Happy Hump Day!

Wednesday is hump day, but I feel like I've just got over a personal hump. I've been struggling with keeping to my Slimming World diet for the last few weeks. I'm still pushing it at the gym but it's now half term and the kids are home. We've been super busy with activities but proud of myself for making pizza chips the other day after a long shopping trip to Ikea. Added loads of roasted veggies to it. Awesome!

I've also made Spaghetti bolognese this week and tonight I made Singapore Noodles. 

I also went to the Tower of London yesterday, it was a beautiful day and a lovely sight to see. 

Hoping now I can stay good! 

So I put on a pound last week but for some reason I was feeling pretty trim. I think its all the work I've been putting in at the gym. I feel toned and not wobbly at all. My problem area is my tummy. It gets bloated and then nothing fits me. I've found ways to disguise it but its really only passable when I'm working out. I went shopping on Saturday for a nice to wear to my local theatre in the evening. I was a bit paranoid but no one said it looked hideous! :) phew!

Tonight I've made burgers, 

Was a nice quick meal while catching up with Strictly! I'm off to zumba class now! 

It's been a crappy week, with crappy weather. My new job is in a near perfect scenario, part time, term time only so I don't need childcare, excellent pay and benefits, not too far away, my own office. But with this great scenario comes a pretty tough job. I've been in tears and drowning my sorrows in cake and junk food. I've been ill too, with a mild cold and the lousy weather just finishes me off.

I made some great meals this week despite it all, like this paella I found in an old magazine my group leader gave me, a chorizo and chicken one!

I also made beef stew on Sunday...

and a chicken curry for dinner tonight. 

So I've been doing my best for my meals, it's just been a tough week resisting all the naughty stuff in between. Weigh in tonight and I've put on a lb this week. I'm chastising myself but I won't let it get to me, time to have a fresh start this week from tomorrow. I want to be good because I have a night out planned next week and I want to have a few drinks. It hasn't been that awful this week, I've been to the gym for some hardcore zumba classes and I've started wearing my engagement ring again. It used to feel uncomfortable. For a whole year I couldn't even wear my wedding ring, and now look. :) 

Gotta take these non-scale victories where I can! :) 

Comfort Food

It's been a bit of a rubbish weekend. I've been under the weather which is quite unusual. Since I've been with Slimming World and started exercising regularly I've hardly been ill. I feel great most of the time, full of energy.

My exercise routine consists of Zumba class on Monday and Wednesdays. I've managed to get a few friends to go with me,

I love Zumba, it's kept me really fit and toned and totally changed my apple shape into more of an hourglass.

I also have a dance troupe rehearsal every Friday. I love my dance troupe, it is just so much fun. Here's a link to our routine that we did last Christmas, and we're doing it again this year.

My dance troupe

Dinner tonight was comfort food in the form of beef stew from the Extra Easy Cookbook. Oops, I started eating it before I took a pic! So yummy! Feeling better already!

Food, Glorious Food

I love food! No really, I love food so much. I love cooking. I think the best thing about cooking is that you can make your food exactly how you like it. The beauty of slimming world is that with a few little tweaks you can make the most incredible food, healthy and virtually fat free. In my previous tumblr blog, https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lessofjess76 I posted a lot of pictures of my meals. I want to keep doing that but I also want to hear from my followers, so please feel free to comment, feed back, discuss! Talk to me. Here are some the meals I have had in the last week, including food I've taken to work with me!

 This is a fabulous prawn and noodle dish from Gok Wan's cook book. He's an excellent cook and I got an awful lot of tips from his tv show when that was on.

 Hehe, last week I won the weekly raffle in group, the soy sauce with lemon grass was so awesome, I used it in two of the dishes below!

 This is the minestrone I found in this month's magazine. It was beyond delicious, and so easy! Perfect for the blustery autumn weather.

 It was so good I took it for lunch the next day. I don't have a microwave at work so I nuke it at home and I bring it in this Aladdin container I go from Amazon, keeps it warm for up to four hours!

 I found this marinated pork recipe in the magazine too, used the lemon grass soy sauce. Superb! My kids really liked this one. Gotta have the SW chips and a big dollop of lightest mayonnaise!

 One of my personal favourites, Malaysian Red Pepper Chicken Curry. It's a beaut! From the Taste of Asia cookbook.

The kids' favourite, pasta bolognaise. Can't ever go wrong with this one.

A shiny new food and weight loss blog

 Hi,

I'm Jess. 

I'm 38, married, with two daughters and I've been with Slimming World for over two years. It's been slow and steady as I was studying full time until a few months ago. I'm working part time now and it's a hard slog juggling work, kids, slimming and my other activities. I have a super busy life and I love the way it is. I have actually been blogging Tumbr for some time, but I got bored of the lack of interaction.




http://lessofjess76.tumblr.com/

Here's my story.

You see, it was about a year after I had my second child that my weight spiralled out of control, along with my post natal depression. I started counselling sessions and while it helped me piece together my sanity, I gave up working to be home with my kids.


My little girls in all their love helped me but I simply wasn't happy with how big I'd gotten. I could put on a pretty dress, do my hair nice and dress my girls like dolls. I could pose for a nice picture but behind my smile I was really very unhappy. Other pictures I tried to hide, but they reminded me how bad I'd gotten.

Then my mother became ill. She had cancer for the second time. When she died in 2010, it hit me how important it was to look after my health. I couldn't take these things so lightly.

It was still another couple of years before I would join slimming world. I was a size 22 by now. I had constant indigestion, I was bloated, shiny faced, tired and moody. 

In 2012 I joined, not long after this picture on the left was taken. I just hated how I looked in the pictures at this wedding. It was time for me to make a big change. I had started to feel happy again. I had joined an amateur theatre company, I was dancing and singing on stage and I loved it. I had also gone back to University to get a degree. I was definitely in the right place mentally to start my Slimming World journey. I've actually only lost one stone but damn I feel and look so much better. I still have a long way to go to reach my target but things are looking up!