Hello everyone! With the Uk in the middle of its first heat wave of the year, I have to report that I have been pathetic this week, in the extreme. I do not like heat, never have, never will. My walking has taken a complete nose dive. Our home remains fairly cool, however, so I have been stretching my home making muscles cleaning and tidying.
Despite the decrease in outside exercise, house keeping obviously burns a fair amount of calories as I have managed to lose another pound to bring my total weight loss to 16Ibs. It’s still not very, very apparent to me that I have lost any weight, let alone 16Ib. When I do finally see a difference it will be all the sweeter for having to wait for it!
I know Donna will understand my reluctance to walk in the heat. She is dealing with temperatures over 38 degrees C. We’re at 28 which frankly feels unbearable to me. Thirty eight, and I might very well melt. I wonder what the melting temperature of a Claire would be? Anyone? Even though the unbearable heat has prevented lots of walking Donna has still done incredibly well with her clothes feeling looser on her! Well done my friend!
Leah has had small victories of which there have been many which would explain why her tight jeans now zip up and are not so tight anymore. Leah is drinking more water whilst trying to discern between hunger and thirst, eating less ice cream at night and generally feeling much more energetic. Great job Leah!
Lucinda is on the look out for a good pedometer which can be tucked onto a waste band rather than jumping about around her neck. Any recommendations?
Amber popped in to say hi and left some encouraging words. It’s great to have you here Amber! Kris reminded us all that slow and steady is the best kind of weight loss because it tends to be more long-lasting. I think this is really important because sometimes one can put in lots of effort and see little change on the scales. Christy, I hope this encourages you this week. Christy lost 0.2 Ibs. She had lost a heap of weight a few years ago but the last ten pounds have been tricky to get off. You are 0.2Ibs closer to your goal! Well done, you can do this!
Audria has posted on her own blog about her 1Ib loss (yay, keep it up Audria!) and she has also included a lovely tuna and cucumber salad recipe, which would be just perfect for the current heat over here in the UK. Audria’s husband is also joining in with her in her quest to become healthier. I think it is much easier to do something when you are not the only one in the family doing it, not to mention much more fun when you have a partner in crime. Gary and I are enjoying a bit of friendly rivalry which I fully intend to win. Anyone who has seen us play Monopoly will know just how much fun we actually do have ribbing each other and ticking each other off when we stumble! Oh, and Gary? I’m beating you hands down so far……
Jo remains focused on her walking, parking her car further away from her destination to ensure she is walking for longer periods. She has asked if anyone knows of any healthy but inexpensive snacks she can bake with her children. I will be sharing a recipe for whole meal banana muffins at the end of this post, but if anyone has any others please do share and I’ll include them next week.
Francis has done incredibly well this week losing 3Ibs and continuing with jogging. Running seems to be the key to the success of many weight watchers. One day…. That’s fantastic Francis, well done you!
And finally Phyllis has written another useful post on fats as well as reporting about her weight loss. To date she has lost 30Ibs!! Yipideedipidee! If you were here, Phyllis, I would give you a big hug! Well done, well done!!
Over the past couple of weeks I have been doing lots of baking, trying to keep the treats high energy (for the children to have prior to the gym) but long-lasting and healthy. As promised here is my recipe for banana muffins:
Wholemeal Banana Muffins
2 cups whole meal flour
1 cup whole meal flour with seeds (you can simply do three cups wholemeal if you have no seeded flour)
6 teaspoons of baking powder
1/3 cup sugar (this can be left out or substituted with honey or agave or maple syrup)
Cinnamon to taste (I used a lot – couple of table spoons)
1/4 cup oil filled up to a full cup with milk
2 eggs beaten
3 smashed up bananas (I often use more, especially if I have some old ones)
Mix dry ingredients in one bowl
Mix wet ingredients in another bowl including mashed bananas
Add wet to dry and fold to mix
bake for 10-15 mins in a hot oven (180 or so) This definitely differs depending on your oven. My one in Ireland took ten minutes where as my oven here takes 15 minutes, sometimes more.
This is a really forgiving recipe and you get to know fairly quickly what a successful dough feels and looks like. I often add extra stuff to this basic recipe, for example
white chocolate and raspberry
chopped apple and clove (reduce cinnamon)
sultanas
choc chips
really anything which takes your fancy
You can mix cinnamon and brown sugar and pop a spoonful on top just before they go in the oven, or allow them to cool a spread a cream cheese, icing sugar and lemon juice icing on top. Both those options would decrease the healthfulness of an otherwise fairly healthy snack.
I recommend you use whole meal flour because this recipe does not work with white flour. At all.
The recipe makes 12 plus muffins depending on the size of your tins. I don’t know how many calories are in this recipe for those of you trying to lose weight, but they are full to the brim with healthy ingredients which can be made more or less healthy depending on your preferences. Enjoy!
So, over to you! How have you done this week in your quest to become healthier? Do share victories, small or large, tips and recipes.
My tip for this week……..be careful of husband and wife rivalry. I think in order for Claire to win she has been giving me much larger portions than normal! Lol. Only joking. I am truly grateful for my wonderful wife who provides great meals for me. I only have myself to blame this week but watch this space……I accept the challenge and I will win!!
Only a poor workman blames his tools, Mr S. I wouldn’t dream of over feeding you for my own means….okay, well maybe I would! Still, you don’t have to eat everything I serve- the onus is on you to refuse politely!
Sweetheart I always say if you have taken the time to make it I should take the time to eat it. And you know me I never leave food. I am going to have to keep a close eye on you
I like your banana muffin recipe – it looks tasty. One thing I like to add to recipes is ground up flax seed (I keep a package of whole seeds in my freezer and then use my blender to grind them just before use, so they don’t get rancid). I add it to almost any kind of sweet bread, and it adds fiber to help balance out the sugars and also healthy oils, but doesn’t affect the flavor or texture. My kids don’t know how sneaky I am. (I learned this trick while I was dealing with gestational diabetes – if I picked my recipes carefully, and had my numbers under good control, it made it possible for me to have a taste of “dessert-y bread” now and then.
I like to add ground flax to my bread recipes too.
Can you taste the flax seed? After the cancer diagnosis it was recommended to me that I should eat flaxseed oil, but it was so yukky! If you can’t really taste it this might be a great way to get it into me without gagging!
I never noticed a different taste but I also add wheat germ and wheat bran too. I also add it to my granola.
I’ve been watching this over the past few weeks and would love to join you all. I have already lost 22Ib but have that and more to lose. It would be good to have other homeschooling families to do it along side
Sure, come and join us, and welcome! Well done for the weight loss so far, I’m sure you’ll have lots of wisdom to share with us!
I appreciate both recipes…for banana muffins and the tuna recipe from Audria that you mentioned. I have yet another post for you guys… http://bergblog-onthemend.blogspot.com/2014/07/add-caption-at-my-doctors-check-up.html
I’m popping over now. Congratulations again on all your loss – it’s just fantastic!
It was a total flop of a week for me. I totally gave into stress eating 🙁 On the plus side – I realized it was stress eating, and am working to pick up my devotional time – and take care of my stress there instead of in the fridge 🙂 Thank Gary for the chuckle he gave us.
I pray you have a better week.
Sorry you didn’t have such a great week, but it’s good you could identify why and also that you know what to do to counteract it. I hope you have a wonderful week this week. Gary says it is his pleasure!
Well done, Claire and others. The recipe for muffins looks like a “must do” for this family. Did you know you could freeze your bananas and use in baking later? Also, 1/2 banana can be used instead of an egg. We have an egg allergy, among others, so I bake with mashed bananas a lot. My freezer has many frozen (black) bananas. Revolting to look at but just fine for baking. Stay cool.
Myra, from Winnipeg, Canada where we are hovering between 22 and 30C each day. Our climate is COLD in the winter and HOT in the summer – wide extremes.
I didn’t know you could use 1/2 a banana instead of an egg. That’s really useful because one of our friend’s son has egg allergies. Now I’ll be able to bake something for him!
Claire,
You are having heat-wave conditions and we had snow this week! Somehow that seems the wrong way round (we’re in Australia!) During the summer I exercise about 6 – 6.30 am before the day gets hot. It’s beautiful at that time of morning. I can understand why your walking took a nose dive due to the heat!
Gosh Sue! I know this must completely show my ignorance but I didn’t know it snowed in Australia! You’re right, it does seem a little topsy turvy!
Well done everyone!!
I am enjoying jogging more and it is becoming a bit easier. I’ve lost 2lb this week. Very pleased. The muffins sound very tasty. I shall be trying them out this week!
I’d be pleased too, Francis! You are doing incredibly well!
Hello, I did not get a post up this week and I apologize. I did think of each of you on Saturday and wanted to pop on here to read about everyone’s week. But I could hardly get out of bed until this evening. The recipe looks very good and I’ll have to give it a try this week. I’ve been very sick these past few days. My husband and Oldest have been taking care of me and the rest of the household. I did check my weight this evening and it says I lost 5 pounds but I think that may be due to illness.
I’m so sorry you have not been very well, Audria, and I am glad you are feeling better. 5Ib!! You must have been very unwell! I really hope you have a much better week. Thank you so much for making the effort to pop by even though you feel so rough. I was a bit worried.
Well, I wrote my successes on last week’s comment, that’s what happens when you read a week’s worth of posts in a day or so.
I haven’t checked my scale yet to see what the result of all that walking was, I’m hoping it was good.
I was a bit worried about you as well! I’m so pleased it was a lovely relaxing holiday you were on rather than being ill!
It’s sooo difficult not to be lethargic in a heat wave – good luck, and thanks for the inspirational quote – small efforts, day in and day out, sounds like the perfect place to start. Now to choose which small effort I will actually be likely to repeat…
Hello!! I missed you! Yes, lethargic is the perfect way to describe how I feel….or maybe lazy would be even more accurate. I think I need a good kick up the behind!
Thank you for the recipe. We shall have to try it. I make my grandma’s banana cake/bread recipe, but not too often as it is hard to resist.
I once heard we should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. I never seem to be able to eat breakfast like a king, but I have been trying to eat a more filling lunch as not to be so hungry by mid-afternoon. I love to eat sub sandwiches for lunch, so I have been filling them with all kinds of veggies and using olive oil instead of mayo. They seem to keep me filled until dinner. For dinner, I have been eating less and feeling better. I also have been eating meatless a little more often. I thought I would miss the meat, but when there are many other fresh choices on the table, I don’t miss it at all.
Slow and steady…
I’ve heard the same but I am so not hungry in the morning, slightly hungry by lunch, and ravenous by dinner and beyond. In fact the beyond is where I fall down. I’m procrastinating dealing with that. Like you say….small steps!
And still the heat continues… How do our friends overseas manage?! I’m so pleased to hear the weight loss is continuing despite it being far too sticky to exercise much. I’m by the beach at the moment – I’d like to say I’m swimming laps over to the Isle of Wight but in reality I’m mostly bobbing around in my giant rubber ring! 😀
One of our favourite snacks is frozen banana smoothies. They really fill a gap and satisfy a sweet craving. We always have one each on Wednesdays before 5pm gym/karate/swimming. For 3 people I use 2 frozen bananas, milk and 3 heaped tsp cocoa powder (we’re a family of chocaholics). I add a spoonful of flax seeds each (yay!), plus a big handful of kale and any soft fruit that’s gone a bit too soft, and whizz it all up in our ancient blender which sounds like it’s going to take off. You probably know about these already but I only discovered the secret a few months ago and I couldn’t believe I’d gone my whole life without!
These sound delicious and the rubber ring sounds fab (any room for lil’ old me? (I am 17Ib smaller than I used to be!!))