The MSE diet - in all senses of the word

Karen, glad you're feeling inspired. And yes, I have been on dates where the guy is boring and unfanciable (although not boring and fanciable, hmmmm) and it's difficult. Anyway, work and other things are on my mind more than dating. Ta for the good wishes Penguin. Thought weight loss had been fairly much on the back burner and seemed to have put on a kilo in the past week (although could be partly PMS) and most seems to have come off again. Didn't eat fantastically well yesterday, but did walk for about 20 minutes on way to a seminar, then was given a lift (quite a good thing, think would have taken about 45 minutes and I was carrying an amount of equipment for it, so would have got unpleasant probably).


Last night, got home from seminar, which had a competition as part of it, and got a second place in one of the two major categories, so pleased with that. Also nice to catch up with friends and colleagues. Sat down and planned meals for the coming week, using as much as possible from existing supplies. Mainly, because the freezer is pretty much full (it's not that large) and if I did any batch cooking, there's nowhere for it to go.

Have been working since 6am today (been productive), but rest of day shows no signs of letting up, so got a lamb minceball in tomato sauce meal out of the freezer. Don't know if it will be defrosted in time for dinner, but hoping - and will be good to know for future reference. All I have to do later is put in saucepan & reheat (or could put in oven, since it's in a glass dish).

Hardly need any food this week, except some staples - rye crackers, oat cakes, vitamins, long life milk etc. Bought a pint of milk from corner shop, but prefer not to use shop if possible.

Can see light at the end of the tunnel for this cash crisis and have no intention of revisiting. This is where I usually spend - a kind of catch up - hence the meal plans and buying as little 'new' food as possible. Was on train returning from seminar yesterday & feeling worn out. Normally I would have had a gin & tonic or similar and worked out that would cost about £5, then I would get crisps or something to go with it, as I'd get the nibbles. Actually had diet coke, which was £1.10, but much better than spending about £5 more. I often take bottles of water with me (refilled ones), but already had too much equipment to bring extra weight. Feeling positive, although a long way to go here. Once I get to the point of knowing I can pay my bills safely, life will feel much easier.

Going to online bank account every morning is a good focus. A Paypal refund has FINALLY appeared in my bank account. It appears that there can be extra long delays (up to 30 days) if your account is attached to your credit or debit card rather than a bank account. Want to change that. As I was spending an hour with Paypal last week on the phone, trying to figure out what the delay was, I received an email to say the money had been processed, so either something had gone wrong or there was a heck of a coincidence. Anyway, pleased it's back in my account. Onward and upward.

Thanks for the encouragement S73. Found myself wandering around cake shop today (was peckish) and found that coffee cake was £2.?? something. I could have had a muffin for £1.35, but when I thought about it, didn't really want it, so walked out. So chuffed with that decision - for financial and calorific reasons! Hopefully that kind of decision-making will become habit-forming.

Knackered now from working since 6am, so going to do a couple more emails, then have a nap. After, will have dinner & go shopping in 24-hour Asda (after rush hour). Don't want to go shopping hungry.

Got home late last night from meeting someone so didn't do any Ebaying. Will give up on the idea of a Thursday night and choose another time, otherwise nothing will ever get listed. Was a bit cross at myself for not having done that, but had managed to return shoes to New Look that weren't a great fit, once I'd worn them around home for an hour or so (little toe was sliding out). Was just outside 28 days period, so received a £20 voucher rather than refund.

One of my clients has just given me a large order, so have just invoiced her & asked how she would like to pay, so that should turn up in the coming week. (Trying to change my lax attitude to invoicing - no idea why that is). With that paid, by the end of May, I should be out of my overdraft and have paid both lots of the mortgage. That's a MUCH better position than the end of April, so very pleased. Also pleased that I bought some clothes at H&M yesterday, within budget, but first checked that I had enough cash in my purse to do so, rather than blindly putting it on my card. It's the first time I can remember doing that in recent memory, so perhaps it's the start of a new habit. The cashier had to dig out two bags of change, so wondered if everyone pays with a card rather than cash.

ragstoricheswannabe wrote: »

Hey fabfuture!

After you posted on my diary i had to find you as really want to cheer you on from the sidelines with your challenge!!!!!!! I am in awe!!!

What is it that you do as a job??

How big of a freezer have you got?? i am assuming there is just you living there?? with the huge bags of carrots (that not even i can use in the week and there are 2 adults, 1 child and a 9 mnth old in my house) you can always chop them into various shapes and sizes and blanch them then freeze. This also takes some time out of cooking as can use them from frozen, and can just bung them into dishes like mince, casseroles etc without all the peeling and chopping!!!! You can also do this with the huge bags of potatoes and other veg!!!!!

Good luck hun, have subscribed and am looking forward to being on this journey with you!!!!
love rags
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Thanks so much for visiting rags. Have just been looking at my plan for what is happening moneywise month to month for the rest of the year. Can't believe that if I stay on track, with the income I'm planning (yeah, not always a certainly, but am aiming at monthly income targets I have hit before), I'll have my horrid MBNA card paid off in a few months. I'd rather not say what I do for a living ... otherwise it wouldn't exactly take people long with a bit of judicious googling to probably find out my identity and I'd like to stay anonymous. It means I can feel open about sharing.

Thanks for the tip about carrots & other vege. When you blanch them, how long do you do that for? Am all for batching & making my life easier. The freezer is relatively small - three regular drawers and a slimline shelf at the top, mostly for ice, but will take flat packets and I keep cut up herbs in there. When I made two servings of chilli this week, I figured that I could probably fit about 12 servings of that size in a drawer if they were in bags, even possibly more. At mo, have a large bag of value broccoli and cauliflower and some prawns taking up much of the room. Cauliflower cheese with bacon is on my menu for this week - really yummy and will use up some of the bag.