Day 23 of 21

Back on the wagon today.

A really enjoyable day of food, and with the sun finally shining in these parts managed to fit in a walk this afternoon as well.
Yesterday didn't quite go to plan with a town trip involved.

Breakfast today was an Egg & Bacon Pie

made by placing chopped bacon in a muffin tray

with an egg cracked on top

then baked in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Eaten on toast with chopped tomato on top

it was beautiful.

Something I'll make again for the kids.

Another very similar suggestion I've seen before is bread (crusts removed), pushed into the muffin tins to make a casing, then the chopped bacon & raw egg added and again baked.

The resulting bacon & egg pies are already made in a toast crust.

Lunch was delicious.

Chicken & Pumpkin Tortilla.

Beautiful.

And dinner was a Honey Lemon Prawn Stir-Fry

A huge serve that I could barely get through.

Feels good to be back on track.

Here's to a good week.

21 Days Finished

With my 21 days at an end, I have to admit to sliding off the rails the past few days.

I am willing to blame the fact that we were without oven and cooktop for those days and found cooking two family meals in one old electric frying pan was more than I could handle.

This morning's weigh-in has me at exactly the same as last week,

so I'm prepared to call it maintenance.

I  have gone through my Wonder book and selected seven days to follow for this week.

I am determined to reach 60 kg.

Let's do it!

Day 19 of 21

Okay, so I'm not following the plan.

I'm going to re-do Week 3 next week.

Still eating healthily,

but haven't been able to walk at all due to weather.

We're installing our new oven today,

which should make cooking separate meals

so much easier.

Today I had the Muesli for breakfast,

2 Corn Thins for Morning Tea,

Small piece of leftover steak & salad for lunch

Steak and Salad for tea

(and maybe two beers).

I was out, it was expected.

Day 19, done and dusted!

Nineteen down, two to go.

Day 18 of 21

I seem to have had a derailment from my 21 Day Plan.

Not so much in terms of eating badly,

just not following the book.

And the main reason being,

that we pulled out our oven and cooktop

two days ago,

meaning our only means of cooking at the moment

is the barbecue and an old electric frying pan.

So, I think I'm going to try for another seven days straight

from the book next week.

Should have my new oven in place over this weekend.

So Day 18 consisted of:

A small piece of steak for breakfast.

Half a ham sandwich for morning tea at school (cross country).

Lunch was a Breakfast Bean recipe from the book

(good warm food for a cool, drizzly day).

And dinner was steak and salad.

Day 18, done and dusted!

Eighteen down, three to go.

Day 17 of 21

Didn't follow the book today.

Well, I started off by the book.

My favourite Bran & Cranberry Muesli.

Then a friend came out for the day, and

rather than try to explain my eating patterns,

I reverted to 'normal' eating.

Morning tea was a couple of corn thins with cheese & tomato.

Lunch was a Ham & Salad sandwich,

with some grapes to follow.

Tea was Fillet steak with Salad.

No major food issues,

just not by the 'book'.

Day 17, done and dusted!

Seventeen down, four to go.

Day 16 of 21

I tend to be swapping and changing my daily menu a little to suit my mood.

I replaced this morning's Banana & Passionfruit Smoothie

with

Bran & Cranberry Muesli.

It's a really enjoyable breakfast, Wallace had the same.

It's not only nice to eat, but keeps you satisfied right through until lunch.

They suggest in the book that you can use this muesli as a 'go-to' breakfast

if you don't feel like the recommended meal.

I think I'll have it again tomorrow.

I went to town today for supplies.

I did have the Caesar Salad as per plan

but don't have a photo.

It was good.  And a large serve.

Dinner was a real treat.

Moussaka Stack with Lemon-Yoghurt Dressing.

Absolutely delicious.

No walking.

I'd really been enjoying the walking, but wet weather continues

to make it just too sloppy to be worthwhile.

I've no doubt there'll be plenty of dry days ahead of us.

I'll catch up then.

Day 16, done and dusted!

Sixteen down, five to go.

Day 15 of 21

A little under the weather today, I had only a taste of scrambled egg for breakfast.

Lunch was to be a tuna, celery and dill sandwich.

Partly due to the fact that I need to fit in a town trip to replenish dietary supplies, and even more due to the fact that hams were smoked and cooked here yesterday, I substituted a Ham & Salad sanga for the prescribed tuna, celery & dill.

Dinner was Mustard Chicken with Potato Smash.

A fancy term for mashed potato with a little corn and spring onion thrown in.

A good day food wise, but drizzly rain prevented me walking again.

Day 15, done & dusted!

Fifteen days down, six to go.

Week 2 Weigh-In

1.6 kg loss for this week.

Hooray!

Day 14 of 21

After another monumental slip-up this evening, with an unexpected visit from one of the neighbours I'm nowhere near as much looking forward to tomorrow morning's weigh-in.

In a hurry to get back for post-ball clean-up this morning, I enjoyed some of last week's muesli for breakfast

instead of the recommended asparagus and scrambled eggs.

Which I've no doubt would have been lovely,

but time was of the essence.

Lunch was a very enjoyable Thai Prawn Salad

and then the best laid of plans

turned awry

with the arrival of one particularly wonderful neighbour.

Dinner was home grown pork cutlets with pototo bake and rocket/kumara salad.

And maybe a few too many drinks.

I wlil upadte second weak way-in tomorwwo moorning.

Day 14, done & dusted!

Fourteen down, seven to go.

Day 13 of 21

A little sidetracked last night with a most important social function in our small local town.

I therefore missed dinner from my wonder-plan, and indulged in a few drinks and some rather naughty canapes.

Breakfast and lunch did however meet requirements.

Breakfast was flat mushrooms with a dollop of a ricotta cheese mixture.

Beautiful for this mushroom fan.

Lunch was a pumpkin, corn and chicken curry with brown rice.

I did divert somewhat from the recipe, using a lovely red curry paste for the base.

Delicious.

And so I'm feeling a little deflated that I had a few drinks, but I always knew this would happen.

Back into Day 14 with a vengence.

People are actually commenting on my weight loss now

... which is nice!

Day 13, done and dusted!

Thirteen down, eight to go!

Day 12 of 21

People who don't drink are really missing out on some fantastic Friday nights.

In fact I'm not sure how they even know it's Friday.

All that said, I managed to get through my second Friday evening drinks-free.

Tough, but it's done.

Breakfast was to be the Bran & Cranberry Muesli (from last week) with sliced pear and yoghurt.

I passed on the pear and yoghurt and substituted half a banana.

Beautiful.

It's a surprisingly small serve, only 1/3 of a cup, yet is amazingly satisfying.

Lunch was a fairly stock standard egg sandwich.

The chives I was to add to the mashed egg mix, were a slimy mess in the bottom of my fridge.

Pass.

I also used multigrain bread instead of rye.

And dinner was beautiful.

So good, the kids had the same.

Ham, Tomato and Rocket Pizza.

Very tasty.

Couldn't walk today due to inclement conditions

...again!

Am drinking a lot of water, and really miss it when I don't.

Day 12, done and dusted!

Twelve down, nine to go.

Day 11 of 21

Over the half way point.

Broke my rule of only weighing once weekly and snuck a peek at the scales this morning.

Down over a kilo just this week.

Good stuff.

Today was probably the most disappointing with regards to the food on offer.

The menu looked good, but didn't taste so great.

Breakfast was a Watermelon & Berry Salad,

with added yoghurt and mint.

I noticed later, the recipe included cranberry juice,

which I omitted.

Don't know that it would have made much difference.

I'm just not a fruit lover to be honest.

I was looking forward to lunch,

a Chicken Waldorf Salad,

but was quite disappointed with it.

And dinner was Beef Rissoles with Beetroot Salad.

Very dry rissoles, as informed by my young dietary advisers.

Tomorrow's menu looks good.

Remaining optimistic.

Day 11, done and dusted!

Eleven down, ten to go.

Day 10 of 21

I can't believe how much I'm enjoying this diet.

No more hunger, just beautiful satisfying meals.

And I haven't had a drink for ten days.

I can really feel that I've lost weight, which is extremely motivating in itself.

This morning's breakfast was beautiful.

Ricotta and banana on rye toast,

drizzled with honey

and sprinkled with cinnamon.

Lunch was a beef, mint and cucumber salad.

The salad was supposed to include rump steak, thinly sliced.

As we'd had roast beef last night, I opted for that re-heated.

I've no doubt it would have been nicer with sizzling hot rare rump,

but was lovely all the same.

Dinner was to be Cumin fish with roasted corn salsa.

As we came in late, and the rest of the team were having chicken pieces with caesar salad,

I opted for cumin fish and caesar salad.

Possibly not the best flavour combination,

but good enough.

Went for my forty minute walk, finally a little drier in these parts.

Feeling great.

Day 10, done and dusted!

Ten down, eleven to go.

Day 9 of 21

Town day.

And only one photo to share.

A delicious Spinach Omelette for breakfast,

complete with ricotta spread Rye toast accompaniment.

I packed my mountain bread wrap, shaved turkey, snow pea sprouts and cranberry sauce and took it with me to town.

No photos unfortunately.

But delicious.

Dinner was to be Prosciutto wrapped Lamb with Roasted Kipflers, which I've no doubt would have been delightful, but returning home late to the smell of Roast Beef already cooking in the oven, I opted for Roast Beef and Green Veges.

Again, no photos.

A good day.  No walking, other than the thirteen kilometres throughout various shopping centres in search of black and white accessories for children attending this weekend's 'Black & White Ball'.

Day 9, done and dusted!

Nine down, twelve to go.

Day 8 of 21

Dieting's a funny thing.

It can take weeks or even months to get in the zone.

Every night I would go to bed thinking tomorrow will be different.

I won't taste test any baking.

I won't have a pre-dinner drink.

I will go for a walk.

Next night I would say it all again.

And then finally, one day I start and I'm away.

One week in and the resolve is strong.

I'm no longer hungry and not thinking about food so much.

Breakfast this morning was a berry smoothie.

Berry nice!

(sorry)

Popcorn made a pleasant change for morning tea

and lunch was a lentil, tuna and tomato salad.

A little bland, not sure I'll be knocking the door down for that one again.

Dinner was a knockout however.

Crunchy chicken salad cups.

And you get to have three.

And they were beautiful.

I'll make them again, as I'm sure the kids would even love them.

And I went for my walk, in the slop again, after another two inches of rain over the weekend.

Day 8, done and dusted!

Eight down, thirteen to go.

Week 1 Weigh-In

1.5 kg down for the week!

Hooray!

Day 7 of 21

Yet another day that didn't go quite to 'plan'.

Weekends are quite possibly going to follow this pattern, as we rarely stay put.

The day started beautifully with delicious warm date muffins.

The recipe was to make two, but I actually ended up with three, so ate one and a half.

Bagging up the remainder to go in the freezer for another day, Wallace thought he'd have a try at them.

No need to find freezer room.

We then headed to Chabo to draft bulls.

After 60 mil of rain last night, this was a stupid idea at best.

The incidental exercise skyrocketed, with a Nissan wagon bogged to the belly-plate some two or three kilometres from the nearest phone reception.

Making it back to town late, I enjoyed a rissole and salad courtesy of Nanny, not the planned Day 7 lunch of warm vegetable salad.

Dinner was to be a pork cutlet with side salad and chickpea puree.

I substituted green veges for the salad.

The chickpea puree with added fennel was amazing.

So, with tomorrow's weigh-in looming, no Mare I actually don't feel like I've lost weight, but I haven't really put a foot wrong, so expect I should have.

I think one week is a little too soon to be feeling supermodel-ready!

I'll put a quick report up in the morning after weigh-in!

Day 7, done and dusted!

Seven down, fourteen to go.

Day 6 of 21

Today didn't go exactly to plan.

Nothing too drastic, but only two photos to share.

Breakfast was an egg and tomato muffin.

The girls and I then headed into our local hall to start setting up for next week's Show Ball.  We only took smoko with us, thinking we'd be home in plenty of time for lunch.

We got home at 5.

One of the other ladies who'd come from town pulled out an esky overbrimming with goodies and served up a lunch fit for a king.

Not the zucchini, ham and ricotta wrap I should have had.

Oops.

By this evening I would have traded one of my children for a cold beer...

but I didn't.

Had a soda water and lime instead, and managed to keep my family intact.

Dinner was meant to be Stirfried Sesame Beef.  Because I had chicken leftover in the fridge I substituted it for the beef

and enjoyed with a couscous side.

Very good.

No walk, possibly not enough water.

One more day to first weigh-in!

Day 6, done and dusted!

Six down, fifteen to go.

Day 5 of 21

I've been asked a number of times how this 'wonder diet' is fitting into normal 'family feeding'.

To be blunt, it isn't. 

Most of the 'wonder meals' really don't appeal to my crew, a little too much chilli, coriander, garlic and couscous! So for these twenty-one days it's two separate meals on the go.  I tell myself it's only twenty-one days.  And thankfully wet weather has kept Matthew close to home and he's been a great help with the dinner cooking.

I fit in a walk again this afternoon, more squelching and slipping but a walk all the same.  With rain predicted again for us over the weekend my exercise program may be somewhat hindered yet again.

Breakfast today was a hearty serve of corn fritters.

Very nice.

No hunger pangs after these beauties, so a plum for morning tea worked well.

Lunch was an asparagus frittata

served with a rocket & capers salad.

And dinner was possibly my favourite for the week

Linguine Marinara.

No hunger today.  Feeling good.

Sending a huge cheerio to my good friend Niki who has today boarded the 'Wonder-Train'.

Here's to us!

Day 5, done and dusted!

Five down, sixteen to go.

Day 4 of 21

Well I'm not sure if I'm finally adjusting to eating less or my stomach is actually finally digesting itself.

Either way, not so hungry today.

Breakfast was a simple home-made muesli with dried cranberries and fresh blueberries.

(crap photo - what's up with my camera)?

And considering it seemed such a pitifully small serve, I was amazed to make it through to smoko time without the dreaded hunger overtaking me.

Unable to face the prescribed carrot with my morning coffee I opted for two corn thins.

(What a blow-out!)

Lunch was a beautiful salad. 

Orange-roasted Kumara and Tuna Salad with Rocket.

Really flavoursome. 

I would never have thought to put orange with tuna. 

It was beautiful with an orange juice and soy sauce dressing.

Dinner was supposed to be Warm Tandoori Chicken Salad.

I substituted Cajun Spice for the Tandoori Powder (didn't have any) and it was lovely.

I'm having trouble with my camera and light settings, so again a terrible photo.

I drank my two litres of water and most amazingly walked for forty-five minutes.

Possibly not so much walking, as squelching and slogging my way around a wet, slippey, muddy paddock.  Made it home with mud flicked from heel to hip!

Lovin' this lifestyle!

Day 4, done and dusted!

Four down, seventeen to go.

Day 3 of 21

Three days in and still unbearably hungry between meals.  Obviously my high protein lifestyle of days gone by was far more satisfying than this.  The meals are really enjoyable, not my ususal fare and I'm really enjoying the recipes and the opportunity to use different ingredients to my normal humdrum.

Breakfast was meant to be Mango Lassi, unfortunately I didn't have access to mangoes, so substituted banana and made more of a Smoothie.

Morning tea allowed two corn thins with tomato, more satisfying than the fruit morning tea of the past two days.

Lunch was roast beef and coleslaw on rye bread.  I didn't have roast beef so shaved some slices off some leftover fillet steak.

Yum!

Seriously!

And then for dinner, Sumac fish with couscous salad.  As I'd been unable to find Sumac spice in the supermarket last town trip, I substituted Cajun spice... which worked quite nicely.

The warm couscous salad with added red onion, garlic, zucchini and grape tomatoes was really tasty. And filling.

Hallelujah!

Drank two lites of water today.

Couldn't walk .... again.

A for effort though.  Was putting my socks on to go, when down came an enormous downpour, grounding me yet again.

Day 3, done and dusted.

Three down, eighteen to go!

Day 2 of 21

The hunger pangs continued today.  I definitely feel as though I'm dieting.  Not necessarily a good feeling!

Breakfast was a mixture of corn, ricotta and spinach leaves on rye toast.

Surprisingly tasty.

A banana for morning tea, followed by a salad for lunch consisting of tuna, baby potatoes, egg and green beans, dressed with lemon juice & yoghurt.  Very nice and also a fairly large serve.

Dinner was meant to be Chilli con Carne, but with a fridge bulging with leftovers and opened packets of chicken breasts and lamb cutlets, I opted for the lamb again tonight.

Drank more water than yesterday, but probably not two litres.  Again was unable to walk due to rain.

Have been away from home both yesterday and today, so am looking forward to staying put from tomorrow, and will get through my two litre water bottle.

Day 2, done and dusted.

Two down, nineteen to go!

Day 1 of 21

With the first of the 'wonder days' behind me, I am hopeful for less hunger pangs in the days ahead.

Our usual breakfast menu consists of either bacon & eggs, sausages & eggs, scrambled eggs, steak & eggs or some other cooked fare.  This morning's Triple Melon Delight with accompanying yoghurt, whilst being delightful, had been digested well before morning tea.

...which was a small capsicum!

Lunch consisted of shredded grilled chicken breast drizzled with a dijon-mustard infused yoghurt dressing and salad wrapped in rye.  Very nice.

And dinner was the definite winner of the day.

Lamb cutlets smeared with an Indian curry powder, grilled and served over a baked kumara/chick pea/green pea bed, with a drizzle of yoghurt/coconut milk/garlic sauce.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to walk due to rain and I didn't drink a full two litres of water.

Day1, done and dusted.

One down, twenty to go!