Days Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen and Nineteen!

I have firmly hit my stride now, both with work and with my diet.

Yesterday (Day Eighteen) was Saturday and so an 'off' day which meant that I relaxed my rules and even enjoyed a (small) slice of chocolate pie for dessert in the evening. It was deeeeelicious!

Aside from that, I've been really good and not cheated at all. Day Sixteen was more salad for lunch, beans on toast for dinner - not very exciting but high in protein and the brown bread is good for fibre - as well as loads of fruit and veggies to snack on.

Day Seventeen was a bit shaky, I had loads of cravings all day but managed to stay busy at work and they eventually went away. Lunch was a risotto that the chef at work made and then Drummer Boy came over in the evening and we had chicken Caesar wraps for dinner - mmmmmmm!

Today has been the best so far. I started with a run this morning (Drummer Boy had to leave early to record with his band), followed by half a grapefruit with pinenuts for breakfast. After cleaning my kitchen and livingroom (cleaning burns major calories if you're energetic about it!) I had hummus (home made) with veggies for a snack, followed a bit later by some home made soup for lunch. This evening I had some fruit salad as a snack (mango, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, apples, oranges - delicious!) and then made the sausage casserole again to use up some leftover ingredients from last week. In a little while I'll have some apple and cheese and then it's time to hit the hay!

Back to work tomorrow, going to try and fit a workout in afterwards, if I'm not too exhausted!

Stay happy,

WG x

P.S. How cute is this kitten?! I know it has nothing at all to do with this post but it's just so lovely I couldn't not post it! X

My New Bible!

Now, I'm not one to buy cookbooks but this is something that I just had to have!

I watched the Economy Gastronomy series on the BBC and throughly enjoyed it. The basic idea behind it is 'Spend Less, Eat Better' which is something that I try to do.

What I like best about this book is that everything is broken right down and made really simple. Which is good for me because I'm something of a novice! And you can see from the picture that I've already marked loads of stuff to make!

I can't wait to get cooking, check back soon for some tasty, healthy recipes!

WG x

P.S. The diet is still on track, will blog properly on Sunday! X

Homemade Hummus

Hummus is really cheap and easy to make and is much better made fresh as you know exactly what's gone in it!

Ingredients

- 4oz of chickpeas (canned)

- 2 garlic cloves

- The juice of one lemon

- 1 tsp of ground coriander

- olive oil

Method

1. Place the chickpeas, garlic and lemon juice in a food processor and blitz until everything is roughly chopped and combined.
2. Gradually add small amounts of olive oil until the hummus is at the right consistancy for you.

And that's it!

WG x

Days Thirteen, Fourteen and Fifteen!

Today at work a little girl took her very first steps whilst I was looking after her. Sometimes I bloody well love my job!

Anyway, the diet is back on track! I weighed myself this morning (at the crack of bloody dawn - it was still dark!) and I've now lost ALL of my Christmas weight - woop! Just half a stone to go now and then I'll be back to a size 8, happy days!

The last three days have been great, being at work really helps me to get into a routine and I haven't slipped up - yet! The last two nights, more due to the fact that I'm beyond broke - I've had a pasta salad with a balsamic dressing - yummy! Tonight I made the sausage casserole again to use up the leftover ingredients and I think it was more successful than the first time around. Lunches I've had at work which has been good as all the food there is super healthy for the kids and I only have tiny portions. Snacks have been a mixture of fruit, crackers with butter and veggies with homemade dip. (I'll post the recipe for it in a moment)

I'll be getting back on the exercise properly next week but I have done 30 minutes of yoga every night after work - it's a great way of unwinding after a long day at work AND it's good for toning and strengthening all over.

So, all in all, life is pretty good!

And my food delivery has just arrived so that's all for now!

Stay happy,

WG xxx

Sausage and Red Wine Casserole

This might not look like it's the healthiest option but if you choose good quality sausages and have it with lots of veggies then it's not too bad!

Ingredients

(For Four People)

- 1 tbsp of olive oil.

- 3 sausages, cut into pieces.

- 1/2 an onion, chopped.

- 3 garlic cloves, chopped.

- 75ml of good red wine.

- 3 tbsp of tomato puree.

- 150ml of beef stock.

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan or casserole dish.
2. Add the sausages and cook until browned on all sides.
3. Add the onion and cook for 3-5 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
5. Add the red wine, tomato puree and beef stock and simmer until the sauce has thickened.
6. Serve with mashed potato and lots of veggies!

Days Nine, Ten, Eleven and Twelve!

Well, what a bugger-up!

Day Nine was a total bust, I had a migraine that lasted literally all day so I didn't eat at all, just slept and drank a ton of water. Rubbishness!

Day Ten was better, I got my six meals in and made some tasty chicken Caesar wraps for dinner but I did fall off the alcohol wagon in a spectacular fashion! It was worth it though, DB and I had a great evening together, hadn't laughed so much in ages!

Day Eleven wasn't a good one! It started well, with half a grapefruit and some pinenuts for breakfast, and then a short walk round the village with DB. I messed it all up though by getting fishcake and chips from the chippie (it's at the end of my road and my eternal temptation!) for lunch...oops. Dinner was a yummy sausage casserole (recipe to follow!) and several glasses of wine.

Today (Day Twelve) has been a flat-out failure but for once I just didn't care! We woke up too late for breakfast so I grabbed some low-fat pretzels and we headed into town to see Sherlock Holmes. As usual, we were an hour early - I'm generally 30-45 minutes early everywhere I go - so we wandered around town. Big mistake. Passing KFC, a waft of chickeny, battered goodness came out of the doors and that was it. Two piece chicken meal with chips and a Pepsi? Yes please!

Dinner tonight was leftover casserole and a resolve to do better next week!

We can't be good all the time!

WG x

P.S. A couple of people have asked where I get my pictures for this blog from. The answer is deviantart.com, go and check it out!

Vegetable Stir-Fry

Really tasty, I added more chilli than the recipe says, both for flavour and because chilli can help to kick-start your metabolism and help weightloss! And this recipe couldn't be simpler!

Ingredients

(For One Person)

- 2 tbsp of vegetable oil

- 1/2 a chilli, de seeded and sliced (I used a whole chilli for a bit of added zing!)

- 2 garlic cloves, chopped.

- 4 spring onions, sliced (or 1/2 a normal onion, sliced)

- 1/2 a head of broccoli, sliced

- 1 tbsp of soy sauce

- 2 tbsp of honey

- A splash of vegetable stock

- 100g of rice noodles, cooked

Method

1. Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan.
2. Stir-fry the chilli, garlic, spring onions and broccoli with seasoning and a splash of water for 3-4 minutes.
3. Mix in the soy sauce, honey, vegetable stock and noodles.
4. Serve hot.

Enjoy! x

Day Eight

My flu is almost gone today, just a yucky chesty cough to get rid of and then all will be well!

We got another six inches of snow today, not good! Walked briefly across the village to the doctors, stopping en route to help push the Postman's van out of the snow! Apart from that, I spent the day quietly curled up with Little Cat, reading and watching comedy DVD's. Not bad :)

Breakfast was half a grapefruit and then two crumpets a little bit later with butter. Lunch was a small bowl of brown rice with veggies followed an hour later by a banana and a small handful of unsalted nuts. Yum yum! Dinner was definitely the best meal of the day, a lovely veggie stir-fry - I will 100% be posting the recipe after this is done! Later on I'll finish my munching for the day with some apples and cheese, lush!

Still no exercise but will start with some gentle yoga on Friday.

Hope you all get a chance to enjoy the snow!

WG x

Tumble with me!

No, not like that - get your mind out of the gutter!

I've got a Tumblr account that I use to post pictures that interest me, quotes that I like and any other random junk that I fancy!

If you want to take a look then head to: http://writergirluk.tumblr.com/

Stay happy!

WG xxx

P.S. It's snowing here...again! Wish it would go away now!

Day Seven

Things have been much better today. Well, the food part has anyway!

Dragged myself out of bed at the reasonable time of half nine (I DO have flu you know!) and started the day with half a grapefruit (no sugar) and a glass of cranberry juice.

After getting washed and dressed for the first time in almost a week, I had two crumpets with a tiny slick of butter and headed outside to see if my car would start.

The poor little thing was under at least four inches of snow and I got fairly puffed out scraping it all off! Eventually it was all gone and it even started first time, result! With that done, I went to the pharmacy to stock up on cough medicine (I can't go back to work until it's better) and then came home and collapsed onto the sofa. It was my first physical activity since last Thursday and I spent the rest of the day curled up in bed, reading.

Once I'd scraped myself off the sofa, I had a snack of apples and (low-fat) cheese and a handfull of unsalted peanuts. Yummy. Later on I had a packet of salt and vinegar mini ricecakes and a satsuma - anything to get my Vitamin C levels up!

Tonight I'm having leftovers from yesterday so it's sweet chilli tuna once again! Tomorrow I'm going to try a veggie noodle stir-fry so I'll let you know how it goes and post the recipe if it's any good!

This evening's snacks will be the other half of the grapefruit (no sugar) and then two more oranges.

My cravings haven't been too bad today, apart from when I watched Generation XXL on 40D which gave me a hankering for KFC but some browing on ASOS soon distracted me enough until they went away!

The programme is really interesting, looking at childhood obesity in the UK but letting the kids tell us what it's like and how they feel. If you want to check it out, go to:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/generation-xxl/4od#3021287

So that's it for today, not bad for one where I was ill!

See ya,

WG x

*Top Tip!*

One of my best tips is to have boiled sweets in the house whilst on a diet. They can curb the craving for sugar quickly and have less calories than a couple of pieces of dark chocolate!

WG x

Days Three, Four, Five and Six!

Well, what an EPIC fail!

I've got the flu and so, of course, all thoughts of diet and exercise have been shoved rapidly out of the window!

The only upside has been that I've eaten a vast amount of fruit, mainly oranges and strawberries, as they've been the only things that I could face.

However, today I've felt a lot better and I'm actually looking forward to my dinner tonight!

This evening's menu is the sweet chilli garlic fish that I posted the recipe for the other day, this time with tuna. I'm having it with a few small potatoes (no butter, no cheese) and some grilled mushrooms. Yummy!

Exercise wise, I haven't done anything since my snow-walk on Thursday and I don't plan to do anything at all until the end of the week or the weekend. Need to get good and rested first!

During my enforced bed rest, I was browsing for stuff to watch on Channel 4 On Demand and came across 'My Big Fat Diet Show'. It's hosted by the awesome Anna Richardson and is based around a group of six ladies all helping each other to lose weight. There is a lot more too it but I'm still a bit fluy so click on the link and check it out!

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/my-big-fat-diet-show/4od

So, here's hoping that next week is a better one, I'm off to enjoy my tuna!

WG xxx

Day Two

Today has been a bit of a weird one.

It started well - another Snow Day! - with a thirty minute workout and a bowl of porridge with banana for breakfast. I'd woken up feeling woozy but ignored it.

Then I went for a walk through the snow with two of my lovely neighbours for about an hour and a half. Talk about burning calories!

When we got back I was offered a hot chocolate and, considering that I'd just been for SUCH a long walk, I said yes. It was naughty but TOTALLY worth it!

That was were my day went a bit downhill! I've got a temperature of 39.5 and I'm pretty sure it's flu. Rubbish.

Going to try and sleep it off, hope I feel better tomorrow! x

Sweet Chilli Garlic Salmon

This is a tasty, low fat recipe that will boost your Omega-3 levels and fill you up as well!

Ingredients

(For two people)

- 700g of salmon steaks.

- The juice of 1 1/2 limes.

- 1 tablespoon of soft brown sugar.

- 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar.

- 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped.

- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped.

- Vegetables to serve.

Method

1. Place the salmon in a non-metallic dish.
2. In a jar, combine the juice of 1 lime, the brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of the white wine vinegar.
3. Brush the mixture over the salmon.
4. Cover the salmon and place in the fridge to marinate. This needs at least 30 minutes but the longer you can do it for, the better.
5. Place the remaining lime juice and white wine vinegar in a jam jar with the olive oil, red chilli and garlic and shake well. (If you don't have a jam jar, use a pint glass with a piece of cling-film place firmly over the top)
6. Cook the salmon in its marinade.
7. Serve with the dressing over the top and some vegetables, I'd recommend new potatoes, mushrooms and peppers.

Enjoy! x

Day One

I started my diet about five days ago but let's count this as Day One!

Today was a Snow Day - I actually did a little jig around my living room when I realised that I didn't have to go to work! And then promptly went back to sleep. Blissful.

However, after a couple of lovely snoozing hours, I did pull my backside out of bed and into my gym kit for a workout. Today should have been a running day but I really didn't fancy running through six inches of snow and stacking it onto the ice! Instead I did a thirty minute session on the Wii Active, which is the best fitness programme that I've come across so far. And I have a fair collection!

Today was all about upper body strength (the Active rotates each day between upper body, lower body, cardio and all round fitness) so I was working my arms with crunches and lifts until they were burning with the effort!

Food wise, I started the day with porridge (made with water), blueberries and a glass of grapefruit juice. Then I had an orange with a handful of pine nuts as a snack before a bowl of home-made vegetable soup with brown bread for lunch.

After a yoga session (soooooo good for stretching everything out and relaxing!) I munched on some vegetable slices with houmous and two glasses of water.

This evening I had sweet chilli garlic salmon with new potatoes and grilled veggies - I'll post the recipe in a minute! It was soooo tasty and my final mini-meal will be in about an hour and will be a small portion of a salad that I made yesterday containing lettuce, peppers, carrots, celery, cucumber and feta cheese with a balsamic vinegar dressing. Yum!

I hope that everyone has had a chance to enjoy the snow today, I went outside for a while to have a snowball fight - good fun and it burns the calories as well - bonus!

See you all tomorrow...x

Thems is the rules...

So, here is my diet and exercise plan and the rules that I'm going to do my best to follow over the coming months...

Food

Well, it goes without saying really! Lots of fresh fruit and veg, as much colourful food as I can manage and trying to cut down on as much sugar as possible.

Also, loads of water (it helps to flush all the rubbish out of the system) and there are certain foods that I'm going to work extra hard at working into my diet:

- Grapefruits - great for boosting the metabolism and cleaning out the system.

- Pine nuts - a little bit fatty but full of good oils.

- Fish - only when they're on offer as I'm broker than broke! Salmon is a great one though and I've got a very tasty recipe that I'll be putting on here.

They are the main three but I'll generally be aiming to eat good things all day and also eat six small meals instead of three bigger ones. This is good for balancing out the blood sugar and stops you from snacking randomly throughout the day.

Alcohol is something that I'll be cutting out - with the exception of Saturday evenings. No-one can diet 24/7 and so Saturday will be my 'off' day.

Exercise

I work full time (apart from when it's snowing!) as a Nursery Assistant taking care of babies aged three months to two years so that is a pretty good workout on it's own!

However, I also aim to workout for thirty minutes three times a week using the Wii Active as well as running twice a week for thirty minutes and doing yoga everyday for at least fifteen minutes. I find that if I break it down it doesn't seem too much and the Wii Active is great because it never gives you the same workout twice. I don't know about you, but I have the attention span of a small child - particularly when I'm supposed to be exercising!

I think that's it! It can't be that hard...right...? x

P.S I love deviantart.com - how amazing is this picture?!

Hello!

Hey bloggerverse!

So, I used to be a size 4-6 skinny minny due to the fact that I was a hardcore dancer and trained all the hours that were sent. Then I went to university and, like a lot of girls, things started to change...

In my first year of uni I jumped up a dress size to a 6-8 and by the time I'd finished my three years I was a comfortable 8-10.

Unfortunately, last year (2009), I was diagnosed with Glandular Fever and forced to stop all physical activity. For almost seven months I was in bed, feeling awful and eating looooads. And so the inevitable weight-gain came and I shot up to almost a size 14! Through sheer willpower (and a balanced diet and gentle exercise) I managed to loose a stone in weight between August and December and am currently a size 10-12.

Why am I telling you all this? Because one of my main New Years resolutions was to loose the rest of the weight and get back to my comfortable size 8-10 and I know that an awful lot of girls (and boys!) struggle when it comes to weight loss. I'm one of those as well and so, not only am I trying to help anyone else out there who wants it, but, by blogging (almost!) daily it will give me the kick up the bum that I need!

So, here goes nothing... x