Banoffee scan bran cake

Ingredients

5 scan bran

3 eggs

banana & custard muller light

3 tbsp quark

4 tbsp sweetener

options toffee sachet

Method

1) Cover the scan bran with hot water to soften and drain.

2) Add 4 tbsp sweetner and mix in the eggs

3) Add 1/2 sachet options and mix well.

4) Stir in the muller light.

5) Put in a microwaveable container and cook for 8 minutes.

For the topping

1) Add sweetner (to your tasting) to 3tbsp quark and mix well with the remaining options.

2) Spread on the cake once it as cooled and top with sliced banana

3) sprinkle over any remaining options powder

syns

2 syns (for the options) + HeB choice for the scan bran (or 5 syns)

Robbie Williams – 19th June 2013

Well Wednesday was another event in my fortnight of amazingness due to all the events I have been at. This time it was time for Robbie Williams (and Olly Murs) at the Etihad stadium in Manchester. Olly was great, not really been that into Olly I was pleasantly surprised. As usual Robbie did not disappoint, he really is an amazing entertainer! The entire show from beginning to end was just amazing! The way he entered the stadium by zipwire from the top of his head on stage was an indication of the showmanship to follow. I loved everything about the show, although the stand out for me was ‘Me and my monkey’ the stage effects during that song were fantastic! Enjoy the pics…

Download festival 2013

Now I have had a few days to recover I am finally getting around to sorting the photos! Last weekend I headed off to Donington Park for Download festival… it was amazing! Despite the fact we did not get there until just after 5pm on the Friday due to work we still saw loads of awesome bands! The main headliners (Slipknot, Iron Maiden & Rammstein) did not dissapoint and as usual Rammstein put on an amazing show! my other top slots were; Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, Coal Chamber, Heavens Basement and Stone Sour. We caught Heavens Basement on the second safe on the saturday and again on the Sunday on the Jagermeister acoustic stage. Can;t say I had ever seen crowd surfing an an unplugged gig before. That was the suprise performance of the weekend for me! Which was added to by meeting the band afterwards, getting the guitarists plectrum and a signed cd 🙂 Oh did I also mention we met Cory Taylor (of SLipknot and Stone Sour) in the signing tent so I now have his signed autobiography too 🙂 Anyways heres a few piccies from the amazing jagermesiter fueled weekend…

Mark Owen – Sheffield Leadmill – 09/06/13

Wow! What a night! I am still buzzing about it the day after! I’ve never seen Mark in a solo gig before so did not know what to expect, but he certainly blew me away! I was really surprised how small the venue was. But that ended up been perfect as it created an amazing atmosphere.

Mark’s voice was on fine form and he sounded amazing. The fact that he sang without the backing of his band at the end of his encore just demonstrated how strong his voice was. From beginning to end it was perfect. There was a good mix too of Take That songs, old solo songs and the new material. The crowd went wild for his new song ‘Stars’. Mark himself seemed really pleased at the reaction it got.

What always amazes me with the Take That guys is that they can easily sell out stadiums on European tours, break records and crash ticketing websites. Yet they go to playing tiny venues in comparison and still seem so chuffed that people have turned up to see them. This was really apparent with Mark last night too. You could just tell with his face and reactions throughout. Marks interaction with the crowd throughout was great too. He was full of cheeky comments and chatter in between songs which was really good too.

To  end the night perfectly I even managed to get one of the setlists from the guys on stage. SO that’s another one to frame and hang next to the one from When I saw Gary in Sheffield last year. ☺

I have uploaded some of my pics…enjoy!

Officially a Slimming World target member!

Wow!!! can’t believe I am now officially at target! I am writing this Thursday afternoon, the day after and I still have the grin on my face!

I previously posted about how stressed out I was getting and as a resulted had decided i’m gunna go back to my 10 to 15 syns a day, relax more on the plan and concentrate on non-scale victories. However i dod not expect it to have the impact it did! I lost 3 1/2lb this week. I only needed 2 1/2ln for target. I would have been happy with a lb off (which is good for me as i had only been getting small losses – even on Fast Forward I only got 2lb). So I smashed target going below by the extra lb. Therefore we changed my target to 9st 12 1/2lb (as opposed to 9st 13 1/2lb that I had set it as). In total I have lost 5st 10lb since January last year. I am now as size 10 as opposed to the size 22 I used to be. Meaning  I now gave to try and maintain that weight! I’m guessing this is where the hard work kicks in. Seeing that ‘9’ on the scales meant everything…I am now in the single figures …woohoo!!

Back to non-scae victories (NSVs) …these really are what matter though – they focus on how positive we feel and celebrate those small personal successes. A few weeks back I posted how I had purchased a size 10 dress which felt great. This week I have purchased size 10 jeans, which felt great as they are a lot tighter with no give like the dress! I have also been roller skating yet again (which I discussed in my last blog post about how I had not skated on over a decade). Another few hours at the roller rink for me this afternoon!

Non Scale Victories (NSV)

Today was a massive NSV for me. This is what I am trying to concentrate on now rather than the numbers on the scales to think more positively about things. It is really helping to focus on these little victories and how they make me feel rather than stressing over numbers, syns etc like I have done previously.

Today I went roller skating, it may seem like a small task to some but psychologically to me it was a massive boost. In the years gone by I used to play roller hockey and I loved it. However an injury happened and I had to have knee surgery about 8 years ago. It was after that surgery I started to put on all the weight. The combination of suddenly not exercising much, been stuck on crutches for ages and feeling very down about it all meant the weight crept on, and on, and on over the years. It was skating that sent me down that path of feeling crap and fat all of those years. It was a skating injury that sent me on the dark path of weigh gain. Hence I have not been able to face it since.

As a result I had not skated in a very long time (scary just how long that is really when I think about it!). Today was the first time in nearly a decade that I have been roller skating….and I loved it! Ok so maybe I am no where near as quick as I used to be but I quickly picked up where I left off (and it was a good 3 hours of body magic!). The techniques came back, even if they are a bit (ok a lot!) rusty and need some perfecting!.

For years I have wanted to get back into skating and just not managed it, there as always been something stopping me (one of those been the sheer amount of excess weight! second been the fear I would no longer be able to even stand up never mind skate!) I think I have the bug back again now though. I already have my next session planned and I have even looked into getting into roller derby!

Chocolate dipped fruit kebabs

Ingredients

1 x large bar chocolate
Fruit of your choice
Hundreds & thousands

Method

1) break the chocolate into pieces and melt.
2) place the fruit onto a kebab stick (I used grapes)
3) roll the fruit kebab in the meted chocolate
4) cover in hundreds and thousands
5) place in the fridge for the chocolate to set

Syns
This depends on te type/amount of chocolate. I used a large bar if dairy milk and each kebab worked out around 2.5 syns.

Changing target

After some thinking I have decided to change my target with slimming world. I think I’ve got to held up on it that its stressing me out too much and taking over my life. Everything as become about syn counting and in starting to think I am on weight watchers and I’m getting too obsessed with the scales and wanting to see that ‘9’. I think realistically I have been on the verge if developing and u healthy approach to food which is quiet scary really. The fact my background is in psychology and I previousley witnessed a close friend sectioned for anorexia I should know better.

When i see my weight loss over last few months it seems to be taking forever an I’m just hovering around the same weight. Part I me thinks that maybe this is the lowest I will get. It’s not that I’m not happy with where I am (size 10 from a 22- I never even dreamed that was possible). I look back when I first joined slimming world and my target was to get to about 12st and a size 14- think I have gone passed that now! Those nSVs (non scale victories) have made me think that I’ve come along way and I am chuffed with now been able to fit into a size 10. I think now its about maintaining and Toning up the tummy muscles to get it a but flatter!

I still want to see that ‘9’ so I have changed my target to 9.13 1/2.Which is where it was originally anywhere before I stress an changed it to 9st8.5 as i didn’t want the target grace weight to ever go above 10. If I can maintain below 10st I would be over the moon with that.

That leaves me with the challenge of gettin that! God knows how long it will take. My scales this morn showed a 2.5lb gain so that is about 4lb to loose (my scales at home said 10st3, my weigh in last week was 10st0 1/2). I half expected a gain as I had come of following fast forward for 10 days but I had hoped it would only be about a lb. although I do know that it is the slimming world scales at weigh in tonight that really matters. It may still take a while bit the pressure wouldn’t be as much.

I will get that target and this way I am taking the healthy, non stressful approach!

Chocolate buttons / chocolate ice lollies

Ingredients

1 x muller light yogurt (any flavour)

1 x Options or highlights hot chocolate sachet

Method

1) Mix the yogurt & hot chocolate powder together

2) make ‘drops’ of the mixture onto grease proof paper

3) Put in the freezer for approx 2 hours

4) Enjoy straight from the freezer

 

Syns

Depending on the yogurt/hot chocolate sachet this is around 2 syns.

Once frozen I divided them into 4 pots to enjoy at 0/5 syns a pot

 

Alternatives

Pour the mixture into ice lolly moulds to enjoy on a summers day 🙂

Fast Forward – reflection & lessons learnt

 

Having had time to reflect on Fast Forward I have come up with a few lessons that I learnt from it and things that I intend to change…

 

• Portion sizes – it as made me realise that maybe my portion sizes have been too big. Although full of free foods I did used to have a fair bit. This as made me realize that maybe I don’t need so much. The FF portions are tiny and defiantly not enough to fill me up. I think I need to aim for somewhere in the middle.
• Water – This is something I started doing a few weeks ages ago as part of 777 but continued throughout FF as its also recommended for the FF plan. The aim is to have 1.5litres of water each day. I have been aiming for 2 litres and I can definitely see the positive effects.
• Variety – I think too often we forget just what foods are out there. This week I have been really restricted in just what food choices I can make. After a few days I really got bored of the same foods. Equally I realized I tend to snack on the same fruits all the time, just because it’s easy or cheap. It as made me look forward to all the lush syn free Slimming World meals that are available. I will now make more effort to try and vary what I am eating. Whether this be the meals, fruit or snacks.
• Don’t skip meals – only been able to eat little and often as made me realize I need to stick to this in future and try not to skip meals or I am likely to feel hungrier and eat more than I need to.
• Make time for breakfast – Due to not been a morning persona and working a lot I tend to grab and go on breakfast but I am going to make more effort to have a proper breakfast. If I don’t have time before work I will make sure that I take something with me
• Determination& focus – definitely the key to success! To get what you want, you need to be clear about your aims and go for it without letting anything get in your way.

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So, yesterday I was gutted! I had done Fast Forward and only lost 2lb! ALthough I did get my 5 1/2stone award it was overshadowed by how gutted I felt. However I have had time to think about it and I have looked back over my weigh in record. Last week after 3 days on FF I lost 3 1/2 lb, this week 2lb. SO really from 10days I have lost 5 1/2lb. Now for the last few month I have struggled to loose, as I have had tiny losses, maintains or gains so haven’t made much progress. This 5 1/2lb over the last fortnight is more progress in a fortnight that in the 3 months since beginning of February. Looking at it like that it seems much more positive. I am still not feeling great (especially after reading something this aft that seemed like someone gloating/a bit of a dig) but I can;t let it get me down. I have 6lb to go until target and I really wanna get it asap. I just need to up my game, try anything and everything to find something that works and keep going.

This week I am going to try and keep my syns around the 7 mark where possible and have much more speed/superfree. I am also going to act on my lessons above. So today (an Extra Easy day)I had breakfast of hifi light and a banana (usually it would have just been the hifi and a fizzy drink). Lunch was a pasta pot at work, I did want salad with it but none was available 😦 . And in the interest of trying something new I had pizza chicken…it was lush! I increased the amount of superfree that I would have usually had with this type of meal and halved the amount of actifry chips that I would have normally had. It was so nice! FF as really made me appreciate proper food again! So far today I have had 6.5 syns (1.5 for a options hot choc, 3 for pasta sauce at work, 1 for tiny amount of extra virgin olive oil, and 1 for low fat salad cream). I am absolutley stuffed! If i get the munchies later I have strawberries on standby!