Thai inspired Tuna

Gone all oriental tonight, with a Thai inspired dish. Seared tuna, coated in thai spices and chilli, served on a bed of peppers and onions which had been fried and then deglazed with sherry vinegar.

All on top of some spinach.

Lovely and colourful, tasted great and only took about 12 mins to make - what's not to love? Fast food at its best - quicker than driving to the takeaway in fact!

Makeover Pictures

I think this is my favourite picture from Friday's makeover.
Thanks again to Alizonne for the makeover - and making me feel so special and glamorous. Especially to Anne Welford and Vivienne who came with me, and to Jacqui for doing my makeup.

And to the lovely and talented Frank Henshall the photographer, who did a fabulous job and made me feel really at ease in front of the camera (no mean feat I can tell you!).

The dress is from M&S and felt lovely.

There are many more pics - I'll add a few more over the next few days, but I don't want to bore you to death dear reader!

TGI Fridays

We ended up going out for dinner after the Big Style Event on Saturday - and the nearest place was TGI Fridays.

I suspected this might happen, and so I'd checked the menu on the internet and didn't find anything that would suit, so I rang them and asked if they would do a steak with a simple salad. They said it would be no problem at all, just to ask and they'd be happy to do it.

And indeed they did. The steak was too big, so I cut it in half and had half in a doggy bag to take home (lucky cat!). There was loads of salad, and I was pretty full by the time I'd eaten mine, so didn't mind the others all having sundaes and cheesecake.

The tip here is to plan ahead if you think you might get caught out, then you won't panic. And if you're only planning on eating half your steak (or whatever) cut it in half first and push one half to the edge of your plate. Don't start eating it planning on stopping half way through - you won't be able to tell where half is once you've eaten some!

Enjoy - you really don't need to be a hermit!

To diet or not to diet...

I was watching BBC breakfast over the weekend and heard an amazing statistic. 90% of people on a diet will put the weight back on (and often more) within a year.

Now, that's an astounding figure.

But, they went on to say that losing weight shouldn't be about a "diet", which is a temporary state of mind (and state of eating) that when over is forgotten about. This is because people consider themselves to be "on or off" a diet, and when off a diet will resume bad habits etc.

So, one shouldn't diet, but change one's eating habits completely - it's more about adopting a lifestyle than being "on" a diet.

This all rang very true with me, and echoed what other Alizonne people have said on the forum - the ones who have stuck with the principles have kept the weight off, those who reverted to old eating habits piled the pounds back on. The Alizonne plan helps to reset the factory settings of your body as it were, but it's up to you to then maintain the body in good order afterwards.

So, the things I'll be sticking to are:

• eating little and often - 5 times a day (every 3 hours) suits me, and means I don't get the mid afternoon dip I used to have
• eating mostly fresh foods - I haven't eaten anything out of a packet in 7 months, so I'm not going to start - most of the stuff I've been making is just as quick and generally cheaper anyway
• limiting my carb intake - I haven't missed bread, pasta or rice, so I think I can generally do without them. And when I do have them, I'm going to limit them to mornings
• cutting out the drink - have I missed a drink in the last 7 months? No. Have I missed the hangovers and jaded feeling? Definitely not! So I'm going to stick with only planned glasses of wine for special meals (calorie counted of course) and just drink water the rest of the time.
• Planning meals - because of being on sachets I've had to plan in advance - where will I be, do I need to take food with me, will I miss / delay a mealtime etc? So, I'm going to carry on this and plan my meals in advance - OK, it may not be the full low down much in advance and my list might say "white fish and veg" rather than "cod, spinach, 100g tomatoes, 100g beans" until the night before when I'm working out my calorie allowance for the next day
• Preparation - I've also been preparing meals in advance so that there is always something "in" or handy for emergencies. If I get delayed getting home I know there is something healthy I can have at the drop of a hat that means I won't have to deviate from the plan. Definitely going to keep that up.

Oh yes, I'm going to get a MUCH bigger fridge too!

Christmas comes early

I spent yesterday "doing Christmas" at our house, as Alizonne have asked me to come up with some ideas for Christmas menus.

Rather than just do the Christmas Dinner, I've done a plan for the whole day, starting with a Bucks Fizz substitute and ending with chocolates in front of the telly.

I think it's important to be able to join in with everyone else, especially at Christmas, to minimise the feelings of being differnt or left out. So I've basically taken my usual Christmas day and Alizonned it up!

I'm most pleased with the praline truffles (in the picture) they taste amazing too! Tonight I'll find out how well they keep and thus whether they can be made in advance. Once I know that, I can write up all the recipes and a plan for making things ahead.

Funny thing is, I'll be phased off by Christmas and can eat what I want (within reason obviously) but now I feel as if I'll be missing out! How weird is that?

Night at the Ball

Here's a better picture of me just before going to the Halle Ball on Friday. We had a lovely night - I felt fab, and got lots of lovely comments and surprised looks from people I hadn't seen for a while.

I was good and stuck (almost) to plan too! It was cheese and onion tart for starters, so I ate a bit of the filling, but not the pastry and left my bread roll.

Main course was lamb with roasted veg (carrot and parsnip) so that was all on plan, and I left the potato. I didn't have dessert, just some tea. Drank water all night and had a good dance.

Watching everyone else eat really doesn't bother me though, which still surprises me. I'm sure it's helped by the fact I had an afternoon snack about 2 hours before we went, so I wasn't really hungry anyway.

Still, more parties to come, let's see what else happens before Christmas.

Big Style Event

Getting ready for the Big Style Event today - can't belive how many bags I have to load in the car. So that will be the first job before having a shower and getting glammed up - can't go to a style event looking like a bag of washing now can I?

I will go to the ball...

Off out now to a black tie event. Feel fab in my red dress and sparkly shoes. Thanks to Angel for the fur lendses!

Photo shoot

Will post more pics later, but thought you might like this in the meantime. This is Vivienne from Alizonne sharing my trousers.

And face done

And now with make up. Feeling great so far. On way to photographer's now. Nervous!

Hair do

So  here's my new hair do. Love it.I'm sure it will look better when my make up is done (I think I'm a bit scary without any face on!).

Big thanks to the lovely Hannah at David Anthony in Wilmslow for the red streaks and the choppy style at the back.

Ready for the day

Today is my makeover day, marking the end of my Alizonne journey. I'll post pics as I go along today if I can.

Here's the first, ready at the hairdressers for a hair makeover.

Oooohhh nervous and excited!

weight

23/11/11 - 12 st 3 - over 4 1/2 lbs off this week, so my home scales aren't barmy after all.
That puts me just below my target weight of 12 st 4, so I'm very happy with that. Plus, a few pounds below target will give me a bit of leeway over Christmas, which may be handy!

Happy days!

Wish me luck

I'm at the clinic waiting for my weigh in. I'm in the phasing off process, so in theory I should just be maintaining my weight now. However, when I got weighed at home this morning I was 4 lbs lighter than yesterday! Weird! Will be interesting to see what the scales here say. Will keep you posted.

Are you coming?

Are you joining us for the Big Style Event on Saturday?

If so, why not let us know you're coming (then we'll make sure we have enough refreshments for everyone!).

You can still come even if you don't RSVP, but it would help us predict numbers.

RSVP to Wardrobe Angel Steph, info@wardrobeangel.co.uk and we'll look forward to seeing you there!

Can't wait,

 

Busy day

In the run up to the Big Style Event, the party season and Christmas, it's been a busy old day today!

I've taken two days off work - yesterday I went to Trentham with mum and sis and a friend to do some Christmas shopping - got a few bits for my hubby, so good work there!

Today started with a pamper session - I'm having my makeover on Friday and then I'm at a charity ball in the evening - this all calls for some much needed maintenance, especially as my new party shoes are peep toe courts! So order of the day was a defuzz (which is much more difficult now my arms have actual pits and not flat bits underneath!), then a scrub and an application of tanning moisturiser.

And then the painting of toenails - hello! Red toes! Now that does not happen very often, ever since a fight with my dad about painted toes when I was 17, but that's another story...

Buffed, scrubbed and remade, it was then off to Media City for my radio interview with Becky Want. Thought that went well - the look of shock on her face when I showed her my old big trousers was priceless!

I was also talking to one of the staff on Becky's show about another project - he asked me how much weight I'd lost so I replied "about you", guessing he was about 9 stone. Just imaging carrying a fully grown man around with you EVERYWHERE, EVERYDAY. Not surprising I was tired with sore feet!

A quick bit of retail therapy and I now own some jeans (hurrah) for weekend mucking about in flat shoes and a lovely new jacket. Back home for a quick dinner of veggie chilli with monkfish and spinach and then back to Media City for an evening at the Lowry - Mitch Benn is on the bill tonight, so I'm looking forward to having a good old laugh.

What surprises me most though is that I can do all this running about, including some intensive shopping, all in heels, and without getting tired! At one time, if I had to walk more than about 500 yds I'd have pulled my face - now I park anywhere and enjoy the walk (especially when it's sunny like today was). Still, I'm not carrying that man around anymore!

On the rails

And here is a selection of the better stuff - suits, evening wear, coats, jackets - and everything less than £20. Too good to throw away, all these things need is a new home.

Again, lots of them still have labels on, or have only been worn once - there's a beautiful black evening dress perfect for posh Christmas parties, long evening overjackets, suits for work...

I will be glad of the room after Saturday though - at the moment I can't move in the spare room!

It's in the bag

I've spent today sorting out and bagging up clothes for the Big Style Event.
Each of these bags is just one size, from 16 - 28 (that big green one is size 22!) and each one contains trousers, skirts, tops, dresses etc. None of these are very posh, there's no labels or the like, so we'll be selling them for £1 - £2 each. There must be over 100 pairs of trousers alone, and the same of T shirts and tops.

OK, so they weren't all mine (some belonged to sisters) but I still can't believe how many clothes I had. Don't think I'll be going there again - my new plan is buy fewer things and get my wear out of them. There are things in these bags that still have their tags on!

So, if you fancy a bargain, come and join the Big Style Event - see https://sites.google.com/site/bigstyleevent/ for more details.

Radio Star

I've been invited to BBC Radio Manchester on Tuesday for an interview with Becky Want!

We contacted them about the Big Style Event, and they've asked me in for a chat. Worryingly they've also asked me to bring my "Big" trousers, so heaven knows where that pic will end up!

I'll be on about 2.30 in the afternoon, so if you can, tune in  - I'll try and get a copy of the interview (if it goes well) so I can add it on here.

Wish me luck!

Marinated Tuna

This is a really tasty tuna steak, marinated in herbs and chilly and then seared on the griddle pan.

I had it on a bed of spinach with a veg medly of pan fried corguettes, shallots and tomatoes (200g) with green pepper. Nice, easy quick dinner and very, very tasty!

I think seared tuna is one of my favourites, after scallops of course!

Where are my knees

I found this blogsite through some contacts on twitter - it's a group of 5 ladies in South Wales who are all dieting. They share success stories, tips, recipes etc.

I've just written a guest blog for them which should be posted tomorrow (it's about the Big Style Event and getting outfits sorted for the Christmas Party season). But if you're looking for some inspiration, tips or hints, why not check them out.

http://wherearemyknees.blogspot.com/

Thin Dish

I read an article today about a service in California called Thin Dish. It's a website that lists the dishes of local restaurants that contain fewer than 600 calories. Users can print out a voucher for the dish and then get a discount for it at the restaurant. If you'd like to know more, here's the review I read - http://www.springwise.com/food_beverage/a-guide-restaurant-dishes-600-calories/

This got me thinking that this would be really useful - at least a roundup of the dishes somewhere in a list. I know that the calories of dishes for restaurant chains are published (if you look hard enough or get a big calorie bible) but often small independent restaurants don't have this information.

That,of course, assumes you've got 600 calories to "spend" on your dinner.

Now, when's by Medgem test so I can find out how many calories I'm allowed...

Landmark Sachet

This is a bread muffin I made today - and more importantly it's the last sachet of my plan! I move onto the next phase tomorrow, and re-introduce more "real" food.

So, from tomorrow, my new regime will be:

• Breakfast - weetabix with yoghurt or bread with ham
• Mid-morning - an orange or 3 satsumas
• Lunch - Salad and 80g ham / cottage cheese / tuna etc
• Afternoon snack - Alizonne bar
• Dinner - veg with meat or fish

So still eating 5 times a day, which I'm going to keep up when I'm finished anyway. Since I started this plan I haven't felt hungry or had that afternoon dip in energy levels. I've had fewer headaches too, so there is clearly something else besides the weight loss going on which suits me.

And next week: I get to have an apple! How exciting!

Fish and chips

Who says you can't have fish and chips on a diet?

Swede chips are lovely (I think they have more taste than potatoes and will be sticking with them when I'm done on this diet). Spinach instead of peas, which I'm not allowed yet (too much starch in peas and beans) and pan fried fish using my oil allowance - which is 1 Tbsp per day and is actually plenty.

A squeeze of lemon juice and a big glass of water, and tuck in! Yum.

Weight

14-11-11 12st 7 - almost 2lb off this week.
I get weighed in kilogrammes, so it's sometimes a bit confusing when I convert the weight to pounds, and obviously round up or down, no point doing it to 3 decimal places, even I'm not that geeky!

Anyway, more weight loss, even though I'm phasing off and will stop losing weight any time now. Very happy though - if I lose a few more pounds that will be fine, and if I don't that will be fine too!

Let's see what happens this week, as I move into Phase 5 on Thursday and start having protein at lunchtime (tuna / cottage cheese etc). Should be fun.

Big Style Event

I'm very excited - full plans are now in place for a Big Style Event - Nov 26th, 5-8pm, Prestwich.

This started off when I was trying to decide what to do with all my "too big" clothes, and with the help of the Wardrobe Angel we came up with the idea of having a fashion event.

So, there will be clothes (not just from me, but other slimmers and a dress agency), styling advice from Wardrobe Angel, tailoring advice from seamstresses, accessories, facials, bra fitting, lifestyle coaching and all sorts of things!

We've set up a website with more details and directions etc, so keep your eye on that for updates.

We're doing goodie bags for the first 50 people on the night too, so come along and bag some treats as well as some great fashion buys and tips!

More details can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/bigstyleevent/

Sizing things up

Yesterday, I went clothes shopping for new gear, especially for work as I'm running out of borrowed clothes that fit. So, I met my stylist, the lovely Steph (Wardrobe Angel) and headed off for a small boutique on the edge of Stockport. As I'm investing in a new wardrobe (being at my target weight, give or take a couple of pounds) I wanted things that would be a bit different and a bit quirky - like me perhaps.

Armed with a rail of clothes, I headed into the changing room for the "Great Trying On Session". After chosing a few things that fit lovely and look great, I had a bag of finds. But I still have no idea what size I am. I have 12s, 14s, L and XL. But at least I've had a lovely shopping experience and a cup of tea (thanks Tracey!).

We head of to Boundary Mill (I love this place - lots of brands under one roof, discounted pricing and some of the lovliest staff in retail). With a shopping trolley full of items, it's off to the changing rooms again - and again I am confronted with a myriad of different sizes! In some brands I'm a 12, in others a 16. I know I'm pear shaped and definitely at least a size bigger on the bottom (so shift dresses are out for me) but surely a jacket is a jacket and the size should be standard. Grrrr. It just wastes too much time trying on three of everything to find the right size and is demoralising when you think you're a 12 and turns out you're a 16 for some brands! Hmph.

So I think there should be a conversion chart somewhere, that takes an average sized woman (I believe a size 14) and lists her size in all the brands so you can see what the equivalent size in brand is. Who's with me?

Dressed to Kill

So, really dressed up for a night out last night - a burlesque caberet at the Lowry. Compared to some, I was under-dressed, but felt great. Loving this black velvet skirt (TK MAXX) and the silver silky jacket. Felt very slim and elegant.

Oh yeah, I've got red hair too - had it coloured on Friday and it's a mahogany red. I'm getting used to it now, though it was a bit weird at first as it's quite a bit darker.

The burlesque was fab - I'm a bit jealous of all those pert bits, but then those nubile young things haven't had the life I've had. Ah, youth - it's wasted on the young!

weight

9/11/11 - 12 st 8 - over 2lbs loss this week.

As I'm so close to target AND so close to Christmas, I've decided to start phasing off now, as this will give me time to stabilise before Christmas. At my doctor's review, he agreed this was a sensible thing to do, and so now I have a finishing plan.

Over the next 3 weeks I'll be introducing more foods (citrus fruit this week) and then will have 3 weeks to introduce carbs and maintain a stable weight.

At the end of that process, I'll have a medgem test (to work out how many calories I personally burn in a day) and that will give me my calorie allowance for the future.

Then it's down to planning, calorie counting and maintaining the figure I've now got - so basically, I've now reset my body's factory settings, and it's up to me not to mess it up again!

Now, where can I get an orange...

Shopping

I went shopping with the Wardrobe Angel after work on Monday. For a big change, I was actually looking forward to it - I used to loathe clothes shopping.

When I met Steph, she had a rail of clothes lined up for me to try on - and all in a size 12. I had a bit of a panic attack - thought this was heading for a changing room disaster... but virtually everything fit.

Some of it didn't fit well admittedly - but some (like the black fit and flare dress, which I did buy) fit lovely. I'm a bit booby for a size 12, so anything that draped (or rather gaped) over the bust was a no-no, but the other things made me look super slim, especially around my waist which is now tiny.

I tried on lots of things, getting the feel of different brands and shops I'd never been into in my life. All very exciting (and would have been very daunting without help). I still have a nagging feeling in the back of my head that I don't "belong" in some shops - my psyche still thinks I'm a big girl who won't find anything to fit in the likes of River Island or Zara - but it's not true anymore, and I'm having trouble getting my head round it.

When I got home, a work colleague of my husband's was there. He told me that he'd done a double take when I walked in, because he though my hubby had got a new woman! And I suppose, in a way, he was right!

Fresh Tuna - Lovely

Tonight's dinner - fresh tuna, seared and served with thai spiced veg (carrots, leeks, red onion, green pepper, corguette).

I briefly marinated the tuna in sherry vinegar and the thai 7 spice, just to give it a bit of extra bite on the outside. Pan fried for a bit less than 2 mins each side, just to sear it.

It was lovely, melt in the mouth stuff, and made a nice change.

Reacquainting myself with Quark

On phase 3 I'm allowed 150g very low fat dairy with my carbs for breakfast. Time to reacquaint myself with Quark!

A couple of years ago I did a very low fat diet, and quark was one of my staples - virtually fat free, I used it instead of butter on bread, as a filling for omlettes and as a creamy addition to sauces (it doesn't cook well though, so I just stir it through a cooled dish, or it splits).

So, I'm now having it on my bread instead of butter, before I add my ham or other meat. I don't have 150g though - that would be over half a tubful, way too much for one piece of bread.

Steak and leeks

After all that shopping, need a quick and filling dinner - griddled veg, steak and leeks (under the steak).

It's the first time I've had leeks in ages, and I really enjoyed them.

Trying on another dress

This one was better around the arms, but the length is all wrong - it's just below knee length, which I thought would work, but then when I looked at the picture realised that the dress finishes just on the wide bit of my calf, making my legs look triangular!

So, second decision on party dress, has to be long or on the knee - not this length.

The nice thing though was that I took 5 things into the changing room - all size 14 - and every one fit me! Most didn't suit me, but that's different, at least they all fit.

Not long ago, I would have just bought the first thing I found that did fit me, and I would have had a lot less choice too!

I bought a lovely black velvet pencil skirt for an event next week - watch this space for the full outfit!

Trying on dresses

Went shopping tonight after work, trying on dresses (Christmas parties coming up!).

This one is black and blue - but the top bit didn't fit well and all that flesh on show didn't do me any favours - made the tops of my arms look really chubby (and whilst I've still got bingo wings, my arms aren't that big in sleeves).

So, first decision on party dress - it needs to have sleeves!

weight

31/10/11 - teeeny tiny weight loss this week of just 0.1Kg

So, reflecting on the week (well, actually only 5 days) a lot has happened:
- move to phase 3, introducing bread and other carbs
- move to phase 3 introducing bars for afternoon snack instead of a sachet
- been out pretty well every night, including several dinners (all to plan as well as possible, but not as controlled as eating at home - suspect some oil / protein quantities too high)
- couple of days of having evening meal early and snack later - not ideal
- had a strange weight day anyway (4 lb heavier than Sunday on my scales at home, and then 4lb lighter again on Tuesday - bizarre!)

So, given how this has been such a strange week, I'm not disappointed that I didn't lose anything this week. However, it does emphasise that there is only so far you can push or change things before something gives.

The rest of this week is much more normal though, so hopefully we'll be back to a reasonable loss at my next weigh in on Wednesday.

Cross fingers!

Lovely Dinner at Mums

Went to mum's tonight for dinner - easier now on phase 2. Chicken with herbs, cauli, carrots and purple sprouting brocolli. Mum had potatoes and gravy with hers, but I just used my olive oil allowance with some herbs - in a kind of "cheffy drizzle".

It was lovely, and nice to be "back to normal" going to mum's for dinner without making her do something completely different.

It did spark a discussion on portion sizes - weighing out the amounts for me makes us both realise that we probably normally eat too much - veg and chicken etc., compared to what we really need. I'm so much more used to this now, these portions feel right to me.

It's especially easy though when you've had a snack 2 or 3 hours earlier - since it takes any edge off your appetite.

Toffee Buns

Made these at the weekend for a toffee fix - it being near to bonfire night and all.

They don't look great, but tasted lovely, like eating a huge Toffo (who remembers Toffoes? Just me then?).

Pancake mix and caramel drink together and baked, yum!