 |
| Image source: Here |
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Handy Hints: Fishing out bits of eggshell
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Weigh in Wednesday: The Fear
OK so here's the thing: I'm
scared. I'm scared that despite my best efforts and despite all good
intentions, I am going to fail completely to get my weight under 80kg. I
have basically been this weight (and above) since I was 13 years old
and the only time I ever dropped below it was when I had anxiety issues
in fifth form that meant that I hardly ate anything for a couple of
months. I think the lowest I got to was about 75kg, but it all happened
so quickly and so unhealthily that as soon as I started eating again it
all piled back on. So in my head, I'm convinced that without something
seriously dramatic and possibly life-threatening, I won't be able to get
under the magic threshold. And if I do, I certainly won't be able to
maintain it.
This, of course, is ridiculous. It's illogical, not founded on any sort of facts or nutritional science and will, in about 4-5 weeks, be PROVEN wrong. But it looms large, this fear of mine, and so it is far better to out this lurking demon, to bring it kicking and screaming into the plain light of day for all to point and laugh at, than to let it fester and grow in the dark recesses of my brain. Even though I won't quite be rid of it until such time that I have not only gone below 80kg but smashed through that barrier and stayed that way - it's still good to get it out there.
But then there are days, much like today, when this fear gets the better of you. I stepped on the scale this morning at the meeting and... nothing. I'd not lost a single gram. Nada. Zip. Sweet diddly do. And of course, the first thing that runs through my head is "Oh, well. That's it. I'm obviously at the end of it and cannot lose any more weight," which I'm well aware makes zero sense but if you give these negative thoughts a mental inch and they will occupy your entire life. There's nothing for it but to just keep on trucking and see what happens next week. I have a theory that since it's a specific time of the month that this might be due to water retention (ah, the joys of the feminine body!) but this remains to be seen. Until such time that there is further proof, Logical Kath will battle it out with Fearful Kath in the back of my mind. Roll on next Wednesday.
Starting weight (30/01/2013): 86.2kg
First week weigh in (05/02/13): 85.3kg (-0.9kg)
Second week weigh in (13/02/13): 84.4kg (-0.9kg)
Third week weigh in (19/02/13): 83.6kg (-0.8kg)
Fourth week weigh in (27/02/13): 83.6kg (no loss)
This, of course, is ridiculous. It's illogical, not founded on any sort of facts or nutritional science and will, in about 4-5 weeks, be PROVEN wrong. But it looms large, this fear of mine, and so it is far better to out this lurking demon, to bring it kicking and screaming into the plain light of day for all to point and laugh at, than to let it fester and grow in the dark recesses of my brain. Even though I won't quite be rid of it until such time that I have not only gone below 80kg but smashed through that barrier and stayed that way - it's still good to get it out there.
But then there are days, much like today, when this fear gets the better of you. I stepped on the scale this morning at the meeting and... nothing. I'd not lost a single gram. Nada. Zip. Sweet diddly do. And of course, the first thing that runs through my head is "Oh, well. That's it. I'm obviously at the end of it and cannot lose any more weight," which I'm well aware makes zero sense but if you give these negative thoughts a mental inch and they will occupy your entire life. There's nothing for it but to just keep on trucking and see what happens next week. I have a theory that since it's a specific time of the month that this might be due to water retention (ah, the joys of the feminine body!) but this remains to be seen. Until such time that there is further proof, Logical Kath will battle it out with Fearful Kath in the back of my mind. Roll on next Wednesday.
Starting weight (30/01/2013): 86.2kg
First week weigh in (05/02/13): 85.3kg (-0.9kg)
Second week weigh in (13/02/13): 84.4kg (-0.9kg)
Third week weigh in (19/02/13): 83.6kg (-0.8kg)
Fourth week weigh in (27/02/13): 83.6kg (no loss)
Monday, February 25, 2013
Gordon's Kedgeree
Quite apart from it being a part of your repertoire, this dish is absolutely delicious. It's pretty easy to make and is one of those really comforting dishes that you just want to hunch over with a strong, hot cup of tea within reaching distance and just savour. Gordon's original recipe on page 67 of the Ultimate Cookery Course has already made some modifications to make it lighter, but I've gone a little bit further for the healthiest version possible. Even then, this is not really one to crack out when you're running out of ProPoints. I've got to be honest with you, this is not exactly a light eat but I promise you that it's worth it. Bulk out a smaller portion with some salad or boiled broccoli and you'll be fine.
Serves 4-6 | 12-14 ProPoints per serve (depending on how many people share it!)
2 bay leaves
700g undyed smoked fish*
2 tsp cooking oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
Thumb-sized knob of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
150g long grain rice
Juice of 2 lemons
100g low-fat natural yoghurt
TO SERVE:
2 handfuls of chopped fresh coriander
1 red chilli, finely chopped (deseed it unless you're really brave!)
One soft-boiled egg per person
Salt and pepper
* Gordon suggests haddock, hot smoked trout or mackerel. For those of us living downunder, I've used smoked kahawai and its been lovely.
1. Pin bone your fish to make sure nobody gets any nasty surprises.
2. Make sure you don't eat all of the smoked fish whilst doing step 1.
3. Heat 750ml of water with the bay leaves in a frying pan and bring to a simmer. Chuck in the fish, even if its already cooked, and simmer for five minutes until its lovely and flaky. Take out the fish with a slotted spoon/fish slice and set aside. Keep the water, but chuck the leaves.
4. In a second pan, heat the oil and fry off the onion and garlic for a couple of minutes but make sure they're not colouring - you want them sweet not burned. Add in the ginger, curry powder, mustard seeds and tomatoes and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the onions have softened.
5. Put all the rice in and stir it around to coat it in the flavoursome amazingness in your pan. Then gradually add the lemon juice and fishy water you saved earlier, one ladle at a time. Stir around well after adding each ladleful and wait for it to be absorbed.
6. This adding and stirring process should take about 20 minutes.
7. In between the liquid being absorbed by the rice, pull the skin carefully off your fish and flake the remaining meat. Again, don't eat it all before it makes it into the dish. Or maybe it's just me who has a serious smoked fish addiction?
8. Once all the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, add the flaked fish and the yoghurt and stir well. Take it off the heat at this point to make sure the yoghurt doesn't start to cook. Because that would be gross.
9. To serve, divvy up the kedgeree between the bowls and sprinkle on the coriander and chilli, top with an egg each and crack over some salt and pepper.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Weigh In Wednesday: Flexible structure
I had to reschedule my meeting this week because I was absolutely up to my eyeballs in appointments and stuff to do. I had four job interviews this week (two of which were for the same job) so some things had to be shifted, including my WW meeting. I'm committed to getting along to these meetings every week to keep myself on track and see how well I have (or haven't) done on the scales so I'm hugely grateful that WW allows flexibility in meeting attendance where necessary. So on Tuesday 19th, I hopped on the scales and found to my great delight and relief that I had lost another 0.8kg. This brings the running total to 2.6kg.
Starting weight (30/01/2013): 86.2kg
First week weigh in (05/02/13): 85.3kg (-0.9kg)
Second week weigh in (13/02/13): 84.4kg (-0.9kg)
Third week weigh in (19/02/13): 83.6kg (-0.8kg)
I was very happy with this result because it proved to me that this was not just some fad or gimmick. It actually works - follow the programme and the kilos will, eventually, drop off. One by one, gram by gram, I'm getting lighter and lighter. I know, I know, this shouldn't really come as a surprise to me. I have read the success stories on the website and in the magazines and I personally know two people who have lost (and kept off) incredible amounts of weight. But I am surprised. I am feeling genuinely flummoxed because for the first time in my entire life, weight loss isn't a battle. It doesn't feel like a horror movie where you're screaming at the girl on screen (yourself) don't go in the kitchen, that's where the chocolate is.... Oh God, don't eat it! No! Nooooo!!!! It doesn't feel like a drag - you know the scenario where you're weighing yourself every other hour to see what the results are because you're SO HUNGRY goddamnit, that you must have lost half a kilo in the last 30 minutes? It doesn't feel like any of these things. It just feels like life, with a few adjustments.
I've been thinking about how on earth this works. What's the trick? How can something that once felt so impossible now be happening with a normal amount of effort? Personally, I think it's a combination of the flexibility within the programme and the structure of it. Whilst flexibility and structure aren't necessarily things that you might think work in conjunction, here they do. For structure you have the weekly meetings, the scheduled weigh in date, and the set daily points allowance. For flexibility you have the freedom to swap to a different meeting either permanently or temporarily as circumstances dictate, and you have the weekly "stash" points.
And it's these stash points which are really rocking my world. I currently eat 30 points per day but I have a walloping 49 extras up my sleve for the week - which I can nibble into each and every day or save up and blow on one particular day when the need arises. For example, this weekend just gone was the hen's party of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Coralee, and to send her off in style her bridesmaids had organised a fully catered dinner. Master Chef styles. Seriously, the food this (self-taught!!) guy designed, cooked and presented to us was something else. I'm something of a foodie channel devotee and I honestly believe that these dishes were good enough to be presented to the industry greats: if Raymond Blanc, Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay had been joining us, I reckon they would have been impressed. But not only did the food look and taste amazing, there was no calorie spared. You know when the chef says "Don't ask me how many egg yolks and grams of butter are in the sauce" that we are no longer in Points friendly territory. Thank god for the stash I had been carefully hoarding all week.
I do have to be pretty clear on one key point: I don't see the stash as an excuse to have an all-out binge. I was still watching and noting every single thing that went into my mouth (R18-shaped straws are Zero ProPoints, in case you wondered!!) and it all got tracked. I only had one cocktail (a chocolate margarita at a whopping 9 ProPoints, but worth every slurp) and I managed to control myself around the bread basket. It's not a free pass, it's an allowance for life. Sometimes you need to or want to splash out a little. Not having the freedom to do so on other weight loss kicks made me feel trapped and unhappy, and if I did ever allow myself some wiggle room, I never knew how much was too much. With this, I know I have that allowance and I know exactly what that allowance entails. Flexibility and structure, all in one.
Starting weight (30/01/2013): 86.2kg
First week weigh in (05/02/13): 85.3kg (-0.9kg)
Second week weigh in (13/02/13): 84.4kg (-0.9kg)
Third week weigh in (19/02/13): 83.6kg (-0.8kg)
I was very happy with this result because it proved to me that this was not just some fad or gimmick. It actually works - follow the programme and the kilos will, eventually, drop off. One by one, gram by gram, I'm getting lighter and lighter. I know, I know, this shouldn't really come as a surprise to me. I have read the success stories on the website and in the magazines and I personally know two people who have lost (and kept off) incredible amounts of weight. But I am surprised. I am feeling genuinely flummoxed because for the first time in my entire life, weight loss isn't a battle. It doesn't feel like a horror movie where you're screaming at the girl on screen (yourself) don't go in the kitchen, that's where the chocolate is.... Oh God, don't eat it! No! Nooooo!!!! It doesn't feel like a drag - you know the scenario where you're weighing yourself every other hour to see what the results are because you're SO HUNGRY goddamnit, that you must have lost half a kilo in the last 30 minutes? It doesn't feel like any of these things. It just feels like life, with a few adjustments.
I've been thinking about how on earth this works. What's the trick? How can something that once felt so impossible now be happening with a normal amount of effort? Personally, I think it's a combination of the flexibility within the programme and the structure of it. Whilst flexibility and structure aren't necessarily things that you might think work in conjunction, here they do. For structure you have the weekly meetings, the scheduled weigh in date, and the set daily points allowance. For flexibility you have the freedom to swap to a different meeting either permanently or temporarily as circumstances dictate, and you have the weekly "stash" points.
And it's these stash points which are really rocking my world. I currently eat 30 points per day but I have a walloping 49 extras up my sleve for the week - which I can nibble into each and every day or save up and blow on one particular day when the need arises. For example, this weekend just gone was the hen's party of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Coralee, and to send her off in style her bridesmaids had organised a fully catered dinner. Master Chef styles. Seriously, the food this (self-taught!!) guy designed, cooked and presented to us was something else. I'm something of a foodie channel devotee and I honestly believe that these dishes were good enough to be presented to the industry greats: if Raymond Blanc, Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay had been joining us, I reckon they would have been impressed. But not only did the food look and taste amazing, there was no calorie spared. You know when the chef says "Don't ask me how many egg yolks and grams of butter are in the sauce" that we are no longer in Points friendly territory. Thank god for the stash I had been carefully hoarding all week.
I do have to be pretty clear on one key point: I don't see the stash as an excuse to have an all-out binge. I was still watching and noting every single thing that went into my mouth (R18-shaped straws are Zero ProPoints, in case you wondered!!) and it all got tracked. I only had one cocktail (a chocolate margarita at a whopping 9 ProPoints, but worth every slurp) and I managed to control myself around the bread basket. It's not a free pass, it's an allowance for life. Sometimes you need to or want to splash out a little. Not having the freedom to do so on other weight loss kicks made me feel trapped and unhappy, and if I did ever allow myself some wiggle room, I never knew how much was too much. With this, I know I have that allowance and I know exactly what that allowance entails. Flexibility and structure, all in one.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Handy Hints: Chilli fingers
 |
| Image Credit: PopSci.com |
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Weigh in Wednesday: How it began
There comes a point in everyone's life where they're not happy with the state of things. It might be that you realise you hate your job, you might come to the conclusion that your relationship needs more effort or you might decide it's time to do something about your health. Usually, it's one thing at a time but I'm one of those people who likes to go ALL IN on life and so since July last year I have been working on a Grande Overhaul of my life.
It all started when I was visiting the UK by myself to see my family. It was a typical British summer where the days of rain and cloud were vastly outnumbering the days of sunshine but that didn't matter to me. I was in my hometown, surrounded by people I love, in the midst of the Diamond Jubilee and pre-Olympics fever and I was happy. So happy. Happier than I had been in quite a long time, in fact. And realising this gave me pause - shouldn't I be more happy more often? I mean, sure, life isn't a bed of roses and you've got to take the rough with the smooth but life isn't supposed to weigh you down. Especially not at this age.
I thought back to a few years before when life had been a joyous thing, filled with energy, fun, friends and laughter. Sure, my life in Taiwan had plenty of these things but there was one key thing weighing me down, that was sucking the vast majority of my energy and zest for life right out of my being: my marriage wasn't working. It hadn't been for a really long time, despite my best efforts and protestations, and it was wearing me down to the point where I felt constantly tired and was starting to look a lot older than I really was. We're not just talking a few grey hairs here, we're talking tufts of grey, say nothing of the bags under my eyes. I finally acknowledged the long-standing niggle deep down in my gut that something had to change, even if I didn't get the results I wanted. This is not the life I had planned.
Well, as you're likely able to tell from the blog tagline, this push for change didn't really end well. This isn't a tell-all, nor is it one of those bitter and twisted "my ex is a complete dick" blogs. Things were said and done that were far below optimal standards for adult behaviour in the lead up to the Big Decision but then again amazing kindness and generosity was shown in the aftermath. Break ups are awful, gut-wrenching things that affect both parties regardless of whose decision it is or who wants out. Although it's a work in progress, I'm hopeful that eventually we will have something resembling a normal friendship. But I know that the only way to arrive at that result is to walk the journey of recovery and healing. There are no fast-forward buttons and no shortcuts available. You've just got to go through it.
So to recap, in the last four months, I have: quit a job I loved; gone through a divorce; moved countries; started the search for a new job to love, and decided to lose weight. Because why do things by halves, right? I figured my life was in so much flux and alteration already that this might just be the perfect time to get rid of the excess weight I had carried around for far too long.
Weight loss isn't exactly a new journey for me and that's pretty typical for a lot of us I think. I've always been overweight - my first memory of becoming aware that my weight was a problem was when I was 7 years old and I weighed in at 50kg. Yes. I know. Healthy eating and portion control were not exactly familiar concepts in our household when I was growing up. To make a bad situation worse, I had to learn the hard way about calories in versus calories out in my early twenties when I finished university, started my first desk job and promptly ballooned 20 kilograms in six months. It took about 2 years to fight it back off again and I've basically been there ever since - which is good to have maintained that loss - but the problem is that my current weight is 14 kilos heavier than my BMI says I should be. So that is my new target: be a in the normal weight range for my height for the first time in my adult life. And I really think following the Weight Watchers programme is going to help me achieve this.
Starting weight (30/01/2013): 86.2kg
First week weigh in (05/02/13): 85.3kg
Second week weigh in (13/02/13): 84.4kg
So far, in two weeks, I'm down 1.8kg and feeling pretty chuffed about it. The biggest barrier in my head is breaking through the 80kg mark and weighing in the 70's. I haven't managed that so far in any attempt to lose weight so that's the first major goal on the way to the Ultimate Goal of weighing 70kg. It's one week at a time, kilo by kilo. Watch this space for more scales success stories!
It all started when I was visiting the UK by myself to see my family. It was a typical British summer where the days of rain and cloud were vastly outnumbering the days of sunshine but that didn't matter to me. I was in my hometown, surrounded by people I love, in the midst of the Diamond Jubilee and pre-Olympics fever and I was happy. So happy. Happier than I had been in quite a long time, in fact. And realising this gave me pause - shouldn't I be more happy more often? I mean, sure, life isn't a bed of roses and you've got to take the rough with the smooth but life isn't supposed to weigh you down. Especially not at this age.
I thought back to a few years before when life had been a joyous thing, filled with energy, fun, friends and laughter. Sure, my life in Taiwan had plenty of these things but there was one key thing weighing me down, that was sucking the vast majority of my energy and zest for life right out of my being: my marriage wasn't working. It hadn't been for a really long time, despite my best efforts and protestations, and it was wearing me down to the point where I felt constantly tired and was starting to look a lot older than I really was. We're not just talking a few grey hairs here, we're talking tufts of grey, say nothing of the bags under my eyes. I finally acknowledged the long-standing niggle deep down in my gut that something had to change, even if I didn't get the results I wanted. This is not the life I had planned.
Well, as you're likely able to tell from the blog tagline, this push for change didn't really end well. This isn't a tell-all, nor is it one of those bitter and twisted "my ex is a complete dick" blogs. Things were said and done that were far below optimal standards for adult behaviour in the lead up to the Big Decision but then again amazing kindness and generosity was shown in the aftermath. Break ups are awful, gut-wrenching things that affect both parties regardless of whose decision it is or who wants out. Although it's a work in progress, I'm hopeful that eventually we will have something resembling a normal friendship. But I know that the only way to arrive at that result is to walk the journey of recovery and healing. There are no fast-forward buttons and no shortcuts available. You've just got to go through it.
So to recap, in the last four months, I have: quit a job I loved; gone through a divorce; moved countries; started the search for a new job to love, and decided to lose weight. Because why do things by halves, right? I figured my life was in so much flux and alteration already that this might just be the perfect time to get rid of the excess weight I had carried around for far too long.
Weight loss isn't exactly a new journey for me and that's pretty typical for a lot of us I think. I've always been overweight - my first memory of becoming aware that my weight was a problem was when I was 7 years old and I weighed in at 50kg. Yes. I know. Healthy eating and portion control were not exactly familiar concepts in our household when I was growing up. To make a bad situation worse, I had to learn the hard way about calories in versus calories out in my early twenties when I finished university, started my first desk job and promptly ballooned 20 kilograms in six months. It took about 2 years to fight it back off again and I've basically been there ever since - which is good to have maintained that loss - but the problem is that my current weight is 14 kilos heavier than my BMI says I should be. So that is my new target: be a in the normal weight range for my height for the first time in my adult life. And I really think following the Weight Watchers programme is going to help me achieve this.
Starting weight (30/01/2013): 86.2kg
First week weigh in (05/02/13): 85.3kg
Second week weigh in (13/02/13): 84.4kg
So far, in two weeks, I'm down 1.8kg and feeling pretty chuffed about it. The biggest barrier in my head is breaking through the 80kg mark and weighing in the 70's. I haven't managed that so far in any attempt to lose weight so that's the first major goal on the way to the Ultimate Goal of weighing 70kg. It's one week at a time, kilo by kilo. Watch this space for more scales success stories!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Grilled Pork Fillet with Nam Jim
 |
| My nam jim |
Nam jim - until I'd read this recipe a little while ago in my search for healthy things to make I'd not ever heard of it. What a travesty! Nam jim (also known as nam chim) is Thai for "dipping sauce". There are a few different variations but all basically tend towards the Thai awesome foursome of sweet, salty, spicy and sour in taste. It is Thailand in a bowl, pure deliciousness, and can be whipped up really quickly so is good for an after work dinner that just makes the soul sing. The original recipe can be found on page 36 of Weight Watcher's Cook it Quick recipe book.
Serves 4 | 5 ProPoints per serve (not including rice)
2 long fresh green chillies
2 cloves of garlic
10cm stick of lemongrass, coarsely chopped
2 green shallots, chopped
1/4 cup (60ml) lime juice
2 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs grated palm sugar (or any other sugar)
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup fresh chopped coriander leaves
1. Pre-heat your grill or barbeque over a medium-high heat. Lightly spray the pork with oil and season with salt, then whack it on the barbie. If it's winter or you don't have a barbeque, then you can cook it in a pan on the hob, just make sure you cover it with a lid to ensure it cooks as evenly as possible. Cook for 8-10 minutes, but always check it's cooked all the way through.
2. Once pork is cooked, transfer to a plate to rest, covered in foil, for five minutes.
3. Put chopped chillies, garlic, lemongrass, shallots, juice, fish sauce, sugar, oil and coriander in a food processor and whizz until just about smooth.
4. Slice the rested pork thickly and top with nam jim to serve.
5. Serve with steamed rice (3 ProPoints for 1/2 cup) or with blanched broccoli or bok choy (or both) for 0 ProPoints and a feeling of utter virtuousness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)