Pop Addiction - Week 1 and 2.

Two weeks ago I set out to conquer my reliance on diet pop, Namely how much Pepsi Max I was drinking.

At the start of my weight loss journey I swapped out full fat coke-a-cola for Pepsi Max beleiving it was a change for the better. Now several times throughout my journey I have tried giving up the Pepsi Max. I lasted around two days before I gave into the headaches and the other withdrawals I was experiencing.
I have always loved a fizzy drink, I could easily polish of a two liter bottle of the stuff without the help of anyone else. I would think nothing of just drinking straight from a 2L bottle throughout the day while at home then grabbing the odd 300ml can while out to 'quench my thirst'.
I know, I know... Fizzy pop isn't good for you blah! I have heard it all before, I have seen the penny get cleaned by the coke but nothing has stopped me from drinking it.

Expect two weeks ago I finally decided I needed to stop it but this time I was going to approach it differently. Cold turkey clearly wasn't the way forward for me so I was going to try a different approach.

For the first week I went from drinking well over 2000mls a day to just 600mls (two cans). The first week of doing that was horrible. It was so odd it not being my 'go to drink' Instead I started drinking more water (with a splash of sugar free dilute juice) and green tea. I would have my first can early morning then would be clock watching and open my second can with dinner and make it last right through till dinner time. I did have a couple of days where I went to the fridge and nearly grabbed another can but didn't.

Week two; Still drinking 600mls a day. I figured as the week before had been so tough I would do another week at this amount. After all... I am doing this gradual.
Things was so much easier than I expected. I've gotten into a new habit in a morning. I will put the kettle on as soon as I get up and while its boiling will drink a pint of water, make my breakfast and by that time the kettle has boiled so will make myself a green tea. I have been able to 'wait' for my first can of Pepsi Max till around mid-afternoon and then having my second can once the children are in bed with my evening snack. I am feeling a lot less bloated and feeling more positive that I can do this. Not felt the least bit tempted to have anymore then what I had alotted myself.

My Aim for week three is to take the amount down to 300mls, so just one can a day. This scares me just like going from over 2000mls a day to 600mls did. I know the first few days will no doubt be difficult but! I will get through it and I will feel so much better for it.

September Goals and 1st weigh in.

September is a pretty important month for me. More specifically the first week in September is very significant.
Its three years this week that I embarked on the biggest change of my adult life: I walked into the Weight Watchers class that helped transform my life for the better.

This month I really don't want to set unobtainable goals that are impossible to achieve. My goal this month is to loose 4lbs. That averages at 1lb a week, completely attainable. Anymore than that I will welcome but right now that 4lb goal I am happy with.

This morning I had my weekly weigh in and for the first time in a very long time I hand on my heart had no idea what the scales would show as I had hubby hide my batteries for my scales. I was stressing my self out too much and became obsessed with weighing myself two or three times a day. Not healthy. Over the past 4 weeks I had lost only 2lbs (main reason this months goal is 4lbs!) even though I had tracked and been good I really hit a brick wall so went today expecting much of the same. I got on the scales and as my leader turned the scales round I saw 10st6.5lbs! My mind was trying to do the maths, while I knew it was more than the half a pound I was expecting I was just stunned. 2.5lbs!! TWO AND A HALF POUNDS off in one week!! That is the most I have lost in one week in 3 months!!

I am elated, I am hoping that is the end of my bodies plateau and we can get back on the train to goal. It just shows even when things get hard and you keep at it things will start moving again eventually!

So after my first week in September I am already half way through my goal. I am not counting chickens just yet as the half a pound looses may come back to bite me in the butt yet haha.

Diet Coke Chicken

This has become a recent favourite in our house. It's quick easy and very flavourful. The amount of propoints it will work out to be will depend on the size of the chicken breast you use to be sure to measure your chicken and adjust your points value accordingly! 

My portion worked out at 5pp.

What you'll need...

A preheated (200*) oven.

Tablespoon of Tomato purée (or passata)

A can of diet cola (we use Pepsi Max) 

A couple of tea spoons of Worcester sauce

Oxo cube

Chicken breast (we had 2 and a half)

A oven proof dish. 

1) empty the can of cola into the oven proof dish along with the tomato purée and Worcester sauce.

2) sprinkle the chicken breasts with the oxo cube and place into the oven proof dish

3) place into the oven for around twenty minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.

I have had ours with both couscous and rice with vegetables. It works well with either 😊

How has it been six months?!

I am a terrible blogger... I keep meaning to sit down and write a post but time just slips on by.

So here is a update..

Since my last post in February I am pleased to post that my weight has gone from 12st2lbs (170lbs) to my current weight of 10st9lbs (149lbs). Thats a difference of 1st7lbs (21lbs)!!

My weight loss was pretty consistent with the odd half pound gain between February and April when we went to London to celebrate my husband 30th. Two days before we went I weighed in at 11st9lbs (163lbs). That was down 28lbs (2st) from the year before!

While in London I took a break from pointing. We enjoyed some amazing foods and other treats. For Hubby's birthday I treated him to two amazing meals in restaurants he has always wanted to go to..

The first one was Restaurant Gordon Ramsay on Royal Hospital Road. I had my photo taken outside here in 2009 when we went to a restaurant just down the road. I was determined I would get myself a comparison photo and that is exactly what I did!

Me left in 2009 and then Me in 2015, well over 100lbs difference!

Once Inside we had what can only be described as a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have never in my life experienced anything quite like it. The service was something else, Their was more waiting staff than their was people in the restaurant. We was even lucky enough to get a tour of the kitchen and Gary even had 'Happy Birthday' sang to him. Amazing Experience!! 

 The next place we went to was Dinner By Heston. This again was an experience in its self. I had meat fruit and lots bread and the meal its self was exquisite and so good! Here I am above enjoying some liquid nitrogen ice cream that was made right in front of us at our table! Very typically Heston!!

It is no surprise really that when we got back and despite all the walking we had done I had gained a massive 10.5lbs! Taking my weight back up to 12st5lb (173lbs).

Now, I knew that we had nothing else coming up that could step in the way of my weightloss and decided I needed to focus and get down to business. Since we have been back from London I have lost weight or stayed the same every single week and as of the 27th of August I have managed to loose a total of 126lbs (9st).

To celebrate loosing 125lbs I was given a certificate and decided I needed to do a big comparison photo. The before was taken at my nieces Christening 2 months before I joined weight watchers then when I got my other certificates at 50, 75, 100 and finally 125lbs. What is bizarre to me is when I originally got that 50lb certificate I felt so slim and that I had lost tons of weight but looking at it now I still look rather large!

I am now just 16lbs away from becoming a gold member and I really want to get that before Christmas so... Watch this space!

Graze

If you are reading this, are a member of the UK weight watchers and attend meetings then chances are you've seen the Graze boxes that are currently being sold in meetings for £3.99.
               There are 3 different types being sold in meetings to members. There is a gluten free box, a vegetarian box and a Mediterranean box. I had seen Graze boxes posted on my Facebook but never really liked the idea of not knowing what would turn up in the post so these seemed like a really good idea as I could see what was in them before I bought one. The best bit was the box had the propoints of each snack already on the box

I picked up the Mediterranean box and I must say I was utterly impressed. In fact I was so impressed I used the coupon inside and got a free box delivered to my door.
I was so surprised by how simple the website was to use and if I knew it was so simple so discard things I dont think I would have liked, I would have been open to trying graze a lot sooner.
They have an option on the website for you to check off any ingredients you don't like and you can 'bin' them so you'll never be sent a product with that ingredient in.

They have a 100 products for their 'light' range that are all under 100 calories which works out about 2 or 3 propoints per snack.

If you'd like to try your own box I do have a coupon code that will get you your 1st, 5th and 10th boxes absolutely FREE!! Who doesn't like free food?! Just click the linky dink and be on your way to a box of yummy goodies. https://www.graze.com/uk/p/EMMAT2J4U

In my box I have... Sour Cream and Garic Crostini (3pp), Chedder Gorge (3pp), Toffee Apple (2pp) and a Lemon and Poppy slice with a tea infusion (2pp). I cant wait to be able to try these during the week.

Monthly Weightloss - February 2015

February was a difficult month but I am still finishing it smaller than I started so I am happy with that. I left January 12st6lbs.

04/02/15 - 12st 4lb (172lb) - 2lb loss this week, I'd had an average week and was happy with a loss. I tracked and stayed within my allotted points

11/02/15 - 12st 3.5lbs (171.5) - 0.5lb loss this week, I had, had a really good week this week. I made a conscious effort to make sure I was doing things properly so was very disappointed to step on the scales and only see half a pound had been lost. I know its a loss but I really felt I deserved more. However, upon returning home the reason for the low loss became clear. *Ladies week* came and slapped my hard in the face.

18/02/15 - 12st 7lb (175lb) - 3.5lb gain this week. With *Ladies week* in full force, Birthday celebrations and Valentines this was never going to be a good weigh in. I was actually happy with this gain as I was expecting to gain more than I did.

25/02/15 - 12st 2lb (170lbs) - 5lb loss this week. Talk about finishing the month of with a bang. All week I had said that as long as I had lost my gain from last week I'd be happy. I tracked and pointed like I was new at this. With it being half term I wasn't out walking as much either. Stepping on the scales and seeing that I was a massive 5lb down was just amazing. I knew I was good but didn't think I had been that good!

Total weight loss for the month - 4lbs
Total weight loss for the year - 8lbs
Total weight loss overall - 105lbs

Even though February hasn't been easy I have still ended the month lower than I started. I have also got another half a stone off so got another silver seven in my book. I am now focused and ready to get into my new stone zone next month!

Birthdays and Romance!

February was always going to be a tricky month for me. I said it at the end of last months round up. In the space of a couple of days our family celebrates 3 birthdays and valentines day. It was always going to be a tough week to manage.
This year my youngest daughter turned 3 years old. Honestly doesn't feel like that long ago but it really was.
To mark this occasion me and Molly recreated one of the first photos of us together..

February 2012 vs February 2015

We celebrated her birthday with a Jake and the Neverland Pirates birthday cake and a trip to McDonalds where I indulged in a large burger meal. I enjoyed every illicit mouthful if I am completely honest.
On the Saturday it was Valentines day and for the first time in mine and my husbands almost 10 year relationship we was actually going out to celebrate on Valentines itself.
We went out for a 3 course Indian meal and a trip to the cinema. The meal was fantastic and we both left very full!

On the Sunday we also went out to celebrate the other two family birthdays...It was a weekend of eating out thats for sure!

Needless to say when Wednesday came around I knew I would have gained and I did. I gained 3.5lbs but do you know what? I was completely okay with that. I was happy it wasn't more as I felt after all I ate I deserved more of a gain.
I was okay with it because it was deserved and I had, had fun! I also looked and felt amazing when I went out for a romantic meal with my husband. I didn't feel like all eyes were on the hideous fat beast stuffing her face. I felt comfy in the clothes I wore too!
I also knew that by weighing in I was drawing a line and would get back into the saddle.

Our Holiday to cornwall May 2012 and ready to celebrate valentines day 2015

Chicken Nuggets - Recipe

I am a mum of two amazing children and sometimes they don't want to eat 'grown up food' and want nothing more than nuggets and chips. I have made a point from the start of my journey that I wouldn't be making several different meals for us all as I felt by including us all into my lifestyle change I was showing my children the beauty of moderation and occasionally the food that is so bad for us, is ok.
This recipe made 8 servings (5 nuggets per portion) for a total of 40 nuggets. I had enough left over to freeze and re-heat for another night. Perfect, easy dinner!
These are also fun to get the kids involved with helping too although it can get a bit messy.

Ingredients

3 slices of brown bread (I lightly toasted them so they dried out a bit)
75g Plain White Flour
3 eggs
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 clove of garlic
335g chicken breast (diced into approx 40 nugget size bits)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200* (180* fan assisted) and then place your brown bread, mixed herbs and garlic into a food processor untill they've been blended into crumbs
2. In 3 seprate bowls add your flour, eggs and breadcrumbs. Take your chicken and coat it in the flour then the egg and lastly the breadcrumbs. Then place onto a baking tray. Repeat until all bits of chicken have been coated and placed onto the tray.
3. Place into the fridge for 10 minutes to give the breadcrumbs chance to 'stick'
4. Pop into the oven for 20 minutes.

My nuggets, fresh from the oven.

Thankful Thursday

The past few days as I have glanced in the mirror as I am getting ready for the day I couldn't help but notice the not-so-positive thoughts that had slithered there way into my mind.
I felt fat and horrible and couldn't see past the person I used to be over 2 years ago.
During my journey I have taken a lot progress photos to help me see the transformation myself. Today after looking back at some old photos I stumbled upon these beauties...

This was taken on my 21st Birthday on mine and my Husbands 'Honeymoon' to York in 2009.

This was taken a few days later when we was doing the touristy things like the Jorvic centre. I think I was taking one of my many stops to catch my breath! 

These shocked me... I always knew I was big but sometimes I do forget just how big I was. I was never in denial over my size. I was the first to put my hands up and admit I was a large lady who liked to eat meals that matched my husbands portion sizes then some.

As I was looking through old photos today it was like looking at photo of someone else. I am completely different to who I was there. That person wasn't happy no matter how much she tried to convince herself she was.

Today before he went to work I handed my husband my phone and asked him to take a couple of photos of me. I knew it was time to add another photo to my ever growing collection of 'during' photos. This is me, today.  

12st6lbs of completely different person. I have a new lease on life and goals I will achieve this year. I never thought I'd buy clothes from a normal shop...especially non elasticated ones. To let them photos sink in a little more... Here they are side by side.

So what am I thankful for? I am thankful I realised I needed to change because hand on my heart the way I was going I don't think I'd have seen 30.
It's never too late to start!

Monthly Weight Loss - January 2015

I figured instead of posting weekly update on whether I had lost or gained at my meeting I figured at the end of every month I would just upload it in one go, with a little summary of how I felt that week.

I feel like I have had a pretty good month. I am almost back to pre-Christmas weight so everything from here on out is my lowest ever weight!

I started this month on the 7th of January 2015 weighing 12st 10lbs (178lbs). That was my first weigh in after Christmas and I was up 5lbs from my last weigh in before Christmas. I was very happy with that as the week before I went back to class I was on damage limitation mode as my home scales was showing a 14lb gain!! No way did I want to walk back into class and be up by so much.

14/01/15 - 12st 8.5lbs (176.5lbs) - 1.5lb off this week. I was very happy with this as it was *ladies week* so I was expecting a gain or a STS as is my normal at that time of the month.

21/01/15 - 12st 7lbs (175lbs) - 1.5lbs off this week. Pleased again this week as we ate out twice this week so it just shows that with a bit of planning ahead and pointing properly you can still enjoy your self and loose weight. This weight loss also took my total overall weight loss back over that 100lb mark. Yay!

28/01/15 - 12st 6lb (174) - 1lb loss. I am happy its a loss as 1lb is still a good amount to loose in a week. I am trying to keep positive even though I wanted to loose 2lb this week to get me back down to my lowest pre-Christmas weight.

Total weight loss for the month - 4lb. I am very happy with this as we have only had 3 weigh ins since Christmas.

January has been a pretty easy month for me to stay in control. We've not really had any big events or family occasions to celebrate so its been easy to stay focused. I am ready for February and I am hoping for the determination to carry on through for another month.

Fakeaway Donner Kebab - Recipe.

I love takeaways and one of my favourites is a Donner Kebab lathered in lashings of garlic sauce. In fact Donner meat is one of the few foods I haven't really eaten much during my two years on ProPoints as there has never really been any definite way to propoint it so I just steered clear of it and would opt for a chicken kebab that I could dissemble and weigh.
However, I came across this recipe and we decided to give it a whirl. Much to my delight it tasted exactly like the Donner meat you get in the takeaway but with added bonus of knowing exactly what went into it and how many points it was. We made a large batch and from this amount have had 8 servings from it.

Ingredients

1160g lamb mince (we used diced lamb and blended it up)
2 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (add more if you want more of a kick)
pinch of salt and pepper

Method

1. Pre-Heat the oven at 180* then combine all the ingredients together working the mixture until there are no air pockets and it comes together all smoothly.
2. Shape into a loaf shape and place on a wire rack ontop of a baking tray and put in the oven for one hour
3. Remove from the oven and wrap in foil. Let it rest for 10 minutes while you prepare salad and pita bread. Unwrap the meat and slice thinly as possible.

I had mine in a wrap with lots of salad and butternut squash.

One Pot Cajun Chicken - Recipe

I am making a more concious effort this week to try some new recipies as recently we have been having the same rotation of meals and things can get a bit boring. This recipe is from my Weight Watchers My Recipies folder and came from the 'Meat' Pack of cards that I picked up from my meeting awhile ago.
Like most of my cook books they are bought with grand ideas and they just end up gathering dust so this Tuesday evening I dusted them off and gave them a good look through and picked a few out for us to try this week. This is what we had on Thursday evening and I must say I was really pleased with the simplicity of the whole thing. It went down well with the family and my husband even commented that 'It didn't look diety' - Which to me is the whole point. This isn't a diet, its a lifestyle change.

Ingredients

Calorie controlled cooking spray
4x 150g Skinless boneless chicken breast
1 onion, halved and sliced
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, de-seeded and sliced
4 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced
1tbs dried thyme
2-3tsp Cajun seasoning
200g dried rice
150g green beans
1 tbs tomato puree
600ml hot chicken stock

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200*c/Fan oven 180. Spray a large, shallow, flameproof casserole dish with the cooking spray, add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes until golden. Add the onion, peppers and garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the thyme and cajun seasoning and cook for a further 2 minutes.
2. Add the rice and stir to coat, then add the beans.Combine the tomato puree and the stock. Pour over the chicken mixture. Cover the casserole dish then bake in the oven for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Allow to stand for a couple of minutes before serving.

Hints and tips for the Supermarket.

Some of these may seem obvious but others not so much, In no particular order here are my top 5 tips on reducing your food bill!

1. DON'T shop on an empty stomach. This is the worst thing you can do as you go around and not only do you end up spending a fortune of things you don't need but the not so good for your point values things will sneak in! Go after your meal or have a small snack before your shop. Your wallet and waistline will thank you later
2. DO make a meal plan. This is very important. The night before you go shopping sit down and make a meal plan for the week ahead and work out the points values for all your meals this will not only stop the 'I don't know what's for dinner lets order take out' as you will know ahead of time what's planned for your day ahead. This allows us to follow nicely to number 3...
3. DO make a shopping list and inventory. Before you make your meal plan take an inventory of everything in your freezer, fridge and cupboards. Then you can make your meal plan around what you've already got. Then make a shopping list for the things you don't have.  
4. BUY loose and frozen. Most often then not the supermarkets try and trick us with their fancy labels and promise of offers when on a closer look the offer isn't that really at all. I have found some fruits and vegetables are cheaper to buy loose or frozen. Perfect example is a large bunch of banana's picked loose can be 89p but to buy a bag of pre-packed bananas that are a lot smaller cost £1 but because of the sticker making it like the £1 bunch is such a bargain you just gravitate towards the bag! Also buy bigger bags of frozen vegetables - they save you money and taste just as good as the fresh stuff
5. DO treat your self! If you fancy that bar of chocolate while your out, point and track it and enjoy. A treat every now and again doesn't hurt and wont break the bank. 

A little about me and my journey.

About me

I am a Emma and I am 26 years old. I am a married stay at home mum (SAHM) to two girls aged 7 and 2. We live in a small village in Yorkshire with our kitten River.  

I have ever since I could remember been teased for being 'fat'. I was even nicknamed Beefcake after the South Park character Cartman by a bunch of kids at school. Nice huh? Looking back at pictures I wasn't skinny but I was by no means 'fat' or at least the fattest I would become.

I remember leaving Secondary School in 2004 at 16 and during the summer between finishing school and starting college I joined Weight Watchers for the very first time, Both my mum and older sister were members. My elder sister is still a gold member and has been for years now! I remember weighing over 16 stone but the exact number is hazy. I think I lost between 7-10lbs but once I started college I could no longer make the class and stopped going, Inevitably the weight crept back on and a lot more. 

Jump forward to January 2008, I had just had my eldest daughter at the end of October and waited to get the Christmas festivities out the way before deciding I needed shift the baby weight as a kind of New Years resolution. I was depressed and deeply unhappy with a lot of things in my life. I ended up diagnosed with Post Natal Depression and gave weight watchers up, yet again as I felt like I needed to get my mental health in order before working on my weight issues.

I got married in May 2009 and at this point me and Gary decided we wanted to try for a second baby. I came off the birth control pills and by November 2008 my period still hadn't shown up. After a load of tests I was diagnoised with Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) in March 2010. A lot of things made sense about my body with that diagnosis and I was told in no uncertain terms the cysts on my ovaries were blocking one side and the other side wasn't much better and no to expect lightening to strike twice.

I was told if I lost weight, things might improve and if I lost enough weight I would be given clomid to try and help me Ovulate and get pregnant. On the 10th of March 2010 I joined Weight Watchers again for a 3rd time. This time I weighed 19st4lbs and I stuck it out and got to my lowest weight of my adult life (at the time) of 16st and then I find out I was pregnant after my third round of clomid. 

Baby number 2 was born February 2012 and I joined the gym 6 weeks after she was born. I went to the gym a few times a week but didn't really change my diet. You can't out exercise a bad diet no matter how hard you hit the gym - fact. In July '12 my Husband got a new job that required us to move 50 miles from our friends and families and away from everything we knew. 
As the summer holidays came to an end I had to take my head out thr sand and acknowledge our eldest was about to start full time school. The thought filled me with dread. A new school, A new town where I knew noone. I wasn't scared for how my daughter was going to adjust as I knew she'd do fine. I was scared for ME. I was scared my eldest would get teased and bullied for how I looked. I am just under 5ft tall I weighed 19st10lbs. I was creeping up to the 20st bracket and I didn't want that. It felt like I had an epiphany. I had always said by the time our eldest started school I wouldn't be the fattest mum in the school yard picking up their child and I was. Something in my head clicked and I knew what I needed to do.
I looked up my nearest weight watchers class and found there was one across the road from my daughters school  - Perfect. I had to take her to school every weekday so I had no exuse not to go to weigh in. On Wednesday September 5th 2012 I joined weight watchers for the very last time. I was in the right place mentally and I knew this was MY time to change. I wasn't doing it because of people calling me names, I wasn't doing it because the doctor recommended I do something about my weight.. I was doing it because I wanted to change my lifestyle and to me, I do believe that has been one of the key factors in doing so well. 

My journey hasn't been plain sailing and there has been times where I could have thrown in the towel but I think back and remember the person I was and I don't wan't to go back to that - ever. The person I was is now just a memory I never want to go back to. Struggling to fit into a pair of size 28 jeans, Struggling to get up off the floor after changing the little ones nappy, having the backs of my legs hurt as I walked short distances and forget ever being able to run around after my kiddies . I was 24 years old and felt like an 80yr old woman. 

As I type this I have lost to date 102lbs and I still have about 40lbs to go till I get to my goal weight. Here is my most recent before and during picture...

I started this blog as a way to show other people it is entirely possible to do this program on a budget and that you and your family can all eat the same foods. I want other people to know that just because budget is an issue or you want to save a few ££ as well as lbs doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your health and what you put into your body After all, Weight Watchers is about doing it your way and this is my way.

The first step!

Hi! If you've stumbled upon my blog chances are you, like me want to loose weight. I am Emma and I have been a Weight Watchers member since September 2012. I walked into my very first meeting weighing 276lbs(19st10lbs). At the time of typing this blog post I have lost 102.5lbs (7st4.5lbs) with around 40lbs to go until I get go the goal weight I set myself way back when I joined.

I started this blog because I know how hard it is to loose weight. I also know how sometimes when we embark on a lifestyle change we think it's going to have a large impact on our food budget. Well I am here to show you it is entirely possible to feed you and your family cheaply, tastefully AND loose weight all at the same time.

Most of my recipes are to feed a family of four as when I joined weight watchers I said this wasn't a quick fix diet for me, this was to become a lifestyle change. So in order for it to become a lifestyle change I couldn't make two different meals. I also wanted to show my children that everything in moderation is okay!

I plan to upload my weekly meal plans, recipes to my family favourite recipes and of course I will include the propoints values and highlight when I can what is considered a filling and healthy food.

I hope you find this useful and good luck on your journey!