Weigh In Saturday

Well I did it I broke through a real mental barrier this week with a loss of 500g it's taken me into the 70's - this is new territory for me as I have never weighed this in my life!

Another pb was that I ran 5km in 32mins this morning at training - my first of 5km in a row so happy with that - it's moving but it's slow going but I knew this would happen you can't loose so much weight without it slowing down at the end.

Warm Organic Vegetable Salad

I had become slack with getting my organic veggies as the shop around the corner has hours that don't suit me - so I went looking on Google and found a Melbourne based company that delivers organic fruit and veg ( I will blog about them later). I ordered a $70 fruit and veg box to test the waters as I had no idea what I would get for $70 and I found myself very surprised by the volume I received.

I spend Monday night at my parents house and get home Tuesday night - I didn't have any meat to cook so I had a lookie in the crisper and this is what i came up with:

Warm Organic Vegetable Salad

Ingredients:

• 5 florets Broccoli
• 5 florets Cauliflower
• 1/2 cup chopped pumpkin ( jap or butternut)
• 2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves
• 1 small brown onion thinly sliced ( mine was slightly bigger then a golf ball so I used it all but if it were normal size I would have used 1/4)
• small handful of raw slithered almonds
• 25g marinated goats feta

Method:

• Chop the the pumpkin into cubes and pop on baking paper with a little spray of olive oil and cook in a 180° fan forced oven until browned - half way through cooking add your sliced onion
• While the pumpkin is cooking blanch the Broccoli and Cauliflower in boiling water ( I do it for about 6mins so it's still crunching but not raw)
• Once the Broccoli and Cauliflower is cooked drain and pop in the over with the pumpkin and onion
• I toasted my almonds in a non stick pan over a medium heat until browned
• Dice your feta up ( I do it into small pieces so I can get it through the whole salad but if you like chucks feel free to have bigger pieces)
• Now because you are using marinated feta I used 2 teaspoons of the feta oil to dress my spinach leaves so I didn't use any other dressing and the feta is salty so you don't need to add any salt - but if the marinated feta isn't to your liking use any dressing you like.
• Add your almonds to the spinach leaves along with the feta and toss, once your ingredients in the oven are cooked add to the salad, toss and serve immediately 

You may wonder why I added the broccoli and cauliflower to the over after I blanched it, personally when having a salad like this I like to add the roasted taste to all the veggies , there is something about the taste of veggies cooked in the oven that is super tasty and really satisfying.

I didn't add the calorie count for this dish but I would say it's roughly 250 - 300 calories as whole, I really should work it out!

This dish is 100% organic and it was super tasty.

Kelly's Spag Bol Sauce

This has been years in the making, playing with flavours and having it jam packed but also suitable for the children as well. This sauce does need a bit of love and attention and it's not a sauce that you can make in 10mins - I call it a labour of love :)

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs Olive Oil
• 1 Organic Brown Onion
• 1 tbs Crushed Garlic
• 500g Organic Mince
• 150g Speck ( Available from most supermarkets where the cheese is found)
• 250ml Red Wine
• 1/3 cup Tomato Paste
• 1 x Jar Organic Pasta Sauce
• Mixed Italian Herbs 
• 100g Split Green Olives

Method:

• Heat a heavy based saucepan on the stove, once hot add your olive oil turn down the heat to medium and add your onions and garlic ( reducing the heat avoids burning the olives and garlic)
• Sautee the onions on medium heat until they are translucent - this means they are cooked and have a sweeter taste ( nothing worse then raw onion in a sauce)
• Once the onions are translucent add the speck and cook on medium until the speck has a nice brown colouring ( around 10-15mins) 

Onion, Garlic and Speck

• When the speck is browned you can add the mince and cook until browned, add your herb mix and stir.
• Add in your tomato paste and cook off for about 5mins and then turn your pan up to a high heat and once super hot add your Red Wine - you need it on a high heat to cook off the alcohol but the flavour of the wine remains.
• Once the wine has reduced a little add your pasta sauce and stir - it will look a bit sloppy but this is normal, turn your heat down so the sauce is at a slight simmer , cover and leave for 60mins - you will need to stir occasionally.

 

 

Sloppy Pasta sauce

Finished sauce - you can see how thick and rich it becomes

•  I add the olives in once the children's servings are gone but if you want yours to have olives feel free to put them in when you add your pasta sauce.

 This sauce is divine and my kiddlets hoover it up - I don't eat pasta so I serve the almost husbands and I on a bed of lettuce ( it actually taste's really good) this isn't a low fat dish so I make sure I only have a small serve of the sauce.

Weigh In Saturday

Well it was that time again - I am beginning to dread getting on the damn scales, I find that I start stressing over it on Wednesday and it leads all the way up to Saturday morning.

I had a goal to lose 600g as it put my weight at an all time low and breaking through a major barrier but alas it wasn't to be I only lost 500g. I know I should be happy slow and steady weight loss I feel is the key to long term success. I just find it frustrating that I obsess about it at times and tbh I have been on track with exercise ( clocked up 17km running in my 5 PT sessions) and food wise I have resisted every temptation thrown at me.

Never fear I won't be giving up and I know next week I will break through my barrier and be in all new territory and you know what as much as I am shattered today, I am super excited about what's to come.

Busy Bee

Oh my gosh where to start - I do apologise for not posting in the the last week.

In the last 3 weeks I have had 1 Bridal shower, 4 birthdays , a Christening , a Wedding and a BBQ at our house to introduce a few people in our bridal party that don't know each other.

Each event has been wonderful and I feel somewhat proud that I was able to limit the "naughty" food and lost weight.  I had plenty of positive comments and encouragement from people whom I haven't seen in up to 5 years.

I don't know about other mum's out their but sometimes I feel like a social misfit, I used to be out all the time but since having children and settling down I don't go out so much anymore. At times I can feel rather awkward and uncomfortable in a group situation when topics are brought up that I am rusty on or have no contact with like working outside the home.

The wedding we went to was that of a good friend of mine who I have known for 17 years, we have had our ups and downs but we have always come back together like no time has passed. I found I was more emotional then I thought possible and it lead me to think of my own day that is only 10 weeks away. I wondered how I would be able to maintain my composure when walking down the aisle and saying my vowels - if I am honest I get teary just thinking about it.

I love to be busy but gee the last 3 weeks have been manic and I am looking forward to a somewhat quieter weekend coming up. Here is a pic of Dave ( my almost husband) and I at the wedding.

I love this photo - we have so little together and I think this is one that I am going to print out and frame.

I am working on a little craft project that I am rushing to finish so I will make sure I post some pics once I am done xxx

Weigh in Saturday

I know I know I have been quiet - things have been crazy here but I will be posting about that tomorrow night.

Being Saturday I weighed in this morning down 1kg so I was pretty happy with that given last weekend was very social and we had a wedding yesterday.

Chicken Salad

I eat this meal 3 times a week - it's quick and easy and tastes divine.

Ingredients:

100g Chicken - I use thighs as they don't dry out.
1/2 cup Rocket
5 slices of cucumber
10 slices Red Capsicum
10 Slices Green Capsicum
1 tbs Praise Deli Style Honey & Dijon
2tbs Woolworths All Purpose Seasoning 

Ok so the secret to making it more tasty good old Woolworths All Purpose Seasoning - I use this for flavouring - it tastes divine and it works a treat on Roast Chicken.

Method:
1.Slice your chicken into thin strips and season and cook in a non stick fry pan.
2. While your chicken is cooking chop up all your salad ingredients and toss in a bowl with the salad dressing.
3. Place your salad on a plate and top with cooked chicken.

Weigh In Saturday

For the last 19 months I have a weigh in every Saturday morning - it helps keep me in line and it makes my free Saturday night guilt free ;)

This week I lost 1.3kg which I thought was amazing considering the poor food week I had - I think the plateau might be broken.

I have 2 birthday parties this weekend and a christening so it will be interesting to see how next weeks weigh in goes even with good food choices strange things can happen :)

Food Dairy - Day 6

Today was good but still struggling with hitting 1200cals for the day - this week has been so up and down far too many social events - I guess Saturday weigh in will tell the story - if I am the same I will be happy.

Breakfast: Coffee Optifast Shake : 209cals

Lunch: 2 x Prawn/Veg Rice paper Rolls 200cals ( the Internet recons 88cals per roll so I am being careful and added extra cals)

Dinner: Chicken and Salad and to bulk it up a bit I added a serve of cheese 255cals

Snacks: 1 x Weight Watchers Muffin 216cals, 1 x Gloria Jeans Skim Latte 102cals, 1 x Nespresso 92cals

Total Daily Calories: 1075
Exercise: 60 Mins burning 505cals

Yoghurt Crumble

My trainer put me on to this and I love it!!!

Yoghurt Crumble

Ingredients:
100g Jalna low fat Strawberry yoghurt
1/4 cup ( 30g) Un-cooked rolled oats
10 Fresh Raspberries
10 Fresh Blueberries

Method:
Put yoghurt into a small bowl , top with oats and berries and enjoy!

Serve: 1
Calories: 230cals

As a side note I know some might think this isn't much to eat but it really is filling and full of good nutrition - I have found by switching the size of crockery I use to be really helpful - here is a pic of the bowl I bought ( Ikea $2.50)

A comparison to give you an idea of the bowl size

Eating is as much to do with your eyes as it is to your stomach so if you have a big bowl with a smaller portion it looks like you are missing out on something :)

Food Diary - Day 5

Well it was Cup Day in Melbourne yesterday and overall I was a good girl:

Breakfast: Yoghurt Crumble and a Nespresso : 310cals

Lunch: Chicken and Salad: 208cals

Dinner: this is where it all gets a little odd - we had no idea what we wanted to Dave went out and bought a few things to nibble on so I had a few crackers, some dip and 3 pieces of Salami + 2 champagnes lol on and 3 Oysters Kilpatrick - based on the labels and what I can find on Calorie King the total cals was: 700cals opps!!!

Exercise: 90mins and 712cals burnt

Total Daily Cals: 1218cals

Overall not a bad day as I only went over a little with my strange dinner and it goes to show that only a few crackers and dip can cause havoc if you are on a diet - just imagine if I had eaten a meal with that as well!!!!

Prawn Salad

I came up with this recipe today as Dave wanted Fish and I wasn't interested so I asked him to get me some prawns - it turned out better then I thought it would.

Prawn Salad

 Ingredients:
200g Prawns ( this is weighted after shelling)
10 slices of red capsicum
10 silces of green capsicum
10 slices of yellow capsicum
8 slices of cucumber
1/2 cup Rocket
2tbs Praise Salad Dressing: Deli Style Honey and & Dijon

Method:

1.Chop up all the salad ingredients and put in a bowl with the rocket and toss - cover with 1tbs of Salad dressing.
2. Heat up a non stick fry pan over high heat
3. Once the pan is smoking hot add your prawns , cook for 3-5 mins depending on size turning only once.
4. While the prawns are cooking place your tossed salad onto a plate and top with the cooked prawns - drizzle the remaining 1tbs of dressing over the prawns.

All up you need 15mins which includes prep, cooking and plating time :)

Serves 1: 288cals per serve ( if you add or take out anything the calorie count will change - I used Calorie King to calculate the total for the meal)

Food Diary - Day 4

Today was so much better - I was more consistent with eating and what I consumed had good nutrition value. i also thought about my water consumption and realised it was down by a lot so I have been conscience to be having 2-3ltrs today.

Breakfast: Nespresso 92cals and an Optifast Coffee Shake 209cals ( I had to do groceries today and this was all I had)
Lunch: Chicken and Salad sandwich 384cals
Snack: Protein Bar 124cals
Dinner: Prawn Salad made by me 242cals and 1 Oyster Kilpatrick 27cals

Calorie Total: 1078

Exercise: 1 hour burning 584cals

Look out for the Prawn Salad recipe it's coming tomorrow :)

Food Diary - Day 3

Gah another fizzer it was my mum's birthday so we had lunch over at my parents house - I really didn't do that bad and I can see where I am falling over... anyway here is the ugly truth:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup Bircher with Nespresso Coffee - 350cals combined as an estimation

Lunch: Small piece of chicken ( I bought Chickens and had them cut into 1/4's and I ate half a 1/4 so an 1/8th?????) 2 tbs of potato salad and about the same of my sisters pear and parmesan so to be fair I think 450cals to be conservative????

Dinner 1/4 of a lasagna and 2 pieces of garlic bread we had in the fridge : 350cals

Throw in 1 glass of champagne(85cals)  and 1 home made Gin and Tonic ( diet tonic water 65cals) and no real water well it was dismal but not as bad as it could have been.

Daily Calories: 1300

Exercise: None - Sunday is my day of rest :)

Food Diary - Day 2

So today was a epic failure and if you read on you will see why:

Breakfast: 2 rashes of bacon and 1 egg ( no idea on cals but I am guessing between 250-300)

Coffee: Nespresso Homemade 92cals

This is where it gets ugly - I had a Bridal Shower/Hens at a nice wine bar in Mornington - I was the driver so no alcohol - and the food looked delicious but I held firm and only ate 1/3rd of a sandwich and that was all until 9pm when I got home and I made nachos and ate a small portion.

I would estimate I only consumed 600-700cals for the day which is very poor and the food I did consume had no real nutrition value which I am most upset with.

Exercise: 1hr 20mins at PT - 660cals

Day 2 = Epic Fail!

Food Diary

So I was talking to my trainer about whether I should pick up an extra training session (I do 5 already) and she asked me why and so I spoke to her about my weight plateau (basically I have been gaining and loosing the same few kilos for awhile) so she asked me to keep a food diary and so I figure I might as well publish it here (at least then I won't loose the piece of paper it is written on)

Day 1:

Breakfast: 1/2 Organic Burcher Muesli ( I have no idea on cals so I am going to be conservative and say 350cal) and 1/2 coffee at 46cals



Lunch: Ham and Salad Sandwich 367cals

Dinner: Chicken and Salad 331cals ( I based this on the Chicken coming in at 231cals and the Salad being 100cal again probably conservative but I like to have a buffer)


Snacks: 1 coffee at 92cals ( Nespresso home made using 1/2 cup full cream milk and 1/2 teaspoon of organic coconut sugar) 1 piece of home made Muesli Bar 191cals ( look out for the recipe soon)

Total Calories: 1377

Exercise: 3 hours = 1237cals

Daily Deficit*: 1060cals

All in all a great day even though I went over my calorie intake by 177cals I did more then enough exercise to cover this :)

I cried today

Yes yes I did and I am not ashamed to admit to it but they were not sad tears they were happy ones.

I went shopping today as I have some events coming up and I have no clothes that are suitable and I thought while the kids were at daycare I could do it in peace. Off I went to our local DFO ( Direct Factory Outlets) which can I say was a major disappointment  - you could tell the stock was the clothing that they couldn't sell in the full price shops!

I then ventured to a big shopping centre in the hope it would have the answer and boy did it even! My first stop was jean shopping - I used to dread this, having to buy size 24/26 is depressing and unless you have been there you have no idea how much your self esteem takes a hammering. A lovely assistant approached me ( can I say I have never really had people help me so this is still a new and exciting thing for me) and I asked her about the jeans I had on as I wanted to replace them. She asked me what size I was and I said " Well these are a 14 and a little big so I guess a 13 if you stock them" she looked at me and replied " Honey you are a 10 or 12 in this style" enter me rolling my eyes in my head and just replied with " ok"

I head off to the change room with my 10 and 12 and thought no hard in trying the 10 just to see where I was at with regards to sizing ect - well now we get to the crying part - THEY FUCKING* FIT - and not just suck in as hard as you can with giant muffin top no they fit properly I looked at myself and turned and then headed out to the big mirrors just to have a walk and a look and then it hit me - I was in a size 10 and then it started the tears.  I quickly rushed back into the change room but not before the sales assistant caught me and asked " The 10 right - they look hot" - then I lost it completely and through my tears I had to explain that 18 months ago I was starting to outgrow my size 24 and into size 26 - she was so happy for me she started crying and it was like a love fest 60's style.

I will freely admit that psychologically I don't see the changes in my appearance and if I am honest it scares me a little. I am hoping with time my head will catch up to the rest of me and once I reach goal I can fully embrace the maintenance faze. I don't think anyone can ever understand what it's like to be overweight, obese and in the end for me morbidly obese my whole life to be able to go into any shop and fit the clothes ( I also bought a top from the same shop in a XS).

My first ever size 10 label

* A little apology if I have offended anyone with the use of the F word I felt it was needed to express my absolute astonishment.

The Mexican Stand Off!!!

Dramatic I know but that's what it felt like........

A little background info: When I was 22 I was diagnosed with PCOS and told I was infertile, I met Dave ( my almost husband at 24) by 25 I was pregnant with Lochie, had given birth by 26 and we had yet to celebrate 2 years together. A total whirlwind romance I can hear you all think and in truth it was - more on that another time.

When Lochie was 12 months old we found out I was pregnant again we were thrilled we had hoped it would happen again but weren't sure with my previous diagnosis, I had a blood test to confirm at 5 weeks but had to have a secondary blood test (HCG) to re-confirm as my levels were very low. Second blood test was again confirmed and we started to get excited, it was very shot lived as I had some spotting and pains but nothing consistent. The bleeding stopped but the pains would come every now and again, fast forward to 8 weeks pregnant and I have a bleed not huge but enough to get me worried. Long and the short of it after a scan I was told by my GP I had suffered a Miscarriage, we were devastated but decided to try again as soon as we got the all clear. 3 days later I woke up in extreme pain and Dave rushed me straight to our local ED, waiting 8 hours we finally saw a doctor who ordered a scan, as soon as the scan started the technician pointed out a mass and all I remember him saying as we walked back to the waiting room he said to Dave " You take care of her".

Once we saw the doctor again he gave us the news that I was having an Ectopic Pregnancy - I had no idea what it was only that I was being admitted, give morphine for the pain and told I would have surgery that night. I won't go into it here but you can imagine how we both felt.

After the ectopic pregnancy I fell pregnant again after 5 months which resulted in a MC and 2 months after that I fell pregnant with Zali - as you can imagine we had been through a lot and my body was suffering and I feel that resulted in me having a very difficult pregnancy fraught with problems ( more on that later)

Which brings me to tonight and " The Mexican Stand Off" - I feel that because of the problems getting pregnant and staying pregnant we were how shall I say more lenient with Zali then we ever were with Lochie and as they say the seeds that were sewn are being well reaped now! Zali has been giving me grief for months over going to bed and tonight I decided I'd had enough - she wanted to sleep in our bed and I said no and it started.. the screaming ( no tears) just the noise, I am sure anyone who was walking past had the thought that I was killing my child.

I said good night and gave her a kiss and walked out all the while Zali is screaming her lungs out totally put out that I dare leave her while she was having a hissy fit. I gave her 5mins and went back in - the same thing " Daddy bed, Daddy bed" I stood firm I said no gave her a kiss and walked out, yes you guessed it more screaming. This went on for half an hour and finally she gave in and let me give her a cuddle and put her in the cot but not before relenting and letting her have a book and a train in bed with her.

I would say it was more my win then hers but I think i have laid the foundation to build on to perhaps not be so dramatic tomorrow night. Parenting is a hard game and I wish I had all the answers but I am not perfect and I do the best I can in the situation I am faced with.

I do apologise for such a long post and it's a little mixed with issues and events but you will learn that about me I like to mix it up :)

Veggie Patch

When we renovated our backyard 4 years ago we made sure we had a place to grow our own produce. To be honest I didn't take a keen interest until this year, and now the children are growing up we are making sure they understand where the foods we eat come from.

I have loved watching Lochie ( Master 4) inspect his strawberry plant as he has watched it grow from a tiny seedling to a plant that is over running one of my planting boxes.

Lochie's Strawberry Plant

We also have Tomatoes ( 4 varieties), rosemary, parsley, coriander, chives and basil. I think we need to expand with more pots to be able to plant more. Oh we also have a lime tree and we plan to get a Lemon tree to sit opposite - I am sucker for symmetry :)

mmmmm tomatoes

Lime Tree

Little Limes that we hope will grow into big Limes :)

Veggie patches/gardens are so easy to start and to keep both Lochie and Zali ( Miss 2) love to help water, and they love to watch as little buds bloom into something that they can eat and I can tell you most of the tomatoes will be eaten straight off the vine before they get to the table :)

Hello

Where to start..... for some reading this you will know that I used to have a blog called "Delightfully Yours" - for some time now I have thought about starting to blog again and thought why not and so here I am.

Over the last 18 months I have taken a journey, a journey to better myself and make myself healthy. Having shed just on 55kg with some more to go I feel it's time to get back to outside interest's and food is a major interest ;)

Through this time my family and I have slowly changed our ways and introduced new eating habits - we have gone organic and now instead of throwing out half the fridge at the end of the week it is now empty as I use everything before I buy more.

A major factor in wanting to change was not only for myself but for my children, I didn't want them to grow in a house that promoted "unhealthy" eating as normal. I don't like using the term "fat" I have heard it and been called it far too many times in my life and don't want my children to define people as fat and thin more my partner and I want to promote a healthy and active lifestyle with treats every now and again.

If you have read this far I am amazed I have so much to share and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I will posting.