Find out more about this project and my weight loss goals here
I’m a little behind so I’ve merged two weeks together! The first week I lost a lot of weight, and the second I only lost a little. Still ahead of my goal overall though, so counting it..!
A big milestone was hit too – I’ve lost 5kg in total! And then immediately started chastising myself for ‘not losing weight fast enough’. So for my benefit, and anyone else’s out there who might be reading – a reminder that we have no control over how much weight we lose, we only control what we eat and how much exercise we do. Our weight can fluctuate due to uncontrollable factors – hormones, gut health, even the weather. The number on the scale is not the only measurement of success we should hold ourselves to.
Anyway, let’s get into week seven and eight’s ups, downs, learnings and statistics…
This week’s stats
Weight loss goal: 1.0kg
Weight lost this fortnight: 1.4kg
Current weight: 93.7kg
Weight lost total: 5.3kg
Daily calorie goal: 1,750
Average daily calories consumed: 1,660
Water goal: 28 litres
Water consumed: 19 litres
Step goal: 70,000
Steps achieved: 110,800
Distance walked: 67.32km
Heart points achieved: 835
Longest walk: 5.05km
On the menu
We went away for the weekend to stay with the in-laws, so that’s why there’s a little gap there! I tried my best to count calories while we were away, but it isn’t always possible to be super accurate when someone else is making your food.
I went secondhand book shopping and scored this seasonal soup recipe book written by New Covent Garden Food Co. Each season is divided into months, with soup recommendations for each based on what’s in season. The first recipe we tried was Savoy Cabbage and Bacon Soup, which came in at 249 calories for 12g protein per serving. Honestly, it was super delicious, and I’m looking forward to eating the other two portions in the freezer!
This week we also tried making a big batch of jerk chicken, which we served with homemade coleslaw. The chicken was an absolute hit, and my husband ate plenty of jerk chicken and coleslaw sandwiches this week! It was also super easy and low fat, not needing any oil to cook at all – so I’ll definitely be making this one again.
This is an Instagram recipe – I’ve seen a huge trend of those throw-everything-in-a-dish-and-bake-it meal prep recipes, and was itching to try one. This Crispy Bacon Crumpet Bake layers crumpets, onion, spinach, beans and bacon, which is then topped with a milk, egg and cheese mixture. It was very easy to prep and tasted delicious! Filling and high protein – what’s not to love?
We hadn’t made this one in a while, but I’m so happy we cracked it out again! This King Prawn Balti has only a few ingredients – tomatoes, curry paste, onions, spinach, king prawns and water – and as a result is low calorie and high protein, while delivering tons of flavour. A classic from the Takeaway Favourites Without The Calories recipe book (see below!)
This week’s cookbooks
I’m massive on cookbooks – I have a whole load of them – so I thought it might be nice to include which ones are inspiring me this week! I use online recipes for a lot of things, but I do try to regularly dive into my cookbook collection for inspiration. I always say to people new to cooking to try working from a cookbook first, as one that’s been printed likely had more testing and double-checking than something posted online… because while a printed cookbook tends to have a lot more people and money involved in the production of it, anyone can post a recipe online! (Including me!!)
I love this series (I have three different volumes) and these books get cracked out often. Takeaway Favourites Without The Calories includes all the cuisines you’d expect, from Chinese and Indian to American, and even some UK high street inspired dishes. This is where my Jerk Chicken and Prawn Balti recipes came from.
An absolute classic with anyone looking for slimming recipes, we pretty much make at least one Pinch of Nom recipe every week. This week we dived into the Pinch of Nom Quick & Easy book. The recipes we tried were the Coleslaw (which made enough to feed a small army for some reaon) and
I owned this book before I even met my husband! Back in 2011 before I went off to cook for myself full time at university, I started building my cookbook collection in preparation by scouting local charity shops. This little Marie Claire Pasta book cost me 50p (it still has the sticker on it) and is the source of several recipes we make regularly – the Salmon Nicoise Pasta Salad and Penne Puttanesca are two of our favourites.
Brand new on my shelf this month (found in the Oxfam bookshop for £2.99) is this Soup for All Seasons recipe book by the New Covent Garden Food Co. Some of the soups are a bit weird (a rhubarb and chocolate dessert soup? Really?) but I loved the idea of them being split into months and seasons, which stops the choice being overwhelming. There are no photos, but there are plenty of recipes to keep us going all year. Can’t wait to try making more of these – I’m weirdly obsessed with making soup!
How I’m feeling
I put on a pair of trousers this week that used to fit nice and snug… only to find they now fall down considerably without a belt to secure them. After watching the scale stick at mostly the same place all week, this did give me a bit of a boost – and now I’m watching out for any clothes that seem looser than last time I wore them.
I also regularly hit 10,000 steps a day during this fornight with what felt like little effort. Considering at the start of the year I felt like 3 walks a week was a big change – and when I started this challenge, 5,000 steps a day felt huge – being able to fit in 10,000 steps without much thought feels like a massive improvement in just 7 weeks!
Drinking the water goal has been a struggle though. You’d think since it was hotter, I’d easily be drinking more, but I just don’t really feel thirsty (I very rarely do). Drinking water relies on me remembering to do so, and if I’m busy, I often forget! Maybe I need to set reminder alarms on my phone?
‘Til next time,
Alli xx
Metababycow | Crafter, YouTuber, Small Business Owner 