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Musings: 5 ways to cope with eating out on Weight Watchers

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One of the things about making sure my new way of eating becomes a lifestyle and not a diet is learning how to deal with obstacles that are thrown at me. I've discussed before about how I often get a bit stressed/on edge when I'm not in full control of what I'm eating, (which you can read here,) but today I thought I'd share with you how I deal with one of these obstacles: eating out. In this post are my five top tips for dealing with eating out.

1) Buy the eat out guide

I know it's a bit of money, however knowing the pro points value is invaluable when making decisions on what to eat. Sometimes we think we can guesstimate the points, however there is no better way to stay on track to know exactly how many points are in the food we're eating. I tend to know my favourites off by heart, and also know that as much as I love a chicken korma, they aren't worth the 50+ pro points (sob!).

2) Look at the menu before your go

I always like to look at the menu before I go and make two choices; one thing that I really want, and a back-up in case they don't have that. Knowing what you want before you go allows you to pro-point in advance and plan your day around what you're having; this means you're left with enough pro points to cover what you want.

3) Don't be afraid to ask

I recently went out to dinner with a vegan, and found it really interesting to hear how she asked for things to be done and was in awe of how she wasn't afraid to ask for things to be cooked in a certain way. I was really glad actually as I resisted pudding, but when she asked for a bowl of strawberries, which wasn't on the menu, they were happy to comply so I asked for some too and they made me a lovely fruit salad. Score! It really drove home the point that most restaurants aim to please and are more than willing to help you with your needs. If you don't want the sauce, ask for it without. Want something else instead of chips, ask!

4) Have a little treat

You want to make this experience an enjoyable one, so don't deprive yourself of everything. I know that I won't be happy when I got out to eat if I have to swap chips to another form of potato; so what I tend to do is order some sort of meat (usually steak) but keep it with chips. Then, following filling and healthy, all I'd have to do is point the chips. Because I've had the chips I'm left feeling satisfied, not neglected and happy enough to watch others eat dessert that I know I don't really want.

5) Remember it's just one meal

Just like one good meal won't make you skinny, one bad meal won't make you fat. As long as you stay on track the rest of the week (and throughout the day) there is no reason for you to not order what you want and enjoy it. Life is here to be lived, don't make yourself miserable!



I'd love to hear your tips too!

Food: Cherry Bakewell Pancakes

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Weekends for me mean one thing, pancakes.

The pancake recipe page in our Delia Smith cookbook is well and truly worn out from the amount of times pancakes have been made in my household, and it was something I definitely did not want to give up once I started Weight Watchers.

Whilst I gave the banana and egg pancakes a go, they didn't really do it for me, then a stumble on the Filling and Healthy Fanatics Facebook page and I found a recipe I love. I've experimented with numerous different flavours and ways to make it, but this one blew my socks off and I decided I just had to share.

I hope you enjoy.


P.S Keep your eyes peeled for some more cherry goodness coming your way in the next week or so!
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"Cherry Bakewell Pancakes" servings="2" time="10mins" difficulty="easy"


You will need:


100g of oats blitzed into flour

1 egg

200 ml of milk (I use either unsweetened almond or skimmed)

1 tsp of Almond essence

A bowl of cherries (I use frozen ones that I shove in the microwave for a minute)

1tsp of Icing sugar

A splash of water

To make:

1) Mix your oats, egg, milk and almond essence together until it forms a batter.

2) Spritz a pan with fry light and pour your batter into the frying pan. Cook on each side until it's just browning.

3) Layer each pancake with cherries.

4) Once you've made your stack, mix the icing sugar with a splash of water, then drizzle over the top of your pancakes.

Notes:

This is 0pp on Filling and Healthy. I tend to serve 3 pancakes for each person.


For normal pancakes, stop after the milk and cook as stated. 

Food: Filling and Healthy Plum Tart

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Today's recipe is a good'un and I feel confident saying that as my family actually ate it and enjoyed it too. (They're a fussy bunch!)

I present to you my plum tart. It has juicy plums and a nice almond taste combined with a nice cake like consistency, but the denseness of a tart.

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I'm really not doing this cake justice. However, it is definitely something I'll be making again. (and again and again!)

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"Filling and Healthy Plum Tart" servings="6" time="40mins" difficulty="easy"

Ingredients:

1 Punnet of plums

80g Oats

1 banana

2 eggs

Almond extract

120ml skimmed milk or unsweetened almond milk

20g of light soft brown sugar

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 160 degrees

2) Place your oats in a blender and mix until they resemble flour.

3) Then add the banana, eggs & almond extract until it resembles a batter, then slowly add your milk.

4) Once all the milk has been added, pour the mixture into your serving dish.

5) Take the stones out of your plums and then cut them in half, so they fill the outside of your dish, then and for the next layer cut them into quarters (they'll sink which will give a nice layer to the tart.)

6) Once all the plums have been added, sprinkle the soft brown sugar over the top of the tart.

7) Put in the oven and bake for around 20-25 mins, until golden brown and springy to touch.

8) Cut, cool and serve.

Notes

It may be worth saving half the sugar and adding it at the end and placing the tart under the grill so it becomes caramelized.

The whole thing is 4 propoints (on F&H) but one slice will be 0

Fitness: Life after C25K

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So my Couch to 5K has ended and what an experience it was. I tell everyone who is looking to start running to download the app, it's just the best! It got me from not being able to run for 60secs to being able to run for over 30minutes. That is an incredible achievement by my standards.

When I finished the app I still wasn't quite hitting 5K, so I set that as my next goal, and I managed to do it on my next run!

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After that I started just trying to get my timing down, however I found that it wasn't really motivating enough for me; and that focusing on distance was actually much more motivating. So then I set myself a big target:

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I signed up for a 10K race. Now I have till May to train, and I'm feeling confident. I've been googling some new running routes and mapping out different distances. So far, my furthers run has been 5 miles; which I intend to run at least once a week now, just to prove I can, However it takes me a while to do, so I'm also just trying to run any distance over 5K twice in the week too.

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So that's my plan for now; and if any of you are considering getting into running, I'd definitely look into the C25K programme.

Musings: Brain and body miscommmunication

Positive body image - the fruit way!

When I started this blog I thought it would be a great way for me to document my journey, however I've found it to become more of a place for me to share recipes and progress (which is still great) so today I decided to write a blog post which sums up some of the feelings I've been having the last couple of days.

Since 30th July 2014 I have lost over 3st, I've gained energy, found a new love for food and cooking, have managed to run 5miles and have really surprised myself at how motivated I've kept myself on this journey and made it a lifestyle change rather than a diet. This is something I've never accomplished before. The most I've ever lost it 2.5st and I've never had such a good record for losing weight. However, I'd never been as big as I was when I started this journey, and when I started this journey I didn't realise how big I had actually gotten; and it's only now I'm 3st down that I'm beginning to comprehend that.

On Wednesday I found out that over the Christmas period I'd lost 3.5lbs and have a grand total of 45lbs lost to my name; the week before that I found out I'm no longer obese but just overweight. Now, any other time I would've been thrilled, well and truly; however for some reason I can't get over the fact that I still look big! I realise I sound silly, and that my focus should be on how far I've come rather than how far I have to go but I just can't shake the fact that I've worked so hard and yet I'm still not slim.

To be honest, it all boils down the to the superficial point of clothes. It's so stupid isn't it? Just like I know I shouldn't let the scales get me down, I also need to realise I shouldn't let clothes size and fit get me down; but it is. My clothes pre WW are falling off or are so big the make me look bigger, however my clothes from when I've previously slimmed down are still a touch off fitting. When it comes to buying new clothes I still find it hard to gauge exactly what size I am, and I also don't want to buy too much as I know soon they won't be fitting again. So I'm put in the same position as pre WW where I have lots of clothes but nothing to wear. Which I know is such a first world problem and I really need to get over myself, but it's really getting to me.

Surely I've earnt the right to wear whatever clothes I want and to feel confident in them? Yes confidence comes from within, but when I look in the mirror, yes I see a smaller body, but it's still. My boobs are still bigger than my belly (why are your boobs always the first to go) and my lumps and bumps go in the wrong places. I wish I could focus on the fact that my bum has toned up from all my running and my legs are looking good to, or the fact I'm slowly starting to get some arm definition, but I can't. I can just see the girl who is wearing clothes that 'suit her' not what she wants to be wearing.

I know that this phase will pass and I hope that one day I'll look back at this post and it will remind me of how far I've come; but at the moment, I'd really like my brain and body to match up and to pull myself out of this funk!

Any ideas more than welcome.

Food: Filling and Healthy Granola

I've been slightly obssessed over the Christmas period with healthy banana splits, however found they were lacking a little somethin' somethin'. I then realised it was a bit of crunch, Enter my healthy granola.


It's pretty easy to make and I find a sprinkle of it on top of my splits just make them that little bit special.IMG_2662[1]

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It also works as a tasty snack too. Win win.

"Filling and Healthy Granola" servings="2-3" time="30mins" difficulty="easy"

Ingredients:

5g of Soft Brown Sugar

2tsp of Sweet Freedom

1/3 cup of wheat puffs

1/3 of oats

Method

1) Mix the sugar with 2tbsp of water and boil into a sauce.

2) Add the oats and puffs and 1 tsp of Sweet Freedom.

3) Spread across a baking tray and drizzle the other tsp of sweet freedom over the top.

4) Bake for around 10mins on 200 until crispy and golden.

5) Leave to cool and enjoy.

Notes

It may still be soft once you get it out the oven, but once it cools it'll become crunchy. It will be 1pp on F&H for the whole portion, but I find it can easily serve 2-3 so it would be 0 :)