a weighing break

As I had a nice lunch last week and Easter is coming up.

And the fact that I have 2 easter eggs (to get through)

A marmite egg and a chokablok egg

I will not weigh myself again until the end of April :)

I am still being good though and am keeping the food diary going :)

Gosh its 2011

Happy New Year ;o)

May 2011 be better than 2010 for all of us...

LOL I am having a last blow out this weekend then will be attempting to stick to 1500 calories per day, so I can go back to being slim and sylph like ;o)

We all know that my 8 week challenge last year went all pear shaped (Kelly Im referring to the third meaning ;o)).

I dont tend to make New Years Resolutions, so at least I cant go moaning at the beginning of March that it all went wrong...

I couldnt be bothered

Its no secret that my 8 week challenge didnt go as planned - I think I lost a grand total of one pound in the end...

...but as I didnt use my full ass as Homer Simpson would say (what he actually said was "but I used my full ass" so hopefully you get my meaning), I am not in the slightest bit surprised.

The diet or rather non diet (as I didnt lose enough to call it one) has now ended, I treated myself to one of the nice desserts that they have started selling in M&S

I didnt bother with weighing myself in the end today ;o)

calorific desserts

Why is it that all of the nice desserts that I look at have humongous calories?

Every new dessert that I looked at in Marks & Spencer had mega calories, if I wasnt trying to be good then i would have said "sod the diet", but I didnt and ended up buying a three pack of uncalorific key lime pie shotglass desserts ;o)

I am very proud of myself ;o)

aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh

(I think the title says it all).

I have been trying to be good all week...

...I weighed myself this morning and have put on 100 grammes (not too bad I know), and I wouldnt mind so much if I wasnt trying to be good. Plus the scales that I usually use were out of order so had to use some different ones - so that is an added variant too!

I can only put it down to the lunch I had on Monday not being as calorie conscious as the website said :o(

I have another lunch this week coming to go to too...

I was so disheartened after weighing myself that I almost went for an apple fritter donut in Starbucks but stopped myself...

dining out on a calorie budget

I met friends for lunch yesterday and one of them suggested going to Hamilton Hall, so I had a quick look at the website to decide what to have for my lunch.

I knew that they have a nutrition guide on there, so I was hoping to be able to find something that wasnt too bad and fitted in with my 8 week challenge.

Typically the things that I really fancied were truly calorific, then I spotted the sweet chilli noodles and they were only 296 calories ;o)

What a result, and it also meant that I was able to eat a proper dinner last night too ;o)

I was being irrational

We were in Marks & Spencers yesterday morning, and James suggested that I should buy a new rain coat, so I tried one on in a size 14, and it felt tight! So James said to me why dont you just get a bigger size? I must admit I felt quite upset about the size 14 feeling tight, its like Im losing the battle of trying to stay slimish!

I know that I am not because I can still pull up my size 12 jeans without undoing them!

So I told him that I was going to stick with the rain coat that I have at the moment and will wait until I can comfortably fit into a 14 again... ;o)

He said that he didnt understand why I was being so stubborn!

I weighed myself this morning and have put on 200 grammes (which I know is hardly anything) and I still have 5 weeks to lose some weight...

...I am putting it down to not doing anything on the exercise bike for 3 days and on a couple of days I had some cakes for my mid-morning snack that I didnt know the calories of (so hee hee I have put them on the side for James Mum & Dad to have ;o)).

8 week challenge

The cruise is getting closer and closer and I have decided that I want to lose some weight before we go, because I just know that I am going to put on loads of weight with all of the food thats on board.

And as every person of size will say "it will be rude not to eat" ;o)

My goal is to lose one stone (14 pounds) in eight weeks

We were just about to go and do the food shopping this morning and James looked at me and said "keep still you have a massive spider on you" (Mum dont look at the link because it will make you scream ;o)). He got the spider off of me and let it go in the grass (he wasnt wrong because it was huge!).

I weighed myself this morning and I had lost another pound since last week ;o)

the diet starts again

The diet starts again now...

...in typical me style I will still be eating chocolate every day ;o)  If I dont eat it every day then I just know that I will have a bad day and will end up eating a whole kilogram bar of Cadburys Dairy Milk, this has been done before!

I havent dared to weigh myself after the trip to Paris, but my work trousers do feel tight, and I cant pull my jeans up anymore without undoing them!

Oh well back to checking the calories again (not that I had stopped anyway)...

free fairtrade mid morning snack

To commemorate Fairtrade Fortnight I got an e-mail from Starbucks for a free yes free Fairtrade chocolate brownie to be used today when you buy any coffee based beverage.

Not wishing to look at todays gift brownie in the mouth I decided to go for it ;o)

I will eat my brownie as my mid morning snack ;o)

Why didnt I think of this earlier?

While I was in Marks & Spencer yesterday, I hit upon my most brilliant idea...

...to get a low calorie dessert for Saturday night and a high(er) calorie one for Sunday night (to have after I have weighed myself).

Okay so Im only fooling myself!

The Count On Us toffee muffin dessert was really nice, and I will definitely get it again, it was toffee sauce, toffee muffin and toffee mousse mmmmmmmmmmm. The unhealthy (or rather the anti toffee muffin dessert) dessert I got was a Chocolate Overload, and that is super scrummy too ;o).

While waiting for the train on Wednesday morning, I saw three old ladies come up in the lift with a middle aged bloke (who appeared to be in charge), the old dears all had suitcases with them. They went to sit down on one of the benches and I thought to myself at least they wont disturb me...

...then a few minutes later another intake of oldies came up in the lift. Again three old ladies (and again with their suitcases) and the bloke got up to talk to them. I thought well at least they will go and sit down too. But no, the second lot decide to stand behind me and were wittering on about "Mr Smiths gammy leg" and "how Marys son still aint right" and worse than that someone was wearing "eau de Fairy Liquid"

Why on earth would someone knowingly buy bathing products that smell like Fairy liquid. Unless that lady had ACTUALLY bathed in Fairy! You can just hear her reasoning, "if its good enough for me dishes then its good enough for me - look Vera it says it cuts through grease too" Luckily they got on the train to Norwich, as I just know that if they had got on my train then they would have sat behind me!

On Thursday I was greeted by a poster saying that there may be a train driver strike on Thursday and Friday this week, with further ones planned on subsequent weeks! At least they havent got them planned on the Bank Holiday weekend. Mind you they dont want to upset the passengers too much do they. Oh well with a bit of luck they wont be going ahead. Or I may be having a long weekend!

You will be please to know that my brilliant idea worked, well sort of anyway. As I well well chuffed that when I weighed myself this morning I have lost 200 grammes.

Signed book

On Thursday in Metro is saw an advert for Waterstones saying that Gordon Ramsay would be doing a book signing of his new book Great British Pub Food on Friday. So knowing that James is currently at a loose end (and a good way of prolonging his suffering) I thought I would ask him if he wanted a mission (I had to make it sound glamorous didnt I ;o)) to go and get the signed book for me. He said he didnt really want to do it...

...I then had to go to Plan B and guilt trip him to do it! I think the twenty phone calls I did Friday morning saying "no dont worry about it" and putting the phone back down must have done the trick ;o).

The new British Spring Greens Innocent Veg Pot wasnt nice at all (I even did a review on the website saying that I didnt like it), definitely not one that I will buy again! So what didnt I like about it? I think it was mainly the underlying mint taste (it wasnt nice like mint chocolate but horrible).

On Friday while walking past Starbucks I saw a sign for their new frappuccino, dark berry mocha, the nice people in our store even did us a free sample to try on Saturday morning (we totally loved it), it reminded me of the raspberry mocha I drank loads of while on holiday in LA a couple of years ago ;o).

I went into Boots this morning to weigh myself and there was a sign on the machine saying that between now and 5th May you can weigh yourself for free (what a bargain it means it will save me £1.00) whopee doo ;o). Anyhow I lost one pound which I was really chuffed about as I had half a garlic bread with James earlier in the week and no less than four drinks yesterday in Starbucks.

same sh1t different year...

Ive seen that a few blogs have done reviews of 2008, so I thought why should they have all the fun ;o)


So since I started this little blog, here is my review of 2008...

• total weight gain - 23lbs
• total weight loss - 13lbs
• weeks gained weight - six
• weeks lost weight - seven
• weeks stayed the same - five
• weeks not weighed myself - four
• meals gone out for (excluding being on holiday) - six
• meals gone out for on holiday - loads ;o)
• coffees enjoyed in Starbucks - (again loads)
• soups eaten - three
• breakfasts eaten in hotels in the UK - two
• breakfasts eaten in McDonalds - one
• breakfasts eaten on holiday - eight
• lunches with friends - five
• lunches with family - one
• complete strangers coming up to tell me how good I look since losing weight - one
• bologneses cooked - two
• chillis cooked that were actually bologneses - one
• meatballs cooked - one
• thai green chicken currys cooked - one
• meals cooked from recipes received on this blog - one
• meals cooked where they havent quite gone how they were supposed to - five ;o)
• krispy kreme dunuts eaten - six
• jam donuts eaten - two
• dumper trucks wrapped up - 74
• flights of stair walked up and down - thousands (ok perhaps thats an exaggeration - it was more like hundreds, but it definitely felt like thousands)
• half a lamb sandwiches eaten - two
• sausages eaten - 120
• chocolate tasting boxes received - two
• times I had to do the food shopping completely on my own - three

Ok, some of it wasnt relevent - but what can you do ;o)
Another short week last week, and my last one for a while as my holiday year runs January to December. Its going to be a real struggle going back to doing a full week again!
We got a nice surprise in the post the other day...
...it was from Starbucks - a book of vouchers - 50p off any drink every day from 2nd to 29th January (weve used three each already ;o)), and even better, when we walked in there on Friday they would have given us the vouchers anyway as were regular customers - how good is that?
Im glad to say I wasnt the only person to have put on eight pounds over Christmas, I was chatting whilst waiting for my skinny venti dark cherry mocha (if reading it isnt bad enough try asking for one ;o)) from Starbucks and was chatting to a barista and she had put on the same amount of weight too!
I had two proper lunches this week one with my Sister, and one with my mates. The one with my mates was scrambled egg on toast, and my other lunch was chilli con carne with rice from Yates Wine Lodge. I was going to go for their chili loaded chips, but was told I should have something proper!
We have a mini fridge in our office, and it was that cold last week that when I got the bottle of water out it was frozen solid! I then spent the day pouring out the thawed water to drink. I can now look Ray Mears in the eye and tell him that I too have had to wait for water to defrost before I could drink it...
...Ray, if your ever thinking of doing an extreme office survival series you may want to retell my story. I would like my part to be played by Kathy Burke ;o).
You can guarantee the water will be frozen solid again tomorrow ;o).
I was doing the food shopping this morning and saw that Innocent have out a new flavour in their veg pots, its sweet potato chilli with chargrilled peppers & smoky paprika.
I weighed myself this morning and was well chuffed that I have lost three pounds.
Oh and a Happy New Year!

Were you expecting a John Lewis hamper?

To say the diet has gone out of the window would be an understatement ;o)


On Tuesday we had our Christmas lunch at Loch Fyne it was really nice. As I always do when chosing what I want to eat, I work my way from the dessert backwards. The chocolate orange tart was so nice I had two pieces! For main course I had duck with roast parsnips and for starters I had game terrine.


To drink we had champagne, white wine and port...


...I have to admit I was a bit squiffy and had to stop myself from falling asleep on my way home, luckily the train I caught was only going as far as Braintree (our trains can go as far as Peterborough!) so at least I would have still been in Essex.


I got a text message from James Tuesday morning asking if I was expecting a hamper from John Lewis? To which I said no, anyhow halfway through the lunch my colleague Alan gets a call from his wife saying that he had received a hamper too, at least that solved the question as to who it was from ;o).


To continue my "I'm only working half of December" ethos I had Thursday & Friday off. James suggested that we stay overnight in a hotel in London and have a meal in Chinatown. We stayed at a Best Western Hotel which was right by Chinatown.

The meal was really nice I ended up having a sizzling beef with ginger & spring onions and boiled rice (in a veiled attempt to be healthy) but then had banana fritters (they were truly scrummy).


Poor James (like most blokes) really hates going shopping, by lunchtime he was getting really fed up with all the walking about so we went to Pret A Manger (an upmarket sandwich shop) and we both went for the soup.

I must say Ive started to worry that Im turning middle class because...

• Ive started eating posh soups and enjoying them
• I have been buying my underwear in single pairs as opposed to packs of five
• buy my biscuits in Fortnam & Masons
• buy my clothes in Marks & Spencers & Next instead of Primark
• I read Daily Mail as opposed to the Sun
• Im a member of a chocolate tasting club
• buy some organic food

Wait...
...I can counteract all that because I enjoy eating peanut butter & cheese and onion crisps sandwiches (yes both together) phew what a relief ;o)
On Friday morning on our way home we went into Hamleys and bought a Steiff bear in a suitcase, he has been looking very cagey and has been using the pc (I have a feeling he may be writing his own blog ;o)).
On Thursday its Christmas Day (and yes I'm very excited), I'll be leaving a glass of diet cola and a cinnamon swirl out. My hes tastes have changed...
...when I was little he liked a glass of Irish Cream and a slice of Christmas Cake ;o).
Ill also be tracking Santa and Ill be leaving a pillowcase at the bottom of our bed to see what presents Ill be getting ;o).
Merry messy Christmas!

Souper Douper

Im not normally someone who likes soups, but a few weeks ago I saw that the New Covent Garden Soup Company was doing a Choc full of Beans soup which was a chili bean soup with rice and a touch of chocolate, that sounded really nice so I bought it and put it in the freezer.

Anyhow on Thursday I got the soup out of the freezer to have for my lunch (I was using up yet more of my holiday), and to my surprise it was really nice. So nice that when out shopping this morning I bought another two cartons of soup...

This time I have gone for their "Soup of the Month" Chicken Vegetable & Pearl Barley and Toulouse Sausage & Puy Lentil.

Next Ill be appreciating the bouquet in a bottle of 1962 Pinot Grigio, well maybe not ;o)...

I had the Friday off also to ruin James' first day of his redundancy.

On Tuesday we have our Christmas lunch at Loch Fyne, I even treated myself to a nice purple top to wear from Next (Im just showing off that I can now fit into stuff from Next ;o)).

My Mum has been reading my blog (hello Mum) and she said that I look thin in the photos. This doesnt sound like the Mum I know and love so it must be true as she never normally says nice things like that ;o).

While buying the fruit yesterday to juice they didnt have any cheap plums so I bought a punnet of kiwi fruit instead (having apples, grapes and kiwi) the concoction was quite nice and is a dull green sludge colour.

We were in Starbucks yesterday, we were really surprised that they gave us a present of two mugs with two chocolate bars in them. They said they were giving presents to their "regular regulars". We were really touched by this, I guess the fact that we are friendly with them and bring in sweets sometimes has meant that we are recognisable. They even know our orders ;o)...

...James sticks with the same thing day in day out (Americano with whipped cream) but I'm always having different things, mind you the drink is always non fat ;o).

In Marks and Spencers yesterday I bought some chipolatas wrapped in bacon to have (I have only ever seen cocktail sausages done in this way). Im sure they are going to be scrummy.

I weighed myself this morning and was well chuffed to have lost two pounds, that was despite the bits I ate last week and the bread and butter pudding I bought on Thursday (I have had a quarter each night).

I only have another five pounds to go to get to where I was before the holiday ;o).

Donut be so jammie...

On Wednesday, the new Christmas drinks came out in Starbucks, and I've gone to great lengths and have tried all three of them, and mighty nice they all are too ;o).


The brand brand new drink was the Dark cherry mocha - it is super scrummy - just like how I think a liquefied black forest gateau would taste. I think I'm going to alternate it with the gingerbread latte which is my other current drink of choice ;o).


On Friday night I was out with my mates for one of their birthdays, we went to see Hairspray, Michael Ball was good as Edna Turnblad (the Mother).


In my quest to not be too bad foodwise and knowing I wouldnt have time to eat anything substantial for my dinner (I just got some extra bits at lunchtime to eat on the train going up there) I decided to take some nuts and dates to munch on during the show.


Let me go back...


...a few weeks ago whilst being dragged kicking and screaming (I was in my head anyway) into Poundland I bought some press and seal foodbags for a pound.


Anyway, one of the said foodbags was being used for my snacks and when I pulled the bag out there was a shower of macadamia nuts flying like confetti around the theatre. Yes, you guessed there was a hole in the bag along the bottom seam. James has also said that the useless bags also seem to tear just under the press seal too :o( I think I will have to go back to buying decent bags again... oh well.


Weve seen the new advert for Pizza Hut now being called Pasta Hut and just thought it was a marketing gimmick. But blow me, whilst in Theatreland I actually saw a Pasta Hut! In Romford the Pizza Hut there is being refitted so I guess that will become a Pasta Hut too. I will have to have a looksie at their menu to see if they have anything yummy looking.


I havent been too bad eatingwise this week, although I did have a jam donut on Friday. I havent had a proper jam donut for ages and had forgotten just how lovely they were. When I was a kid my Mum would buy a bag of frozen jam donuts from Bejam, and I would be allowed to carry them home in a carrier bag and I would always end up swinging the bag into my legs and would end up with bruised legs ;o).


I weighed myself this morning and despite having my jam donut I have lost the two pounds I put on last week so am well chuffed.

Creme brulee madness

My eating had been pretty good last week...

...well apart from eating a naan bread with my dinner one night in the week.

Then yesterday happened and I had the urge to pig out and ended up eating a fifth of a 300 gram tub of rosemary & thyme infused nuts (a mixture of pecans, macadamias and cashews), they were really nice. I put them back in the kitchen to stop me finishing the lot (I probably would have too). And as if that wasnt bad enough I had five pieces of a toffee crunch chocolate orange that I have hidden away for such occassions.

Yes I'm a bit like a hamster having food hidden away, or should that be like a squirrel?

Walking past Starbucks on Friday night I saw on their advertising A board outside that their Christmas drinks come out on Wednesday (5th November). One of their new drinks is a dark cherry chocolate mocha, it sounds really nice and cant wait to try one. I think I will have to have a wander down there Wednesday morning ;o).

So I hear you ask yourself...

...so what did this do to your weight? Well, I put on two pounds. I'm not hopeful about being too good this week either as I am out on Friday night for my mates 39th birthday (that makes me feel really old having a mate whose nearly 40!).

I think I'll have to be in damage limitation mode this week ;o).

Blimey, I just rememebered I also had a quarter of a creme brulee bread & butter pudding last night, I could have finished that too... ;o), and I will be having another quarter of it tonight. I think I will let James have the rest of it to have with his cereal (see he doesnt just get the stuff I dont like ;o)).

Talking of James, hes been moaning about my lack of punctuation (yes I know there should be a comma here) I personally think its overrated and one day I will do a post with no punctuation in protest ;o).

I havent bought anything new to cook this week, but did get the juicer back out and did some grape, apple and plum juice.

Ive been trying to buy different types of potatoes each week to have with my dinner...

...yesterday I bought some Red Duke of York ones. In Sainsburys today I saw that they are doing Pink Fir Apple ones so I will have to try and remember to get them next week.

Chocolate goodness

In the last week I havent been too bad eating wise...

...well apart from meeting my friends for lunch in London.

We went to Pontis at Liverpool Street Station (as that is near to where my friends work and it is the station that my train comes in to).

Trying to be good after my holiday induced massive weight gain I had scrambled eggs on toast this is part of their all day breakfast range, it was really nice.

As I normally do when I go into London I got myself a Krispy Kreme donut - I went for the biscuit crunch donut (a ring donut smothered in chocolate and topped with biscuit crumbs) this forms part of their new carnival range. The donut was ok but not as nice as their New York Cheesecake donut - mind you I dont think anything will be as yummy as that ;o)).

Considering I had the scrambled eggs on toast and the donut I was well pleased when I weighed myself this morning and that I have lost one pound ;o).

My latest chocolate tasting box arrived this week...

...I get their basic classic collection every three months (you can choose how often you get your chocolates and when you want your next box to arrive).

So far I've had the Maple Manon which was really nice and you could really taste the maple in it. I've also had the Jelly and Ice Cream too that was ok but not as nice as the Maple one.

There are none in the latest box that I will get James to eat...

Sometimes there are ones in there like yukkie coconut ones that I dont like :o(

I have also pre-ordered my Christmas box too.

I havent bought anything different to do this week to eat as I am back to trying to be good...

Theres something different about you...

In honour of Al I have bought a 12 pack of Monster Munch (whch includes my most favouritist flavour roast beef ;o)). Im going to let James eat the pickled onion ones (although I will have a little taste to see if I still dont like them ;o)). I had a packet of the roast beef snacks and they were as lovely as they have always been, but again the monsters vital statistics werent there, and for the life of me I cant remember the details about that monster and I am distraught...


...I may even need some psychotherapy!


Since I started dieting several of my visits to the hairdressers have resulted in my hairdresser asking if I have new glasses, because theres something different about me...


...yesterdays visit resulted in the girl colouring my hair (the usual girl who also cuts my hair is on honeymoon) saying youve lost a lot of weight havent you? I've never had this other girl before and to be honest not someone I have never even noticed (but she clearly noticed me) and we spent the time with her colouring in my roots chatting about diets. She and her Mum are both doing the tesco diet, they have both lost around a stone and a half in the last couple of months. Well done them.


I took James' advice and juiced a whole load of fruit this morning...


I didnt buy a jug (as previously intended) and decided to use a washed out two pint milk bottle (is it more being green or just not wanting to pay out for a jug that will probably get stained? hmmmm ;o)). All was going well until I got to the grapes...


...because the bottle I was using wouldnt fit under the spout I moved the juicer to the edge of the sink and held the bottle under the spout in the sink. When I was preparing the fruit (destalking the grapes and taking the stones out of the plums) I had the bottle in the sink. Being the dumb ass that I am I forgot to move the bottle from the sink to hold it under the spout and thus half the grape juice ended up going down the sink! The juice still tasted pretty nice though although James didnt think it tasted sweet enough...


What a load of mess there was though...


...I think next time I will let James get the fruit on Friday and let him do the juicing Saturday morning like has has suggested ;o)


This weekend saw a faux French Market in Chelmsford, I bought some baklava (just one piece this time). I will have to see if it is as good as the stuff from Harrods.


I have tried to be good this week and when I weighed myself this morning, I was well chuffed because I have lost another two pounds ;o)

Veggie nice...

The veggie concoction I had last Monday was really nice...


With my eyes being bigger than my belly (as my Mum would say ;o)) I used far too many vegetables, mind you it certainly made it filling (the sort of thing you could take in a thermos flask to go mountaineering - not that I'm ever likely to try it ;o)).


It ended up being more of a stew...


...all I did was chop up all the vegetables and put them in a saucepan with a can of chopped tomatoes and a small can of kidney beans heated them up and served with potatoes and pasta and basil, many thanks again Another Number for the recipe suggestion.

The question is would I have it again and the answer is...

...yes ;o)

After buying all the apples and grapes last week to juice (incidentally I have decided to limit my juicing to the weekend), I ended up having them chopped up with my other fruit as dessert after my dinner. I am so blooming healthy!

So I hear you ask...

...what has all this healthiness done to your weight?

Well, I weighed myself this morning and I have lost 1 pound.

And I even had a banoffee cheesecake slice last night.

I saw an article in Metro last week that Monster Munch are going to be relaunched back to their old bigger previous size ;o), so while out this morning I bought a packet of the flaming hot ones. Blimey they were lovely.

I was quite disappointed that the pack I bought didnt have the monsters vital statistics on any more. How it used to make me laugh that the monster on my snack liked curry jelly. It always made me wonder what it would taste like ;o).

Thats a thought, Heston Blumenthal could do a Monster Munch inspired menu at the Fat Duck.

I havent bought anything special to do this week as I'm trying to be extra good before our holiday.