Friday 26 November 2010

Ten steps to heaven..............

I am on the first day of my 3 potential diet danger days - Friday , Saturday and Sunday .......and so far have survived!

It is so cold and dark at the moment and after looking at everyone's snowy Alnwick pictures on Facebook I was feeling a bit sad and nostalgic - thinking about all the fun we had in the snow when growing up and also thinking how my Dad used to keep me up to date  on the weather in my hometown.
When Dad died I took away all his old diaries which never disclosed any shocking revelations but,  without fail recorded the weather on that day. It was part of his routine and as every true Brit knows, always a good topic of conversation.

So I was feeling a little low and decided to go the local salad bar to get one of their delicious salad boxes. The salad bar is unfortunately situated next to and opposite 2 bakers shops but I ignored them both. I didn't however ignore Pauline, one of the lovely ladies from Slimming World ( or Fat Club as we fondly call it ) as she works in a shoe shop opposite and beside the 2 bakers. I showed her my salad and she showed me an apple . We then had a mutual chuckle about soup spurting out of the pan - 'porn soup' , poo and I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!

When I got home and had eaten my salad I texted Pauline to say that I wanted a cream cake and she pointed out that she did too but she had just had a banana and that I must shush as the bakers was only 10 steps away.........now THAT'S what I call willpower!

Thursday 25 November 2010

Quorn sausages are the devil's fingers.....

I am bored and have just had a rummage in my freezer. Every so often I buy a packet of Quorn sausages but I genuinely don't know why I bother , as every time I cook them I will have one bite and then remember how much I don't like them. Other group members claim to 'love them' and how 'they're just the same as real sausages' but this is one of life's many myths - there is no way that those rubbery little bad boys are the same as a big, fat, porky, juicy banger. End of. For vegetarians though, maybe it does remind them of the real thing........

This brings me on to the lengths we go to when trying to lose weight and eat healthily, to substitute the so called naughty foods for their lower fat / calorie equivalent.
Tonight, for example, I am cooking lasagne - and the 'white sauce' will be a concoction of egg yolks ,  quark and cottage cheese. This may sound yukky  but it infact tastes delicious - so delicious that I may have to have an extra large plateful.

Past failures in the 'substitutes' cooking department would have to include low fat hot chocolate stirred into fromage frais  - it apparently tastes just like chocolate mousse - it doesn't - it tastes like ( you've probably already guessed ) low fat hot chocolate stirred into fromage frais , the use of  yogurt or fromage frais instead of cream - hmmmm - I tried to make creamy garlic mushrooms once using greek yogurt instead of double cream and it curdled in the pan ( I ate it anyway ) and it was toe curlingly vile, beansprouts instead of spaghetti and finally possibly the funniest substitution / adaptation ever was a suggestion by a Weight Watcher leader who suggested grating a bit of cheddar , mixing it with grated carrots and leaving it overnight as the carrots would then be 'like cheese' in the morning! I never tried this and hand on heart, I never will.

Wednesday 24 November 2010

Do I really need a chart on the fridge? Of course I do!!!!!.

Ok - it's my first day blogging and I am very aware that I need to make this witty, interesting, fun and want to leave the reader gagging for more.....

I am a yo yo dieter - I have tried everything. I have done Slimfast, Calories, Cabbage Soup, Bananas and milk, Fruit and yogurt and Slimming World and it's Slimming World that works for me - when I actually DO it.

I have become one of those people that goes to group every week and never actually gets any thinner. I lose a bit, I gain a bit, I lose the plot, I find the wine...I'm sure you get the picture but this time I absolutely have to succeed as I have a very very important date next June that I need to look good for.
I am off to see Take That with one of my oldest ( and thinnest, grrr ) friends and I just cannot be wobbling when everyone else is writhing can I?
There are so many things that I was going to lose weight for and haven't - my 40th, my 41st, my daughter's 18th , various Christmases , holidays etc etc and although I enjoyed them all I know I would have enjoyed them MORE if I was slimmer. I am naturally a show off and can be a bit of a party animal when on the vino but being a bloater has supressed that part of me.
I am not unrealistic - I do not think that if I was slim that my life would be a box of chocolates ( woops ) but I do think I would be less tired, would feel fitter and therefore be happier. Every overweight person knows that inside them is a slim person trying to get out and I have decided that slim person needs releasing!

I have set a goal! - one and a half pounds a week til I am reuntied with the boys - that will amount to 45 pounds , or 3 stone 2. It wont turn me into Twiggy but it will be a weight that I think is manageable.

I have made a chart which I am sticking on the front of my healthily stocked fridge. It is the numbers 45 down to 0 and I will cross them off as I go. It may sound a tad anal but it's how my mind works. I need all the help I can get - Christmas is just a month away and I love nothing better than a mince pie, sausage roll, brandy snap, christmas pudding, truffles, pringles, dip, stilton and sherry.

Oh, and this blog isn't all about my 'journey' - I will also be mentioning my teenage daughters, animals, love of X Factor and the trials and tribulations of a holiday property cleaning business.

WISH ME LUCK XXXXXXXXX