Curried grey mullet

The whole meal was sumptuous and inviting.  Calories were around 650-700, which is not bad considering we ate a huge home made chapati too.
The grey mullet is a robust fish ... and cheap!  If you can't find grey mullet, you could use mackerel. For two large fillets we paid just over £5 in total.  We coated it in our own curry powder mix (see below), which the fish can carry off nicely.  The spices we used are subtle and warming rather than hot and fiery, so you still get that delicate fish coming through.
We made our own onion bhajis (see previous recipe).  We also made chana bhaji using canned chickpeas, sliced onions, garlic, turmeric, cumin and a little chicken stock.
I decided to make my own chapatis (I've never done this before).  I found a couple of recipes on the internet, and had a go.  I've never made anything quite so simple.  In fact, they are so cheap to make I don't know why I've never made them before!!  I love a bargain, and the result was fantastic.  So much so, that we will endeavour to make our own now.

The raita was made using chopped cucumber (seeds removed) mixed with fresh, full fat greek yoghurt and mint.  That's it - simple and effective.   A side salad completed the meal, which was so filling, we couldn't finish all of it.  The subtle spicy flavours were tantalisingly delicious, and because we didn't use any chilli throughout, the meal was quite delicate.

SPICES FOR CURRIED FISH

This set of spices will make a wonderful BASE CURRY. You may have some of the ingredients already, and I agree that buying these spices might be costly at the outset, but you will see they make a wonderful curry mix which is so fresh and aromatic, and this can be used for ANY curry - chicken, fish, lamb etc. So if you like delicate curries, these spices will be used up over time.

SPICE MIX

1 x 5ml (tsp) of each of the following:

Coriander seeds
Fenugreek seeds
Cumin seeds
Fennel seeds

Dry the above until you begin to smell the aroma and hear them popping. This won't take too long. All the flavours will be released and you once this has happened, bash the seeds or grind them up into a powder.

Then add the following:

1 x 5ml (tsp) of TURMERIC powder, salt to taste (we use a teaspoon) a small 20mm piece of grated GINGER and a CLOVE OF GARLIC.

Mix all together and you will have the most wonderful dry spice mix for your fish. You'll notice there is no CHILLI or ONION here, as these would dominate and spoil the subtle flavour of the fish. BUT if you are going to make a chicken curry, then you would add the chilli and onion.

Add a little oil to the dry mixture, and marinate the filleted fish in these beautiful flavours. You don't need to marinate for too long.

Tandoori chicken

I took the skin off half a chicken and marinated this in a good quality tandoori paste, with a little lemon.  Some pastes suggest mixing with yoghurt then coating the meat, but I leave the yoghurt out.  I use less that way, and I like the cleaner taste.  The paste contains enough oil to keep the chicken moist, which is why I can remove the skin first.

We ate this with new potatoes, rocket and parmesan salad and some sweetcorn/beetroot and coleslaw.  It was delicious and filling, and perfect for eating before our meander to the pub.  The meal is again around about 500 calories in total, so there's plenty of room for beer!!  What more can we ask on this beautiful sunny day!

Tuna salad

It may be a tin of tuna - but when it's mixed together like this - it makes a fabulous salad.  We had some buttered new potatoes and enjoyed a 450 calorie colourful lunch.

Goat's cheese toasts

Here's one of our favourite dishes - GOAT'S CHEESE AND BACON SALAD.  We ate this for lunch and it was delicious.  

A bag of washed salad may not be the cheapest option - but useful when you are in a hurry! 

Cut small rounds of bread - toast under the grill - then place a small slice of goats cheese on top.  Pop under the grill until it's nicely melted then add a little chutney, a few pieces of bacon if you wish and you have a simple meal in under 20 minutes.  

This meal is no more than 400 calories so hopefully it will go towards making our 'good' day a 'very good' day for weight loss.

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REMEMBER:  - Do you know how many calories you are allowed each day?

Here's a link to our very first blog post about our weight loss journey, which we began in January 2011. We started this blog as a way of recording what we ate while losing weight. The blog is a food diary, and contains lots of recipes, tips and ideas about losing weight.

You'll find our WEIGHT LOSS PLAN here. 

Copyright © forget dieting forever, all rights reserved. Please do not copy any of this material without my express permission.

GUACAMOLE

For our fajitas, we began with the wonderful refreshing guacamole.  One avocado, juice of 1/2 a lime, 1/2 small red chilli, 1/4 of red onion, a little salt and pepper and a little olive oil to loosen the mixture.  The blender did the rest.  I can't get over how fresh it tasted.  I've tasted ready made versions - which are nowhere near as tasty as our home made version.
The wraps were warmed on the bbq and spread with the guacamole.  A few salad leaves and peppers awaited the
beef.  I forgot to take a picture of the final meal, but we can assure you this tasted great.  The skirt-beef came in one long piece and was cooked until a little pink in the middle.  It was then sliced up ready for the wraps.  We were surprised at the texture - it was very soft, unlike the steak we usually eat.  When we've made fajitas before, we have used rump or sirloin steak, and this is a lot denser in texture.

Sitting in the garden eating dinner in March is virtually unheard of, but the sun just continued to shine.  Our meal was quite healthy and satisfying.  We also ate some sausage, new potatoes which were finished off on the bbq and some corn on the cob.

We get to eat a full calorie allowance on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  We still have ample calories left over - which can go towards a bigger weightloss or something sweet if that's what we fancy later.

Trying something different

After a relatively simple, quick and easy Saturday night's dining, we thought we would experiment today.  We love it when the raw ingredients are cheap too.  Sunday is usually a good roast, but the sun is shining and I think we'll go somewhere nice and enjoy it.

So today we would like to try a recipe using BEEF SKIRT.  This is a cheap cut of meat, and until yesterday, I believed it was a cut of meat that needed to be slow cooked.  Not so - said my informant last week!  After a little research on the internet I was amazed to find that I had been missing a trick or two with this cheap cut of meat.  The butcher charged us £4.50 per pound.

We're making beef fajitas - using beef skirt.  Apparently this cut of meat makes the best fajitas going, so we're putting it to the test.  Normally we've made fajitas with strips of the more expensive cuts of beef.  I can't wait to see what they turn out like.

All we have to do is marinade the skirt in a little lime for 5 minutes.  Then it is seared on the bbq and cooked so the middle is still pink.  This is a new phenomenon for us, as beef skirt is usually cooked slowly all the way through here in England - and its often used in cornish pasties.  I'll be working out the calories in the dish later.  The recipe and pics, together with the accompaniments - guacamole, peppers, sweetcorn and wraps will follow.

Saturday night steak night

The weather was fantastic and we decided to go for a walk.  Where - was the question.  So we decided to drive out to the Severn Bridge - and walk across it.  One minute we were in England and the next we were in Wales eating ice-cream!  I'm not sure how long the bridge is, but I have a feeling we clocked up around 6 miles in total.  It didn't feel that far, as the sun was shining and the view was brilliant.

Back to our meal (with 600 calories extra to eat from the walk).  We're having a simple meal - rump steak, boiled new potatoes, watercress salad with parmesan and a couple of onion rings.  Rump steak is lower in calories than fillet or sirloin, and this 180g portion was approximately 300 calories - so the meal was not too calorie loaded.  Nice with a good glass of red wine though.

Children's meals

The theme was desert island.   How could anyone resist eating fresh ingredients this way?  I took the 'mezze' idea and transplanted it into a young persons plate.  Mixing healthy raw foods together with everything else.  I've never seen every scrap of food eaten with such delight.  Great idea for a party we think!!

I don't know who had more fun... me or the little person eating it?

Ham, egg and chips

Here's our evening meal.  We had a couple of lovely thick slices of the ham, some sautéed mushrooms, a fried egg and some oven chips.  Usually we would have made our own chips - which are great - but time was against us and we didn't want to eat too late.

Ham

We bought a 1.75kg piece of gammon, simmered this on the hob for 75 minutes, then put it in the oven on a high heat for the last 20 minutes.  Before putting in the oven, I took off all the fat, and smothered it with honey & mustard.  The resulting ham looks and tastes delicious, and will last for a few meals.  Remember - just 200g of pre-packed ham will be quite costly, and I believe this home cooked version is not only tastier, but much much cheaper!  Our butcher has never failed to impress us yet.

Ham works out at around 1 calorie per gram, so make it your friend.  It can be used in all sorts of dishes, and I'm even saving the stock to make a soup later (possibly pea and ham).  I will freeze the stock after reducing it down, straining it and removing all the fat.

Quick lunch

My own mezze... leerdammer cheese & rye bread with various salads.

No time to boil potatoes for our tuna salad, so I assembled a colourful plate using some rye bread, leerdammer cheese (so low in calories and so tasty), and various salad items.  Counting the calories as I added to the plate was easy and the feast came in at under 500 calories.  In fact, it looked so appetising, I ate one of the open bread sandwiches before the photo (spot the gap)!!

Tonight we'll probably be eating our home cooked ham.  This is so easy to cook, and I don't know why more people don't do it.  It's just a case of putting a piece of gammon in a pot, covering with water and a few herbs/carrot/onion.  After boiling up, simmer for 20 mins per pound until done.  I like to finish mine off in the oven, coated in a honey/mustard mix, so I roast for the final 20 mins.  

Lamb dinner for two

We roasted the leftover lamb joint again, until piping hot.  We found the shoulder of lamb heats up well and crisps up nicely again.  Without the roasted veg, this mid week meal  comes in at around 500 calories.   A jug of gravy and some freshly prepared mint sauce completes our meal.  The veg was steamed from fresh, with boiled potatoes on order, swede, spring cabbage and carrots.  It was so filling I think I need a lie down!!  Still, a small walk around the village will help keep us awake....

Brie and bacon salad at 500 calories

For lunch we had a bacon and brie salad.  I was late, so didn't have time to cook the potatoes we needed for the planned tuna and egg salad (which we'll have tomorrow).  It's good to have a few other ingredients in the fridge, so we can make last minute changes and I opted for the brie because we also had a few slices of bacon.  Instead of potatoes we had a couple of slices of delicious, fresh rye bread.  This was so quick and easy to assemble. TIP:  For the bacon - we snipped off the rind/fat.  The fat was then cooked in the frying pan for about 5 minutes, this left the frying pan coated with the tasty bacon fat, in which we fried the bacon.  Drain the bacon and put on top of the dressed salad leaves, and finally add the brie slices.

Lose weight eating the food YOU love and forget dieting forever.

REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - (see our page on calories) and we like to post our main meals to show you what we are eating. You won’t find us posting every last morsel though – but we hope this gives you an idea of how far calories can go!

Read about the UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how we have lost weight eating the food we love.

Copyright © forgetdietingforever, all rights reserved.

Weekly weigh in

We have both felt our bodies changing for some time, yet the scales seemed reluctant to join in and show the weight loss.  I can't explain it, but there is a real feeling of weight loss.  Despite a weekend of eating as much as we could (using a whole normal calorie allowance), and going to the pub, our weight is continuing its downward slide.  We certainly ate our full allowance for 3 days, and tested our metabolism, ready for our 4 good days.

With this weeks planned meals, we have enjoyed some wonderful food.  After our home made ravioli last night we went for a walk and stopped in the pub.  I was amazed to find when I stepped on the scales this morning that my weight was down one whole pound - exactly the same for my partner.  We had generally been enjoying a gradual weight loss of around 1/2 lb, which we kind of expect after eating this way for over a year.  The only thing we have done a little differently this week is to make FULL use of every last calorie over the 3 days of normal eating at the weekend (that's my 2000 calories and my partner's 2500 calories).  This contrasts completely against 4 days of eating 1500 and 2000 calories respectively.  We've always said it's that 3 days off and 4 days on that stimulates our weight loss, and after this last weekend, and our big drop in weight, we are even more convinced of this.

Butternut squash ravioli

We have decided to have the lamb tomorrow - as we are pushed for time.  Wednesday's dinner was going to be this fabulous butternut squash ravioli which we made a few months ago (see 19 November post) and froze quite a lot.  It was cooked from frozen, and I couldn't detect any loss in flavour through freezing.  A light sprinkle of salt brought the flavours back to life, and a drop of sage butter completed the dish.  At under 500 calories - this was a perfect dish for us.  Quick and easy to prepare, making this a fast food favourite.

As far as calories go, we always try to estimate them as accurately as possible, but we don't want to spend too much time dwelling upon this task. So far we have lost weight doing this, so we can't be that far out.  

Our planned meals for the week - being prepared

Half the battle with losing weight, is knowing what we are going to eat.  Once we know - it becomes simple.  Yesterday we worked out what we wanted to eat for the next 3 days, especially as these days are our 'good' days.

Today we are having carrot and coriander soup (our own - from the freezer) and a cheese sandwich for lunch.  For our evening meal we're making cajun chicken breast and serving this with new potatoes and a watercress salad.

Tuesday, we've opted for a cheese and mushroom omelette with salad and toast for lunch.  Dinner will be the lamb we had on Sunday.  I'll cook this thoroughly in the oven for an hour or so and serve it hot.  We'll have some new potatoes, left over gravy and lots of veg.  Notice there are no roast potatoes this time!!

Wednesday we are having a tuna, egg & potato salad for lunch, and some butternut squash ravioli served with sage butter for dinner.  Again, the ravioli was home made and it's sitting in the freezer waiting to be eaten.

If you can't prepare the food from scratch, it's not an issue.  Just work out the number of calories you fancy eating on your 'good' days.  I usually have 1400 -1500 and my partner aims for 1800 - 2000.  This means we are eating around 500 calories below a normal allowance.  Our short walks add up over the week, and all in all, we hope to achieve a weight loss of about 1/2 lb to one pound per week.  Believe me, these things DO add up over time - we are proof of that.  More importantly, it stays off.  What more can we ask!

Sunday lamb roast

We had a lovely sunday roast, with lamb, roast potatoes and a selection of veg.  We cooked the lamb in the oven using a roasting dish with a lid.  The lamb sat on top of some finely chopped vegetables/herbs/garlic, where the juices fell and helped create a wonderful gravy.  The fat was removed from the liquid, a little salt and pepper and some cornflour was all that was needed to make superb gravy.

The dish was around 750 calories, which sounds high, but we would rather think that it is this type of meal that satisfies us and stops us craving.  It's also so filling that we don't want to eat much afterwards. As we eat a normal calorie allowance on Sunday, we can easily accommodate this meal without overeating!  My partner can enjoy approx 2500 calories, so this meal at 750 calories could - if he wanted - be eaten three times!!  Most diet meals are quite small, and we think this will lead to snacking later.  

Our 200 calorie curried soup.

This has to be the easiest soup we have ever attempted.  It is thick, creamy and very very moreish.  The parsnips cost 58p - last of the big spenders.  It was simplicity itself and took no effort at all.  I used just a small teaspoon of curry powder, and I feel that's enough for us - but it will all depend on what curry powder you use.  It's best to put less in to start with. 

We are both very pleasantly surprised at the result.  The milk and water/stock was perfect ie 1 part milk to 2 parts water/stock.  It has blended perfectly, and tastes very very creamy.  For us that's a bonus, we didn't need to use cream as some recipes suggest, and our weight loss will be quicker.  

A similar ready made soup would set you back at least £3, whereas our homemade version is well under £1.  Without the onion/bacon topping, the soup is just 120 calories per portion.  We got four large portions out of the parsnips.

Because it was so low in calories, we added this topping to give it some texture.  Using fried onion and bacon, then a swirl of cream for good measure.  For two people I used half a red onion, thinly sliced, one very large shallot and one slice of bacon cut into very small pieces.  The topping brings the whole dish to around 200 calories.  Simply fry the ingredients until crisp and sprinkle onto the soup.  

Seafood

We really enjoy seafood, and it's low in calories too.  We like nothing better than a seafood platter with scallops, oysters, langoustines, crayfish, crab, prawns and mussels.  It looks a lot, but by the time the shells are removed, there isn't much left.  Once our platter arrived, we launched into it with gusto. The calories appeared in the form of some bread and a basket of chips, which we shared, oh and a bottle of wine.  The fish was really filling, but then it's all protein.  To help offset the number of calories eaten/drunk, we headed out to the harbour side and enjoyed an hours walk in the sunshine (clocking up about 3 miles - or 300 calories).  As the sunshine didn't last long, we were glad we chose to walk before eating.

Today we are having roast shoulder of lamb, with roast potatoes and a selection of veg.  If the weather holds up we'll go for another walk.  At the weekends we eat a normal calorie allowance, and a short walk adds another couple of hundred calories to this.

Focus

I was talking to a friend yesterday, and realised that the way we think really does contribute to weightloss.  My friend has recently changed the way he thinks.  Until recently, he was convinced he didn't eat very much, and couldn't understand why he had put on weight.  He came up with a number of causes such as getting older, and not exercising enough.

The interesting thing was, he only ever recited what he ate for his 3 main meals.  Not once did he refer to the eating between meals.  The way he ate at mealtimes was not the problem.  So I said - why not forget what you are eating at meal times and concentrate on what you're eating in between.  For just one day, write down everything that he eats between meals.  He did this.  I think he then realised just how much he was snacking, and consequently how much weight he was gaining because of it.  He had focussed for so long on the main meals, and was ignoring everything else.

Now he has changed his FOCUS.  He is watching himself between meals.  He decided to try and stop snacking at certain times - and happily reports that once he made up his mind, it was easy.  Not snacking is slowly becoming his new HABIT.  He doesn't go hungry because he is eating enough at the main meals to satisfy him.  He hasn't changed his favourite foods either.  It's as if he has 'got it' - finally understood that to lose weight you first have to focus on what your are eating in the first place.  

Wednesday meals - pasta lunch.

We cook our own meals and freeze a lot so there is no waste.  Today we ate from the freezer again.  We enjoyed our favourite lasagne with a nice salad.  The weather has turned a bit chilly, so I fancied something warm.  The lasagne portion was quite big, but as we know what ingredients went into it, we know it is about 420 calories, and together with the side salad (which is dressed in olive oil and seasoned) the whole dish is under 500 calories.

We prefer to eat and fill up - rather than scrimp on our portions, which could result in needless snacking.  I think that as we have so many nice dishes to look forward to, we have learned how to wait for them.  Eating can be addictive - and grazing doesn't help.  So we prefer to eat 3 good meals a day - and actively look forward to them.   We fill our plate, dig in, and enjoy!  Then we give our stomachs a rest.  

Tonight we're probably going to have a ham broth if it's ready.   If not, there is the carrot and coriander soup in the freezer - which we will have with a cheese sandwich.

Wednesday weight

Well, we think our weight has finally settled down after our holiday and we feel back on track.  We ate quite heartily over the weekend - and certainly gave our metabolism a good boost.  Interestingly, we 'feel' a little thinner.  The scales confirmed this feeling, and we are both a half pound lighter this morning.  We are aiming for around half a pound weight loss per week - as we feel this will be better in the long term.  Losing weight slowly has meant (for us) that the weight has stayed off.  In fact, the most regular comment we have been receiving lately is:  "you look like you've lost even more weight".

We have occasionally found our bodies holding onto a weight range for a while, then something odd happens.  It's like a redistribution of the fat cells, because we can 'feel' a change in our body, and that feeling usually leads to a nice drop into a new weight range.

Here's that breakfast cocktail btw.  I put it in a cocktail glass to illustrate the portion size (100g yoghurt).  The topping was made from a bag of frozen forest fruits.  I took the fruit, boiled it up with a little sugar to sweeten it, then let it cool.  It's sat in the fridge, and I'll scoop a couple of spoonfuls onto the full fat greek yoghurt - absolutely delicious and creamy.  

Fruit and yoghurt under 150 calories

I'm sat eating one of our favourite breakfasts: full fat greek yoghurt with a fruit topping.  It's heavenly.  For the fruit topping, I bought some frozen forest fruits (so much cheaper) and warmed some through with a little sugar (you could use honey).  Let this cool until you need it.  You get a wonderful rich, ruby juice and the fruit is soft and delicious.

A large pot of full fat greek yoghurt is around £1 and the frozen fruit is equally as cheap.  The result is so much tastier (and cheaper) than eating ready made fruit yoghurt.  The calories are also much lower - around 130 for my bowlful, which is filling enough for me.  The creamy texture adds a touch of luxury, and the full fat content should keep me feeling satisfied, as I believe the fat content should take a while to digest.

I'm having a small slice of toast to go with this today.  I think I'm after something with a crunch... texture is important for me, and better a slice of toast than a crunchy biscuit or two/three later?

450 calorie salmon lunch

This was easy to prepare and great if you are busy!  I bought some cooked salmon fillets and flaked them over a bag of bought salad.  Obviously you could use tinned salmon which is cheaper.  I made my own potato salad, as it's cheaper and I know what is going into it (calories and ingredients).  This meal is so filling and delicious and one of our favourites.

Fab lunch works out at around 450 calories per person:

Salmon 210 calories
Potato salad (100g new potatoes mixed with 5g full fat mayo) 110 calories
Mixed salad is around 50 calories
Half hard boiled egg 40 calories
Small teaspoon of olive oil/seasoning 40 calories

Boosting our daily allowance

Spring popped up to surprise us today, so we took advantage of it. We went for a short walk to warm up our muscles, then headed for the garden.  An hour or so later, we have a neat and tidy garden, and tucked away some additional calories for later.  Gardening can use up 300-400 calories per hour, and together with our walk, we reckon we've added about 500 calories to our day.  We can either eat/drink these, or they go towards our weight loss.  We have changed the way we think about most 'chores' these days - realising they burn calories, so they are useful.

Before we set out on our walk/gardening, we had a bacon sandwich for lunch.  Simple and delicious, and at around 450 calories, it won't break the calorie bank!!

Weekend ideas

This evening we're going to have something out of the freezer.  A while ago we made braised shin of beef with a red wine sauce on celeriac mash.  We made enough to freeze a couple of portions.  We are going to see what difference there is to the quality/flavour after freezing.  We'll still have to make the pasta for the cheese ravioli.  So there it is - fine dining out of the freezer!!   The preparation time saved can go towards a nice walk for an hour.  The actual meal worked out at around 450 calories, so there will be room for something sweet afterwards.

We bought a huge piece of brisket (beef) for Sunday.  We fancy a good old sunday roast with yorkshire puddings and horseradish sauce.  We bought spring cabbage, cauliflower, carrots and broccoli too.  We made a lamb broth with pearl barley earlier in the week and as it was such a success, I am going to make another batch, but using the leftover beef brisket.  I took my Mum some of the broth, and she loved it.  We were impressed at how the pearl barley thickened the dish up.  The brisket will flake up nicely and compliment the broth.  I've noticed supermarkets are catching on and selling pots of flaked meat for soups and stews.  Our butcher gave us some beef bones, so we are going to boil these up to give our broth a good depth of flavour.  A bowlful of broth is under 300 calories, and it is so filling and delicious.  It's also extremely cheap to make at around 50p per portion.

Someone asked us how we are keeping the weight off.  We are really just continuing our formula, which enables us to lose weight slowly but surely.  What surprises us most is that as the weight slowly melts away, you don't really notice it in the mirror, then all of a sudden - it looks obvious.  It's the same with the weight on the scales, it trickles down, and then suddenly, there is quite a nice drop.  We like to shock our metabolism and came up with our part time formula for weight loss.  We eat our normal food, but keep in mind that we (and everyone else in the world) has a normal daily calorie 'limit'.  On 4 days of the week we drop our intake slightly, and the other 3 days we eat a normal allowance.  We know how many calories we can eat in a day, and we know roughly what calories are in the foods we eat.  Once we reach our target weight, all we get to do is eat MORE of what we are normally eating.  Unlike someone on a diet, when they reach their target, they will more likely go back to their old eating habits which made them put on weight.  

Apres hols weigh in Wednesday

After over a week eating holiday food and taking in a lot of entertainment, without any restrictions whatsoever, we did wonder what our weight would be when we resumed normal life.  Our skiing would obviously offset a lot of the food and drink - or so we hoped.  We decided to forget our normal eating routine, and simply go with the flow.  Flow we did....  The apres ski was the finale of each day's skiing - much earned of course.

What we were actually doing on holiday - was finally putting our newly slimmed down bodies to the test.  The real test - that is, to trust ourselves, to listen to our bodies and eat when and whatever we wanted, including all the entertainment.  Gone are the holidays where we would 'give up' on any diet and 'go for it' on the food stakes.  This time we didn't have to 'allow' ourselves anything, we just had what we fancied.  It's as if food is at last being put into perspective.  While we were away, we let go of all calorie limits - and just ate naturally.  Eating until we felt full, and having whatever we chose.  We never went over-board, as we didn't feel the urge to.  There was no guzzling large quantities of anything (apart from the beer)  :o).

Upon return, we were a bit worried about our weight as we did not have access to scales for around 10 days, and we were not counting any calories.  So how did we fare?  We've had a few fairly good eating days (as we would normally) since returning, and this morning anxiously stood on the scales.  What a surprise.  I have gained just half a pound and my partner gained just one pound.  We believe our slow and steady weight loss has taught us far more than we recognised.  We are finally able to listen to our bodies, eating what we want to eat, and trusting our instincts.  Now we are back home, we will continue our relaxed approach to weight loss and look forward to achieving our healthy BMI soon by returning to our proven strategy: 4 days of being good (eating around 500 calories LESS than normal) followed by 3 days of eating a full calorie allowance.  

Tuesday meals

It was time for a wonderfully fresh salad.  At lunch time we opened some cooked salmon and flaked this over a bag of salad.  We ate this with a warm new potato salad.  It was delicious and at around 400 calories, helped us get back on track.

For dinner we decided on the lamb broth.

I chopped up around 1kg of mixed root vegetables and threw them in a pot with some herbs, garlic, fried onions, tomato puree, chicken stock and some stewing lamb.  I then added some pearl barley.  We didn't use very much lamb, just enough to enhance the flavour of the stock.  I removed the lamb pieces and flaked off the meat.  It was extremely tasty, and very low in calories.  We had a small wholemeal roll and some cheese.  Maybe not the prettiest dish, but it was warming, with subtle background flavours from the herbs etc, and very satisfying.  The pearl barley was delicious.

Monday plan

Our plan for today is to have a 'good' day eating simple foods.   Breakfast will be fruit and porridge, lunch is going to be homemade carrot and coriander soup with a small cheese sandwich.  This evening we'll have a ham and cheese salad.  If the weather is good, we might go for a short walk.

Soups are cheap and easy to make, as well as very nourishing.   Instead of opening an expensive tin of soup, we boiled up a large bag of carrots, added a few onions/garlic/herbs, then blitzed.  The flavour is fresh and more-ish.  A kilo of carrots will make 4 ample portions of soup.  I've also bought some pearl barley (dried pulse at just 35p for a large bag), and will be making a broth/stew later in the week.  Make the soup the evening before, and let the flavours mingle together.

Our eating regime will get us back on track, and by the Wednesday, we'll have a more realistic weigh in.

I watched a programme about the benefits of exercise.  I didn't realise a 'fat busting' enzyme  was released into the system when exercising such as walking.  This enzyme helps mop up the fat in the blood that has been released from eating fatty foods - which can only be a good thing.  We don't go to a gym, but try to be as 'active' as we can during the day and walk when we can.  

Back to our favourite dish

For lunch we settled on smoked salmon and scrambled egg with a slice of toast.  For dinner, we cooked our favourite peri-peri chicken.  As we didn't eat much chicken while we were away, it was great to come back to this lighter choice.

We've made a carrot and coriander soup for tomorrow lunch time and bought lots of salad vegetables for next week. Being half prepared is the secret.  Really looking forward to a much lighter few days eating with fresh ingredients.

Is this the slippery slope?

We've been away for a week skiing.  Believing that the additional exercise would accommodate most of our indulgences we ate whatever we fancied.  The apres ski was great, almost addictive, and the quality of food on offer was unavoidably good.  It's quite possible the mountain air increased our appetites...  Well there was plenty of mountain area to ski, and this is a picture from the top cable car.

Having enjoyed a fabulous week, we know our metabolism must be thoroughly confused by now.  But, we are back to reality, and over the next few days we will return to our usual eating plan. I would imagine we could have added quite a bit of muscle  weight, as the muscles used in skiing are somewhat different.  At no time during our holiday did we deny ourselves anything.  We ate when we felt hungry, and also indulged in more processed foods than normal.  But we didn't use the week as an excuse for excessive eating.  Because we have learned we can have whatever we want to eat, we don't crave foods.  Once upon a time, a holiday would have involved thinking along the lines of "oh go on, have it, we're on holiday", but this didn't happen this time.  Although the apres ski occasionally extended itself, we equally extended our exercising on the slopes.  Hopefully this will all balance itself out.  It will be a very interesting weigh in on Wednesday.