Skinny snack #1 Apple Dippers

Hello!

 

 

 

I'm trying to be a little more inventive when it comes to snacking. Instead of reaching for just a yogurt, piece of fruit or (worst case) bar of chocolate, i'm really trying to find new ways of making snacks enjoyable, more fillings and packed with as much nutrients as possible.

 

 

To me, this tastes like apple pie and contains all my favourites so it was perfect for me.

 

Here's how to make it!

 

You will need:

A bowl

Teaspoon

1/4 measuring cup

Low fat yogurt

Small apple

Peanut butter (or any nut butter... crunchy or smooth)

Cinnamon

Honey

 

Method:

• Slice up the apple and pop to one side
• Measure out 1/4 cup of natural (low fat) yogurt, 1 tsp peanut butter, 1 tsp honey and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Note, I prefer 1 tsp of cinnamon, so I added way more than the recommended 1/4 tsp!
• Stir all of the ingredients together and serve in a small bowl alongside the apple.
• Sit back, dip and enjoy!

 

This is such a simple snack and goes well with any fruit (bananas and strawberries etc.) but tastes amazing and is full of food that is good for you.

 

Let me know if you try it :)

 

x

 

 



Skinny recipe #9 Lettuce cups

Hello!

 

 

 

I ran out of salad ingredients the other day so decided to create little salad cups/wraps instead.

 

If you're cutting out the carbs or fancy a change for lunh, that is just as filling, then try this.

 

Here's how to make it!

 

You will need:

• Lettuce (iceberg)
• Red pepper
• Cashews
• Cucumber
• Tuna
• Sweet Chilli sauce
• Mayo (light)
• Frying pan
• Chopping board
• Knife

Method:

• To a dry frying pan, add a handful of cashews and toast lightly. Once toasted, set aside.
• Cut off and wash large lettuce leaves to at as your 'cups' or 'wraps'.
• Lay these on a plate/platter and fill with a handul of chopped cucumber and pepper. Add tuna (with or without mayo), top with cashews and sweet chilli sauce.
• Either roll up or eat as they are.

 

These cups are surprisingly filling, healthy and different. I'd imagine fajitas would be perfect for this as well.

 

Let me know what combinations you try!

 

x

 

 

How to make your food 'skinny' #1

Hello!

I mentioned in a previous post that you can continue to make your favourite meals but by changing a few simple ingredients, you can make them 'skinny'. This will be the first of a few posts to to include the helpful tips I've picked up along the way.

1. Curry - to make this healthier, start making your own paste or using a jar paste instead of a pre-made sauce. Jar sauces contain a lot of cream, sugar and unnecessary calories. You can get a few different curry pastes in supermarkets, including thai red/green pastes! Most jars have directions on how to use but most require water and cream or water and coconut milk. If the paste requires cream, try to use a low fat yogurt instead as it gives the same creamy texture without adding loads of calories. I tend to water my curry down quite a bit, only because it saves using lots of coconut milk or yogurt and then bulk it back up with a lot of mushrooms.
2. Spaghetti bolognese - this has always been one of my favourite meals. As much as I love the way my mum makes it, I've had to tweak it over the years to suit my new diet. Instead of using beef mince, use turkey mince. It's not much cheaper but it's half the calories of beef (even lean) and fat, meaning you don't have to drain after browning. When using turkey mince, make sure you use a beef stock cube or two, as the turkey can be rather bland, so you will need to add all the flavour you can! It's always handy to have packets of beef stock to hand, as well as dried mixed herbs! Use less mince and pasta and bulk out with mushrooms (if you like them) and/or tomatoes.
3. Shepherds pie - again, I love this meal. Using the same turkey/stock tip as above, you can make shepherd's pie diet friendly. Make sure you bulk this meal out with vegetables such as carrots and peas. Spices are important as well, as they add very little (if any) calories so always flavour your food with herbs and spices where possible. I use a little all spice in mine as well as good ol' Worcestershire sauce! The topping could still be potato but make sure you half the amount you usually make. Alternatives could be sweet potato, suede & carrot or new potatoes that have boiled and then been crushed slightly, scattered along the top and browned!
4. Fajitas - mexican is one of those foods I just don't eat enough of, but that's because it's so bad for you (well.. the mexican I eat anyway) so I try to have it occasionally. To make this meal a little healthier, I always use a low calorie wrap. The weight watchers wraps are a around 110 calories per wrap, which isn't bad but you need to keep an eye out. Instead of using sour cream, try using low fat natural yogurt. If this is too bland, then add some crushed garlic, spring onion or other spices you have in your cupboard. Make sure you pile up the lettuce, as this is VERY low calorie. When I make these for Struck and I, I use one chicken breast between us and bulk it out with peppers, mushrooms and onions :] they're still very filling, just less meat and more vegetables! You can also buy the pre-made sauces/sachets or make your own. As it's spice based, it doesn't make that much difference but the oil used to cook the chicken can make it a little unhealthier.
5. Fish pie - I always struggle when making fish pie as the mash is made with milk and butter as is the white sauce. I find this lovely but way too heavy so to make it a little lighter by making the white sauce with cornflour instead of making a traditional rue. To make a white sauce using cornflour, measure out the milk required and stir 1-2 tbsp with 1 tsp of cornflour. Gently heat the remaining milk in a pan on a low-medium heat, slowly adding the cornflour mixture. It will take 10-20 minutes but eventually the milk mixture will thicken and create a white sauce. Before making the white sauce, if you poach the fish in the milk, it'll help flavour the milk/sauce a little. The mash potato can be made 'skinny' by leaving out the milk and butter! When draining the potatoes, reserve a little of the water and use this to mash the potatoes. If you would like to add a little garlic/herbs or butter then do, just depends on the flavours you're going for.

I hope you found those 5 interesting!

Another 5 to follow soon :] x

Skinny recipe #5 Not-so fried rice

Hello!

This is another post where I'm trying to use up bits in my fridge and freezer! 

I had some cold chicken that needed using, plenty of rice and vegetables so thought fried rice would be perfect. 

Serves 2 

You will need:

50g frozen beans

100g frozen sweetcorn

100g frozen peas

50g frozen prawns (thawed)

2 cooked chicken thighs/1 cooked chicken breast, shredded

1 cup cooked rice

A pinch of chinese five spice

Light soy sauce

Lemongrass paste (optional)

Ginger paste (optional)

Egg (optional), beaten

Ground nut oil

Pan

Frying pan

Wooden spoon

Method:

• In a small pan of salted, boiling water add the beans, sweetcorn and peas. Once boiled, set aside.
• In a frying pan, heat up a little ground nut oil and add the beaten egg. 
• Whilst cooking, slowly scramble using a wooden spoon. 
• Once scrambled, add the shredded chicken to heat through.
• Once warm, add the prawns and vegetables and 'fry' for 5 minutes, add a little water.
•  Add the cooked rice in, with a little more water so it doesn't stick. 
• Add in a pinch of five spice, as well as the lemongrass paste, ginger paste and soy sauce and stir. 
• Taste that seasoning is correct and serve.

The egg and vegetables are optional and could be changed. I would just make this with whatever you have in your fridge/freezer! I would usually leave out the egg but again, we needed to use them up :]

 

Also, the trick is to keep adding little bits of water, so you're not using too much oil to 'fry' everything. 

Let me know if you give this recipe a go! x

Skinny recipe #4 Fish korma with vegetables instead of rice

Hello!

The other night I really fancied curry so using some bits in the freezer, I made this :]

Struck likes rice with his but as I'm trying to eat a little healthier, I decided to have mine loaded with vegetables.

Here it is!

Sauce serves 2
Vegetables serve 1 (add more depending on no. of people)

You will need:

Sauce 

1/2 jar (or as instructed) korma paste

1 tsp ginger, crushed

1 tsp garlic, crushed

1/2 tin low fat coconut milk

1 Onion, diced

4 mushrooms, quartered

2 frozen fish fillets (any meat/fish)

Vegetables

1 parsnip, roughly chopped

50g frozen cauliflower

50g frozen beans

30g red lentils

Pan

Frying pan

Baking tray

Spoon

Sieve

Method - to prepare the vegetables

• Preheat oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6.
• Boil the parsnip, cauliflower and beans in a pan of salted, boiling water for 5 minutes.
• Drain the vegetables and pop into the oven to roast a little - this dries the vegetables out so they're not soggy!
• In another pan, add a little boiling water and then add the lentils. Keep an eye on the lentils, as soon as the water disappears, add a splash more and continue this for another 20 minutes until the lentils are cooked. Don't forget them when you're making the sauce!!

Method - to prepare the sauce

•  Pop the frozen fish fillets in the oven (or bake fresh fillets) for approximately 15 minutes.
• In a frying pan, add the onion with a little water and soften.
• Once softened, add 1/2 jar (or otherwise instructed amount) of korma paste and fry for a minute or so.
• Add the ginger and garlic and fry for a further minute.
• Add the the coconut milk and a splash of water then simmer for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, add the cooked fish, quartered mushrooms and a splash more water.
• Simmer for another 10 minutes, adding water if the sauce is too thick.

To serve, pile the vegetables in a bowl, pouring the lentils on top and the sauce on top of that.
It sounds really heavy, but the vegetables makes it ten times healthier AND more filling than rice!

There's approximately 600 calories but if you changed the vegetables, you could make it even healthier. I just used up what I had in my fridge/freezer.

Let me know if you try out this recipe x

Skinny recipe #3 New potato & red pepper omelette

Hello!

 

 

 

I do apologise.. this isn't the prettiest picture I have ever taken. Also, my omelette looks HUGE and slightly burnt.

 

I do have to admit that I did serve it with a little toast but I couldn't eat it. The omelette was filling enough plus the toast was pretty awful!

 

Let's get started!

 

 Serves 1

 

You will need:



2-3 medium eggs

1/2 red pepper

2 small new potatoes

1 mushroom

1 small red onion (or a few spring onions)

Salt & pepper to season

1tbsp milk

Pinch of dried herbs/fresh basil

Low calorie olive oil spray

Frying pan

Baking sheet

Fish slice & wooden spoon

 

Method:

• Preheat your grill to a medium-high setting.
• Prepare all of the vegetables - slice the red pepper, new potatoes, mushroom (just the one) and a small red onion.
• Bring a small pan of water up to a boil and pop the sliced new potatoes in to soften a little for 4-5 minutes.
• Drain when ready.
• Spray a little low calorie olive oil spray into a pan and soften (with a little added water) the onions and peppers.
• Once soft, add the mushroom and cook until soft.
• Once all the liquid has been absorbed, add the potato until it's lightly golden.
• Whilst the potato is browning, crack 2-3 eggs (depending on whether you're having a side) into a seperate bowl, mix with a tiny splash (and I mean tiny) of milk, a pinch of dried herbs and then season.
• Add the egg into the pan, giving it a quick mix to move the other ingreidents evenly across the pan.
• Cook until the bottom has set and then transfer to a baking sheet (unless you have an oven proof frying pan), sprinkle LIGHTLY with a 'light cheese' and pop under the grill for 5 minutes until it's a bubbly golden brown!

I decided to make this as I had loads of vegetables and eggs that needed using up but as I used my last 3 eggs, I really didn't need the toast so I ended up not eating it and throwing it away :[

 

The 3 egg omelette was 430 calories, which was plenty for a nice, filling dinner and which uses up all the leftover vegetables from Christmas!

 

Let me know if you try this recipe x

Skinny recipe #1 Homemade Fish & Chips

Hello!

 

 

This isn't the healthiest meal ever but we had some fish to use and I fancied trying a different recipe!

 

I made two slightly different versions. One for vegetable lover me and my notsokeenonvegetables other half, Struck.

 

Let's get started!

 

Serves 2

 

You will need:



1 regular potato or 1 sweet potato

Rapeseed oil

Salt & pepper to season

Low calorie olive oil spray

Smoked paprika

Cayenne pepper

2 x fish fillets

1 egg

5 tbsps flour

5tbsps breadcrumb (fine)

1 cup frozen peas

Mint sauce (optional and to taste)

Butter (optional and to taste)

Small pan

Baking tray x 3

Blender/masher (optional - for mushy peas)

 

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 and if possible, preheat a top oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7.

For normal chunky chips:

• Put a baking tray in the (220C) oven to warm up.
•  Cut 1 baking potato (per person) into large chunks (skin on/off is down to preference).
• Boil a pan of salted water and pop the chunky chips in for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, drain and set aside.
• Toss the chunky chips in 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil then season with salt and pepper.
• Carefully tip the chunky chips onto the preheated oven tray and pop back in the oven. Set a timer to turn in 15 minutes.

For sweet potato wedges:

• Wash the potato and cut into wedges.
• Prepare a baking tray by spraying it with 1 cal olive oil spray all over.
• In a bowl, spray your wedges with a couple of squirts of the olive oil spray and season well with salt, pepper, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper (last two are optional).
• Place wedges on the sprayed baking tray and pop in the (200C) oven. Set a timer to turn in 15 minutes.

For the breaded fish:

• Using any fish fillet (we used trout), set up three plates. One with flour, one with beaten egg and one with breadcrumbs. I mixed both paprika and cayenne pepper into my flour AND my breadcrumbs to give it a little more flavour.
• Coat the fish in the flour on both sides, shaking off any excess. Then coat the floured fish in the beaten egg evenly. Once coated in egg, lay in the breadcrumbs until both sides have a nice, even coating.
• Set asides on a baking tray and continue with the rest. One fillet per person!
• Once done, wait until the 15 minutes is up and take out your wedges/chunky chips. Turn over and then place back in the oven on a lower shelf for a further 15-20 minutes. Pop the fish on the middle/top shelf for 15-20 minutes.

Note: you could change the spices to lemon and herb!

 

For the peas:

• Using frozen peas, cook as instructed.
• For those who do not like mushy peas, serve when ready with a little butter and seasoning.
• For those who do like mushy peas, drain and add back into the saucepan or bowl, add 1 tsp of butter and 1 tsp of mint sauce, then blend or mash!

Once the fish has cooked, plate up and serve with slices of lemon for a twist!

 

Calories are approximately 600 (depending on fish/potatoes and other ingredients), which isn't too bad for a large meal like this!

 

Let me know if you try this recipe out! x

What to eat...

Hello!

 

 

 

The word 'diet' tends to freak people out a little.

 

"My new years resolution is to go on a diet"

"As of Monday, i'm on the diet"

"Nope, can't have that... on a diet"

It's always used in a negative way!

 

You shouldn't diet, you should change your lifestyle.

 

I have tried diets but hand on heart, I never stick to them. Regardless of the weight loss, I do love a cream cake (or any cake for that matter) so I'd always fall at the first hurdle. It's also near impossible to be on a diet around an occasion - birthdays, Easter, Christmas or New Year. They all have their temptations that are just waiting to stretch our waistline.  

 

Although you could say I was and still am (after Christmas) on a 'diet', I try and make it more a lifestyle change so that once I've reached my goal, I can maintain my weight a little easier instead of binge eating on tasty things and pilling it all back on again.

 

My goal was and is to have approximately 1200 per day. Some people may argue this is too little, especially if you're exercising but it works. I would try and stick to 1200 calories a day and try and burn off 500 calories in exercise!

 

Using the application mentioned previously (My Fitness Pal) I was able to measure my daily calorie and exercise intake as well as my weekly weight loss.

 

It really was amazing to see what food had high calories in them, especially drinks. I looooooove takeaway coffees. I used to get a large coffee on the way to work a few times a week but soon stopped when I realised that a large SKINNY latte was pushing 200-250 calories. I could eat a nice filing breakfast and have an instant coffee for that, which would keep me full all morning.

 

Changing your eating habits and changing your lifestyle isn't about banning certain foods, it's just about controlling your calories and burning off the naughty treats.

 

At the very beginning, I became slightly obsessed and ran myself into the ground because I pretty much banned anything nice - no takeaway coffee, chocolate, cake, tasty yogurts etc. I had to take a step back and realise that a muffin wasn't going to pile on the pounds so long as it was in moderation. So I became more flexible with my eating. If I fancied a McDonald's for lunch (approximately 1100 calories) then I would only have a bowl of very low calorie soup in the evening.

 

It's all about balance and exercise.

 

Now, you couldn't do this every day otherwise you'd never lose any weight but occasionally is fine.

So...meals.

I would recommend you eat as many healthy and fresh ingredients as possible as it'll make you feel better both inside and out, will keep the calories down and make you stick to the diet.

BREAKFAST IS SO IMPORTANT!

 

Breakfast may seem like you're eating unnecessary calories, especially as most cereals are high in calories but it plays a massive part of weight loss.
Breakfast will kickstart your metabolism and get things moving.
Most people complain they cannot eat that early in the morning but start forcing yourself to eat little bits and build it up. I used to hate breakfast but now I wake up with a rumbling tummy.

Good breakfasts to have are:
Fruit & fibre with skimmed milk (170ish calories)
Toast (low calorie bread - 50 calories per slice such as Danish or Nimble)
Instant porridge, possibly flavoured with skimmed milk (250ish but filing - Waitrose)
Mixed fruit and yogurt (100-150 calories - Sainsbury's and Weight Watcher yogurts)


Snacking is also a good thing!

Fruit or veg are the obvious snacks but cereal bars (the low calorie options) are also good and can be more satisfying.

My recommended snacks:
Alpen bars (70 calories)
Weight watchers fruit crumble bars (80-90 calories)
Snack-a-Jacks (90ish calories)
Fruit (apple - 50 calories / satsuma - 30 calories)
Veg (carrot - 20 calories)
Nuts (high in calories but good fats/calories)
Crackerbread (19 calories per slice)
Note: only have one bar or a small handful... don't go crazy!


Lunch is the easiest meal of the day.

As I'm usually at work, soup or Ryvita is the easiest for me.

I've tried a few 'low calorie' soups and be warned, the Weight Watchers ones are awful iin my opinion.

Lunch recommendations

Any Waitrose Love Life soup, especially tinned or fresh

Ryvita with low calorie cream cheese & chutney

Cuppa soup & low calorie bread roll

Salad (with lots of lettuce) and a non-cream based dressing (honey mustard is great).

 

Dinner always seems to be the biggest issue.

You can still have your favourites, just change the ingredients a little.
Here's a few things I have for dinner and how I change them!
Beef Stew - add loads of vegetables, beef and stock to a slow cooker and leave on slow all day Eventually you'll have tender beef, a lovely stock and yummy vegetables as well. I have mine with carrot & suede mash.
Spaghetti bolognese - instead of using beef mince, use turkey mince as it cuts the calories by nearly half! Use less tinned tomatoes and use beef stock instead, which will help flavour the turkey! Don't go overboard with the pasta, if anything, cook less and perhaps have a low calorie yogurt after dinner instead.
Fish & chips - Any fish or potato works for this. Lightly bread a small piece of fish (any fish works) and oven bake for 20 minutes. Using either baking or sweet potato, cut into chunks/wedges, spray with low calorie olive oil spray and bake for 30 minutes turning once halfway! Serve with peas (or mushy peas if you're fancy).

And finally... Desserts.

This is one of my favourites. It's under 10 calories a pot and is so tasty!
There aren't many low calorie puddings but you just have to be inventive.
Here are a few options:
Low calorie jelly (10 calories per pot)
Skinny cow ice cream
Angel delight made with skimmer milk
Low calorie rice rudding
Weight Watcher desserts

 There are options out there and 'dieting' isn't always about cutting out the tasty things, just balancing what you can and can't eat every single day!

I would start out quite strictly in the first few weeks, just so you get into the swing of things but slowly start introducing nicer things into your everyday diet making sure you exercise.

**Remember, it takes 3500 UNBURNED calories to put on one pound**

I hope this has made you realise that 'dieting' isn't all about lettuce and water, it's just about balance, moderation and exercise!

I will start putting some recipe and food ideas up to help x

A big, fat hello!

Hello!

 

This was me in 2009.

I didn't own a set of scales back then but I'm pretty sure I was pushing the 16/17 stone mark and at 5'3", I wasn't exactly tall enough to carry the weight well.

 

Towards the end of 2011, I decided enough was enough. I was in a happy relationship, was happy in my job so there was no excuse to shed a few pounds (or stone in my case). The night I decided was after seeing my friends pictures on facebook. I didn't realise she was on a diet but seeing how she had transformed from a size 20 to a size 8 was amazing and really inspiring.

 

I dieted for a little and ended up losing a stone and a bit. Nothing major was changing though and I was losing motivation.

 

A very close friend then persuaded me to join the gym with her and although I will admit it was hard in the beginning, it was the best decision I've made and money very well spent.

 

When I started the gym, I was 14st 13lbs (197lbs).

 

Throughout the blog, I'll explain my journey in a little more detail but for a little

(th)inspiration...

 

I am still 5'3" (perhaps not in those shoes though) but I now weigh 10st 10lbs (160lbs). 

There are a lot of height/weight calculators out there but my ideal weight range is between 8-10 stone (112-140lbs) which is a large range. So long as I'm heading in the right direction, I'll know when I'm happy and need to stop.

 

Now you know all about me.. on to the point of the blog.

A few people have asked how I have achieved my weight loss and have asked for my gym routine or recipes, so thought this would be the ideal place to note everything down as and when I think of it.

 

I really hope this blog helps you to achieve your goals, whether it's weight related or just to learn a few new recipes!

 

Enjoy :] x