Update

Hi guys, sorry not been as active as id like, alot of work happening and not been in the writing mood really. I know its a bit lazy of me, but you do have to be in the right frame of mind and mood to get alot of detailed thoughts down without ranting. We all do love a rant, but i want to try keep this as a dieting food blog than a bitch about life.

So anyway. What have i been eating? Well generally anything at the minute, but im not being stupid about it, still have my steady meals everyday and the odd snack and treat along the way. No having multiple takeaways and convienece food in a day etc,

When i was at lincoln, me and janette enjoyed our food and eating in and out. The breakfasts are to die for! We did go to an all you can eat chinese buffet in lincoln as we was absolutly starving! Plus it could be one of the lasts times we visit lincoln, although we have booked twice to go next year, but wont be many single trips there again. Lincoln does hold a piece of my heart, and i would actually live there. But for now, im very happy in sheffield.

Not really had anything kinda new and healthy, although tonight im having some sorta spiced salmon salad. I got a salmon joint from morrisons, was £7.05, down to £2.55 and that went straight into the freezer, il take that anyday of the week!

At work i made a sweet potatoe and lentil soup which was really nice, warm and wintery. It had a curry and coriander spice mix in the bottom of the pan so it toasts a little, add oil, then sweet potatoe and onion, cook for 10mins, then add stock and lentils and make sure theres some stock spare, as the lentils soak up alot of the stock, and leave on a low boil for an hour, blend and eat! Deilicious.

Closer to new year, i will do my yearly targets on the diet front and expectations of myself.

I have a night out on thursday and then 2 more next week, so realistically, if i dont put any weight on till new year, il be happy and ill do a core weight new years day, and we will go from there.

Till next time.

Week Ahead

Im back for a mini update. Cant really say ive been good or bad on my diet, ive had a treat, but not to many. Not made anthing major either, not had the time, as had janettes family up the last 2 days, and just ate here and there. Ive had a bit to much bread thats for sure. Still having my cereal every morning, and i really do enjoy having them! I put on a t-shirt i bought 6 weeks ago, on monday which was pretty tite around the belly and made me look pretty fat, and to my amazement, it fits pretty dam good now! Also with some birthday money i bought some 38" waist jeans! May 2008 i had to buy some 46" waist jeans, So 3 years and a 8" waist difference. Im kinda hoping by the end of 2012 il be around a 34-36" waist. Il settle to fitting in a 36" waist jeans, as then i can shop anywhere, and my leg measurement is the average so will never have any problems shopping anywhere for clothes again.

The next few days im going to lincoln for a xmas trip away, and to take in there xmas market. The B&B im staying in is called the creston villa. It is the best B&B ive stayed in, and won awards for being good and reccomendations from a MP from london. So any readers want to take a break to lincoln, you will not be dissapointed with creston villa at all. There breakfast's are beautiful, full english with lots of different choices and served at the time you want. What makes this place so special, is the amazing host's and service. Would do anything for anyone and nothing is to much for them at all.

On saturday its my works xmas doo night out, which is a 3 course meal and drinks, so urgh, no diet day then, and then im working something like the next 10-11 days straight, so il be back on my diet then and being good with myself, till probably around 23rd december time and im off for 4 days over new year.

Around new year, im going to do my yearly targets and stuff i am going to try to achieve for the coming year, wether it is personal, dieting, targets in life,

Will i be celebrating the new year? Of course i will, its been probably one of the best years of my life to be honest, and il be hoping for more of the same for 2012.

Its been a good blog so far, so no rant from me anyway. Ive enjoyed blogging so far, and sometimes its just good to get out the things which are in your head out to the world and spread a little of that somthing which is in there. Id like to say im a positive person, and try and see the best in people, scenario's etc, and my main saying in life is, "you make your own luck in this world" "somethings in life we cant change and out of your control, but you can make your choices and changes"

Food update!

Since the last time, i havnt done so well on the ol diet. Ive half stick to it, but after going to pub on monday and needing some hangover food, it was my first bacon sandwich for a couple of months really. Really do love cooked breakfasts, bacon, sausage etc That nite, i was going to just have some cereal, but had a sausage sandwich instead. So bad on the bread, but sausage was grilled, so not all to bad. Today, i cooked one of my most favourite chinese dishes, Salt and pepper squid! Fresh squid from morrisons and some salt and pepper seasoning, few crumbs on it, and you can grill or oven the squid, and perfect! The problem with squid, is, you can under cook it or over cook it, as it becomes rubbery and chewy. Very hot oven and quickly cook the crumb and the squid and it was done! Anyone on diets, eating fish and shellfish is a total must! Its filling and tasty and every bit of it is good for you. I know some people dont like the smell and feel of it, as its "slimey". Get your fishmonger to prepare it for you, then all you need to do, i put it on a baking sheet or dish to cook. Keep it wrapped it fridge so the "fishy" smell doesnt get everywhere. End of the day, if you cook alot of home food etc, after preparing fish are handling it, just like raw meat, good soapy wash and hot water, and no smell stays.

On friday im off to Doncaster, and it has the best fish and meat market ever! Il be stocking up on the fish and shellfish and freezing them when i get back in. I always get some crab meat, and hoping to get some hole crabs and make myself alot of crab cakes and freeze them.

Tommorow im a year older, and my girlfriend is cooking me a tasty breakfast, and off to damons for tea time. Damons has the best ribs in the UK! So im looking forward to that. Friday il be back on the cereal and them every breakfast itl be cereal until next wednesday as im off to lincoln for a few days to take in the xmas spirit and go to there xmas market. I went last year to lincoln at the same time, but, the snow hit and it got cancelled, so heres hoping the snow stays off for a few days them at least.

I know its going to be hard to stay strict on any diet during these times, but during december, if i dont put any weight back on, il be chuffed, as come January 1st, itl be a new blank canvas (ive about 105 previously started canvase's, but lets not go there) But to me 2012, is going to be 1 of the most important years of my life. I will write near new year about my goals and plans, and lets see how they are in a years time. What ive found out and tell my girlfriend alot, is that time never changes speed, but things do take time to happen. Dieting is a long drawn out thing and we all expect instant results, and they dont come. It should be mini short term goals, with a long term goal in a years time. 2012, i want to lose about 2 stone and be alot more fitter and healthier and keep on eating and making fresh good food. Ok i will do more detailed plans for 2012, but thats just 1 of the things id like to achieve.

I do think about alot of things, some just random stuff, 1 of them is listening to women (not much of a hobbie or weird fetish, but the fact that i work with alot of women and most of my girlfriends friends, family are women and she buys alot of woman mags) and do u know what, im glad im a man. The price it costs to be a modern day woman is ridiculous. All the grooming products i buy is, razor blades, shaving foam, deodrant, hair gel, aftershave, toothpaste, shower gel and that is about it. I always get a few shower gels at xmas, and they usually last me the hole year! Not that i dont shower, but 10 shower gels go along way. So my annual grooming product bill for the year, is about £200 max. £2 approx a week, il live with that. Now a womans bill must be a minumum of a £1000 easy! Oh yes, i also get free hair cuts. Someone who i work with railed off what she needs per day/week/month so she can look the way she is. Which got me thinking, y do women go to very long lenths, just so they can look like something they are clearly not. I know sometimes, some things a woman cant help, same as a man, but a man is not as self consious of how they look (well most anyway). I could name 10 different women aged between 20-30 who i know and about 5/6 of them dont have there natural hair colour they was born with. So why do woman buy all these products, do all these cosmetic things and spends hundreds and thousand on them selfs? Well you could say there all sellfish.... But i do beilive, magazines, newspapers, celebrities, being socailly excepted and now just keeping up with modern trends is a main reason why. Programs like TOWIE do not help, as about 90% of the woman on there have boob jobs and probably 100% of the under 35 woman have had some sort of cosmetic surgery. All i can say is, im glad im a man and my £2 grooming allowance a week does me well to be where i am!

Thats all for now folks.

Price of life.

Mini rant about life again.

So whats on my mind this time..... The price of life. Im not complaining, as they money i pay towards my life, is all kinda worth it at the moment. Im leading a pretty dam good life, to how it could be. Im now approaching my birthday soon, when your younger, you cant wait to get older and do other stuff, like go watch a 12,15,18 film legally. Buy a pint legally, gamble legally. When i say "legally" i mean, that most of these things i did before i needed to be that age. But now, i just wanna get younger again. I still look young, and feel young at times, but after working alot of days and hours, all i wanna do is rest and wack feet up on seatee and watch tv or some dvds and fall asleep like an old man. I would be very happy if i didnt have to go into a nightclub again. Ive been there, done that, and to be honest, clubbing has never changed since ive been doing it, and really, its aload of pants!, not just any old pants, but expensive pants!!

So the price of life.... Me and my partner live with each other, and split all the bills down the middle. If i was to live alone where we are, id have to pay out more money than i actually earn (circa £850-925 a month), and what ive found out for the first time in my life, is that christmas is so dam expensive. As well as the normal stuff. Ive got 3-4 different nights out and between £300-400 in presents, perhaps just over £400. Then there is new years eve and that holiday time as i usually go away for a few days. I bought my first present in October, and bought quite a few in the beginning of November, some will be in December and perhaps the last few day befores xmas day! 1 plus side, is im at my mums for xmas day, so no extra food will be needed like many households.

Rent £400
Bills £70
Food £200
Council Tax £100

Im also having driving lessons at the moment, but by time i do pass, il probably have to pay about £100 a month for the car if i get something on finance (fuel, insurance, finance payments etc) I also dont have sky/broadband or a phone line in at the minute, but do pay approx 25-30 for payg dongle top ups. Max a month, if i do get a car and get the essentials with a decent food shop, then i would payout about £1000 a month! I do not have any debts at all, which is a good thing, as i dont have any extras to pay out a month on top of it all. The price of life is going up and up, and the minumum wage isnt staying at the same pace. Is there any reason why this country is going belly up! Obviously there is alot more other factors to that, but that is just 1, as we must spend more than what we earn just to get by in life, and theres zero chance of getting any mortgage on a house or save up for a deposit, unless you earn a minumum off £500 a week, or 3-5k per household income a month.

At somepoint id like a holiday next year, as ive been with my partner now 19months, and not had a holiday abroad. We have tried 3 times, 1 got cancelled by the airline due to the trouble in tunisia early this year, the other 2 times we was going to go, we both got offered jobs to start near them dates. So next summer will be that time.

I am kinda glad i dont have kids yet, i would like them, some point in my life. But for the price condoms are, il gladly wear them to what a child costs a month and potentially a lifetime! But in all seriousness, i wanna be finacially sound before having kids, as you want to give them a good life and a good start in life, they say love doesnt cost anything, but unfortunatly nappies and food does! After reading the sun paper daily, a recent survey of couples find out that, having kids, then a house came before getting married, due to the cost. A house was 1 of the main things, as it goes towards your own future, and naturally somewhere to live your life. But a wedding was a real luxury if you could afford to do it. Obviously you can do a wedding on a budget, but alot, wanna big luxury wedding, as its going to be a one off.

Apart from winning the lotto, which is about a 14million to 1 shot. Im really not sure about where or what or how im gonna achieve something in life. But what ever it is, im gonna die trying to get there in the end. I do have plans in my head, with a future in catering or starting my own thing. But its abit late to start again to go to college or university and do something else.

Till next time.

Weekly food update

The last week, i know ive been good on the diet, and not really cheated at all. Im being loyal to my weetabix, bran flakes and now all bran breakfast and stuck to it. Im now kinda stuck in the "breakfast is the most important and best meal of the day", as it gets your body into the eating and getting rid of mode straight from the off. Also its the time of the day, where you can eat your carbs and get away with it, as it slowly releases the food into your body, so its ok to have bread and toast. I have crumpets as im finding brown toast a bit boring at the minute. I got on the scales this morning, and had a 3lb loss in the last 10 days. So im kinda chuffed, that i can diet without exercise and do well! Which is a 1st time ever! I cant wait for the new year, where im gonna be sticking to this diet of cereal and good hearty tasting meals,

Yesterday i got some seabass from morrisons, which was from £4 to £2 a hole fish! I love morrisons with there whoopsy bargains they have, which go off that date. But i can buy loads and just freeze them and take out the day i need them. Whole fillet of plaice £1! I also do it with the meat as well, got joints of meat and good pieces of steak for bargain prices. If i can freeze it, il buy il! Great tip for anyone. I bought some raw king prawns from sainsburys for 35p! from £3.25! Bargain and a half me thinks. Love getting good quality discounted food. People under estimate fish and shellfish, as alot of it is super healthy and very good for you as well. I would always try and get fresh seafood, prawns are about the only thing i dont mind getting frozen.

On saturday i did the seabass, with some fish seasoning, lemon juice, pad thai sauce, left to marinade and baked for 20mins in oven, and its lovely! Today i got some chicken legs, and took fat off, marinaded in sweet chilli sauce, teryaki, garlic, soy sauce, seasame seeds and baked in oven slowly for 3 hours, with some coleslaw and salad. Perfect! 2 good healthy heart recipes. Obviously you can use chicken breasts, but they are more expensive than legs, as i got 6 chicken legs for £2.90.

I also made a big pot of leek, potatoe and baby carrot soup. Basically onion and leek in a pan with a bit of butter, add flour and stock, then the potatoes and carrots (hole) and cook for 2 hours, crush the potatoes in the pan. Perfect hearty soup!! If you make alot, leave to cool, place in plastic tubs and freeze for another day. The vegetables cost me £2 to buy from morrisons, and a few herbs as well, parsely, mixed herbs, i added some mint and gave a lovely flavour, or perhaps some mixed herbs, and for that £2 you have spent, a big pot will do you about 5-6 good servings, maybe more.

I do have a good store cupboard of dry ingrendients, herbs & spices, sauces, rice, noodles etc, so usually i just need to buy the main ingredients for it. So it is wise to stock up on the dry ingredients, as they do last a long time in the cupboard.

Earlyer on in the week, i made some homemade burgers. I got some minced steak from morrisons, again on a whoopsy! So made them that day and froze them, £1.99 for the pack and made 6 burgers, so 33.33p a burger! Bargain! Nice roll, fresh lettuce, pickely cucumber (gherkin), sauce of choice, perfect! If you off the cards, then a burger on its own with the rest of ingredients as a nice salad. In the burger i put, finely chopped onion, garlic, ketchup, mustard, some breadcrumbs, but not many. Freeze or fridge straight away before you use them,

I am a firm beiliver of doing home cooked food, and doing it well, and if i can make it healthy and affordable, them im on the way to doing something ive always wanted to do. My girlfriend is a really good guinea pig, and you may say the luckyest girl in the world as she tastes all the healthy hearty tasty food i make! Think you must have at least 1 proper cooked meal a day, I hate ready instant meals and most of them are full of rubbish and crap anyway. Ive seen the size of the weight watcher meals, and i would need about 3 of them to make me feel full, there suppose to be lower in fat, but really, they are just smaller portions and not as tasty!

Im loving the sun paper at the moment. Every week, there is at least 2 good health articles in it. Gary Barlow put up his diet, after his take that split, he balooned upto 16-17stone, and hit the diet. His main way, was cutting down the portions, keeping the calories to a good level, and exericse alot. To me, this be a perfect way, except i wanna exericse full throttle than stop start all the time. January, il be hitting the running machine hard!

I was going to have a moan about stuff in live, but im gonna keep it on a good note. Tommorow, im heading to my mums and going to my old local pub, and as low fat beer is outta the equation. It be a few nice beers and some southern comforts as a mini bday treat!

General rant about life

At work today, i really just wanted to rant on about life and how it is, and how people are with life, and the stuff what just bleeding pisses me off! I do beilive in the "each to there own" and "it makes the world go round"

Now xmas is upon us, but it isnt upon us, it isnt the week before xmas, or xmas eve, where we all go panic buying the presents we forgot, or just been paid on that day and blown all our money before hand thinking its kinda cool to get hammered like a tit coz "its christmas" where really, you spend most of the year getting hammered, but fail to blame it on xmas!

So first rant, is why the frig have people put xmas trees and decorations up now! Just frig me sideways! (im not going to put any swear words up, or try to) that your life that much of a depressent, that you think its going to be xmas day at the beginning of november or something? Your gonna get that present tommorow of some1 who generally doesnt like you? Or no 1 will notice that your a fruit loop etc and think you just like xmas? Now i do love xmas, and so does my girlfriend, but im a beiliver that xmas kinda starts, when its advent calendar door opening, which is the 1st of december. As a child, our tree and decorations, usually go up about two weeks or so before xmas, and down a couple of days after new year. Now i read that someone put there xmas tree and decorations up at beginning of november "to see there 6-9month old babys reaction" Like he/she generally will remember wtf is happening and going on! Yes it may look nice, and the smile may last a hole 30sec's, but its pretty dam sad to be honest if thats your life!, but come on, ho hum, bah humbug me! Mayb in a few years, and wack em up in december, and the child can understand xmas alot more, What will it be, when they go down, and he/she doesnt smile as much, xmas all year round? Xmas is a special time of the year, some will hate it for other reasons, but, its a bit like your birthday, its a treat or that time of year, where its kinda your day, and xmas is kinda a small celebration what lasts a little longer. But its not to be celebrated in November! I hate for xmas to be de valued and i would put good money, most dont know the meaning of xmas.

Now im thinking, why do some people do put up xmas decs up early, or love xmas so much? I think a good general real reason why this year, is that. The way of life has gone up for the normal person, and xmas has started to bring more people together, as really, where all in it together, and is the only time of year, we all get to celebrate together. Familys havnt been able to go on holiday, as everything has gone up, more and more of us are having children or more children to the brood and a bigger reason to celebrate it. It does seem, there is alot more grieve in this world, and if nothing bad happens around xmas times, its the 1 time of the year, where you can enjoy it and try and forget your grieve. Ive always kinda said, if anything was bad to happen around xmas time, that id still celebrate it, but id go on holiday for it. But hopefully that'l never happen anytime soon. We all may hate this country, but i kinda like and enjoy a british xmas. If it wasnt for xmas, alot of buisness may go bust! Billion dollar Christmas industry supposedly! Christmas is also that 1 time of the year, where you can have a good drink and eat plenty of goodies which you may not all year round. I always remember as a kid, it was the 1 time of the year id have smoked salmon! So i wanna try and get some good smoked salmon and bring back them memorys.

Next rant.... Chavs! What is it with pregnant women, naming and calling there baby by a name, when its a smaller than a golf ball in your belly! "Oh hi, im 4 weeks pregnant and my baby is going to be called this" fb status" " baby is due in 10 weeks time, i cant wait to meet " Just jesus, fml" Yes, you have a few names you like, but my mum had different names for all her children, but changed 2 of them, cos they didnt look like that name when they popped out. Why do chavs's then suddenly name there babys name, after a famous persons baby name etc..... "yeah no 1 has heard of that name before have they....."

Not much of a food rant this week. But ive been quite good on my diet, and im ploughing through plenty of cereal and plenty of bog roll!

Another mini rant, ive worked out, all my outgoings for xmas in the next 4 weeks, plus normal bills and food shopping, 2 xmas nite outs, and ive worked out, im going to be paying out more than im earning! Which lead to a migraine that night.

Im going to do another blog, properly friday or saturday night, and put some of the stuff ive been eating and a few recipes.

Im not a xmas scrooge or a miserable person. But some stuff is just kinda pethetic and peoples lives can just be worst, and its a sad way of life. Last bit, if your gonna do xmas early, do it for the right reasons!

Food blog update

Its been a while,

Well got on scales, and for some reason ive lost a few pound in weight, result. But ive just been good on my diet, but not done the exercise. I know i said i would try the 5km, but at end of last week i had flu type symptons and last thing i wanted was to stay at work for even longer than i should, and just basically do nothing when i got home. So my plan, although i would like to find the motivation for the gym from somewhere, im going to try my best to stick to my diet, and come start of the year, itl be run till my tum goes dum dum gone!

On friday, i have 2 hole weeks off work! So what do i do..... Well i may try the wii out at home and bash boxing and tennis a few times a week, will have a fair bit of time on my hands, im off to Birmingham for a full day, and to doncaster for another day, then lincoln for 2 days at the end of the 2 weeks, i come back from that to my works xmas doo. 3 course meal and plenty of beer will flow thats for sure.

Ive been having cereal for the last 6 week or so, and now im just on the weetabix and bran flakes, and if i was honest, have you seen the share price of Andrex these days... Gone through bluddy roof! Ive even got myself a few as well. I dont miss bacon, sausage or black pudding in a morning, may have it as a treat every so often.

In my 2 weeks off, i may spend a day using old reciepts and then pricing up some low fat meals ive been making, even little snack wraps ive had, start taking pictures of all meals im making and recipes and to start a recipe section on this blog, and to blog more daily, no reason not to blog more, just upto me to do it more!

The next week im on lates all week, so itl be weetabix and bran flakes for breakfast, 1 seafood wrap for a lunch type meal, then ive got 2 soups to make, a breakfast tea as well! Then after each meal, im having a satsuma as well. So should be a good weeks food!

My partner has been trying to lose weight as well, and we have both agreed that no chocolate till xmas day!!!! Recently ive been more craving and wanting chocolate! I dont have much of a sweet tooth at all, i dont mind a pudding, but i love the starter and main course and if im not full il squeeze a pudding in, but dont try and make sure ive left room for pudding. I used to crave kfc and chinese takeaway! Every week on a friday, my lips would start to go for a chinese! But now every friday i have a morrisons pasta box and a crusty roll! Its like a cheats way on enjoyment without the fat and calroies of a chinese! Me and Janette was talking, and all i can remember is that ive had no more than 2 kfc's this year by memory, 1 of them was just popcorn chicken. I may of had 2 mcdonalds this year, but 1 of them was just chicken selects. I can honestly say, since i was 18, its been the best year food wise!

Im still wondering, how i will get through december and be good to myself!

Id love to be a genuis and invent low fat great tasting beer! As drinking beer, means you must have a takeaway at end of a night out!