Category: Daily Life

Week one on the programme is off to a good start. I’ve been sticking to the meal plan and doing the daily exercise, and I’m feeling pretty good. A little hungry between meals but not unbearably so and, as someone commented on the community forum, you do enjoy the meals more when you are hungry.

Last night we had chicken stir-fry and it was crazy good. I left the chilli out this time. The preparation took time, lots of chopping and slicing – but it was quite therapeutic.

Serves two. 240 calories per serve.
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
250 g skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
2 cm root ginger, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1 pak choi, chopped
1 red capsicum, deseeded and sliced
1 Tbsp tamari sauce, (see Notes)
1 tsp fish sauce
1 red chilli, finely sliced
0.5 lime, juice
fresh coriander, chopped
sea salt
black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the chicken strips, ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, or until golden.
Add the spring onions, pak choi and capsicum and stir fry for a further 2 minutes.
Add the fish sauce, tamari and chilli and continue to cook until the chicken is white throughout and vegetables have softened. Season to taste.
Squeeze over the lime juice, top with coriander and serve.

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

In an effort to get my weight down and get on the road to better health, I’m starting tomorrow on a 12-week programme of calorie-controlled diet and exercise.

After looking at a couple of different programmes, I settled on the Fast800 because I like the way it works. The online portal includes a meal planner with recipes that I can plan and print out for the week ahead. There are exercise videos and mindfulness exercises, as well as an online forum to talk to diet coaches and other people on the programme.

Even though I’ve opted for three meals a day (I could have skipped breakfast) it is a fasting diet because the daily calorie intake is limited to 800 per day, for twelve weeks. It is a Mediterranean-based diet with no carbs. This will ‘kick-start’ my metabolism apparently.

Good news, I can have as much as I want of the following vegetables: artichoke, alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, bean sprouts, bok choy, broccoli / broccolini, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, courgette (zucchini), cucumber, fennel, green beans, kale, leeks, mange tout (snow peas), okra, pak choi, radishes, rocket, spinach, spring onions, sugar snap peas, swiss chard, watercress. Other vegetables are ok too, but require calorie counting.

I can drink as much water as I like. I can have black tea or coffee, herbal tea, and sparkling water.

We have been trying some of the recipes in the past week. Some of the meals have been surprisingly good. We had vegetarian lasagne tonight, and we both thought it was very tasty. While H. is not joining me on the diet programme, he has agreed to share the meals as a way to support me while I’m doing it.

Vegetarian Lasagne (Serves 2 – 366 calories per serve)

2 eggplants, sliced into 1cm (half inch) thick rounds
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
0.5 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
0.5 x400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
150 g ricotta cheese
0.5 tsp ground nutmeg
fresh basil, chopped
20 g parmesan cheese, grated
sea salt
black pepper
0.5 tsp dried chilli flakes

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
Place baking paper over a large baking tray and place eggplant slices in a single layer onto the tray. Brush the slices with half the olive oil. Turn to coat, making sure that both sides of the eggplant slices are lightly covered in oil. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes, flip the slices half way.
Meanwhile, place a saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining olive oil, garlic and onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Add the tomatoes, chilli flakes and apple cider vinegar and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes. If making only a few serves, you may need to add a splash of water. Season to taste.
Place the ricotta cheese, nutmeg and two thirds of the basil in a bowl and mash with a fork to combine.
Arrange a layer of eggplant at the bottom of a small, oven proof baking dish (use approximately 1/3 of the eggplant for this). Spread a third of the tomato mixture over the eggplant. Cover with half of the ricotta cheese. Repeat the eggplant/sauce/cheese layer. Top the second layer with the remaining eggplant and cover with the remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle over the remaining basil leaves and parmesan cheese.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve!

Photo by Nadine Primeau on Unsplash

In the cold weather, we’ve moved the two old girls out of their kennels at night into warmth by the fire inside the house. They spend most of their day asleep inside as well, when not being escorted outdoors to empty out. This happens often as Spook has wonky back legs and a leaky bladder, and Ebony has arthritis and doggie dementia which means she tends to get restless and wanders around the house, sometimes getting trapped behind furniture. We occasionally see some of their old behaviours, some random puppy playfulness or telling off walkers in our street. They get specially prepared dinners with fresh chicken offal and generally have a good appetite, although today they both seem to have been hit with the same tummy bug and have been unable to keep anything down. I have to credit H. with taking care of these two, he has always been the first to step up with the dog baths and visits to the vet, and has taken on the lion’s share of caring for them in their old age.

As the girls’ health has deteriorated, we have raised the topic of euthanasia and agree that while there is the enjoyment of life it is a life worth preserving. All of our dogs have meant a great deal to us both and we still feel an acute sadness when remembering those who are no longer with us. The sadness is more poignant when thinking our current two may not be with us much longer, it makes us determined to ensure they have a good quality of life for the time that remains.

Jo was sitting in her garden when I arrived so I joined her. It was lovely in the sun, sitting quietly and chatting together. Jo has had a tumultuous week, between police breaking her garden gate to chase after someone, and cyber criminals targeting her bank account. All dealt with and behind her, so we could enjoy the quiet.

Later we went inside and listened to music while we sorted the pantry and did some baking. Bit of a mix – Barry Gibb, Tracey Chapman, Bette Midler and Rod Stewart. All easy listening. We made an old favourite jam and coconut slice. Jo said it had been a few years since she could recall having it. We made this one with plum jam, Mum always makes it with apricot. The smell of coconut baking in the oven has to be one of my favourites. It was very crumbly fresh out of the oven, but still nice with a cup of tea.

Photo by Darren Richardson on Unsplash