Adventures in small plate eating

In the 3 weeks I've been on Weigh-Less, I've lost exactly 2 kg.

0.8, 1 kg and this last week 0.2 kg.

I thought I ate better but then I remembered:

1. 2 boerewors rolls (Sat and Thurs)
2. 1 Taste of Asia dinner with quite a bit of oil (Tues)
3. work breakfast (pictured above) (Wed)
4. 1 biryani which was so, so good (Wed)
5. 3 slices of pizza for lunch one day (Fri)
6. the usual Easter egg chocolate here and there...

So actually a 0.2 kg loss is FANTASTIC!

This week I'm back to basics which for me means planning. And not exceeding my personal Weigh-Less boundary of not more than 4 meals off track.

Especially in light of the upcoming chocolates and hot cross buns... Have you guys seen those chocolate hot cross buns at Woolies?!!!

What has worked so far for me?

1. only having 3 cups of tea a day (hard!!!!)
2. drinking all my water
3. 1 slice of bread at lunch - I find I actually don't miss that second slice
4. afternoon apple and yoghurt - I eat an apple while driving home on gym days
5. eating off a smaller plate (no jokes)

Which Easter treats are your weakness? Do you allow your kids to go wild with the chocolate on Easter?

Are you a rebel dieter?

 

So remember last week I joined Weigh-Less?

When I mention to people that I'm on WL, I get one of two reactions:

oh WL is great. It's always worked for me/ it worked for me in the past OR
oh, I could never weigh my food all the time

GRRRRR - because that tells me you're not open-minded about this.

Nevertheless, this is not a post to promote WL but to tell my story.

This week I honestly felt like it was easy.

I saw that I lost a lot quickly (after 2 - 3 days), then I stabilised, picked up 200 or so grams, and then lost a bit again at the end of the week.

My total weight loss when I weighed on Saturday?

0.8 kg!

AWESOME considering for my frame I'm always happy with 0.6 or more, and I had about 4 mini Cadbury's eggs and 5 caramel marshmallow eggs...

Right.

I briefly mentioned in that post I linked to that I'm a profile B.

When she weighed me this week, I told her I found this week quite easy, easier than I did the whole of last year's WL attempt, and that somehow I think it's linked to this profile B business.

She said they've had LOTS of success with this new profiling business even though she thought it was a load of nonsense but it is working.

A - these are the good girls - they love a plan and following that plan to the T. Last time I was there there was a lady who was the PERFECT dieter. She even told me last time she counts out exactly 12 nuts for her snack..... (I thought, "wow, self-control") For these girls, they tell them exactly what to eat and when, and they follow that plan perfectly and lose their weight.

(I think this is you, Marleen - what do you guys who know her think? :))

B - these are the ones who mostly follow the plan but don't like to be too restricted on weekends especially. This is me. I consider it a good week (as you saw above) if I don't cheat too badly. For us, they tell us what to eat but we have such a lot of choices and I feel like I can eat more of what I like (like 3 fruits a day) and I only have to have 1 - 3 veg per meal (at least 1 so I only have one :))

C - these are the rebels - they don't like to be told what and how much to eat. They just don't like rules. She told me for these girls they don't use any "must" or "should" language. They say things like "they suggest that they do x and y"

All these mind games are working, people!!!

I'm already down 0.7 kg from Saturday but of course, we expect that to increase a bit mid-week and then dip again. Unless I lay off the chocolates totally!

This has been going round and round in my mind since Saturday and I've decided that there are 21 meals in a week - breakfasts are really easy for me and I always do them "right" so that means of the 14, I want to do at least 8 - 10 right and the rest mostly right, in other words, I may not do the recipes in their entirety but I will focus on getting my carb and protein portions correct, and let's see how we go.

The one thing I've been really good about is not drinking more than 3 cups tea/ coffee a day. Do you know how hard that is with our weather cooling? And tea for me is much more than just tea - it's how I read blogs and books, how I write, how I blog, etc.

Wish me well and send me good Easter egg vibes because it is HARD with all the chocolatey goodness around.

I must thank God that I "only" like Cadbury's because it's really hard to find Cadbury's easter eggs. I bought 4 bags of little ones for the kids and us and don't intend to get more. By the way, does anyone know if Cadbury's still make those divine mint crisp eggs? Oh man! If they do, tell me, I'll get D to get a pack and dole out half of one every Sat just after I weigh!

Right, so into which category would you fall - A, B or C?
PS the lovely yellow flower is from Caren's garden

I joined Weigh-Less today

It was one of my February goals that I just didn't get to because I miscalculated and thought February Saturdays hadn't run out yet :)

Nevertheless, goal 1 of March is done.

see the beautiful light in my study in the afternoons? this is what the table is for - so these two can do their thing and I can get one or two quick things done :)

The fact is since I was sick with the flu two months in a row last year (Aug and Sept), I seemed to pile on 3 kgs (in about 6 weeks) and try what may, I couldn't shake them. Another kilo has also crept on the last two months so enough is enough.

Today, Connor's practically bald. The boys went to get their hair shaved for the Cansa Shavathon and they went too short - I'm still cross.

The girls at work were putting together a Weigh-less group but nobody's actually doing it and before you say, "you should do it!", I normally would but I don't want any extra responsibilities for now because I need to be AWESOME when I get this new job (notice the faith speaking) and I need to have my head 100% in the game.

So last night I set my alarm on my iphone (I noticed that no alarms had been set before - what? I haven't needed an alarm to wake me since 27 Nov?) and got myself to Weigh-Less. The group leader still remembers me from my two previous attempts at this venue. I must say they make it easier and easier each time I join - this is number 5 for me. I'm a B profile (mostly can stick to a plan but I do go a bit wild at socials and at weekends.......).

they and I love this toy

Anyway, the group leader said something key to me. I told her I'd like to weigh x but will be happy with y, and she said, "well let's put y because sometimes those last few kgs could mean the difference between easily maintaining and you getting demotivated and falling totally off the bandwagon". SO TRUE! So I have 6.4 to go. I'm horrified! I thought it would be 5....

Tonight I sat down with my diary, menu planning pad and my Weigh-Less file and I planned all our meals for the whole week. A bit time-consuming but I'll get used to it again. And it will all be worth it next week when she says "good job. You lost ____" :)

Today hasn't been bad... but it's also been a really good day and I'm definitely an emotional eater.

Are you an emotional eater?

Remember my cooking frenzy last weekend?  Just cooked another two meals. Technically one is new but since I just made a weigh-less version of that indonesian chicken curry, I don't feel like I can count it. However, if it tastes good, I will post the recipe. And then I made a chicken casserole for D and the babies.

Speaking of presents, today I treated us to some beautiful new linen. New duvet, sheets and pillow cases. Oh Mr P Home, you are not helpful with the budget! D asked me if I was going mad and I said, "I feel like I deserve it". Ha! Will take pics next week when I get my A into G and dress the bed :)

The Mandys and I are doing it this week. Are you joining us?

And this is why I don't buy clothes!

taken this evening on our walk

taken this morning - this nail polish reminds me of the blue Tippex we used to use yonks ago. And this grey sleeveless T was one of my absolute favourite T-shirts ever... bought in Thailand 6 years ago and the only thing I still have from there.

I've been thinking about that new fashion blog a lot, just because first impressions do count no matter what anyone says, and I want to get back to who I was at work despite the weight I need to lose.

So last week Thursday off I went to Woolies because that's where I traditionally get my work clothes.

I walked around just grabbing things that took my fancy and went into the fitting room with 8 items of clothes - a dress (just for you guys!), two skirts and pants.

Any guesses as to how many of those items fit?

2! Size 12s.

I was very despondent and promptly went to buy 3 pairs of shoes. Lovely yellow flip flops and two pairs of work shoes.

Again, this is why I buy bags!

Then I went to Pick and Pay (have you ever looked at PnP's clothes? I love it!) and saw SUCh a lot of great things I just bought and bought and bought... to the tune of about R1200.

The size 12 jeans from Woolworths wouldn't close (I now have the belly as well as the bum I've always had!) so at P&P I took size 14.

I fitted all the stuff on at home and this time only took back 4 items. The one thing I'm very sad about is a yellow striped T-shirt (I've totally given into my yellow obsession..... and it all started with a
frivolous yellow bag) that was too big in a large. They had no mediums.

The one pair of capri jeans is PERFECT and even makes me look thin (a dark rinse) and the other pair is okay but is getting looser by the day....

So, bottom line - I have a ton of new clothes and the only things I can wear to work? One pair of black pants (elasticated but it looks much more classic than it sounds!) and two pairs of shoes.

Have you bought any clothes lately you just love?
Are you also freaked by the number?

I really am trying not to be... for now. But the one thing I am looking forward to is getting back to Weigh-Less. The exercise? Not so much. But I've booked with a new personal trainer.

PS I've been very good - cooked both meals today! Tomorrow we're breaking loose though :) and eating out.

Much better

Well, I had session 2 with the personal trainer today and it was much better.

We worked on my abs and upper body but only after I gave her a talk about how I have TWINS and have to RUN around after them and how I cannot expect my HUSBAND to do it all if I can't walk blah blah blah.

I know some of you think I'm being dramatic but I literally could not walk. I was limping on my tippy toes, holding onto furniture, right up until Saturday.

See, I was a bit miffed because she worked me so hard even though she knew I hadn't worked out for 7 weeks.

But I was more cross with me.

I should know better and stand up for myself. I do so with everything else.

I think I was just trying to show off that I could do everything she wanted me to do.

Can you believe when I told this to my boss he laughed at me?!

:)

We are both very competitive so he gets me.

Anyway, so I feel much better about this whole exercising deal.

I'm to email her tomorrow to tell her how I feel :)

On the eating front, I am so sick of tuna I could puke!

You have to have so much of these things to constitute 1 portion of protein.

E.g. 1 whole can of tuna is 1 protein and 90 g of lean ham is 1 protein (the pack I buy is 125 g so just imagine leaving 3 pieces and having that entire pack for lunch. Ugh!)

Good thing I still love my baked beans but I've jazzed them up this week by cooking them with onion, tomato, coriander (yum...) and some curry powder. One can makes 3 portions (1 Protein, 1 Veg) the way I did them and they were DELICIOUS on toast today.

But back to you...

How assertive are you with this kind of thing? Would you have said something to her, or not?

Thanks for voting :)

Weekend wrap-up

Yesterday morning I determined that I would go to weigh-in no matter what, and I did.

And guess what? I lost a kilo!

I'm not getting too excited though as my knee seems to be messed up (yes, from Tuesday's exercise) and I'm on Voltaren...so I'm taking it easy with exercise if I even get there.

I spoke to the lady about my C problem and she upped my fruit to 3 a day, checked that I was still drinking all my water (I am) and suggested prunes as that 3rd fruit.

She said to me that she hoped I wasn't offended by her text. As if! I told her I LOVED that she called me out on it.

So off I went to Pick and Pay to get a ginormous packet of prunes and when I saw this, I decided that I deserved a (non-food) gift for losing a kilo :)

Isn't it pretty?

D and I had our date - a shopping one for party stuff/ kids' presents, etc. We bought them 6 things each - mostly things they need - but we're hiding most of it away til their birthday.

I got a few stationery items as I normally do (this is my vice).

But best of all, we went for a baked cheesecake slice and coffee to talk and we are finally in agreement on the party theme. My two boring ideas are out and we're going with something more fun but still easy (I think).

I'm not telling you because some of the people reading this blog will be invited and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

And so I've bought stuff already - paper bowls and plates, muffin cups, some balloons, and some things from my beloved etsy (I know it's a sickness :)).

Things are moving and I'm happy.

Let me just take a moment here and say this: it is near impossible to find non-character party themes these days.

For someone like me, that's terrible.

But Ben 10, Hello Kitty, and a whole host of other characters I don't even know (would you believe I have still not seen the famous Barney on TV and neither have my kids?!) or care to know.

Anyway, moving on...

Today we had church in the morning and then a few errands on the way home.

We've just finished a new section of the church building and it's looking stunning - I am SO proud because it is seriously gorgeous.

We took the kids to the family room with us today because we were late and Connor was making friends with bigger boys, other families, etc. The boy has no problems with shyness!

He even sat next to another lady eventually and wrote all over her notebook!!!

Kendra did the same in my notebook with my purple pen. I think she loves that I have a lot of coloured pens so she can choose a fun colour.

MandyE, I don't give her my Pilot 0.7 gel pens. Those are sacred. I know you understand :)

Yesterday my kids slept for 2 hours (yes!) but today they slept on the way home from church and that, it seems, was that.

I let them run free out in the garden so I could clean the kitchen. They love being outside so much and we are SOOOOOOOOOO blessed in Jhb to have absolutely the best winter weather in the world.

In my unbiased opinion, of course.

So they were out like a light tonight.

I tidied my study on Friday but there are lists everywhere, yesterday's shopping "hiding out" here and I need to restore some order.

Remind me to talk about scrapbooking paper sometime - maybe it's a good thing I only found out about its goodness this year :)

My vices are paper, notebooks, pens (all stationery actually), mugs and handbags.

What are yours?

And how was your weekend?

Caught out

Spotted while I was doing a walk around at work with an art director scouting for locations

This morning I was walking across the parking lot at our church when my phone beeped.

I checked the message and it said, "Marcia, please come weigh in so I can help you. Maureen".

Caught out.

I replied, "You are SO sweet! I'm at a church thing but I do need help and will phone you. Marcia"

I'm terrible at texting but I had to respond immediately because the Weigh-Less Group Leader figured me out.

I haven't been to weigh-in at Weigh-Less for two Saturdays.

And the week before that I'd put on 0.6 kg. It was the Saturday after our holiday so I chalked it up to being out of your routine on holiday .

The next week I was exactly the same on my scale which means the same on their scale too.

And this morning I was only 0.2 kg lighter.

So I told myself, "what's the point in going?" and "I don't have time"

I never, ever believe people when they say, "I don't have time".

A better thing to say is, "I'm choosing to do this instead of that".

In the interests of full disclosure, I spent some time this morning looking at A's teddy bear bday party (thanks for your Picasa link, Cat).

I could have gone to weigh-in even though I was on my way to church.

I've been having lots of constipation problems and lots of birthday problems.

Birthday problems- these are no excuses. I accept full responsibility.

The table where the birthday girl/ boy puts all the cake and goodies at work is right across the aisle from my desk.

The way I achieve goals is to set up my environment for success. So I don't take any food to work I can't eat. E.g. Julia commented in a post a while back when I mentioned the ginormous bag of food I take to work that I should leave some things there. I can't. If I'm at any point hungry, I would polish it all off since I have very little self-control.

We've had two birthdays in the last two weeks. All with VERY good cake. I've had small pieces but still...cake. I have no problem with things I'm not keen on - fresh cream, lots of icing, etc.

Thank goodness the next birthday is only mid-July!

Then, constipation.

Let's just say I've always suffered somewhat but usually the water and the all bran flakes do the trick.

Not anymore.

I had to buy Dulcolax on Wed because I'd had no success since Sun (TMI!) and yes, it worked on Thurs but I felt so ill I'm considering the rest of the box worth R60 a waste of money. 29 tablets, anyone?

Today my friend told me to try Benefiber so off I went to Clicks again this afternoon and got me some. R85 later, this stuff better work.

There's also one other thing which seems very superficial but here it is:

My jeans are already loose.

The weight I've already lost coupled with the "magic" of the personal trainer has meant my size 34 (10) jeans are all loose around my thighs. So are my work pants and therefore I feel thin. I've even been turning down the waistband to keep the jeans on.

I think I should fit on some of my old size 32's so I can feel a bit fatter and get motivated to lose these last almost 4 kg :)

Here's hoping this week is better and I lose something crazy like 2 kg :) Look at me, over-achiever extraordinaire.

How good are you with self-control and eating the "wrong foods"? What do you tell yourself? What are your tips for "eating success"?

PS I've just realised - I haven't been exercising!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's probably reason 3.

Body issues, what I'm learning about food and tons of pics

love this pic - it's so me - grey skies, cold weather and warm clothes - LOVE!

walking through a cemetery in Scotland

no Photoshop - the grass at the Blarney Castle is really that green!

beautiful street in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland - isn't it quaint?

me in Scotland (just for you, Roz) - down one of the side streets off Princes Street, Edinburgh

in England somewhere - love the colours

my 2nd bloggy meet-up in Scotland - the lovely Suzanne, my organising buddy :)

D & me at the Blarney Castle grounds

me in Chester, England - love this kind of gorgeous little street

I answered in the comments of that torso pic :) but wanted to quickly write it here in case you don't go back and read comments (I know I don't).

Contrary to perception, I really don't have body issues.

I'm happy with what I look like, even the 5 kg overweight version :)

The thing is... I know what my body is capable of and I really hate to see it not living up to its potential.

Confession - I hate seeing any person not living up to their potential.

I want to run up two flights of stairs and not be out of breath.

I want to chase Connor around the garden for hours on end.

Etc. etc.

And I want to be toned and athletic :)

I can dress to camouflage the bad bits... somewhat... but I just want to be the best possible me.

Does this make sense or do you think I'm talking rubbish?


So this time around Weigh-Less is teaching me a couple of things that I'd forgotten, and some new things.

1. Two herbal tea bags in a litre of water plus two sweetener is almost as good as water. I make a jug and drink from it the entire night so that I don't drink endless cups of tea (as I normally do). Delicious. Also helps you get to the water quotient in winter.
2. I have almost gone off normal tea because I'm being intentional about my calories and that extra quarter spoon of sugar (I take 1 equal sweetener (Canderel is too sweet!) plus a 1/4 spoon of sugar in a mug of tea) is just not worth it.
3. I really, really, REALLY look forward to my real cups of tea/ coffee these days because I can only have 3. Sometimes I don't even make it to the 3rd cup!
4. Other than the tea/ coffee, I really prefer to eat my calories rather than drink them. I can easily turn down milkshakes, smoothies, juice, etc.
5. I choose proteins that have the least amount to eat since this is the one I really battle with. So feta cheese over lean ham :)
6. Soup is my friend
7. When I'm organised, I'm much happier (I now carry a herbal teabag in my handbag and to meetings so I'm not tempted by our delicious cappuccinos) and cheat less.
   

And some things I'd forgotten:

• To not buy food I normally don't eat (like those darn Finn's rye biscuits - gosh, they're like cardboard)
• How much I love baked beans and tomatoes!

So how do you feel about your body? Do you have body issues?

And have you learnt anything about your relationship with food lately?

PS there's no reason for the pics - I just felt like looking through some of them and thought you'd enjoy them too :)

Intentional cheating

Pic of my boss's socks - taken in a team meeting :)

This week I had a fairly busy week. It's always busy when the week is shortened and especially so when you're going on leave for 11 WHOLE DAYS!

Woohoo :)

We have such a lot of public holidays - Easter weekend, Freedom Day and Workers Day that if you took 3 days, you'd get 11 in total.

So of course, everybody and anybody will be on leave :)


Thankfully I have nothing serious on my plate for when I get back. Clients have all been briefed and I'm not even going to check my email.

I did two good things for me this week:

1) I've been organising and planning my food a lot more. It's paid off because this morning my scale again said 1 kg lighter than last week but when I went to Weigh-Less, their scale said 1.2 kg down !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm over the moon. Clearly all the soup and herbal tea is working and I'm actually savouring any real mugs of tea (a real mug of tea is one with milk :)).

For the record, I'm no saint. In fact, I've probably cheated every day but I'm a lot more conscious about cheating.

Does that even make sense?

Let me explain.

I had some quiche and mini cheesecakes for someone's birthday at work. After two bites, I stopped eating the quiche as it just wasn't worth the cheat. The cheesecakes totally were worth it, though.

But I thought if I'm going to cheat then I need to thoroughly enjoy the food :)

I did the same thing today with a biscuit. Took a small bite and thought, "um, no. not worth it".

2) And then today I went to have my hair done. Long, long overdue but I had to dye my hair first before getting it blowdried properly.

Do you know how unattractive it is to have a 2 cm strip of grey at the roots?

While I was there, I was brave and asked her to cut some of the end off. Usually she cuts way too much for my liking but I took a deep breath and just went for it.

I don't want to get too excited but I'm in a good phase with my hair at the moment. It's growing nicely and I'm loving it.

Which helps with the bravery.

I'll ask D to take a pic...


And that's me - now I have to assemble the babies' Easter things.

I'm not into making gift-giving occasions out of every holiday but my mother specially EFT'd money into my account and told me to get something for the babies.

This is not like her normally so it means a lot to me.

I got pajamas for them because they (especially Kendra) love them. If it were up to me, I'd keep them looking like babies forever and have them in babygrows til they're 5 :).

They each got a pair of flannel hand-me-down (I love hand-me-downs, especially if I'm close to the people!) pjs and they look so cute in them.

So they're getting pajamas and a few Easter eggs from us.

What did you do for yourself this week?

Did you do Easter gifts for your kiddos? What did you get?

7 Saturday snippets

1. This morning at home when I weighed myself (in underwear) I was exactly a kg lighter than last week. When I got dressed in my winter clothes that kg (2.2 pounds) translated to an official 0.8 kg loss on the Weigh-Less scales. Yay!
2. Things that are my friend - soup (lots of it - made another huge pot last night), herbal tea and tomatoes. Every day I probably have about 200g tomatoes.
3. So you know I read lots of home and decor blogs? Are they just the 10% or does everyone in America "decorate for spring" with all the eggs? And does everyone have basements and attics because where oh where do you store all that seasonal decorating?
4. D and I got V in and went for a lunch date by ourselves after doing some quick winter clothes shopping for my poor children. I bought stuff in the sales last year but turns out that wasn't such a good idea as all the stuff is still too big for them. Kendra can still wear some of last year's winter clothes. Pants are too short but jerseys and tops are okay. Connor has outgrown everything 12 - 18 months but is not big enough for 2 - 3 years so he got two tracksuits, two jerseys and some long-sleeved t-shirts.
5. If I'm ever tempted to buy things at Ackermans again, will someone please slap me over the head. I say this everytime but it is SUCH a procedure to return things. I spent 15 minutes with the security guard at the door, 7 minutes in the queue and another 10 minutes with the cashier. All while D patiently waited for me at Mugg and Bean. The last time I had to return things the memory of the previous schlep was still fresh in my mind so I gave V the stuff (came to about R50) and said, "here's the slip, take these things back and get Wisdom 2 t-shirts with the money". Brilliant.
6. I have been doing the budget this evening and .......... we are waaaayyyy overspending on our food. I need to introduce something soon because this is getting out of hand. This month is 4 days from over (I get paid on the 20th) and already we are 85% over budget. Part of it is Weigh-Less because buying TONS of fresh produce all the time is expensive but next month I am going to be super frugal, eat from the pantry and freezer and haul out all my tricks.
7. I'm also trying to close all my accounts with the red bank. I've just put a ginormous amt of money into our bond from my one savings account. Now I only have one more savings account left with them. Let's see how many hoops they make me jump through this time. I closed my credit card last year and only managed it on the 3rd try and then only because of my complaint on hellopeter.com.

So do tell me - how long have you been with your current bank? And then please share one of your best tricks for controlling the food budget.

Instead of losing the kg like I wanted to...

I gained 0.8 kg!

I was so, so tempted not to go weigh on Saturday but I talked myself into going because I know I need the accountability.

The ladies did not look very impressed with me (trust me, I was also not very impressed with me either) and talked to me for a long time.

It was no surprise to me that I'd gained weight since I started because I was trying to do things my way.

Well, my way hasn't been working which is why I joined in the first place.

For those of you who have never been on Weigh-Less (lucky fish), this is how it works:

• they give you a formula (5 complex carbs, 3 protein, etc, etc)
• you have to eat everything within the day
• you have to drink 2 L of water daily

I hadn't had all my water (have lapsed to around 1.5 L daily) and I was not eating the entire formula.

Oh, and I was still eating easter eggs, biscuits and sweets. Not a lot, but a treat a day adds up.

And, most important and crazy when you think of the type of person I am, I was not organised.

Last time round (5 years ago) when I lost my 5.2 kg or whatever it is I had to lose, I was extremely organised and I had the most consistent results in the group I was at. Not a big achievement because we were all major slackers but still :)

This time Weigh-Less has made it easy and organised everything for us. BUT that doesn't work for me because I hardly eat the foods on the menus provided. I don't like ham, pork, red meat and lots of those veggies.

And there is a TON of food to eat daily.

Last night at a few minutes to 12 when I was finally packing my lunch (I know it's bad but I was hooked on a personal finance site), I set everything out on the counter.

I would have gone to fetch my camera to take a few pics but it was late and I was lazy.

Basically instead of all my food fitting easily within my current lunch bag, I now take a big bag (tote) to work FILLED with food.

It's quite crazy to see me walking in every day with my bag of food.

The thing is, it's the right kind of food.

So here's what I'm doing differently this week. I'm sharing it here so I can come check back and remind myself and also it may help the 3 people reading who are also on Weigh-Less.

1. On Saturday morning when I got the bad news, as I was walking to my car, I gave myself a pep talk along the lines of "there's nothing I can do about the past" blah blah (this stuff works for me!)
2. I came home and took out a paper weekly planner and planned every meal for the whole week.
3. Then I checked our pantry and fridge and made a shopping list.
4. I went shopping for TONS of fresh fruit and veggies, so much so my fridge is far too full.
5. On Sat afternoon I made a ginormous pot of soup with 1.2 kg of veggies (onions, carrots, butternut, broccoli and tomato) and 400 g lentils. That made 8 individual servings. 1 serve = 1.5 veg + 0.5 protein. I battle getting the veg and protein in so I'm basically having a bowl of soup every day.
6. On the water front, I've been having herbal tea like crazy because it's cold and I want to be warm and we're restricted to 3 cups of decaf tea/ coffee daily. That has helped.

So far so good.

After two days the scale showed a 0.5 kg drop over the two days. Let's hope this continues because I have to lose that 0.8 this week.

There we go - my Weigh-Less story from week 1.

There is a lady in her 50s there who joined the week before I did. She's lost 1.8 kg both weeks. Inspiring but I will admit I am slightly jealous. She told me she doesn't cheat even a tiny bit. She sticks to that formula 100%.

I don't have self-control like that.

I had 2 biscuits tonight after supper and yesterday I had a slice of cake!

As you can see, I'm about 95% correct with the eating, with the odd treat thrown in here and there :)

Where are you on the scale? Are you a strict "stick to the rules" girl or do you enjoy treats?

P.S. Is it just me or is the blogosphere very quiet over the last couple of days?

The truth about me time

I've had a very, very busy March.

Much busier than I like it, quite honestly, with all the talks, socials, etc.

But that is all over and I couldn't be happier.

The truth is that when one thing in my life is too busy, other things suffer and my life feels out of balance.

Not a lot but I've worked SO hard over the years at getting that balance and yet, as you know, it's a constant juggling act.

So I hate when it feels like I'm regressing.

Thank goodness I can do a few minor tweaks and get it all on track quickly.

What works for me is being intentional, saying no to the right things and doing the rest as smart as I can.

Doing my work well, and giving it absolute focus so that when it's down time, I don't feel guilty about doing nothing.

It may not always sound like it but I'm an expert at doing nothing and lazing :)

So in March, my Wednesday night dance class and my reading suffered a bit.

I only read 2 books for March and finished the one I was aiming for to be number 3 this afternoon during the babies' nap.

The last time I was at my dance class was 16 Feb!


But what did I do for me this week?

1. Well, I had a manicure on Tuesday. Half of it is already off because of bathing the kids..........but it did look pretty for 4 whole days.

2. I finally opened a savings pocket from my one bank account with the turquoise bank :) and transferred money into that so it doesn't bother me in my main bank account. Done.

3. I also went through one of my shelves in my study, found some notebooks that I'd bought and didn't even use so took those back to CNA today and got........... R170 back in cold, hard cash. There was a bit of back-and-forth since they'd been bought more than a month ago but I stood my ground - I had cash slips and clearly the stuff had not even been touched. Eventually, she caved and refunded me. And now I need to stop spending.

4. But best of all, I joined Weigh-Less today. The group leader said to me, "are you the one who phoned me?" Yip, that was me. I probably sounded determined because I asked her my list of questions and told her I'd be there. I was unshowered but fresh-smelling (hey, it was early for me - 8.30). So according to me, I need to lose 5.4 kg (she would have been happy with 4.4). That's 12 pounds.

I've already cheated with one marshmallow Easter egg (I don't even like Beacon chocolate but those eggs are delicious) but on the bright side, I'd forgotten how MUCH you eat on Weigh-Less. When I made supper earlier, I looked at the mound of food and thought, "impossible" but I got through it.

I'm aiming for a 1 kg loss in week 1. I know I can do it :)

But enough of me, what did you do for yourself this week?

P.S. I have a quick post to do on another blog and then I'm off to bed with a new book. Heaven!

Sunday senses, a recipe and a menu plan

Well, well, I'm doing a meme just for the fun of it. And to make Rebecca happy :)

Sight
A lovely, tidy room (study) marred by D's messy desk (I am banned from "helping him" although I want to throw all his paper in the bin.

Hearing
the hum of this old computer, me tapping away on the keyboard and .... silence :) If I strain my ears I can hear the TV in the lounge

Touch
Warm air on my legs and the cool plate on my legs where I'm balancing my supper.

Taste
Chicken salad - recipe below

Smell
Mayonnaise! And the smell of summer through the open windows.

This is my healthy chicken salad recipe

20 g onion, 40 g mushrooms, 40 g broccoli = 1 veg on Weigh Less
100 g deboned, skinless chicken, chopped into cubes = 1 medium protein
140g cooked pasta = 2 complex carbohydrates
1/2 medium Granny Smith apple = 0.5 fruit
50g cooked kidney beans = 0.5 low fat protein
1 tablespoon mayonnaise = 1 fat

I stir fry the veg and chicken in 2 drops of oil and water, transfer to a bowl, add the rest of the stuff, mix it all up and scoop onto a plate. Add ground chilli flakes if you like a bit of kick, salt and pepper to taste - I hardly have any salt but pepper is my friend.

Then I refrigerate for about 30 minutes - I like it nice and cold - and then enjoy :)

You can use any veggies you like - I've used carrots, cucumber, etc. It is delicious and I don't notice that I'm hardly having any pasta...

While we're talking about food, here is my menu for the week:

Monday
Chicken and broccoli, with rice

Tuesday
Baked potatoes with bolognaise sauce (this should end all my frozen portions)

Wednesday
M - tuna and rice bake, salad
D - Hawaiian chicken

Thursday
Chicken pasta salad (this time I'll use lentils)

Friday
Burgers and salad (I know the more observant of you will have noticed I have this on my menu every Friday. I still have not actually made this because we end up finishing foods in the fridge, or not wanting this, etc.)

That chicken pasta salad is a favourite around here in summer (except the babies don't eat mayonnaise - I also went off mayonnaise while I was pregnant...) and I made some tonight because we've had it a grand total of 3 times this summer. Totally unacceptable for something that good.

What are some of your favourite meals to cook? :)

P.S. Coming up this week - I need to blog about the new milk, a very successful lunch today, the s*x book and how I'm prettying up my life :) I'm going to blog the organising projects on the other blog - leave me your email if you want that blog info.

Do you also make a list of things to blog about?

P.P.S I'm 36 and a half today. Only 6 months left to finish my 36 things list.