weight loss – Mum Friendly

There. I’ve said it. I’ve officially come out again. I got too fat. I comfort ate through a lot of last year for various reasons. I reached 14 stone just after a large Pizza Hut pizza that I had scoffed in next to no time, thanks to being unhappy and hungry. I’d always said when I reached that weight that I’d go back on – so yes, I’m back doing Weight Watchers.

Weight Watchers logo

This time I’ve paid for it myself, I’m not working with them, and I’m turning around my bad habits I’ve fallen back onto. You can’t beat a takeaway on a Friday or Saturday which we were doing – just the one, mind. But the weight crept back on. It got really bad around my birthday when we went for Afternoon Tea, followed by a further, posher one a few days later where I ate cakes, cakes and more cakes and oh boy it was GOOD.

Great Fosters Afternoon Tea

I know the score. Track your food and track your activity. Fortunately my phone has a step tracker in it, so that’s switched on and I’m hitting my targets a couple of times a week which is good – and the steps I’m achieving give me three or more points a day, which don’t end up being used.

So from weighing in at the start of the year at 14 stone, I’m already down to 13 stone 7.5 which I think is bloody good going. I didn’t even try very hard, just stopped helping myself to the biscuit tub at work – although yesterday found out one Oreo Cookie is 2 points – the same as a Weight Watchers Chocolate Bar. Heheh.

I’ve been stocking up in Poundland, whose selection isn’t as good as it was when I last did Weight Watchers – and getting additional bits in my weekly Ocado shop. With me making progress I am starting to feel better about myself, so that’s progress.

Weight Watchers has changed though since I did it. I can now track things easily on my phone (I couldn’t before), and when I can’t find it straight away, I can scan in the barcode which makes life much easier. I am rubbish at tracking every day, but know that, and also know I don’t go anywhere near my daily allowance. For example – here’s the food I’ve had today.

Breakfast

Apple and Pineapple (0 points)

Snack

Pack of Quavers (3 points)

Lunch

Sainsbury’s Be Good To Yourself Egg and Cress Sandwich (7 points)

Evening Meal

Butternut Squash, Ginger and Parsnip soup (3 points – damn you parsnips) in the Soup Maker plus 1.3 Weight Watchers Naan Breads 4 points). This is not the soup, it’s an old one but the picture will do.

bramleyappleandparsnipsoup

I have a daily allowance of 30 points, and that only uses 20 of them, leaving me 10.

I have walked 6050 steps today, which gives me an additional 7 points I can use, so 17 in total that could be used on treats if I fancied it. (I earned 12 yesterday doing pilates for an hour as well – but I was too tired when I got home and fell asleep from 9pm!)

So far, so good. Plus Weight Watchers are doing a deal at the moment, where if you lose 10lb in 8 weeks they’ll give you your money back – now if ever there was motivation to try, that’s it! Well I’m three and a half weeks in and I’ve lost seven. I reckon I can do it. You can still try too – you can register with that deal (and Quidco offer cashback too) until the end of February.

Shaun said at the weekend “I don’t want to get diabetes” – something we’re both at risk of getting – and it gave me yet another kick up the backside. Although I do worry when I hear H on the Wii Fit saying “oh I just want to lose two calories doing this” – at least it means nothing to her right now….

Slim Pasta is something I’ve read about in a few places – essentially a pasta which ‘helps you lose weight’. Now I’m sceptical – it’s a low-calorie pasta, but is it actually helping you lose weight? So I bought some to see what the fuss was all about.

Slim Pasta was on offer at Ocado, so I thought I’d give it a go. It doesn’t come cheap though – you get 200g for around £2.50 – the pasta itself is ready to eat (with a tiny bit of preparation), and is low calorie, fat free, sugar free and gluten free.

It’s also ready in two minutes. Today is H’s first full day at school and I’ve taken it as holiday, so I am officially the School Run Mum for just one day. This has already led to me eating broken biscuits as my mid-morning snack (as our cupboards are bare), so I thought it was the ideal time to try the Slim Pasta.

I got the Penne version and cooked it with some courgette, carrot and red pepper cut into cubes. All you do is drain the pasta, rinse it to remove the ‘starch odor’ (I couldn’t smell anything) and heat up, then serve.

Pretty simple, and I had the entire sachet, I was pretty hungry. Each pack serves 1-2 people, so it is pretty expensive, but right now I feel full. It has a ‘jelly’ feel like some noodles I’ve eaten in the past, without feeling yucky.

Slim Pasta is made from a vegetable fibre called Moyu which has been consumed in Asia for many centuries for its health benefits. This is what I find interesting – especially the claim it helps you to lose weight. It suggests 66g of pasta a day (one of the packets is 200g), three times a day. So in other words just under one packet a day. Four hours later I still feel full – so much so that my portion of food for tea is smaller than H’s – and I almost give up on it. I can see why you’d need a smaller portion, but I’m not sure I could make one last for the whole day. On the other hand, it may stop me snacking as I know I’m one of those snackers who eats when I have nothing else to think about.

I’d say as a weightloss food it’s probably not for me, but as a non-stodgy pasta option it’s a good one. Would I buy again? If it was on a deal at the supermarket then yes. As the pasta comes sealed it would travel well, which would make it a good option for going away somewhere – and one pouch would definitely feed all three of us and keep us feeling full.

I can see Slim Pasta also offer noodles, and I could see us eating with those in the future as they’d go well alongside a stir fry. It’s been an interesting purchase, anyway!

Slim Pasta’s Website is over here

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Tag / weight loss

Back on Weight Watchers.

A Quick Lunch with Some Slim Pasta

Slim Pasta is something I’ve read about in a few places – essentially a pasta which ‘helps you lose weight’. Now I’m sceptical – it’s a low-calorie pasta, but is it actually helping you lose weight? So I bought some to see what the fuss was all about.