As we edge ever nearer to Christmas we often think back over the year, and with today being the last weigh-in of the year, I wanted to take a look at my progress.

The year started following Weight Watchers (WW) which I had restarted with a swift boot up my arse back in February 2022, and at the end of that year was 28.5 lbs lighter, which was okay, it was like many other years, up and down I had got lower, but with Christmas and new year out of the way, 2 stone was a good starting block.

January was meh, down and back to where I started, but the difference came at the end of the month. I have told this story in another blog Take a pinch of this and a Pinch of Nom but the short version, a friend on the morning dog walk told me she was cooking Campfire Stew it sounded amazing, she said it a “Pinch of Nom” (PON) recipe. Not having much of a clue about what she was talking about, I looked it up online and it looked awesome, so made it. That was it! The kickstart my mojo needed, low calorie food, that look and tasted amazing! It got me on track to what has been an incredible year for cooking, food, exercise, but a terrible one for the family.

After that one meal, I found a couple of books being sold on Facebook, got them and I have not looked back. Assuming I get the new one for Christmas (which I better had, as I was banned from buying it at launch) I now own all 7 cookbooks and 3 of their journals. I have weeks where every meal is from a PON book/website, and some of the lunches, and some weeks I revert to old WW favourites. But I plan all our meals in advance as it keeps me on track and I can mix up meals and try not to repeat them too often.

I really got back to swimming which I love, but made a commitment to swim at least twice a week. My first swim of the year was 1,000 meters in 28 minutes, that is about 42 seconds per lap. My swim today was 1,250 meters in 30:02 minutes, this is 36 seconds per lap, so yes it’s easy maths, but 6 seconds a lap quicker. It doesn’t sound a lot 6 seconds, but it has made a lot of difference to me, as the weight has dropped the speed is increasing, and increasing the distance I swim each time is important, as I now need to do more to burn the same amount of calories I did before. The stats in the pool for 2023 are below:

Meters: 109,050
Miles: 67.75 miles
KCal: 80,000
Time: 54 hours 23 minutes

Next year, I have signed up for Swimathon with Jane, Emily and maybe Harry (if he agrees) to raise money for Cancer Research in honour of my Brother in-law Richard who we lost this year to cancer in April at very short notice and has ripped all our hearts open. You will see sponsor forms in the new year.

As my weight was dropping I decided to try the gym again to help tone up. That has been up and down I want to go but finding the time, when the pool is a priority has not been easy, but I have the intention to continue, if I don’t do more in the first few months of 2024, I will revert to just my pool membership. I don’t mind the gym after all it is music time, I just need to be aware of not putting too much strain on my back which is a worry after I did mess it up 20 years ago when I lost a lot before. However, more walking has been good, I don’t feel it ‘as much’ in my feet as I did and I’m serious considering giving ‘Couch 2 5K’ a go, in the hope I could do a 5K to raise more money in Richard’s name, which is a big family target for next year.

Before I give my exciting ‘weight’ news, another win I am very proud of this year is my Hba1c, (hemoglobin) which measures your average blood sugar levels over the past 3 months. My test at the end of 2022 showed it was elevated to 44, which is what is classed as pre diabetic. Type 2 kicks in when you reach 48. Anyway, weight loss helps to reduce this, so about September this year, I started to think what it will be like this year? I was not disappointed when the result came back, it had dropped 6 points to 38 meaning no more pre diabetic, which is a huge win for me and almost makes the whole weight loss worth it on it’s own.

Now to the numbers this year, which I guess anyone losing weight focuses on. I have been setting short, medium and long targets as this is a great way to focus and a big part of the last 11 months. Today at the scales I hit my current short term target, which was a medium one a couple of months back. In the last 47 weeks since PON entered my life, I have lost 112lbs or 8 stone, when I add that to 28 from the start of the year my WW loss, now totals 141lbs or little over 10 stone.

You can see in the above graph, I still have some aggressive target to hit, the next one is to get back to my weight when we went to Australia in 2003, and then the green line is to a level where I can change to the new style Anticoagulant medication. When I get to those, then I will create new ones. The next one to drop in there will be the next WW keyring bit at 150, only 9 lbs away.

Some people will ask why I write so openly about this stuff, well the reason is it is good for me to reflect. I do it in a journal every week about what was good last week and what could trip me up the next week (this week Christmas!) but I write these blogs in a hope that it will inspire other people to give it a go. I have been a WW member since 2002, I lost a load put it on again slowly, then more and more, dropped a bit put on a bit, and played at it. It is very, very hard to get your Mojo, but when you get it, you need to grab it with both hands and keep riding it. In WW they talk about “Surf the Urge” long story don’t ask, but I have taken PON as my surfboard and I’m riding all my urges. Is it hard? yes, is it easier when you feel in control? OH YES IT IS.

Remember, Christmas is only a roast turkey, it does not have to be bad. This year having got the BIG 10, I will be careful not to lose control, because in two weeks when I go back to them scales, I don’t want to have to reach 10 stone again!

It not pretty, but here is a visual of the progress.

Please leave me a comment or a like, it is nice to know people read it, even just the one person is enough.

Merry Christmas and see you in 2024.

If you have ever been to a weight related group then I’m sure will have heard someone get off the scales and say “only one….” whether that’s on or off, it seems to be a negative, and I think we need to address that.

I have had my fair share of “only only”‘s in my time, but it is not more than just the scales. You talk to people in Group Therapy (which is what I call the fat club meeting) you discuss the temptations that are put in your way. Cakes or sweets at work “go on it’s only one” or in a bar or restaurant being offered a pudding or glass of one, “but it’s only one”. They are just trying to make you feel better, but your weight loss journey is not theres, after all they aren’t the ones taking the walk of shame and facing the music. Many of us when we get derailed early on in our weight loss week, end up using it as an excuse to jack it in for another week, because we had that bottle of wine on Monday, or the cake for Jude’s birthday.

A friend of mine once said “imagine you have a vase of 21 roses and one of them is dead. Do you bin all 21, or do you pick out the dead one and have 20 left to enjoy?” Obviously, you keep 20, don’t you? This is a great analogy for weight loss, there are 21 meals in a week, 3 meals a day x 7 day. If you have one bad meal, don’t throw the rest of your week to the wall, because you made one mistake.

So how can you change the view of it is “only one”. One pound in a week should be look at as a great acheivement. Look at it this way:

• One pound equals 454 grams.
• Pure fat contains 9 calories per gram.
• Body fat tissue is 87% fat.

Using these values, it is generally concluded that a pound of body fat actually contains anywhere from 3,436 to 3,752 calories. Then taking it a stage further, you could assume 3,500 calories divided by 7 days is 500 calories. Therefore, to lose a pound you need to burn/consume 500 less calories every day for a week, which I am sure you will agree sounds a lot harder than “only one!”.

Bearing this in mind then, will you be happy the next time you lose a pound? Only one in this context is a good think, but what about a different view?

What about the speed bumps in the road that are you helpful friends “it’s only one, it won’t hurt” or “It’s only one, you don’t look like you need to lose anymore anyway”, we have all heard it, well I have never heard the last one! I have heard lots of people share ways to dealing with this, from the kind “No thank you” to the more grumpy “Why do you think I’m on a diet?” both are great, but I would challenge you to try and educate people a little. What do I mean by this? In most situations the people are not being horrid to you, so helping them to understand why you don’t want have “just one” might just work better in the long run.

I have long said if I had a Drink, Drug or Smoking issue no one would ever do around saying “Go on it’s only one glass of wine” or “it’s only one ciggie”, they know these as addictions and having one, kicks you off the wagon. If you explain that to them and that your diet is that important to you, ask if they understand? It might work, it might not, but what have you got to lose.

Everyone I’m sure has heard that it all adds up, so 1lb a week is great. But look at this way. You see someone you have not seen in a year. They look at you and say “Wow you look amazing, how much weight have you lost?” You reply to them “Close to 4 stone.” That’s 56 lbs, only a little more than “just one” a week.

If you read this, please leave me a message, I would like to know your thoughts about Only One, and how you deal with it.

It’s now eight weeks since I learnt about Pinch of Nom, and I have to say I think I have had a dollop on Nom not a pinch.

I have been going to Weight Watchers on and off for just over 20 years, I have lost loads, I maintained for a bit, however I have also gained it all back on and off. Don’t get me wrong it’s not the fault of WW it’s me. I have an unhealthy relationship with food, like many I turn to food when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m pissed off, and when I’m entertaining, so just about any reason there is food. I also don’t eat salad and fruit, which does not help.

At the end of January 2022, I had not been at WW for a few months as the meeting I attended closed after Covid and low numbers. Feeling very sorry for myself after a bad Christmas for eating too much (everything) I decided to find another meeting and go back. At the heaviest I have ever been I needed to get a grip. After a year I had shifted 28lbs, slow and steady and doing it the way I wanted, which felt manageable for the long term. It was almost a year to my restart that I discovered Nom, and now 8 weeks later, I’m in a very different place.

It started with Campfire Stew a recipe I was told all about when walking the dogs with a good friend. After cooking this one Saturday evening and being amazed at how good it was, I was on Facebook in a flash looking for second hand cookbooks so I could find some more recipes. I’m not here to put down the weight loss programme I have followed for years, as I know it works and have many many recipes which I make weekly but when I used to look through their cookbook I might find one or two I wanted to cook and the rest were just a NO from me. When I got the first couple of Nom books, I wanted to cook almost every page I looked at. Well the obsession now means I have all of the books and a couple of the trackers, as well as pre-ordering the new book out in June already!

Eight weeks in and after this weeks weigh-in I have lost 23.5 lbs, add that the progress I had already made, and it puts at 52lbs off. You might say WOW, but I have plenty of reserve’s so there’s much more to go!

I have had help, the arrival of Lent and the customary omission of something for 40 days (It’s really 47) in the run up to Easter. A few years ago I gave up crisps (potato chips for the Americans that might be reading) and the wife and daughter did chocolate, since that point, my daughter always gives up chocolate, where and Jane and I, kind of DON’T! I decided this year to support Emily and gave up crisps again. This is helping me loads, so much so, that I’m about 95% certain I’m going to stay off of them after Easter. I have chosen some supplements rice cakes and homemade popcorn, which are super low pointed and can be tasty as well. I have recently discovered Popcorn seasonings as well.

Getting back to Nom, I have lost count of the number of new recipes I have now cooked, but I know a few things. I never used Balsamic vinegar before in my life, but now on my second bottle! My spice rack is full, and I have a new craft box which is also full of herbs and spices, I even used my Pestle and Mortar more in eight weeks, than I have in the last 20 years, since I got it for a wedding present. My weekly shopping now includes things I never heard of eight weeks ago, Orzo, Panko breadcrumbs, wine Stock pots and green beans (yeah I heard of them, just never ate them!).

So Nom is not replacing WW, they are working hand in hand with each other for me. I go over the books and the website and get ideas for new meals that we will all like, but I still plan my meals as I have been for the last three years. I still go to group therapy (As I call it) weekly to get weighed and talk about the journey. I still draw on WW fundamentals such as “Remember the WHY” and this gives you strength to keep it going.

My Why is fairly obviously I’m overweight, I lost a load and put it on and you know what being back to where I got, would be awesome. This week my wonderful daughter unknowingly has given me a huge boost with the Why. She found a picture of Jane and I from Australia in 2003, this was when I was at my WW best. She thought it was funny seeing how young we were, but what I say was me, looking (in my eyes) skinny, yes and young!

The other things I have learnt about my focus over the last year, is that when I’m “on it” I’m writing about it, posting about it on the socials, and yes taking pictures of my food, so on that note, here are some of the meals we have had recently.

If you have got this far, I hope you have enjoyed the update from the last few weeks. Why not read some of the other blogs, there are links below, and why not leave me a comment, I’m interested to know what people think.

I’m a man and I love Gadgets, there should be a special group for us! It is an addiction,I’m sure of it.

I love music, so obviously had Walkman’s, Discman’s, Mini Disc players, iPods, the lot, so loving cooking that also means having gadgets for the kitchen!!

Everyone has a toaster, a sandwich maker, slow cooker, but then some of us have egg boilers, omelet makers, rice steamer, veg steamer, soup makers oh and the list goes on.

However, the star of the show I would like to introduce you too is a new one, called a Crimpit. What the **** is a Crimpit I hear you shout, well okay maybe you’re not shouting that, but you might wonder. Before I tell you that, I will talk about what it is used with.

In 2011, Warburtons brought to market a new product, a Sandwich Thin. It is smaller than a slice of bread, and it is the top and bottom of a sandwich, all you need is to choose the filling.

These were an instant hit for dieters, I mean one slice of bread on WW was 3 points, and a sandwich would be 6 before butter and filling. These Thins being a complete sandwich were only 3 for both parts. To start with they were used or their purpose of a sandwich, but it was not long before people started to come up with clever ways to work with them.

I for one remember turning up at a WW meeting and hearing about making them into a Sausage roll! Take your thin top or bottom part you only needed one, with a rolling pin, make it even flatter. Then take a low fat sausage, remove the skin, lay on one end of the thin, and then roll it up. Egg wash the last bit to stick it, then egg wash the top and bake it for 15 mins. There you have one sausage roll.

So where does the Crimpit come in? Well it is designed for the humble sandwich thin, which is now made by everyone from Warburtons to Aldi and every supermarket between. Imagine you want a cheese and ham toastie, but damn I don’t have a sandwich toaster, well all you need is a Crimpit. Open your thin, fill with ham and cheese, and put the lid on it. Pop it in the bottom of the Crimpit, line up the top and press it down. Hey presto, you have a sealed sandwich thin you pop in the toaster.

It’s no secret among the people that know me, my weakness is not chocolate and sweet stuff, I’m a savoury person. Pasties, Sandwiches, Crisps and a Ginsters Slices, so when I came across a recipe for a Steak Slice, using a thin, say no more I’m doing it, and that is why I finally got the Crimpit.

Take an onion and some mince, fry it up, add some beef stock and Worcester sauce, and leave it to simmer until the stock reduces. After about 20 minutes, add a little cornflour and water to thicken the sauce. Once that is done, then you need to get your thins out.

Divid up the mixture up between the 6 thins, pop the lids on and then drop it in the Crimpit and squish it together. Take it out, put it on the baking tray, and cover in egg wash, repeat for the others. Then bake them, 180 for 20 minutes, if you want crispy, I would go 25 minutes.

I think since I got the Crimpit, I have made three batches of these, I have learnt to remove the excess thin around the edge, use move egg wash than you would think and add 5 mins to give them a crunch.

Here comes the recipe bit, please leave a message, like or share it with your friends.

Sandwich Thin Steak Slice

Ingredients:

6 sliced soft white or brown sandwich thins
250g 5% beef mince
1 small onion, (finely chopped)
150 ml Beef stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp garlic granules
2 tsp cornflour
2 tsp water
1 medium egg, (beaten with a fork)

Steps:

1. Line a large baking tray with a sheet of non-stick baking paper.
2. Spray a small saucepan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the beef steak mince and cook for 2-3 minutes until browned on all sides. Stir in the stock, Worcestershire sauce and the garlic granules.
3. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer gently for 20 minutes. Place the cornflour and 2 tsp water in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Stir into the beef mixture and increase the heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, for 4-5 minutes until the gravy has thickened. Taste and season with black pepper. We found there was no need to add salt. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180ºC. Split the sandwich thins in half and lay out on a chopping board. Divide the beef mixture into 6 portions.
5. Place a portion of the slightly cooled beef mixture onto each of the 6 sandwich thin halves, leaving a 1cm gap around the edge.
6. Brush beaten egg around the edge and place one of the remaining sandwich thin halves on top of the filling. Press the centre of the lid down gently with a flat hand, then press around the edges to seal. Use a fork to crimp the edges and seal well. Repeat until you’ve made 6.
7. Place them on the lined baking tray and brush all over with the remaining egg. Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. You can serve these hot or cold, but we prefer them served hot. Serve with Homemade Oven Chips or other accompaniment of your choice.

Normally my blogs are centred around a recipe, but as I have been mainly cooking Pinch of Nom and they are from cookbooks and the website, I don’t feel I can pass it off as my own, but I will leave you a link to the curry I have made today, which was just so tasty.

A few weeks ago I spoke about Campfire Stew, well that dish has changed an awful lot in my kitchen. Currently sat in my office, I have 3 big Pinch of Nom (from now on PoN) cook books and 2 of the little journal ones (which also have 26 recipes in. But above all else it is there website, sit there was 10 minutes and your meal plan for the next week gets written a whole lot quicker.

Before PoN I had been planning meals since the lockdown, more to help with shopping, but it did also help me stay on top of things, but it was getting repetitive, i was looking back for ideas of previous weeks and felt I was cooking the same stuff ever two weeks. This week however, I am cooking five new recipes I have never cooked before. What is good is, that I would make a curry every couple of weeks, it was the same one I have been cooking for a number of years, and it is lovely, but it is the same. Now I’m cooking a curry, but a different one. So far I have cooked a Dupiaza and one called Garlic and Ginger and tonight a Madras, all of which have been amazing. Next week it is the turn of the English Favourite Chicken Tikka Masala.

So that’s great but what does it mean, it means that cooking things that are different and exciting has got me back my focus, which has been missing in action, for maybe as far back as the lifting of lockdown. I think having to think about what I am cooking, what is going into the meal, I have to follow the recipe. If i was making my old favourite Paella, I know it, I most likely add more bacon, chicken and rice than I should as I know what works, but with PoN, I need to follow the exact measurements to make sure it tastes right.

The other thing for me, has been the ability to find snacks bits I like, marmite swifts (cheese and marmite in light puff) Steak Bakes (mince in a rich gravy, bake in a thin!) these I made before going away to a hotel for a weekend, so save me getting a MacDonald’s, pasty or shop bought sandwich or two.

To prove this even more, for Lent I have given up my kryptonite, crisps! Whether it is Cheese Puffs, Walkers sensations, Twiglets or Pringles, they are my major weakness that I snack on after dinner when watching TV. But very rashly, I decided to give them up to support my daughter as she gave up Chocolate. I have gone back to an old favourite, rice cakes, I get the the crisps like flavour in a low pointed hint. I also bought some popcorn kernels, but not made any yet.

Tomorrow is my birthday, I know when i wake up tomorrow I can have, my egg and bacon treat, I have homemade PoN KFC for my lunch as we are going to football in the evening. I’m in control of what I’m doing, 100% focused and happy with what I am eating as the food is so tasty.

Here are some of the meals I have made recently.

Yes I really do photograph all my food, I share it in more than one facebook group, as I love talking about food, I like people saying it looks nice, and above all else the community help each other, give ideas and ask questions, which again helps so very much.

My parting gift that I promised is a link. This is the Beef Madras I made this evening, basically brown your bits, add to a overproof pan, and cook it for two hours. I might have given you a link to that recipe, but now you have in your hands, the link to the website. Many recipes are available free on there, but if there is one you like that is not on there, it shows you which book it will be in, so you don’t need to search.

Please leave a comment, let me know if you have cooked any PoN recipes and what you thought, or will you be giving the website a look?

This week I have made three new dishes from Pinch of Nom, which have really helped my diet focus. We started with a new Jambalaya, then I made a Chicken Dopiaza with Cumin potatoes and last a classic Beef Bourguignon.

However, rather than focus on one of those, I wanted to pay tribute to an old favourite that I have been cooking for many years now. It is really designed to use up some left over turkey and ham. When I started cooking this, getting turkey thigh or breast from supermarkets was cheap cheap, so I did use turkey, but now, I should really call it chicken ham and sweetcorn bake, as I always use chicken breast now.

As I have mentioned I cooked loads when I was younger, but this recipe was the first time I ever made a roux, which is the base of this sauce. It took me a good few attempts before I got use to making it and how you have to thin it down with stock and get the sauce just perfect. My secret now is a plastic coated bell whisk. Melt the butter, add the flour and beat it with the bell whisk, as it comes together start getting the hot stock in slowly and mix, mix, mix. Once you have all the stock in, it might look thin, but get it back on the heat and it will thicken up.

This is a perfect Monday dish after you have had a Sunday roast chicken. Get a bigger chicken, and set the spare to one side, you can even cook extra spuds and sweetcorn with the roast, to make it quick the next day.

The base recipe follows, but remember to change to what you want. I normally use a little more meat now (two bigger kids) so make more sauce, I always serve with julienne carrots, but you could serve with broccoli if you like that kind of thing!

Turkey Ham & Sweetcorn Bake

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
350g Potatoes
150 ml Skimmed Milk
25g Butter
25g Plain flour
150 ml Chicken stock
175g Cooked chunky Turkey
25g Cooked Ham chopped
50g Sweetcorn
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Cook the potatoes in plenty of lightly salted boiling water for about 15 minutes until just tender. Drain and mash well, adding a tablespoon of the milk. Season with a little pepper.
2. Preheat the over to gas mark 6/200c (180c for fan oven). Spray a 1 litre shallow ovenproof dish with the low-fat cooking spray.
3. Melt the butter, in a medium-size saucepan. Add the flour, stirring to blend, then cook gently for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and gradually blend in the remaining milk, then stir in the chicken stock. Return to the heat, brining to the boil, stirring continuously, and heat until the sauce thickens.
4. Add the turkey, ham, sweetcorn and parsley to the sauce. Season to taste, then pour the mixture into the prepared banking dish and top with the mashed potatoes. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the potatoes are lightly browned.

So going to Weight Watchers as long as I have, you have heard people talk about different diets and to be honest WW works for me when I follow it. My issue is when I don’t follow the sat nav thinking I know the way, getting completely lost only to find out I went 50 miles the wrong way when I turn the sat nav back on!

Well that being the case I heard about Pinch of Nom and thought it was a diet plan, so didn’t take a lot of notice, what I didn’t realise is that Pinch of Nom could help my WW journey as the recipes are low fat, low carb, for people on WW and the other one!

How did it start, one very cold morning out with our dog walking gang a friend was talking about Cowboy stew which she had made in the slow cooker. Loving my slow cooker, I asked for more details as I’m always looking for ideas, as it’s one of those things that does 3 or 4 meals and not a lot else. Alex explained it was a gammon joint in the cooker with beans and carrots and stuff. When she told me it was Pinch of Nom and it was online, I thought I would have a look. It is really called Campfire Stew, and hit all the right buttons, where you bung it all in and a few hours later your dinner is done.

As far as the recipe goes, it’s amazing and if you have a slow cooker I would definitely recommend giving it a go. But as far as Pinch of Nom goes, I’m a convert. There were so many recipes online that you can just follow, you don’t have to buy the books, but as anyone with Netflix knows, it’s not about what is there, it’s about finding it! That is where the books have come in. I’m a visual person I need to see what it looks likes like and whether it pushes my buttons. I decided to have a look on Facebook market place and low and behold there were loads of different books, so I opted for a couple there were around the corner from where Jane works. At half the price of Amazon for two books (which don’t look like they have been used), I was soon flicking though the pages and salivating. I have already cooked a few things from the books and have more planned this week.

The best part, is that it has focused me back on the diet. Being able to cook really good meals for low points and been awesome and they don’t look health in the slightest! For me tracking is key, and thinking about meals in advance helps me to do that. As Pinch of Nom is not only Dinner’s there are breakfast ideas and lunches too, meaning I can plan those as well, which helps the focus.

Let’s get back to the recipe in question. So as I said I love my slow cooker, even more so since I discovered Slow Cooker liners, chopping up the ingredients and tossing them in the bowl.

I cooked it on low, as I had all day, about an hour and half before the end of cooking you need to remove the gammon and cut it up into chunks and toss it back in until the end of the cooking.

I have only made this once, and I need to learning more about what I want to serve this with, we ended up with chips as I forgot to turn the oven on for Jacket Potatoes.

I hope you enjoy this, please do leave a comment.

Click here for the recipe Campfire Stew