Becca Jane St Clair

When I first moved to the UK and I would hear the word “flapjack”, I would automatically think of a pancake and I kept being confused as to why bakeries, tea shops, and coffee shops would offer a pancake with your cuppa. Well, I finally found out that a flapjack in the UK is a sweet oaty bar….kind of like a granola bar, but not quite so wholesome. The primary ingredients are oats, butter, and sugar. I did enjoy the few times I tried flapjack, but I had never tackled baking my own, until today.

And since I’m on Slimming World, I of course had to create my own version of a flapjack that come in at 4.5 Syns per square (if it’s divided into 18).

[Please note: Syn values are based on my exact ingredients using the online calculator. Your Syn value may vary based on your ingredients and the size of your baking containers and portions, so use this number as a guide only.]

You Will Need:

225g Quaker Rolled Oats
100g Flora Lightest (purple container)
40g Splenda
4 tsp The Groovy Food Company agave
100g Dr Öatker plain chocolate chips

Pre-heat your oven to 180C. I mixed these up in the same tray I baked them in, which was a small glass roasting tray. All you need to do is smoosh all the ingredients together in your dish (the girl who hates getting her hands dirty sprayed her hands with Frylight and squished it together by hand!) and bake for 25 minutes! You can score them before they go in to make it easier to cut apart, or cut them once they are cool. I made two horizontal cuts (to make three long strips of flapjack) and then cut each strip into 6 squares.

Not only is this Slimming World friendly, but it’s also safer for diabetics!

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[DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Slimming World, I am not affiliated with Slimming World beyond being a paying customer/member, I get no personal benefit from writing this post other than the joy of sharing.]

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

My two weeks on Fast Forward are done! This week, I lost 2 pounds on it, bringing my Fast Forward two week total to 7 pounds. I now have to go off Fast Forward and forget about it for a few weeks before I am allowed to go on it again (if I need/want). I’m also incredibly closer to a personal goal I had set and am now only 3 1/2 pounds away from it, 4 pounds away from my three stone award, and 8 and a half pounds away from the first target I set for Slimming World! I am prepared that this week I might have a little gain as my body comes off the restricted diet and back onto regular eating, but that’s okay. I really think that doing Fast Forward has given me the kick in the pants I needed!

I’ve learned a few things while doing Fast Forward, and I thought I would share those things with you:

• I learned that measuring is KEY. Looking back on my eating habits for the past 8 weeks, I can see where I might not have actually measured out my HEA. I would use milk in my tea/coffee and then at the end of the day say that the milk was my HEA even though I didn’t measure it out at the beginning to find out if I used all of it or more than it.
• I learned how important Super Free food really is. Fast Forward has you eating one salad every day, and I really started looking forward to my salads. And now that I’m off Fast Forward, I can start to put other veggies like radishes and peppers into my salad that weren’t on my list. I think one of my goals coming off of Fast Forward is going to be to still have at least one salad each day.
• I learned drinking plenty of water is really important! 1.5L each day (or 500ml morning, afternoon, and evening) should be the bare minimum. And if you don’t like plain water, you can add a drop of squash or add a slice of lemon. I find a slice of lemon, a slice of cucumber, and a few springs of mint is quite refreshing.
• I learned to listen to my body. I actually felt better and fuller longer when I was eating 5-6 small meals each day instead of three “big” meals. Having a light breakfast when I woke up, and then a breakfast-y type snack a few hours later, followed by a sandwich or salad for Lunch and then a few hours later I’d have the other half (salad or sandwich)…I’d have a filling dinner, but then have a snack about an hour or two before bed. This might be hard to keep up with depending on my schedule, but it seemed to work better for me.
• I learned how to get creative. No, really. Plain cottage cheese with a cut up apple and a sprinkle of cinnamon and a pinch of splenda. YUM. Plain yogurt topped with sliced strawberries and plums. Adding strawberries to a salad. Making a herby mayonnaise to go on a chicken sandwich. So many creative things that I never really would have thought about before if I hadn’t been on such a restricted diet.
• I really like Greek salad!
• Never give up

I’m sure there are more, but that’s all I can remember since WordPress ate my post!

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[DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Slimming World, I am not affiliated with Slimming World beyond being a paying customer/member, I get no personal benefit from writing this post other than the joy of sharing.]

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

[LJ readers reading this on the LJ RSS feed: Please click on the link at the top of the entry to go directly to my blog to leave a comment, as comments left on the LJ RSS do not get seen by me. Facebook users reading this from my Networked Blogs link can either comment on facebook or on my blog. If you are reading this through an e-mail subscription, you might need to go directly to my blog to view videos and images.]

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

[DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Slimming World, I am not affiliated with Slimming World beyond being a paying customer/member, I get no personal benefit from writing this post other than the joy of sharing.]

Wow, so here we go. This is a transcript of my paper journal I kept these past 7 days….

Day One

Trips to the Loo: 20
Drinks: 2L Water, 1.5L still lemonade, 2 cups coffee, 2 cups green tea

0930: Coooofffeeeeeeeee! Skim milk is gross. Sweetener. Lots of sweetener.
Hmm, I do like crumpets. Time to get out my cool drinking cup. It holds 710ML, so if I fill it at lest 2 and a bit times I’ll drink the required amount. Hmm. Gotta pee. Again. And again. and again. OMG when will I stop needing the loo?!
1145: Hungry. but it’s too early for Lunch. More water! (and peeing!)
1250:
Lunch, finally.
1405: You know, a digestive biscuit never tasted so good!
1420: All that rain is making me need the loo again…..
1450: Can I start planning dinner yet? I planned on Salmon, but I’m not sure I want that. Anyway, time to do some work….
1835: OK, time for dinner. Skipping the salad and saving it for a later snack sounds like a good idea to me.
2020:
Mmmm. Adding strawberries to salad? Brilliant.
2200: Bedtime.

Day 2
I stopped tracking my trips to the loo. I only did it yesterday for giggles.
0730: Awake. Ugh. Water & an apple to keep me going for now….
0920: Gave in and made coffee. Still don’t like skim milk.
1100: Visit to the in-laws for a cuppa….black tea. Bletch.
1230: Greek salad again. I’m supposed to have variety on this plan, but the greek salad option is just so good! This eating plan isn’t so bad….yet. Although I feel like I’m eating a lot of carbs. Wholegrain bread, pita bread, crumpets….that’s a lot of carbs. But, I’m still feeling positive!
1800: Dinnertime.
1900: I still have room for some snacks. Really want some biscuits, so going to have to go shopping for some Rich Tea or Morning Coffee biscuits. I’ve never had either, but I’m willing to try them.
2020: Having a diet Root Beer for a treat. I wonder if I could freeze some natural yoghurt and make a root beer float?
2215: I wonder how a hilight mixed into a cup of coffee would taste? The answer is JUST LIKE A MOCHA. Yummmmm
Midnight: Crap. Hungry. Hmmm. Maybe some Ryvita with cream cheese will satisfy me?

Day 3
0130: It’s 1:30 in the morning, so let’s replan my week’s menu….
1030: Wow, woke up later than I had expected. Oh well, time for breakfast. Wow, that’s a lot of strawberries:

1300: Need some more food. Time for a trip to Waitrose.
1500: Why does Waitrose have to smell like bacon? 🙁 Hungry! Having a peppermint tea in the cafe before I head home. Bought some Rich Tea fingers. I wonder if anyone would notice if I sneak into my bag to open them? Nope! Hey, these are pretty good. Taste like animal crackers from when I was a kid.
1800: Dinnertime
2100: Hmm. Someone online has told me I’m not following the plan right. Well, I hate to say it, but they don’t control me. If I’m doing this wrong, Rebecca will tell me. She saw my week’s plan and didn’t say anything about it. Besides, isn’t it all about what works for you? I’m actually discovering (yes, only three days in) that I actually prefer having lots of little meals throughout the day instead of three main ones. The proof will be in my weigh-in…..
2130: Cinnamon is a spice, right? Cottage cheese, apples, and cinnamon sound like a nice bedtime snack.

Day 4
0745: Up early. Breakfast. Hope I don’t get too hungry later.
1500: Ok, today is HARD! I’m just so hungry 🙁 And tomorrow is going to be a challenge since we are spending the day out at the Butterley Garden Railway.FORWARD PLANNING….right? I’m hungry. I ate Lunch at 1400 but I’m still hungry. Wishing for some diet soda….

Day 5
We spent the day out. I had a sensible Breakfast and packed a sensible Lunch, but we wound up out much later than we had hoped and needed to stop for Dinner. I made the best of it with a jacket spud, omelette, and salad….hope that will be good enough! Tonight would have been weigh-in day, but since we were out so late, I’m going to go to a different group tomorrow.

Day 6
I had a sneaky peek on the Wii to see where I was at and it’s said I’ve lost weight — yay!
I decided to have a jacket potato with tuna for Lunch. I hated opening a whole tin of corn just for a few Tablespoons, so I hope I can use it up before it goes bad. I also added some olives for flavour.

Day 7
Well….I did it. I lost FIVE POUNDS. AAAND, I got a shiny 2.5 Stone certificate too:

I also had a look on my Wii Fit history, and from back in 2011 when we first got our Wii until now, I have lost 4 Stone. That makes me feel incredible.

Bring on Week 2 of Fast Forward…..5.5 pounds to go until I hit my interim target…..can I do it by next week?

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

[LJ readers reading this on the LJ RSS feed: Please click on the link at the top of the entry to go directly to my blog to leave a comment, as comments left on the LJ RSS do not get seen by me. Facebook users reading this from my Networked Blogs link can either comment on facebook or on my blog. If you are reading this through an e-mail subscription, you might need to go directly to my blog to view videos and images.]

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

[DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Slimming World, I am not affiliated with Slimming World beyond being a paying customer/member, I get no personal benefit from writing this post other than the joy of sharing.]

Last week at Slimming World, I gained a half pound. This might not sound like much to anyone, but the week before I had lost 4 pounds, but the week before that I had GAINED 4….and going back in my weight loss chart, last Wednesday I weighed the same that I had at the beginning of March. My log looked like this:

+1
0
-2.5
-.5
+1.5
-2.5
+1.5
-.5
+4
-4
+.5

Now, in there somewhere I did have knee surgery and a very stressful few weeks of not only surgery recovery but also taking over my role as Company Secretary for the Association of 16mm Narrow Gauge Modellers (more on that in another post!) a few weeks earlier than planned. But to have not gotten anywhere after all those weeks? Gut-wrenching. I broke down in tears during Image Therapy, got a few hugs from my friends, and talked with my consultant, Rebecca Stones. Rebecca suggested that I give Fast Forward a go.

You hear horror stories about Fast Forward. A lot of people say not to do it, and it really does look scary when you first think about the fact that it’s a very restrictive eating plan, whereas the usual Slimming World plans (Extra Easy, Green, and Original/Red) are all based on eating anything you want with moderation (with loads of Free and Super Free foods you can eat unlimited quantities of depending on which plan you follow, plenty of Healthy As and Bs to choose from, and up to 15 Syns per day to spend on whatever you want). But Fast Forward has been an effective tool for people who are having a hard time keeping themselves on track, or they are really close to their goal and need an extra boost. Me, I’m in both boats. I have 10lbs to go until I hit a crucial interim goal of mine as well as flip flopping all over the place weight-wise recently. So I told Rebecca I would take a look at the packet and give it some thought, but if I really thought it wasn’t for me I wouldn’t force myself to do it. She didn’t have the packet on her as another member had it, so I had to wait for it to be sent to me (the fast forward packet is on loan from your consultant while you’re on it).

Because the fast forward plan is so restrictive, you are only allowed to be on it for a maximum of two weeks at a time (though I’m not sure how many weeks in between going on it you are allowed) and you must give the packet back to your consultant when you are done. This plan is not publicized on their website, and we are asked not to share it. So this blog post will not discuss the details on how to follow Fast Forward, just my experience on it. Consultants have a booklet that helps them calculate how many “units” you are allowed to eat per day based on your weight. I was given 21 units. The booklet has a page full of meals that are worth 5 units, a page of meals that are 8, a page of 1 unit snacks, and a page of 2 unit snacks. That’s it. You also have to drink at least 500ml of water three times per day (1.5L total), eat at least 1 salad (or other listed veggie) each day in addition to your units, and you can have unlimited black tea & coffee, sugar free squash, low-calorie soda, and certain condiments. You also have to pre-plan your week’s menu (though mine changed several times!) and send it off to your consultant so they can make sure you understand the plan. I spent all day Thursday working on my menu plan trying to get it just right, and then out shopping on Friday. I had a LOOOONG shopping list, so I went to Lidl, where I managed to get nearly everything I needed for under £35. (I still needed to top up with Tesco (and my husband needed food!), but we only spent £30. If I had ordered everything from Tesco, the bill would have been over £80. I checked. Every little helps!)

While I was figuring out my meals for the week, some of the items really struck me as funny. Crumpets? Olives? Biscuits? Ice Lollies? These are only a few of the choices you can make while on Fast Forward. As I said, some of them do feel a little weird, since crumpets are 4 Syns, Olives have Syns, Biscuits have Syns, Ice Lollies have Syns….but then it eliminates unlimited pasta, potatoes, rice, meat, veggies, and fruits. Some days I think I might have gone over 15 Syns if I was following Extra Easy, but because this is Fast Forward, it was okay. I had to tell myself to forget about thinking about the Syn values of items and just eat to my plan. Stick to my plan was my mantra.

I kept a paper day-by-day journal, which I will share with you all tomorrow.

Until then….

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

[LJ readers reading this on the LJ RSS feed: Please click on the link at the top of the entry to go directly to my blog to leave a comment, as comments left on the LJ RSS do not get seen by me. Facebook users reading this from my Networked Blogs link can either comment on facebook or on my blog. If you are reading this through an e-mail subscription, you might need to go directly to my blog to view videos and images.]

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

When the Fakeaway book came out I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to get it. It seemed silly, when there are loads of changes you can make to existing recipes to make them Slimming World friendly, but at the same time I thought it might be useful for some new ideas. Last week, I bought it, and the first thing I did was tab off all the recipes I wanted to try….and I tabbed 24 of them!

So this week, I plan on trying FIVE new recipes out of the Fakeaway book. Of course, I always have to add my own flair to the recipes and I never use things as written in the books, so if I modify a recipe enough that it is different from the recipe in the cookbook, I will share them with you all.

Flipping through the book, one of the first things that caught my eye was the fake KFC. My husband likes KFC, but it’s so greasy I swear it leaves a lump in your stomach. Fortunately, the crew at Slimming World have developed a non-greasy, SW friendly version, so here is my version of KFC style chicken fingers. If you make the full dozen, each finger is 1/2 Syn.

[Please note: Syn values are based on my exact ingredients using the online calculator. Your Syn value may vary based on your ingredients and the size of your baking containers and portions, so use this number as a guide only.]

You will need:

150ml Passata
2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp celery salt
1 TBS mixed herbs
pepper grinder (I used rainbow pepper)
1 egg, separated and yolk discarded (save it for an omelette!)
60g wholegrain bread (2-3 slices. It’s best to measure this out to make sure you don’t go over or under 60g), blitzed into breadcrumbs
12 chicken breast mini fillets
Fry Light

1 – Preheat oven to 200C and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment (or just spray with Fry Light)
2 – beat the egg white separately until it forms stiff peaks
3 – in a separate bowl (big enough to dip your chicken in) combine passata, chilli powder, celery salt, herbs, and a few grinds of the pepper mill. Fold in the egg white.
4 – Dip chicken fillets in tomato/egg mixture and then dredge in breadcrumbs. Spray tops with Fry Light
5 – bake 30-35 minutes.

If you start preparing your potato wedges/chips while the oven is pre-heating, you should be able to put both chips and chicken in at the same time and if you’ve pre-boiled the potatoes, they will take about the same amount of time as the chicken. I took the chicken out and raised the temperature on the chips for 5-10 minutes to crisp them up.

UK KFC is different from the KFC in the USA. There are no biscuits or mashed potatoes and gravy. Instead, you can get your chicken served with baked beans, chips (fries), and corn on the cob. Beans, potatoes, and corn are all FREE on Extra Easy (and on Green too, I think). For a dipping sauce, I took some Fromage Frais (also FREE) and added some dried chives (FREE) to make a mock sour cream & chives, or you could make Slimming World BBQ sauce.

My dinner tonight cost me 3 Syns, and that was including the ketchup for my chips! Quite tasty, and my husband said it did taste similar to KFC.

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

[LJ readers reading this on the LJ RSS feed: Please click on the link at the top of the entry to go directly to my blog to leave a comment, as comments left on the LJ RSS do not get seen by me. Facebook users reading this from my Networked Blogs link can either comment on facebook or on my blog. If you are reading this through an e-mail subscription, you might need to go directly to my blog to view videos and images.]

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/