BAD WEEKS

                                                      Me with all my awards to date

This week i had a small gain of 2.5lbs taking my total to 14st 12.5lbs off in total.

There is no real theme to this weeks blog but instead i just wanted to talk about how i deal with gaining weight like i have done this week.
So i got to group this morning after having a great week, i have been 100% on plan with no more Syns than usual and even resisted all the Easter eggs and hot cross buns over the easter weekend but when i stepped onto the scales i saw a gain of 2.5lbs. The first thing then entered my head was oh my god what has happened and straight away i started to feel bad and beat myself up. After a few minutes i then start to think back over the last week to find out why this might have happened. Did i cheat somehow?, did i not measure things right? have i eaten the wrong stuff? all these though go spinning through mind.
After a while i realized that i had not done anything wrong so i looked at the bigger picture, i have lost 10Lbs over the last 2 weeks so i cant expect to have big losses every week. i then realized that my fitness regime was different this week, because of the bank holiday my usual step classes weren't on and i didn't play squash this week so have hardly done any cardio workouts, what I did instead was a lot of weight training at the gym. So instead of losing weight this week i have lost inches which is some ways is just as important. Like my consultant says muscle weighs more than fat.
So i think the main thing to take away when you have weeks that you weren't expecting is to take stock and really think things through and don't let it get you down because if you do that is when you will be tempted and then eat the wrong things and then before you know it one bad week turns into two and then things can spiral out of control.
Another big point i would say is that when you have a bad week it is important that you don't just walk out of the group but to stay and talk things over with your consultant and the other members. The feedback you get from them is invaluable and will help to get your head in the right place before you go home.

I hope that after you have read this blog the next time you have a bad week you will think about what i have said and maybe put my ideas into practice and hopefully then turn things around for the following week.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

4x 115g skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp grated lime zest
juice of 2 limes
1 tsp ground ginger and 1 tsp finely grated garlic
3 tbsp mild curry powder
½ red onion
200g cherry tomatoes
110g baby leaf spinach
400g boiled wholemeal pasta shapes
2 x 150g pots fat free natural yogurt
2 tbsp Vanilla Müllerlight Yogurt
6 tbsp finely chopped mint
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander
1 tbsp soy sauce
Fry Light

1. Cut the chicken into thin strips and place in a bowl with the lime zest and juice, ground ginger, garlic and curry powder. Toss to mix. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour (overnight if possible).

2. Thinly slice the onion and halve the tomatoes, place in a bowl with the spinach and cooked pasta and mix.

3. Make the dressing: place the natural yogurt, vanilla yogurt, mint, coriander and soy sauce in a food processor and blend until smooth.

4. Remove the chicken from the marinade. Heat a non-stick griddle pan sprayed with Fry Light. Add the chicken to the pan (in batches if necessary) and cook for 6-8 minutes, turning once, until cooked through.

5. Divide the salad between four serving plates, top with the chicken strips and drizzle over the dressing.

Tip: This recipe is not suitable for home freezing.

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