sjones' healthy living diary

scojones

So I've put on a few pounds (to say the least) over the last two years due to heavy drinking and I really want to get back in shape. I was doing good before xmas but of course I over indulged on both junk food and beer so it's time to sort myself out again.

Firstly I'm off the booze. This for me is a big big obstacle and I'm hoping that publically writing about my progress will help me stay off it. So far so good but it's early days yet.

Secondly, I went on a healthy shopping spree yesterday and I'm hoping I can stick eating well. I'm no nutritionist, and I'm really clueless when it comes to this sort of stuff so any advice is welcome.

Yesterday I ate:
Breakfast: Crossant (sp?) and a nutra grain bar.

Lunch: Salad consisting of green + red pepper, extremely small scoop of tuna, small scoop of pasta, lettuce and some sweet corn.

Dinner: Steamed potatoes, onions (cooked on a george foreman) and a very small piece of steak also cooked on the george foreman.

Supper: Two slices of whole grain bread with some Red Cheddar cheese, a glass of Blueberry Juice, and four strawberries (big enough ones!)

Today so far:

Breakfast: Crossant, nutra grain bar, and an actimel.

For lunch I will be having the same salad as yesterday, and I'll also be having the same dinner as well because I need to cook the steak before it goes off. I will also be having some frozen veg with it (just the peas, carrots and broccolli mix).

No junk food so far, and no booze. Seeing as I have the flu, over the course of the next few days I will also be drinking lots of water.

Am I going the right way about this? Since I have the flu I won't be going to the gym this week, or at all until I'm better. What sort of foods should I be including in this? I'm a lover of stir frys and the like, which include lots of veg (garlic, broccoli, onion, mushroom, water chestnuts) and an uncle bens sauce be it a mild curry or sweet and sour, and some long grained rice. Should I be making my own curry, or are these sauces ok to eat 2 times a week?

Any advice is welcome. Thanks guys!

tribulus

Good to see you making the changes

Just a few things, your breakfast is quite poor really. Croissant's are just bread and butter basically! Lose them, now and replace it with something like porridge oats with some drizzled honey (yum). Also try get some protein in, a few egg whites or make yourself an omelette.

Salad looks good once you take it easy on the dressing, though why have an extremely small scoop of tuna? Have a big one! It's a good source of protein.

Also maybe lose the bread at supper. It's late and you don't want crappy carbs at that time - which pretty much all breads are imo, even so called wholegrain brands.

Could maybe make some small nit picky adjustments later but if you change the few things above it's a good start.

Also don't be afraid of fats (if you are). Fats, especially unsaturated ones are needed by the body. So don't be afraid to use some olive/various nut oils on your food (pour them on cold, dont' fry them). Nuts are good too as are avacados.

There's no reason not to go the gym if you're sick, it'll probably make you feel better and more energised, unless of course you're really too sick to move!

Anyway best of luck with this and make sure to keep us updated.

scojones

Thanks a million for your input tribulus! I've knocked the crossants on the head hehe. The reason my breakfast is lacking is because I'm not really a morning eater, and I only get 15 minutes for breakfast in work (plus i'm an extremely slow eater). I could try have cereal in work, wheatabix and the likes. I'm not a big porridge eater though.

I don't have any dressing with my salads thankfully, and today I had a big scoop of tuna.

My breakfast today consisted of a nutra grain bar because I lost my phone and had to go home to make sure it wasn't there.

For lunch I had a small carton of milk with a salad which consisted of scallions, a hard boiled egg, tuna, sweet corn, cucumber and a slice of that bread again, which I will leave out from now on!
I actually think one of the reasons I put on so much weight is because I'm a bread lover.

When I got home from work I had a muller fruit corner (the rasberry one).
For dinner I'm about to make sweet and sour chicken, consisting of 1 chicken fillet, 1/2 a jar of uncle bens sweet and sour sauce, a small onion, 4 cloves of garlic and some brocolli, along with some uncle bens boil in the bag rice.

I'll have some scrambled egg for supper later on.

Thanks again for your input, it's very much appreciated as I'm hopeless at this stuff.

Once again I won't be going to the gym, the flu is definitely too bad and I don't want to make other people sick.

Ooh and I forgot, I had an actimel this morning and I'll be having one before bed too.

rainglow

Hey SJ

I'm not as clean an eater as the vast majority of the people on here, but I have a couple of suggestions which should be easy to incorporate in your everyday life.

sjones wrote:

I could try have cereal in work, wheatabix and the likes. I'm not a big porridge eater though.

Just make sure you don't choose a sugary cereal- I like bran flakes, and you get a larger volume of rice crispies by weight. Use skim milk if possible.

I don't have any dressing with my salads thankfully, and today I had a big scoop of tuna.

Is this tuna from a salad bar with mayonnaise through it? You'd be better off with some sliced turkey or lean ham if this is the case.

My breakfast today consisted of a nutra grain bar because I lost my phone and had to go home to make sure it wasn't there.

These are laced with sugar - how about a banana if you're on the run?

When I got home from work I had a muller fruit corner (the rasberry one).

This is a full fat yoghurt with a dollop of jam, to be blunt. Why not have a mullerlight instead? Some of the flavours are really delicious.

For dinner I'm about to make sweet and sour chicken, consisting of 1 chicken fillet, 1/2 a jar of uncle bens sweet and sour sauce, a small onion, 4 cloves of garlic and some brocolli, along with some uncle bens boil in the bag rice.

You can get a 'light' s&s sauce which cuts a lot of the sugar out of this and is still yummy. Also, try to go with brown rice.

Hope some of this helps

scojones

Hi rainglow!

rainglow wrote:

Just make sure you don't choose a sugary cereal- I like bran flakes, and you get a larger volume of rice crispies by weight. Use skim milk if possible.

Noted. The only cereal I like is bran flakes and wheatabix.

rainglow wrote:

Is this tuna from a salad bar with mayonnaise through it? You'd be better off with some sliced turkey or lean ham if this is the case.

Ahh it is, and it does have some mayo in it. Sliced turkey it is! I really wish my salad bar had some beetroot.

rainglow wrote:

These are laced with sugar - how about a banana if you're on the run?

I didn't realise they were laced with sugar! Banana it is! My canteen actually has a great selection of fruit so I'll take advantage of this and won't get sick of bananas.

rainglow wrote:

This is a full fat yoghurt with a dollop of jam, to be blunt. Why not have a mullerlight instead? Some of the flavours are really delicious.

Point taken, again I wasn't aware of this hehe. Thanks again!

rainglow wrote:

You can get a 'light' s&s sauce which cuts a lot of the sugar out of this and is still yummy. Also, try to go with brown rice.

Hmm I must have a look for these when I'm shopping. As of now I have half a jar to use up this evening and won't get the time to go near a store until tomorrow so I'll be bold for now and use it up! Are there any sauces (brands) that you would recommend? I'll stock up on brown rice tomorrow as well.

I think I'll post my shopping list here to see what you think.
Thanks again rainglow, that was really helpful. Slowly but surely I'm starting to get an idea of this.

justsomebloke

just a couple of points if you still have any actimel bin it, they really are sh1t, they are just pumped with sugar,

Other then that I would suggest keeping a small bag of nuts, something like hazelnuts, and some mixed seed and your desk and have a small handful with maybe a bit of fruit between break/lunch and lunch dinner.

I don't know if it is possible or not but if you can make your own lunches as it generally works out both cheaper and nicer and that way you could add a tin of tuna or a chicken breast to your lunch aswell

scojones

Thanks for your input jsb. The only reason I'm taking actimel is because I have the flu and I'm using them as a little extra kick to help me get rid of it and to be honest I am noticing a difference. The flu is going away. Once I'm better I'll knock them on the head - so thanks for the info because to be honest I would have probably kept taking them.

I love hazelnuts! It has been far too long since I have eaten any so I'll be getting some of them later on.

I do have a question for you, and anyone else reading this. I drink about 1.5 litres of water a day on average, and I'm a lover of fruit and fruit drinks. Last Tuesday I bought a carton of blueberry juice, and a carton of apple juice - both one litre cartons. Would drinking the two of these in 5 days be consuming too much? I don't want to be consuming too much sugar.

coffee_cake

Cartons of apple juice for eg (while I absolutely love them) are totally pumped full of rubbish and sugar. If you want to see the proof, try juicing some apples and see how long it takes for the juice goes off... completely different. If you've time to juice your own at the weekend or whatever you'd be better off doing that. If you buy cartons though, one in 5 days should probably be the limit...
What I found useful for getting over illness (even ear infections, strangely enough) was taking the rubex vitamin c tables, it's very good for you. Actimel is just full of sugar, it's not that healthy really.
Nutri grain bars are also not good. If you like bran flakes and weetabix, excellent... eat those.
Oh and if you drink milk, full fat is like pure cream almost... drink skimmed or semi skimmed...
hope I help...

scojones

bluewolf wrote:

Cartons of apple juice for eg (while I absolutely love them) are totally pumped full of rubbish and sugar. If you want to see the proof, try juicing some apples and see how long it takes for the juice goes off... completely different. If you've time to juice your own at the weekend or whatever you'd be better off doing that. If you buy cartons though, one in 5 days should probably be the limit...
What I found useful for getting over illness (even ear infections, strangely enough) was taking the rubex vitamin c tables, it's very good for you. Actimel is just full of sugar, it's not that healthy really.
Nutri grain bars are also not good. If you like bran flakes and weetabix, excellent... eat those.
Oh and if you drink milk, full fat is like pure cream almost... drink skimmed or semi skimmed...
hope I help...

Thanks a million bluey! I definitely don't have time to juice my own apples, but I do have time to juice my own oranges so I'll give this a go instead. I've seen those rubex vitamin c tables before, I take it they have them in the likes of tesco's and dunnes? I'll also pick up some skimmed milk as well. Thanks again for your help!
I'm going to go shopping tomorrow and I'll post my shopping list on here to see what you guys think.

justsomebloke

get a blender, put in some fruit like pineapple, strawberries and a banana and ice and blend.

This way you are at least getting the fiber content of the fruit into, as already stated there is alot of sugar in fruit juices so I would generally try and stay clear of them especially when trying to lose weight

rainglow

sjones wrote:

Are there any sauces (brands) that you would recommend? I'll stock up on brown rice tomorrow as well.

Tesco healthy living do a nice light s&s sauce, and also a nice tikka sauce if you like that? Dolmio (I think) do their own 'light' bolognese sauce.If you have time to cook from scratch, I'd definitely recommend that you make your own chicken tikka or bolognese sauce, they're really not that difficult and v low-cal and healthy versions can be made. Sauces in jars may taste nice but they're full of flavourings and preservatives and are not ideal.

I like to cook the vast majority of my food from scratch so I have can make it as healthy as possible, and even my culinarally-challenged (sp??) boyfriend who previously lived on Goodfella's pizzas is perfectly capable of making most things now

I wouldn't have clue how to make a healthy s&s sauce though, sorry!

scojones

Cheers rainglow!

I was bold this weekend, had 4 bottles of Tiger beer on Friday night and 6 pints of Guinness on Saturday - along with a burger and chip from Eddie Rockets. Time to get back on track again this week.

Breakfast this morning was a banana. Lunch will be a salad, similar to the ones I had last week (minus the tuna with mayo).

Dinner is going to be a chicken curry with broccolli, onion, mushrooms, garlic and water chesnut - curry sauce made from scratch with brown rice.

dellas1979

Well, I am trying to loose 3/4 a stone as well. And for the last 3 weeks, I have done nothing but pigout.

And like yourself, I was going grand last week, but then ended up going out fri and sat night and then ate abrakebabra for dinner yesterday.

I need to tone up badly too esp around my stomach. I cant afford to join a gym at the moment, so I have an exercise ball. I have gone up a dress size in the last 2 months.

So, this morning I had 2 weetabix. Coffee (no sugar)

At 11:00 I will have another coffee (no sugar)

At 13:00 I will have a ham, cheese and onion sandwich with a cup of soup.

For dinner will have small portion of lasagne with salad

I have been having bad indigestion/heart burn for the past week, so am trying to get rid of that also.

How much do you have to loose?

scojones

I'm currently 5ft 2" and I'm 10.5 stone. I want to come down to around 8.5 and tone up. I have a bit of a beer belly that I want to get rid of, and just generally tone up. I'm quite broad and I'm trying not to become too broad but I do notice that the more I go to the gym the bigger my chest area gets. I think I will lay off weight lifting for a while and just do cardio exercises - running and swimming, etc.

r3nu4l

Hey sjones,

I make my own bolognese sauces all the time so here's my recipe. I'm feeding two people with this so bear that in mind

1 tin of Tesco chopped tomatos
a good dash of mixed herbs (for flavour)
2 cloves of freshly crushed garlic
4 tomatos, each sliced into eights
5 mushrooms
1 red onion, chopped and diced

I cook up the tomato/garlic/mushroom and onion first (on a George foreman...sometimes with a small amount of olive oil in the pan) and then add the chopped tomatos.

It needs a good bit of time to boil down (reduce) so I start this about 5 mins before boiling the pasta (use wholegrain pasta) but if you want to use some tomato puree instead of the chopped tomatos that's okay, just check the tins for salt and sugar content! The Tesco value and Tesco chopped tomatos are okay but the more expensive Dolmio (?) and other brands seem to have sugar and salt added!

Tesco healthy living sweet and sour sauce tastes pretty good too. When looking at ingredients, look out for the salt content and sugar content. Sugar is usually described as sucrose, glucose or fructose.

Good luck!

scojones

Thanks a million r3nu4l! I'll try that recipe tomorrow. Just need to purchase the Tesco chopped tomatoes and some mushrooms.

I'll post today's progress this evening because I'm not quite sure I'll make for dinner just yet.

scojones

I was doing pretty good until the weekend. It was one of my mates' bdays so alot of drink was consumed, along with a kebab at the end of the night.

Doing good this week and I'm working over the weekend so no chance to booze it up. I've also started going back to the gym now because my flu is gone - finally!

For Monday and Tuesday I ate:

Breakfast: Banana and bowl of All Bran with skimmed milk.

Lunch: Salad consisting of Tuna, sweetcorn, scallions, hard boiled egg, beetroot and cold pasta.

Dinner: Chicken curry, 1 breast, my own home made curry sauce, green pepper on Monday, red on Tuesday, onion, 6 cloves of garlic and some mixed pepper, with brown rice.

Evening Snack: A peach.

Breakfast and lunch will be the same today, and for dinner I'm going to have a nice pork stir fry. I'll post the details of it's contents either this evening or tomorrow morning.

I've also started taking those Vitamin C tablets that you dissolve in water every morning.

One thing I have noticed is that I'm becoming incredibly hungry. This never used to happen me. If I am hungry I'll drink some water or have some fruit, but I'm worried about eating too much fruit too. When I ate badly I never really got too hungry and as a result never really finished my meals either, but now I'm clearing my plate every time. Is this a good or a bad thing?

walt0r

You from ennis? I'm from clarecastle meself

r3nu4l

Are you sure that it is really hunger? Quite often dehydration is mistaken for hunger, either way, drinking water is a good thing in both cases

If you want to feel more full try some foods that are knownto be filling...red kidney beans (in a tin without salt added! - Try Tesco Value IIRC) or celery, boiled and drained.

Check out this site. A simple search for celery, reveals this information

As you can see, it gives a lot of data about the food, including a 'fullness factor' Hope it helps!

scojones

walt0r wrote:

You from ennis? I'm from clarecastle meself

Nope, from Shannon mate.

Cheers for the help r3nu4l, you're a star!