So I have been on this new healthy eating plan for five weeks now so hows it going?
I have stuck to the plan fairly well. There have been a couple of BBQ's in that time and some other very heavy drinking sessions too! I have only missed one or two training sessions where there have been last minute changes to routines, but for the most part I have tried really hard.
I have started playing Badminton once a week with family which is really enjoyable. We are all rubbish at it but at least it gets you moving. I have had to scrap a couple of running sessions and bike rides due to the weather but have done something else active in the shed (gym) instead.
I have found that the weight loss was lower than I was hoping for. Some weeks I have lost 1lb and others I have not lost at all. I am aiming to lose 2lb per week. So with that in mind last week I lowered my calorie intake a little bit. Now instead of 2084 calories per day I am working at around 1800 to 1900 depending on whether I am exercising on that day and whether I am drinking alcohol.
I have lost 8lbs over the five weeks. I was aiming for 11lbs at this point. It would be hard on myself to feel disapointed with that though I think, especially with the social events thrown in to the equation. I am hoping that now I have lowered the calories a little I will see some better results.
I can feel my clothes getting baggier which is lovely and I did up a pair of jeans which I previously couldnt get past my hips the other day.
Also on a good note, my body is being reasonably kind to me. I am aching a bit but not too much that it puts me off exercising which is good. Week seven is when the workouts step up another level though so not looking forward to that!
I have been invited out to someones house next week for dinner/buffet where the food will include chicken nuggets and sausages, so I am told. I dont think I have eaten a nugget in about five years! I am not looking forward to eating such proccessed food but you have to be polite dont you. I suppose it will make me value my cooking a bit more he he!
Sunday 19 September 2010
Winter veg soup
Winter vegetable soup
This is a nice warming chunky soup which is very satisfying.
Ingredients:
450g Carrots diced
420g Peeled & cubed potatoes
2 sticks of celery chopped
1/2 onion diced
2 cloves garlic chopped
4 tbsp peas
50g lentils
1 brocolli & cauliflower cup-a-soup (or similar)
1 minestrone cup-a-soup (or similar)
2 stock cubes
3 tbsp olive oil
Herbs and seasoning to taste (I use mixed herbs)
Method:
Heat pan and add olive oil. Fry first 5 ingredients until softened a little.
Put soups and stock cubes in a large jug or bowl with herbs and add about 2 litres of boiling water. Mix well then add to pan with vegetables
Bring to boil then simmer until potatoes are about half cooked (not crunchy anymore)
Removed about 4-5 ladels full of vegetables and some liquid and put in a jug or bowl. Use hand blender to blend until smooth. Add blended veg back to the pan.
Add peas and lentils and bring back to the boil. Simmer for around 20 mins or until peas and lentils are cooked. (also check carrots are soft).
Season to taste and serve.
I split this into 6 regular portions and 1 small portion. Based on dividing by 6 the nutrition is roughly as follows:
250 kcals
40g carbs
7g Protein
This is a nice warming chunky soup which is very satisfying.
Ingredients:
450g Carrots diced
420g Peeled & cubed potatoes
2 sticks of celery chopped
1/2 onion diced
2 cloves garlic chopped
4 tbsp peas
50g lentils
1 brocolli & cauliflower cup-a-soup (or similar)
1 minestrone cup-a-soup (or similar)
2 stock cubes
3 tbsp olive oil
Herbs and seasoning to taste (I use mixed herbs)
Method:
Heat pan and add olive oil. Fry first 5 ingredients until softened a little.
Put soups and stock cubes in a large jug or bowl with herbs and add about 2 litres of boiling water. Mix well then add to pan with vegetables
Bring to boil then simmer until potatoes are about half cooked (not crunchy anymore)
Removed about 4-5 ladels full of vegetables and some liquid and put in a jug or bowl. Use hand blender to blend until smooth. Add blended veg back to the pan.
Add peas and lentils and bring back to the boil. Simmer for around 20 mins or until peas and lentils are cooked. (also check carrots are soft).
Season to taste and serve.
I split this into 6 regular portions and 1 small portion. Based on dividing by 6 the nutrition is roughly as follows:
250 kcals
40g carbs
7g Protein
Sunday 12 September 2010
Healthy "cream" of tomato soup recipe
Tomato soup
Although no cream is used in this recipe, a thick, creamy consistency is achieved by using potato and skimmed milk.
This recipe is taken from the book "Food for fitness" by Anita Bean
Ingredients:
1tbsp butter/oil
1 onion chopped
1 large potato chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
1/4 tsp each of dried basil, thyme, dill
salt & black pepper
600ml (1 pt) Passata
1 tsp canderel
350ml skimmed milk
Method:
Heat butter/oil and cook onion, garlic, potato and herbs for 5 mins.
Add everything else except milk and cook until potatoes are soft.
Liquidise the soup.
Add milk and heat through until hot again.
Nutrition:
110 kcals
18g carbs
5.3g protein
Although no cream is used in this recipe, a thick, creamy consistency is achieved by using potato and skimmed milk.
This recipe is taken from the book "Food for fitness" by Anita Bean
Ingredients:
1tbsp butter/oil
1 onion chopped
1 large potato chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
1/4 tsp each of dried basil, thyme, dill
salt & black pepper
600ml (1 pt) Passata
1 tsp canderel
350ml skimmed milk
Method:
Heat butter/oil and cook onion, garlic, potato and herbs for 5 mins.
Add everything else except milk and cook until potatoes are soft.
Liquidise the soup.
Add milk and heat through until hot again.
Nutrition:
110 kcals
18g carbs
5.3g protein
Turkey meatloaf recipe
Turkey Meatloaf
Ingredients:
400g Turkey Mince
2 medium onions
1 red pepper
1 tin chopped tomatoes
100g cherry tomatoes
250g passata (or blended tin tomatoes)
1 tin kidney beans
50g lentils
1 Chicken stock cube
35g Paxo breadcrumbs
1 tsp canderel
1 tbsp worcester sauce
(some) Butter/oil
chicken seasoning
Mixed herbs
Cumin
Paprika
Salt & black pepper
Method:
Finely chop 1 onion and soften in a little oil or butter. Add A large pinch of Cumin and Paprika. (I also added a pinch of turkish spice blend) as the onions cook. Once softened, remove from pan and leave to cool.
Chop the second onion into larger pieces and soften in a little oil or butter. Dice the pepper and add to the onions to soften.
Once onion and pepper are softened, add the following to the pan:
Tinned tomatoes
Passata
worcester sauce
Canderel
Lentils
Kidney beans
Stock cube
Add a couple of mugs of water.
Simmer on a gentle heat for 20-30 mins. Add salt & pepper to taste
Once all ingredients for the sauce are in the pot you can start on the meatloaf. The first batch of onions should be cooled by now.
In a bowl, add the onions, all the mince, breadcrumbs, about 2tsp of chicken seasoning, 2-3 tsp mixed herbs and a little salt & pepper. Mix everything together then shape it into a sort of rectangle shape (I do this on a chopping board).
Lightly grease a baking dish with oil or "fry light". Transfer the meatloaf to the dish then spray "fry light" over the top and gently rub in (or use a little oil).
Cook on a medium heat for something like 30 mins (sorry not very good with temps & times). When it looks about 3/4 cooked add the sauce to the meatloaf in the dish and cook for another 15 mins or so.
Thats about it I think. As always, ask me if I've not explained anything. I got 5 portions out of this. I served it with a small wholemeal roll. I was stuffed! This is a great winter warmer meal and you could even just eat the sauce as a meal on its own with some crusty bread.
It is a nice cheap meal, the mince cost £2 in Tesco. You can probably get the rest of the ingredients for a couple of quid. It is reasonably low in fat and full of nutrition.
I estimate the nutrition if split into 5 (excluding bread) to be roughly:
374 kcals
35g carbs
30g protein
Try it, and let me know if you enjoyed x
Ingredients:
400g Turkey Mince
2 medium onions
1 red pepper
1 tin chopped tomatoes
100g cherry tomatoes
250g passata (or blended tin tomatoes)
1 tin kidney beans
50g lentils
1 Chicken stock cube
35g Paxo breadcrumbs
1 tsp canderel
1 tbsp worcester sauce
(some) Butter/oil
chicken seasoning
Mixed herbs
Cumin
Paprika
Salt & black pepper
Method:
Finely chop 1 onion and soften in a little oil or butter. Add A large pinch of Cumin and Paprika. (I also added a pinch of turkish spice blend) as the onions cook. Once softened, remove from pan and leave to cool.
Chop the second onion into larger pieces and soften in a little oil or butter. Dice the pepper and add to the onions to soften.
Once onion and pepper are softened, add the following to the pan:
Tinned tomatoes
Passata
worcester sauce
Canderel
Lentils
Kidney beans
Stock cube
Add a couple of mugs of water.
Simmer on a gentle heat for 20-30 mins. Add salt & pepper to taste
Once all ingredients for the sauce are in the pot you can start on the meatloaf. The first batch of onions should be cooled by now.
In a bowl, add the onions, all the mince, breadcrumbs, about 2tsp of chicken seasoning, 2-3 tsp mixed herbs and a little salt & pepper. Mix everything together then shape it into a sort of rectangle shape (I do this on a chopping board).
Lightly grease a baking dish with oil or "fry light". Transfer the meatloaf to the dish then spray "fry light" over the top and gently rub in (or use a little oil).
Cook on a medium heat for something like 30 mins (sorry not very good with temps & times). When it looks about 3/4 cooked add the sauce to the meatloaf in the dish and cook for another 15 mins or so.
Thats about it I think. As always, ask me if I've not explained anything. I got 5 portions out of this. I served it with a small wholemeal roll. I was stuffed! This is a great winter warmer meal and you could even just eat the sauce as a meal on its own with some crusty bread.
It is a nice cheap meal, the mince cost £2 in Tesco. You can probably get the rest of the ingredients for a couple of quid. It is reasonably low in fat and full of nutrition.
I estimate the nutrition if split into 5 (excluding bread) to be roughly:
374 kcals
35g carbs
30g protein
Try it, and let me know if you enjoyed x
Saturday 4 September 2010
Chicken casserole
Ok, Im not very good at receipes. I usually just throw stuff in and see what happens but I'll try really hard to explain exactly what went in to making todays concoction. I managed to get 5 portions of casserole and 4 portions of soup from one 1.5kg chicken which cost £4 in Tesco. (A portion for me is 2 ladels full give or take a bit).
Ingredients;
1.5 whole chicken
2 medium onions
6 carrots
2 sticks of celery
1 knorr packet of vegetable soup (the ones that do 4 servings)
2-3 chicken stock cubes
50g dried red lentils (the ones that dont need soaking)
50g pearl barley
Method (try my best):
First I cooked the whole chicken in the oven (follow guidelines on packaging) the night before. Save the juices.
Chop 1 onion and 1-2 carrots. Soften them. I steamed mine in my microwave steamer beacuse I dont want to add extra fat but you can fry them in butter until softened. Then add approx 100ml of water and blend until no lumps remain but still fairly thick.
Put empty vegetable soup packet into a jug and make up using 800ml of boiling water (from the kettle is fine). Add 1 stock cube and stir well. Add the soup to the blended carrot and onion. Add herbs and season however you like.
Chop remaining onion, carrots and celery and add to pot. Add lentils and barley to the pot. Remove all meat from the chicken (picking out any bones) and add it all to the pot. (Incase I forgot to mention anything, by now everything except 1-2 stock cubes should be in the pot).
Cook slowly until the onions are translucent and the carrots soft. The longer you leave it, the more the chicken will break down into little shreds, so leave it as long as you like.
From this I took 5 portions and put into pots ready for freezing. (when you reheat it, you may need to add a little extra water/stock because the chicken soaks it up)
Leaving the last portion in the pot top it up with stock using spare stock cubes until you have the desired consistency for your soup (you may want lots of meat and a little juice or to make more portions, not so much meat and more juice). Warm through for a little longer then dish up.
I have added up the nutritional values of the ingredients used and think it works out roughly like this assuming you make 5 casseroles and 4 soups:
Calories: 347
Carbs: 31
Protein: 26
Values are quatered for the soups obviously as you have split one casserole portion into 4 soups.
I hope this all makes sense. I would love for someone to try it and let me know how you got on!
Ingredients;
1.5 whole chicken
2 medium onions
6 carrots
2 sticks of celery
1 knorr packet of vegetable soup (the ones that do 4 servings)
2-3 chicken stock cubes
50g dried red lentils (the ones that dont need soaking)
50g pearl barley
Method (try my best):
First I cooked the whole chicken in the oven (follow guidelines on packaging) the night before. Save the juices.
Chop 1 onion and 1-2 carrots. Soften them. I steamed mine in my microwave steamer beacuse I dont want to add extra fat but you can fry them in butter until softened. Then add approx 100ml of water and blend until no lumps remain but still fairly thick.
Put empty vegetable soup packet into a jug and make up using 800ml of boiling water (from the kettle is fine). Add 1 stock cube and stir well. Add the soup to the blended carrot and onion. Add herbs and season however you like.
Chop remaining onion, carrots and celery and add to pot. Add lentils and barley to the pot. Remove all meat from the chicken (picking out any bones) and add it all to the pot. (Incase I forgot to mention anything, by now everything except 1-2 stock cubes should be in the pot).
Cook slowly until the onions are translucent and the carrots soft. The longer you leave it, the more the chicken will break down into little shreds, so leave it as long as you like.
From this I took 5 portions and put into pots ready for freezing. (when you reheat it, you may need to add a little extra water/stock because the chicken soaks it up)
Leaving the last portion in the pot top it up with stock using spare stock cubes until you have the desired consistency for your soup (you may want lots of meat and a little juice or to make more portions, not so much meat and more juice). Warm through for a little longer then dish up.
I have added up the nutritional values of the ingredients used and think it works out roughly like this assuming you make 5 casseroles and 4 soups:
Calories: 347
Carbs: 31
Protein: 26
Values are quatered for the soups obviously as you have split one casserole portion into 4 soups.
I hope this all makes sense. I would love for someone to try it and let me know how you got on!
The plan
I read a book called The Complete Guide To Strength Training by Anita Bean. I know what you are thinking all ready, I dont want to be a body builder, right? Let me assure you, it is practically impossible to become a body builder by accident. Most people who actually do want bulging muscles dont even acheive the look they desire, genetic make up also has an influence on your body's capability to bulk up. Unless you have a very specific training program you will not accidently end up with bulging biceps. So forget any worries along those lines.
Having said that, If you are looking for some miracle diet or something that wont take much effort, you are definatley in the wrong place. I have never really followed a pre planned diet structure, weightwatchers, low fat, low carb etc Partly because I dont like many of the foods suggested but also because I have always believed that you should be able to have healthy balanced diet.
So what this book does is explain what a healthy diet consists of, how many calories should you eat, how many carbs, how much protein, how to eat balanced meals and so on. It then goes on to explain different exercise methods and which ones are most suitable to meet your goals whether you want to lose weight, gain weight, increase speed or indurance and so on. I love this book because it gives me all the info I need to make sure I am getting a healthy diet and an effect workout program without damaging my body (any more than it is already lol). I must add though that I never take a single source of information as gospel, so I frequently cross reference what I read with information available on the internet and make adjustments where neccessary.
So here are the numbers:
My resting metabolic rate (RMR) (thats how many calories my body needs if I just sat on the sofa all day) is 1629
Taking into account my lifestyle (not including periods of actual exercise) which is classed as sedated because I am mostly sitting with some walking at work, my calorie needs become 2281
Then we add to that the fact that I will be exercising which takes my needs up to 2452
So if I ate 2452 calories a day I would maintain my current weight (calories in = same as expended)
In order to lose weight I need to reduce this to 2084
All of these calculations are explained in the book but you can find plenty of calorie calculators online.
Of the 2084 calories I should include 550g of carbs and 138g of protein
Ideally I should eat 6 meals per day
The exercise consists of:
3x sessions of weight training per wk (2 sessions for first 3 wks)
2x 30 min bike rides per wk
1x 20 min run/walk per wk (building up to 30 mins)
1x 30-40 min cardio workout per wk
1 day of complete rest (hooray!)
First thoughts
I find it difficult to comprehend eating over 2000 cals and still losing weight. I have found it difficult to reach 2084 cals per day without eating unhealthy foods. It is even more difficult to reach the carb and protein requirements. the problem with that is that in order to keep the GI count low (avoid sugar hits) you should eat carbs and protein together. I could eat lots of chicken but I have to have it with carbs and then the calorie count starts to go up!
Since I know I will never give up drinking, I have to account for the cals and carbs in the drink too. Then it becomes hard to eat a healthy diet and not go over the calorie count for the day!
A typical day looks something like this at the moment:
Breakfast: cereal or porridge
Snack: 10 almonds & 20g of raisins
Snack: 1 Ryvita 30g cheese
Lunch: Ham pasta salad, clementine, pear
Snack: Egg mayo sandwhich (1 egg, 1 small wholemeal slice, extra light mayo, no butter)
Snack: Banana
Dinner: cod baked in tomato with medium jacket potato
Snack: small Low fat fromage frai
Beverages (excluding alcohol): 4x low cal (less than 50Kcal) hot choc, 2-3 teas with skimmed milk & no sugar, unlimited water.
I think you will agree that you would struggle to be hungry with all that lot! (some of the snacks go out of the window on days that I know I will be drinking alcohol).
I have told myself that I will do everything by the book for at least 4 weeks before changing anything. Then if it is not working I will make some adjustments. I will keep you posted :-)
Having said that, If you are looking for some miracle diet or something that wont take much effort, you are definatley in the wrong place. I have never really followed a pre planned diet structure, weightwatchers, low fat, low carb etc Partly because I dont like many of the foods suggested but also because I have always believed that you should be able to have healthy balanced diet.
So what this book does is explain what a healthy diet consists of, how many calories should you eat, how many carbs, how much protein, how to eat balanced meals and so on. It then goes on to explain different exercise methods and which ones are most suitable to meet your goals whether you want to lose weight, gain weight, increase speed or indurance and so on. I love this book because it gives me all the info I need to make sure I am getting a healthy diet and an effect workout program without damaging my body (any more than it is already lol). I must add though that I never take a single source of information as gospel, so I frequently cross reference what I read with information available on the internet and make adjustments where neccessary.
So here are the numbers:
My resting metabolic rate (RMR) (thats how many calories my body needs if I just sat on the sofa all day) is 1629
Taking into account my lifestyle (not including periods of actual exercise) which is classed as sedated because I am mostly sitting with some walking at work, my calorie needs become 2281
Then we add to that the fact that I will be exercising which takes my needs up to 2452
So if I ate 2452 calories a day I would maintain my current weight (calories in = same as expended)
In order to lose weight I need to reduce this to 2084
All of these calculations are explained in the book but you can find plenty of calorie calculators online.
Of the 2084 calories I should include 550g of carbs and 138g of protein
Ideally I should eat 6 meals per day
The exercise consists of:
3x sessions of weight training per wk (2 sessions for first 3 wks)
2x 30 min bike rides per wk
1x 20 min run/walk per wk (building up to 30 mins)
1x 30-40 min cardio workout per wk
1 day of complete rest (hooray!)
First thoughts
I find it difficult to comprehend eating over 2000 cals and still losing weight. I have found it difficult to reach 2084 cals per day without eating unhealthy foods. It is even more difficult to reach the carb and protein requirements. the problem with that is that in order to keep the GI count low (avoid sugar hits) you should eat carbs and protein together. I could eat lots of chicken but I have to have it with carbs and then the calorie count starts to go up!
Since I know I will never give up drinking, I have to account for the cals and carbs in the drink too. Then it becomes hard to eat a healthy diet and not go over the calorie count for the day!
A typical day looks something like this at the moment:
Breakfast: cereal or porridge
Snack: 10 almonds & 20g of raisins
Snack: 1 Ryvita 30g cheese
Lunch: Ham pasta salad, clementine, pear
Snack: Egg mayo sandwhich (1 egg, 1 small wholemeal slice, extra light mayo, no butter)
Snack: Banana
Dinner: cod baked in tomato with medium jacket potato
Snack: small Low fat fromage frai
Beverages (excluding alcohol): 4x low cal (less than 50Kcal) hot choc, 2-3 teas with skimmed milk & no sugar, unlimited water.
I think you will agree that you would struggle to be hungry with all that lot! (some of the snacks go out of the window on days that I know I will be drinking alcohol).
I have told myself that I will do everything by the book for at least 4 weeks before changing anything. Then if it is not working I will make some adjustments. I will keep you posted :-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)