Day 632: Daily salad
Posted by Paola
Besides posting food diaries again, I’ve set myself two goals: 1) eat at least one salad meal a day and 2) wait for at least 10 mins before having a sweet (fruit, whatever) after my main course.
12:30pm Turkey and Quark salad sandwich + tea
I got distracted by work and so didn’t eat until late, when I was very hungry.
1:15pm Strawberry cereal bar + coffee
Tesco Value 125g bar with supposedly just 80 calories each.
Made with Glucose Syrup, Oat Flakes, Wheat Flour, Vegetable Oil, Stabiliser, Sugar, Strawberry, Milk Sugar, Apple, Cherry Juice, Pectin, Dextrose, Plain Caramel, Salt, Flavouring, Emulsifier.
3:50pm Tinned spaghetti with sweetcorn and egg and Crackerbreads with spread + tea
I debated whether to have the salad now or later. I was cold and wanted something warming.
The sweetcorn is a recent addition but doesn’t add much to the dish. The basic Tesco Value tinned spaghetti with a ‘poached’ egg and Crackerbreads with fake butter spread is all that is needed.
5:30pm Apple
9pm Turkey and sauerkraut salad with sweet chilli yoghurt + wine
I accidentally used a dinner plate I’d left out for Frank rather than my usual side plate. (The wine was mistakenly included in my grocery delivery yesterday! Tesco said I could keep it.)
9:50pm Frozen berries with yoghurt and sweetener
This is one of the many desserts I’ve come up with the last couple of months. Tesco do bags of frozen berries (strawberries, blackberries, cherries and redcurrants). I fill a small bowl with two-thirds frozen berries, sprinkle with sweetner and then cover to the top with low-fat yoghurt. Sprinkle again with sweetener. Depending on mood, sprinkle with ground cinnamon or cardomon. I used All Spice this time.
The yoghurt coating the berries slightly freezes in a soft yielding crunch. The cold makes me eat it slowly. It’s divine. I need to get a calorie count next time.
In (recent) normal circumstances, I’d have eaten more today (more sweet things). And I wanted to eat more after the berries with yoghurt. But I am on a diet again. Finally!
Getting Into the Swing of Things
Posted by Sylvia
I’m not fretting too much about details this week, just getting myself back into the habit of counting calories and watching fatty foods. I’ve set a goal of keeping meals under 500 calories each and not snacking in between meals (or especially while cooking them). I also wantneed to get back into the habit of exercising.
So I had four cups of coffee with milk (120 calories!) instead of switching to tea and in the evening we sat down with wine and talked about Apple’s policies towards development on the iPhone until the early hours.
Having said that, I was was pleased to see that it was easy for me to make low-calorie meals without having to think about it. This does beg the question why I’ve not been doing this throughout, of course!
I did some yoga out on the balcony to stretch out.
lunch: Spicy Lamb and Cabbage Stir-Fry for 2
| 150g lean lamb | 292 |
| 150g noodles | 291 |
| 350g cabbage | 88 |
| 1 tablespoon sesame oil | 120 |
| fresh ginger and garlic and chile | 20 |
| 40g chile sauce | 71 |
| soy sauce | 20 |
| Total Calories | 902 |
|---|
Per portion: 450 calories
Dinner: Chicken filet with white beans and salad
| 100g chicken breast filet | 110 |
| 125g white beans | 142 |
| 75g green tomato | 20 |
| Tinned mushrooms | 53 |
| Total Calories | 325 |
|---|
At the end of dinner, I felt like I was starving to death. Despite the fact that I wasn’t counting towards a total (and drinking wine) I decided not to go in search of more food but just to accept it. I drank two large glasses of water which helped a bit.
As time went on, I felt nibbly but not ravenous so waiting it out was the right thing to do.
Day 629: weigh-in
Posted by Paola
Weigh-in: 2 lbs gained
Total lost: 60 lbs / 4 st 4 lbs / 27.3g in 90 weeks
Current weight: 154 lbs / 11 st / 70 kg
Pad Krapow
Posted by Sylvia
In the interests of kick-starting myself into action, I made a point of /measuring weighing last night to get back into the habit.
I’m glad I did it, I missed out on really blatant stuff (like not actually measuring the rice) and if it had been “official” I would have felt a failure for not having a final count.
Also, as always, I forgot that I have to leave myself some extra time to measure things and get the calorie count right.
And I forgot how completely vain I am about posting photographs of food I made. I am quite happy for food photos to be realistic but if it’s a dish I prepared then I want the photo to be beautiful.
Dinner was based on this description of a thai dish:
Pad Krapow Moo – spicy stir-fried pork with Thai holy basil: chez pim
You should look at her photo of the dish because she makes it look much more appealing than I do!
| 1 tablespoon oil | 120 |
| 600g lean pork | 858 |
| 6 cloves garlic | 27 |
| chile | 5 |
| 1 tbsp fish sauce @67/100ml | 10 |
| green pepper | 20 |
| onion | 20 |
| 200g rice | 740 |
| 1 egg | 70 |
| 1 tablespoon oil | 120 |
| Total Calories | 1,990 |
|---|
This was too much meat for two people. I think this recipe would be correct for three. That would put it at 663 calories a serving. As it was, I threw away some of the meat before serving (still very painful to do).
Total time in the kitchen was 30 minutes, including chopping and searching for the fish sauce.
I tried frying the pork in half a tablespoon of oil but the pan dried out and the meat was sticking so I went for a whole tablespoon.
I have no idea how you count how much oil is on the egg so I went for a tablespoon. I’m pretty sure it would be a lot less than that but I wanted a worst case scenario.
It’s a good, strong-flavoured dish and I’m sure I’ll make it again.
As part of a calorie-controlled diet, I would make the following changes (without worrying about authenticity):
- decrease the meat
- increase the veg (and the variety)
- use long-grain rice (WHY is it lower in calorie? I wish I understood.)
- poach or softboil the egg
- serve with a salad of pickled cucumbers or similar low cal option to bulk out the plate without adding calories
Autumn Weigh-In
Posted by Sylvia
Well, I knew summer was going to be difficult and my primary goal was to not put any more weight on.
Weight gain: 2.3 kilos
I failed.
I was doing really well for the first half of the summer. I think I’ve spotted a pattern, actually. If I calorie count and am strict with myself, it carries over to my eating habits when I stop, which is great. But it only carries over for 4-6 weeks. Little by little, I edge into bad habits until the weight gain starts up again.
About two weeks ago, I noticed my clothes feeling tighter and realised it was going downhill. I weighed myself and it came in at 82.8. We had guests so I decided that I would just try to increase the vegetable count of the meals and to get back into doing exercise.
Last week I exercised every day. This week I’ve been more sporadic but I’ve at least taken a walk most days.
I weighed myself on Tuesday (and will keep weighing myself so that I notice the smaller increments) and it came in at 82.7 – possibly just random fluctuation but I’d like to think it is the result of my re-focusing on my weight.
My goals:
* I will do more swimming while the weather is nice
* I will at least take a walk 5 days a week
* I will go back to calorie counting on weekdays (even if it’s only to know how many calories I am consuming rather than a specific limit of calories per day)
Like Paola, I’d like to lose weight before the new year. It would especially be nice if my clothes fit!
(note: These weights may not be quite right as I’ve used the (dodgy) scale rather than the wii fit. I mention this only to remind myself of the issue should there be a sudden jump/loss next week!)
Bad start but good intentions :)
Posted by Ginni
I have always known I comfort eat but I didn’t realise that I comfort eat more if I have had an argument and it eats inside me all day. Today was supposed to be a very busy day with a lot of prep and a launch taking place at one of the stores. Launch took place, 1 h2 30 mins later than scheduled which I absolutely hated as it was due to someone blowing a gasket for no reason at the wrong time.
As soon as I sent the troops off for the launch, I sat back and ate 3 samosas (140 cal each) and then half an hour later, I scoffed down the remaining 4 too. That was my breakfast and lunch!
Around 7pm, I had 2 Ham sandwiches, just plain slices of bread with a slice of ham in it with half a cup of tea, and 2 digestives. So that’s me done for the day!
Calorie count:
| Breakfast / Lunch | 7 Samosas *ouch it hurts!* | 980 |
|---|---|---|
| Dinner | 2 Ham Sandwiches *double ouch* | 326 |
| 2 digestives | 148 | |
| Water | 8 | |
| Total Calories | 1,454 | |
I felt so so guilty writing what I ate today… am embarrassed. I am over my allowance …*sigh* tomorrow will be better.
Where is everybody?
Posted by Ginni
I miss talking / listening to everyone, and I was shocked to see its quiet in the field for the last few months. Has everyone lost their weight and disappeared?!?!
I have been off the wagon for a little while now, and am looking to get back on it. I have been physically active, so I have some energy and I have reduced my intake of medicine / tablets, so feel a little normal. Since I am cooking all day, I am finding hard to keep track of what I eat !!
Before you say ‘ I told you so’, I absolutely and totally love what I do.
I am going to try keeping a diary from the morning and today I am preparing everything including a camera to help me with the food diary. Is this my 10th attempt in the last 2 years ? possibly! But I must be like a yo you as I keep coming back for more….
I miss you guys and I hope you come back, as its quiet and boring with you all :) … Hugs to everyone!!
