This diet! Some strange eating habits... Lunch today, tapas style, on one small plate after another... the left overs in the fridge before friends come over for supper, and one of them stays overnight...
Course 1
2 x oatcakes with organic butter. Yum. Eaten while preparing...
Course 2
Sardines, plain, mashed up with sesame seed oil and heated in the microwave for 6 minutes... with salt and pepper. They had gone crunchy on the top, don't know why - I did put a plate over them. Chopped parsley on top.
Course 3
Scrambled eggs, done ever so slowly while the sardines prepared and eaten. Add cold butter straight from fridge, and dusting of paprika.
Course 4
Spinach, cooked in the hastily cleaned egg pan, with water and salt. Strain, and add plain goat's yoghurt and cinnamon. Chop the spinach. Eat with a fork. Surprisingly, YUM. And I don't like spinach.
Cinnamon...
Is one of the top spices recommended for the campaign against Candida. I'm not surprised it's full of natural protection against yeasts and moulds - the cinnamon tree originates in Asia, an area of the world from which many of our major foods have come. High humidity levels mean that trees and plants have developed their own protection system agains air-borne yeasts. Cinnamon is the pounded from the bark of its tree, the 'skin' most exposed to infection.
Spinach...
apparently contains an ingredient which reduces and possibly reverses macular degeneration in the eye. So, although I hate, loathe and detest the taste of spinach, it's now a vile vegetable which I consume on a regular basis, for medicinal reasons.
No pic, I ate it all too quickly.
Top recommendation: the spinach, yoghurt and cinnamon. Imagine being able to eat that on buttered toast.... mmmm....
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Away with the fairies
Just been away for ten days. Four days self-catering. Five days on a group-holiday with one person cooking evening meals for us. One day with my daughter. One night in a hotel.
Self-catering - well, a bit restricted, didn't have my usual range of spices and herbs to cook with. Found myself with a large quantity of foodstuffs to carry home - a new bottle of olive oil, a small packet of rice, a large packet of porage oats, a jar of salt. Next time, going to devise a travel pack - small bottle of oil, small pot of salt, a small jar of mixed spice. Evening meals were fried fish, rice, broccoli and leeks. Lunch was oatcakes, salad and hummous. Just can't manage without hummous! For the journey, hummous, celery sticks, dry oatcakes. Some avocados featured - breakfast on the last day, with scrambled eggs, an emergency during the week, and emergency snack in the hotel. Almonds also featured.
The group holiday: this involved lots of careful planning - on the part of the organisers. I phoned them up, sent a list of the foods I can eat, and a list of the NOs, and a MENU (the most useful thing to do, gives the cook a projected outcome for meals). The cook was wonderful; the venue has a policy of making everyone feel at home, and she really did make sure I had plenty to eat at the big, communal evening meal. Breakfast was porage as usual. Lunch was oatcakes, hummous, hardboiled eggs, salad. Whenever we went out for the day, the cook made sure there were eggs for me. For the evening meal, she cooked me a separate dish every night. I ate broccoli, leeks, tuna fish, chickpeas and mixed beans all week!!! and picked up some new ideas. On the last night, she did a fennel leek and celery bake, with steamed broccoli and runner beans, and additional pumpkin seeds. One night there was a bean, leek and tuna bake - with added goat's yoghurt and chopped parsley. I loved the new idea to me of saute'd leeks with ginger. And there was a delicious chickpea herb and lemon bake - the rest of the group had theirs with onions, the cook very kindly did me a separate one without. And there was always salad. The only items I did take were almonds (kept these in my handbag!) and two tubs of goat's yoghurt, which I put in the fridge. One tub does me for the whole week, but I knew people would help themselves, and I didn't want to make a fuss, so I provided two, and it worked! (Not many people are brave enough to try goat's yoghurt - or go back for a second time).
The Hotel Breakfast
This was odd. They didn't offer porage, so I felt a bit short-changed on my breakfast! I ordered two fried eggs, and ate them with some extra butter. Then I took three pats of butter up to my room, spread them onto oatcakes for a second breakfast. But they did supply a pot of hot water and two thick slices of lemon. I didn't feel too embarrassed about eating the two eggs by themselves - my fellow travellers comprised a group of cyclists talking about how much they'd been drinking on their holiday and ordering poached eggs, albeit on toast.
My Lovely Daughter
Cooked chick peas with garlic & leeks, served with watercress. I left the olive oil with her...
Lots of Walking
So, in spite of the fact that I was eating loads of food and never once went hungry, I lost 5lb in weight! A stone and a half since May, and friends are all beginning to notice properly - the ones who've known me since I was slim all recognise I'm back to me old self, which is a real pleasure to have relfected back to me. Please, try this at home!
The Difficult Bits
Watching all the other people in my group eating roasted vegetable rissotto. It was agony! I love rissotto!!! The very big dish of tiramisu being handed around was quite tantalising, though I could comfort myself with the knowledge that it could never be as good as my friend J's tiramisu. A big vegetarian curry on the last night, with glistening naan breads, was likewise hard not to dip into - I was especially grateful for the treat of fennel and celery bake with pumpkin seeds that night, and I'm going to try that one myself.
No food pictures (have you ever tried whipping out your camera and flashing away at a plate of food in front of other people? Yes? I'd rather eat goat's yoghurt!!!) so here is sunrise over a sea...
Self-catering - well, a bit restricted, didn't have my usual range of spices and herbs to cook with. Found myself with a large quantity of foodstuffs to carry home - a new bottle of olive oil, a small packet of rice, a large packet of porage oats, a jar of salt. Next time, going to devise a travel pack - small bottle of oil, small pot of salt, a small jar of mixed spice. Evening meals were fried fish, rice, broccoli and leeks. Lunch was oatcakes, salad and hummous. Just can't manage without hummous! For the journey, hummous, celery sticks, dry oatcakes. Some avocados featured - breakfast on the last day, with scrambled eggs, an emergency during the week, and emergency snack in the hotel. Almonds also featured.
The group holiday: this involved lots of careful planning - on the part of the organisers. I phoned them up, sent a list of the foods I can eat, and a list of the NOs, and a MENU (the most useful thing to do, gives the cook a projected outcome for meals). The cook was wonderful; the venue has a policy of making everyone feel at home, and she really did make sure I had plenty to eat at the big, communal evening meal. Breakfast was porage as usual. Lunch was oatcakes, hummous, hardboiled eggs, salad. Whenever we went out for the day, the cook made sure there were eggs for me. For the evening meal, she cooked me a separate dish every night. I ate broccoli, leeks, tuna fish, chickpeas and mixed beans all week!!! and picked up some new ideas. On the last night, she did a fennel leek and celery bake, with steamed broccoli and runner beans, and additional pumpkin seeds. One night there was a bean, leek and tuna bake - with added goat's yoghurt and chopped parsley. I loved the new idea to me of saute'd leeks with ginger. And there was a delicious chickpea herb and lemon bake - the rest of the group had theirs with onions, the cook very kindly did me a separate one without. And there was always salad. The only items I did take were almonds (kept these in my handbag!) and two tubs of goat's yoghurt, which I put in the fridge. One tub does me for the whole week, but I knew people would help themselves, and I didn't want to make a fuss, so I provided two, and it worked! (Not many people are brave enough to try goat's yoghurt - or go back for a second time).
The Hotel Breakfast
This was odd. They didn't offer porage, so I felt a bit short-changed on my breakfast! I ordered two fried eggs, and ate them with some extra butter. Then I took three pats of butter up to my room, spread them onto oatcakes for a second breakfast. But they did supply a pot of hot water and two thick slices of lemon. I didn't feel too embarrassed about eating the two eggs by themselves - my fellow travellers comprised a group of cyclists talking about how much they'd been drinking on their holiday and ordering poached eggs, albeit on toast.
My Lovely Daughter
Cooked chick peas with garlic & leeks, served with watercress. I left the olive oil with her...
Lots of Walking
So, in spite of the fact that I was eating loads of food and never once went hungry, I lost 5lb in weight! A stone and a half since May, and friends are all beginning to notice properly - the ones who've known me since I was slim all recognise I'm back to me old self, which is a real pleasure to have relfected back to me. Please, try this at home!
The Difficult Bits
Watching all the other people in my group eating roasted vegetable rissotto. It was agony! I love rissotto!!! The very big dish of tiramisu being handed around was quite tantalising, though I could comfort myself with the knowledge that it could never be as good as my friend J's tiramisu. A big vegetarian curry on the last night, with glistening naan breads, was likewise hard not to dip into - I was especially grateful for the treat of fennel and celery bake with pumpkin seeds that night, and I'm going to try that one myself.
No food pictures (have you ever tried whipping out your camera and flashing away at a plate of food in front of other people? Yes? I'd rather eat goat's yoghurt!!!) so here is sunrise over a sea...
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Feature This
... this morning, I am mostly thinking about... sausages and homemade damson sauce with mashed potatoes and baked beans... awwwh!!!
Monday, 5 October 2009
And then there's all that weight to be lost...
May '9 - started gradually giving up on all things sugary. Progress was slow. I also began taking supplements, something I normally avoid, to make sure I was topped up with everything I needed. How did I decide what I would take? I read Gillian McKeith's book, You Are What You Eat - especially the chapter which lists symptoms of deficiency, and what to take to cure them. Weighed myself once. This is the starting point for my diet.
June '9 - was meant to start the sugar-free diet but kept postponing it. You know the kind of thing. I'll wait til after this visitor, this party, this festival, this big day out...
July '9 - got bored of preparing for the diet, and realised I would have to do it, regardless of special events. Psyched up by eating 'farewell foods' - last vanilla custard, last tin of rice pudding, last chocolate, etc. Planned my meals, shopping lists. Put all the forbidden foods into a big box. A friend of mine calls it 'The Naughty Box' - I don't open it unless to get out the coffee and biscuits for visitors.
July 22 - started the anti-candida diet.
August '9 - Weighed myself. Reduction: 7kg or 1 stone one and a half pounds. Over three months, this is about a pound a week. My clothes fit me better, and I've probably dropped a size; I can wear the jeans I bought five years ago. And all this without exercising.
September '9 - by the end of September, I had lost a further 2lb. It's bound to level out. My aim is to lose another stone by next May; I'm sure if I stick to the restrictive diet and indulge in some exercise as well, I should be able to manage that. And keep the weight the same from then on.
The 'diet' I'm on restricts the foods I eat: I don't restrict how much I eat. Well, I do, in that I try to keep to 1600 calories a day, the right amount for my gender and age bracket. Which is a bummer. What I mean is, if I'm hungry, I eat more; if I'm not so hungry, I make sure I eat to match that feeling. The opportunity for snacking is reduced; the snacks I allow are celery, hummous, oatcakes, tahini paste, butter, almonds (not supposed to eat too many of these). At meals, however, I eat as much as I want. I measure out the meat or fish, and the rice, but when I'm hungry, I just cook more rice, or porage oats if it's breakfast time. Vegetables I let myself have unlimited access to. Eating more at meals helps me to cut down on snacks. When I have a day out, I eat a very big breakfast; this cuts down on wanting to buy chocolate, etc. Nowadays, I find myself really looking forward to the evening meal; my 'treat eating' is to make this meal as interesting and luxurious as possible, and I put a lot of time into preparing it with care. On days when I don't have time, I have to be very careful, as it means I'll start craving for the instant sugar-high fixes that modern life provides so easily. Fortunately, I don't live within walking distance of any shops, so taking the car out for a midnight sugar-fest just doesn't happen.
And that's it! That's how I lost over a stone in weight over four months, without any exercise, and without going hungry or depriving myself of good food.
Enjoy,
Derwen Hen
FEATURE THIS
This week I have mostly been thinking about eating ... Crispy Duck Rissotto.
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Fish curry
(I invented this for that timeless reason: the fish I'd defrosted slightly too early didn't smell off, but didn't exactly smell good.)
Sunflower seed oil
White fish
Garam Masala
Garlic, 3 cloves
Celery - chopped fine
Saute all ingredients in the oil, ensuring spices evenly distributed among pieces of fish.
Add stock (fish stock is good - disgustingly, just boil up the head, tail and spine of the fish for a couple of hours, with a cinnamon stick. Or whatever flavour you want it to have. Allspice is good.) and simmer for twenty minutes.
When the curry is 'dry' - all liquid boiled away but before it starts sticking to the pan - add goat's yoghurt and warm through without boiling again.
Serve with turmeric rice,
chopped dill and vegetables to taste (I ate spinach).
Once again, it tasted a thousand times better than the photo looks...
June '9 - was meant to start the sugar-free diet but kept postponing it. You know the kind of thing. I'll wait til after this visitor, this party, this festival, this big day out...
July '9 - got bored of preparing for the diet, and realised I would have to do it, regardless of special events. Psyched up by eating 'farewell foods' - last vanilla custard, last tin of rice pudding, last chocolate, etc. Planned my meals, shopping lists. Put all the forbidden foods into a big box. A friend of mine calls it 'The Naughty Box' - I don't open it unless to get out the coffee and biscuits for visitors.
July 22 - started the anti-candida diet.
August '9 - Weighed myself. Reduction: 7kg or 1 stone one and a half pounds. Over three months, this is about a pound a week. My clothes fit me better, and I've probably dropped a size; I can wear the jeans I bought five years ago. And all this without exercising.
September '9 - by the end of September, I had lost a further 2lb. It's bound to level out. My aim is to lose another stone by next May; I'm sure if I stick to the restrictive diet and indulge in some exercise as well, I should be able to manage that. And keep the weight the same from then on.
The 'diet' I'm on restricts the foods I eat: I don't restrict how much I eat. Well, I do, in that I try to keep to 1600 calories a day, the right amount for my gender and age bracket. Which is a bummer. What I mean is, if I'm hungry, I eat more; if I'm not so hungry, I make sure I eat to match that feeling. The opportunity for snacking is reduced; the snacks I allow are celery, hummous, oatcakes, tahini paste, butter, almonds (not supposed to eat too many of these). At meals, however, I eat as much as I want. I measure out the meat or fish, and the rice, but when I'm hungry, I just cook more rice, or porage oats if it's breakfast time. Vegetables I let myself have unlimited access to. Eating more at meals helps me to cut down on snacks. When I have a day out, I eat a very big breakfast; this cuts down on wanting to buy chocolate, etc. Nowadays, I find myself really looking forward to the evening meal; my 'treat eating' is to make this meal as interesting and luxurious as possible, and I put a lot of time into preparing it with care. On days when I don't have time, I have to be very careful, as it means I'll start craving for the instant sugar-high fixes that modern life provides so easily. Fortunately, I don't live within walking distance of any shops, so taking the car out for a midnight sugar-fest just doesn't happen.
And that's it! That's how I lost over a stone in weight over four months, without any exercise, and without going hungry or depriving myself of good food.
Enjoy,
Derwen Hen
FEATURE THIS
This week I have mostly been thinking about eating ... Crispy Duck Rissotto.
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Fish curry
(I invented this for that timeless reason: the fish I'd defrosted slightly too early didn't smell off, but didn't exactly smell good.)
Sunflower seed oil
White fish
Garam Masala
Garlic, 3 cloves
Celery - chopped fine
Saute all ingredients in the oil, ensuring spices evenly distributed among pieces of fish.
Add stock (fish stock is good - disgustingly, just boil up the head, tail and spine of the fish for a couple of hours, with a cinnamon stick. Or whatever flavour you want it to have. Allspice is good.) and simmer for twenty minutes.
When the curry is 'dry' - all liquid boiled away but before it starts sticking to the pan - add goat's yoghurt and warm through without boiling again.
Serve with turmeric rice,
chopped dill and vegetables to taste (I ate spinach).
Once again, it tasted a thousand times better than the photo looks...
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