18 August 2012 - update & a little meal idea :)

Well, what a week....I have to be honest, I was pretty bad this week. Not as bad as last week while I was on vacation, but I did find myself having late night snacks, and I did kind of over indulge myself at my nephews birthday party...

Yeah I found it pretty hard this week. Not sure whether it was because I allowed myself so much leverage last week while I was away and then found it hard to let go this week, or maybe I was just a little fed up? *shrugs* I think it may be the former, as I still had the right mindset to be good, just found myself not doing it.

Anyways, I was not looking forward to weighing myself this morning, sort of had it in my head that I may have put even more on this week. So imagine my surprise when I found I had lost 4 lbs!!!! It was just the lift I needed. So not only did I lose the 3 lbs I put on last week, I some how managed to lose a bonus one :)) Well happy...so to celebrate, here is a little "meal for one" for you to give a go, I had it tonight, and it was delicious....

Marinated Turkey with spicy garlic potatoes.

Take a turkey breast and marinate it in soy sauce and ground pepper.

Take a medium sized potato and cut it into decent sized pieces. Place the pieces into an oven dish and add a large knob of butter, garlic, chilli powder and herbs. Baked in the oven at 190 for 45mins (or until the potatoes are crispy and browned and fluffy inside.

With 5 mins of the potatoes remaining, take your turkey breast and place it in a pre heated grill (I use a George Foreman grill) and cook for 5 mins.

And that's it...simple and lovely. Of course you can serve it with what ever else you want...salad, or other vegetables, but I just had the potatoes and turkey, in fact, I still have some potatoes left over for tomorrows dinner, hehe :))

11 August 2012 - post vacation update

Well the moment arrived and I finally weighed myself this morning following our vacation to the caravan, and I have to say I was slightly surprised, I thought it would have been a lot worse than it actually was.

Last week I reported that I had allowed myself a little break from the diet as I was sort of on vacation. But this week as we really were on vacation, I decided to let my hair down a little more, well a lot really, and enjoy eating foods I would normally try to avoid, and enjoy more quantities of them :))) I did have some sensible food, I was not a complete pig (:P), and had some yogurts, strawberries and half a watermellon :D That being said...when you counteract that good with the bad...well, it does add up. But it matters not, it was only a few days of Chinese, McDonalds, Burger King, a BBQ, chocolate, sweets, cake, ice cream, crisps, fizzy drinks and a lot of toast :))) Ok, reading it back again does sound like I was really bad, and I guess in a sense I was, but this morning I am back to being determined to continue losing weight. I was ok with my fall from the wagon, and with the right frame of mind, I hope to report next week that I have lost some weight again.

Until then, I have to report that this week I have gained 3lbs making my weight loss at 51lbs. I am not at all bothered by this as I enjoyed each and every part of that 3lb gain. But back to normality again, back to dropping the pounds, back to eating sensibly :))

4 August 2012 - update

Well week 16 has gone and I am surprised to say that I have lost another 1lb. The reason I am surprised by this is that during this week I have taken somewhat of a holiday from my diet, as I am on holiday myself. I haven't gone overboard, but I have enjoyed letting go a little bit. Saying that, I am still focused on my goal, and I won't allow myself to fall completely.

Now, next week I am on holiday again, and I shall be travelling to the camp site to stay for some time. Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to update the diary as there is no internet connection. But rest assured, I will be back with week 17 update, fingers crossed for some more loss :)

Overnight Pavlova

Ok, so I know it's not the best recipe to be adding to a diet diary, but hey, as I always say, it's my belief that you should treat yourself now and then in order not to go insane!!!

Anyways, here is an easy but oh-so-good dessert to do just that :P

Preheat the your Oven to 150 degrees c (300 degrees f / gas mark 2)

Separate 3 large eggs and whisk the whites in a large bowl until they form soft peaks (a good test is to hold it over your head and nothing should come out of the bowl :P). Don't over whisk though as they will collapse. Measure out 6oz (175gramms) of caster sugar. Add the sugar to the egg mix, 1oz (25g) at a time until all the sugar is in.

Place some grease proof paper on a large baking tray and spoon your mix into the centre forming a rough circle shape about 20cm in diameter. Now place it in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 140 degress c (275 degrees f / gas mrk 1) and cook for 1 hour.

Next turn the heat completely off, but leave the pavlova inside the oven until it is completely cold. Actually, I usually make pavlova in the evening and then leave it in the turned-off oven overnight to dry out, hence the name Overnight Pavlova.

The outcome of this method for me is in the morning I have a lovely slight gloden-brown pavlova. Now, I also find that the top of the pavlova is slightly hollow, so what I do is cut around the top and place the cut-out shell inside the pavlova, filling some of the hollow. Next I use whipping cream to fill the remainder of the hollow ensuring that the edges are also filled with cream. Others may know better methods of ensuring this hollow doesn't occur, but personally I don't mind it, as it gives an amazing spot for the cream and toppings :))

Finally, you can add your choice of topping. Some may add chocolate or sweets, others may add fresh fruits etc, while some add nothing, But either way, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Here's the pavlova I made just last night.