Saturday, 31-10-26

Good evening, everyone!

I met up with Beth in town this morning.  I had an apple before I went and a coffee and a bag of popcorn with her in John Lewis.  No photos.  Four and a half swips or 142 calories

When I got home, I made myself a Horlicks light malted chocolate drink from a sachet I found lurking at the back of a cupboard - six swips or 120 calories

I made lunch using a pot of ratatouille with lentils from the freezer to which I added some pulses and some cooked pasta, topping it with cheese before browning it in the air fryer.

Very warming and comforting.

Half an oil hex in the ratatouille.

One calcium hex for the cheese.

I have no idea what the ratatouille and the beans were in calories but the pasta and cheese was 244 calories.

A very simple dinner of steak with pommes parmentier, tomatoes and a dollop of dijon mustard.

The steak was bigger than I remembered it to be but that's IK, it has really upped today's protein.

Half an oil hex for the potatoes and the steak and half a swip for the mustard or 391 calories.

Summary
one calcium hax

one oil hex

eleven swips

or

893 calories plus whatever the ratatouille, lentils and beans were - a bit low so I am upping it with some fruit.

Friday, 30-10-26

 Good evening, everyone!

What a lovely start to the day.  At SW group, not only had I lost a pound, which I was really happy with after last week's big gain), I was Slimmer of the Week because the people who lost more than me didn't stay through the whole group.
This, plus the hi fi bars and the popchips was what I brought home.  

I decided that today was going to be a calorie day rather than a Slimming World day.  That means up to 1300 calories or, if I want a maintain intake, up to 1900 calories.

So how did that look in practise.

I changed my breakfast plans and has a small beg of popchips and two hi fi bars (both from the SW hamper) and then a pear.  

271 calories

Lunch was the other half of the soup I made on Wednesday and then I had an apple and a couple of easy peelers.

That soup was VERY filling!

This left me pretty low on calories so I had another hi fi bar (because why not?).

268 calories the lot!

Late afternoon, I had an options choccy drink for 89 calories (it was a big one).  

Dinner was the reason I had a calorie day.  I had a M&S wood fired pizza, an ultra thin spicy chicken arrabbiata one and it was just delicious!

That was all I had - I've gone down with a cold and didn't want anything else at all.

So the pizza with some salad cream for dunking (I can dunk nearly anything in salad cream!) came to 446 calories.

Total calories for the day:  1074.  Too low.  I may very well have another hi fi bar later on because I can!

Thursday, 29-10-26

 Evening, everyone!

This popped up on my laptop today and I fell for it!  To be fair, I have bought from Spicentice items before and have always been very happy with them.
Posting this in case anyone else is interested - it's not a sponsored link or anything like that.  

Maybe I will have to do a month on Spicentice!!!

I used my old and newly found (when tidying a cupboard) omelette maker today to make breakfast!  It did a very good job too - I wonder why I forgot about it?

Two swips (for oil - I ned the hex for extra (hextra?) cheese or 205 calories

Corned beef toastie with salad.  Delicious.

One fibre hex for the bread.

One calcium hex for the cheese.

Two swips for corned beef
One and a half swips for the chutney

or

556 calories

(that's interesting)

(my attempt at an 'arty' food photo!!)

I had corned beef to use up and didn't want to 

have potato for a hash so I concocted a cabbage, tomato and corned beef layer bake and had it with broccoli, cabbage and sprouts.

Two swips for the white bean sauce, two swips for the corned beef and one calcium hex for grated cheese.
Or 381 calories plus whatever the bean sauce was - I have no idea.

Summary:
One fibre hex and two calcium hexes

Nine and a half swips

or

1142 calories plus whatever the white bean was.

Wednesday, 28-10-26

 Good evening!
I was really pleased with how it all held together last night at the Harvester.  It's so easy to just think 'blow it' when you're eating out but I didn't feel I went short at all; I loved what I was eating.

I'm pondering another 'Week On . . .' soon.  However, it won't be the same as all those ready meals from Iceland - I thought of having a week on chicken.
Not breakfasts, obviously, but lunches and dinners. 
Not just chicken, chicken and nothing but chicken. 
But chicken and . . .

I think I could do that without buying anything much.  I have a chicken crown, chicken breast fillets and chicken thighs in the freezer.  It would be a good way of using them up.

Changing the subject . . .
If you are interested, this is a very balanced article from Which? about ultra processed foods.

Breakfast was some fruit - mango, watermelon and pear and I had an apple earlier because I was peckish.

SW free or 188 calories

This soup was lovely.
Some vegetable base mix, tomatoes, butterbeans, veg stock, garlic puree, water and sundried tomatoes, boiled up and blended down before being pushed through a sieve.  No salt or pepper as the stick had seasoning.

One fibre hex for the croutons while the sundried tomato was too little to count, or 256 calories

And it made two portions so that's another lunch sorted out!

I got the idea for this from a BBC Good Food recipe that used meatballs rather than the chicken I used.
So - Spanish chicken and butterbean stew.

It was delicious.

I had an apple for afters.

Olives and evoo were my oil/fats hex and I stirred in half a calcium hex of grated Italian cheese.  Swip free or 506 calories.

Summary:
one fibre, half a calcium and one oil/fats hexes

swip free

950 calories - which is far too low so I will probably nibble on some cheese later on.

Tuesday, 27-10-26

Good evening, everyone.

The rest of the baked beans from yesterday with marmite on toast - lovely jubbly!  And an apple.

One fibre hex and one swip for a bit of extra bread after weighing the slices

A very orange day!!

Sweet potato, tomato and red pepper soup from the freezer and afterwards I enjoyed two easy peelers!

Will I turn orange, I ask myself?

Swip free.  

On to the Harvester for dinner with my dear friends, Linda, Julia and Beth.

For once, I managed to take some photos so here they are.

If you have a main meal, it is unlimited visits to the excellent salad bar so we all had salad as our started.  This was mine.  No idea of the calories but the naughtiest thing in the bowl was some dried fruit.  I tend not to go for the really creamy salads - to be honest, I don't really like them all that much now.

The main was the Simply Chicken and I had it without the veg and the potato, going back to the salad bar for second helpings instead.

Because I knew I had the calories, I went for their Berry Best dessert at 228 calories - really good 'value'.  I forgot to take a photo though.

I can't give either the SW values or the calories for today but I am absolutely sure I am well into calorie deficit.  And it was the best evening ever.

Monday, 26-10-26

Good evening.
I had hoped to get back to Slimming World today but things didn't go according to plan.
I had planned to meet Beth in town (it's her birthday) for coffee and then get home for a late lunch but it was pouring so I went round to hers for some crafting, a cuppa tea and some birthday cake.  I think I have sources the cake and put it into Nutracheck - ouch but at least I have tracked it!

I decided to have fruit for breakfast - swip free.

The cake came to sixteen swips (assuming I have the right cake and the right amount but at least it's something) and I felt quite full so that was my lunch.

I also had two cuppas so the milk was part of a calcium hex.

I had planned beans on toast for lunch and salmon, chips and veg for dinner so, after pondering, I went for the beans on toast and added some bacon to it.  And grated cheese on top although I forgot to add it until half way through the meal!

So this was one fibre hex and more than one calcium hex.

Summary:

Around one and a half calcium hexes and one fibre hex.  No oil hex

Around 16 swips

Around 1160 calories

me above 

So overdoing the swips doesn't necessarily take me out of deficit

Reflections after a week on One Pound meals from Iceland

After this week, here's some questions and answers.

What did I think of the food?

Cheap!  For £1 or less, you can't expect great quality, can you?  It was OK-ish.  Having said that, there were some things that I really enjoyed and will be getting again.  The turnover, the pizza, some of the pasta meals, for example.  It's opened my eyes to more possibilities.

I spent £14.50 on all the meals. just under £5 for speed vegetables and some eggs and I also used what I already had as  I wasn't going to waste anything.  So not super-cheap but not terribly expensive for me either.

It's given me ideas of things to make myself - things involving pastry, for a start!  I could make a jolly good chicken and veg pot pie with much more filling.  The bacon and cheese turnover wouldn't be too tricky.  I could make bakes without nasty surprises in the filling.  I could use some of the pasta meals as a base and add leftovers to bulk them out, just for convenience.  I liked the fish pie very much, it just needed more fish, so I thought I could thaw the pie, then spoon it over some fish and air fryer cook it to cook the fish and brown the top.

How do I feel now and how did I feel through the week?

Well . . . at first, I felt fine.  It was nice to have 'permission' to eat certain things without my SW/Mediterranean conscience nibbling at the corners of my mind!  I dearly love pastry but rarely have it because it's hardly a healthy thing.  
Through the week I began to feel the effects of a bigger calorie deficit than usual.  Things like fuzzy headedness, for example.  I didn't actually feel hungry any more than usual.  And while cravings for certain things (like pastry!!!) were satisfied, other cravings started - things like pulses, avocado . . . that sort of thing.  Interesting!

I though I might have some constipation issues but I didn't.  What came out was less for obvious reasons but it wasn't a problem in any way at all.

And now - I'm feeling great!  Really good.

Nutrition?
Definitely poor in that if I stuck to three of their meals each day and nothing more, not only would I feel very hungry, I would also worry about nutrition levels - low calories, low protein - actually low everything.  It was good as far as salt is concerned though - that was also lowish, perhaps partly because amounts were quite small. 
I had intended to get some multivitamins but forgot.  Ooops!
I am SO glad I adapted with added salad, vegetables and a little fruit.  A real life saver in terms of variety of texture and flavour as well as filling me up and giving my gut something healthy to work on.

I've worked out the averages for the week which you may have seen in my Sunday post.   Some of them are low and the challenge for anyone trying to lose some weight is to get the macros right but stay in a calorie deficit - however you do that.

And it's not just about the numbers.  It's also about the quality of the food that informs those numbers. isn't it?  I have doubts about the quality, especially the protein and fats.  I didn't see much evoo in the ingredients lists!

What have I missed this week?

Oh, goodness - loads of things.
Bread, cheese, starchy veg, pulses, etc, good quality lean meat, avocado . . . I could go on for ages!

Changes?

Hmm - yes, I think I will be making some changes.

As described above, I have ideas for adapting or making similar things that hadn't occurred to me before.
While it was a right pain remembering to weigh everything, it did inform me and I think that this coming week, even though I am back on SW/Meddy style meals, I will continue to check the calories and the macros as much as I can, using Nutracheck.  Sometimes you just feel you need to know, don't you? 
The other change is that I think now and again I will have a Calorie Day rather than a SW Day (but don't tell Heidi).  The idea is to stay in calorie deficit but to give myself permission to branch out a bit.  A few less healthy meals shouldn't hurt now and again and if they keep me on track, great.

A week on Iceland one pound(ish) meals: last day

Good evening.
Back to normal tomorrow, back to swips and hexes and so on - 

I had planned to make citrus pancakes but I had some tuna to use up so I made savoury waffles instead.  The flavour was great, the texture not so much.  I probably won't use tuna again but I ate the lot and enjoyed it.

322 calories or half a fibre hex and one swip

Lunch was the last steak and cheese bake which I approached very carefully after the unpleasant surprises last time.  SW didn't have the swips on their app but it was 320 calories while the whole meal was 379 calories. - I'll give it 6/10 this time.

It was OK, nicer than the last one

I enjoyed it more than last time but it's not amazing.  I can (and maybe will) make a much nicer one with M&S canned steak, grated cheese and bought puff pastry.

For the very last meal, it was the last of the four chicken and vegetable pies.  This time, after I cooked the pie, I opened up the top and popped in some cooked chicken and a bit more gravy.  I was going to have some roast potatoes but when I came to it, I was quite happy with some roasted parsnips instead.

Oh, it was so good!

After I added the extra chicken.  It made a beautiful pie which I am scoring 9.5/10.  :-)

The pie was 438 while the additions were 171 calories 

Or 19s swips and the add-ins didn't change that.

Some number crunching for the whole day:

Calories:  1384 (1900)

Fats:  55.1  (74)

Carbs:  141.9 (255)

Fibre:  28 (30)

Protein:  58.7  (46.5)

Salt:  2.7 (Max of 6)

And, finally, I worked out the averages for the whole nine days:  It's probably not 100% accurate; I did some rounding etc and may have fumbled a few numbers, but it is close enough.

And that's that.  Back to normal again and I will do a reflection thing at some point tomorrow.  If you've lasted the nine days, thanks very much.

A week on Iceland one pound(ish) meals: day eight

Evening, everyone.  Nearly there, just one more day to go and I have started my more healthy meal planning for the coming week.

Today involved a bit of adapting as I come to the last few days and it worked fine.

Porridge for breakfast and I went for chia seeds rather than mixed seeds.  It just felt healthier.
The pears should have been used several days ago and, yes, I did cut off the worst bits of peel.
Breakfast looks boring but was, in fact, delicious.

398 calories or one fibre hex and part of a fats hex

Lunch was the other half of the tuna pasta to which I added softened onion, pepper and mushroom, some more tuna and some grated cheese.
It made a huge difference, it was more than enough with some tomatoes on the side and I really enjoyed it.  

Any enjoyment score wouldn't be fair but it's a fair bit higher.  :-)

Half of the tuna pasta was 266 and the add-ins came to 232 calories
Or 2 swips and one calcium hex.  That is very SW friendly.

Chicken curry and rice for dinner.  I know it looks like something I won't write in here but it was actually really nice.  A bit of a spicy hit, a tasty sauce and the rice was just right.  Not loads of chicken but enough to fill me up.  I think I might get this again and could have it with a few sides like bhajis, samosas, etc, for a treat meal.

I'm giving it 8.5/10

I fancied a banana afterwards

The usual info and it is four swips.

Crunching the numbers
Calories:  1401 (1900) - highest of the week so far but still firmly in deficit.

Fats:  25.2 (74)

Carbs:  193.8 (255)

Fibre:  28.9 (30) - close!
Protein:  83.3 (46.5)  - that's better!!

Salt:  3.13 (max of 6)

Today actually fitted into the Slimming World structure.  Interesting!!

A week on Iceland one pound(ish) meals: day seven

Good evening, everyone.

There were no naughty works, book throwing or anything else at SW this morning.  I lost four pounds.  I was very happy with that!

Really the week should be finished but I have more meals to use so I'll continue until Sunday evening before going back to the Slimming World plan for a while.

For breakfast, I made a big pancake to which I added sweetener, grated carrot and cinnamon - a bit like carrot cake.  I just shoved the batter, all of it, in a pan and let it cook so it was thicker than usual.  On top I spooned yogurt and some stewed plums.
The whole breakfast was 241 calories or half a fibre hex for flour,  I don't swip stewed fruit.

Lunch was macaroni cheese and you know what?  It was quite nice. 
I added a very little salt (it was already one of the higher salted meals I have tried) and it could have done with a topping of cheese but I ate the lot.
Another time, I would eat half and add extras - chicken, cauliflower and broccoli, perhaps - plus a topping of cheese and blitz it in the air fryer for a few minutes.

465 calories or nine swips and a score of 7/10

Here's the nutritional and ingredients stuff.

For dinner, I braved Chinese chicken and rice and, because I was fed up with the lack of good protein, I dug some cooked chicken out of the freezer and added some of it.  I have plans for what was left.

It was nice, loads of rice plus more veg than most of the other meals I have had this week so I didn't add any more, but tasted a bit bland so I added some soy sauce.  I'd say 6.5/10.

The nutritional stuff!
The meal without my additions was 460 calories or 5 swips

The day's number crunching:

Calories:  1323 (1900)

Fats:  30.5 (74)
Carbs:  183.9 (255)

Fibre:  21.1 (30)

Protein:  69.2 (46.5)

Salt:  6.4 (max of 6)

So over in protein which is fine but also on salt which is not fine.  I must drink plenty of water before bed time.

A week on Iceland one pound(ish) meals: day six

Hello again.

I have enough Iceland meals to keep this going until the end of Sunday and then I'll be back on Slimming World.
I'll do a follow up and I'm thinking about how what I have learnt and experienced could be used going forward.

Today was a sort of off plan day because I was out with Chris for lunch.  I was going to just skip a day but I decided that I could plan in one Iceland meal and monitor the rest of what I eat.

You almost didn't get a photo of breakfast as I almost forgot, hence the half eaten easy peeler.  I haven't eaten as much fruit as usual this week and thoroughly enjoyed this.
Swip free and 210 calories

We went to The Hare, a local pub/eating place, and I planned to have a cheese and tomato sandwich.  However, the menu wasn't the same as online so it was cheese and tomato baguette instead.  Not huge helpings which I was thankful for, and no crisps on the side, just mixed leaves.  It was really nice.  Sorry, no photo though.

I estimated amounts for Nutracheck and, including a couple of mini choc chip cookies back at Chris' over coffee, it came to around 620 calories.  No idea of hexes and swips though

For dinner, I had the tuna pasta bake that I had planned earlier in the week and then didn't have.
It was nice, I will say that, but can you spot the tuna?  I found a few little flakes.  Also, it was the only meal so far this week that I needed to add more salt to.  Only a sprinkle but even so . . .

I ate all the salad but only had room for half of the pasta so (and please don't do this at home, OK?)  I am cooling the leftovers and refreezing for another time when I will add extra veg, loads more tuna and have some cheese on top!
I'm giving it 6.5/10.  Nice as far as it goes but . . .

(Edit - I forgot to add the nutritional stuff last night, sorry.  Here it is)

The reduced amount was 225 calories or 2 swips.  

So, the number crunching.

Calories:  1106 (1900) - it would have been a lot more, had I eaten the lot and remember, lunch was an estimation.  It might be a bit more - or less!
Fats:  39.6 (74)

Carbs:  112.5 (225)

Fibre:  17.1 (30)

Protein:  41 (46.5)

Salt:  2.6 (max of 6) - this includes the extra sprinkle.

If I haven't lost weight at SW tomorrow, I will probably throw a major wobbly, stamp, scream, chuck my book through the window and even say a few naughty words.
(and if you believe that . . .  )

A week on Iceland one pound(ish) meals: day five

Hello again, everyone!  Still going strong on this week of one pound meals from Iceland!

I woke super early and felt quite hungry so I made a hot drink with chicken stock powder and then had an apple - it's all included in the breakfast calorie count.

Breakfast was not from Iceland.  I had an omelette with tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms, seasoned with smoked paprika and a pinch of chilli flakes. 
To two eggs, I added some nutritional yeast that gave it more 'body' as well as nice flavour so it cooked firmer and I could pick it up like toast and dunk it in the vegetables.   

256 calories or one swip.

Lunch was the other half of the thin crust pepperoni pizza and with it I had some salad (again - just as well I really like salad, isn't it?) and then a banana.  I enjoyed this as much as last time if not more.  9/10, I think and I will definitely be getting some more.

I've already posted the nutritional info and ingredients on day one

451 calories or twenty four swips for the pizza.

It has been a day of repeats.  Dinner was the third of the chicken and vegetable pie (info on day one) with plenty of extra vegetables. 
I made sure I cooked the pie properly this time and enjoyed it much more.  8.5/10
438 calories or 19 swips.

Now for the number crunching.

Calories:1288 (1900)

Fats:  58.3 (74)

Carbs:  140.3 (255)

Fibre:  19.5 (30)

Protein:  50.7 (46.5)

Salt:  3 (6)

A week on Iceland one pound(ish) meals: day four

Still here, still munching away, still feeling pretty much OK although sometimes a little fuzzy round the old brain.  Not unwell, just vaguely not-quite-right.  Not always, just occasionally.

And I'm starting to think of grains, pulses, real cheese, evoo, wholewheat pasta - baked beans on my own wholegrain bread sound amazing right now.  lol

I had a banana before popping off the Groove class this morning, weighed it and started my Nutracheck diary for the day - this is where I am getting all the macro number from for my salads, veg, etc.

Breakfast was the second of the bacon and cheese turnovers (there's two in the pack) and I had it with tomatoes.  It was just as nice this time as it was last.  9/10 and I will buy them again

I posted the nutritional info and ingredients on day one.

The turnover is 263 calories and SW tells me it is 13.5 swips!

For lunch I had the Hawaiian pizza slice which was basically what it said - a sort of Hawaiian pizza on a slice of pizza dough - and I put together a little salad on the side.  There seemed to be a lot of pineapple under the cheesy gloop and actually, I really liked it and will probably buy it again.

8.5/10

353 calories and 17.5 swips (ouch)

I have forgotten to photo the nutrition and ingredient info, sorry.  

Lasagne for dinner.  I've heard good things of this lasagne which is now £1.20.   What goes well with lasagne is coleslaw so I splashed out on a bit of salad cream to go with the red and white cabbage, carrot and apple and I finished off the rest of the apple after I made the coleslaw.

563 calories, one of the higher calories meals I have tried this week, and 13.5 swips.

Really tasty, I will be getting it again, 9/10

Today's macros:
Calories:  1443 (1900)

Fats:  58.6 (74)

Carbs:  175.2 (255)

Fibre:  17.8 (30)

Protein:  52.2 (46.5) (that's good!)
Salt:  4.6 (max of 6)

I'm doing a half-way-weigh tomorrow morning . . .