Skinny Bakery Low Syn Sweet Treats

As a Slimming Worlder I'm constantly on the lookout for my next low syn sweet treat so when my friend introduced me to The Skinny Bakery I knew I had to order some bits to try. The whole idea behind Skinny Bakery is one which I love; founded in 2013 by a home baker called Mariella who experimented endlessly to find the tastiest recipes containing a fraction of the calories. The fact that her business has gone from strength to strength speaks volumes of how nice the stuff must be so it'd be rude not to order selection of their sweet treats. 

They do a 'Not So Skinny Bakery Box' which contains one of each of their 8 product range and it's only £19.99 so I figured that'd be a good place to start if I was seeing what I liked. The box contains:

Sweet Potato Brownies

Mini Coconut Bites

Chocolate Pearls

Beetroot Pearls

Mini Flapjacks

Mini Gingerbread Men

Choc Chip Cookies

Double Chocolate Meringue Cookies

I've picked out 4 of my favourites from the selection which I can 100% recommend to you if you're looking for some low syn/low calorie sweet treats. You can of course buy each of these separately at £2.99 per pot. 

PLEASE NOTE: All syn values are approximate; calculated by the fact that 20 calories equals 1 syn.

Skinny Chocolate Pearls (208 calories/10.5 syns per full pot) are like squdigy mini cupcakes with a thick chocolate sauce in the middle which is actually made from low fat yoghurt. They're perfectly moist and the chocolate yoghurt frosting just gives the texture a little bit of something different. 

Skinny Double Chocolate Meringue Cookies (141 calories/7 syns per full pot) I think I'm going to declare these my favourite; although they look lighter brown than the other chocolatey bits, I think they actually taste the most chocolatey. They're crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside which is exactly how a meringue should taste in my opinion!

Skinny Choc Chip Cookies (187 calories/9.5 syns per full bag) I expected these to be hard cookies but I was so pleasantly surprised to find that these are actually soft and silky. They've got the sweetness just right with these and they're so perfect with a cuppa. 

Skinny Sweet Potato Brownies (189 calories/9.5 syns per full bag) I'll start by saying that these taste nothing like sweet potato; they're made with dates to sweeten them and they're soft and squidgy just as a brownie should be... they only trouble with them is that they're not big enough!

Admittedly, I didn't like everything in the box but the whole point of getting a selection was to see what I preferred and it was no surprise that the chocolate products came out on top! You can scoff your way through full packs of these with zero guilt because you know you're not consuming high amounts of calories, sugar and fat and they actually taste really, really good which is a revelation... a taste sensation!

Healthy Eating Technology You Need in Your Life

Obviously you can follow most healthy eating plans without the aid of any kitchen appliances (aside from a kettle, an oven and possibly a microwave) but there are some which make life quite a bit easier. 

You've probably already heard of the Tefal Actifry, I've had mine for 3 years and I've made countless batches of Slimming World chips in it because it saves so much messing around. Without an Actifry, Slimming World chips involve par-boiling then oven baking and turning and I still don't think they turn out as good. Obviously chips aren't the only thing you can cook in an Actifry but that's the main thing I use it for.

It's so easy, you just cut your potatoes in to chip strips (I always leave the skin on because I'm extra lazy), spray them with Frylight, add whatever seasoning you like (in my case this time it was salt and cajun seasoning) and then set them to cook for around 35 mins for a full load. The Actifry turns them periodically and cooks them to perfection, I don't even know what it does to them but it's bloomin' good. The timer tells you when the time is up and you just serve them straight from the bowl. 

The newest addition to my kitchen is the Tefal OptiGrill* which is ideal for cooking all different kinds of meats and you can also grill potatoes and vegetables on it. On the face of things it looks a bit like a George Forman grill but trust me, it's so much more...

The Tefal OptiGrill uses sensors to identify the thickness of the meat and adjusts the cooking time accordingly. There are 6 different meat settings (burgers, poultry, bacon, sausages, red meats and bacon) as well as a setting for frozen foods and a manual temperature setting. To begin cooking you just select your desired setting, leave it to pre-heat then add your product, close the plates and leave it too cook how you like it. It identifies and adapts to the thickness of whatever you put between the plates and cooks it to perfection.

At each stage the OptiGrill tells you that it's complete and the indicator light changes colour accordingly. I'm so impressed by the whole thing and how easy it is; just being able to pop stuff in there and taking it out when it's cooked perfectly suits me down to the ground. I've managed to ruin so much food by over cooking it and not turning it when it's under the normal grill but this cooks everything evenly on both sides and leaves all the flavour in there. The fat drains into the drip tray at the bottom (although in SW Burgers case, there's very little fat). 

I thought that frozen burgers would be a test of how well this cooked things as it's so easy to char frozen foods whilst leaving the middle still cold. To set it going on the appropriate setting I pressed the 'frozen' button then the 'burger' button and then pressed 'OK', after the pre-heating stage it was good to go and after trusting it to cook the burger to 'medium' without looking at it once I lifted the top plate to reveal a perfectly cooked through burger which was juicy and flavoursome. I didn't add any oil or even Frylight as the plates are non-stick and the burgers didn't show any signs of sticking at all. The best thing about this is that if you can't fit everything on one cooking you don't have to wait for it to cool completely and reheat you just set it to pre-heat again (which doesn't take long at all) and do the cycle once more (one cycle of cooking should be enough for between 2 and 4 people depending on portion size). 

I was a little concerned about the cleaning process as I remember that my old George Foreman didn't come apart very well to allow for it but this is the total opposite; the plates unclip easily and can be washed in a dishwasher or manually as long as you don't use abrasive scrubbers.

I'm so impressed with this gadget and I would honestly recommend it to anyone regardless of whether you're healthy eating or not because it's just so easy to use and it produces such tasty meat! It retails at only £100 from Debenhams and I would say that it's well worth it, especially if you struggle to know when meat is cooked because this does all the hard work for you! 

Slimming World Onion Bhaji Loaf Recipe

Who doesn't love a good onion bhaji, especially on a Saturday night?! There are obviously healthy choices on an Indian takeaway menu but there is a way that you can be 100% Syn free but still enjoy Indian food. For your main meal you could have a Slimming World Chicken Tikka Ready Meal and either as a side or a starter you could have some of this onion bhaji loaf with a yoghurt and mint dip...

Onion Bhaji Loaf

Ingredients:

- 1 tin of Asda 'Chosen by You' Chickpea Dahl (make sure it's Asda, don't substitute it without checking the Syns first because some brands are quite high in Syns!)

- 1 Packet of Bachelors Mild Curry Savoury Rice (if you can find the old style packaging in somewhere like Pound World or B&M Stores buy that, otherwise the new version which you'll find in normal supermarkets is actually 1.5 syns for the pack)

- 3 onions, sliced

- 3 eggs

Method:

- Cook the rice as directed on the packet

- In the meantime fry the onion in Fry Light until soft & pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees

- Beat 3 eggs and add the Chickpea Dahl and rice and mix together

- Transfer into a loaf tin and put in the middle of the oven for 40 mins

- Slice and serve (you can eat it warm or cold!)

Yoghurt & Mint Dip

Ingredients:

- Fat free natural yoghurt

- Colman's Fresh Garden Mint Concentrate

Method

- To be honest you can experiment and do this to your own taste, I just emptied the pot of yoghurt into a ramekin and added the mint concentrate to taste.

As I say you can eat the onion bhaji loaf hot or cold so it's perfect to serve as part of a meal or as a something to snack on, I enjoy it either way and it's so easy to make which is a bonus!

Slimming World Picnic Ideas and Low Syn Scotch Egg Recipe

Last week me and Kayley took Jasper to Dalby Forest for a day of family time and relaxation, we went for a little walk and we got ourselves sat down in a little picnic area next to a stream (Jasp loves water so it was an obvious choice for us). Picnics are notorious for being full of naughty foods which aren't exactly Slimming World/healthy eating friendly; sausage rolls, crisps and cakes are all obviously loaded with calories but there are ways that you can enjoy some really tasty picnic food without spoiling your healthy eating plan. 

We had a proper bag full of food filled with all kinds of different food both sweet and savoury; that's what I love about picnics, you can graze for hours on lots of different things. Here are some ideas that you could use this summer if you're thinking of doing a healthy picnic:

- Box of fresh mixed salad (a must to get your speed foods in, I much prefer to cut my own rather than using bagged stuff but it's completely up to you)

- Hard Boiled Eggs

- DIY sandwiches (we used Kingsmill Wholemeal Thins which are a Healthy B); you could either fill them with salad and meat from the BBQ or you could bring your own sandwich fillings, I did both because I made some light egg mayo at home - it was so nice!

- Sugar free drinks (we got some big bottles of sugar free flavoured water)

- Slimming World Scotch Eggs (see below for recipe)

Slimming World Scotch Eggs 

These are so easy and they work out at only 1.5 syns each

Ingredients:

- Tesco Healthy Choices Cumberland Sausages (1 syn each)

- Cooled Hard Boiled Eggs

- Smash (optional, it can be seen as a 'tweak' but for the amount you would use I wouldn't worry too much, you could also use wholemeal breadcrumbs but this would need to be synned or used as a healthy B choice)

Method:

- Squeeze out all the sausage from the casing into a bowl 

- Take a lump of sausage and mould it around the egg (this is a case of practise makes perfect, some will have more sausage than others but the effect is the same)

- If you want, you can roll it in either wholemeal breadcrumbs or smash but this isn't necessary.

- Place on a baking tray, spray with Frylight and bake for around 30 minutes turning frequently

Some will turn out better than others and I know that some of mine maybe didn't have enough sausage around them but they still all tasted really nice. Depending on how much sausage you use for each the syn value may be different, all you'd need to do to work it out is see how many scotch eggs you get from a pack of 8 sausages at 1 syn per sausage then divide it equally to get the syn value. 

There are lots of variations of this recipe on the internet, a quick search of Google will find lots of different ones with slight differences and additions to ingredients.

- The meat we had for the BBQ was pork loins, the Tesco Healthy Choices Cumberland Sausages (1 syn each) and fillet steak but you could have any variation of syn free meats and you can technically eat as much as you want until you're full!  

- Low syn crisps (we got Hula Hoop Pufts which are 3.5 each (15g bag) but other options are Quavers (4.5 for 16g bag), French Fries (4 for a 19g bag) or Skips (4 for a 15.5g bag).

- Babybel Lights (you can have 3 for a healthy A choice, winner!)

- If you can fit in anything sweet the obvious choice is fresh seasonal fruit; we had strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.

- Hartley's 10 calorie jellies are only 0.5 syns each, as long as you can keep them cool before you eat them they're a great pudding choice.

We were so full when we'd finished our little picnic but we didn't have one ounce of guilt afterwards because it was all healthy and well within our syn allowance for the day. Just shows that you can do pretty much anything when it comes to eating out with family, it's just all in the planning!

Slimming World Chilli Recipe

Chilli is definitely up there on my list of favourite meals because it's easy to make, it can be used in so many different meals and it's easy to batch cook so you have some for the next days meals. When making your own you can also make it to your own tastes which is great because you can make it as hot as you like; I personally just like mine with a bit of a kick but you could easily add more chilli to make it hotter. I made a pan the other day and I had it on top of wedges one day with my healthy extra cheese on top, it tasted so naughty but it was actually totally Syn free! The next meal I made with it is the one pictured below, chilli with new potatoes, salad, 1 tbsp of light salad cream (2 syns) and 45g of grilled light halloumi cheese (HEXA)...

Ingredients: 

1 packet of less than 5% fat mince

1 tin plum tomatoes

250g tomato passata

1 tin kidney beans

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

Mushrooms

Onions 

Beef stock cube

1 tsp lazy chilli (more if you like it hotter!)

1 tsp lazy garlic 

Method:

To be honest, when I make it, I pretty much just chuck it all in a pan and leave it to simmer but there is a bit of an 'order' in which it goes in...

- Brown the mince and onions in a pan

- Add the peppers and mushrooms 

- Pour in the passata and tin of tomatoes

- Add the stock cube, lazy garlic and lazy chilli

- Add the kidney beans (I usually drain half the water but put the other half in the pan with the beans)

- Bring to boil and then simmer for around 30 mins, stirring occasionally and wait for it to thicken up. 

- Once it's at the right consistency, take it off the heat, stir and leave for 5 mins. 

And there you go, a pan of chilli read to do with what you want; a jacket potato topping, with rice, wedges and stuffed peppers are just a few ideas.

Making Healthy Choices in an Indian Restaurant or Indian Takeaway

A good Indian probably one of my favourite takeaways to get and after I went for a family meal to one of my local ones last night I realised that it was a perfect destination for a 'how to make healthy choices' post! I used to be a massive Korma lover which is loaded with calories because of the cream, then I moved onto Tikka Masala which is almost as calorific but since doing Slimming World I've experimented a lot more with what I've been having as a main meal. You'll probably be quite pleasantly surprised by what you can get whilst staying well within your Syns for the day...

Starters:

I love poppadoms so I always have one (5 Syns) with the cucumber and onion mix (free) that most places do, you can also have some of the other dips but they're obviously synned; Mango Chutney is 2 Syns per tbsp, Raita Dip is 1 Syn per tbsp and Lime Pickle is 1.5 Syns per tbsp. You could also have a Chicken Tikka starter which is pieces of chicken marinated in tikka spices served with salad, I would maybe count a couple of Syns for any oil that might be on it but that is probably what you should go for if you're trying to keep Syns as low as possible. 

Things to stay away from are Onion Bhajis and Samosas for obvious reasons; they're deep fried and they're flour based which increases the calorie/syn content. I also wouldn't go for a kebab that wasn't 'proper' meat, by that I mean things like Sheek kebabs as you have no idea of the fat content of the meat. 

Mains:

If you think you have to have a dry dish to stay within Syns then you'd be wrong; if curry is your thing then you can have a guilt free Lamb/Chicken Rogan Josh (average portion 550g 10 syns) or a Chicken Dhansak (average portion 550g 10.5 syns) with boiled rice (free). If you are wanting a close to syn free option then Chicken Shashlik is a nice choice (chicken tikka pieces with cooked tomatoes, onions and peppers) or a Chicken Tikka Main (just don't have any of the curry sauce that comes with it). 

Things to avoid would be naan breads, cream based dishes and obviously chips.

Dessert:

Indian restaurants aren't exactly famous for their desserts are they (aside from the cool little ice creams which come shaped like a penguin or a bird) so I won't say much on this front other than fill up on your starter and main!

Slimming World Ready Meals An Honest Review

It's been a few weeks now since Slimming World released their ready meals into Iceland, everyone went a bit mental for them and it was proving pretty difficult to get hold of them in some stores (who knew a ready meal could cause such a stir?!) but I finally got hold of two of them the other day so I thought I'd share my thoughts on them. They do 8 different ready meals: Chicken Pizzaiola,  Hot Smoked Salmon Farfalle, Chicken Tikka Masala, Sweet Potato Curry, Singapore Noodles, Beef and Veg Crush, Meatballs with Pasta in a Spicy Tomato sauce and Roasted Vegetable Pasta as well as bags of syn free meatballs and sausages. I came away with Chicken Tikka Masala and Meatballs and Pasta in a spicy tomato sauce simply because the were the ones I fancied at the time (and they didn't have any of the beef and veg crush, otherwise I'd have got that too).

The most important thing, I think, is that these are all completely Syn free and absolutely perfect for anyone with a busy life and who really struggles after work to choose something Slimming World friendly when they just can't be bothered to cook. I love them because I can just heat one up when I've finished work at daft o'clock and I can enjoy it without the guilt and without messing around with any meal preparation. I would imagine that a consultant would say you need to have your 1/3 speed foods as well but I'll let you into a little secret... I don't bother most of the time because these are meals for when I can't be bothered to mess around with stuff so to me preparing and adding speed foods would defeat the object. 

I'll start with the Meatballs and Pasta: out of the two I would say that this is the most pleasing to the eye when its on the plate (or in the posh pasta bowl as I chose to put it in). It takes 12 minutes in the microwave from frozen (6 mins, stir then 6 mins again) and it's a good plate/bowl full of pasta. I was pleasantly surprised at how many meatballs were in mine; I counted 6 and they are proper meaty meatballs, so much so that I would say they taste a little bit odd to start with because it's just pure meat (beef and pork). When you look at the meal frozen, it looks as if there's not going to be much sauce but there's more than enough and the cooked cherry tomatoes and spinach are a nice little additive. The sauce is quite spicy so if you're not into spicy foods then this would be one to avoid; I like spicy foods and for me this is a bit of a mouth tingler. Overall I think it's quite nice and would probably give it a 7/10 

Next up is the Chicken Tikka Masala and I'll start by saying that although this might not look as nice on the plate I can tell you that looks definitely deceive with this one. It is absolutely amazing, honestly probably the best Tikka Masala ready meal I've ever eaten. You don't get rice with it which is a bit of a downfall but it's absolutely jam packed with chicken and it actually tastes like proper chicken, not the reformed stuff that you usually get in ready meals. It is a little spicier than most chicken tikkas i've had from takeaways but not mouth burningly spicy and you get plenty of sauce as well. I would say that even though these ready meals are made for one you could easily split this one into two if you added some speed foods and obviously your rice (if you wanted to be really clever you could do cauliflower rice to get even more speed foods on there). One tip I have for this one is that you need to let it stand for 5 minutes or so once it's cooked otherwise it does appear quite watery, trust me the wait pays off because the sauce thickens up beautifully. I'd give this a 9/10 (would have had a 10 if it came with rice)

Overall I'm absolutely loving the fact that Slimming World have teamed up with Iceland to do some ready meals and I can say with absolute certainty that they are in a different league to the Weight Watchers ones in taste, portion size and the fact that they're totally Syn free! The only slight down side is that they retail at £3 each which is on the pricey side for a ready meal but at the moment they're on offer at 2 for £5 which makes them a little cheaper. To be honest, I personally don't mind paying the £3 because I know that the ingredients are the best, the meat is the leanest you'll get in a ready meal and overall they're just superior to other microwave meals. 

Slimming World Store Cupboard Essentials

If you are trying to be more healthy with your food I would say that your store cupboard is where it all begins. Being a Slimming Worlder there are some things that I try to always make sure I have in my cupboards either because a. they can be used in so many different ways and b. they're quick and easy to make a meal out of. Most of this stuff is also very cheap so this kind of healthy store cupboard would be suitable for any budget whether you're a student, a family or just a couple. I think one of the reasons I've been so successful at keeping to a healthy eating regime is because I have always planned what I'm going to eat to an extent kept the right things in my cupboard, I'm not going to go into fridge/fresh stuff at the moment but I thought I'd share with you some of the things you'd be likely to find in my 'store cupboard' whenever you might open it:

Tomato Puree

I made a schoolgirl error the other day and made spag bol thinking I had hoards of this stuff in, turns out that I'd run out of it so I had to make it without it. I usually make sure I have one or two tubes of this in because it can be used for spag bol, chilli or SW pizzas which are three of my favourite SW meals.

Plum Tomatoes

Again for purposes of spag bol and chilli and of course all day breakfasts. I buy Tesco Everyday Value because I don't think there's any difference at all between those and branded ones.

Tomato Passata

If you're unsure of what this is it's just basically sieved tomatoes so it's like a thick tomato sauce without the pips. This is great for chillis, curries and even for just using as a pasta sauce. You can get a few different variations to include basil or garlic to spice things up a little if you do use it as a pasta sauce, it's roughly 40p per carton and again I don't bother buying branded because own brand is just as good (Lidl also do a nice passata).

Very Lazy Garlic & Very Lazy Chillies

These are a brilliant alternative to fresh stuff; there's nothing I hate more than crushing garlic cloves because it's messy and it makes my hands stink! Same goes for chilli and if you happen to touch your eyes after you've worked with chilli and you forget - well let's just say I don't recommend it! 1 teaspoon of one of these is equal to 1 red chilli/clove of garlic so they're really simple to use and they last ages!

Spaghetti or Pasta

For me these are an obvious addition to any store cupboard because they're brilliant for making quick, easy and cheap meals. I like to cook pasta at night and then use it the next day for lunch because it's a nice alternative to sandwiches.

Baked Beans/spaghetti in tomato sauce

I would honestly feel lost without these in my cupboard at all times; they're brilliant for having with meals or on toast/jacket potatoes.

Sweetener

An alternative to sugar which can take some getting used to if you're a real sugar addict but now I can't really tell a difference especially in things like coffee/tea and on my Weetabix. Lots of healthy baking recipes include sweetener so I always make sure I have it in jar form as well as tablets.

Mug Shot/Savoury Rice/Pasta n' Sauce

I would think you either love or hate these packet pasta/rice things, I personally love them because they're low in fat/calories, they're quick and easy and they're pretty tasty. 

Mixed Herbs

Rather than having a rack of loads of different herbs I just buy the pots of mixed herbs because most of the recipes I do don't need specific herbs so these are a lot cheaper and more convenient.

Chicken/Beef/Veg stock pots/cubes

Stock cubes and stock are a vital ingredient in lots of Slimming World recipes and they are of course a main ingredient in soups. I always make sure I have some of each (usually more beef than anything else) because they're included in so many of the recipes I make.

Fry light

I never ever use oil in my cooking anymore because a. I don't like the mess it makes and b. I can't tell a difference between oil and Fry Light and Fry Light has infinitely less calories! Just a couple of sprays on whatever cooking you're doing adds a bit of a lubricant and helps to brown things off, like roast potatoes, in the oven. 

6 Things You Should Never Say To Someone Who Has Lost Weight

Losing weight is honestly one of the best things I have ever done for myself, it's given me a brand new lease of life by giving me lots of confidence and belief in myself. However, there have been times when it hasn't been easy from a food point of view or from an emotional point of view. Don't get me wrong 90% of what people have said to me has been totally complimentary but there's always been that 10% of people who (sometimes knowingly, sometimes not) have said things that have either upset me or made me quite angry! Body confidence and confidence in general, no matter what your size, is quite a fragile thing and someone can shatter it in just a few words so next time you see your friend/relative who looks to have lost a bit of weight or who you know is on a healthy eating plan, just remember these things...

You can't eat that, you're on a diet!

Firstly, I am not on a diet, I am following a 'healthy eating plan' and secondly yes I CAN eat that because I have counted my calories/Syns/Points.

Wow, you must have been big before!

With this one I can never tell whether they're actually implying that I'm STILL big or what... 

Don't stop now, keep going

Well actually, I think I have finished losing weight because I'm happy as I am but you saying that makes me doubt myself. Have I lost enough, do I still look 'big'? 

You look so much better

This is a difficult one to be honest, and I know for a fact that these people don't mean to offend but although they think they're giving a compliment, to me it fills my head with all the things they must have thought of me before I lost weight. I know I look better, I feel better but this is one of those things that's kind of an insult and a compliment at the same time. If you want to say someone looks 'better' say 'you look great' instead. 

One little bit won't hurt/won't make a difference (when talking about synful foods)

Well actually yes it will hurt and it will make a difference. Everything that passes your lips will show on the scales and maybe that 'bit' won't make a LOT of difference it could tip me over into eating a whole piece or whatever. I remember my husband and I once had an argument about a piece of quiche because I wouldn't have a bite to 'try it' but I knew if I had a 'bite' I would have wanted a full piece and the craving would have then been there for the rest of the night. 

How much do you weigh now?

Quite a few people have asked me this and to be honest I've kind of got used to it now but I can't help but think 'why does it matter?!' there was something I saw on Pinterest which said something along the lines of 'my weight is no concern of yours unless I'm sitting on you' - so yeah, that!! Asking someone how much weight they've lost is different because you're not talking actual figures which show on the scales so if you really must ask the 'how much' question, try and ask in terms of how much they've lost.

Moral of the story is... if you're unsure as to whether it's 'ok' to say something to someone, don't say it! And if you're on the receiving end of anything like this remember that the person saying it probably means well and doesn't mean to offend, chances are they've never been in your shoes and the most important thing is to not let anything or anyone stand in the way of your weight loss! 

*if you're reading this and you've ever said any of these things, don't worry, I probably didn't take offence, you'd know if I had! haha

Making Healthy Choices in Wetherspoon

Ok so Wetherspoon might not be what you'd call a 'trendy' place to eat, it's not often that you see bloggers posting about it but there's one in most towns and cities and it's fine for a bit of cheap tea or a nibble while you're having a drink. I go there quite often because I know there are good choices to be had and I don't have to spend a fortune if I don't fancy cooking. 

Starters

Not something I'd bother with in Wetherspoon because don't get me wrong I love nachos but they're essentially a pile of crisps topped with extra calories. You could go for the buffalo wings but the sauces and whatever sticky hot sauce is on them is also loaded with calories so you're pretty much knackered I'm afraid!

Mains

This is where Wetherspoon really excel because there are so many healthy options (that aren't salads!). The key is to ask for substitutes; they will always swap chips for a jacket potato if you ask them when you order. My personal favourite at Wethers is the Chicken and Pepper skewers which come with rice for an extra £1 odd and a pot of peri peri sauce on the side; they're gorgeous and really well presented. They do some really nice (reasonably priced) steaks which are perfect; of course for you steak connoisseurs out there it's not the best steak you've ever tasted but for under £6 for a steak, jacket potato, peas, mushroom and a drink you can't really complain! If fish is your thing then they do a lovely piece of salmon and you could even push the boat out and get a BBQ chicken melt with a jacket potato. They obviously do salads as well but that kind of seems like the obvious 'healthy' choice but you'd be surprised how many calories are in their chicken caesar salad which clocks up over 400 calories with the creamy dressing a croutons. The freedom salad is ok though because although it's almost 500 calories; they're all good calories and the saturated fat content is much lower than the Caesar salad. 

Other good ideas for mains:

10oz Gammon Steak

Superfood Pasta

Sweet Chilli Egg Noodles

All in all there's plenty of choice for main meals at Wethers, I'm never stuck for what to have and although it's obviously not a gourmet meal it's cheap as chips (or a jacket potato, in this case!)

Desserts

It's been a while since I've eaten a pudding at Wethers but if I was to eat one I'd probably go for the tropical fruit and ice cream; not the most adventurous of choices but if everyone in your party is having one then it'd be rude not to wouldn't it?! 

Drinks

I wouldn't normally include drinks in these posts but because Wetherspoon is essentially a pub there's obviously the alcohol temptation there and with lots of the meals you get a drink so it's important to know what to choose if you're trying to be good. First of all step away from the J2Os, they are very syrupy and sugary and they are definitely not your friend if you're trying to be healthy; as far as soft drinks are concerned always stick to Diet Pepsi or slimline tonic/bitter lemon. They also do Monster Absolutely Zero which is a sugar free energy drink and of course they do coffee and tea if you're into hot drinks. Alcoholic drinks are a little more tricky but as a general rule I personally don't drink draft beers, lagers or ciders very often at all, I tend to stick to sprits and diet mixers (Martini is a good one, so is Vodka, Bacardi and Gin although for obvious reasons don't be going mental). I do love wine but my trouble is I don't have a stop button so I stay away from that but if you think you can stop at one glass then crack on!

Side note: How gorgeous is the crockery in Wetherspoon now?! Love the blue patterned plates!

How to Make Healthy Choices at Nando's

Being on a healthy eating plan can mean that you feel like you can't go out for meals, I know lots of people who will actively avoid eating out because they are on a 'diet'. In my opinion the best way to succeed at losing weight/becoming more healthy is to look at the change in what you're eating as a new way of life which you'll be following for the foreseeable future so you need to know how to live as well as lose weight. 

Throughout my time at Slimming World I have eaten in various different places, don't get me wrong some places are better than others but there will always be a 'healthy' choice and the key is not to be scared to ask for something without a dressing or to have something in place of chips. I know that in a lot of places it's VERY hard not to choose the biggest cheesiest burger or the most calorific pizza you've ever seen but I can tell you from experience that when you choose the healthy choice you leave without an ounce of guilt and with quite a smug little smile on you face. 

I'm going to turn this into a bit of a series and we're kicking off with Nando's, champions of chicken. You'd be forgiven for assuming that it's all pretty healthy in there but there are things to watch out for; I'll break it down into starters, mains and desserts...

Starters

To be totally honest none of the starters here really float my boat, I usually just go straight in with the main course but nevertheless if I was forced to choose a starter I'd probably go for the mixed olives because although they're probably covered in oil, they're the best of a bad bunch really. 

Mains

This one is easy for me, I'd definitely go for the chicken butterfly because although there is a bit of skin on it there's nowhere near as much as there is on the other chicken 'parts'. As for sides you could go for spicy rice, corn on the cob and/or a side salad, the only thing I'd say is don't slather butter all over your corn - sprinkle some salt on and it tastes just the same. The mash and macho peas might sound like a healthier option but the mash is loaded with butter to make it creamy and tasty and the macho peas contain quite a bit of oil from what I've heard. I might also treat myself to a slice of halloumi and count it as my Healthy A choice (slimming world talk!) but I usually just go for the butterfly, spicy rice and side salad. I would suggest that you can use the peri peri sauces pretty freely because they're not creamy or anything like that so shouldn't contain too many calories so crack on with those if hot stuff is your kinda thing. 

Desserts

The frozen yoghurt is definitely the lesser of the many naughty but nice desserts on the list; I would imagine that it's full fat yoghurt but that's better than a calorie loaded chocolate cake!

Twinings Salted Caramel Green Tea Review

You've probably heard something about the benefits of drinking Green Tea; it's packed with antioxidants which can help speed up your metabolism, reduce the risk of heart disease etc. I drink quite a bit of it because I do believe it helps with my weight loss; if I've had a bad food week I up my intake of green tea and I genuinely believe that it's helped to keep weight off. The problem is that I can't say I actually 'enjoy' the taste of normal green tea. I think it tastes really bitter; nothing like actual tea and I've never thought it would be any better with sweetener so when I saw that Twinings were doing a salted caramel version of green tea I obviously picked a box up with high hopes that it was going to taste like actual salted caramel.

Twinings Salted Caramel Green Tea is £2.49 for 20 tea bags in which is a little on the expensive side but Twinings is a premium tea brand and it's something different to your normal kind of tea so I didn't really mind paying it. I always keep the tea bag in the water for at 2-3 minutes because I like to actually taste something rather than it being more like sipping on hot water; I have to say that this green tea smells incredible when it's steeping, you can really smell the salted caramel whereas normal green tea is pretty odourless I would say. 

As far as taste goes I'm going to say don't expect it to tastes as strong as it smells. I think the salted caramel aspect only really serves to make green tea less bitter and more palatable; it does have a very very slight taste of caramel but it really isn't a lot. I was a bit disappointed to be honest but then I do have to remember that is it still green tea and it's quite a vast improvement on the normal stuff; I much prefer the salted caramel version. If you want to drink green tea for its health benefits but you really dislike the taste then I would suggest trying this or one of the fruity green teas. I think when I've finished this box I'm going to try Twinings Mango and Lychee because I think that sounds nice and I reckon it'll have even more of a sweet taste than the salted caramel.

My 6 Stone Weight Loss Journey - Before & After

You'll probably already know that I'm a member of Slimming World and I have been for around 18 months now. After years of being obese with a BMI of 40 I finally decided to do something about it (you can read more about why I started to lose weight in this post), losing weight really is something that you've got to want to do otherwise you won't succeed. I often wonder what took me so long but the truth is I just wasn't ready to commit to losing weight; even my wedding didn't give me the incentive! It took me 62 weeks to lose 6 stone and it didn't come easy, I had my ups and downs; I've been on a few holidays and things during that time so it has meant some gains but I got there in the end. Lots of people have been asking whether I'm going to before and after post so here it is... (apologies for the quality of some of the photos, they're mainly taken with phones!)

Before Measurements (taken February 2012 so I dare say I will have got bigger)

Waist: 41 inches

Hips: 47 inches

Bust: 47 inches

June 2013 - London IMATS with Brogan - I would say that this is the only picture I have of me at my heaviest. 

On my wedding day October 2012 (the dress was a size 18)

 At my mums wedding August 2012 

February 2012

 My Graduation 2012

 This was in November 2013 when I had started to lose a bit of weight - I'd lost just under 2 stone 

 January 2014 I was at the 2.5 stone mark here and I started to feel a lot better about myself

On holiday in Florida May 2014 - I'd lost 4 stone for this and felt pretty damn good.

December 2014 - I'd got my 5.5 stone award 

This was me last night with my 6 stone weight loss feeling amazing!

After measurements

Waist: 31

Hips: 36

Bust: 38

So obviously 10 inches off both my waist and my hips and 9 inches off my bust. It's not until I look at figures like that, that I realise how much my body has changed. My confidence is through the roof and I honestly feel like a different person; I'm much happier now because my life is so much easier in all aspects; working, buying clothes, going out etc. etc. I was a size 18 both top and bottom before and I'm now a 10/12 bottom and a 12 top; I do still have to buy size 14 dresses most of the time because I've still got a sizeable chest but I don't mind that. At the end of the day it's not all about size and what the scales say, how I feel is what's most important to me. I'm now a target member at Slimming World so I have relaxed the plan a little to make sure I maintain within my target range and I'm absolutely loving life as my new slim self!

If you're thinking of doing Slimming World and you have any questions please do ask me in the comments below, although I'm not a consultant I can give you advice about the plan and point you in the right direction :)

Low Syn Sweet Treats on Slimming World

You've probably heard me mention before that I don't see the Slimming World plan as a 'diet', it's a change for life which I intend to continue for the foreseeable future because I think it's a realistic, sustainable way to eat. The most important part of the Slimming World plan is that no food is forbidden and you're actually encouraged to enjoy your 5-15 Syns per day so that you never feel deprived of anything. Of course, there are some things which are 'better' choices to make if you're fancying something sweet (or savoury) but ultimately you can have anything as long as you count it in your Syns. 

I've put together a little list of my favourite sweet tweets which are all under 5 syns each so there's absolutely zero guilt and you could either just have one or even have a few to satisfy your sweet craving! Even if you're not on Slimming World you can basically say that these are all under 100 calories so they're there to be enjoyed without feeling like you've ruined a healthy eating regime!

- Mikado Sticks (milk, daim or white chocolate) 0.5 

- Oreos (original & chocolate cream) 2.5

- Pink n' Whites 2.5 (put them in the microwave for 30 secs - 1 min and they're even more amazing!)

- Flumps 2 (break one of these up and put them in a hot chocolate - lush!)

- Cadbury Treat Sized Dairy Milk, Caramel, Crunchy or Flake 4

- Cadbury Treat Sized Fudge or Chomp 3

- Cadbury Highlights Hot Chocolate 2 

- Aero Mousse Orange & Chocolate 4 

These are all really good if you've got a craving for chocolate because you can team them up together to make it feel like you're having a really big sweet feast without actually going over your Syns for that day. 

5 Easy Healthy Food Swaps

It's no secret that I live a lot healthier lifestyle than I did a couple of years ago; don't get me wrong I love a good burger as much as the next person but my eating habits have changed for the better in general which I believe has contributed quite significantly to my 6 stone weight loss.

Sugar for sweetener

I used to be a 2 sugars in my tea/coffee kinda girl but now I always have sweeteners on hand both in tablet form and in a jar. I use it in place of sugar wherever possible because it's Syn free on the Slimming World plan.

Oil for Fry Light

Instead of using a glug of olive oil to stop stuff sticking to your pan, give it a couple of sprays of Fry Light which is just 1 calorie per spray and doesn't make any difference to the taste of the food (in fact I think it's great because there's no left over oil at all).

Whole milk for semi skimmed/skimmed or almond milk

I've just recently bought a carton of almond milk just to try it and I find it surprisingly nice! I think it would be great on cereal or used to make porridge with; I can't speak for what it's like in a cuppa but I'll be trying that one day too. If you're not keen on the almond milk idea then skimmed/semi skimmed contains a lot less fat than whole milk and to be honest I can't stand whole milk in tea and coffee so I never have it in the house.

White bread for wholemeal bread

A bit of a no brainer really, they say that white foods are very hard for the body to cope with and I'd say that 90% of people I speak to say that white bread especially leaves them feeling bloated. I'm a massive lover of crusty bread slathered in butter but having it too often wouldn't be overly good on the old waistline! I now very rarely buy any white bread unless it's a special occasion, for example I allowed myself a bacon sarnie on white bread on Christmas Day morning. I used to say I hated brown bread but now I actually think it's really tasty and after 18 months of not eating white bread very often I can't say I really miss it!

Sugary drinks to sugar free drinks

It makes sense to switch from regular Coke to Diet Coke; I made the switch 18 months ago after being an avid fan of the sugary fizzy stuff after insisting that I 'didn't like' Diet Coke (the reality was, I just preferred normal Coke) now I enjoy the taste of Diet Coke and wouldn't dream of buying the sugary version. The same applies to any other drinks you drink; check the cordial you pick up off the shelf and the flavoured water you think you're drinking to be good. Some of that Volvic flavoured stuff contains more sugar than you'd think!

These little changes can seem like quite a big change in terms of taste when you first make the switch but trust me, stick with it and after a while you won't dream of going back to the other stuff because it'll just feel 'wrong'. I feel much better in myself for making these changes and not just in terms of weight loss; my skin looks much better with fewer outbreaks and my stomach never really feels bloated at all. 

No Fuss Slimming World Meals

So I've been doing the Slimming World plan since the end of September 2013 and I feel like I have come so far since then so I thought I'd write a little blog post to update you on my progress and to show you some of the things that I love to eat and STILL lose weight! I'm now in week 22 and feeling the benefits of losing weight in so many ways, I knew I was ready for it and I knew I could get my head into the Slimming World plan because it's so easy. 
So far I have lost 2 stone 11.5 pounds... in the last 22 weeks there have only been 2 occasions where I have gained weight; my birthday week which I put 2lb on and last week when I put on 0.5lb. I don't think that's bad going at all, I've had a few maintains but overall my average weightloss per week has been 2lb. It doesn't feel like I've been on Slimming World for nearly half a year, and I think that's because it's not a drag, it's not a total pain to be doing. You can still live your life and lose weight at the same time. I'm never hungry and I mean NEVER, I eat properly and my plate is always full of food. I even have chocolate.
Here are a few of my favourite things to eat...

 Sausage and Mash - Using Tesco Healthy Living cumberland sausages (1 syn each) and Bisto beef gravy (1.5 syns for 100ml). 

 Huge Ocean Salad, couple of syns in the extra light mayo but mixed that with tomato puree (free) to give me a very low syn seafood sauce.

 Spaghetti bolognese made with extra lean mince and a jar of Dolmio (half a jar is 5.5 syns). So easy and so delicious; I don't like the spag bols made using SW recipes so I'm more than willing to use some syns on this.

 These chicken breasts are packed with garlic in the middle which is absolutely gorgeous and feels so naughty... but it's not! They're from Iceland's new 'Posh Grub' range and they're 2.5 syns for both breasts! Served with actifry chips (used fry light instead of oil) and a big salad.

Who doesn't love a big bowl of stew in this horrible weather, I can eat this until it comes out of my ears because it's complete free as I used a stock pot instead of gravy granules and it was absolutely beautiful. Packed with superfree foods and really comforting.

Here we have 10 syns worth of chocolate, some Cadbury Bubbles bar and some Cadbury Caramel. It might not seem like much but if you really enjoy chocolate it's well worth the syns, I've learnt that chocolate is not for chewing it's for savouring!

 My all time favourite - Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, these are 3 syns per cup and worth every single syn in my opinion!

Finally when I'm really craving a takeaway (which isn't a good idea if you want to stay within your syns for the day) I go to Iceland and pick up one of these Chicken Jalfrezi frozen ready meals, it doesn't come with rice it's just the curry but they're only £1.50 and it's 3.5 syns of pure luxury when you haven't eaten a curry for ages! You can make curries using Slimming World recipes but I find these are quite complicated and I don't always have time for that! So there were are these are a few of things I eat, and I've still lost almost 3 stone!! I think I've decided that my ultimate goal is 5 stone so I've got just over 2 to go... Hopefully I'll have lost at least another stone before I go to Florida in May as I expect some serious damage will be done during those 2 weeks!!