Afternoon tea

This week, the staff restaurant are doing "the best of British" to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. Today, it's the tea party.

As it's also my birthday, a few of us decide to have a tea party for lunch - complete with royal headwear.

Thanks to Lisa, who's missing from the pic as she took it, and to the restaurant staff, who excelled themselves, as usual!

Birthday treats

Today is my birthday, and it's customary in our office to bring in treats, usually in the form of cakes, sweets or chocolate.

Now I don't want to deter all the bikini concious dieters in our office (and there are many) so I've arranged a big platter of cut fruit. It's going down well, just had time to snap it before it's completely demolished!

Celebratory lunch coming up...

Black tie event

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Pride of Tameside Business Awards on Friday night. It not only celebrated business success in Tameside, but was also a fundraising night for the Convoy of Happiness.

Joanne Jacobs (http://www.jojacobsphotography.com/) was doing photos on the night to raise funds - taking the pics and then printing them out fo us to take home.

She kindly emailed me mine so I could share it with you - I'm still loving this dress - it's the one I wore to the Halle Ruby Ball back in November, although this time around I accessorised with bronzer and a gold necklace, rather than a fur shrug and silvery bling. Still loving those collar bones though, can't get used to having those again!

Lovely day out

On Saturday we had a bit of a family get together, and went to the Derbyshire Food Fair, and then out for dinner.

This is (from left) me, mum, big sis, middle sis, all standing outside the restaurant we went to in Chesterfield.

I amazed myself by not eating lots of samples or buying lots of food at the fair - I bought some tea, as I'm getting quite a taste for different teas now that I drink it black. I did have an ice cream though - but just one scoop, and not in a sugar cone, so it wasn't all bad!

It was a great day out, lovely and sunny and great company - just have to schedule in the next one now...

It's a Chelsea morning

I had the good fortune to go to the Chelsea Flower Show on Thursday. I wanted to be smart (it was part business) but comfortable - so it all started with the shoes.

Black brogues set the tone, topped off with black jeans, white shirt and a tunic top.

It was scorching hot, as you know, but the great thing was that I didn't feel the heat anywhere as much as I used to! I guess being 6 1/2 stone lighter than this time last year has affected more things than I thought. So, without that thick insulating layer, I could walk round comfortably all day - and my feet didn't hurt either.

It was wonderful, and I made the most of it!

Nice nails

Have just painted my nails whilst speeding through countryside on the train.

Liking this colour, makes my fingers look quite tanned. Just need the rest of my body to catch up - still milk-bottle white!

This is a Nails Inc polish I got free with a mag. Three cheers for freebies.

Desk Picnic

Had another desk picnic this week - jazzed up my salad into a tuna nicoise with some olives, tuna and boiled egg, and saved my banana for my afternoon snack.

Although it was lovely, it's actually much nicer on days like today when I can go and sit outside in the sunshine. I have a picture of that somewhere too - must find it for you...

I look very nice today...

...and I know this because this lovely young lady and her mum stopped me in Morrisons and told me.

This is Charlotte, who, with her mum,  made my day today, with the help of her sister Georgia who took the picture.

They said they liked my outfit, and it was so nice to see someone wearing a pretty dress.

Now, I often stop people and give them a compliment - usually it's the colour of their outfit that might really suit them, or some funky glasses, or a coat or bag that catches my attention. But this is the first time it's happened to me. Don't get me wrong, people at work and my family and friends comment, but never complete strangers. And given where I came from (21 1/2 stone) it's hardly surprising!

So now it's your turn - make someone's day, tell them they look nice!

In a stew

Rhubarb and Apple.

Finally, I have a freezer - having been without one for about 3 1/2 months, and I really missed it! So today I've made up a batch of stewed rhubarb (with sweetener, not sugar) to have on my weetabix or with yoghurt in the afternoon when all my fresh fruit has been used up.

I used 2x450g packs of rhubarb, so that makes 190 calories, plus 3 Tbsp sweetener making another 24 (214) and it made 7 little pots, so about 30-35 calories a pot (each little pot holds about 120g of stewed fruit).

I've also made some stewed baking apple - we're having pork for dinner, and I love a bit of apple sauce with it - this is made with lemon juice and sweetener, and will also go in the freezer for with pork, or with yoghurt. They work out about 40cals per 120g pot.

Now I just have to wait for them to cool down enough to go in the freezer...

Hey Presto

Hey Presto - fruit prepped and in the fridge!

I don't mix it, as it keeps fresher longer kept separate (especially with fruit like pineapple that "goes" quickly). When I'm ready to eat it, I just take the selected boxes out of the fridge and mix it in my bowl.

I didn't do both melons in the end - this looked like enough and the other one isn't quite ripe yet.
There's about 360 g in each of these boxes (they held 1 large mango, 1/2 pineapple, 1/3 melon each).

Calories per 100g:
Mangoes - 65
Pineapple - 48
Honeydew Melon - 36

So, a selection of about 1/4 or 1/3 box of each fruit (around 100g each) would be about 150 - 200 cals and would be plenty for a snack meal (I allow 200cals for breakfast and snacks, then 400 for lunch and 600 for dinner, making 1600 altogether).

Getting Organised for weight loss

Step one in my renewed vigour is to get some fruit prepped and in the fridge, so that I can have this for mid morning or afternoon snack.

Fruit was one of the things I really missed last year, so I don't want to miss out on all the exotic fruit which is so lovely now (mangoes and pineapples) and the great soft fruit that will be coming soon.

Mangoes - just £1 each at Morrisons for huge, ripe ones, and melons at 2 for £3. I'll have all this prepped and in the fridge shortly (not just for me either, this stack of fruit will feed quite a few, and will stay fresh in the fridge).

Renewed Effort

I can't believe it's May already. Soon, it will be 6 months since I reached my target weight of 12 st 4lb.

Since then, my weight has been up and down a bit - I'm 12 st 9 today, which is fairly usual. However, I'd like to get back to target, or even lower - summer is coming, and I have very fat knees! It's strange, the top part of me feels tiny, but the bottom bit is still large and my legs are still trunk-like (although from much smaller trees now!). So, I am having a renewed effort to lose a bit and then maintain a lower weight.

I've noticed recently that bad habits are creeping in again - the occasional glass of wine I can forgive myself for (as it is occasional and not yet a habit) but my portion sizes have started to increase, and I'm not eating 5 times a day, but only 4 and sometimes 3.

So today is a new day - I'm getting ready for the week ahead, and let's see if I can lose a pound this week - just 1 lb a week for 6 weeks should do it!

Helpful Cat

We finally managed to find a kitchen table - some self assembly required.

This is Arthur helping out by counting the washers and making sure all the bits we need are included.

I love my new table in the kitchen - we've already used it lots, almost every mealtime since we built it.

Fishcakes

We've been out all day shopping today - looking for a small table for the new kitchen. I was hoping to buy a second hand one, as I'd like it to be a bit distressed and homely. No joy though, everything we find is too large for the space we've got.

One of the places we visit (Holden Wool Antiques) has a lovely tea room, and since it was lunchtime, we felt it would be rude not too!

I had these very tasty smoked haddock fishcakes, which came with salad rather than chips, so I didn't even have to change the option from the menu for a change, which was nice.

Beautiful Day

It's such a beautiful day, I couldn't resist having lunch outside today - we're lucky that our staff restaurant has a garden area, with picnic tables for al fresco dining.

And the omelettes and salad are really tasty too - one of the busiest days in the restaurant is omelette day!