So this is my new diet and fitness blog. The reasoning behind it is simple. I’m forty five years old, incredibly overweight and even more unfit. Having moved to working at home three days a week, my already sedentary lifestyle has become almost comatose. Sitting at the computer, moving only to visit the toilet or make a cup of tea does not make for a healthy lifestyle, especially when the only other exercise I now get (having stopped working in the pub where at least I was walking a lot) is the stroll to and from the bus stop on work days. It is abundantly clear that changes need to be made before I either turn into one of those people in the freaky dieting shows on the telly or die of some nasty weight/unfitness related illness.

To this end I have joined a gym to improve my fitness and am about to embark on the latest attempt to lose weight through a new eating regime (I don’t want to say the ‘D’ word as I think it’s rather negative). As I chronicle my journey to greater fitness, better health and weight loss there will be daily posts as I think this will help to keep me focussed and hopefully help me to stick to the plan during the bad times I know lie ahead. I intend it to be honest as I need to acknowledge my weaknesses and fails as well as my good progress, which could be painful, but will hopefully, eventually be cathartic and helpful.

Sunday, 20 November 2011

Day Seventy Four


So today is stew day!

It was with excitement and some trepidation that I finally got my slow cooker from the cupboard. The idea of beef and butternut squash stew is a good one, but in reality peeling butternut squash is a time consuming and difficult procedure which ended with several damaged nails and a cut finger. Eventually though, all the ingredients were assembled and I dumped it all in the pot to cook for eight hours. I then moved onto making the topping for yesterday’s savoury mince, baking another butternut squash for some soup and to finish the meal, made some raspberry mousse. The final casualty for the day was, sadly, my one pint Pyrex jug which had given me twenty one years of faithful service. It shattered all over the kitchen floor and took ages to clear up – and I’m not entirely convinced that I’ve found it all yet.

Have to admit I wasn’t at all sure that just dumping it all in the pot and leaving to cook would work, but it did and very tasty it was too ... and better still I still have three portions left. I think I did cut some of the butternut squash a bit too small so I'll have to remember to leave it a bit bigger next time, but it was all good.



During this bake-fest I had a chocolate mint protein shake for a late breakfast, some prosciutto and cheese for lunch and a mini pepperoni as a snack while I was cooking, as the smell of all that lovely food was making me feel hungry. One thing I have learned is that the slow cooker should only be used when I’m not around – eight hours took just too long when I was hungry and wanting some food.

On the bright side, I do now have some more meals for my freezer (sadly all relatively high carb though) and I’ve finally managed to work out the carb value of butternut squash soup for future logging - which is also pretty high, so not sure why it’s being recommended as one of the meals on the fourteen day bootcamp (otherwise known as Phase One of the IPD).

Having made the mousse I discovered a lack of suitable dessert containers (especially as most of mine were already in the freezer with pumpkin mousse in them) and so I’ve just invested in a set of stainless steel pudding ramekins from a well known auction site so I can make and freeze more desserts. Yes, I know I shouldn’t be making desserts but I’m always going to. It just helps to freeze them so I’m not tempted to eat it all in one go!

I finished the day just over my 30g limit, but after waiting so long for my stew I wasn’t changing anything.

Today’s exercise:  Cooking and other housework
Carb's Eaten: 30.9G
Exercising to: Over Sea and Under Stone by Susan Cooper, read by Alex Jennings
Weight Loss = 1 stone and 2 pounds
Inch Loss = 12.5 inches
Mood: Let’s cook!

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