Mini Update

Well I've not really felt much like putting finger to keyboard and writing recently, but I have been keeping to the WW plan and busted through a motivational dry spot and lost 1 kilo both last week and this week which is very pleasing to me.

My Mum arrives today so I am faced with a different challenge as we will be out a lot, which means eating a lot of food which I haven't personally prepared.  I will be very happy to stay the same at next weeks weigh in, I will make the best choices i can and I am going to enjoy the week we have together!  The good news is that I shall be a lot more active than usual so hopefully that will earn me a few extra activity points along the way.

That is it from me for now, onwards and downwards!

Weigh Day Treat, or Licence to Eat?

I think that almost all slimmer I have spoken to see official weigh day as a day that doesn't really "count" but to varying degrees. 

I found this much more to be the case when I was following Slimming Worlds plan, which to anyone unfamiliar with the plan it is one that has very little weighing and counting.  Basically you can eat as much lean meat, potatoes, rice, pasta, beans & pulses, Quorn and of course fruit & vegetables (well not avocado) as you like to make you feel satisfied and not bursting to the seams. Then there are more restricted foods but your intake of them is quite restricted with 1-2 small portions of dairy products and bread/cereals etc and up to 15 Syns (approximately 300 calories) of anything you fancy. Those Syns equate to about 60 grams of chocolate or a large glass of wine, but you also have to remove things like condiments, oil and other recipe ingredients, so in the end it isn't necessarily going to be enough to satisfy your cravings. It is a good plan in the respect that it is easy to follow, promotes healthy eating that can be adopted for life and you will never be hungry if you follow the plan correctly.  However, because the plan doesn't allow for those times where you need to grab a sandwich on the go and because of the large portions allowed it is quite easy to overeat without realising.

I found that although it is a very open plan in terms of having a really big "free" food list, it was also quite restrictive when I had those days where I really, really just needed a good bar of chocolate or a take away treat.  So much so in fact that Wednesdays I treated as off plan. Take Away? Check. Chocolate Bars? Check. Cheese? Check. Milkshake? You betcha. You get the point. I probably consumed more calories in one day than I did the rest of the week, I didn't feel good afterwards either, just bloated, over full and in need of an indigestion tablet in the middle of the night.  After a while it got harder to leave it just at Wednesdays and sometimes it would spill over right until the weekend.  I lost 4 whole stones with SW but it didn't stay there and I fluctuated between 3 and 3.5 stones lost for over a year.  In fact I think that had I added up all my losses and ignored my gains I would have lost enough to have gotten me to target long ago.

I continued with Slimming World because I made so many great friends and I was part of the social team doing the weighing or taking the money each week.  However coming to Germany where there is no SW forced me to either go it alone, or switch to the opposition.  For me right now WeightWatchers is 100% the better plan for me, I incorporate my favourite treats into my daily allowance while still eating huge amounts of fruit and veggies. The extra weekly allowance is a flexible way to overcome the inevitable dieting obstacles placed in your way (well almost all) and it is more likely that the temptation for a treat on weigh day can be accounted for and not collapse into a free for all.

I am not a big bread eater but when I fancy it like today for lunch with my 0 Point Soup I can have it, enough to satisfy me and guilt free.  It keeps me focussed and generally choosing the better more healthy options where I can, because I know that when I am really in need then the points are there to save me.

Zero Point Carrot, Celeriac and Corriander Soup with a couple of Laugenstange

Last night after weigh in we went to Uwe's parents for some home-made Zwiebelkuchen, and yes I had 2 slices but turned down the third when it was offered as I was already having some wine (PS I get drunk on a pitifully small amount these days) and there was a slice of cake from one of the local bakers at home with my name on.  As I said in my broken German, which oddly improves greatly with wine mixed in, that I could easily eat 15 slices of the Zwiebelkuchen but two was deliciously sufficient. Okay so my German maybe isn't quite as advanced to be able to say "deliciously sufficient" but I am sure they got my meaning...

Quick post because I am quite tipsy after a visit to the in-laws.

1.7 kilos off \o/

Schaden-Scales

It is one thing to get a gain when you know you've cheated or been naughty, but there is nothing like the disappointment of having a gain when you've done everything you can to stay on track.

Most people will support your weight loss attempts but there are the odd few that will try and sabotage your efforts instead.  Much like when I gave up smoking there were other smokers who were only too happy to give in to my drunken requests for a cigarette.

On Friday we went to a colleague of Uwe's for dinner.  I had been forewarned that the guy is a foodie and that he won't be serving us anything low fat and I was fine with that, it is after all someone else's hospitality and I shall always graciously accept it.  I saved my all my weekly points to eat on Friday night and most of that days points were available too, how much damage can one meal do?

The night before Uwe received a text which set alarm bells ringing, it was asking whether I liked cheese.  This was the point at which Uwe confided that his colleague was aware that he had been doing well losing weight and that he was trying at every opportunity to lead him off the plan.

So it was because of this that a dieter's nightmare awaited us at his house on Friday, a delicious nightmare I might say, but a nightmare nonetheless. Cheese Fondue with bread to dip and not a single vegetable to hide behind, there was no "making the best of the bad choices" as all I could do was dip my cubes of bread into the melting cheese pot.

Friday morning I had seen a new low on the scales I had expected have achieved my 5% weightloss since joining WW in Germany this evening, but this morning my scales were showing a 400 gram gain on the week before, even my careful eating over the weekend could not repair the damage caused.

I thought it wouldn't be too bad in the end, last week I weighed in a jumper so a light T-shirt could minimise the gain and possibly see a very small loss or at least stay the same.  However our leader was getting married, so we had a temporary lady, which means weighing in on different scales so in the end I saw a 1.2 kilo gain and I was glad I hadn't been expecting my award after all.

But I find it unfair, after being so dedicated all week to be faced with such a result, sometimes the scales are stacked against you no matter what you do.  Roll on next week :(

One Pot Pork and Bean Stew

Now that the cold weather is setting in there is nothing like some good old fashioned comfort food, and as sticky toffee pudding isn't really feasible I've started on the warming stews instead.

Love in a bowl

This is a really easy and tasty meal to make. Use a large pan with a lid.  Start by browning 450g of bite-sized lean pork in 1 teaspoon of oil.  Then add 3 cloves of pressed garlic, 2 chopped Carrots, 2 chopped Apples, a whole diced Kohlrabi (Swede or Turnip would also work well) and a chopped Spanish Onion.  Cook for 3-4 minutes.  Next add 2 tablespoons of Tomato Purée, a can of Kidney Beans in Chilli Sauce, 400g Passata and 500ml of stock.  Stir well with a pinch of powdered Ginger and 2 teaspoons of Herbs de Province.  Cover and simmer for about an hour, until the carrots and Kohlrabi are soft enough to eat.

Every Little Counts

Well the results are in and this week I have lost 800 grams which is not as much as I might have hoped for, but I am still very pleased and can't complain.  Down is Down after all, and it means I have lost 6 kilos altogether now.

My Week in Food Pictures

Well I promised some food pics, and really I hadn't forgotten. I took some but I wasn't too sure that they looked appetising enough, but a promise is a promise!

Kassler with White Beans and Boiled Potatoes

Much tastier than it looks!

Kassler is a bit like Gammon, this was boiled in a small amount of stock rather than griller or fried.  I have to admit to not really eating many beans, apart from the British staple of Baked Beans of course, but these were very delicious.  Cooked with onions, some of the stock from the Kassler and Schmand, which is a thick sour cream.

Steak and Onions with Fried Potatoes and Carrots

See caption to first picture...

Not much to say about this apart from the steak was very lean, very yummy and all the better for some fried onions, the potatoes could have been a lot better if I could have used about 10 times more oil and a better non sticker pan =P

Chicken Breast in Soya Sauce with Rice, Kohlrabi, Broccoli and Red Cabbage

Certainly more colourful, equally delicious :)

Actually the title is a slight lie, the chicken was indeed poached in a Soya Sauce based liquid, which I later popped the kohlrabi in to soften while it reduced into a more sauce-like consistency.  However when asking Uwe to quickly drain the broccoli for me, he was using his super efficient German genes to drain the kohlrabi too! Luckily we had a sachet of WeightWatchers Cream Sauce in the cupboard which I had been meaning to test out anyway, it was good and I shall purchase more emergency packets tomorrow!  The cabbage is the same recipe as I used here.

So as I just mentioned it is WWWeigh-in tomorrow and as usual I am not confident about it at all, I have been sneaky weighing at home and the beginning of the week was great, I was seeing a new low, but as the week progressed and I stuck 100% on plan the weight was going back up again.  I know we have irregular fluctuations in weight, but if I do gain tomorrow I am going to be so upset because I have tried so hard.  I am trying not to think about it, especially as the old saying goes "It ain't over until the fat lady gets weighed!"

Weekly Weigh In

I had been a little worried about weigh in this week, I am not sure why as I had been following the plan perhaps that is why I would be gutted to not have had a loss.  As it happens I did really well and lost 1,3 kgs (almost 3 lbs) so very happy this evening.

We had a busy weekend of entertaining too, and all was done well within our points!  On Saturday there were 6 of us for dinner, it was supposed to be only 5 but one of Uwe's friends called and said he was bringing another friend which I wouldn't usually mind at all.  However when you are serving a meal which has been marinating for 3 days there isn't really much you can do but make the food stretch, so I didn't get to eat much of the meat but what I did eat was nice.

On Sunday Uwe's parents came to lunch and we had Beef Goulash. One thing that I still find a little odd about German food is that they serve plain pasta on the side instead of say potatoes or rice, not sure why I find it strange I suppose it is just something I would never have thought of doing back home.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to take pictures of either the Goulash or Sauerbraten, I promise to post pics of things I cook this week, in fact I am off to plan some shopping!

Nürnberger Sausages with Red Cabbage and Mashed potato

I thought I would start with some of the easier dishes and what is German cooking without sausages or cabbage? I have to say it was very delicious, or sehr lecker!  The apple in with the cabbage just melts away leaving a complimenting sweetness.

It was very filling and there is absolutely tonnes left over which we'll have for lunch tomorrow, although I won't have sausages as there were not tonnes of them! The plate above was 13 points worth, for anyone who knows what that means.

I started by peeling and roughly chopping 3 Onions and finely slicing a whole red cabbage, after removing the stalk of course. I then fried the onion in 1 teaspoon of oil for about 3 minutes before adding the cabbage and stirring for a short time before adding 100 ml of Apple Juice, 500 ml of Vegetable stock, some salt, pepper and a clove then covering and simmering on a medium heat for about 40 minutes.  At this point I added 4 Apples which had been peeled cored and chopped, then covered and cooked for a further 20 minutes.

I peeled and halved 5 medium potatoes and boiled them for about 25 minutes before draining and mashing with 100 ml Semi Skimmed Milk. Finally the Sausages were fried in another teaspoon of oil.

Yummers! :D

Yes I'm fat, but I'm still me and I'm getting slimmer by the day!

Before leaving England I had already lost about 3 stones, or 20 kilos in new money, which is something I am really quite pleased with! However I do have quite a lot more to lose. Unfortunately whilst suffering from depression I have over the years grown and grown, and while it is a symptom rather than the cause of my depression I can tell you it certainly hasn't helped with building confidence. Anyway the point is that for the first time in a very long time my weight has been steadily decreasing, perhaps not as quickly as I might like but down nonetheless.

I have hidden how big I am from friends for so long, I won't meet people I haven't seen for such a long time and there are no pictures of me on my Facebook account that I have held for almost 5 years now. So I need to come out of this plus sized closet a little and say "Yes I'm fat, but I'm still me and I'm getting slimmer by the day!" which is why I decided to make a connected blog rather than a completely anonymous one. In fact I've just renamed the post title to that exact statement!

Since arriving in Germany, Uwe and I have joined a WeightWatchers class together and I have already lost an amazing 3.9 kilos!! Although I cannot understand everything that is being said I do understand quite a lot of it in context and it is another excuse to be surrounded by native speakers in the hopes that some of the words will sink in, and as I get to know people I'll gain some confidence to try and communicate with them. I have bought the WW Deutsch Klassiker cookbook to give me an intro into German cookery, and this morning I have prepared a marinade for Sauerbraten which we'll be eating on Saturday night.

My Mum arrives in 7 weeks time and am setting an insanely high target of another 10 kilos by then, which I will probably reduce to a more attainable on in a couple of weeks lol.