Writing off the diet weekend starts here

We have a special event on Friday which will involve food, drink and cake. R is coming home on Thursday in readiness so we had decided to go out for dinner Thursday evening to our local Chinese restaurant.

R has declared residency until Monday so we’ve also decided to go out for lunch on Sunday before going to the local RHS garden (weather permitting). And we’re not sure what time we’ll get back home on Saturday after the event so have decided to nominate that as takeaway night.

It seems like we’ll be making up for lost ground with not having been able to eat out for so long by doing it all in the space of one weekend.

As I was at home Wednesday creating cake for the event breakfast mainly consisted of offcuts of cake and icing. I could feel my teeth whincing at the sugar.

I did take a break to go # bellringing for a wedding at the cathedral and on the way home C decided that we really needed to get an ice cream. Who was I to argue?

Fortunately this food fest is being slightly offset by lunch and dinner on Wednesday being Slimming World friendly, but come weigh in day on Friday morning I fear any good works done earlier in the week will have already begun to be lost.

Fingers crossed I’ll still be able to get into my outfit for the event. I’m not going to beat myself up about it. I might try and make good decisions but mostly I’ll be enjoying some time with C and R and eating out for a change. I know I’ll get back to the diet on Monday and start all over again.

Just for this weekend I shall kick back and enjoy.

A different way to consider weight loss success

I have been on a healthy eating challenge for a while now with the purpose of losing some weight and feel better about myself. For quite a while my weight has just hovered around the same area of the scales with the occasional small lose, but then a counter gain again. I do find that I fall into the trap of having lost a few pound treating myself for a job well done, so undoing all the good I’ve worked hard at.

The bathroom scales have not been my friend this last week. They kept bobbing up and down by three or four pound despite the fact that I had actually been quite good with what I’ve been eating. I have struggled a bit in the heat with water retention too, my ankles and fingers swelling up. However, with the slightly cooler weather over the last couple of days, things have started to turn around again.

Its important to understand that not all victories can be measured by the bathroom scales. I have noticed a few other things, known as non-scale victories.

My clothes fit better. I noticed it most when I was wearing my jean shorts. I was actually able to take them off at the end of the day without undoing the button and zip. My work trousers also seem less tight and are no longer cutting the circulation off!

I can do more things without getting out of breath. This included keeping up with C as he walks. He has much longer legs and stride than I do and I used to get a bit out of breath trying to keep up with him. Although it still makes my calf muscles burn to speed walk to keep up, I am less breathless doing so. I can also climb the spiral staircase to the ringing chamber at the cathedral, 53 steps, without getting so out of breath.

I think my skin has improved too, with less greasy skin moments or breakouts at certain times of the month. I also have chronic urticarial and dermographism but since I’ve been eating more fruit, salad and vegetables, I have felt less need to try and rip my flesh off my bones. I have been able to cope with one tablet a day, when I would occasionally need two.

I would still like the bathroom scales to be friendlier but I recognise that they are not the be all and end all and that we should celebrate the non-scale victories as well, and acknowledge the progress along weight loss journey. Just not with a hundred weight of chocolate and cake.

Where do you get your baking inspiration from?

I realise that this blog is called Bells, Bakes and Bettering Myself and that most of what I write about is predominantly #bellringing or something to do with learning a new technique, learning more about myself and the world I’m in, and there is very little to do with baking. Occasionally I’ll mention the latest BakedIn green box that has landed on the doormat. I did say a while back that I was going to get in the habit of baking something from series of magazines that I’d invested in and I did make a start but didn’t get very far. The trouble was some #bellringing activities took over which meant most of the time that I could put aside to bake was taken up with meetings. This is now starting to lessen so regular baking can resume.

I do have a few things in the cupboards that need using up such as flavours icing sugars that make great buttercream icing or you can use them in the cake batter to flavour it. I have a cinnamon bun kit in the cupboard that needs using up, and quite possible a brownie kit too. Then I need to get some inspiration and start getting creative again. I have all these tools and things at my disposal but I just don’t get to use them often enough. I need to get some practice in, and I do still have a voucher for a session with my friend Sarah, of The Cupcake Oven. But I need some inspiration.

I follow several cake decorators on Instagram and Facebook. Many of them are way too advanced for me, or I look at what they’ve created and think that I could actually do that if I had the time. I’m not very imaginative so I need a plan to follow or use something someone else has done for inspiration. I used to follow Paul Bradfield and I have used some of his tutorials in creating versions of Star Trek Enterprise, or standing up Santas. They are really good step by step guides.

In fact it was through following Paul that I met Sarah. I had been to a different cake making class and one of the other students in the class mentioned Paul. I googled him and found that he was due to give a demonstration at my local Sugarcraft Guild (never knew they existed). In order to get a place on the workshop, I joined the Guild for a while. Sarah was a member, and may have been on the committee at the time too, before she moved further away. I stopped going to the Guild as I found that a) I was by far the youngest in the room b) they all sat in cliques and c) when one of the committee members came up to me and said “Welcome, is this your first meeting”? to which I replied “No, I’ve been coming here for over a year”, I realised that this wasn’t the group for me. And to be honest, I wasn’t really learning much. The people they had in to do demonstrations where far beyond what I could do, or indeed I had already mastered several techniques and didn’t learn anything new.

It would be good to see Sarah again for another class, but I’ve done most of hers now and need to find other excuses for a visit. I need some inspiration for your average hobby baker, who can make a reasonable tasting cake, and can make it look quite good with sugar flowers and bits.

Any suggestions?

Planning the week ahead

I have another week off work, to use up some annual leave. I’m writing reports, presentations, planning and attending #bellringing meetings, writing articles, and promoting #bellringing events. At some point there’s a bunch of household things that need doing, I would like to do some baking this week (I have chocolate orange hot cross buns, and chocolate easter cake to make), and I would like to spend some down time going for walks etc as the weather is supposed to be good this week. My to do list is quite lengthy.

C and I have just planned the week out based on what the weather forecast has in store. We have a lot of annual report deliveries to do and plan to splice that with some walks out along the coasts and picnics, so have made a plan based on what we need to deliver where and how many loads can we get rid of in as few journeys as possible.

We went to the wholesalers today, so there was a long shopping list of things to restock the freezer with. Along side that sat the list of reports that we could drop off en route. We dropped the Southern District ones off on our way.

Back home and it was unpacking the shopping and portioning it up into meal sized bags. Our freezer is well and truly stuffed now. We didn’t get home until nearly 3pm so lunch was a bit on the late side, meaning dinner will be even later today. For lunch I tried one of the pasties I made yesterday, they were quite tasty actually.

After lunch, a bit more promotional preparations ahead of tomorrow’s release, then I had a play on Ringing Room, now that I have Wheatley installed, I can ring on my own whilst it does the rest. I plugged in my e-bells and had a go at some plain hunt minor on each pair of bells. I finally got the hang of 3-4. Then I tried some plain bob minimus. After several goes I finally “saw” what I was doing with the 3,4 up dodge. Then I moved on to having a go at some plain hunt major. I found very quickly that I tuned into the rhythm and it sounded pretty good, even if I only did it from 1-2.

For some explicable reason I decided to get my weighted hula hooping out for the first time since 1st January. It took a few minutes to remember how to log exercise on my fitness watch. I did manage about 6 minutes on the first go. I could certainly tell my middle has gone soft.

Whilst C cooked dinner I did some preparations for a meeting that I have on Saturday so that I have everything I need to hand and can share my ideas with the rest of the group.

Only then did I sit down to read a book and watch tv, and fall asleep on the sofa. Until tomorrow’s adventure.

Sweet and Savoury

I don’t often bake savoury things, I’m more of a cake, cupcake, pudding, desserts kinda gal. However, I must get back on the diet train so decided that for my lunches this coming week I’d make some pasties from the first Pinch of Nom book.

Now they cheat because they don’t use pastry, which is fine by me as I’m rubbish at making pastry. They day someone invested Ready Roll pastry sheets was the day the world became a better place. However, these particular pasties use tortilla wraps. I followed the recipe almost exactly, swapping the stewing steak for minced beef (as we have some available) but I included the carrot (yuk), as I figured that they’d be small enough chunks that I’d swallow them whole without having to taste them.

I must admit, I had reservations about how they’d turn out. I didn’t think that they would seal properly as they kept smooshing about when I was using a fork to seal them. However, they did, and there was no leakage. I baked them for a little while longer than the recipe said until I decided that they were nice golden-brown colour. I do think they look pretty good, even if I do say so myself. I guess the proof will be in the eating.

I think that as I used mince instead of stewing steak there was more mixture to do around. The recipe said that it would make 4 pasties but I managed to get double that. Maybe I was a bit cautious about filling them and the one that I did put more filling in was the hardest to try and seal. So now I have 2 whopping great pasties for lunch Monday – Thursday next week.

I only ever seem to make lunches for the 4 days that I’m at work. Friday lunches are usually make do and mend with whatever is in the fridge or cupboard, which has resulted in some interesting combinations, although if there’s enough of C’s bread left I’ll quite often do cheese on toast.

With a bit more planning I should lose some weight before a wedding in July.

Getting back to it

We have almost got to the end of all the Christmas food and hampers that we were sent. Friday is weigh in day for me so when I got on the scales for the first time of 2021 I knew that I wasn’t going to like what they told me.

My problem is that I don’t like fruit, of any kind, and I’m not a massive fan of very many types of veg or salad. And who wants salad in winter anyway, right? And I have a sweet tooth. So how on earth am I going to diet? Oh, and I have a desk job and am fundamentally lazy so any kind of exertion is unlikely.

We do kind of follow Slimming World as far as evening meals go, and I do try with breakfasts and lunches too but I’m not very good at counting syns and limiting treats. Quite frankly life, particularly at the moment, is too short.

I’m sure I’ve said it before about understanding the benefits of a healthier lifestyle but why is it easier to get into a habit of bacon rolls for breakfast on a Saturday than it is to eat salad and exercise?

One good reason for not exercising is that I just don’t enjoy it. I certainly don’t like the prospect of group exercise or jumpy about videos. I’ve tried do it yourself yoga and home workouts but they just don’t make me feel any better.

When I was in my early 20s I had a Jane Fonda workout video that I used to do at about 5am before getting on a train to work. I did actually enjoy that and felt energised (ok, I was 30 years younger and 5 stone lighter then which probably helped). Sadly I lent that video to someone and never got it back. I’ve tried looking online to see if it could be reproduced but couldn’t find the right one.

I do try to get out for a walk every day, but now I’m only clocking up an average of 5,000 steps per day. I don’t have to walk to the car anymore or around the site, which all helped clock up some mileage, but my commute only goes from the lounge to the study.

I did start hula hooping during the summer which was fine when I could do it outside but when the weather turned and it started getting darker, it was less tempting and we don’t really have enough space indoors.

I guess like a lot of things its all about determination. If I’m going to do something about my weight and health I really must make more time and effort.

A different way of preparing for Christmas

We are enjoying a long overdue weekend away, staying in a hotel for a couple of nights. We chose to book breakfast and evening meals at the hotel as we were unsure what was around and if you had to book.

Our first meal was Friday evening. I chose the ham hock bruschetta for starter, chicken with chicken leg croquette and veg for main, followed by toffee cheesecake with homemade ice cream and popcorn for dessert. With accompanying glasses of prosecco and a Baileys to finish. Absolutely delicious.

After dinner there was not much to do, and current covid rules says that you’re not allowed to hang around in the bar if you’re not eating, so we went back up to our room and watched TV, until the feeling of a good meal, alcohol and a warm room lead to sleep.

Only a few hours later and it was time for breakfast. Due to a pared down menu the options were cereal, porridge, croissant and other pastries or a full English, bacon sandwich or toast. I ticked the full English but then C ticked the toast and pain au chocolate options as well. A massive array of breakfast arrived with tea and coffee. Took some doing but we got through it all.

Needless to say, we didn’t need lunch. We did have a cream tea at a National Trust property early in the afternoon, but that was enough.

Dinner time again. This time I opted for the ham hock starter again (didn’t much fancy any of the other options) followed by bbq beef short rib with sweet potato fries and slaw, then chocolate orange torte for pud. One glass of prosecco and a bottle of wine between us.

This time I felt that we needed to go for a walk after dinner. I felt like I was going to explode! When we got back to our room, we were thinking of what to do for Sunday lunch on our way home and managed to book a table at Prezzo for 12.30. Quite early for us for Sunday lunch. I’m thinking I should have a smaller breakfast to leave some room. I’m also thinking I do like a cooked breakfast, and I’m on holiday, so sod it.

I have stretchy jeans on, so they’ll expand. I’m preparing my tummy for the onslaught of Christmas food. I’m also mindful that eating too much is not good, so it’ll be back to slimming world soup for lunch next week.

Double Trouble

Every now and then, half way through a workday afternoon I get a real hankering for cake or biscuits. I’m supposed to be dieting but a long afternoon often needs a sugar boost to get me through to the end of the day. Its really not helpful having an M&S and WHSmith on site. It makes it too easy to pop along for a snack.

For some reason, Wednesday was a day that needed feeding. I’d brought my breakfast in and had it at about 9am. Yoghurt and grape nuts. Pretty good. I’d brought my lunch in too, homemade leek & potato soup with a slice of C’s homemade multiseed bread 😋. So far so good.

I had a couple of video conferences over the lunchtime period so I’d eaten my soup by 12:30. After the calls, I went for a walk around the hospital site to get some fresh air. Despite being damp out, it was warm and quite pleasant.

When I got back to my desk, I ate my Fibre One cake bar, swiftly followed by the popcorn bar, which I sometimes save for snack later on. But I still wasn’t satisfied.

Purse in hand I went to M&S firmly resolved just to get a small packet of biscuits. But I want cake. I REALLY want cake. But I want something savoury too. And something sweet for a sugar kick.

Before I knew it I’d got 2 packets of sweets, a packet of pitta chips and a twin pack of lemon curd whitby buns (why don’t they sell them in singles?).

I know, I’ll have the sweets this afternoon because I need a quick sugar hit, then save everything else for tomorrow.

Apparently not. I’ll get back to my desk, then scoff the lot. Now I have a sugar high and full up so I’ll not want my dinner. Doh!

Weigh in

I’ve been trying to follow a certain weight loss programme for some time now. After an initial loss of half a stone I just seemed to hover around the same area for a very long time.

This meant that psychologically I felt that the programme wasn’t working for me, so returned to some bad eating habits. I haven’t put any more weight back on so figured that that wasn’t a contributing factor.

Recently my sister sent me a planner book from said programme that she goes to a group for, I do it on line so don’t get access to all the stuff the sell or handout at group. This has prompted me to seriously try and stick to the plan, as much as my lack of fruit eating will allow.

I have been much more conscious of tracking everything I eat, have made conscious decisions on not buying those crisps or sweets on the way passed M&S at work. Then I have written it all in the planner of an evening.

I’m even going out somewhere today that requires me to take my own lunch. It would have been far easier to grab a sandwich, bag of crisps and drink from the shops, but I’ve packed my ryvita, cheese triangles, celery, radish, cucumber and sugarsnap peas instead, with my refillable water bottle.

Weigh in day was today. An epic 4lb loss in a week. 😁 Rather chuffed at that. So, thank you to big sis for sending me the planner and prompting me to take back control.

Comfort Food

The weather has taken quite a turn, its wetter, windy and cooler. I have retrieved some of my autumn/winter clothes from the depths of the wardrobe and vacuum packed some of the summer clothes away for storage.

I do love winter food. I’m not a great salad eater and I don’t like fruit of any kind in any format so summer eating does get a bit tedious. But now we’re heading for warm, comfort eating. Stews, soups and stodge. Sunday lunch provided the first chance to indulge in custard. Slathered all over a hot chocolate pudding 😋

This weeks food menus include hunters chicken, cajun pork, Thai Red beef curry, parmesan crusted chicken with combinations of rice or potatoes or butternut squash and accompanying vegetables.

After this coming week I’ll start making soups to take to work for lunches instead of cold meats and ryvita. The benefits of having a soup maker means you can just shove all the ingredients in and 20 minutes later you have either chunky or smooth soup depending which setting you used. That, together with C’s homemade multigrain bread would be rather lush.

I’m still going to have to be careful about what I eat though. I’ve lost 2lb this week by really sticking to plan (except for the wine) so I don’t want to undo all that effort but so long as I stick to the SW philosophy I won’t go too far wrong.

I love this time of year for food.