Flash back!

We all have 'that' photo - you know the one I mean - the one where you look awful and is your 'thinspirational' photo. Well up until last week this was mine....

However, thanks to lovely Time Hop (an app on your phone that allows you to see photos of you and your facebook statuses from that day X amount of years ago) this photo came up.....

This photo was taken of me back in 2011 and my word I NEVER wish to go back and look like that ever again! I think I used to be blind as to what I actually looked like! I used to play ignorance and just think I was fine and healthy. Well, I can say now that that is NOT the case!! 

The top photo is still set as my screen saver on my phone but I think I will need to change it to the new one! Or maybe get it printed lots and lots and stick it on every cupboard to stop eating all the naughty stuff or 'just that extra bit of something'....

I was going to post a picture of me 'now, but I can't find one! But I am out tonight at a friend's house for a dinner party and I am sure I will have photos taken then so I will aim to get one up on here next week.

Before the news I know you have all been dying to hear about my weigh in last week I will just catch you up for last weekend....

Saturday I enjoyed this lovely meal from M&S for lunch....

It was really yummy and full of flavor - I'm really enjoying these meals from M&S - they are my Saturday lunchtime treats and they really do fill you up.

When I got in on Saturday afternoon... Mr O had decided to go out with some friends to play ping pong and he left me the most gorgeous bunch of lilies, a stack of DVDs and a little card.....

 

Inside the card he had written a little love note (now a card alone is a shock to the system as I don't even get a Birthday or Christmas card off him!) and then on the other page he had written a riddle which led to this...

So I had a lovely night sitting, watching Films ( I caught up on Orange is the new Black - I so LOVE that programme atm - and I'm slowly watching it all as I am nearly finished the latest season!)

Oh, and that ice cream.... 31 PP! But I sat and ate it all nice and slowly and pointed it all!

On the Sunday we had planned to go on a picnic and go fruit picking after church, but we kind of failed on the picnic part! But we did go strawberries and raspberries picking - once we found them! We literally walked all 4 corners of the fields only to find that they were right by the entrance!! But, it still gave us lots of walking and my, did my thighs hurt the next day from all the funny positions you get into to pick the strawberries!

As you can imagine we over picked the strawberries and we ended up with loads - we still have some left! So as you will find out in a bit I used the wherever I could just to use them all up!!

Now for the moment of truth from this week's weigh in.....

I flipping stayed the same!! SOOOOOO annoyed as I played the game down to the last point! Everything was pointed. And I was a little down when I stepped on the scales and my leader wrote down 'STS' on my chart - But she reassured me that it could just take an extra week for me to drop some. She even texted me the day after some words of encouragement. 

And then I stumbled across this little motivational picture thing (I'm stumbling upon a lot of these at the moment!!)

So what did I do in the end with all those strawberries?....

Well they got put into jelly for work....

Chopped up and put into a trifle....

Chopped up and put into a smoothie

Chopped up and put into a cake (You can find the recipe here...)

So to get myself focused and to keep my eye on the goal I kept pointing EVERYTHING....

4pp lunch - poached egg (2) 10 olives (1) ham (1) salad (0) jelly & the famous strawberries (0)

Lunch - poached egg (2) 10 olives (1) salad (0)

Snack / Dessert with lunch - more of the famous strawberries with fresh peach and a WW 1pp yogurt

I even got my 'instagram' on! This was Friday night's meal....

 

  

Dinner - 8pp (Tweaked recipe from the latest WW mag pg 35) 

4pp Dinner - Chicken kebabs with peppers served with salad and 0pp mayo I made it like this....

And finally this morning's smoothie....  0pp

I even pointed up the Pizza I had on Thursday night in celebration!

(Sorry photo taken from Tesco's website as I had forgotten to take a photo!) This actually works out really well on the propoint front. For the whole pizza it's only 14pp !!

Oh, and why was I celebrating? I found out that the results from my last colposcopy had come back and I had been given the all clear. Ok, maybe that should have been the first thing I spoke about this week?!... 

As I put the phone down after talking to the lady on the phone, I cried! They were tears of sheer joy and utter relief. I well up thinking about it now! My path in life could have taken a completely different direction if those results came back differently. And after a year of being prodded and poked in places I wish were kept well clear of to know that I am ok means that Mr O and I can sleep again after nights of tears, of worries and of sleepless nights - and my, have I slept so peacefully these last few nights!!

Now, as always, I have done a bit of digging around in the shops for you all...

The first ones are from Lidl... 

I was looking for something different for breakfast and I came across these....

Honey Peanut Crunch is 30g for 4pp and the Golden Puffs (like sugar puffs) are 30g for 3pp

Now for the Honey Peanut Crunch you really don't get much at all for 30g! And so I don't intend to buy this again although it is sooo yummy! But with the fake sugar puffs you actually get a lot in your bowl for you points!...

I also came across these in Lidl - much cheaper than Hartley's jelly which I normally buy. These too are 0pp... AND at the moment they are only 23p :) 

Now for Sainsburys.... I bought this as it was on offer (sorry can't remember how much) but I stupidly didn't stand there in the shop and work out the points :( Shame I didn't as it was so not worth the points.... 

It worked out as 6pp for half the jar - yes it tasted nice but wasn't worth it for an evening meal - would be worth it though for a night you wanted to do a fake korma as you can use all that sauce like you do from a take away.

And lastly, ICE CREAM :) from Tesco 

Now, they always say to double check their points against working it out on a calculator... And this is a true example of that.... Tesco are famous for putting the wrong points on their food.... Funny how the other supermarkets can sort it out but they cant!

On the packet they mark it as 2pp per pot BUT they actually work out to be 3pp per pot - luckily I had a spare point floating about! Naughty naughty Tesco!

 

Now although I say all that, they were actually really nice! And worth the 3pp AND you get a little Tupperware pot out of it in the end!

So I now change off food and demand all you women to go and get your smear tests done! Don't delay it! Plus I also want to thank all my friends family in your support to both Jeremy and I over this past year. It's not been easy and lots of things we have had to put on hold. We love you all. 

Today I am trying to eat as little amount of point worthy food as possible as I am going out for a meal tonight with friends (as I said earlier) and although I know they will be cooking it all fresh themselves, I don't want to loose out on having a loss this week!!

Hope you all have a lovely week, Love, Mrs O x

OOOHHHH.... Nearly forgot to post this week's chart....

Week 1 - 5 1/2 lbs

Week 2 - 1/2lb

Week 3 - 3lbs

Week 4 - ?

Week 5 + 2lbs    :(

Week 6 +/- 0lbs - STS

Over night oats

Well, this may look disgusting but it is actually soooo yummy.... And if you are anything like me in the morning, I run around getting ready and trying to make breakfast at the same time like a headless chicken. But this I have found to be a great time saver for me.....

Ingredients...

1 banana
Any fruit of your choice for toppings
Oats - 35g
Yogurt - less than 200g (about 8 tbsps - but still weigh it)

Now you can use the above quantities to either make one big breakfast for 5pp or split it into 2 Tupperware boxes to make 2 normal sized breakfasts for 3pp each.

Also, just so you know, you might need to check the propoints of your own yogurt as each one is different. Some people also use Greek yogurt instead or an actual WeightWatchers yogurt or similar.... I use this one from Lidls....

Oh and I use these oats from Lidls too..

So here is what you do....

1. Mash the banana

2. Add the oats, yogurt and the mashed banana altogether

3. Mix together and add the fruits as well and mix. 

Or you could just mix it and then add the fruit on top...

Leave overnight in the fridge for it all to soak in together and then enjoy the next morning cold.... Yes that's right, cold. At first I was like 'that is a disgusting idea' but then as soon as I had my first mouthful I was in love with it!

In the morning, sit back, eat and enjoy! 

Love, Mrs O x

Ice cream sandwich 3/5pp

Once again another really easy recipe and totally yummy :)

If you make this with a top and bottom it works out as 5pp or with just a base is just 3pp

Ingredients

Ryvita - the fruity one

Low fat ice cream (I used 2 scoops of Carte D'Or Light Vanilla)

Blueberries or any other fruit you wish to accompany it with

What to do....

Well it's rather easy no need to really explain you literally do this.....

Layer it up like a sandwich!! 

Enjoy! 

Love, Mrs O x

Drum roll please... (and then pick me up off the floor!)

Ok, I have been desperate to share this information with you but as I was away last weekend I haven't been able to share this until now........

So I went to my first weigh in after my first week on Simple Start. Before I got on the scales my leader said to me if there was anything I had missed - and I admitted like I did in my last blog post that I had missed chocolate and naughty stuff but then I stepped on the scales and LOOK!!!.... This was the result....

To say I was shocked was an understatement!! It really spurred me on for my next week's eating.. After talking with my leader, I decided to continue on the whole F&H thing as it allowed me to eat loads but also as I knew I would be going away at the weekend it would allow me to save my weekly points for the weekend.

The class was really good - and it showed how great a leader she is - the class was full - so much so we had to get more seats!! My lovely class friend and I sat together chatted about how our week went and how we both thought of each other about how we thought how each other was getting on. 

The class was all about cocktails. The best part was that she split us all up and gave us all a task to find specific drinks and kinds of drinks. As you all know I have a love for fruity drinks and so I found this really interesting as you can forget how high in points drinks can be! 

So coming away from the class I set myself the task of finding 0pp fruity drinks! At first in my head I had thoughts of making marvellous cocktails but then I realised that I needed to start smaller and work my way up! So in the shops I managed to find the Robinsons 'Squash'd' range..... Which I thought were a brilliant idea. They also really helped me when I was away at the weekend as it meant that instead of having just water at the dinner table whilst the others were all having Shloer and nice cordials, it meant I could have something juicy too!

(Picture taken from online as I couldn't get my photo looking this nice!)

I also made a point that when I went into the supermarkets I would look at their low cal / sugar free fizzy drinks. Asda wasn't so good at this, but Tesco and Sainsburys were. I nearly bought the drinks in Tesco as they were really good value and also had a good variety, but when I got to the till I realised I had left my purse at home!! However, when I went into Sainsburys - with my purse! - I picked up just two drinks to try out - and they were a big success in our home! 

These drinks are 60p each and well worth it! These are the two that I bought...

Lemon & Lime which tasted just like Lilt and the other one was Mango & Passion fruit

So as I decided to continue on with F&H, it allowed me to have food like this.... (All free on F&H)

(PS the dip you see above I made from a WW magazine - and it was VILE!! It's called 'chilly bean dip')

Pancakes with fruit, quark & sweetener

A packed lunch - WW Wrap with ham, salad and quark, F&H 2 ingredient cookies (CLICK HERE to see how to make them), left over pancake with some banana and some strawberries.

Salmon, home made potato wedges and salad

Salmon, pasta and salad

Oh and a meal that took me back to being young.... Egg & Soldiers (or shoulders as I used to say when I was little!)

And as always you'll see that organisation is the key to everything as it doesn't let you sway off track!

Oh, and I got sucked into one of my favourite things... a new lunch box!!

 

Check out the cool knife and fork.... 

As I knew that I would be going away from the Friday I planned and made all my food for my next few meals.

This was Friday's lunch.... (Left over chicken and veg from the night before)

***

So after my lovely weekend away up in Birmingham with my MIL (Mother In Law) and family, I was excited to go along and be weighed again. This week my leader was away but the lady who first enrolled me to my classes was there.

I stepped on the scales.... and only lost 1/2 lb... I was quite upset with myself although the leader said that this was completely normal until my class friend saw me and she said it was amazing!! She kept on reminding me that it was better than no loss or no gain. And she also reminded me that I only need to loose 1lb and I will have reached my first silver 7 :) 

That put a smile on my face and I picked myself up in time for our class to start :) Thanks hun!

So I decided to go back to pointing my little head away.... 

I bought a new journal 

I also bought the latest magazine and treated myself to a new cook book...

I personally blame Skinny Doll for inspiring me to buy this book and even better it had 30% off it AND I had a voucher to use on cook books....

As I knew I was going into hospital this week I also knew that all this reading literature would give me some time and excuse to sit down, relax and recover!

On Tuesday I decided to do the lovely roast bag thing again - just to show to Mum how quick and easy weight watchers food cooking can be!

As I knew I wouldn't be able make tea I left it all in the fridge for her, told her how to make it and left her to it! - Doesn't food taste better when it's made by someone else?!

Oh, and back-tracking - this was my lunch on Tuesday morning before I went into Hospital

In our class this week, the 'Your Week' leaflet showed a lovely mouth-watering sticky Chinese style chicken drum sticks....

I had all the ingredients on the list so I thought I would go ahead and make it. 

As you know, I only like cooking and making things that are quick and easy to make....

Once you had made the marinade up all you had to do is just leave it to let the chicken soak up all the tasty sauce.... (Just so you know, if you make the marinade up for itself for it to be used for something else, when serving 4-6 people it's 1pp)

I then popped it in the oven for about 30 mins rather than doing it on a BBQ like it says to do

And then I served it up with some 0pp veg and some homemade potato wedges 

As always I did some investigating on food in the shops and their pro points amounts.... 

These breaded chicken breast escalopes are only 7pp each and you can buy them as 2 packs (of 2) for £4. They are decent sized too!

Oh, and I have enjoyed a banana split with some chocolate this week too! 

And talking of bananas..... I enjoyed a 'Newman special' .... Banana on my pizza!

So on Thursday night, my little sister came over to cheer me up, and she's still here with us! 

We went out yesterday morning for 'Brunch' and then we went and ran some errands like going to the bank!

It's been lovely to have my sister over :) makes me feel all grown up! So yesterday for our 'snack time' / lunch we had her favourite - humous, a fish humous dip and some veg to nibble on!! (Sorry but for some weird reason it wont let me flip the picture back up the right way!)

Then for dinner we had my famous chicken curry with cauliflower rice and then we had a mock trifle for dessert..... (2pp) 

After being an online member for as long as I can remember, I really do feel that it's the support you get from those people at class that spurs you on! I could easily give in and sit and munch my way through loads of food or give in to Mr O saying 'go on just have it, live a little' - which is his current thing that he says to me. But then I now think, no I want to see an improvement on the scales at class! 

So I can officially do a Chart AGAIN!

Week 1 - 5 1/2 lbs

Week 2 - 1/2 lb

I wonder what week 3 will hold for me?!!....

Love, Mrs O x