Frugal February

I had egg on gf toast (with butter) for breakfast then seedfed crackers with strong Cheddar for lunch, not as much as I would normally have though.
But I have been busy today so I hope I've burnt some calories off.

Miss Adventure; cheese is my downfall, too. I've developed a habit of eating a chunk of cheese when I wake up in the night [it's usually cause I'm in the kitchen having been woken up by the dog] which is one reason why I've put so much weight on. I now treat cheese as a treat and eat a little chunk every now and again [and savour every bit]. Have had a banana, sausage, mash, mushrooms and broccoli to use up bits and bobs but, from now on I'm eating my M&S ready meals. Going to the gym tonight and hoping there isn't a traffic jam. There were roadworks today; it takes me 15 minutes to get there but, if there is any sort of hold up the traffic coming off the M1, A50 completely jams the road up, which is why sometimes I stop going.

Great that s many are still on track ?? Some very impressive efforts ??

I’ve discovered I can eat salmon and broccoli so that was dinner. Breakfast was yoghurt, lunch smooth carrot and red pepper soup and I’ve just had a ? .

Every cloud as they say.

I’ve just had a ?
should I or shouldn't I?

Jalima it’s your diet. If you feel a ?will help you stick to it then have one.

I’ve decided I’ll have one small (100ml) glass of wine most nights and a medium one at weekends. The secret is, when you feel ‘deprived’ that feeling that you’ve had enough and are tempted to eat something disasterous, yiu can say to yourself ‘I’ll hang on and have that ? this evening’.

Does that make sense?

Well, I'm not going to (have ) tonight, I'm going to be good!

We had soup for dinner - I think it was courgette (we decided to take a risk on one of the mysterious unmarked Tupperware containers in the freezer, so I'm not 100% sure. It wasn't bad and we haven't died yet anyway). With bread. Spinach omelette, couscous and veg for tea, but I spoilt it by spooning half a jar of aubergine pesto on the side (I'm a bit addicted to it), then reading that I'd had 350 calories worth. I've had fruit over the day - clementine, apple, four plums, bag of physalis - and a snack of those baked pea snacks I've convinced myself are good for me.

It doesn't sound too frugal written down.

^then have one@ or 1.5
I will refrain tomorrow and on Thursday.

I had tomatoes on toast for my dinner. 3 slices, including the nobby it was lovely! No butter though.

Well that’s my lot for the day. My hungry period is always mid- afternoon and when I’m likely to succumb. 3 crackers and butter today.

I also had wine with supper which I promise myself I wouldn’t.

Still not too bad today so today is the 5th and I’ve managed 1 out of 5 proper diet days. No wonder I never lose weight. I will keep on keeping on though.

On the 5:2 and today is my first fasting day of February. Cup of tea and a digestive for breakfast (100 cals), half a tin of baked beans on unbuttered toast for lunch (200cals) and my WFF ready meal for dinner- beef with roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, carrots and green beans (300 cals). Just got to resist snacking before bed now.

I'm having an impromptu supper of 3 crispbakes with marmalade. (No butter)
I had to: my stomach thought my throat had been cut!

Been to the gym tonight and did 2 hours in the sauna. Guess how much weight I've lost this week. Zilch ....

Oh, I expect you've become more muscular.. hopefully next week you'll find you've lost a decent amount to make up for it.

Fell off the wagon yesterday, but to be fair, it was either the pizza and choc chip cookie or the DH., Will be making up for it with extra heavy scrubbing and cleaning. No vino this week either. Found the magic of ping ting meals for work. Probably get some for home too. I’m not good at planning or cooking, tend to just see what’s lurking in the fridge and we have that. Hubby is better at cooking. If you chop up some cooked cauliflower it can substitute well for rice when you make curry. I can make good curry from scratch! I’ve decided to resist weighing myself until the end of Feb, as don’t want to be disappointed if I haven’t lost each week. Despite my fall from grace, I feel lighter. Maybe just my imagination but that works for me? Thanks for that info about carrots, free range carrots for us now. Must say though, I’ve spent a lot less at the supermarket with not buying junk. Off to start scrubbing, hope you all have a good day and keep on track ????

Glad you didn't succumb to eating your DH MesMopTop!

As part of Frugal Feb I had decided not to spend money on anything, apart from food, for the whole month. Unfortunately have just had to order more contact lenses as I
had miscalculated. Also found a couple of (stale) After Eights in the back of the fridge which just refused to go into the bin
As a penance I'll wheelbarrow the last of the logs from the woodstore to the bunker and earn brownie points from OH !
Have a good day fellow frugaleers

Don’t be dispirited Tegan. You do get times when the weight just seems to cling on stubbornly but work through that. And if you’re spending a lot of time at the gym it might well be that you've built more muscle.

Do you feel lighter or fitter or are your clothes fitting better? To be honest I’d not care what I weighed if I could get into a size smaller jeans.

Yes Cavewoman I’m certainly spending less that usual on food.

Finding it hard , but holiday in two weeks so must persevere!

I think I may go into boots and get on the scales today. I had cut down on my food a bit before joining the frugaleers, so am hoping that a little bit of weight loss might spur me on a bit. Assuming I've lost a little bit, that is.
Just a had a toasted banana sandwich. (No butter)

Happy Tuesday Frugaleers...

I'm essentially greedy and have no willpower, so the only way to do this is to just fill the fridge /cupboards with foods that are very low in calories! So far I'm surviving on:

Home made veggie soup (by the bucketful)
King prawns ( low in calories but so tasty!)
Baked beans ( filling and cheap)
Cracked black pepper Ryvita (all that chewing must surely burn off calories!)

Am using the MyFitness App to help keep track. And avoiding cafes...( all those gorgeous cakes!)

Millbrook You're doing great! Think how much much you're saving avoiding cakes and cafes.
Another trick is to leave your purse at home.
I'm considering home deliveries from Tesco to avoid the aroma of the bakery.

I do feel better, Meg; even my pyjamas had become uncomfortably tight and they're ok now and the roll of fat I had above my waist [somewhere that I've never had fat before as a hips'n'thighs sort of person] is going down. It's time like this, though, that the support of being on a thread like this really helps!

There you are then Tegan you’re doing something right ???

Porridge for breakfast and a GF half a baguette (which I didn’t intend to have but shopping arrives tomorrow and cupboard bare) with ham and salad for lunch

Morrocan chickpea, squash and cavolo Nero stew planned for supper

Lost 1/4 pound - still it isn’t going up I suppose

I've had banana sandwiches and I've had toasted sandwiches but I've never heard of a toasted banana sandwich. It does sound rather yummy!

Porridge this morning
Perhaps baked beans on 1 slice of toast (no butter) now
Then ??? this evening

Chap at the gym explained to me about how important it is to change what you eat constantly [I'm someone that will eat the same food day after day]. I didn't really understand what he was saying, though [not unusual for me]. Something about the way the body stores minerals.He also said how important it was to eat several small meals a day [which I did understand, as it stops the body going into 'fast' most]. Also said cheap honey [which I use a lot of] isn't as good as more expensive honey, and that solid honey is slightly better than runny honey.