Five things to have instead of a biscuit binge

Some of you may remember me babbling on about trying to lose weight. Well it worked somewhat. I lost 9 kilos, but put four back on. I am extremely shit at keeping it off, so I'm on the 'stop eating crap' bandwagon ....again.

So what's my downfall. It's not chocolate, I am not much of a chocoholic, I don't keep a stash in the house, but I wouldn't say no. 

I do like potato chips. And ice cream. But I don't have them much. Hubby likes to have them, it seems it's becoming a usual Friday night thing, and I try to stay away, sometimes badly.

My achilles heel of keeping the chub at bay, is the biscuit barrel. It's there, right in front of me when I open the pantry door, and awfully easy and convenient to twist off the lid and grab a quick snack. Just not 5 times in a row!

Five or six goes of the biscuit barrel, depending on the type of biscuit, could equate to a whole meal. Not good. Not good when there is no nutritional value and just about all those calories are from fat and sugar. 

Hoping I can practice what I preach, here's five alternatives to the dreaded 3 pm biscuit binge.

1. Get out of the kitchen, away from the pantry and take a bottle of water. Drink it.
2. Grab some fruit. Apple, orange, pear, watermelon. Keep the fruit bowl stocked.
3. Eat a carrot, or cut it up with celery, cucumber, capsicum. Use cottage cheese for a dip, if plain vegies are too boring.
4. A tub of yogurt. Try some chia seeds mixed through. (Try it, you'll like it). 
5. Nibble on a healthy handful of nuts and seeds, like almonds and pepitas.

Take your time. Chew. Appreciate the flavour, texture. Sit, let it settle. 

What do you do when your 3pm cravings set in? What is your diet undoing?

The Diet - the first week

It's been a week. Yesterday I weighed in, after my first wee, in the nuddy, as soon as I woke up. There was excitement and nervousness as I stepped onto my newly purchased scales. They had been a new novelty for the kids for the past week. Izzy had only seen one like this in nannas bathroom, we would goo and gaa in fascination when she stood on them. She has been pulling this one out and playing with it, but it's my turn now. 

To tell the truth I had a go during the week, and found that I had lost a bit. I feel less bloated and just in one week, my pants have loosened just that little bit.

The biggest thing I have noticed and been making a conscience effort on is chewing my food! I am not sure if it is a mother thing, being busy and gutsing my food down quickly while I can, but I have been. I remember when I had Izzy and breastfeeding, I was starving, and would woof my food down. Maybe it's something I have carried with me.

I'm always reminding Brett to chew his food, that his stomach doesn't have teeth, because he eats like a bull at a gate. He is famous for being the first one finished although he does the most talking at the table(usually with a mouthful of food, which is totally grosse to watch!). I make sure I take my time, put the knife and fork down, and chew.

I was shocked too at how much I did pick. Cleaning up the highchair, Izzys plate, I had made myself a human garbage disposal. But not only that, when I was preparing food too. I check myself all the time now before my hand reaches my mouth!

"A diet is the penalty for exceeding the feed limit"

I am eating a lot more healthy, not so much packaged sweet rubbish, like biscuits or chips. I have given up sugar, and as a result coffee, and I am not buttering my bread or toast. I am eating heaps more fresh fruit and veggies. Still managing to fit in a few alcoholic bevos somewhere during the week in to my calorie count, I have to have some sort of vice!

I started last week at 75 kgs*. I don't know how but I weighed in at 69kg and lost 6 in this first week. Now it's gonna get harder, and I've got to do more walking.

*While I weighed in at 75kg last week, it was in the middle of the day, and I was clothed. Realistically, I should have done in the same conditions as I did yesterday morning. Possibly I could have been 74 kgs, whatever the if, I lost weight!!! 

Ratatouille

Now that I am on a diet, I have to calorie count everything. Every morsel I eat is weighed, measured, accounted for. This is one of the recipes I made for myself with the summer vegies I had on hand. 

Ingredients                                                                     Cals   Kj

1 clove (3g) of Vegetables, fresh: Garlic, raw		4	16
(x) 140 g of Vegetables, fresh: Onions, average all types, raw		42	178
(x) 500 g of Vegetables, fresh: Zucchini, raw		75	305
(x) 200 g of Vegetables, fresh: Beans, Green or French or Runner, raw		58	244
(x) 400 g of Vegetables, fresh: Tomato, ripe, raw		72	296
(x) 1 cup, chopped (120g) of Vegetables, fresh: Capsicum, Green, raw		26	110
(x) 1 teaspoon (5g) of MasterFoods: Herbs: Thyme Leaves		15	64
(x) 5 g of Herbs: basil, fresh		2	9
(x) 1 serving (1.5g) of ProChef: Sprays: Olive Oil, Extra Virgin		13	56
(x) 1 half cup (125g) of Ardmona: Vegetables, canned: Tomatoes, Crushed		33	134
Meal Total		340	1411

From my food diary at Calorieking.com. It works out everything!!

1 onion, chopped

125 gr capsicum, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed 

500 gr zucchini, chopped

200 gr green beans, chopped

400 gr tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp thyme leaves

2 Tblsp basil, torn

1/4 cup tomato puree

Spray oil

Saute onion and capsicum for 5 minutes in a large saucepan sprayed with oil.

Add rest of ingredients and simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve warm with meat or fish or on it's own with crusty bread.

The whole recipe added up to 340 calories. I weighed the finished dish and then divided that by 4 serves, so 1 serve was only 85 calories! I had it with a 100 gr piece of steak. I mixed some pasta through the ratatouille for the kids and Brett.

I have been posting some of my meals on instagram, if you would like to follow along, I have just started tagging with #onemotherdiet.