The Big Fat List and the Days of Doom (TM) Part V - Once we were plump but now we are thinner, and looking forward to our Christmas Dinner! (Also incorporating the New Year weigh in confession thread)

[grinningbee]

So, here we have our nice new little thread. No food type is banned from being mentioned. It is Xmas afterall . So pull up a comfy chair, I've put a good film on the telly for you, put some logs on the fire and laid out some snacks. We have stollen, mince pies, chocs, shortbread, smelly cheese and crackers, wine and baileys.

Feel free to add anything else!

This thread will self destruct later in the new year, so don't worry about confessing to eating naughty nibbles, or putting on the odd pound (or 8).

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I have syns to spare, I just don't know how to thicken stew
I have only ever been able to do it once, I think I used flour but every time I try and thicken it, it goes all lumpy and nasty.

I'm not a bad cook, but I'm an inexperienced one.

If you use cornflour, mix it up with just a little cold water first - enough to make a pourable paste, and then pour it into the hot stew whilst stirring. That should prevent lumps.
Other options that I have used are red lentils, pearl barley, soup and broth mix (takes ages to soften the peas if not pre-soaked though). I'd go for lentils if I wanted a quickish fix without substantially altering the stew, or pearl barley if I wanted to bulk it out into a heartier meal.

ok, I'll have to buy some cornflour and give it a go. I think in the past, I have used some liquid from the cooking stew to mix so its been really hot rather than using cold water. No harm in trying, whats the worst that can happen?! (kids will refuse to eat it or I'll just have to pick out the lumps before they see it)

cantsleep thanks- I swapped peas for spring greens last night so definitely got my 1/3 superfree.

hedgepig you're right, I think planning what you eat each day before you eat it is the key here.

I've been dreadful this weekend, done well during the day then go into the kitchen in the evening and the contents of the cupboards just falls into my mouth. I know I need to draw a line etc etc but I just feel a bit crap about it. TBH I think I need a gain this week to motivate me to get going again. It is just a blip, isn't it. I've lost 3.5st so far and will carry on losing, I seem to have 3 or 4 good weeks then a rubbish fall off the wagon-y one.

OK, in the spirit of planning and drawing a line etc etc, here is my plan for the day.
B- bacon egg pear
L- butternut squash, carrot and lentil soup
S- 2 alpen lights, an apple
D- chilli and rice, fruit, muller light

Right it's Monday morning and a new week. I have 10 days of maternity leave left so I need to get back on plan.

debka I always dins evenings the tricky bit. I have been rubbish as well this weekend and don't really have any advice. I'm going to buy some frozen berries to snack on.

It's my final week and a bit of maternity leave so I had all sorts of nice things planned. Unfortunately dd has woken up full of cold so that cancels out swimming.
B: fruit and ff yog
L: smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toast (heb) I will get some spinach as my superfood
D: beef and pepper stew with carrot mash.
HEA: milk in tea and coffee
Exercise: not sure, maybe shred

Debka it sounds as if you've hit one of those dreaded plateaux . This happened to me the last time I dieted (I lost 3.5 stone on SW). I hit the 3.5 mark and really needed to lose another 2, but I hit a plateau and instead of punching on through it I got complacent (I mean, I did look fucking amazing compared to my previous state of 17 stone ) and just stopped. Which is why I then put on 1.5 stone again

Anyway, I wonder if there is something you can do to push through and give yourself a boost? There's always a lot of stuff said about your body getting used to a plan and needing to change it up a bit to get it going again. Might be bollocks, mind

I'm with Hedge on the planning thing. With MFP you kind of have to plan the night before or you end up having 3 cals left for dinner.

BTW, I do realise the absurdity of my dispensing 'wisdom' when I have lost the princely total of 4lb so far!

Yay for a new week and new start Cheese. possibly less yay to end of mat leave?? How do you feel about going back?

Right, food on Day 2 of Scarlett's Extra Special Effort To Actually Lose Some Sodding Weight:

B - Activia
L - 'Nicoise' salad with salmon and butter beans
D - Chicken and tarragon tray bake with steamed kale and courgettes, berries and yog.

I'm determined not to lose it completely TSP so I am Making Plans. First is to make sure I plan exactly what I'm eating the night before or in the morning, making sure to include my 1/3 superfree. Second is to get more grapes and stuff in to snack on in the evening. Third- the days I run I am less likely to go off the rails, but that's only 3x a week, so I've ordered a yoga dvd off amazon to do the other evenings. Fairly gentle I thought, but still Exercise.

BTW I love reading everyone elses menus, your food always looks way nicer than mine!

Excellent. There is nothing like a Plan to cheer a girl.

Ooo do tell me how the Yoga DVD is. I would like to do some - I am getting a modestly respectable amount of cardio with my Stout Walks, but I like the idea of the toning/stretching/flexing/spiritual calm that yoga is supposed to give!

It's this one, I didn't browse much, just clicked on the first I saw that was pretty cheap and had pretty good reviews. Seems to be a cross between yoga and pilates. We'll see...

That does look good Deb - and it certainly can't be a bad thing to try it out.

Ooo I have just measured myself. I'm always slightly wary of the tape measure because just measuring in a slightly different place can give a false reading, but I think I have lost 1 inch off all my measurements in just over a week, so (assuming that it's a true reading) I'm doing OK...

Well done, 1 inch is awesome.

We had run out of bread so lunch was pasta, smoked salmon and spinach with a bit of quark and ff nat yog mixed in. It was alright!

I'm stressed out! I've got so much to do before going back to work and I don't know where to start. I think I'll start with cooking tonight's dinner!

Debka if it helps I'm stuck at the 3.5 st mark too, I have been maintaining, going up a 1b going down a 1lb for what seems ages, I have new resolve for the last few days (less said about Friday the better ) . I started the end of Feb last year and it just seems to go on & on & on being good. I will be get there though

Debka, I have found I plateu after a while on SW too. I do wonder if as it's really a cleverly disguised calorie controlled diet, that at some point portion sizes have to get smaller. Other than that, if you've been doing EE for a while, have you thought about trying original days for a week? The lady at our group who had lost 10lb last week had decided to do a week of original as she said it boosted her loss when she did and I have found the same too. But didn't you lose 4.5lb last week?

All the talk of salmon and smoked salmon is making me really fancy some. I do have smoked salmon in the fridge (we are BLW and DD loves it ) so I might do something with it for breakfast or lunch tomorrow.

I have walked miles today. Did the usual 2 30 mins ish walks with 3 of the dogs this morning, then took the fourth (rescue and a bit of a PITA although adorable!) out for almost two hours. You'd think he'd never been out, it's impossible to tire him at all! I, on the other hand, am almost dead as it's very hilly where we live and I was pushing my stupidly huge and therefore heavy, pram too. I think as soon as DH gets in, I'll hand over DD and go for a nice hot bath as I'm still freezing now too.

Today has been/will be:

Breakfast: honeydew melon and red grapefruit

Lunch: butternut squash and chilli soup with WW bread. (inventive, aren't I?! )

Dinner: Asda ES Lamb shanks in mint gravy (never had them before, but trying tham as they are free) with asparagus, brocolli, carrots and red cabbage, plus new potatoes for DH. Prob followed by mullerlight.

Snacks: 2 hifi lite bars, orange, maybe other fruit later.

She lost 10lbs in one week???? God, I might have to switch to Original immediately!

midori it's not that my weight loss is stalling, it's my will power! 10lb though, bloody hell!

ooo, I'd love to lose 10lb in a week, that would give me a massive boost, I know realistically, its not going to happen though.
I've been so good today, totally stuck to plan and I haven't been hungry at all which is a suprise. I'm just eating my stew and it is really delicious. DH won't be home for another hour or so, I wonder if I could eat his portion too and quickly whip him up a sandwich or something?

DS's migraines seem to under control, well for today anyway. Lets see if this strictness I'm following of avoiding all known triggers works long term.

I've had such a long day today, I didn't get in until gone 6pm, good job I put dinner in the slow cooker before I went out this morning. Nothing better than lovely stew to warm you up after being at the park for over an hour.

I would also like to lose 10lbs in one week, blimey! I struggle to lose 10lbs in 2 months.

I am so bored _ I am writing a contract for our nanny and am swimming in SSP / holiday entitlements etc. Yawn! I have still got a massive pile of ironing to do. PLus I need an early night -- DD is a snot machine so I am fully expecting to be up tonight.

Its very quiet on here, where are you all?

i'm here

Just thinking about planning my meals for tomorrow but need to have a little while chilling out first.
DH just offered me a glass of wine (as he was munching some crisp) but I declined. I got a mullerlight and some diet coke instead.

I have a confession to make. I ate an apple turnover Any ideas how much damage they are?
If it makes any difference, I had ready made puff pastry and I added some tinned apples (4 slices to be precise) and sprinkled that with ground cinnamom. It was probably the average size of an apple turnover bought in a bakery.
There is one left which I'm going to throw in the bin when DC go to bed.

I'm here too but I'm new so I don't really count

kid I can't imagine your apple turnover was that bad, after all a doughnut is 13 syns and that's got to be worse, right?

cheese that sounds tres dull, and I hate the feeling when you know your sleep will be disturbed. So glad my DDs sleep through now.

I'm back on track now I think, feel in control and much happier with myself and everything. Just wonder what the scales will say tomorrow....

Right, lets get organised. Food for tomorrow-

B- bacon, egg, damn, ate the last pear. Hmmm.... orange??
L- left over chilli with salad and maybe some couscous or beans. Apple
D- my aunt is cooking- think it's chicken casserole with veg

Ooo ooo ooo bought a steamer today, half price in sainsbo's, am v excited about all the lovely steamed veg I can make take note cantsleep

Of course you count Deb
I'm just back from my exercise class, just had some yummy stir fry (I'm not going to have a biscuit, I'm not going to have a biscuit)

No idea how many syns kid. Sounds delicious though.

Thanks for the sympathy debka . Jell of the steamer, CSWS will be pleased you are getting your super foods. It has even rubbed off on me, I had carrot and courgette with my dinner. Is tomorrow your weigh in? I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

I'm going to try cooking the spiced beef and pepper casserole from the magazine in the slow cooker, I'll reduce the stock volume and cross my fingers it works

I had it tonight and it was really delish, highly recommended!

I've just got back from The Madness of George III at the Apollo with David Haig. People: IF IT MEANS HIRING YOUR CHILDREN OUT TO A CIRCUS FOR THE NIGHT, SEE THIS PLAY!!!!11111!!!1!!

It's the best performance onstage I've seen in a decade - and given I've been reviewing theatre for the last 4 or 5 years that's saying something Rare occasion of ACTUAL audience leaping to its feet roaring. Amaze. AMAZE. Couldn't take my eyes off him. The Thin Blue Line will never be the same again.

Ooo and I finally have a date for my Viva - in a month's time. Only 4 months after they were sodding supposed to do it, but beggars can't be choosers

Right off to read thread!

What the....10lb in a week?!?!?!?! She must've filled her pockets with stones the preceding week

I'm also jelus of the steamer. I have visions of being able to do things like amazing steamed fish and green veg all at once

Kid glad you seem to have DSs migraines under control. I've never had one, thank God, but I've seen the after effects of people who really suffer with them, and it looks properly hellish

Sorry about the tedium Cheese - did you ever watch Black Books? Your struggle with paperwork reminded me of Bernard Black doing his accounts (this will mean nothing to you if you've not seen it fifteen times like me )