Month: July 2012

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77 days left and 41 lbs to lose

Lose 100 lb in one year by Oct 1, 2012 update: Weight is 240 lbs, weight loss is 59 lbs, 41 lbs to go!

I updated my graph today and realized, with a VERY large lump in my throat, that I have 77 days left to lose 41 lbs.

Setting myself a 100 lb weight loss goal in one year sounded quite reasonable, averaging less than 2 lbs per week, however, one does not take into consideration that depending on emotions, determination and just GODDAM LIFE, that weight loss is rarely steady and consistent. Plateaus come and go, sometimes you lose interest, sometimes you stop exercising and sometimes you just eat way too much potato (and I LOVE my potatoes)..

I’m a laid back happy-go-lucky kind of person with a hidden demon. That demon is nearly always snoozing, hard to rouse, happy to remain placid.

But this weekend my demon has been rousing from it’s slumber, I feel it’s breath on my neck, it’s heart beat increasing, clawing at my chest, ready to explode from it in full fury- BITCH! (Ooops sorry I went all Sigourney Weaver for a moment)

Now is the time to nurture that demon, befriend it, use it, become stronger, tougher, more determined. The task in-hand is not impossible..

October 1st 2012 I’ll be 199 lbs, you’ll see….

C xxxxxxxxx

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Eggless ginger cake 72/100

100 recipes in 1 year update: 72 recipes re-created and 28 left to re-create before October 1st!!

This weekend was time to cook a few sweet things…

Believe it or not, the sugar ration is way too generous for me, probably because I don’t actually consume many cakes nor desserts, so I always have plenty available. HOWEVER, as a 1940s housewife, I think to keep the home-front morale up, it would have been important to use the ration for sweet desserts, to keep those little pouty faces smiling…

This is a very simple eggless ginger cake recipe. I found it tasted rather boring when it came out of the oven so decided it needed livening up with some mock cream. I used this mock cream recipe but to make it less gritty I ground it down further using a pestle and mortar..

So my lunch was tea and ginger cake, which was rather nice for a change..

Eggless ginger cake

  • 6 oz (175g) of self-raising flour or plain flour sifted with 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
  • 2 oz (50g) of margarine (vegans use a dairy free alternative)
  • 2 oz (50g) sugar
  • 6 tablespoons (10 in North America) of milk (vegans use almond or hemp milk)
  • 3/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
  • 2 teaspoons of vinegar

Method

  1. Grease and flour a 7 inch cake tin
  2. Pre-heat oven to 190C (375F)
  3. Sift the flour (and baking powder if using) with the ginger into the mixing bowl
  4. Rub in the margarine, mix in the sugar and then the milk
  5. Blend the bicarbonate of soda and the vinegar (the mixture will bubble)
  6. Beat into the cake mixture
  7. Spoon into the tin and cook for 20-30 minutes
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We are worth it!

Everyday I look for something motivational to read or watch…I feel this is hugely important process to stop me lapsing into over eating.

Quite often I’ll select a factual documentary, or it maybe someones blog and of course highly motivating before and after photos. But what has struck me on this journey, to make it really successful is to believe, most days, that just because we carry a large amount of extra weight doesn’t make us “bad” people.. We deserve to be loved and respected, just the way we are…

Losing weight is a life long journey. Sometimes we zoom along the highway, other times we have to take the back roads and find obstacles in our path…eventually the road clears, and sometimes we just run out of gas/petrol but even if its a long walk to the nearest gas station, there is always one there somewhere, where we can refuel and start up again.

C xxxxxxxxxxxx

 

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Sausage rolls

Being vegan I never thought I’d find myself devouring sausage rolls again but I REALLY wanted to make the sausage rolls using the recipe in “The Victory Cookbook” by Marguerite Patten (Celebratory food on rations!)..

So when the word “meatless sausages” loomed out at me from the vegetarian/vegan shelf at Superstore, I knew it was time to grab them from the fridge and head to the checkout, rush home and let my mouth drool (without the guilt) as I enjoyed the aroma, whafting from the oven. Whilst the meatless sausages didn’t taste as nice as animal flesh, and the wartime pastry, no where near as nice as flakey pastry, they were very, very tasty indeed…

The recipe below uses regular sausages but if like me you are vegan or vegetarian it’s easy now to find meatless sausages, in most large stores, to use in this recipe

Sausage rolls

  • Shortcrust pastry made with 8oz of flour (click here)
  • 8 oz of breakfast style sausages (cooked)
  • a little milk for glazing (vegans can use almond, hemp or soy milk)

Method

  1. Pre-heat oven to 200C (400 F)
  2. Roll out the pastry and cut into strips about 4 or 5 inches wide and 12-14 inches long
  3. Moisten the long ends with milk
  4. Place the cooked sausages in the centre in a long line
  5. Roll one end of the pastry over the sausage
  6. Moisten with milk along the end
  7. Bring other long end of pastry over the moistened end and press lightly
  8. Cut along the strip of rolled sausage into 2 inch pieces (smaller or larger if you want)
  9. Cut two slits in pastry on top of each one
  10. Brush with milk
  11. Place in oven and cook until golden brown

CAROLYN’S TIP: Wheatmeal shortcrust pastry can look a bit grey! Take a pinch of curry powder and mix with a few tablespoons of milk or your egg mixture and brush over the pastry to give it a lovely golden glow

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Wartime root vegetable soup

I HAD to try this recipe submitted by Marina Unger.. it is an authentic wartime root vegetable soup recipe and let me tell you, I had this for breakfast this morning and she is right…. it’s YUMMY!

Marina Unger-
Yummy and super easy, very filling soup recipe for you. Cooked it today to take the chill out of our rainy weather!
1 swede (turnip in North America), 2-3 carrots, 2-3 parsnips, half an onion, two potatoes, 1 litre stock, sprinkling of fresh parsley. Dice all veggies (peel the swede) and add to stock. Bring to a boil and cook until veggies are tender. Puree if desired (I did) and sprinkle with parsley before serving 🙂

 

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The Shrinking Pirate

Left- July 2011 at about 315 lb. Right- July 2012 at about 240 lb.

I so need goddam motivation…

Life is throwing crap at me again and my thoughts are being devoured by potential problems on the horizon which can be very self-destructive. Luckily I am pretty good at not dwelling on these sort of feelings for long.

Yesterday, was full of distractions. I helped out at the Bridgewater Visitors Information Centre at their Pirate Day and did a promotion for “Oak Island Tours” as well as helping out with the little kids… yes I ended up cutting 30 slices of delicious smelling PIRATE CAKE and didn’t lick my fingers once! (oh did I mention the 3 giant pizzas in the room too? No? Well there were and not one slice did I take…you HATE me don’t you 🙂 )

The last couple of months have been hard for me as my weight loss has stagnated and my exercise regime has slipped somewhat…

I look in the mirror and most of the time do not see that I’ve made any progress at all. Although I feel MUCH BETTER, sometimes I only see the 80 lbs or more I still have to lose in the bigger picture and then I panic that I still have around 40 lbs to lose to get to my 100 lb in one year weight loss goal by October 1st.

So when I got home last night (I spent the evening at a BBQ and in a hall full of the most awesome musicians) I did some reflection and found some pictures taken this time last year of me in some of my pirate clothing and compared them with the ones taken yesterday. The realization was immediate- I really HAD lost weight and I MUST kick my ass from the gutter, stand up and CARRY ON!

TODAY, my employer, Lighthouse Media Group, is starting a new wellness campaign, and it involves getting lots of points for exercise and healthy eating. There is a prize at the end. I secretly WANT to win it and maybe this is just the thing to participate in to get my lazy butt into gear again…

Happy Sunday xxxxx

C xxxxxxx