I'm back on a diet and perhaps back on this blog also? I really just want somewhere to keep track of things and record the recipes I try and like, hopefully help my motivation... but clearly blogging didn't help with this last time as I managed a grand total of 3 posts before giving up. Oh well, I don't expect anyone to read this blog anyway, it's just for my own reference, so I think I'm going to give it another try.
I did manage to lose weight last time by the way, but life got in the way and over time I have developed bad habits again, so I want to make a fresh start. We'll see how that goes!
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
Bodyjam!
I body jammed for the first time this week. It was scary but good! A friend suggested it and five of us went, which was good as none of us had a clue what we were doing at first. It's definately a fun class though, it's a bit like aerobics but with a hip hop/latin twist, so you can pretend that you are an extra from Step Up while burning a few calories.
I'm really impressed by the Les Mills classes, I did Body Pump a while back and that was great too - not as much fun but you could really feel it working.
I'll leave you with a little Body Jam inspiration...
I'm really impressed by the Les Mills classes, I did Body Pump a while back and that was great too - not as much fun but you could really feel it working.
I'll leave you with a little Body Jam inspiration...
Sunday, 29 August 2010
Weetabix Cheesecake.
Sounds urgh. Tastes mmmmm.
I do get cravings for rich, creamy, sweet stuff sometimes. And I know I can have a Kit Kat or Chomp or Curly Wurly for not too many sins, but sometimes I want more of a dessert. A gooey, rich, melt in the mouth piece of joy. So, here goes.
I have read a few quark based cheesecake recipes on Slimming Eats and Dietgrrl, as well as on the minimins website. I tweaked them about a bit and came up with this-
Doesn't look too bad, eh?
And here's how-
Ingredients
I'm not going to lie, it isn't as good as a super fat filled proper cheesecake, but it's not a bad substitute really.
You could easily substitute the lemon flavour for any flavour of jam, or cocoa powder, or even fresh fruit (though I am not sure if that would mess with the consistency. Also, you could add different flavours to the Weetabix mix. Next time I make this I am envisioning a chocolate masterpiece!
I do get cravings for rich, creamy, sweet stuff sometimes. And I know I can have a Kit Kat or Chomp or Curly Wurly for not too many sins, but sometimes I want more of a dessert. A gooey, rich, melt in the mouth piece of joy. So, here goes.
I have read a few quark based cheesecake recipes on Slimming Eats and Dietgrrl, as well as on the minimins website. I tweaked them about a bit and came up with this-
 |
| Lemon & Ginger Cheesecake |
Doesn't look too bad, eh?
And here's how-
Ingredients
- 8 weetabix
- 2 tubs of quark
- 8 teaspoons lemon curd
- 2 eggs
- Lots of Splenda
- Teaspoon of ground ginger
- Teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- Dash of lemon juice
- Beat two eggs in a bowl. Add quark, lemon curd and mix until smooth. Add Splenda and lemon juice to taste (I like it quite sweet so I used quite a lot of Splenda)
- Place Weetabix, Splenda and spices in a blender and blend until thoroughly mixed
- Press Weetabix mixture into the base of a springform cake tin using a spoon
- Add the quark mixture on top
- Place in hot oven and leave until you can put a knife into the cake and it comes out clean
- Allow to cool, stuff your face
I'm not going to lie, it isn't as good as a super fat filled proper cheesecake, but it's not a bad substitute really.
You could easily substitute the lemon flavour for any flavour of jam, or cocoa powder, or even fresh fruit (though I am not sure if that would mess with the consistency. Also, you could add different flavours to the Weetabix mix. Next time I make this I am envisioning a chocolate masterpiece!
Who are you and why are you here?
Good question. Hi all, my name is Marianne and I am on a diet. Slimming World to be precise. I'm 27, I live in the UK with my boyfriend, James. I'm finally starting to try and shape up after a few years of stuffing my face and sitting on my bum more than I should.
I decided to try keeping a blog as a way of keeping motivated. I’m not attending classes or even using the online version of the plan, which is probably considered risky by many but so far it suits me quite well. The way I am doing it is by using the materials I got when I did the online programme in November last year. I failed miserably last time because I was not in the right mindset. I was suffering from quite a nasty bout of depression and about two weeks in a got some bad news which tipped me over the edge, getting through day to day felt tough enough without trying to diet as well. So I abandoned the plan, and spent some time sorting my head out. A few months of counselling and generally looking after myself, as well as putting right a few issues in my life, and by summer this year I was feeling a lot better, and ready to give Slimming World another go.
I decided to ease myself into the plan with what I have creatively called ‘Freestyle Slimming World’, which consisted of generally following the plan but keeping certain aspects of my old life that I knew I would miss – Friday night chips, Tuesday night pizza etc. The reason for this is that when I have tried other diets I have started off in a really extreme manner and found the sudden change difficult to cope with, leaving me feeling miserable and then giving up. I tried the ‘4 day diet’ a while back which involved changing the way you eat every four days to keep your metabolism on its toes, or something. Anyway, the first four days were pretty much nothing but vegetables and a little brown rice. To go from eating whatever you fancy to eating fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch and some steamed veg and brown rice for dinner is tough, and while I managed to maintain it for those four days, it was pretty miserable. About ten days into the diet I found it too difficult and went back to my old ways. So this time I thought I would try to change things around a bit and ease myself in gently. After all, what I really need to do is change my eating habits for life, otherwise I will just pile it all back on once I come off the diet. So I am in no rush, I will take as long as I need to. And if a few weeks of FSW helps in this, then great! After a week or so of FSW I felt less inclined to eat the old stuff anyway, as I knew it would hinder my progress, and found myself opting for healthier options anyway. Win!
The other aspect of FSW is that I am not weighing myself, not yet anyway. So far I am just going on how my clothes are feeling (a little looser, and a few notches down on my belt, if you were wondering). This is because when I have started diets in the past I have been shocked at the ‘figure’ – the actual stones and pounds of the situation. I then fixate on this and start doing calculations in my head. They generally go something like this – “if I lose four pounds a week then by this time next year I will weigh x amount. Oh no, that isn’t enough, perhaps if I lose five pounds every week...” and then I end up disappointing myself because it is pretty much impossible to sustain consistent four and five pound losses, and I end up cracking under the pressure. So I am going to only start weighing myself once SW has become a part of my routine and I am feeling confident that it is working. The downside of this is that I will never know for sure my actual weightloss, but if it helps me be more realistic about the plan and I subsequently stick to it, then I think that is a positive thing. What I need to realise is that as long as my weight is going down it doesn’t really matter how slowly it’s happening – if I don’t plan to ever go back to my old ways of eating then I will eventually get to my ideal weight, no matter how long it takes. And along the way I will be learning and changing and developing into a much healthier person generally.
So, what’s my ideal weight? Good question. Eventually I want to have a healthy BMI. I am 5’5”, so about 10.5 stone is the upper limit for me. At present I can’t really imagine ever being that light, so I am just going to take it one dress size at a time. I have my suspicions that my frame is not designed to be that size, but I hope to be proved wrong!
And what about excercise? Well, I actually quite enjoy a bit of excercise, I like to go swimming and having a bit of fun with games like Wii fit. I like to go on country walks and I love to go out dancing. I like the idea of going to the gym but am scared to get tied into a contract at present, but I’m researching ‘pay as you go’ options available at certain local gyms. A few weeks ago my sister and I went to ‘Body Pump’ which was tough but seemed pretty effective, so I hope to start doing that more regularly. The hard part is finding the time – I run my own business and seem to be always working. When I finally get home after a long day at work I don’t feel I have the energy to get active, I just want to slump in front of the tv. So I’m going to need to work on making some time for excercise. But I’m not going to pressure myself until I have the eating side of things in place. At the moment, just planning meals and shopping and cooking new recipes is taking up quite a bit of my time, but once I am into more of a routine it should be easier to make a bit of time for exercise.
Thankfully I have found a couple of friends that are doing slimming world as well. They don’t have anywhere near as much to lose as me, but it is nice to have a little moral support. We all met up a couple of weeks ago and had lots of healthy nibbles – fruit, crudités with SW hummous, cous cous and a SW lemon cheesecake – it’s nice to be sociable and not have the usual temptations for once! We shared a few recipes and ideas and now we know that if we’re slipping on the plan we have people to turn to who understand!
I have been having fun with the shopping and cooking on the plan so far. I have so far tried out SW chips, a yoghurt based curry, a sin free lasagne, a 3 sin a (large) slice cheesecake and a number of pasta sauces. I have spent many a happy hour hunting down low sin treats in various supermarkets, and I feel like I am learning a lot.
Being a vegetarian, I only do green and extra easy days, but these are great for me. I love pasta, quorn, potatoes etc, so I don’t find myself going hungry. I wish they’d come out with a gelatine free Mullerlight, but other than that I have no complaints! The only things I am missing are cheese and bread, but even that isn’t too bad as I can have a little of each every day if I want.
So that’s where I’m at. I’m going to try and keep a diary of my progress so that I can hopefully keep myself motivated and see how far I’ve come.
Speak soon! xx
I decided to try keeping a blog as a way of keeping motivated. I’m not attending classes or even using the online version of the plan, which is probably considered risky by many but so far it suits me quite well. The way I am doing it is by using the materials I got when I did the online programme in November last year. I failed miserably last time because I was not in the right mindset. I was suffering from quite a nasty bout of depression and about two weeks in a got some bad news which tipped me over the edge, getting through day to day felt tough enough without trying to diet as well. So I abandoned the plan, and spent some time sorting my head out. A few months of counselling and generally looking after myself, as well as putting right a few issues in my life, and by summer this year I was feeling a lot better, and ready to give Slimming World another go.
I decided to ease myself into the plan with what I have creatively called ‘Freestyle Slimming World’, which consisted of generally following the plan but keeping certain aspects of my old life that I knew I would miss – Friday night chips, Tuesday night pizza etc. The reason for this is that when I have tried other diets I have started off in a really extreme manner and found the sudden change difficult to cope with, leaving me feeling miserable and then giving up. I tried the ‘4 day diet’ a while back which involved changing the way you eat every four days to keep your metabolism on its toes, or something. Anyway, the first four days were pretty much nothing but vegetables and a little brown rice. To go from eating whatever you fancy to eating fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch and some steamed veg and brown rice for dinner is tough, and while I managed to maintain it for those four days, it was pretty miserable. About ten days into the diet I found it too difficult and went back to my old ways. So this time I thought I would try to change things around a bit and ease myself in gently. After all, what I really need to do is change my eating habits for life, otherwise I will just pile it all back on once I come off the diet. So I am in no rush, I will take as long as I need to. And if a few weeks of FSW helps in this, then great! After a week or so of FSW I felt less inclined to eat the old stuff anyway, as I knew it would hinder my progress, and found myself opting for healthier options anyway. Win!
The other aspect of FSW is that I am not weighing myself, not yet anyway. So far I am just going on how my clothes are feeling (a little looser, and a few notches down on my belt, if you were wondering). This is because when I have started diets in the past I have been shocked at the ‘figure’ – the actual stones and pounds of the situation. I then fixate on this and start doing calculations in my head. They generally go something like this – “if I lose four pounds a week then by this time next year I will weigh x amount. Oh no, that isn’t enough, perhaps if I lose five pounds every week...” and then I end up disappointing myself because it is pretty much impossible to sustain consistent four and five pound losses, and I end up cracking under the pressure. So I am going to only start weighing myself once SW has become a part of my routine and I am feeling confident that it is working. The downside of this is that I will never know for sure my actual weightloss, but if it helps me be more realistic about the plan and I subsequently stick to it, then I think that is a positive thing. What I need to realise is that as long as my weight is going down it doesn’t really matter how slowly it’s happening – if I don’t plan to ever go back to my old ways of eating then I will eventually get to my ideal weight, no matter how long it takes. And along the way I will be learning and changing and developing into a much healthier person generally.
So, what’s my ideal weight? Good question. Eventually I want to have a healthy BMI. I am 5’5”, so about 10.5 stone is the upper limit for me. At present I can’t really imagine ever being that light, so I am just going to take it one dress size at a time. I have my suspicions that my frame is not designed to be that size, but I hope to be proved wrong!
And what about excercise? Well, I actually quite enjoy a bit of excercise, I like to go swimming and having a bit of fun with games like Wii fit. I like to go on country walks and I love to go out dancing. I like the idea of going to the gym but am scared to get tied into a contract at present, but I’m researching ‘pay as you go’ options available at certain local gyms. A few weeks ago my sister and I went to ‘Body Pump’ which was tough but seemed pretty effective, so I hope to start doing that more regularly. The hard part is finding the time – I run my own business and seem to be always working. When I finally get home after a long day at work I don’t feel I have the energy to get active, I just want to slump in front of the tv. So I’m going to need to work on making some time for excercise. But I’m not going to pressure myself until I have the eating side of things in place. At the moment, just planning meals and shopping and cooking new recipes is taking up quite a bit of my time, but once I am into more of a routine it should be easier to make a bit of time for exercise.
Thankfully I have found a couple of friends that are doing slimming world as well. They don’t have anywhere near as much to lose as me, but it is nice to have a little moral support. We all met up a couple of weeks ago and had lots of healthy nibbles – fruit, crudités with SW hummous, cous cous and a SW lemon cheesecake – it’s nice to be sociable and not have the usual temptations for once! We shared a few recipes and ideas and now we know that if we’re slipping on the plan we have people to turn to who understand!
I have been having fun with the shopping and cooking on the plan so far. I have so far tried out SW chips, a yoghurt based curry, a sin free lasagne, a 3 sin a (large) slice cheesecake and a number of pasta sauces. I have spent many a happy hour hunting down low sin treats in various supermarkets, and I feel like I am learning a lot.
Being a vegetarian, I only do green and extra easy days, but these are great for me. I love pasta, quorn, potatoes etc, so I don’t find myself going hungry. I wish they’d come out with a gelatine free Mullerlight, but other than that I have no complaints! The only things I am missing are cheese and bread, but even that isn’t too bad as I can have a little of each every day if I want.
So that’s where I’m at. I’m going to try and keep a diary of my progress so that I can hopefully keep myself motivated and see how far I’ve come.
Speak soon! xx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)