Peanut Butter Double Chocolate Cake - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 27 - Day 4

Week: 27
Day 4 - Saturday
19/07/2014

Peanut Butter Double Chocolate Cake

Why have one when you can have both?

Breakfast:  Almond Toasted Muesli

Soy & Linseed Toast with Butter and Vegemite

*Addition: Soy & Linseed Toast

Mayver’s Dark Chocolate Super Spread

Blessed & Lucky Maple Bliss Spread

There was just no way that I was having Vegemite, so I had two different spreads I love because why not have the best of both worlds? ;)

Missing Muffin - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 27 - Day 3

Week: 27
Day 3 - Friday
18/07/2014

Missing Muffin

Funny looking muffins

Breakfast:  Egg and Smokehouse Ham on a toasted Multigrain Muffin

*Addition: Egg, Ciabatta Toast (2)

I accidently had my Multigrain Muffin another morning! Oops!  I thought it was a spare one. I must have removed it out one morning, put it in my left over Lite n’ Easy food and not moved it back.   So in one of my spare lunches I found two pieces of Ciabatta Toast and had that instead.

The seeds that are in the Ciabatta Toast have a strong taste and don’t really go with the Eggs and Bacon unfortunately. 

Must Scan Everything! - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 27 - Day 2

Week: 27
Day 2 - Thursday
17/07/2014

Must Scan EVERYTHING!

Oh scanner I love you and your cleverness

After yesterday with the miscalculated fat on My Fitness Pal (post here), I remembered the barcode feature on the phone app (I usually use my PC).  I love this feature as there are so many things that are incorrectly entered into MFP.  

Meme created with www.memegenerator.net

But it just makes me wish the Lite n' Easy food packaging had barcodes!  It would make things so much easier as I'm forever updating the food database on MFP.  Me and my first world problems, I know. 

How Much Fat? - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 27 - Day 1

Week: 27
Day 1 - Wednesday
16/07/2014

How Much Fat?

Mmm yummy

Breakfast: Fruity Almond Crunch

Soy & Linseed Toast with Strawberry Jam

*Addition: Multigrain Muffin with Mayver’s Dark Chocolate Super Spread

I traded the Toast for a Muffin and decided on the Mayver’s Dark Chocolate Spread that I had been meaning to try.  Oh my! It’s delicious! It’s sweet but not sugary, you can taste the Chocolate and the Hazelnuts.  It’s no Nutella but if Nutella had an all natural, crunchy, granola loving distant relative, this spread would be it.   

I had already eaten one half of the Muffin when I put the details in My Fitness Pal and noticed the Fat section go way over. What?  For 20 grams of this stuff was 100 grams of fat.. hang on that can’t be right.  Ha ha it took me a little bit to realise that it had been entered into My Fitness Pal incorrectly.  *Face palm* DUH! It actually has the same grams of fat as the Mayver’s Peanut Cacao Spread.  I really like the Dark Chocolate one better and it only has 20 more calories and 1 gram more sugar! Sweet! ;)

What Motivates Me? - How I Stay Motivated To Lose Weight

I know that I should be writing my food for the day yesterday and plenty of other posts that I need to write, but I feel really strongly about this subject so I feel I should write it now.  I have been asked before how I stay motivated and what motivates me.  So I’m going to tell you but I need you to understand that what motivates me, may not motivate you.  We are all different people with different lives and all have different reasons for losing weight.

This is why it’s important not to compare your weightloss to anyone else’s.  Please try not to compare yourself to others as you are only setting yourself up for failure.  Not just with weightloss but throughout all areas of life.  Sure, it’s hard not to think “why can’t I do that” or “why can’t I have what they have” but it just takes you away from your goals and what you could be achieving.  Concentrate on your own goals, what works for you and what drives you and try to think “I’m going to do this” or “I’m going to work to achieve this”.  It’s really hard to win against someone who never gives up, so be that person who never does.

Weigh In Wednesday! - Lite n' Easy Week 26 Weightloss Journey - Weekly Weigh In

24.8 kg Loss, 1.2 kg Loss This Week

Week Twenty Six

Weightloss Week 26

Weight lost this week: 1.2 kg (2.64 pounds)

Starting Weight: 148.8 kg (328 pounds)

Current weight: 124 kg (273 pounds)

Total weightloss: 24.8 kg (54.67pounds)

Thoughts on this week

Oh my! I am so excited! Not only am I just shy of 25kgs, I’ve been doing a bit of a test and increased my calories from 1200 to 1500 and it worked for me!  I wanted to see for myself if I had a base of at least 1500 calories, increasing it when I burn off calories from exercise, that I could still lose weight and I can. 

Before I was on the migraine medication that was helping me lose weight and from stress, I was only losing a few hundread grams on the 1200, so I was very happy to see some bigger numbers. 

I hope this shows to some of you who are thinking about increasing your calories that you can still lose weight if you increase your calories.  The more I go through this journey, the more I feel that 1200 calories is too low for many but it’s all about what works for you.

Goals for next week

I just want to keep doing more of the same.  It would be great if I could have a more regular exercise plan but I don’t think that will ever happen as migraines are too unpredictable.  I do want to increase my water intake back up as that hasn’t been what it really should be.

How is your week going?

Cleaning Away Calories - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 26 - Day 7

Week: 26
Day 7 - Tuesday
15/07/2014

Cleaning Away Calories

Action shot ;)

Breakfast:  Fruit & Bran Cereal

Soy & Linseed Toast with Apricot Jam

*Addition: Mayver’s Peanut Cacao Spread

½ Banana

The Fruit & Bran Cereal contains quite a lot of sugar (17.8g) so I traded out the jam.  I would have thought that some of the other Cereals would contain more sugar than this one, I guess it’s due to the dried Fruit.

Tips For Snacking - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 26 - Day 6

Week: 26
Day 6 - Monday
14/07/2014
Tips For Snacking

Don't worry, those white blobs are Egg white :)

Breakfast: Fresh Omelette (Two Eggs, Ham & Tomato Mix and Cheese) 

I decided to cook the Omelette the way that Lite n’ Easy suggested in the microwave.  I didn’t have a 20cm bowl, so I just cracked the Eggs, added 1 tablespoon of water, whisked it and put it on a plate.  It cooked pretty well and then I heated the Ham & Tomato Mix and after 30 seconds added the Cheese and put it back in for 30 seconds (Ln’E recommend 1:30min total and I think that is too much).

Munch Party - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 26 - Day 5

Week: 26
Day 5 - Sunday
13/07/2014 

Munch Party

I love the Blessed & Lucky nut spreads, but I think the B&L Maple Bliss one has my heart.

Breakfast: Creamy Almond & Vanilla Oats

Soy & Linseed Toast with Plum Jam

*Addition: Blessed & Lucky Sweet Honey Peanut Butter

Banana

The Oats are a lovely warm breakfast for the cooler mornings and the Banana made it lovely and sweet.  I traded out the Plum Jam for Peanut Butter to lessen the sugar amount (14g Plum Jam = 9.1g, 10g Blessed & Lucky PB = 3g), as I’ve noticed that the Milk I have has quite a lot of sugar in it (Smarter White Milk = 14g for 250ml).  I have Coffee every morning with about 200ml of Milk and it’s putting me over my sugar and sodium limits almost daily, so after I finish this lot, I will change to a Skim Milk. 

Naughty Melted Cheesiness - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 26 - Day 4

Week 26

Day 4 - Saturday
12/07/2014
Naughty Melted Cheesiness

Yum Yum Yum

Breakfast: Bacon and Egg Mayo on a toasted Bagel

This is always delicious but it’s over too quick ha ha.  I think I would prefer to cook my own Egg and have the Mayo separate though.

#Tip: The Bagel is sliced thinly and is easy to burn in the toaster so make sure you keep an eye on it.  The Egg & Mayo Mix contains cooked Egg, so if you heat it in the container provided, it will explode.  I put it into a separate container with a lid so it doesn’t go everywhere in the microwave, I learnt that the hard way!

I Can Has Chocolate Bar? - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 26 - Day 3

Day 3 - Friday
11/07/2014
I Can Has Chocolate Bar?

Look at that egg! :)

Breakfast: Egg and Smokehouse Ham on a toasted Multigrain Muffin

*Addition: Egg

Look how high that Egg is stacked! Ha ha I added an extra egg and cooked it the same way I usually do, see tip below, but I added an extra tablespoon of water and an extra minute on the cooking time.

#Tip: I cook the Egg in the microwave and it only takes 1 minute.  Crack the Egg into a microwave safe mug, add 1 Tablespoon of water, whisk (I usually wish for about 1 minute to get as much air as possible) and nuke for 1 minute (1200 watt) done!  Scoop out the Egg with a Fork or a Spoon and layer between the Ham.  I also heat the Ham in the microwave, I open one corner of the bag it comes in and heat for 1 minute, and it’s then warm and shrinks down to the perfect size for the Muffin!

Pushing Myself - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 26 - Day 2

Day 2 - Thursday
10/07/2014
Pushing Myself

Such a yummy breakfast!

Breakfast: Toasted Multigrain Muffin with *Peanut Butter

*Addition: Fruity Almond Crunch Cereal

Half a Banana

I think I’ve had a Banana almost every day for the past week, I can’t help it and they are so easy to throw in with breakfast to bump up the calories.

*I swapped the Lite n’ Easy Kraft Peanut Butter with the Blessed & Lucky Maple Bliss Peanut Butter as I found the Kraft one very salty after trying other varieties.  I thought I’d show you a comparison between the two, thanks to My FitnessPal: 

Comparing the Peanut Butters

The Apple Of My Pie - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 26 - Day 1

Week 26

Day 1 - Wednesday
9/07/2014

The Apple Of My Pie

Look at that melty cheese... *drool*

Breakfast: Baked Beans on a toasted Multigrain Muffin

*Addition: Melted Cheese and Smokehouse Ham

I’m not a huge fan of the Lite n’ Easy Beans n’ Bacon, I just like the plain tomato ones.  But today to bump up the calories I added Smokehouse Ham and Cheese and those extra calories were delicious!

So good!

iHerb Food Haul - Healthy Snacks

iHerb is one of my favourite online stores, they sell healthy foods, nutritional supplements and beauty products.  The prices are US retail and the shipping to Australia is really quick and inexpensive.  Express shipping is about $8.00 and it arrived in 6 days, you can also chose faster shipping for $12.00 that arrives in about 3 days.  

My previous iHerb haul is here.

I’m on the 1200 calorie Lite n’ Easy plan but I like to add my own food to increase the calories when I exercise.  I think it’s good for me to learn what to eat and slowly give me more confidence in making my own food decisions.  I like to have healthy and delicious snacks around so that when I have cravings I don’t turn to the wrong foods.

If you would like to place an order with iHerb I have a discount code that entitles first buyers to $10 off purchases over $40 and $5 off for orders under $40.  My code is RJB173 which can be entered at checkout.   Once you have completed your first purchase, you will be given your own discount code to pass on.

Weigh In Wednesday! - Lite n' Easy Week 25 Weightloss Journey - Weekly Weigh In

Total Lost: 23.6 kg - Loss This Week -0.2 kg

Week Twenty Five

I was expecting to put on weight this week due to increased calories and uh it’s a certain time of the month, which can unfortunately mess with the scales.  Don’t we have enough to deal with? But an increase of 200 grams is nothing so I’m not concerned. J

Weightloss Week 25

Weight lost this week: -0.2 kg (-0.44 pounds)

Starting Weight: 148.8 kg (328 pounds)

Current weight: 125.2 kg (276 pounds)

Total weightloss: 23.6 kg (52 pounds)

Goals for next week

I’m still going to try and keep a base of 1500 calories,1200 calories Lite n’ Easy and adding the extra 300 calories with my own/extra food.  I want to try and make the most of the days I’m not sick and exercise as much as I can.  Let’s see how this experiment goes! J

Banana Shaming - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 25 - Day 7

Week: 25
Day 7 - Tuesday
9/07/2014
Banana Shaming

Mmm Toastie

Breakfast:  Two slices of Fruit n Muesli Toast with Butter (2)

*Addition: Fruity Almond Crunch Cereal

I’m loving these big breakfasts in the morning and I’m not even finding them challenging to finish.  The Fruity Almond Crunch is a new addition to the menu and it’s quite tasty.

Morning Snack: Mandarin

Banana Chips? 

Lunch: Smokehouse Ham, Cheese and Tomato on a Round Roll

*Addition: Banana

Make The Most Of It - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 25 Day 6

Week: 25
Day 5 - Monday
7/07/2014

Make The Most Of It

Mmmm warming

Breakfast: Creamy Almond & Vanilla Oats with Strawberry Compote

*Addition: Multigrain Toast with Peanut Butter

 Oh So Natural Fruit & Nut Mix (Aldi)

A lovely warm winter breakfast to start the day, the Vanilla Oats are okay by themselves but they are better with the Strawberry Compote.  I had the tiniest bit of Fruit & Nut Mix left so I added it to the Oats and Toast.

Don't worry, it's Strawberry

My Butt Won't Quit - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 25 Day 5

Week: 25
Day 4 - Sunday
6/07/2014
My Butt Won’t Quit

Sunday Breakfast mmmm 

Breakfast: Eggs Benedict (Egg, Bacon, Baby Spinach and Hollandaise Sauce

on Ciabatta Toast)

*Addition: An extra Egg and Ciabatta Toast

Homemade Coffee (low fat milk, no sugar)

I woke up feeling refreshed and in a great mood with loads of energy, even before the coffee.  What is better than Eggs Benedict on a Sunday morning? TWO Eggs Benedict on a Sunday morning! Yep, I added an extra Egg and Toast with a little Pepper and I was in pure bliss for the whole 30 seconds it lasted. ;)

Compliments To The Chef's Salad - Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 25 Day 4

Week: 25
Day 3 - Friday
5/07/2014
Compliments To The Chef’s Salad

Huge Breakfast to start the day!

Breakfast: Cheese and Tomato toasted

Multigrain Sandwich

*Addition: Fruit & Bran Cereal

Homemade Coffee (low fat milk, no sugar)

A HUGE breakfast I know!  But I figure it’s best to eat a lot in the morning because you’re far more likely to burn it off during the day than at night.  It was hard for me to re train my body to eat more, well anything, in the morning and stop having dessert and snacking after dinner.  It is really tough at first and I did feel like being sick in the morning for about a week but you will get use to it, I promise.

Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 25 Day 3 - More Calories Please

Week: 25
Day 3 - Friday
5/07/2014
More Calories Please

I know, I'm a little obsessed with PB and Banana... but there are worse obsessions, right?

Breakfast: Berry Wheat Bites Soy & Linseed Toast with Strawberry Jam Blessed & Lucky Maple Bliss Peanut Spread

½ Banana

Homemade Coffee (low fat milk, no sugar)

As you may know I’m increasing my calorie intake to 1500 minimum.  I want to try it out for at least a month, because I’m exercising again and see if it’s better for me. I figure this little experiment may help some of you who are thinking of doing this or are curious to see if you can still lose weight, compared to the infamous 1200 calories. 

Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 25 Day 2 - Not Giving In

Week: 25
Day 2 - Thursday
3/07/2014

Not Giving In

Mmm Banana!

Breakfast: Creamy Almond & Vanilla Oats 
with Honey and Half a Banana
Multigrain Toast with Honey Mayver's Peanut Cacao Spread and Half a Banana

Homemade Coffee (low fat milk, no sugar)

I decided to add the Honey to the Oats and top it with Banana, oh my it was delicious!

Because I used the Honey for the Oats, I added my own spread and the rest of the Banana.  Just a few little additions can help increase your calories.

Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 25 Day 1 - Feeling The Burn

Week: 25
Day 1 - Wednesday
2/07/2014

Feeling The Burn

How bright and sunny! :)

Breakfast: Berry Wheat Bites 
Multigrain Toast with Plum Jam

One of my favourite cereals (weet-bix wild berry bites) and I really like the Plum Jam.  I'm surprised how much Jam there is in the Lite n' Easy breakfasts, I thought that there would be too much sugar in them.

Weigh In Wednesday! - Lite n' Easy Week 24 Weightloss Journey - Weekly Weigh In

Total Lost: 23.6kg Lost This Week: 0.8kg

Week Twenty Four

Yes! I’m back to losing more than a few hundred grams again.  I have been able to exercise again so I’m thinking that is what has helped me out here.  I can’t believe 25kgs is just around the corner!  It seems like just yesterday I was celebrating my 20kg loss!  I’m going to have to come up with a 30kg reward pretty soon...

Weightloss Week 24

Weight lost this week: 0.8 kg (1.76 pounds)

Starting Weight: 148.8 kg (328 pounds)

Current weight: 125.2 kg (276 pounds)

Total weightloss: 23.6 kg (52 pounds)

Thoughts on this week

I’m so so sooooooooooo happy that I can move my butt again!  I’m feeling great and keeping the water up again.

Goals for next week

I want to get in to a bit of a routine with exercise and try and mix things up more and include more weights to try and build up some muscle.  I want to lose weight but I don’t want to lose my muscle!

Lite n' Easy Weight Loss Journey Week 24 Day 7 - Mixing It Up

Week: 24
Day 7 - Tuesday
1/07/2014  

Mixing It Up

YUM!

Breakfast:  Egg and Smokehouse Ham on a toasted Multigrain Muffin

Homemade Coffee (low fat milk, no sugar)

Loving the heated ham and egg on the Muffin now, I added some Garlic Chives but I don’t think it works.  I think it needs some Cherry Tomatoes or something else to go with it.