"Fall into Autumn with SW"

Longwalker

@NornIronRose, I know its so counter intuitive , but you cant calorie count when doing SW, do one or the other, they dont work together 

Eggs are a SW and WW dieters friend - free on both programs , the reason being the high protein to calorie ratio. So when you are hungry, short of Syns, reach for the eggs with impunity 

Ok I know Im not doing too well right now but when Im on track and Im keeping to free and speed foods ( my syns come from a bottle ) and Im ravenous - Dhal to the rescue. Another one I ate a lot of was roasted aubergine, cut in half, a single spray of oil on the cut side, lots of seasoning on the cut side, into the air fryer and roasted/baked/air fried till the skin going crispy and the flesh soft, scoop out the flesh, mix with a tomato sauce or tinned or roasted tomatoes and seasoning, pile back in, crumble some feta on top and back in the air fryer. You also add cooked rice to the mix or couscous if you have some to really pack it out .

Another filling snack for me ( or lunch or breakfast even ) roasted veg. Id do a whole tray of aubergine, courgette, red onion and peppers , spritz of oil, lots of herbs, roast till tender and as Jaimie likes to say - going gnarly in places. and then Id store it in the fridge. I would have a slice of Nevilles Wholemeal ( half a HEB ) spread with a dairy lea light ( 4 for a HEA  so Id count it in with my milk cos I never use the full milk HEA allowance ) pile on the rocket and then the roasted veg, and top with whatever - sardines, poached eggs, kippers, ham and turkey  - whatever was free and I had. Or piled into a jacket potato using 2 dairy lea lights instead of butter 

When Im on track I split my HEB into 1 slice of Nevilles Wholemeal ( its the only loaf Ive found that gives two big slices as a HEB) and 20gr of oat bran which I mix into my yoghurt and berries . So no two slice sandwiches , rather an open sandwich which I pile as high as I can with speed and eat with a knife and fork. Even our weekend bacon sandwich is now a BLT - lots of rocket and tomatoes, no need for butter or sauce as the tomatoes take care of the need 

Cooking for the family, lots of hearty stews at the moment , packed with veggies. Mince - packed with veggies, curry with added chickpeas or mushrooms and spinach - all syn free and as filling as anything . Roast dinners with lots of veggies, bubble and squeak with ham and poached eggs - all free.

You have to have the potatoes, pasta, rice, grains and legumes , you can not survive on lettuce leaves and fresh air, you will fail. You have to meal plan, choosing the meals you always liked else you will fail. You have to enjoy your food and to be able to sustain going forward.

My problem is, I dont like a lot of "family type " meals so when I cooked for them something I didnt like, Id go do myself cheese on toast or similar or cos I dont like potatoes as such, Id do chips often, or fried potatoes in the pan or  even. worse Id make myself one of my big mega baguette sandwiches, filled with salami and cheese and a big packet of crisps. Of course now, for me, these things are off the menu so there are days I struggle to eat enough and those weeks I dont eat enough are the ones I lose very little. They are off MY menu because I dont use syns for food, they can easily be incorporated into your 15 syns and you will still lose weight 

The principle of 1/3 speed at every meal has been a struggle as I dont like veg - hence the above. They would be veg I do like where as mum and him dont - they are very traditional meat and 2 veg eaters . Another I have really struggled with is you can fill your boots with spuds, pasta and rice, but have to limit bread!!! Goes against everything I thought I knew about nutrition. Now I do get it, its easy to demolish half a loaf of bread as toast in the morning and be starved by mid morning. But a third of your plate full of spuds or pasta - keeps you fuller for longer - you dont need to snack. So on good weeks thats me, proper balanced plates of food I like, yes I have chips - air fried so free, I have my roasties - air fried so free.  And funnily enough where as in the past I could eat a bag of pasta myself, now my portions are much much smaller cos my plate has the dreaded speed on it Ive made pasta salad for work for this week, absolutely packed with veg, then a tin of tuna and a syn free tomato sauce. I make soup and yoghurt as well to keep in the fridge.A snack doesn't have to be picky food, it can be put in a bowl or on a plate and be substantial 

When eating out, working out syns isnt an option I agree. Choose the meal that has the most free food, lean meat, pasta, rice, speed. So go for the steak if thats what you like. Just choose a salad or veggie side instead of the chips and pepper sauce, and its easy enough to pop a small tub of fat free dressing in the handbag to use if need be 

Well done on the 1/2lb loss. Its a good idea to do as you have done and look at the bigger loss - how much you have lost as a whole rather then just a 1/2lb this week. Btw, all my losses have been small ones, but until I hit target they were always losses 

Sorry for the long post folks , Ill catch up with everyone else later, Ive to get to work now 

ruby_eskimo

Afternoon all. 

My DH loves those lentil triangles @beanielou so we always have packs in the cupboard

Well done on the loss @NornIronRose - as others have said, the plan works so you shouldn't be scared of food.  However I will say that I don't stick 100% to the plan because I'm trying to heal my relationship with food, but I use it as more of a template for healthy eating.

You are a very selfless person @Jellybaby and hope the additional month isn't too stressful for you.  I'm also looking forward to veg wars - waiting for @bubbs updates on what to expect when 🤣

Managed a 5km walk last night and a yoga session before bed and definitely feeling the benefit of it.  Breakfast was porridge with blueberries and banana, lunch was another stir fry with a couple of boiled eggs for protein and dinner is going to be a vegetable biriyani.

Hope everyone has a good day!

maman

The Aldi Essentials wholemeal is 2 slices for a HEB too @Longwalker. Not sure if you have Aldi in NI? 🤔

I have big meals but rarely snack too @Jellybaby although last night we had dinner early so I had two apples later. 

I'm another that looks forward to veg wars. I try to batch cook swede and carrot mash and last year did loads of oven chips and roast potatoes too. 

I think @joedenise should be having a good time on the IoW. The weather has been dry and bright here although cold. Very little rain during the day. 👍

I'm feeling fatter today but that's fairly typical leading up to WI. ☹️

Today's EE plan - 
B- HEB toast, fried eggs (P), baked beans (F), HEA 1 milk for drinks 
L- JP (F), cottage cheese (P), spring onions and pickles (S) 
D- Spaghetti Bolognese (P, F, S), HEA 2 Parmesan
Syns - half Crunchie 3

beanielou

maman~~you have some willpower with your half crunchie!

maman

beanielou said:

maman~~you have some willpower with your half crunchie!

DH and I have half each at the football with our coffee. I couldn't leave half if he wasn't there. 🤣

Sadly, it's barely a mouthful. Crunchies have shrunk so much. ☹️ Good for SW though. 😊

beanielou

I knew you had a half crunchie at the football Maman. Wasent thinking! 

MrsPorridge

Today's plan
B - porridge with stewed apple (4.5 syns) as I counted the porridge - didn't have much as syns
L - SW hotpot with lots of free veggies
D - wholemeal muffin as a sandwich with bacon and tomato (HEB)
berries and FF yoghurt

Longwalker

@Jellybaby, well you are a better woman then me tbh, to stay another month when you were so looking towards going. Well no actually Id have done it as well, but not with such a good heart

@beanielou , id dare not even try them. Id love to find a low syn/calorie crisp that I like, but I daren't - trigger food for me. So when I do have a sod it moment, a pack shows on the scales right away and I keep away for another few weeks.  Ive always loved crisps. I can remember when they were 2 1/2p a bag and omg the brands and flavours and all my pocket money was spent on crisps, and the bags were much fuller then they are today. A real treat, a real real real treat for me, was having the 20p for a pack of M&S prawn cocktail shapes - skips by any other name , but OMG M&S's were the dogs dangly bits. Id still demolish a family sized bag by myself. A very well done on a great loss xxx

@maman , nope no Aldi here , well there is if I want a 60mile journey - I can cross over to Strabane but its not worth it. I like the Nevilles over Hovis tbh. Also I like the option of having just one, which being big, is enough as an open sandwich and still having half a HEB for say oat bran /oats for my yoghurt, or at the weekend, make a BLT for brunch  using both slices, I dont feel Im missing out 

Oh Ive had a crap week tbh. I was so disappointed I had gained so much on Saturday, that as I say I had a veggie wellington which I never even syn'ed, I was having it and that was that. Sunday I was a lot better, BLT for lunch and then a roast chicken dinner and tbh I thought I was doing so well that another snowball made it in my tum  

Monday I went out for lunch and OMG did I suffer Monday afternoon. For the first time in months, I had to undo the jeans. I didnt eat anything more for the day and I didnt drop food into my gob as I was passing so it wasnt so much  the quantity , it was the richness and eating at lunch which upset my tummy so much. I jumped on the scales Tuesday to see what damage had been done, none. Win Haven't rested on my laurels , I made a pasta salad for lunch yesterday and today - pasta, lots of chopped raw veggies, tuna , free tomato sauce ( as in made with a tin of toms ) and feta as my HEA. That did me till dinner where I made chicken in black bean and egg fried rice - a tiny wee syn for the squirt of oil shared between 4 portions . Tonight was a mish mash, I had turkey mince, was going to do us spaghetti Bol  - mum likes a jacket potato, then found out the only pasta I had was macaroni , so thought Id do it on wedges, then realised I hadn't had much in the way of speed, so did the wedges - air fried  - and cooked some frozen veg and said it was a turkey dinner so eat it was very nice actually

Only im so bloated and uncomfortable. Happening more and more when I eat. I feel like Im bursting out of my clothes, yet the scales are with me , I really dont know whats going on wind/guts wise but its flaming uncomfortable 

Coxy11

Hi everyone,

New job is.......well...... let's just say I've left behind an atmosphere of gloom and inherited another. There's one lady in my office who moans for approximately 75% of the day. I have very little to do and asked if I could join 2 of bosses meetings tomorrow to which she said No as they are particularly spikey. I had one meet and greet this morning then took an hours lunch and did some e-learning whilst listening to Miss Moanalot. Tomorrow I have 4 meet and greets and next week, the excitement(?!) of attending a theatre session in the breast department. Not sure I have the stamina for it, but we shall see.

I know it's early days, so I mustn't get despondent.

I've been taking food in - yesterday a cous cous salad from M&S and today some LO spag bol, plus the usual fruit. There is no end of tuck in all offices I've visited - biscuits, sweets, cake, mince pies - have resisted so far. Miss Moanalot says it helps get her through the day hmmmmmm.

The bus home tonight got stuck in traffic so I walked 1.5 miles home and still didn't see the bus go past, so hoping the steps will come in handy. In fact I might just get off one or two stops before home when I can, just to stretch my legs. 

Well done on the loss @NornIronRose xx

beanielou

Coxy~~Eek. A theatre session.
Mrs Moanalot sounds delightful~~not.