slice cost me 20pps! We also took the leftover pie home.

 Key lime pie from the recipe website -http://cook-eat-love.com/2010/04/key-lime-pie/

On monday myself and will headed into the city to gather up some last minute things for our holiday next sunday. will wanted to have burger king for lunch and I went along with it, I had no will power to say no, I spent 16pps in burger king, which was ok because I had the points, the problem came later that night when the left over pie came out, I had 8 pps left - that was 3 weeklies and my 5 exercise points, not enough for a 20pp slice of pie. i had a little battle between my stomach and my brain, thankfully my brain won and i had a little slice aboyt  a third of the size from the one the night before, dividing 10 by three worked out at 7 but i went ahead a counted it as 8pps just to be sure. so I had a very nice bank holiday weekend, I didn't go feeling deprived but I did use up every single one of my points. I am happy with myself though that i kept my will power and didn't go over my points. Im not really expecting much on the scales at weight in tonight, I knew I had to be super good this week so all the food I ate last week wouldn't catch up on me, but I wasn't as carful as I probably should have been so i'll be happy if I stay the same and not gain anything. Finger crossed!

Weight watchers magazine : Chicken, tarragon & new potato bake, tried and tested

For dinner this evening I made the chicken, tarragon and new potato bake from the may issue of the weight watchers magazine. It serves four and is 8pps per portion. I only managed to grab an apple and a muller light greek yogurt for my lunch today so I had a lot of points for dinner and evening snacks. as you can imagine I was starving come dinner so I plated myself one and a half servings for 12pps.

Mine didn't turn out as creamy as it looks in the magazine picture, but it was really tasty. Next time I make it I might add a little extra stock and/or extra creme fraiche and use extra pro points. I will definitely make it again, it was delicious and very satisfying. I also couldn't get fresh tarragon anywhere so I used a tsp of dried tarragon instead and I only used three chicken breasts as mine were bigger that the 125g ones in the recipe, but that suited me as I was only making it for two and william would eat two servings anyway. I served mine with green beans and broccoli as suggested in the magazine and it really bulked it up to a good sized dinner. even though I served myself extra I probably didn't need too, its very filling and I didn't finish all my potato.

My decision to try this recipe stems from me feeling very motivated from reaching my 5% goal, I just wanted to try something new and healthy. I also remembered a picture of me that I like to think of as my thinspiration, I think I am about the 12stone mark in the picture.

Please ignore the can of bavaria in my hand, this photo was taken three years ago when I was in my 2nd year of college and I'm sure it was too many beers that contributed to my weight gain! I am going to use this photo to keep me motivated, if I feel like giving up I will take it out and have a look at it. Even though I would give anything to be that weight again right now, I didn't feel like I was thin then either, maybe I never will feel like a thin person no matter how much weight I loose, but I am thinking I would like my ultimate goal to be 11stone, but I havnt decided for sure yet.

I reached 5% goal.

I am in a state of complete and utter shock and disbelief, I weighed in today - 2lbs. I really thought I was going to be up a lb this week. I was doing really good until friday last week, my period hormones set in pretty bad then and I was craving chocolate like a mad woman. I had dinner at my friends house friday night, the dinner was very weight watchers friendly but I had one cupcake, two choc chip cookies and some popcorn. I had decided not to drink any wine as I knew that myself and william were going to Nandos and the cinema with wills dad on saturday.
Will came to pick me up from my friends house on saturday and he had aranged for us to meet his friend for a coffee, I had a medium skinny caramel late from costa, it was 4pps. After coffee I was very hungry having skipped out of breakfast so we headed to eddie rockets where I used up 18pps (probably not the best choice). That night we met Williams dad for  Nandos, I had decided what I was going to order before I got there so that made it easy to avoid the temptation to order something non weight watchers friendly. I got the mango and lime marinated chicken breast pitta that had lettuce and a ring of pineapple in it, it was so good and with a side of corn on the cob it cost me 15pps. Then the cinema happened, ben and jerrys ice cream? yes please! add a free scoop to your order? yes please! uh oh. I have no idea what the pps were in 2 scoops of ben and jerrys, oh and I also split a large popcorn with will.
I completely stopped tracking on friday and didn't start again until monday, which was a very bad idea and also reminds me of the Mcdonalds I had for lunch on monday, yes I know, what the hell was I thinking? but at least I tracked that one and used my daily's for it, not my weeklies, I'm pretty sure they were all gone by sunday. I think I didn't track all weekend because I knew I wanted to be naughty and I didn't want to face up to it. So, you can imagine how I was feeling stepping up onto those scales this evening, I even told my leader Sue that I was sure I was going to be up. But I wasn't, I was actually down 2lbs, which means a total loss of 10lbs and I have reached my 5% goal. It felt way too good to be true. But it is true! yay, I am so happy that I have reached my 5% goal.
I feel like it is too good to be true though, so if I want to maintain it and not gain before my holiday in 2 weeks time I am going to have to be on my best behavior and track everything. which is what we discussed in the meeting today, we all agreed that we had to track and our leader suggested that we set a little summer goal to loose 1lb each every week for 8 weeks. I might not be able to achieve that the week I weigh in after my holidays but so long as im not up more that 1/2lbs I would be very happy.
eating half a packet of chocolate hob nobs after dinner tonight probably hasn't helped in my quest to not gain next week. I put it down to an after weigh in treat that doesn't need to be pointed, but am i just kidding myself?

Home made lasagna 13pro points per portion

Tonight dinner will be homemade lasagna, I haven't had lasagne in the 6 weeks that I have been doing weight watchers, i'm not avoiding it I just never thought to cook it. I decided to make it without really considering weight watchers to be honest, most of the homemade dinners that I was making before weight watchers are weight watchers friendly. This morning i sat down to work out the points so that i knew home many to leave for dinner. First I point the whole dish then I divide those points by how many portions it makes. During this process I got a bit concerned, I thought it was going to be really high in points, but if I only use 100g low fat cheddar instead of 200g and divide it into six portions then thats 13pro points a portion which I think is good. I am using store bought white lasagna sauce for the top layer but I am making the tomato one myself. I will have to figure out how to make the white one before I make my next one, it would probably bring the pro points down a bit. im going to share the recipe here for anyone who would like to try it themselves. (note that pp stands for pro points)


I use a large pyrex dish (9.5'' x 13'') to make my lasagna in, its big and feeds 6 people. Myself and Will eat it for two days and freeze the rest.

500g lean round steak mince - 24pp
2/3 tins of chopped tomatoes - 0pp  (decide how many tins to use based on how saucy you like yours)
2 chopped onions  - 0pp
2 cloves chopped garlic - 0pp
2 peppers chopped - 0pp
mushrooms chopped  - 0pp
1 tbsp tomato puree - 0pp
less than a tablespoon dried basil - 0pp
1 box dry lasagna sheets (250g) - 25pp
White lasagna sauce from jar 455g - 20pp  (mine was the Supervalu own brand one)
100g low low cheddar cheese block grated - 8pp

preheat oven to 200oc (fan assisted)

Chop all the beg into small pieces. spray a heavy bottom sauce pan with low calorie cooking spray and heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic and fry for one minute then add the minced beef and cook until brown. Add the rest of the chopped vegetables and fry for one minute, then add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and dried herbs and let simmer. (not sure exactly how long I let it simmer, 20 - 30 mins, my oven takes ages to preheat so usually leave it simmer until the oven is ready). If the sauce is too bitter to tase you could add a tsp of sugar or a tbsp of tomato ketchup (dont forget to include the points)

Soak the lasagna sheets in some boiling water for a minute ( you dont have to do this but I think it helps them to be nice and soft when the lasagna is done.)

put a layer of the tomato sauce into the lasagna dish and cover with half of the lasagna sheets, add another layer of tomato sauce and cover with the other half of the lasagna sheets, top it off with a layer of white sauce and cook in the oven for 20 minutes, remove and add the grated cheese and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Serve with a salad, garlic bread or oven fries (depending on how many pps you want to use)