Day 21: Hungry!
Posted by Ginni
I am having one of those days, when I am soooooo very hungry. I am at work and all I can do is think about food and normally, I would have walked over to the Lunchroom and got a chocolate out of the vending machine.
But, today I am stuck – I left my security pass at home today so I am stuck only on my floor. I can’t go anywhere else in the building!! I could borrow someone’s pass to go out if I really needed to, but then I would have to answer so many questions and there’s too many coppers in this place!!
One of the many reasons I love my work is I feel so petite and tiny compared to the huge coppers floating around this building. Canadian coppers are absolutely HUGE!
Anyways, my diary for today :-
Breakfast: 6.30am
Yoghurt, Sugar free Berry Jam and Museli + 1 glass milk
Lunch: 12 noon
Spinach salad, with peppers, onion and feta cheese. I brought this from home. I love those pre-packed sachets of dressings, so I don’t use too much and it was low fat Italian dressing.
Snack: 3pm
I did bring some cheerios cereal in a bag from home to snack on – which I kept munching as I was working. I need to find other ways to keep my brain satisfied as I wasn’t happy with that.
Dinner: 7pm
This will be my dinner today, same as yesterday
I took this picture last night, and I will have the same tonight too. I am planning on some more salad with the soup, if I am still hungry.
I find it really helps to go on and submit my blog when I am feeling hungry and low, as it gives me the little kick I need to get back on track!
Day 8 – Last Day of School Holidays
Posted by Georgina
Calorie-wise, today was fairly good – but in terms of content it was actually pretty dismal. In my defence, the kids go back to school tomorrow and it was “last few treats, what do you want to eat” scenario. As I eat with the children and don’t really fancy making separate meals (or have the willpower to abstain) this made today’s food fairly nutritionally empty.
I’ll put a few notes at the bottom by way of explanation too.
| Meal | Food | Drink | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | BREAD White, Toasted | 133 |
| Butter salted | 36 | |
| MARMALADE Orange, Shredless, Average | 26 | |
| Cup of Tea | 49 | |
| Sub-total | 244 | |
| Lunch | BREAD White, Medium Sliced | 214 |
| Butter salted | 36 | |
| JAM Strawberry, Average | 25 | |
| Nestle ICE LOLLY Fab | 78 | |
| Sub-total | 353 | |
| Afternoon Tea | Burton’s BISCUITS Jammie Dodgers | 170 |
| Cup of Tea | 49 | |
| Sub-total | 219 | |
| Dinner | Pork loin chop, boneless lean only, grilled | 131 |
| Honey | 15 | |
| Sainsbury’s MUSTARD Dijon, French | 7 | |
| Carrots, steamed | 8 | |
| LEEKS, steamed | 4 | |
| Cabbage savoy, steamed | 5 | |
| Butter salted | 36 | |
| POTATOES New, Baby, Average | 83 | |
| Bisto GRAVY Granules, Made Up | 21 | |
| Bananas raw | 121 | |
| Sub-total | 431 | |
| Late | CRANBERRIES Dried, Sweetened, Average | 134 |
| Cadbury CHOCOLATE Dairy Milk (20g) | 105 | |
| Cadbury HOT CHOCOLATE Instant Break | 119 | |
| Sub-total | 358 | |
| Exercise | Exercise Bike (5 min warmup) | -54 |
| Strength Training (20 mins) | -139 | |
| Total | 1,412 | |
Note 1: My cups of tea are fairly high cal because, while I don’t have milk, I have THREE sugars in them (blush). I’ve experimented with lowering this and I’ve just ended up disliking tea. I also don’t like artificial sweeteners (I’m asthmatic and react to some brands of sweetener). My compromise is I’m trying to limit myself to 2 cups of tea a day maximum.
Note 2: My lunch looks absolutely atrocious written down. We have white bread only in the house because youngest son can’t tolerate too much fibre in his diet (let’s just say, it’s not pretty). It is home-baked though if that’s any consolation (although probably worse as getting an even slice is a nightmare).
Note 3: I should have learned from yesterday just to skip the jammie dodgers. I don’t even really like them that much, but I was hungry and that’s what the kids were having. I’m not going to buy any more of them, it’s daft.
Note 4: Dinner was more “normal” and a fairly typical meal for us. All the cal counts for veg are raw rather than steamed, but I figured that given the low numbers it would be a good enough guesstimate.
Note 5: I haven’t actually drunk the hot chocolate yet – it’s part of my night-time routine, so I’ve been adding it in early so I don’t forget to count the calories!
Drive Thru Madness and Me
Posted by Becky
This week I seem to be breaking all of my dieting rules. I’ve avoided breakfast, I’ve snacked instead of eating regular meals and today, I went through the drive-thru at Mcdonalds when I was peckish and got myself a “snack” (all 350 calories worth!). I ask myself: what is the point of eating nutritious but small meals when you are just going to get some greasy rubbish later on? I should have eaten properly at lunchtime.
Right, rant over. Time to get back to dieting.
| Breakfast | 1 slice Weight Watchers white toast | 49 |
|---|---|---|
| butter | 20 | |
| 1 egg, over-easy | 75 | |
| Lunch | Tomato Salad | 30 |
| biscuits | 54 | |
| Cheese | 50 | |
| Snack | Bite of Lucy’s Happy meal | 350 |
| Dinner | Chilli | |
| 125g gound beef | 320 | |
| Chillies, onion, pepper, sweetcorn, tomatoes | 60 | |
| kidney beans | 20 | |
| Rice | 81 | |
| 1 glass white wine | 78 | |
| Total Calories | 1,187 | |
Nutritional information for cheese
Posted by Paola
Collected from calorie-count.com* and actual packets, this comparison table gives information for cheeses. It gives the weight of each item needed to get 100 calories.
| 100 calories | weight | protein | carbs | fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quark low-fat soft cheese | 145g (5oz) | 17.4 | 5.9 | 0.3 |
| Waitrose 1.2% fat cottage cheese w/ onion & chives | 141g (5oz) | 15.4 | 7.0 | 1.8 |
| Tesco Value cottage cheese | 133g (5oz) | 15.5 | 6.0 | 0.7 |
| Waitrose 1.5% fat cottage cheese | 130g (5oz) | 15.3 | 5.7 | 1.9 |
| Tesco Lighter Options cottage cheese w/ onion & chives | 118g (4oz) | 13.4 | 5.6 | 1.8 |
| Waitrose 1.2% fat cottage cheese w/pineapple | 116g (4oz) | 10.5 | 10.9 | 1.4 |
| Tesco Lighter Options cottage cheese w/pineapple | 111g (4oz) | 10.9 | 9.4 | 1.4 |
| Waitrose extra-light soft cheese | 93g (3oz) | 13.1 | 3.5 | 3.7 |
| Philadelphia extra-light soft cheese | 90g (3oz) | 10.8 | 4.5 | 4.2 |
| Ricotta* | 73g (3oz) | 8.3 | 3.7 | 5.8 |
| Laughing Cow Light Gourmet* | 69g (2oz) | 8.5 | 2.9 | 5.9 |
| Laughing Cow Light Garlic & Herb* | 60g (2oz) | 7.1 | 2.9 | 5.7 |
| Laughing Cow Light French Onion* | 60g (2oz) | 7.1 | 2.9 | 5.7 |
| Laughing Cow Light Swiss Original* | 60g (2oz) | 7.1 | 2.9 | 5.7 |
| Halloumi, lite | 44g (2oz) | 11.8 | 1.3 | 5.3 |
| Laughing Cow Mini Babybel Light Original* | 42g (1.5oz) | 12.0 | 0.0 | 6.0 |
| Laughing Cow Original Creamy Swiss* | 42g (1.5oz) | 4.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 |
| Waitrose Scottish half-fat cheddar | 38g (1.4oz) | 11.3 | 0.0 | 6.1 |
| Tesco Healthy Living half-fat cheddar | 38g (1.4oz) | 11.9 | 0.0 | 5.8 |
| Feta* | 38g (1.4oz) | 5.4 | 1.5 | 8.1 |
| Goat cheese, soft* | 37g (1.3oz) | 6.8 | 0.4 | 7.9 |
| Leerdammer, lite | 36g (1.3oz) | 11.1 | 0.0 | 6.1 |
| Mozzarella, whole milk* | 33g (1.2oz) | 7.4 | 0.7 | 7.4 |
| Halloumi | 31g (1.1oz) | 6.7 | 1.1 | 7.8 |
| American* | 30g (1.1oz) | 5.9 | 2.5 | 7.4 |
| Laughing Cow Original * | 30g (1.1oz) | 7.1 | 0.0 | 8.6 |
| Laughing Cow Mini Babybel Bonbel* | 30g (1.1oz) | 7.1 | 0.0 | 8.6 |
| Laughing Cow Mild Cheddar* | 30g (1.1oz) | 7.1 | 0.0 | 7.1 |
| Brie* | 30g (1.1oz) | 6.1 | 0.2 | 8.2 |
| Provolone* | 29g (1oz) | 7.3 | 0.6 | 7.6 |
| Blue cheese* | 28g (1oz) | 6.1 | 0.7 | 8.1 |
| Gouda* | 28g (1oz) | 7.0 | 0.6 | 7.7 |
| Edam* | 28g (1oz) | 7.0 | 0.4 | 7.8 |
| Muenster* | 27g (1oz) | 6.4 | 0.3 | 8.2 |
| Monterey* | 27g (1oz) | 6.6 | 0.2 | 8.1 |
| Swiss cheese* | 26g (0.9oz) | 7.1 | 1.4 | 7.3 |
| Laughing Cow Mini Babybel Gouda* | 26g (0.9oz) | 6.3 | 0.0 | 7.5 |
| Romano* | 26g (0.9oz) | 8.2 | 0.9 | 7.0 |
| Fontina* | 26g (0.9oz) | 6.6 | 0.4 | 8.0 |
| Cheddar cheese* | 25g (0.9oz) | 6.2 | 0.3 | 8.2 |
| Gruyere* | 24g (0.9oz) | 7.2 | 0.1 | 7.8 |
| Parmesan* | 23g (0.8oz) | 8.9 | 1.0 | 6.6 |
| Goat cheese, hard* | 22g (0.8oz) | 6.7 | 0.5 | 7.9 |
Day 8 – And So It Begins… Again
Posted by Georgina
Hi, I’m new. So I’d better introduce myself.
I have always been naturally slim – one of those people you love to hate (and boy did I sometimes attract the hate). Before kids I was around 7st 7lb which at 5ft 4 made me technically underweight, but according to my GP the BMI didn’t apply to me as I had exceptionally light bones… or something.
I wish I could say that this was some great achievement, but actually if anything I had problems keeping the weight on. If I got ill then my weight would plummet and compound the problem; it would be a struggle to get my weight back to normal. It would be hard to force feed myself as I had a small appetite and low boredom threshhold for food. My eating habits therefore have always been geared for most bang for buck in terms of calorific values. In addition, with town only 15 minutes walk away I would walk EVERYWHERE.
Fast forward a decade or so, two kids later and a move away from London where public transport is minimal and the car is needed for more and more journeys. My weight crept up a little to 8st and I actually quite liked myself at that weight. I was able to become a blood donor for the first time ever. Getting ill was potentially less problematic. Sarcastic comments about me being able to fit through very narrow gaps grew a lot less frequent.
Then in January of this year, a friend of mine, Sylvia started to track her calories and set herself daily exercise goals. I became her exercise coach, checking to see if she’d achieved her goal each day and also deciding to join her and get a bit fitter myself so we could egg each other on. I bought a bike and started cycling regularly as well as doing regular strength training. I started feeling healthier and my appetite increased – but this was okay (even though I was still in the bad maximum calorie habit) as I was burning up those extra calories. Weight crept up a little but not enough to really notice that much.
The problem came when the summer holidays started. With the kids at home, exercise became harder to fit in around them and I soon stopped bothering, but my appetite didn’t return to pre-exercise levels. Worse, with lots of camping trips and extra treats, evening snacking got even worse and if anything my calorie intake was greater than ever before.
So here I am. The boys go back to school tomorrow. My weighing scales tell me I’ve reached the all time high of 9st 4 (59.0kg) and I’m not happy. My goal is a) to get rid of the overhanging stomach and fit in my nice jeans again and b) get back to being 8st (50.8kg) again. I’m using Food Focus to track my calories and exercise – it automatically sets net calorie intake goals according to my current weight (and I can “earn” more calories by exercising) and as of today it says my goal is 1613 calories.
My first week went quite well, I lost 2lb (0.9kg) but with no change of calorie intake I suddenly seem back at square one again (coinciding with the start of my period – significant?). I feel permanently hungry for the first time ever in my life (which quite honestly, is probably a good thing – I’ve got in the habit recently of eating because I am bored rather than waiting to be hungry).
This is my first ever calorie controlled diet. Be kind.
Recipe: Mixed berries Sugar-free Jam
Posted by Ginni
This is a chunky fruit jam that I make and keep in the fridge. It lasts for 3 months quite easily. I have never left it more than that, as it finishes way before then.
I add some of this to my yoghurt for my breakfast with muesli, every morning. We have used it on toast, on ice-cream and anything else that needs dressing up. We use it as a family, but I love it with yoghurt. Its fantastic as a desert, on top of yoghurt. It is not terribly sweet, but I love tangy jams, so I love this.
Unfortunately, I am terrible at measuring, especially when I am cooking.
But the basic recipe is:-
Ingredients
1 packet each of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
1 small packet of cranberries or 1 cup pure cranberry juice
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup splenda
a tiny pinch of salt
Method:
In a heavy base, large pan, throw in the fruit add the rest of the ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally on medium/low heat. Using a potato masher, roughly mash the lumpy fruits. Let this cook for 20 mins or so. Take off heat and let it stand. I would put it in glass jars or plastic containers before letting it cool down too much.
As it cools down, it forms a bit of a lumpy jelly like texture. Keep refrigerated and use 1 tbsp with yoghurt with your morning granola or oats.
This makes enough to last 3 months, as its two large plastic containers.
Day 20: Organised
I had a good day today. I was focussed on what I wanted to do, as I spent half the night thinking about things to make that were low fat, low cal, low carb. I did a good food shop and bought gigantic pre-cut salad bags. Its amazing how big things are at the Food stores in Canada!
It was Labour day Bank Holiday, so we were all at home. Finishing off the final things for the house move. We have finally moved ! Now the unpacking and sorting really begins…..
I baked a Chunky Chocolate Brownie topped with Marshmallows for my son’s school for tomorrow, as we promised to bring a cake in for a party. For the first time, I did not make more than one and did not taste what I made. The smell was heavenly but I didn’t feel like tasting it. It was harder to keep it away from my son and husband though, as they both have a terribly sweet tooth.
Breakfast:10am
Spinach salad, with 1 tomato, 1 slice red onion finely chopped, 2 olives, feta cheese and balsamic dressing (I just fancied a Salad for breakfast!)
Lunch: 1pm
Spinach salad, with tomato, onion, olives, boiled egg, feta cheese, bits of tuna (tinned in water) and balsamic vinegar. I made a huge bowl that I shared with Dal who loved the salad too. My son joined in with some cucumbers and carrots.
Snack: 4pm
This is where I was a bit naughty. I had a handful of the baked Cheese crackers – Goldfish. They were 90 calories for 37 crackers, so I don’t think it was too bad.
Dinner: 8pm
Soup – Green lentils, carrots, leftover stems from cauliflower, ginger and some chilli flakes. It came out fantastic! I should have written the recipe. Dal and I shared this and I still have some left over for tomorrow.
And, we shared a bit of my spinach salad left over from the afternoon.
Drinks:
Water at least 2 litres if not more, and a glass of milk with my medicine in the morning.
