Christmas food drive well, ive been so keen to be good this week before weighin - after having my disasterous weekend. But today I ate a piece of chocolate slice that was about 1.5 inches wide by 3 inches long. Its not a complete meltdown, but I still feel a little disappointed in myself. I have no idea how many points that is - ill have a look in my points book tonight.

Bee slept really bad last night so I didnt exercise today. I slept during her morning nap again. I feel like such a Nanna - having my little "Nanna Nap" to help me get through the day.

I am so inspired by M!! She is just an incredible woman. Her blog is by far my favourite - with her witty posts, great ideas, and warm personality. Once again I logged in today to see another great idea. She has lost 20kgs (wow amazing!!!) and so she donated 20kgs of food to the Christmas appeal.

So she has inspired me to do the same. I have lost just over 11 kilo, but itll be up to around 12 kilo by Christmas so Im going to donate that much food. Ive been so blessed with the comfortable way I live - and too often I forget about people who arent as lucky as I am.

So after work one day this week I am going to walk to Woolworths (10 min walk away), and I am going to buy 12 kilos of food, then walk it all home again. I dont know where is doing a collection of food, but Ill find a place to donate it to.

Thanks M for such an inspirational idea - it is a reminder that not everyone will be living it up at Christmas time.

TRACKER:

Planned Exercise: none
Incidental Exercise: 160 stairs at work

Food:
Breaky: 2 x HiBran Weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Skim milk (1p) = 3.5p
Morning Tea: 10 rice crackers (1p), low fat cheese (1p) = 2p
Lunch: Tuna (2p), pointfree salad (0p), multigrain breadroll (3p) = 5p
Afternoon Tea: Chocolate slice (??)
Dinner: leftover chicken tacos - 100g chicken (2p), 3 soft tacos (4.5p), pointfree salad (0p) = 6.5p
Snack: 1 slice toast (1.5p), tomato (0p) = 1.5p
Total points used: TBA
Sugar points: TBA

Water: TBA  ¶ 2:25 PM 4 comments

  Yay for Moranbah!!! CSC told my DH today that they are going to pay half our rent so that me and Bee can move out to Moranbah!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!! But the bad news is that I dont get to choose it - they are gonna pick a house for us. Which is weird. But if I see a house that looks good I will be passing the info on to DH for him to give to his boss ;) Im a woman - I have to meddle!

DH also said that he thinks its only gonna be 3 bedroom. But I we could easily fill a 4 bedroom house - nursery, main bedroom, office and spare room for visitors. Our family will be coming out every few weeks so itd be good if they didnt have to pay for a hotel. So Im trying to get DH to drop hints about that too.

Sometimes I wish he was more confident to say stuff like that. I definitely would let them know what we need. But he doesnt want to 'rock the boat'. He likes to say "beggers cant be choosers".

So we will officially become Moranbites as of the new year. We will be moving between Chrissy and New Years.

So lookout Shawnnita!!! We are comin to town! :D yay! I cant wait to come scrap with ya at the shop.

TRACKING:

Incidental Exercise: none
Planned Exercise: 30 min walk (not done yet - to do tonight)

Food:
Breaky: 2 x HiBran weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Skim milk (1p) = 3.5p
Morning Tea: 2 crumpets (2p), 2 tbs honey (2p) = 4p
Lunch: tuna (2p), salad (0p), multigrain breadroll (3p), watermelon (1/2p) = 5.5p
Afternoon Tea: pumpkin scone = 2p
Dinner: Chicken Soft Tacos - 4 soft tacos (6p), 150g chicken (3p), pointfree salad (0p), taco seasoning (0p), salsa (0p) = 9p
Dessert: 1/2 scone (1p), diet jam (0p) = 1p
Total points used: 25/28
Sweet points = 2p

Water: 3 lts  ¶ 2:45 PM 1 comments

  guilt-free splurge weekend hi all!

The weekend at Moranbah went fantastically! I didnt wanna go! I wanted to stay there with DH forever. But unfortunately I had to come back :(

It was stinking hot there. When I left at 1.30pm yesterday it was 40.8 degrees. HOT HOT HOT!

I enjoyed my weekend - food wise. On thursday night before leaving I went to dinner with my sister so had chinese. Then had chinese again on Friday night for DH's christmas party (will post photos tomorrow). Then Saturday dinner we went to the Black Nugget hotel for the buffet - and I ate too much yet again! Had a very small scoop of tiramisu for dessert, with some fruit salad.

Sunday lunch we had red rooster - I tried one of their grilled chicken baguettes and it was so yummy!! 97% fat free too so I would assume it wasnt too bad on points.

But I enjoyed every morsel of the food, and refuse to feel guilty for having a weekend off :) I bet I feel bad on Thursday, but I will try to minimise the damage by doing well for the rest of the week.

I wont even bother trying to remember what I ate. In regards to exercise I didnt do any while away. But last night I washed the Turbo - took me an hour cos it was covered with filth from the highway. So it was a reasonable workout. The car looks so good today. I love my car. I drive a mandarin coloured Ford XR6 Turbo, BA model. Such a waste of money, but DH wanted it. And I let him buy it. Pity it stays here with me every week instead of at Moranbah ;) It cost me half my unit!!! $53,000 for a car is a waste of money in my opinion. Plus it takes premium fuel, so costs us $70 for fuel every 10 days to drive.

TRACKING:

Planned exercise: 50 min Steps video

Incidental exercise: 160 stairs at work

Food:
Breaky: 2 x HiBran weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5p
Morning Tea: Smoothie - 200g Nestle Diet yogurt frozen (2p), 1/2 cup canned mango (1/2p), 1/2 cup Trim milk (1p) = 3.5p
Lunch: Multigrain breadroll (3p), can spreadable tuna (2p), garden salad (0p), cheese (2p) = 7p
Afternoon Tea: cup tea with milk = 0.5p
Dinner: Chicken stirfry - 200g chicken breast (4p), 2 tbs marinade (1p), lots of pointfree veges (0p) = 5p
Dessert: lots and lots of watermelon = 1.5p
Total points: 22/28 - deliberately went under points as I had a high-point weekend.  ¶ 12:43 PM 3 comments

  Week Fourteen Weighin - 0.1kg down. Current weight: 72.1 Well, the expected happened. My weightloss went to a stand-still cos of no exercise. I knew it would happen but I couldnt help feeling disappointed. Now I definitely know I wont be at goal for Christmas - but I am used to that fact now. Im over it. I have done so well so far, this isnt a big deal.

So I have 4.1 kilos to go - thats not much! I will definitely get to goal in January I reckon! Especially with moving house mid-january. All that packing and moving will definitely budge the weight :)

The Weightloss Tracker I posted about last week says that my "target date" is 7 Jan - so we will see if that is accurate or not.

I spoke to my WW leader about not eating as many points on the days that I dont do exercise and she said that if I want to I can go down to about 25 points, but no less than 24. So I will do that - but only on the days I dont do exercise.

Bee had ANOTHER bad night last night - I didnt get to sleep until 1am. Then I was up at 4am for about 20 mins. Then up for the day at 7am. At least she slept in a bit! So I had about five and a half hours sleep last night.

So I skipped my walk this morning. But I am going late-night shopping with my sis tonight to get my outfit for DH's Christmas Party so I will at least get a bit of walking in. It may not be fast walking but at least its movement.

The vege bake I had last night was beautiful!!! All I did was chop up all the veges I had in the house - potatoes, brocolli, carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato, beans - and threw them into a casserole dish. Then poured over two thirds can of Heinz Extra Special Country Chicken soup (6p per can). And then topped it with 30g of cheese. 200 degrees till veges are cooked. It made enough for dinner lastnight and lunch today - 4.5 points per serve. But it depends on what veges u put in, and how much. I didnt put much potato in, but lots of the point-free stuff.

Also, I discovered the "Golden" brand crumpets have no sugar in them - so not sugar points ;) One point each. The Mighty Soft ones have sugar in the top 3 ingrediants, so dont get them. So I bought a pack of crumpets for a change. Mmmmm.


TRACKER:

Planned Exercise: none

Incidental Exercise: 160 stairs at work

Food Plan:
Breaky: 2 'Golden' Crumpets (2p), diet strawberry jam (0p) = 2p
Morning Tea: 200g Nestle diet yogurt (1p), ww cheese nibblies (1.5p) = 2.5p
Lunch: Leftover Vege Bake = 4.5p
Afternoon Tea: 2 slices raisin toast (4p), butter (2p) = 6p
Dinner: Small plate of chinese at shops - 3/4 cup rice (2.5p), beef + black bean sauce (guess 6p) = 8.5p
Dessert: low-fat muffin at shops = 2.5p
Total points used: 26/28

Well, I ate normal points after all :P  ¶ 12:28 PM 3 comments

  Dont think ill make my Christmas goal Last night Bee had ANOTHER bad night of sleeping. So this morning I napped instead of doing exercise. I dont know why her routine is suddenly upside-down. Maybe she is getting more teeth in? I didnt go to bed till after midnight, got up at 3am when she woke up for 30 mins, then went back to bed till she woke up at 6.30am. She had an extra long morning nap though - 2hrs instead of 1.5hrs - so I got just over an hours sleep before work.

This is the third time in a week Ive had to skip exercise in the morning so I can have a nap. Im just so exhausted. It means I either dont do any planned exercise that day, or I do a teeny bit at night, like a walk to the shops. It means Im not going to be losing as much weight this week at weighin I reckon.

So to try to reduce the damage Im going to eat less calories on the days I cant do exercise. Im not burning off the food so I dont think its good for me to eat 28 points a day. Im going to go for 22 points a day instead. I dont know if I am supposed to do this or not. Ill check with my leader tomorrow morning at weighin.

I am already putting pressure on myself to lose 0.8kg a week so I reach goal before Christmas - now I doubt I will make it. But Im not angry or annoyed, Im just a bit disappointed. But Im not letting it get me too down. My emotions are already hightened due to sleep deprivation. As long as I am in my 60s by then I will be happy - because that was my original goal.


TRACKER:

Planned exercise:
none

Incidental exercise:
160 stairs at work

Food Plan:
Breaky: 2 x HiBran Weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5p
Morning Tea: 10 rice snacks (1p), Mocha Yogurt Smoothie - frozen 200g Nestle Diet Mocha yogurt (1p), 1/2 cup Trim milk (1p) = 3p
Lunch: 2 slices multigrain bread (3p), mayo (1.5p), egg (1.5p), lettuce (0c), 1 cup watermelon (1/2p?) = 6.5p
Afternoon Tea: 4 Paradise Lite Crackers (1.5p), lowfat cheese (1p), tomato (0p) = 2.5p
Dinner: Madeup recipe "Vege Bake" - various veges, Heinz extra special Chicken soup, sprinkle lowfat cheese = 4.5p
Dessert: 1 ww choc chip biscuit (1/2p), 1 teas lowfat icecream (1/2p) = 1p (I put the icecream on top of the biscuit - mmmmmm)
Snack: 1 crumpet (1p), diet jam (0p) = 1p
Total points used: 23 points
Sweet points: 1 point

Water: TBA

Im happy with the food plan above - its got a good combination of healthy fresh foods. Im not having any meat today, but I had an egg so I at least had some protein. And I still get my sweet at the end of the day.  ¶ 12:21 PM 3 comments

  Injuries! Today I was doing the Carmen Electra DVD number 2 - the Workout one. And I just kept hurting myself! I dont know why my body was fighting this workout. For those who have done this workout, I firstly hurt myself doing that move thats like a "somorai sword" (spelling?). I got a big cramp in my side. Then I was lifting my leg for the floor exercises and I felt a 'pop' in my muscle, which hurt. And then when I was on all fours and was lifting my leg up and down (working the glutes), I got a cramp in my hip.

I dunno what I was doing wrong but my body just wasnt into it today. So I took out that DVD and took out the first DVD in her collection to start on the dance moves. That is less intence and thought itd be good for me to do some low-intensity exercises seeing as my body was shutting down.

Yesterday while shopping at Coles (I normally shop at Woolies) I saw Mocha flavoured Nestle Diet yogurt!!! I didnt know this existed. Is it new? So I bought 2 tubs, and its so nice! Its a really light flavour. I was worried itd be really heavy in taste. It didnt taste like yogurt I reckon. Definitely gonna buy that again. Im gonna freeze some of it and then blend it up. I reckon itd be a great 1p dessert done like that!

TRACKING:

Planned Exercise:
30 minutes Workout (medium intensity)
20 minutes dancing DVD (low intensity)

Incidental Exercise:
80 stairs at work
1.5 hours walking around shops

Food:
Breaky: 2 x HiBran weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5p
Morning Tea: 200g tub yogurt = 1p
Lunch: Garden salad (0p), 1 tbs cheese (1p), chicken (2p), 1 egg (1.5p) = 4.5p
Afternoon Tea: 10 rice snacks = 1p
Dinner: 140g steak (3p), 1 sm potato (1p), 1 sm pumpkin (1p), beans, carrot, brocolli (0p), 1/4 cup gravox gravy (1p) = 6p
Dessert: 1 cup tinned mango (1p), 2 ww biscuits (1p), 1/2 scoop lowfat icecream (0.5p) = 2.5p
Total points used = 19.5/28
Sweet points: 1.5p

Water: 2.5 litres  ¶ 2:43 PM 3 comments

  last post was true ... but a bit melodramatic!!! Wow last week was a hard week. I apologise for the last post, but I must admit, what I wrote in there was accurate. I normally wouldnt have written it all, just thought it. But in my sleep-deprived and emotional state I wrote it anyways. I just didnt come back to fix it because DH was in town and I dont normally post on weekends.

Im still feeling really run-down due to Bee having another bad night of sleeping last night, but I am feeling better. I managed to have a 1.5 hour nap this morning when Bee went down for her nap. I am so thankful her day sleeps are so good!!!! Pity her night sleeps are disrupted by frequent wakings lately. But they will fix themselves soon - they always do. I very much am into a "take-things-as-they-come" style of parenting, that includes on-demand feeding and sleeping. I dont try to set routines, but rather let Bee form her own routines. Up until now they have been perfect. They will settle down again soon.

Good news - I have another excuse to go shopping. This weekend is DH's work Christmas party. And cos its the first time I will be meeting his boss/colleagues I wanna make a good impression. I am alot more confident now that I have lost this weight and am really looking forward to finding a new outfit to wear. Im not on a huge spending budget but Im positive I will find something nice for about $60. At least its not formal - just smart casual. Ill take a couple of pics and post them here because itll be the first time Ill be dressed up since BEFORE Bee was born!! Gosh thats sad.

Oh, I just realised I never posted about last week's weighin!! Ok Ill do that now:

Week Fourteen Weighin - 0.8kg down. Current weight: 72.2kgs

Good facts about last week's progress: I did four lots of exercise & I ate reasonably well. Im still on track for my Christmas goal.

Areas for improvement: Water! Im starting to slacken off, and I need to keep at it.

If I keep losing at least 0.8kg each weighin before Christmas Ill be at goal weight before the end of December.

I normally do no exercise on the weekends but I did go for a short 30 min walk on Sunday morning because I missed Friday's exercise.

I wont have much time for exercise during the rest of the week, but the plan is:
Tonight: 20 min walk to shops, about 45 mins shopping, 20 min walk back
Tues: 50min Steps Video, take Bee to the pool
Wed: 30min Carmen Electra Workout
Thurs: 30 min walk in early morning before WW meeting
Fri: 30 min walk in early morning if I have time before work at 8am. No time in the arvo as I am going to Moranbah for DH's Chrissy party!


TRACKING

Incidental exercise:
160 stairs at work

Planned exercise:
To Do - 20 min walk to shops, about 45 mins shopping, 20 min walk back

Food:
Breaky: 2 x HiBran weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5 points
Morning Tea: WW Cheese Nibbles = 1.5p
Lunch: Ham (3p)/Pineapple/Cheese (2p)/BBQ sauce (1p) on Lavash Bread (3p?) = 9p
Afternoon Tea: 220g tin Baked Beans = 3p
Dinner: sm potato (1p), sm pumpkin (1p), carrot, beans, brocolli (0p), fish grilled in lemon juice and freshly ground pepper (3p) = 5p
Dessert: mini meringue (1/2p), canned mango in natural juice (1/2p), 100g diet yogurt (1/2p) = 1.5p
Total points used: 24.5/28
Sweet points: 1/2 point

Water: TBA  ¶ 2:50 PM 4 comments

  hello? anyone there? With me combining my tracking and my posting I seem to have lost some of my readers. Well, Im still getting hits, but hardly anyone leaves comments anymore. Is it too confusing having them both in the one blog? If it is please let me know and Ill go back to the other way. Its just more convenient for me to have them combined.

My stats are going ok though, so people must be visiting. Since I started WW on Aug 11 Ive had 3,833 page loads. That is between 2,815 people. So I must be interesting enough :P

Its bizarre how when you start something like this, its mainly for yourself. But then over time you get readers and you wonder if you are really doing this for yourself still? Or are you blogging for the benefit of other people?

Ive never been concerned about stats before, or the amount of comments I get. So it struck me as odd that I would worry about a lack of comments on this blog.

This makes me ask myself, am I really being myself in here? Or the person who I think you all want to see? I think in a way I do take on the persona of someone who I am really not. I guess its automatic considering we are engaging in a face-less medium.

I dont want my blog to be like that. I want to be 100% myself and return this blog into being about the real me. If I dont, then I cannot consider this a true indication of my weightloss journey. I want to read back on previous posts and think "oh so that is what I really thought about that", or "that is what I struggled with at that time" ..... not "now was this what I was really thinking? Or was I writing that because it was witty? I cant remember back that far".

I think I just needed a reminder that this journey is for ME. If I do this for anyone else - whether it is any of you guys, or my DH, or my family - it's not going to work.

I dont know if this revelation is accurate, or its just me talking out of sleep deprivation! I only had 4 hours sleep last night due to Bee having a sore tummy and not sleeping. I guess the only way I will know is if I wake up tomorrow morning and read over this thinking "what a lunatic", or if I stick to the thoughts I shared today. Time will tell.

Thanks for reading.


TRACKING

Planned exercise:
none

Incidental exercise:
none

Food:
3am snack while Bee kept me up for hours at night: mango weis bar (2p), pumpkin scone (1.5p), ww butter (1p) = 4.5p
Breaky: 2 x HiBran Weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5p
Morning Tea: Fruit salad = 1.5p
Lunch: 2 slices bread (3p), ww butter (1p), lowfat cheese (1p), point-free salad (0p), ww choc bar (1.5p) = 6.5p
Afternoon Tea: Went to Coffee Club - mug skinny hot choc (2.5p), 1/2 lowfat muffin (2p) = 4.5p
Dinner: Went to Thai Restaurant - 3/4 cup Fried rice (3.5p?), some beef curry dish (6p) = 9.5p
Dessert: none
Total points: 31/28
Sweet points: 6 points - oh my goodness

Water: 1.5 litres

Bad bad bad day of eating. I was tired and emotional.  ¶ 4:12 PM 12 comments

  TRACKING: Tuesday 15 Nov 05 Planned exercise:
50 min Steps video

Incidental exercise:
none

Food:
Breaky: 2 x HiBran weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5 points
Morning Tea: Homemade fruit salad - 1 sm banana (1p), sliced mango (1/2p), 3 strawberries (1/2p), 1/2 cup pineapple (1/2p), 1/2 tub yogurt (1/2p) = 3 points
Lunch: lg point-free salad (0p), 95g Greenseas 98% fat free flavoured tuna (1.5p), lowfat cheese (1/2p), 1 tin ww pumpkin soup (1p), 1 slice bread (1.5p), ww butter (1/2p) = 5 points
Afternoon Tea: homemade pumpkin scone (low fat butter, skim milk) (1.5p), ww butter (1p) = 2.5 points
Dinner: Rib eye steak (6p), potato (1p), pumpkin (1p), brocolli, carrot (0p) = 8 points
Dessert: 1/2 tub yogurt (1/2p), small meringue nest (1/2p), 3 strawberries (1/2p) = 1.5 points
Total points used: 24.5/28  ¶ 11:59 PM 0 comments

  Weight Tracking Tool Personals First ...
Im feeling so super-motivated at the moment. I feel like I am on my way towards goal weight, its only a handful of weeks away! I cant wait until weigh-in this week. Hopefully I will have lost 800grams this week.

I was thinking today about when I may have another baby. I know that I am definitely not going to eat as much as I did when preggers with Bee. I ate too much, and the wrong stuff. Is there some sort of guidelines when pregnant and wanting to continue counting points? I assume that its the same as a full-breastfeeding mother - 32 points. Surely if this is enough points to feed both mum and baby post-partum, then its enough for pregnancy. I wonder if they even let pregnant people sign in at weight watchers meetings to keep track of their weight!

I am so determined not to do the same wrong things with next pregnancy. I want to continue with walking and eating properly. I want to be one of those hot pregnant women :P Not all huffing and puffing with a stomach the size of a house.

Im not dropping any hints though! I am not quite ready to start expanding the family yet. Plus Id have to talk DH around. Im just contemplating the future and how my new lifestyle could be affected by it. My mind got onto this topic because a friend of mine who has a 7 month old daughter has just found out she is pregnant again. Bee is 9 months old, and I couldnt imagine being pregnant already! I want to enjoy Bee at the moment, before having to share myself with other children.


Weight Tracking Tool

I was looking through my files today and I found this file called "Weight Loss Progress Chart". I have no idea how long Ive had this or where I got it from but it would have been somewhere on the net. Sorry for the lack of source and correct referencing.

I dont know why I havent filled this in before - I guess I plain forgot that it existed! Its a three-page spreadsheet in Excel where on the first sheet you put your goals, then on the second you fill in weekly your weight. Once you put in your weight it will automatically fill in the following columns: This week's Loss/Gain, Total Loss, Average Loss, Estimated Target Date, Current BMI.

How cool is that!!! So you dont have to worry about the rest of the info cos its all automatic!

Then on the third page is translates this information into a line graph for you. So you can steadily see the decrease in weight and marvel at how steep the decline is!

It estimates my Target Date as 25 Dec 05!! haha that is my goal date! how weird is that!

I also have a recipe point counter Excel spreadsheet if u want that also, just let me know.

If you would like a copy of this Weight Loss Progress Chart or Recipe Point Counter please send me an email at: karen (at) dotmackay (dot) com (dot) au <-- I put my email like that so the web-crawlers dont get it and sign me up for spam :) So make sure you change it accordingly.  ¶ 3:05 PM 0 comments

  TRACKING: Monday 14 Nov 05 Planned Exercise:
Made up my own workout -

• 10 minute Steps warmup
• (butt) 3 x 8 repetition Squats
• (butt) 1 x 8 repetition Squat presses per leg
• (legs) 2 x 8 repetition upper-leg lifts per leg
• (legs) 2 x 8 repetition lower-leg lifts per leg
• (butt) 2 x 8 repetition "super-mans"
• (tummy) 30 1-count crunches
• (tummy) 2 x 8 repetition 2-count crunches
• (tummy) 2 x 8 repetition trunk twist
• (arms) 8 bar curls
• (arms) other random exercises with the weights but I dont know what they are called!
• 5 minute stretch

Incidental Exercise:
160 stairs at work

Food:
Breaky: 3 x weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5 points
Morning Tea: Choc banana smoothie - diet choc topping (0p), 1/2 cup Trim milk (1p), 100g Diet vanilla yogurt frozen (1/2p), sm banana (1p) = 2.5 points
Lunch: apple (1p), Multigrain roll (3p), leftover roast pork (2p), pointfree salad, ww mayo (1/2p), ww butter (1p), lowfat cheese (1p) = 8.5p
Afternoon Tea: ww salsa nibbles (1p), Diet yogurt (1p) = 2p
Dinner: 1 slice roast pork (2p), 1 small steamed potato (1p), pumpkin (2p), beans (0p), corn (1/2p), carrot (0p), brocolli (0p), 1/2 cup gravy (1p) = 7.5p
Dessert: 1.5 cups milk flavoured with diet topping (I had a craving for more dairy!) = 3p
Total points used: 28/28
Sugar points: 0

  ¶ 11:59 PM 0 comments

  RECIPE: Smoothies! As the weather heats up people often turn to cool refreshing drinks. And (apart from water) what better drink to have than something that is packed full of fibre and nutrition, while being low in fats and processed sugars! I love smoothies. And since I just bought a new blender to puree Bee's dinners I am on a bit of a smoothie binge!

Tips for smoothies:

• Use low-GI fruits such as apples, oranges, cherries, peaches, all berries, plums and pears.
• Canned fruits are just as good as fresh if they are in their natural juices (not syrup)
• Diet yogurt can be frozen to use instead of icecream
• If no icecream/icecubes/frozen yogurt are used, use frozen fruit
• To thicken smoothies you can add a weetbix (3/4 point per biscuit)
• If you dont want dairy, soy can be substituted

Below is a few smoothie concoctions I have created myself or found online, but really u can smoothie basically any fruits:

Smoothies

PEACH SMOOTHIE
1 cup frozen peach slices
1/2 banana, sliced
3 tablespoons Diet vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup orange juice or apple juice
1/2 cup skim milk
optional Splenda to taste

TROPICAL SMOOTHIE
1/2 cup canned mango in natural juices
1 medium ripe papaya peeled and diced
1 kiwi fruit peeled and diced
1 banana peeled and diced
1 cup Diet vanilla yogurt

CHOC BANANA SMOOTHIE
Diet chocolate topping
1 cup Skim milk
ice cubes
1 banana, peeled and diced

COFFEE SMOOTHIE
1 cup of coffee chilled
1 tsp of sugar, honey, or chocolate syrup (to flavour to your liking)
1 banana cut into chunks
1/2 cup skim milk

Enjoy!  ¶ 2:00 PM 1 comments

  Problematic patterns promote poor personal growth Ive noticed that on Sunday nights I get a bit miserable because DH leaves me to go back to Moranbah to work. This generally extends into some of Monday, with me seeking out sugars and snacks. So I need a plan of action to help me avoid the sugars on Sunday nights, cos he leaves at 5pm.

I go to Church on Sunday mornings but Im finding that more and more I am placing other factors of my life before God. So Ive decided that I am going to go on Sunday nights as well. It starts at 6pm so the timing is perfect ;) Not only will my faith strengthen by participating more in the church, it also will keep me busy on Sunday nights!

I enjoy going to church, I dont know why I havent gone to a night service before. But I just generally only go in the mornings.

So two problem patterns being fixed with the one solution :)  ¶ 9:49 AM 1 comments

  TRACKING: Sunday 13 Nov 05 Planned Exercise:
none

Incidental Exercise:
none

Food:
Breaky: 3 x weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5 points
Morning Tea: Homemade smoothie - 1/2 cup mango in natural juices (1p), 1 cup pineapple in natural juice (1p), 1/2 tub diet yogurt (1/2p), 1/2 cup milk (1p) = 3.5 points
Lunch (main meal): roast pork (6p), gravy (1p), 1 tiny roast potato (1.5p), 2 small roast pumpkin (4p), beans (0p), corn (1/2p) = 13 points
Afternoon Tea: ww choc bar = 1.5 points
Dinner: no dinner, too full from lunch
Supper: McCafe with mum - tall skinny hot choc (4p), low fat apple/blueberry muffin (4p) = 7.5 points
Total points: 30.5/28
Sweet points: 6.5 (holy crap!!!)

Eeek ok so I ate alot of food today ... and alot of sweet points :D My bad, Im over it already. I had a big lunch cos I cooked a roast for DH, he loves them! I didnt mind going over points though because I go under them most days.  ¶ 11:59 PM 0 comments

  TRACKING: Saturday 12 Nov 05 Planned Exercise:
none

Incidental Exercise:
3 hours walking around shops

Food:
Breaky: 3 x weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5 points
Morning Tea: Smoothie - ww peaches (1/2p), 1 tub yogurt (1p), 1/2 cup Trim milk (1p) = 2.5 points
Lunch: Chicken (2p), point-free salad (0p), mayo (1p), multigrain breadroll (3p) no butter, Mango weis bar (2p) = 8p
Afternoon Tea: 4 crispbread (1.5p), cheese (1p), tomato (0p) = 2.5 points
Dinner: Yogurt crumbed chicken (6p), pointfree salad (0p), lowfat cheese (1p), tbs avocado (1p) = 8 points
Supper: Salsa nibblies = 1 point
Total points: 26.5/28
Sugar points: 2 points

Water intake: Poor, around 1.5 litres  ¶ 11:59 PM 0 comments

  Info for chocoholics

I was browsing the WW forums and I saw a thread about chocoholics. People posted some low-point chocolates they have been eating. It made me drool so I thought I would post the info on here to give u some ideas as well. I hadnt even thought of buying some of these products before!

• WW choc mouse (I have a tub of this a couple of times a week) - 1 point
• Mars Bar Lite - 45gms - 3 points
• Snack size Mars Lite - 12gms - 1 point
• Snack size Turkish Delight - 12gms - 1 point
• Caramello Koala - 15gms - 2 points
• Lindor Balls - 2 points each
• WW Rich Chocolate Icecream - 1.5 points for tub
• WW Choc Mint Icecream - 2 points for tub
• LCM Kalidoscopes - 2 points each (never heard of them!)
• Nestle Mint Pattie - 20g - 1.5 points

The thread also pointed out that the Aero Chocolate Mousses are the same point value as the WW choc mousses. So if they are on special one week u can have them to save money!

If you know of a low-point chocolate fix feel free to share it :D

  ¶ 9:54 AM 7 comments

  Week Thirteen Weighin - 1.0kg down Yay Im down another kilo - making me 73kgs exactly. Now, if I lose at least 0.6kg each week before Christmas Ill get to my WWGW :D But the Christmas Tracker above is for the minimum I wanna lose before the festive season.

So Ive hit my 10kg mark, 10.2kgs lost. Wow thats alot. That is 20 tubs of butter. TWENTY!!! Thats disgusting.

Im still waiting cautiously for Mr Plateau to show his ugly head .... he's been hiding in the shadows waiting to pounce for a few weeks now, as I get closer to goal. Exactly five kilos left till Im right in the middle of my healthy weight range. So its about now that he strikes so Ive been told. But at least Im ready and prepared and wont be an unmotivated pile of untracking, unexercising, unbehaving mess.

Im happy with my exercise plan of last week. I stuck to all of it basically - except for when I fell asleep halfway through pilates :P

This week's exercise plan:
Fri: 6am walk around block with pram
Sat/Sun: none, DH is in town
Mon: 50 min Steps video
Tues: 30 min Carmen Electra Workout video
Wed: 50 min Steps video
Thurs: none, no time on Thursdays  ¶ 12:47 PM 5 comments

  RECIPE: Chicken and Almond Stir-fry Review: Oh my goodness this was delish!!!! I have never tasted a stirfry that had this type of flavour - I think it was the Thai basil leaves.

Source: Simply Mains WW Cookbook, page 26

Stats: Serves 2
Points per serve: 6 points

Ingrediants:
250g chicken breast, cut into strips
1 fresh birds eye chilli, deseeded, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed (I just used minced garlic)
cooking oil spray
150g green beans, trimmed, diagonally cut in half
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs whole blanched almonds, toasted
1/4 cup fresh Thai basil leaves, torn (They sell this at Woolies in veg section)
1.5 cups cooked white rice, to serve

Method:

1. Heat wok over medium-high heat
2. spray with cooking oil spray
3. cook chicken, chilli and garlic until brown
4. transfer to bowl
5. add beans to wok and stirfry unti lbright green and tender crisp
6. add chicken and sauces. stirfy for 1 min or until hot
7. spoon rice amoung serving bowls, top with chicken stirfry. scatter over almonds and basil. serve

Ive never cooked with fish sauce before and it stinks really bad. but once its in the dish it tasted/smelt nothing like it had originally smelt. thank god. cos i was a bit dubious after smelling it. definitely try this one if u are a stirfry fan!!!

  ¶ 6:09 AM 1 comments

  TRACKING: Wednesday 10 Nov 05 Planned Exercise:
20 mins pilates (but really didnt put much effort in)

Incidental Exercise:
160 stairs at work

Food:
Breaky: 3 weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5 points
Morning Tea: 1/3 tin ww fruit (1/2p), 1/2 tub yogurt (1/2p), 1 tablespoon Crunchola cereal (1/2p) = 1.5p
Lunch: Lg breadroll, no butter (3p), 1 tin ww pumpkin soup (1p) = 4 points
Afternoon Tea: 4 crispbread (1.5p), tomato (0p), 2 tablespoons ww cottage cheese (1/2p) = 2 points
Dinner: WW Simply Mains Cookbook dinner - Chicken and almond stirfry (8 points cos I had a slightly larger serving then in the book)
Dessert: Weis Bar (2p)

Total points: 22 points
Sweet points: 2 points

Water: 2.5 litres  ¶ 5:52 AM 0 comments

  First time doing pilates ... didnt go so well! Note to self - Dont do pilates if u are really really tired!!!!!

This morning I did a pilates video that I rented yesterday. I was thinking that I was really tired, but wanted to exercise first, then sleep. Anyways, with all the relaxing music and talking, after about 20 mins they said to do a few deep breaths (I was laying on floor cos just did floor exercises). The next thing I know, 30 mins has passed and the DVD is finished.

I didnt even know I had fallen asleep!!!

So I dont think that this pilates was giving me any exercise benefits if I was so relaxed I fell asleep! I must say though, I was doing a pretty half-assed job because I was so tired.

When reading the latest WW magazine I saw how the people who had won the awards had done comparisons of when they were fat, and now. So I thought I was do up my own :)

I used to be the person who:
- Overate - If it was yummy I couldnt say no to seconds, even if I was already full.
- Ate when bored
- Confused hunger with thirst. When I thought I was hungry I would eat, when I was actually only thirsty and a drink of water would have been suffice.
- Was embarrased to wear tight shirts when I sat because the material would be sucked in between my fat rolls and be really obvious.
- Was still wearing some maternity clothes ... when my daughter was over 9 months old.
- Would get puffed very easily and would avoid running.
- Hated raising my arms to 90 degrees as it made my "tuckshop lady arms" really obvious.
- Looked terrible in photos because of my size. I thought my cheeks looked bigger in photos so I wouldnt smile properly. Looking back now I shouldnt have even bothered - they looked big either way!
- Would keep Bee indoors when I was at home as I had no energy to take her on walks at the park or to the pool.
- Would sit through movies and eat popcorn, maltesers, full-sugar softdrinks and lollies.
- Wouldnt buy new clothes because I knew I would look fat in them. So didnt bother.
- Let my fat-feelings about myself affect intimacy between my husband and I. I was convinced he thought I was fat and would think about this when he was trying to be intimate.

I am now the person who:
- Puts about 2/3 the amount of food on my plate, and doesnt go back for seconds. I know that this is all the food I need.
- When bored I go for walks or take Bee for a swim, instead of eating.
- When hungry I drink a glass of water first.
- Happily goes shopping for new clothes. But while I dont buy much, its not out of embarrasment, its out of the knowledge that my body will shrink before I get proper wear out of the garment. So I am waiting a few more weeks.
- Put my maternity clothes in storage for the next baby. But even then they wont fit because I wont gain 20 kilo during the next pregnancy!
- Happily pose in photos - this is the best Ive looked in ages and I want proof!!!
- Take Bee outdoors as much as possible, to teach her the importance of being fit and active
- While watching movies I munch on cereal, rice crackers or ww snacks
- Is keen for a romp in the sack because I know I look great - plus I have more energy ;)
- Is taking positive steps towards making my future better, plus the future of my husband and daughter ... and any future kids.  ¶ 12:38 PM 5 comments

  TRACKING: Tues 8th Nov 05 Planned Exercise:
Carmen Elektra workout DVD 2

Incidental Exercise:
15 mins shovelling dirt in garden
2 hours Spring Cleaning
80 stairs at work

Food:
Breaky: Crunchola (3p), 1/2 cup Trim milk (1p) = 4p
Morning Tea: 1/2 tub yogurt (1/2p), ww fruit (1/2p), mini pavlova meringue base (1/2p) = 1.5p
Lunch: Large point-free garden salad (0p), 1 egg (1.5p), handful chopped cold chicken (3p), 1 tbs cheese (2p) = 6.5p
Afternoon Tea: tub yogurt (1p), ww salsa nibbles (1p) = 2p
Early Dinner (5pm): sm homemade lasagne (6p), point-free salad (0p), lowfat cheese (1p) = 9p
Supper (8pm): 2 slices fruit bread (4p), 2 teas ww butter (1p) = 5p
Total points used: 28/28

Water Intake: 2 litres  ¶ 11:59 PM 0 comments

  TRACKING: Monday 7 Nov 05 Incidental Exercise:
160 stairs at work
1.5 hours of high-energy housework (moving furniture/lifting boxes/etc)

Planned Exercise:
50 mins Steps video

Food:
Breaky: Crunchola (3p), 1/2 cup Trim milk (1p) = 4p
Morning Tea: Diet yogurt (1p), 1 slice raisin toast (2p), 1 teas ww butter (1/2p) = 3.5p
Lunch: ww frozen dinner = 5p
Afternoon Tea: Apple (1p)
Dinner: 4 slices thin&crispy vegetable pizza (12p)
No dessert cos I ate like a pig at dinner.
Total points: 25/28

Water: very good - 4 litres!!! wow

Notes: I dont like what I had today to eat. I didnt have enough fresh fruit/veges/salad. but i had so many points leftover at dinnertime and i dont get to eat pizza often so I thought I would eat it. And I regretted it straight away. I would have rather gone way under points and had a sensible dinner. I felt gross afterwards and even contemplated spewing it back up so I wouldnt get a bellyache. But immediately kicked myself for even thinking that way. So instead I drank a litre of water to try to dilute the pizza in my stomache. Felt better after drinking water.

Tomorrow Im going to eat extra fresh food to try to get some nutrition into my body.  ¶ 11:59 PM 0 comments

  Just a chat Im a bit bored so thought I would post again for a bit of a chat. I bought the WW magazine this bi-month and its a really good edition! There is lots in there to read. I loved reading the slimmer of the year articles. Its amazing to see the before/after shots. All the women looked so much younger after having lost the weight. And one lady lost about 60kgs if my memory is right. Amazing.

The struggles that they must have gone through in ditching their old lifestyles and taking up the new ones. It reminded me of this show I watched last week on TV at about 10pm at night (cant remember the name of it) and it was about morbidly obese people. They had 2 main people on the show - a man who weighed over 1000 pound at his heaviest, and a chick that weighed over 1200 pound!!! That just amazes me. Both of them have currently lost half their body weight.

But BOTH of them said it was in their genes. But that got me thinking. If it is in their genes to be fat - then why have they managed to lose the weight? They need to at least take partial blame for their bodies getting the way they are. Obviously they had to be consuming WAY too much food, and not exercising enough. The guy on the show had been married for something like 4 years and still hadnt consummated the marriage! Poor wife!! :)

With the WW magazine I also got a 2006 calendar. So you get good value for money with this edition. There is some yummo dessert recipes on the calendar that I HAVE to try - like Tiramisu. mmmmm.

I went shopping on Saturday and bought a new denim skirt - SIZE TWELVE!!!! So that is now 2 dress sizes lost on the bottom, and 1 on the top (Im now 12 for both, instead of 14 on top, 16 on bottom). I didnt even squeeze into the skirt, it was a perfect fit. But Ive got a few size 12 skirts at home from before I got fat and they only just fit. So im still not a perfect size 12. It made me happy to see the difference in size when I tried on the skirt. Its a fashionable stretch demin one.

Exercise-wise today has been great - and I feel fantastic for it!! If you read my weekly plan on Thurs I had planned on doing 50 min steps video today, with extra arm exercises. Well, Ive done the 50mins steps, but instead of doing some extra arm exercises I did 1.5 hours of Spring Cleaning. I love Spring Cleaning because everything gets changed/updated. I worked on the rumpus room today and moved around all the furniture into a new layout, got rid of alot of stuff we dont use anymore. Got such a good workout - especially my arms. And the room looks fantastic. DH said it didnt need to be done but I told him that he wasnt here to stop me :P So he will get a surprise when he comes home to find I got rid of some of his stuff he doesnt use anymore. He is such a horder!!! But I did warn him that stuff was going - he was fine with it.

Tomorrow Im going to do my steps video again and continue with the cleaning instead of going for a swim. I plan on finishing off the rumpus room and start cleaning out our storage cupboards - again alot of arm exercises. I still have tuckshop lady arms!! If anyone has any suggestions for exercises to do that target this and work really well please let me know.  ¶ 3:26 PM 2 comments

  Dinner at the Tavern Ive discovered that at the Andergrove Tavern it is only $5 for a kids size buffet - and I live directly behind it!!! Because of the smaller plate size I eat a small portion of food. Its the perfect size for trying to eat the correct portions. The plate is slightly larger than the bowls that the WW meals frozen meals come in - to give u a visual. Fantastic!

And for $5 that is a bargain! So with me being home by myself 5 nights a week I think I will go there once a week. I love cooking at home so I wont go more than that. But itll give me a night off without me having to cook up a ww frozen meal. They arent that fantastic.

I feel like a slug because I didnt do much exercise over the weekend. But I knew this was going to happen with DH only being home on weekends. But I have put it in my exercise plan so I have planned for it each week. I need to plan when things may prevent me from eating right or exercising because otherwise Ill get off track.

"Those who fail to plan, plan to fail"

Have a great week!  ¶ 8:24 AM 4 comments

  TRACKING: Sunday 6 Nov 05 Planned Exercise:
none

Incidental Exercise:
Walked to dinner at the Tavern and back - 15 mins

Food:
Breaky: Crunchola (3p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 5p
Morning Tea: Salsa Nibblies = 1p
Lunch: Tuna (2p), point-free salad (0p), multigrain roll (3p), ww mayo (1/2p) = 5.5p
Afternoon Tea: 1/2 tub yogurt (1/2p), ww fruit (1/2p), 1 tbs crunchola (1/2p) = 1.5p
Dinner: Kids size meal at Tavern - 1 small slice of roast lamb (1p), 1/2 cup rice (2p), 1 small scoop of teriyaki beef (3p?), 1 small potato (1p), 1 small pumpkin (1p), gravy (1/2p), point-free salad (0p) = 8.5p .... im not positive about the teriyaki beef, so I guessed 1 point for sauce and 2 points for the beef.
Dessert: 1/2 tub yogurt (1/2p), ww fruit (1/2p), mini pavlova meringe (1/2p) = 1.5p
Total points: 22.5/28
Sugar points: 1/2

Water Intake: Not as good. 1.5 litres. Grrrrr disappointing.  ¶ 11:59 PM 0 comments

  TRACKING: Saturday 5th Nov Exercise:
None

Food:
Breaky: 3 x weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5p
Morning Tea: 1/2 tub yogurt (1/2p), ww fruit (1/2p), mini pav meringue (1/2p) = 1.5p
Lunch: 1 1/2 pieces homemade chicken pie = 12p
Afternoon Tea: light drumstick (3p), 1 crispbread with ww cottage cheese (1p) = 4p
Dinner: grilled fish (3p), burger bun (3p), point-free salad (0p) = 6p
Dessert: yogurt (1/2p), banana (1p), 1 tbs crunchola cereal (1/2p) = 2p
Total points: 30/28

I had a bad day of eating today, but I have gone under most days lately so it doesnt matter. But I have to watch my sweet points cos today I had 3.5.  ¶ 6:40 PM 2 comments

  TRACKING: Friday 4 Nov Planned exercise:
30 min walk with Bee in pram

Incidental exercise:
Wash the Turbo
80 stairs at work

Food:
Breakky: 3 x weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup trim milk (2p) = 4.5p
Morning Tea: 1/2 tub yogurt (1/2p), ww fruit (1/2p), mini pav shell (1/2p) = 1.5p
Picked at food I was cooking (norty me): beef strogonoff = 2p
Lunch: 1/2 ww meal chicken tikka masala (2.5p), pointfree salad (0p), low fat cheese (1p), sm apple (1p) = 4.5p
Afternoon Tea: plain crispbread (1.5p), cup tea with milk (1/2p) = 2p
Dinner:
Dessert:
Total points:

Water intake:  ¶ 11:59 PM 0 comments

  TRACKING: Thursday 03/11/05 Planned Exercise:
None

Incidental Exercise:
160 stairs at work

Food:
Breakfast: 2 sm slices toast (2p), ww butter (1p), tomato (0p) = 3p
Morning Tea: WW salsa nibblies (1p) = 1p
Lunch: Greek spinach pie (2.5p), pointfree salad (0p), cheese (1p) = 3.5p
Afternoon Tea: 2 slices raisin toast (4p), ww butter (1p) = 5p
Dinner: mussaman beef (8p), 3/4 cup rice (2.5p) = 10.5p
Dessert: ww choc mousse (1p) = 1p
Total points: 24/28

Water Intake: about 2 litres  ¶ 11:59 PM 4 comments

  Week Twelve Weighin - 0.7kgs down Well I was close! I had guessed that I had lost 0.9kgs this fortnight ... and I lost 0.7kg (Ill fix yesterdays post). I had guessed that I would have a low weightloss this fortnight as I was so norty when on holidays. But a loss on holidays is MUCH better than a gain on holidays.

Also, Im thinking that Im not going to bother with fortnightly weighins. Next week Im going to buy myself another 6 weeks of prepaid meetings and just keep going weekly. Ive decided I dont want to risk losing motivation - not when Im so close to goal.

So I am exactly 74kgs - another 6 exactly to get to my WWGW. 3kgs to get to my PGW - I may get that this month!

Exercise plan for this week:
Fri - 30 min Carmen Electra Workout DVD + wash the Turbo
Sat - Nothing. DH is home.
Sun - Nothing. DH is home.
Mon - 50 min Steps Video + extra arm exercises with weights
Tues - 50 min Steps Video + swim at pool
Wed - 30 min Carmen Electra Workout DVD + 30 min walk with Bee in pram
Thurs - I might do OzAerobics for a change? If not, the Steps video.

I do most of my exercise when Bee is sleeping now, so these videos/DVDs are working out great for me!

Im also going to start putting my food & exercise tracking in here. Cos I have lapsed in BOTH of these in the last 2 weeks and I need to get back into tracking.

Cmon Karen - get your butt into gear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  ¶ 12:43 PM 3 comments

  TRACKING: Wednesday 02/11/05 Planned Exercise:
Carmen Electra DVD2 - 30 min workout

Incidental Exercise:
160 stairs at work

Food:
Breaky - 3 x weetbix (2.5p), 1 cup Trim milk (2p) = 4.5p
Morning Tea - sm tub yogurt (0.5p), 1/2 banana (0.5p) = 1p
Lunch - curried prawns (2.5p), 3/4 cup rice (2.5) = 5p
Afternoon Tea - 4 crispbread (1.5p), cheese (2p), tomato (0p) = 3.5p
Dinner - 2 x Greek spinach pie slice (5p), point-free salad (0p), cheese (2p) = 7p
Dessert - 2 sm scoops lowfat icecream (2p), diet topping (0p) = 2p
Total: 23/28 points (2 sweet points)

Satisfactory water intake, but would have liked more. I had just over 2 litres.  ¶ 11:59 PM 0 comments

  October Wrap - November Plan October in review

Beginning weight: 77.8kgs
Ending weight: 74kgs (confirm tomorrow morning)
Total weightloss: 3.8kgs

Goal Status: On track - I want to be a 60s girl by Christmas!!!

Starting BMI: 26 exactly
Ending BMI: 24.7 (confirm tomorrow morning)

Commendable aspect of October weightloss: I reached my pre-baby weight - and have passed it, I lost 10% of my body weight, I lost half my goal weight to lose, I bought some new clothes and look fantastic in them, I dropped my BMI by 1.3, my father-in-law has started calling me "slim" as my nickname (gotta love him!), I lost the most amount of weight in one month since I started. I wanted to be 75-ish by the end of October, so I made it way past that :)

The areas I said I would work on at the end of October were taking up swimming or riding (I started swimming), increase my water intake to a solid 3 litres at least (NOT DONE!), eat more nutritious points, instead of "empty" points (done, apart from holidays). So that is pretty good, two out of three. So I want to get back on top of the water issue - although that mainly has been lapse when I was on holidays. I was fine before then.

November Plan

Goal Affirmation: I would love to be a 60s girl by Christmas - preferably at my goal weight of 68. So to do this I would love to lose around 3 - 4 kilos this month. I have exactly 5 weighins (4 full weeks) this month to work on. I know this is alot to ask with me being so close to goal, so its just an ideal.

Areas to work on in November: Re-increase my water intake again to a solid 3 litres at least. I was going fine in October until I went on holidays, now I need to remotivate myself in water intake, food and also exercise. Maybe I will try something new in exercise as I am not getting to the pool as often as I would like. So my goals for November is to get everything back on track!  ¶ 3:38 PM 3 comments

  Recipe: Greek Spinach Pie - very low point! Tonight my sister is coming over for dinner to keep me company so Im cooking up a Greek Spinach Pie.

Stats:
Serves 6 – 2 ½ points each (havent had a chance to double check this point guide yet)

Ingrediants:
1 large bunch spinach
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions chopped
½ bunch shallots chopped
2 tsp garlic
2 beaten eggs
150g reduced fat feta
150g cottage cheese
Pinch nutmeg
¼ teaspoon pepper
10 sheet filo pastry

Method:
1. Preheat oven 180
2. Wash and chop spinach
3. Heat olive oil and cook onions till soft
4. Add garlic, spinach and shallots, cook until wilted (1 -2 minutes)
5. In separate bowl add eggs, cottage cheese and feta, nutmeg and pepper
6. Combine the two
7. Put half of filo layered on bottom of pie dish, spraying with olive oil in between
8. Add spinach mix and top with remaining filo
9. Cook 40 minutes

Im going to serve it with a garden salad.

************************

Update: This is BEAUTIFUL!!! I loved it. definitely going to cook it again. But I found myself having 2 pieces :P but it fit into my points so its all good :D Plus, before I put it in the oven I sprinkled a tablespoon of sesame seeds over the top and it turned out great. Sis loved it too. She had 2 pieces then took a piece home for lunch tomorrow!  ¶ 10:39 AM 0 comments

  Recipe: sweet chilli ham and potato pizza Last night I cooked this and it was pretty tasty - and quick! Its from the WW book: Simply Mains.

Stats:
serves 1
5.5 points

Ingrediants:
1 large lebanese bread
1 1/2 tbs tomato paste
1 small potato, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion
2 slices ww ham, thinly sliced
1 tbs grated low fat cheese
1 tbs ww sour cream
2 teas sweet chilli sauce
1 tbs fresh coriander leaves

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees
2. Spread sauce on base
3. Layer potato, onion and ham.
4. Sprinkle with cheese.
5. Cook for about 10 mins or until base is crispy and cheese is melted
6. Cut into wedges and dollop with sour cream, drizzle with sweet chilli sauce and sprinkle with coriander.

Ways to bulk up the serving but without adding points: Add extra point-free veges on the pizza such as capsicum, mushies and tomato.

Ways to reduce points: It doesnt really need the sour cream. I didnt use it and it stil tasted great.

Prawns in a Mango Curry sauce

Tonight Im cooking Prawns in a Mango Curry sauce. There is no recipe for this. I just bought some 97% fat free Indian Tonight Mango Curry simmer sauce (1.5 points per serve), I shelled some prawns this morning (100g is 1 point). Im going to serve it with 3/4 cup cooked rice (2.5 points) and some steamed beans and carrots (0 points). So all up its a 5 point dinner. Depending on how hungry I am tonight I may also chop a potato up into 1cm cubes and add that to the sauce as well. Sounds yummo!!!

  ¶ 8:40 AM 2 comments