Slimming World's Miss Slinky

Today we had the competition for Miss Slinky in our Slimming World group. Andrea, who achieved her target weight and a healthy BMI also tonight, won the award.

Andrea has lost a total of 51.5 pounds! (I think. Hopefully, she'll set me straight if I got that number wrong.)

She's beautiful, isn't she?

Here's a photo of the two of us together.


It was also another "Bring & Try" night with the theme being baked goods. Robert made his Gingerbread Squares, but this time, instead of adding chocolate chips or candied ginger, he added flaked almonds. All of the food was delicious!

I made Cheesy Garlic Breakfast Potatoes. I made the recipe up the night before, and I'm happy to say that the dish was a success at the meeting. I will definitely be making this again!

Trouble On The Horizon

Two of my teenage daughters just spent a month in the USA with my parents, cousins, siblings and their families. They just got back today. I have really missed them, and I am so glad they are home!

They left with 2 big suitcases and 1 small suitcase. They came home with 2 big suitcases, 2 small suitcases, 3 HUGE suitcases and a large box - all full of goodies from the US that cannot be found here in the UK.

Yep, my diet is in trouble.

All I'm allowing myself until Monday's weigh-in is the Diet Mug Root Beer they brought for me (my favorite). After that, I'll have to figure out how to work a treat into my daily menu on occassion without destroying all of my healthy-eating efforts. (The urge to binge is strong, but I am stronger than it!)

Coming Soon! Chocolate That Won't Hurt Your Waistline!

Think you can't ever enjoy the mouth-wateringly delicious taste of chocolate ever again? Think again!

Scientists for one of the world's largest chocolate company have created a new chocolate that contains 90% fewer calories than normal chocolate! They are calling it the Vulcano, because although it will melt in your mouth, it won't melt in the sun.

Belonging to the Swiss chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut, this chocolate is light and crispy. According to this article at Guardian.co.uk, the Vulcano resulted from a mistake, the results of which were then developed further. This chocolate manufacturer has achieved something no other chocolate manufacturer has managed before.

"Developed in a laboratory under top-secret conditions by an international team of food engineers, it not only has 90% fewer calories than the average chocolate product, it is also heat-resistant to temperatures of up to 55C (131F). Most chocolate starts to melt at 30 degrees."

It's not expected to be available for purchase for another two years. The question is, can you wait that long?

Slimming World's Top Target Member Award

Tonight, my Slimming World group was having a party. It was to honor the Top Target member of the group. Everyone who reached target would be up for the award and then we'd vote on the winner. There were no target members last week. Robert thought he had 5 pounds left to reach his target weight, but he must have put down a lower weight on his forms because Sharon told him he had 7 pounds left.

He decided to go all out this week to try and reach his target weight in time for the party. Halfway through the week, he weighed himself and told me that he didn't think there was any way he could reach it in time.

We weighed in. I lost 2 pounds for a total loss of 107 pounds! I only have 30.5 pounds left to reach my goal weight! I have gone from weighing 272.5 pounds at my highest weight to weighing 165.5 pounds.

Robert lost NINE POUNDS! He not only reached his target weight, but he passed it by two pounds! He now weighs, at 6'8" tall, 194 pounds! He was the only member at target, so he won the award! He got a sash, a paperweight and pen set and a certificate.



The theme of the party was a beach one. I wore a white summer dress that I had recently bought. This is significant because I have not worn the color white in many, many years. I tend to always wear black and other dark colors. Robert bought me a lei set which came with the neck lei, leis for my wrists and one for my head. He also bought me some really silly sunglasses. He wore his swimming trunks, a Hawaiian shirt, a lei and some equally silly sunglasses. We brought two beach balls and a giant inflatable shark to help add to the ambience.

Because this was a party, we were all supposed to bring some syn-free and low syn food to share. Robert brought some Herby Egg Pancake Wraps. I brought a Mexican Egg Casserole. There was a lot of other really nice food there tonight, and we had a fun time.

(I have other photos to post from the night, but I am still waiting on our Slimming World consultant to e-mail them to me as they were taken with her camera. When she sends them to me, I will add them to this post.)

"Where Do you Find The Motivation?"

Lynn from The Hungry Little Caterpillar has a terrific post that puts into words what I've been trying to say about motivation.

Motivation Schmotivation

Seriously, don't wait for motivation. It's over-rated. If you wait for motivation to give you the kick in the pants you need, chances are you'll still be fat when this time next year rolls around. Just go and DO IT! Eat healthy. Exercise. Of course you won't feel like doing it. So what? You have a goal, so start working on it!

Greatest Loser Competition

The woman who weighed only one pound less than me lost 6.5 pounds this week.

I lost SEVEN and won the Slimming World's Greatest Loser award for our group! Robert took a photo of me in the sash standing beside our Slimming World consultant, Sharon.


I won an engraved paperweight and pen set, a sash, a sticker and a certificate. I'm still amazed that I was able to lose seven pounds in one week. I exceeded any hope I had for weight loss for the week.






I also won "Slimmer of the Week."


Losing so much in one week is going to make this week even more difficult. We'll be going out for dinner to celebrate my birthday, plus having birthday cake. Add that to the fact that I just lost a huge amount of weight and it could spell disaster for my next weigh-in. I'm going to spend Wednesday through Monday working really hard to maintain my loss. If I can get through this week without gaining any of the weight back, I will be thrilled. I do not expect to lose any weight this week. I just really, really don't want to gain.

Robert and I also won one of the raffle prizes. It was a rain poncho, a box of Orange, Mandarin & Cinnamon Tea, and a 3-pack of Lemon Hi-Fi Bars.

Tonight was also a "Bring & Try" night where everyone brings a low-syn dish to share with everyone else. Robert made Slimming World's Vindaloo Sauce from the "Slimming World's Saucy Secrets" recipe book. He made a small change to the recipe (as we usually do). He also baked up some chips (thick-cut fries) for dipping in it. He also made Bombay Bhajis and Cucumber Raita Dip from Slimming World's "100 Free On Green Recipes" book.

Here is a quick photo I took of the table of food that everyone brought to share.


I found a dessert recipe on the back of a packet of Hartley's sugar-free Lemon & Lime Jell-o mix. It was for making Lemon, Lime & Ginger Creams. I made changes to the recipe and added to layers to the dessert. It was a big hit at the meeting! I had people asking for the recipe, and a friend was telling me it's her new favorite dessert. She said it tasted like a mini cheesecake.




I will share the recipes for everything in separate posts.

Slimming World's Mr. & Mrs.

Tonight at Slimming World a couple of things happened along with our weigh-in. Today was a "bring and share" where everyone is supposed to make and bring some food to share with others that is either low-syn or syn free. I made a pasta dish with some food I had on hand.



Two cups of whole wheat pasta
1 red onion (finely chopped)
2 Quorn sausages (grilled)(If you don't have the brand Quorn in your area, it is vegetarian versions of meats, so there was no actual meat in the sausages.)
2 medium eggs (boiled)
3 tbsp. extra light mayonnaise
100g low-fat cheese (grated) - optional
seasoning to taste

Boil the pasta until soft and then drain. Add three tablespoons of extra light mayonnaise (or make Slimming World's syn-free mayonnaise if you are following the plan) and mix in until all of the pasta is lightly coated. Add seasoning to taste. (I use Nature's Seasons seasoning blend, but it can only be found in the US. I get it shipped to me by friends and family.) Chop the sausages into small bits and mix in. Mix in the chopped red onion. Dice up the boiled eggs and mix into the pasta. Sprinkle the grated cheese over (while the pasta is still hot) and mix in.

Robert made brought his chicken, rice and vegetable casserole dish. (He made so much of it last time that he froze half of it, so this time, he thawed the frozen portion and heated it up along with some onion stock.)

My friend Helen made a Banoffee Pie from a recipe on the Slimming World site. It was really yummy! I went back for seconds, but the other members had gone back for seconds before me and it was already gone.

Robert and I, being the only couple going together to the meetings, were up for this year's "Mr. & Mrs." competition. Other members, if their significant others were losing with them even though not members, could have tried to win it too. But we were the only ones, so we won by default. We still had to get up and tell our stories to the group, pass around before and after pictures, and answer questions. (I will post the before and after photos that we shared in a separate post later.)

We won a little paper-weight and pen set which were engraved, and we got a sash proclaiming us the winners. It was fun, although I get terribly nervous standing and talking in front of people, even though I know most of them already. There was also a sticker to put in our Slimming World books.






I found out that there is a "Most Weight Lost" competition later this year, and I am only a few pounds away from overtaking the lead loser at the moment, so I've got a slight chance of winning it!

I lost 1 pound this week. That now means I weigh 202 pounds. My starting weight was 272.5 pounds, so I've lost 70.5 pounds so far! I also hit my 5 stone marker. (In England, people state their weight in "stones" which are equal to 14 pounds. I've lost 5 stone and half a pound.)

I was actually disappointed that I only lost one pound. I worked just as hard this week as last week, but last week I lost four pounds. I am so close to Onderland and I want to reach it so badly! In retrospect though, I am no longer annoyed about only losing one pound. I'm proud of it. I've decided that it would be really great to reach Onederland by my birthday. My birthday is on the 27th of this month, so I have 3 weeks and 4 days to lose 2.5 pounds or more. I can so do this! Even at my slowest pace of losing, I can still reach that target! It'd be great to reach it this week and be further into Onederland by my birthday, but I'm just taking each week and each day as it comes.

I also just realized that LAST week, I reached another of my mini goals, which was to lose 25% of my starting weight! I needed to get down to 204 to reach that mini goal and last week I was 203. Now I'm 202. I'm creeping ever closer to each of my mini goals along the way. I've now reached 12 of the 25 mini goals I have set for myself.

Bulgur Wheat

Robert is cooking us dinner tonight. He's already got it cooking in the crockpot/slow cooker. Last time he made this dish, he made it with rice. This time, we are trying some bulgur wheat in it instead of rice because we won a couple of packs of bulgur wheat at Slimming World before Christmas.

Having never tried bulgur wheat before, neither of us knows what to expect or whether or not we will like it. I hope we do like it or all of the other ingredients in our dinner will be wasted.

The dish Robert is making is this: chopped carrots (4 to 6), chopped onions (2 large white ones), chopped celery (a few stalks), chopped swede (one), chopped turnip (one), chopped broccoli (one bag), Quorn chicken-style pieces ("fake chicken" for those of you who don't have the Quorn brand of vegetarian dishes), and chicken stock (substitute vegetable or onion stock for vegetarians). Add all ingredients with water to the crockpot. Cook on high for two hours and then on low for a couple of hours. Add in rice or bulgur wheat when almost finished, giving time for the rice to cook properly and soak up the seasonings and liquid. Eat.

Bulgur wheat is supposed to be a really healthy food.

Ever tried bulgur wheat? What did you think of it? I'll let you know my verdict once I've tried it.

Bean Soup Recipe

Beans are rich in fiber and this bean soup recipe that my mom always made for me is a really healthy, fiber-rich meal that is perfect for anyone trying to lose weight.

When I lived in the US, we always made this using pinto beans, but I was unable to find dry pinto beans where I live in the UK, so I made it with two bags of dry crab eye beans instead. If just using the basic ingredients (beans, ham, onion, seasoning, garlic powder), this is also a very inexpensive meal that will feed about five people for two nights.

Ingredients:
2 bags of dry crab eye beans or pinto beans
2 thick slices of lean gammon/ham (optional but recommended)
2 large white onions
seasoning (I use Nature's Seasons from the US) - to taste
garlic powder - to taste

Tobasco sauce (optional)
low fat cheese (optional)
one baguette (optional)

First, soak the beans in water overnight.

In the morning, add the beans to a crockpot (called a "slow cooker" in the UK) and add water to cover them.

Chop the onions and add them to the crockpot. Chop up the gammon/ham and add it to the crockpot. Add seasoning and garlic powder to taste. (The ham/gammon is not necessary for bean soup, but it adds a nice flavor to the stock that the beans are cooked in.)

Let cook on high for 5 to 6 hours.

Serve up.

I sometimes add low fat cheese to my bowl of bean soup. It melts right away and tastes yummy, but I only add it if I have saved up enough extra calories for the day. I always add Tobasco sauce to my beans because I like my food spicy, but this is not for everyone.

I also like to have a baguette (the one pictured is an onion baton) with my beans to dip into them, but again, this makes the meal less healthy, so it all depends on how well I have been eating beforehand.

A large bowl of crab eye beans without gammon is about 468 calories, and very low in fat. (I do not know how pinto beans compare in calories to crab eye beans.) The gammon adds about 51 calories to the meal, and the low fat cheese adds another 67 calories (depending on the kind you use). The onion baton is about 200 calories. As you can see, if I plan on having all of the extras with my beans, I have to eat very light for the day prior to the meal.

But having the meal without the cheese or baguette makes for a very healthy meal that is not too high in calories, is very low in fat and is high in fiber too.

Also, for those following a Slimming World diet plan, beans are a "free" food on Slimming World's Green Days, and the meat can be used as a healthy extra.