Even though I’ve tripped and fallen off the slimming wagon (banging my head and falling into a vat of wine on the way down!) it’s time for another slimming world recipe. This is a lovely spicy Mexican rice. This is great for those green days when you can fill yourself up and have zero syns. It’s quick and easy to make.
Saving up the syns is a great idea for the drinkers among us. We usually use up between 3 and 6 syns a day, leaving 10 or so to save up for the weekend. This means I can have 4 x 35ml shots of vodka, with a sugar free coke on both Friday and Saturday nights. Unfortunately, at the moment I owe my diet about 146 syns this week! This isn’t going to improve as I reach 39 this Monday and I’ll bet feeding my face and getting blathered on Saturday night. I really want to be fitter and healthier. Honestly. But I sometimes can’t be arsed! I know it’s not a massive chunk of my time to prepare tomorrows lunch in advance. I know it’s not difficult to spend 10 minutes chopping fruit up to make a fruit salad. But it’s better to open a tub of Cornish Ice Cream and pour a Muller Light yoghurt over it. (syn free those yoghurt’s, you know!).

I have a feeling this is going to be a long journey to get to the weight I want, but I want to be slimmer and fitter for when I get married to Caroline next year. I want her to be proud of her man. I don’t want to waddle down the aisle in a suit jacket that is stretching at the buttons. But I will do it and hopefully these ‘dips’ are not going to happen as often.

Mexican Spiced Rice

Serves: 4

Syns per serving: Free on Green, 20½ Syns on Original

ingredients

1 onion and 1 garlic clove
½ green pepper
4 tomatoes
400g can red kidney beans
340g can sweetcorn
Fry Light
7oz/198 frozen peas
A few drops of tabasco
511g/1lb 2oz cooked rice
4 tbsp freshly chopped coriander
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

method

1. Prepare the vegetables: peel and chop the onion and garlic; deseed and chop the pepper: finely chop the tomatoes; drain and rinse the kidney beans and sweetcorn.

2. Spray a pan with Fry Light and stir-fry the onion, garlic and pepper for 4-5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, kidney beans, sweetcorn, peas and Tabasco sauce and cook for a further 3-4 minutes

3. Add the cooked rice and toss to mix well. Cook for a further 3-4 minutes until piping hot. Remove from the heat, stir in the chopped coriander, season well, divided between four warmed bowls and serve.

It’s been a very poor week for the diet this week. Not been a good boy at all. Been tiling the kitchen floor so it’s was difficult to get to the cooker…..erm…..so we had take aways!

oh….and wine.

on more than 1 night.

oops.

I think I’ll be better waiting until Monday and then starting the diet again. I’ll be back on the treadmill too.

I am only human and expect to have the odd day when things aren’t going to go smoothly. I just didn’t expect it to happen 4 weeks into the diet!

I think it’s best not to beat myself up about it and get my head down and back on it. It’s my birthday night out next week, and we’re going for a meal with Vanessa & Karl so I’ll have to be careful this week so that I can enjoy a reasonably worry free meal. We’re going to the best steak house in Yorkshire and can’t wait to go. The steaks are absolutely perfect every time and you get lots of steamed veg too. So I’m going to save up my syns and use them up on the night out.

I know this has nothing to do with dieting, but in this age of internet grooming by paedophiles and cyber bullying, I thought I would share this program with you. It’s absolutely free and doesn’t contain any spyware or virus’. I’ve been using this for over a year now and recommend it highly. Once you register at Zoomzaa Homepage, download the software and follow the instructions. It allows concerned parents to monitor the chatting and surfing habits of any computer it’s installed on. Even if your child is using msn messenger, you get daily emails from the site telling you who they chatted to and even a copy of the whole chat log. It also allows you to block websites they are visiting that you may not like. You can do this by logging in to the homepage from any computer and altering the preferences for that particular computer. It has to be installed on every computer you wish to monitor.
You can also block internet activity at certain times too. (handy when they’re supposed to be doing homework)
A new feature I haven’t tried is that you can message other parents who are using the software too.

It’s piece of mind for all parents….oh and it’s free!

Finally had a comment on the blog yesterday (I don’t count those comments that offer me the chance to view naked people in compromising positions for £30 per month!). It sounds like a great recipe and I’m gonna try it this week. It’s another stir fry, which is really quick and easy. So thanks to ‘learningwoman’ for the recipe.

If any more recipes come in then I’ll try and post them to the blog instead of them being left in the comments pages.

learningwoman (20:31:04) :

Hi Mark. Great blog. Just thought I’d give you a red day recipe to try, if you like the sound of it. My husband loves it and it’s simple to make.Steak with Broccoli and Mushrooms;Cut rump steak into strips and season.
Cut tenderstem broccoli into short lengths.
Spray some Fry Light into a pan.
Heat pan until very hot, then throw in steak strips.
When brown, add broccoli and sliced or crumbled mushrooms.
Splash of soy, grind of black pepper.
serve immediately. I know it’s just a stir-fry but it tastes fantastic and it’s all Free on a Red day.
You could add ginger, garlic etc but it tastes pretty great just like this.

Chicken Chow Mein

 
(using chicken as healthy extra – so free on a green day)

 
Ingredients;

1 flap of dried egg noodles (boil for 4 mins)

1 tin of bean sprouts

Onion

Sweetcorn

Mushrooms

Soy sauce to taste

& chicken as healthy b

Method;

Dry fry onions (or use fry light) add chicken (if raw), when chicken is cooked add all other ingredients and heat through, serve with noodles.

 This makes an enormous plateful. Excellent for one of those days when you just want to eat and eat!

You can even add a light black bean sauce at only a few sins.

This is one we have on a regular basis as it’s very quick and very easy.

Ooops! Couldn’t help myself tonight. Vodka (again) and American Idol! I think this week isn’t going to be a big loss week. I think it might have something to do with the chinese take away too. Neither of us could be arsed to cook tonight so we gave in and had a special chow mein. And it was…..bloody gorgeous! lol

I think it will be a case of damage limitation this week. I’ll still post my weigh in on sunday morning as I’m working early in the morning. (god I’m not really committed this week at all!)

Roll on the beginning of a new week and the chance to get back on track.

I’m a bad man……a very bad man!

Not totally sure about this week for weight loss. I’m not in the mood for dieting to be honest. You know when you walk past the cream buns or wine aisle……well I could stop and gorge myself silly this week! I don’t know why, I just do. I had a drink at the weekend and I’m not sure it’s that. I’d done 3 weeks without a drop and thought I deserved a few vodkas. Don’t get me wrong….I’m eating the correct foods and going on the treadmill but I’m just not ‘whole-heartedly’ into it. I hope it passes. I’m sure it will.
Wednesday has always been a bit of a ‘Jonah’ for us. It’s usually when we crack and have a take away and a bottle of wine. It happened alot on the last diet we did and we promised each other it wouldn’t get like that again. Maybe I’m just feeling a bit out of sorts? I’m having a night off the treadmill and an early night to see if that helps.

Caroline has been a member of the forum on the Fat2Slim Site for a while now and has told me how she gets on well with them. It’s a support forum for people who are dieting. Whether you’re following the Slimming World, Weight Watchers, Atkins or most other plans, there’s a mixture of people who have followed most these plans who can add their view to any problems you may have. Or maybe you just want to kick back and have a laugh.
They organize a get-togethers, where they meet up and have a laugh and a natter. So, seen as we missed out on the Renault Race Weekend at Donnington Park last year, we thought we would go along to the pub gathering in nr Nottingham. After meeting them I realised why Caroline spends time in the forum. They’re a bunch of genuine, funny people who enjoy each others company. We had a giggle, something to eat and a few beers. A good way to spend a few hours on a saturday afternoon.

Oops. Nearly forgot to post my weigh-in from saturday morning.
WEIGHT 18st 12lb……………15lb loss
BODY FAT 7st 4lb/ 38.9%……………10lb loss
BODY WATER 44.6%
BMI 36.9…………………loss of 2.2

Not too bad. I didn’t lose as much as previous weeks but it’s ok. I’ve been on the treadmill a few times and I look forward to going on it when I get in from work. We will get our moneys worth out of it if it kills us! lol

Had a few vodkas last night. The first drink in 3 weeks. And it was bloody great. Woke up this morning without a headache too, which was a bonus. I will show restraint and not have much more to drink in the coming weeks…..honest!

Our new treadmill arrived this morning. I was like a big kid at christmas. lol
We ordered it online from gymworld.co.uk. They have some stuff on sale at the moment and this was a bargain. The service was very good when I rang them to order it and I had it delivered on my day off 3 days later.
Its a bloody big thing, like they all are, and was a nightmare getting upstairs. But it is a superb piece of kit. Highly recommended.

We decided that because it was saving us a load of money not drinking and not having take-aways, we could afford to get something that would help us with our weight loss. Let’s face it…..nobody wants to see a chubby flailing around in shorts that cut you in 2 and a tit tight vest, stopping to have a stroke every few yards, do they? So we saved everybody any distress and decided to flail around in the safety of our own home.

We bought some running trainers at the weekend and I used them tonight. I managed 7 minutes jogging with a gentle stroll at the end, puffing like a wet dog, mind. At nearly 19 stone, I find I’m not exactly built for speed….more for comfort. But this is not going to put me off. I will get healthier AND fitter, if it kills me. It probably will!

We’re still doing well with the diet, chicken stir fry in sweet chilli sauce with noodles. It filled me up as usual but I find I could eat the same again in half an hour. Ice cream, grapes and yoghurt poured over for supper. Yummy.

I weighed myself this morning and to my amazement I’ve lost 1 STONE!!! Here’s the breakdown……

WEIGHT 18st 13lb……………14lb loss
BODY FAT 7st 6lb/ 39.1%……………8lb loss
BODY WATER 44.4%
BMI 37.1…………………loss of 2

I’m absolutely over the moon. Leading a life with no vices can be beneficial!

I did some research into Body Mass Indexes and found that I should weigh between 10st and 12.5stone! If you believe what it says here.
I personally don’t think I’ll get down that far. I’m looking to get to about 14 stone. 10stone is very unrealistic for a large boned person like me…..yes….I am the original big boned fat bloke! lol. I have a large frame and haven’t been 10stone since I was about 4 year old! haha. I know the BMI’s are guidelines and can vary dependant on your frame but it can give obese people a complex and make them think that their goal in unachievable. If I get to 14stone then I’ll see about getting another stone off but I’ll not be losing any sleep if I don’t lose any more.

Caroline and I managed to get through another friday night without a drink. Fridays are the worst one for us because we have always stopped in and watched tv with a few glasses of wine. We usually settle down to watch American Idol, Jonathon Ross and then Later With Jools Holland. The best night of tv and nothing to drink! We made it though.

The idea is to lose another stone before my birthday which is on the 18th Feb. We are going to go for a meal at a local steak restaurant which is absolutely superb. The food is fabulous and the service is second to none. It will also be our first drink of the diet. I’m looking forward to it! lol. We’ve invited Carolines friend and her hubby over on that weekend so it should be a laugh.

Thats it for another day. I’ll post another recipe tomorrow. I hope you tried the chips. I fancy some now actually!! hehe