The Results Are In – Week 2

Posted January 20, 2014

Filed under My Progress

Weight loss: 4lbs

Current weight: 12st 2lbs

Weight loss since start: 4.5lbs

Lbs to go to reach next target: 0!

Wow! I’m so pleased I stuck with the program this week and achieved a great loss!

What’s gone well?

As I said in last week’s results post, I was disappointed at my weight-loss last week but I still rewarded myself with my Lush bath and reminded myself that a) it was still a loss that brought me one step closer to my target and b) I’ve made healthier choices with my food and exercise that have made me feel better in myself.

Having leftover portions of plan-friendly meals in the freezer definitely helped me to stay on track this week. Although I plan my meals a week in advance, for some reason I hadn’t included a meal for Friday night. I realised this on Thursday but was able to fall back on some leftover Moussaka after I’d been to my spinning class.

I’m also delighted that I’ve been able to maintain my ‘No chocolate or alcohol in January’ goal, even though the past two weeks at work have been pretty horrendous.

I’ve also made what I think is a big step for me in addressing my habit of comfort eating: I work with children and we all sit down to eat breakfast at 11am. The children have toast (white bread) with jam, marmalade or lemon curd. I’d been eating this in Week 1 and using my daily treats for it. However I replaced it with a banana this week to try to help increase my weight loss. On Friday, I felt very stressed and tired and I was going to have a slice. I was thinking ‘I’ve been good all week and it’s Friday. So I can treat myself and use my daily treats’. But then I recognised that this would not help me to break the comfort eating habit and that I need to stop seeing food as a reward. I ate my banana and I felt very virtuous!

What’s been difficult?

I have been slightly tempted to miss a couple of exercise classes this week with no other reason than at the time, I felt like I couldn’t be bothered. However, I reminded myself that sitting on the sofa won’t help to bring me closer to my goals and that once I’d completed the class I’d feel better. I managed to keep the motivation going but I know I’ll need to keep an eye on this over the next couple of weeks.

The week ahead

It’s my dad’s birthday this weekend and he’s coming round for dinner. I’m going to make some kind of beef casserole and I’ll have a look at my Filling & Healthy cookbook and recipe cards for a suitable desert. I think the hardest bit will be not having a nice glass of wine with my meal but I am determined to complete Dry January.

Thanks for reading.

PS How do you stay motivated to exercise?

Spaghetti Bolognaise

Posted January 20, 2014

Filed under Recipes

Put a twist on this classic by using pork, chicken or turkey mince. I like to use a beef stock cube to add richness to the sauce but you could match the stock to your choice of mince if you prefer.

Servings: 4

Pro Points: Chicken [3]

Beef [4]

Pork [5]

Turkey [3]

+ extra for spaghetti

Simple Start: 0

Preparation time: 10mins

Cooking time: 40mins

Ingredients

Olive/vegetable oil or oil spray
1 large or 2 small onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
500g of your choice of chicken mince, extra lean beef mince, extra lean pork mince, or turkey breast mince
400g chopped tomatoes
400g passata
Beef stock cube, made up with 100ml of hot water
200g mushrooms, sliced thickly
2tbsp dried mixed herbs
Salt & pepper
Spaghetti to serve

Method

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Add the onions and garlic and fry gently over a medium/low heat for approximately 5mins until softened.
Add your choice of mince. Increase the heat slightly and fry until browned.
Add the tomatoes, passata, stock and mixed herbs and stir well.
Bring up to the boil. Stir in the mushrooms then reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25min until the mushrooms are cooked through.
Season to taste and serve with cooked pasta.

Top tip: Add some chopped mixed peppers and extra tinned tomatoes or passata to make this go even further (and reduce the points per serving if you are counting Pro Points). E.g. If using chicken mince and adding 3 peppers, you are able to get 6 servings at 2pp each (excluding pasta).

Simple Salmon Stir-Fry

Posted January 16, 2014

Filed under Recipes

One of my favourite, quick and easy mid-week dinners is a salmon stir-fry.

Servings: 2

Pro Points: 6 (+ extra for rice)

Simple Start: 0

Preparation time: 0mins

Cooking time: 25-30mins

Ingredients

2 lightly smoked salmon fillets
A selection of prepared stir-fry vegetables
Brown rice to serve
Thai 7 Spice or Chinese 5 Spice
Soy sauce
Olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 170˚c/160˚c fan/355˚f/Gas mark 3. If using, cook the rice according to the instructions on the packet.
Meanwhile, wrap the salmon fillets in foil and place on a baking tray in the oven. Cook for 20mins.
Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the vegetables and stir-fry for 2-3mins.
Sprinkle over 2/3tsps of the Thai or Chinese Spice and 1/2-1tsp Soy Sauce according to your taste.
Serve the salmon on top of the rice surrounded by the vegetables.

Top tip: If you’re counting Pro Points, exchange the rice for boiled noodles and add them to the vegetables before adding the spices and soy sauce.

The Results Are In – Week 1

Posted January 13, 2014

Filed under My Progress

Weight loss: 0.5lb

Current weight: 12st 6lb

Weight loss since start: 0.5lb

Lbs to go to reach next target: 3.5lb

I’ve got to admit that after a full week on Simple Start, with 3 gym sessions, no alcohol and no chocolate, I was hoping to lose about 2lb. However, as I’m always reminding the other members in my meeting when they’re happy with a small loss – it’s a step in the right direction and it all adds up in the end. Time to heed my own advice!

What’s gone well?

I’ve been really motivated this week and so I’ve found it pretty easy to stick to the plan. Even when I visited my Nan at the weekend and was faced with a table full of chocolate, chocolate biscuits and mince pies, I didn’t cave. This was helped by the fact that I’d planned ahead and taken some soup and an orange with me.

Panzanella with Bacon

I’ve been loving cooking and eating fantastic, flavoursome food including several new recipes from the Simple Start and Your Week materials. My favourite new recipe was the Panzanella which I added some bacon to for a protein boost after my box fit session on Sunday. I made extra so that my lunch for work on Monday was taken care of and added chicken and extra mixed salad leaves.

I’ve also enjoyed sharing a couple of my own recipes for Beef Rogan Josh and Cottage Pie with my followers.

I was delighted to find that one of my old favourite recipes fits perfectly into the Simple Start programme: Baked Sweet Potato with Spicy Mince and Beans (The Smart Cook p.88). I had some of this in the freezer and had it twice this week!

I’ve also managed to stick to my new fitness regime attending 3 classes over the course of the week : Body Pump, Spinning and Box Fit.

Baked Sweet Potato with Spicy Mince and Beans

What’s been difficult?

My lunch break at work has been shortened from 30mins to 20mins. I previously often relied on taking in and heating up leftover dinner for my lunches. I won’t have time for that now so I’m going to have to think about some cold meals I can take instead and how to factor in the time to make them in my already busy week.

By the time I’d finished work, been to my Spinning class, come home and eaten dinner on Friday, I really didn’t feel like sitting down to plan my meals for the following week and do my online shopping. I just wanted to flake out in front of the TV. However, I reminded myself that for me, planning ahead is crucial to staying on track. I did it and, though it wasn’t my favourite way of spending a Friday evening, at least it stopped me from having time to think about wanting a glass of wine!

The week ahead

I have a meeting to go to straight from work on Wednesday and then the photography course I’m doing has been moved from Thursday to Wednesday as well this week so Wednesday is going to be a particularly busy day. To help me survive it and stay on track, I’m going to order a baked potato with beans for my lunch at work and take a sandwich with me to eat when I get to college. I’ll also make sure I’ve got some extra fruit to snack on too.

I said last week that I thought it was important to reward myself for reaching my goals and that I was going to write a post about this. While I didn’t get chance to write about this last week, due to getting back into the swing of balancing work with eating properly and exercising, I have been thinking about this and will post about it tomorrow so keep an eye out for that.

Thanks for reading.

PS If you’ve got any tasty, easy, cold lunch ideas for me, please share!

Cottage Pie

Posted January 12, 2014

Filed under Recipes

Cottage Pie

I adapted this from the recipe in the Simple Start material as I don’t like Quorn mince.

Servings: 4

Pro Points: 8

Simple Start: 0

Preparation time: 15-20mins

Cooking time: 50mins

Ingredients

900 g Potatoes, peeled and quartered
Spray oil
350 g extra lean beef mince
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 medium leek chopped finely
1 medium carrot, chopped
225 g swede or turnip, chopped
Beef stock cube, made up with 500ml hot water
2 teaspoons Dried Mixed Herbs
3 tablespoons skimmed milk
Salt and Pepper, to season
Vegetables to serve

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 190˚c/180˚c fan/375˚f/Gas mark 5.
Put the potatoes into a large pan of water, bring to the boil and cook for 15-20mins until tender.
Meanwhile, soften the onions in a large non-stick pan with the oil spray.
When the onions have softened, add the mince and stir until browned. Then add the leeks, carrot, swede or turnip cook gently for 5mins to soften the vegetables. Stir frequently and add a splash of water if necessary to stop the mixture from sticking.
Add the beef stock and the herbs. Stir well and simmer for 10-15mins. Season the meat mixture to taste. While the mince is cooking, mash the potatoes with the skimmed milk.
Spoon the cooked mince and vegetables into a large oven proof dish and top with the mashed potatoes.
Cook in the oven for 25-30mins until piping hot throughout and browned on top. Serve with cooked green vegetables.

Top tip: If you’re not a fan of peeling potatoes, use New Potatoes to create a ‘rustic mash’: cook and mash them with their skins on.

Slow-Cooked Beef Rogan Josh

Posted January 5, 2014

Filed under Recipes

Beef Rogan Josh

This is incredibly easy and makes a delicious alternative to a takeaway on a Saturday night. The spice level is medium-hot but this can be altered by adding more/less chillies as desired.

Servings: 4

Pro Points: 3 (+ extra for rice)

Simple Start: 0

Preparation time: 10mins

Cooking time: 4-6 hours

Ingredients

2 medium/3 small onions
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp turmeric
6 green cardamom pods
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 stick cinnamon
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 tsp paprika
1 each red & green pepper, cut into strips
400g lean braising beef
400g tin chopped tomatoes
200g passata

Method

Finely chop half of the onions and cut the other half into wedges. Put into slow cooker with the sliced garlic.
Crush the coriander seeds and break the cinnamon stick in half. Add all the spices to the slow cooker and stir to combine.
Cut the beef into large chunks and add to the slow cooker along with the peppers, tomatoes and passata. Stir well.
Cook on low for 4 hours or high for 6 hours until the meat is cooked through.
Season to taste and serve with brown rice.

Top tip: Make extra and freeze the left-over portions for a great homemade ready meal.