Delightfully, Decadent December Dieting!

Amanita_2

Just weighed in - managed to lose 3lb last week. I was hoping for a bit more but then I did pig out on Pringles over the weekend. I still have 4 more days to lose another 2lb....

Valentina2

I wish I had seen this thread at the beginning of the month. Can I still join?

The_Dragon

Valentina2 wrote: »

I wish I had seen this thread at the beginning of the month. Can I still join?

Of course you can! Welcome aboard

lostinrates

Valentina2 wrote: »

I wish I had seen this thread at the beginning of the month. Can I still join?

We, thanks to the organisational skills of the Dragon, have one every month. half a stone is a healthy and realistic weightloss target, less daunting than something open ended.

welcome!

AdrianHi

coco1980 wrote: »

at the moment i am cooking a lot of chicken or pork recipes, only having red meat once a week and trying to find some fish recipes i like. i am not a massive fan of fish but i know its good to get my cholesterol down:o

Pouching a white fish in some semi-skimmed milk makes it moist and creamy.

Like spagetti bolognaise?
I had this type up on my computer, posted it a couple of months ago. A seemingly heavy meal that when cooked fresh without extra sugar and salt jars of sauce have is low enough calorie to fit in the daily budget, and you can exchange some of the meat for grated carrot to bring the calories down further if you need to. It's quite filling so you won't be wanting to snack soon after which is always good!

AdrianHi_some_time_ago... wrote:

My spagetti bolognaise recipe which has been evolving over the last 18 years. Latest addition is the lemon juice (thanks to lloyd Grossman).
Carrot replacing some of the meat for lower calories is a recent change and it doesn't seem to suffer for it.
Serves 2:
250g lean beef mince (438 cals); extra lean beef mince (328 cals)
OR
125g extra lean beef mince (164 cals) and two medium carrots grated (50 cals) total (214 cals)
Medium sized onion chopped as you like it (44 cals)
Large clove of garlic or 2 smaller cloves (5 cals)
2 beef stock cubes (30 cals)
Tin of chopped plum tomatoes (78 cals) (Sainbury's basics seem to work just as well as more expensive brands)
6 medium sized mushroom (24 cals) (don't like mushrooms? alternatives - medium carrot grated or chopped green peppers about same calories )
1 medium/large or 2 small bay leaves (0 cals)
1 level teaspoon of dried oregano (6 cals)
1 level teaspoon of dried basil (4 cals)
2 dessert spoons of Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce (30 cals)
1 heaped teaspoon of tomatoe puree concentrate (21 cals)
2 dessert spoons of lemon juice (fresh or bottled) (8 cals for 1 fl oz)
Olive oil (1 table spoon) (124 cals)
6oz (3oz per person) dry weight of spagetti (269 cals) (Sainbury's basics as good as any other so long as it gets a stir during cooking)
If calories allowance permits a glass of red wine - Cabernet Sauvignon (150 calories)
Preparation:
Get a half pint tea mug and crumble in 1 beef stock cube and add to it the following, bay leaves, oregano, basil, Lea and Perrins Worcs sauce, tomatoe puree and then top up the mug with boiling water; give it a stir to disolve stock cube and mix it all in. Set aside for later.
Chop onion and garlic (or crush it) and get it gently frying in olive oil - I use a saute pan that has a lid.
Crumble other stock cube onto the beef mince in a bowl, if you've got the red wine put a splash of it onto the meat. Give it a good mix.
When onion is translucent put the meat in the pan on a fairly low heat so the meat is simmered and browned slowly (about 5 minutes) with the pan covered.
While meat is browning (give it a stir to break up the mince) chop mushrooms (or grate carrots / chop peppers).
Open tin of chopped tomatoes, put the two desert spoons of lemon juice into the tin with the tomatoes.
Once meat is browned put in the mushrooms and give it a minute to cook. Add the tea mug of stock and herbs etc. Bring to simmer. Slowly add the tinned tomatoes and lemon juice. Bring it to boil, turn heat down and simmer covered for 10 minutes.
Get the spagetti water on to boil.
Take the lid off the pan of bolognaise sauce, it needs to reduce and simmer off some of the liquid while the spagetti is cooked for 10 minutes (as all pasta fans know, 11+ minutes is too long, it won't be "al dente" anymore ).
Watch and stir the sauce so it does not get too dry and boils off enough of the liquid so it still has plenty of moisture.
Serve it up removing bay leaves. You might like a little grated parmessan but I'd suggest not using a substitue like mature cheddar as I think it takes over the flavour of the bolognaise sauce if you do.

Total calories per person: 540 (all lean meat), 485 (all extra lean meat), 428 (half extra lean meat plus carrots)
Excluding any wine

Not the lowest calorie meal in the world but it's no more than most supermarket sandwich packs and it's good for satisfying appetite without massive calories and I don't feel the need for a desert. That glass of red wine really sets it off if you can afford the extra 150 cals.
If your cooking for one make the full quatity above and freeze half of it for another time.

poshstock66

Hi all. Weigh in day for me today, I had a sts, so can't grumble ( although 1b would have been nice! ).
So, still not got to that elusive 5st mark, maybe next week.......got to get there before chrimbo - so only one more weigh in to go!

xx

lostinrates

poshstock66 wrote: »

Hi all. Weigh in day for me today, I had a sts, so can't grumble ( although 1b would have been nice! ).
So, still not got to that elusive 5st mark, maybe next week.......got to get there before chrimbo - so only one more weigh in to go!

xx

hey, your body probably needs to catch up, you've lost a lot!

I'm hopeful for my thursday weigh in. I was really quite poorly over the weekend...I'm a bit worried I might have a bit of a temporary bounce about as I get fluid back on board and also, I didn't eat much over weekend, being ill, and so guess that will mean a bounce up...distorting what I'm sure has remained in losing territory. I've got two more official weigh ins before Christmas (well, this week and Christmas eve!)

lostinrates

Right well, just to confirm that being sick and not eating well (which I guess is notdisimilar to not eating well, as far as intake goes) can really snarl things up!

Between Sunday night and today there is an almost 5 lb difference..the heavier of course being today! I'm still on track to have droped my 1 kilo/2lbs this week though I think, I'm keeing water intake up, so that weight is probably all to do with correct hydration!

I thought I'd keep the record in between times as I know that on occasion gain after ill health can worry us, and also to show one unexpected weigh in means little in the way of real fat: its about consistancy.

tara747

I am down to 131.6lbs (9st 5.6lbs) this week, 2.1lbs off yay!!!!!!!!! It's a result of a huge row with OH and we haven't spoken for 4 days though. But there is a silver lining - at least I haven't been comfort eating! I tend to go off my food in an emotional crisis. Here's hoping I can keep it off.

Just off to read the rest of the posts I've missed xo

Valentina2

I am so pleased I joined you all in this challenge. For ages now I have been meaning to do something about the extra weigh I´m carrying but kept putting it off. I have two nice pairs of trousers in my wardrobe that I´d love to wear but I can´t do them up so I have hung them up so I can see them and then it´s even more of an incentive to lose weight. December is probably a bad month to start dieting but I know that if I put it off I will overeat this month and then it will be even longer before I can get back in the aforementioned trousers. As for Christmas and Boxing day, I plan to eat a reasonable-sized meal and have a few treats (champagne, dessert) but not fill my plate to overloading and have seconds on Christmas day and then spend the rest of the day eating chocolates. The vet told me my golden retriever could also do with losing 1-2 kilos so instead of three 20 minute walks a day, I am going to try and take her out for three x 30 minute walks (or longer at weekends) a day to benefit us both.
We can do it!