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).

120 grams

120g isn't a lot - just 4 ounces, but it's plenty as a portion of chicken or other meat (which is quite filling).

I bought a pack of 3 chicken breasts and chopped them up. About 2/3 of a breast is 120g - so I ended up with 3 whole portions, 1 portion made of 3 ends, and a chicken filled fatty puss. My cat Arthur loves this diet, he always gets the bits I have to cut off to make the weights!

I bagged up 3 of portions and labelled them, ready to go in my freezer drawer. I have my own drawer now - it's mostly full of stewed rhubarb and portions of meat and fish ready weighed out.

How organised am I?

Sunday Rituals

This is one of my new Sunday rituals - sorting out my clothes for the week ahead.

I don't have time to try on lots of outfits in the morning before work, and I since I'm shrinking, sometimes I don't know what fits me from one week to the next.

So now, on a Sunday, I get 4 outfits ready for work (Mon - Thurs, I don't work Fridays!). I tend to pick things the same kind of colours so that I can just use one handbag for the week, and paint my nails an appropriate colour. This week is a brown week.

I might not wear them in this order, depending on the weather, and there may be an element of mix and match, but this is the most likely combination. You can't see in this picture, but there's footwear for each outfit too (well for most, sometimes I double up and wear the same shoes all week, depending on how many shoes / boots in that colour I have, and other accessories like belts and scarves.

It's so nice to be enjoying clothes again! Haven't had this much fun with my wardrobe since I was a teenager!

Striding into the sunset

Went for a lovely walk tonight as it was such a nice evening. Got home, changed, trainers on and back out while the sun was still out.

I walked to the library and back, which was about 1 1/2 miles and took about 40 mins (some is quite uphill!)

My cat did the first little bit, and then waited for me in someone's garden - he doesn't like the road (which is good) and he's a bit of a wuss!

So, walk done, omelette made for tea, tomorrow's tea taken out of the freezer - I'm all sorted - pat on the back!

Updates on Beck plan

So I'm now on day 14 of the Beck plan, and have been doing some useful tasks.

• I read my list of reasons to lose weight everyday - prompted by my phone, which beeps them at me just before lunchtime.
• I eat everything sat down, and eat slowly and mindfully. This felt strange a first, but is already becoming a habit (not the sitting bit, I almost always did that, but I have slowed down my eating a lot). I tend to eat at my desk during the day, and find I have to force myself not to do other things at the same time (such as email, reading etc.)
• I go through a list of all the things I'm pleased with myself for each night - usually it contains sticking the plan, taking my medicine and doing a bit of exercise. Other days it also includes preparing food for the next couple of days and things like that.
• I've made a list of distraction techniques - things to try when I'm feeling hungry so that I don't eat until it's time. However, I rarely feel hungry, so this hasn't been put into practice yet.
• I'm also starting to make daily plans of what I'm doing during the day, scheduling in eating and exercise. This bit is easy really, as my mealtimes are faily fixed.
• Tomorrow is the first day when I will also follow a food plan. Again, this is fairly easy at this stage, as I'm still following the strictness of the Alizonne plan, so I generally plan my food the night before (at least) anyway.

So, that's where I'm up to - I'm finding it useful, even though some of the skills aren't really needed yet, I'm hoping that by the time I go onto maintenance in a few weeks, these will have become habits and will form part of my coping strategy.

"normal" lunch

Today I had my first "normal" lunch in our staff restaurant. For the last 5 months, I've been making salad or getting our lovely catering staff to make me a green salad (I think they have the list pinned up in the kitchen!).

But today I was going out for the evening and decided to have my dinner at lunchtime as it were. And as it happened, today's special was omlettes.

Chef made me a lovely omelette, for which I chose the veg (and the amounts) so the onion, bacon and ham were all left out. It was all finished off with chopped chives and served with a nice green salad.

Then for my dinner, I had (more) salad and a drink, and chocolate buns for my late snack (at the theatre).

So, an upside down but eventful day, which all turned out well in the end.

A real omlette for dinner

Late in tonight as it was clinic, so needed a "quick" dinner. Spanish omlette to the rescue! Using mushrooms and tomatoes from my allowance, some spring onion tops and my 2 eggs, I made this lovely thing, and had some extra spinach on the side.

My husband saw it (having made his own omlette earlier) and said, "Wow, that looks so much nicer than mine did". Can see I might have to give him more lessons.

After demolishing aforementioned omlette, I then made some chilli cheese fritters and some focaccia for tomorrow - we're off to Harrogate Flower Show. Mum's made a picnic for everyone else, with some green salad for me, so I just needed to prepare sachets to take. Didn't want to many liquid ones though - heavy to carry on top of lots of water, and I hate those portaloos!

Royal Visit

Preparing for a Royal Visit - The Queen of Rhubarb is coming to stay. The Queen of Rhubarb is one of the Alizonne forum members who knows everything about rhubarb (and many other things). We seem to have started Alizonne together, although she's at a different clinic, but have about the same amount to lose and are pretty well shadowing each other.

In preparation, I went shopping today - what a delight! I didn't have to worry about what food or drink to get in - I know exactly what she will eat, and that the biggest choice in drinks is going to be "still or sparkling".

I'm looking forward to it - and to dinner with some other Alizonners tomorrow night - always great to chat about what we're going through.

Right, off to finish the dusting now...

My new best friends

I have lots of new best friends.

If you are one of my old best friends reading this, please don't be alarmed, you are still one of my best friends. Some of my new friends aren't even real.

The ones that are real I've got to know via the Alizonne forum - some I've met in person, but many just through exchanges of stories, hints, tips and support. They are a friendly, sharing and caring bunch, who all give of themselves generously when they can, and take support and advice when they need it.

My other best friends are inanimate objects.

I don't think I could live without
- my Tbsp and 1/2 Tbsp measures, for dishing out the olive oil.
- Or my weighing scales for my 200g of special veg.
- Or my aerolatte for mixing my drinks.
- Or my silicone muffin cases for making my treats.
- Or my silicone spatula for mixing sticky things.
- Or my white body stocking (or tic tac outfit) for having my hoovering in.

These friends are also serving me well.

Spurious Items in my Handbag

I've always joked with my mum that if I ever had an accident, they would have trouble identifying me by the contents of my handbag - because frankly, there are so many times that there are completely spurious items in my handbag.

The problem is, it's getting worse!

One night I went out (with mum) and apart from the usual girlie paraphenalia my bag contained:
- one purple court shoe
- one yoghurt pot lid, licked and washed clean
- 4 radishes

Another day, I turned up at mum's house to find she had company, and they were about to tuck into a lovely salad. "Help yourself" mum said - well it would be churlish not too, so I took the half eaten french stick out of my bag and made a sandwich!

Tonight I got home from work and unpacked from my bag:
- a small whisk
- a large bunch of fresh mint
- 3 gunpowder teabags

Now I know all these things have a place in my life, and in my handbag (and thank heavens for the current fashion for big bags!) but I really pity the poor guy in forensics trying to piece together my day should anything happen.

I'm sure tomorrow I'll be coming home with cat fur gloves and a better mousetrap.

Water, water everywhere!

I have to drink between 2 and 2 1/2 litres of water a day. Not that easy, but since I'm not drinking wine or beer or even as much tea or coffee, I'm managing to fit it in.

The tricky bit was always knowing how much water I'd actually had. I'd start counting glasses, but got distracted and then could never remember whether I'd had 5 or 7 etc.

So I bought myself 2 one litre jugs. I have one at work, and one at home. When I get to work in the morning, I fill up my jug whilst making my first cup of tea. I have to drink the jugfull before I leave the office (although I usually end up adding a bit more around 5ish, as I work 'till 6.

When I get home, I fill the other jug up and drink it all before I go to bed.

So that takes care of 2 ltrs. I also have a glass of water in the morning to take all my tablets, and other bits during the day.

It works really well for me when I'm in the office - I just need to find a good way to keep track at the weekend when I'm out. I've starting putting 4 500ml bottles on one shelf in the fridge and trying to clear them all before bedtime (taking one of them with me if I go out) - it works in the main, but sometimes I forget!

Still, at least I'm managing most of the time!

Rituals

It's Sunday night - and that means my weekly Alizonne rituals.

First of all, I sort out all my supplements for the week - putting them into 7 pots and checking that there's at least 7 left in the bottle. If there are fewer, I add it to the list to get when I go to clinic.

Then I count how many Quinton I've got left, and add that to the list if necessary.

Next, I go through my three boxes of sachets and order any of my favourites that are running low.

Finally, I read the whole list and add any I fancy trying, based on recipes or recommendations that I've read on the forum.

And then I'm all done for another week!

Sorting Out

Decided to sort out the kitchen cupboards today - partly to remove temptation and partly to make things easier to find.

Couldn't believe how much stuff we had that was out of date - especially when it seemed like we'd only bought them a few weeks ago!

Hey ho - I now have a lovely tidy cupboard with lots of room - and I can find everything.

Alizone Cupboard

This is my Alizonne cupboard - the place where I keep all the sachets and supplements for the diet I'm on.

On the top shelf there are two boxes, one for savoury and one for sweet things, and just next to them is my coffee frother which I use for mixing.

On the bottom shelf is a box for drinks, and a space for all my supplements - I keep the daily ones in a stack of 7 little boxes, one for each day. I sort them out on a Sunday afternoon, making a note of any I'm getting low on.

Stuck to the inside of the door are two sheets of paper - the top one is the list of sachets, which helps remind me which sachets are limited, and what I might like to order next.

At the bottom of the door is the list of veg I'm allowed to have. I don't really need this now, as I can remember them all, but sometimes it helps to review them.

So that's my food cupboard - I'm sure most people doing this diet have one!