Slimming World - Extra Easy weight loss!!

got-it-spend-it

Wow, reading all the chat over the last couple of days has made me realise that I have a really good consultant at my class, even if she can't remember my name!

blackberry-rum wrote: »

Missty, I dip celery into hummus. I blend a can of chick peas, couple of cloves of garlic, 2 tsp sesame oil (SYNS! :eek:but not many ), a little chilli, big dollop of fat free plain yog, salt as necessary and black pepper. I think the SW recipe uses quark or cottage cheese but as I don't like them I use yoghurt. Don't drain off the liquid from the chickpeas as you will need some of it to get the right consistency. It's lovely!

I made the hummous that Consultant gave the recipe for the other day (basically just chickpeas, lemon, garlic and FF fromage frais) and it is great. It is a little sour so I added a Tbsp of pesto for 2.5 syns which made a big difference. As the recipe made about six portions of hummous I figure that 0.5syns for a massive serving is pretty good value! I think I'm going to blitz down some roasted onion or maybe BNS next time and add that as I think that would sweeten it up beautifully without adding syns. I also kept a few chickpeas whole and stirred them into mine as I like a bit of texture.

consultant31 wrote: »

You can usually find quark by the soft cheeses/cottage cheese in Morrisons and Asda (round tubs) and Tesco (oblong tub). It is more solid and has no lumps so lends itself to all sorts of flavouring (mixes easily).

If you add sweetener it can be used on fruit and if you add garlic or horseradish or mint (or whatever really) you can use it for dips etc. I have actually come to like quark a lot and find it very versatile

I have bought Quark in Sainsbugs and Asda recently. I used to hate it, but thought I'd give it another go thanks to this thread! This week I mixed two Tbsps of Quark with 1 Tbsp of pesto and left it over night to absorb. I then stirred it through hot pasta and it was lush! I totally, totally recommend it if you like creamy pasta dishes. I had a really luxurious dinner for 2.5 syns (I'd save my HEA next time and have some cheese on it too). Any other similar Quark usage recommendations? I don't like it with sweetener though, I think that is what put me off originally.


On the spray oil debate, I just use olive oil in a spray pump (it was originally a Bertolli one I bought but now I just refill it). I know it's not as low as Frylite, but I figure one or two sprays is much less than a tsp so I don't tend to syn it if it's going in a dish that serves 3-4 people. If I use a few sprays on something just for me I count 0.5 syns, but like others have said I think it's worth it to avoid the nasties in Frylite.

Just to add that I have found SW to be a revelation. I have WW'd many times before and lost weight, but I feel much less deprived on SW and I have far less of the save and binge mentality that I had on WW. I've lost 15lb in six weeks (I have another 2 stone to go) but that has included meals out, ice creams, and lots of yummy new recipes.

BarmyCow

Morning all

I just planned to skip in and trill about my 3lb loss this week (just got my 1 stone award :j) and skip out again and stumbled upon quite a debate ! Personally, I couldn't agree more that it is really constructive to get some discussion going about SW - especially for those who don't have a great consultant.
For Consultant31, thanks so much for your honest approach and advice - we may not all agree on some issues but it is so helpful to have a point of reference.:T
My consultant is very good - if we want to discuss something like kick-starting your weightloss after a few maintains or new recipies etc, then I just mention this at weigh-in and she tries to incorporate it in the group talk. The one thing she never does is say how much you have gained - apparently when the group started this was something they insisted on and it has never been a problem.

On the subject of frylight - it is the devil itself to get off my bakeware - I end up using that well known "power spray" to shift the stickiness, it would seem I don't have sufficient elbow grease to get it off with washing up liquid alone. Did we agree on an easily removable alternative, or was it to syn regular oil ?

Am loving seeing people's recipes and suggestions - I have been doing SW for 10 weeks now and so whilst i think i "get it" now on EE, there are times when I think I probably could have counted some days as red or green, so I have printed off the red/green suggested menu from SW website as I think this might help me with alternatives and possibly portion control. I think I can be a bit of a gannet when left to my own devices and some of the longer-standing members of my group have advised that whilst they have been doing EE, they are reverting back to R/G days as portion control was getting out of control !

Our group is focussing on body magic over the next few weeks - or exercise as I know it - so this will be good, as I need to get off my butt a bit more.

Just for interest - several members of our group have tried the Cheesy herb souffles from the March/April mag and report that these are well worth doing and not that complicated at all.

Apologies for the lengthy post, if you've not all nodded off yet, well done to the losers and big hugs to everyone else.

M.x

consultant31

zippychick wrote: »

Flip me, that's a lot of syns:eek: I wonder if Consultant can clarify if the syns are worked out in the same manner if using "free" green foods as a snack on a green day?

Well the rules state that using a free food for the wrong thing (as in roasting chickpeas as a snack food) you should count the syn value for the opposite day (chickpeas are free on Green, so count Red day balue). The canned ones are 1½ per 28gms (they're 4½ for 28gms raw/dried).

There is a rule of thumb about synning foods you're not sure of - it doesn't work for everything, specially high fat foods, but is handy in a 'crisis situation'. Look at the calorie count and figure 1 syn per 20 cals. As I said, this is not going to be exact, but can be useful to know

consultant31

nic2075 wrote: »

Morning all, I just want to say I have been catching up and reading the last few pages.
I want to say thank you so much to Consultant31, she has been invaluable in this thread (and past threads), she gives great answers and clears up all the myths and questions. I cant imagine how confused we'd all be without her input. She never seems to tire of answering our questions.

I have been to a few different SW classes and ive never found a consultant who knows the plan as well as Consultant31 and we cant even pay her for it. So I thought id give a special thanks for giving sensible, informative and helpful posts :T:T:T:T:T:T:beer:

Why thank you - I'm all a-blush

I think I can be a bit of a gannet when left to my own devices

I'm known as Janet the Gannet among family circles :rotfl::rotfl:

blackberry-rum

kayda wrote: »

Anyways, our consultant just shamefully text us all to ask us to bring in a dish we have prepared or some low syn snacks. I've only recently joined SW (4 weeks) & I'm not really a cook, I tend to stick with easy things like jacket pots or pasta & lots of fruit & veg.
Anybody any ideas what I can make/take in?

I'd be grateful of any ideas on any dishes or low syn snacks, thank you

Hi Kayda, if you don't want to cook you could take some prawns or something (free on red and EE), or make up a sugar-free jelly with some fruit chopped in. Another idea is boiled eggs, halved, mix yolks with spices and a bit of plain yog and stuff back into the hole - devilled eggs.

All this talk of gannets reminds me of last week's taste-in at our group - you'd think no-one had eaten for a week :rotfl:! Some people put a lot of effort in (I loved the scotch eggs made with syn-free sausages!) but others don't have the time and just bring something easy, it all gets eaten with appreciation! In our group the consultant brings plastic cutlery and disposable dishes and plates so you don't have to worry about that side of things.

KathF

I know i dont post often but i have to say, ive had more help and gained more knowledge from this forum and Consultant here than i have at my own class and for that im truly grateful
as for all the class consultants contradicting each other, then look at it like this, see it as bathroom scales and each one says something different, so solution?
find one you like and stick to that one lol

on a different note what are mugshots? i see them nentioned often but not sure what they are
ty in advance xxx

whoopidoo

Blimey you lot can talk!

Thanks for the sweet and sour recipes everyone - I'll def be trying these :P Will use up my Uncle Bens one first as no-one else in the house apart from my toddler will eat it Better just have a low syn day before dinner.

I never realised all that about fry light. My frying pans have got terrible the last couple of weeks, I just assumed it was wear and tear and all that. I'll have to try olive oil in a spray.Probably cheaper too.

Oh and while I remember - (started typing this post an hour ago - keep getting distractions! ;)) I find this thread on minimins invaluable. It's got all the Quorn syns on it you could think of

eta: Kath I love your advice! Good way to look at it

aliscrapper

sashanut wrote: »

Thanks very much for that c-l-a-i-r-e - my books are so old they don't have the latest products in there. I'm relieved that the steaks are free - the one I had was very yummy.

Ok food for today - I think will be green but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong:

B : Marions rice muller 1/2 banana Cherry Muller (1 syn) - had half pot

L: left over frittata from yesterday (1/2 HEA for cheese), 1 teasp tommy sauce (1 syn)

quorn peppered steak with cheese slice (2.5), bubble & squeak with left over mash/veg from yesterday, baked beans made into BBQ beans with a teasp of BBQ sauce (had half can so 0.5 syns)

Snacks: pears, muller.

Syns: Cadbury choc mousse 3.5

HEA - milk in tea

Syns so far 8.5

Think I need some HEBs??

Ooh - I love the Quorn Peppered Steaks - never thought of putting a cheese slice on it - thanks!

The Healthy B choices I have are:
1 X Kelloggs Fibre Plus
1 X Hi Fi
Ryvita Original - 2 for a speed b choice or 4
Ryvita Fruit Crunch - 2 for speed b choice or 4
2 X Alpen Light
1 X Weetabix Oaty Bar
Satchet of Original Oat So Simple made up with water
2 X slices Nimble Wholemeal
1 oz cheddar
1 X packet Ryvita Mini's

HTH

aliscrapper

whoopidoo wrote: »

Blimey you lot can talk!

Thanks for the sweet and sour recipes everyone - I'll def be trying these :P Will use up my Uncle Bens one first as no-one else in the house apart from my toddler will eat it Better just have a low syn day before dinner.

I never realised all that about fry light. My frying pans have got terrible the last couple of weeks, I just assumed it was wear and tear and all that. I'll have to try olive oil in a spray.Probably cheaper too.

Oh and while I remember - (started typing this post an hour ago - keep getting distractions! ;)) I find this thread on minimins invaluable. It's got all the Quorn syns on it you could think of

eta: Kath I love your advice! Good way to look at it

Thank you from one Quorn addict to another!:rotfl:

blackberry-rum

I'm now trying half olive oil and half water in my (new) spray, and I promise I will occasionally wash this one so the nozzle doesn't get clogged up. I don't like frylight because of the way it whizzes out all white froth, scary. I don't want white froth in my mouth .