4 Awards in One Night!!

Tuesday night's come round so fast, and its back to those dreaded scales to see how my weight has changed in the past week. This week i went off to Slimming World feeling ok, i didn't think my week had gone too bad but i had slipped up a couple of times, 2 meals out with friends and family and a very naughty Cafe Latte whilst sat in the cinema on Sunday Night oooopppss, plus i had not really done any Body Magic this week. However, despite all this i still felt like i could be cheeky and pull some kind of loss.

My turn quickly came round and it was my turn to step on the scales and face the facts. Imagine my shock when i was told: " Well Done Gareth, you have lost 3lb this week!!", i have never been so shocked in all my life!!!!

Not only have i had an amazing weight loss this week i hit my 4 and half stone award, which was my Christmas Wish, so with 4 week till Christmas i had already hit it! The shocks kept coming throughout image therapy though. I was awarded my 4 and half stone award, then i was given Slimmer of the Week and then to top it all off i was announced as Slimmer of the Month for November. WOW! What a night and one i will not forget in a hurry and on top of everything it was my mates birthday in group so i think i will dedicate all my awards to Sarah, she is my biggest inspiration in group and is a brilliant mate!

Winter Wonderland 2012

Tomorrow is the opening of this years Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London. Me, Charlotte and Gemma travelled down to London for the day last Christmas and visited the Winter Wonderland, and it really was good. Hyde Park lierally get's transformed into a wonderland.
It boasts many attractions including a Circus, Fair Rides, Ice skating Rink, Santa Land and Angel's Christmas Market. Plus new for 2012 is the Magical Ice Kingdom, which looks like it will be worth a visit. The entrance is free into the park but some of the main attractions are payable and the Circus and Giant Wheel are being advised for people to prebook so they are not disappointed about missing out.
Hyde Park is easily accesible whilst your visiting London either by Tube, Bus or Taxi so it really is worth popping in and having  look around. Winter Wonderland Opens tomorrow 23rd November and is open right until 6th January 2013, plenty of time for you to go. We will be visiting once again this year on our day trip to London in December as we enjoyed it last year and it really does help lift your christmas spirit and get you in the mood. Here is a couple of pictures of it:

Week 26 at Slimming World

I can't believe it has been 26 week since I first walked into my first ever Slimming World meeting, all those nerves and unknowing what was going to happen. Now the group is like my second family they are a brilliant group!
This week was a brilliant weigh in I lost 2.5lb which I am so happy with I feel amazing and I am now at a total loss of 4 stone 4 pounds! Only 3 more pound to go to hit my Christmas wish of 4 and a half stone before the festivities begin. My Slimming World consultant, Mandy, also told me that my average weekly weight loss over 24 weigh in's ( missed 2 due to holiday) is 2.5lb a week which I'm chuffed with.
So tonight it was back to the gym with Charlotte and building up the body magic points, only 3 more week need to get my gold award!! I really pushed myself tonight and now I'm aching slightly but hopefully it will be worth it. I am aiming for 2lb this week, fingers crossed!

Night out in Swinefleet

Last night was such a good night myself, Charlotte and Joanne went to Swinefleet for a night out "swiney style" and it was brilliant!
The local pub in the village had Jake Quickenden, from the X Factor, there. He was singing a few songs and meeting people having photos etc. Then Lucy Spraggan appeared at the pub, I really loved Lucy while she was on the X Factor so I was loving it! Unfourtunatly she did not sing but still we managed to meet her and got our pic took with her and Jake. It really was a brilliant night such a great laugh and met some brilliant new people! Thanks to all!!

Just for you Debs!

This was tonight's meal, I couldn't resist trying a new recipe from my Little Book of Sauces from Slimming World, so this was the first one. Plus I had some help choosing my first recipe from one of my friends at my slimming world group, Debs! She loved the look of it and says she couldn't wait for me to try it so I could tell her how it was hahaha well I can say it really was gorgeous.
So here is all the information you need to create this lovely sauce for yourself.

Ingredients

Low cal cooking spray

1 x onion peeled and finely chopped

2 x Garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1cm piece root ginger, peeled and finely grated

1 x Tbsp curry powder (i used mild)

400g can chopped tomatoes

60ml Vegetable stock

2 x Tbsp sweetener

50g Fat free fromage frais

1 x Tbsp freshly chopped coriander

1 x Tbsp freshly chopped mint

Method

1. Spray a pan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Add in the onion and garlic, cooking them until soft. Add the ginger in and cook for a further 1-2 minutes, then add the curry powder and cook again for another 1-2 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes, stock and sweetener to the pan and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 12-15 minutes.

3. Transfer your curry mixture to a food processor and blend until smooth. Return to the pan and add the fromage frais, coriander and mint. Gently heat through before serving being careful not boil so the fromage frais does not curdle.

This dish serves 4 people and is syn free. It makes a brilliant takeaway substitute, you feel like your being naughty when in fact your being really good and not using any of your syns. To be extra good on your diet you could have a fruit salad for your dessert that way you are also getting plenty of superfree into the meal. 

Little Book of Sauces....Watch This Space!

I know i have not posted on here in a while but it is simply because i have been pushing myself at the gym, last week i went on Wednesday,Friday and Sunday plus on Monday night i went swimming with Charlotte, so loads of body magic this week.
 Last night was weigh in again, it comes round really quickly, and i was quite pleased with the result on the scales. I lost 1.5lb meaning i dropped into a new number, literally just dropped in, but i am really pleased. I am now boasting a 4 stone 1.5lb weight loss in 6 months. Whilst in group i decided to buy Slimming World's Little Book of Sauces, mainly because i am looking for new things to try and new sauces that will go well with my meals. So watch this space... there will be some new recipes soon.

Chicken Biryani Slimming World Style

This was my second new recipe i couldn't resist giving ago. We have had this for our Dinner this evening and it was delicious, really tasty, and something different to have without being naughty on your diet. Here is the recipe for this gorgeous Chicken Biryani. 

Ingredients

300g Basmati Rice

4 Chicken Breasts, diced

800ml Chicken Stock

1 large onion diced

2 Tbsp Curry Powder

1/2 Tsp Turmeric

1 Tsp Cumin

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Fry Light

Method

1: Fry the onion using you fry light until soft.

2: Add in the chicken, Cumin, Turmeric, Curry Powder and Salt and Pepper and fry until the chicken is browned and cooked through.

3: Add the rice into the pan and fry for a further 2 minutes.

4: Put the stock into the pan and lower the heat to allow your Biryani to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until the rice is soft. Serve immediately and enjoy.

This tasty serves 2-3 people depending on portion size etc. This one pot meal is really quick and easy to make and the best bit about it, you can have this Syn Free on your Slimming World diet. So go on, give it a go and see what you think!

Carrot Cake Muffins

Today was my day off from work and after my lovely colleague Penny had printed me some new Slimming World recipes to try it was hard to resist giving a couple of them a go. So here is the first one: Carrot Cake Muffins.

Ingredients

3 medium eggs

6 Tbsp granulated sweetener

85g Wholemeal self raising flour

2 Tsp ground mixed spice

170g Grated Carrot

200g Quark

Sweetener (to taste)

1 Tsp Vanilla Essence

Method

1: Preheat your oven to 180/Gas Mark 4.

2: Place 8 muffin cases into a muffin tray. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and sweetener until the mix is frothy. Sieve the flour and ground mixed spice into the mix. adding the husks that are left behind in the sieve. Add the carrot and fold together.

3: Spoon the mixture into the 8 muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes or until golden and firm. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to allow them to coll down.

4: Mix together the Quark, sweetener and vanilla essence, and top the muffins with the mixture. Place your completed muffins into the fridge until you are ready to eat them.

These are great little treats and are fantastic for your Slimming World diet at only 1.5 syns per muffin!!!

4 stone award WooHoo

After a full week of really pushing myself and putting all my effort into my Slimming World journey I am very proud to say I did it!!!

4lb lost this week and finally hit my 4 stone award all within 6 months of first walking through them doors into my first ever Slimming World meeting. I still can't believe that I have done it, I mean a 4 stone weight loss is something you read about in a magazine it doesn't happy to me but It has and I'm over the moon.

I also want to say a massive well done to my best mate and fellow blogger Charlotte who hit her 3 stone award tonight. I'm also very proud to say that as 2 best friends we have lost a massive 7 stone between us.

Onwards and upwards now my next target is my Christmas Wish if hitting 4.5 stone by Christmas I know I can do it when my head is in it!

Viva Las Vegas!

3rd November 2012, exactly a year ago today myself and my best mate Charlotte flew out for 7 nights in the "adults playground" and "City of Sin", Las Vegas!

 The strip is where all the main action is and the majority of the fantastic, huge hotel and casino resorts are located from the South end of the strip which is where the famous Las Vegas Sign is located the hotels start with the Mandalay Bay Resort and Luxor right up to the North End of the Strip which is where you will find the Stratosphere Resort which not boasts attractions right at the very top, if you dare to go on them, we didn't haha! In addition to the main Vegas Strip there is another area called Freemont Street, which is the "Old Vegas" and boasts older casinos like the Golden Nugget for example and the canopy of Freemont Street has a fantastic Light show which is amazing and is well worth a visit one evening.

 We stayed at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino which was close to the South end of the strip and was attached, by walkways, to the Luxor, New York New York and Tropicana Resorts. We found the hotel had a brilliant location and was really good value for money for what we wanted.

 It is true that everything is bigger and better in Vegas from the Super hotel and casino resorts to the size of the food portions they truly are huge yet really cheap. The food outlets range from brilliant buffets to very expensive and boutique style restaurants. Plus no blog about Vegas is complete without mentioning the fantastic shows available up and down the strip. Me and Charlotte were lucky enough to be able to visit 3 of them in 7 days. So we started with Tournament of the Kings which is in the Excalibur Hotel, you get a show and a meal which was a really good family night out, cheering on your designated knight, it really was a good laugh and good night out. Secondly we booked The Lion King at Mandalay Bay, all i can say is WOW! what a show from fantastic costumes to brilliant music we really enjoyed it. However when we got a recomendation from our rep to see a show called Le Reve, to start with we thought is it going to be worth the amount of money we had to pay to go? How wrong we were the show is located in the Wynn hotel and what a breathtaking show it was, clearly the best show we had seen in our time in Las Vegas, but with so many other shows to pick we were happy with our selection.

Finally no trip to Sin City is complete without a day trip out to the Grand Canyon, which is out of this world, without visiting it i really don't believe you can grasp the scale of this amazing place.

We travelled with a company called Pink Jeep Tours who were amazing and again well worth the money we paid to go. We had a full day out which included 3 view points of the Grand Canyon, a meal at a ranch and also a quick visit to the Hoover Dam. A truly amazing day out and was really enojyed by both us.

 We travelled with Virgin Holidays out to Las Vegas but there are many other Travel Companies who run package holidays out to Sin City so its always best to shop around. Direct flights are available from most major airports in the UK out to Las Vegas Mccaran Airport with a flight time of aprox 10 and a half hours.

 So to sum up our holiday in Vegas i would say everyone should visit Las Vegas at least once in their life however i personally found 7 nights to be a bit long and would have rather had less time in Vegas and maybe moved on to somewhere else in America maybe San Fransisco or LA. Where as in Charlottes opinion she loved the place and really wants to go back again, i would travel back to Vegas if it was being used a stop over on a longer trip. Maybe you should go a try it for yourself i doubt you will be disappointed!