TheNipTuckFoodBlog

True Colors

2015-05-17T12:32:00.001+01:00

Freedom of speech is a beautiful privilage, we can say what we want and we are entitled and afforded that privilage.

Why don't we all go and tell our bosses exactly what we think of them and lets see exactly how "free" our speech really is and then, let's see who's side the law sits on?

Freedom of speech in private or among friends is great, you can express anything you desire but those poster have as much to do with the upcoming referendum as my blue fish, nothing. That Bill was past 2 months ago and did not need a referendum, if anyone has a problem with that Bill, you need to bring your concerns to your local politician. It has no place in this referendum.

However, when placing your opinion on posters and spreading your opinion across the country, you should stay within the structures and boundaries of the Equality Act 2004. Not because it's politically correct and used as a means to silence people who struggle with change, but to allow those, who historically have been excluded and marginalised, to express themselves and to ensure that based on certain factors, certain sectors of society are not excluded and to ensure that policies are created to support their inclusion.

Public displays of freedom of speech should stay within the boundaries of non discriminatory behaviour.

Are we allowing "freedom of speech" to manifest itself into a tool to exclude a sector of society and using the forum of debate to share and voice our predjudice on people who's actions we don't understand ?

Lately I have completed a good few charity events, all for depression, suicide or mental health. One thing that I have noticed is how mental health is not an isolated illness that has no bearing on other parts of your life, but rather stems from life events. It is part of the wheel of a persons life.

The conversation about the referendum have for the most part, been about how this will effect me, as a straight person or you as a straight person.

When do we ask the question, how will my vote impact the people it affects? If I vote no, how would that make a person feel? Do I vote only on what I think I should understand about how a person should love? Or do I vote with the power of knowing that love between consenting adults is just love. No cloak and dagger, not rebellious and not wrong.

Would voting no, hurt a young person struggling with who they are? Would voting No impact generations of even the unborn negatively? Will voting no make a person feel isolated?

Everyone has an opinion, everyone has fear, everyone has predjudices.

Love is love.

We don't need to understand other people's love, we just need to understand love.

If your voting on the basis of feeling that another person's love is wrong?

Will voting No make it right ?

Sweet Treat Food Finds

2014-12-05T22:45:00.000+00:00

There everywhere, the tins of sweets. I mean I got offered them in my Credit Union, so really there is no escaping the tins of sweets.

I find being a Weight Watcher at this time of year can really be tester. Firstly, before children and marraige, the debate was always, spend the tenner on the WeightWatchers, or put it into the party pot? Then I would remember that the dress that I was wearing in the smaller size was because I spent the tenner on Weight Watchers, so I usually dragged my sorry ass and at times it was very sorry, up the stairs to my meeting.

It was money well spent.

That doesn't mean that it was easy. Those tins of sweets and there is always a skinny food pusher behind them with the ahh go on go on go on.

They seem to stand near me, pushing my buttons waiting for me to explode, shove your roses up your sewing box.

Well at least I have a filter between mouth brain and mouth. You see the problem is that when you open a tin, generally we don't stop at the one, or even the 2 and I actually eat more than what I want just because, their open.

Last year I gained 8 pounds, yep, 8 pound 2 weeks, all because of these little buggers.

I love them, I can smell them being brought through the house.

These little suckers were the cause of my weight gain and Ill be honest it took a whole lot longer than 2 weeks to get rid of the half a stone.

This year, I am not going into the box of Caffreys at all, not even a little peak, I know my weakness and my limits.

So instead of deprivation, I will indulge in my own way.

So here is some sweet treats to keep you going .

I got these in Dunnes Stores for €1,50 for a 20 pack. 1 bag is 2 Propoints and 2 bags is 3 Propoints.

There in Salt and Vinegar, Cheese Puffs and Onion Rings and there lovely. Both prices and propoints value are well worth it.

Also in Dunnes, 3 Propoints per bag but 7 Propoints for 2 bags.

Now these are 3
Propoints per bag and their lovely and great for dipping into tea or coffee.

Currently on sale in Dunnes Stores for €1 and really, it's hard to tell the difference in taste, but 2 tablespoons of this works out at 1 Propoints, and it's seriously delicious.

I bought this in Dunnes, it's like vanilla custard, it's really thick and delicious. It's on sale in Dunnes for €0.65 and 52mls roughly 2 and a half tablespoons will cost you 1 propoint.

This is my find of the year.

Oh and I found this in Dunnes Stores aswell

McCloskey Christmas Crumpets.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Christmas Wishes from the Dark Side

2014-11-24T00:34:00.000+00:00

I was one of those people that joined in the January of 2007. I had wanted to join from the September 2006 but you know, I had to deliberate if I really needed to join Weight Watchers. What was the point of joining something where they were all already skinny?

I really used to think that places like Weight Watchers were places were the Stepford Wives used to go for a little chat before brunch. I was not going to pay to go to a place like that and allow some skinny yoke to know my weight. Nah, I'll wait.

I always seem to have hope in the run up to Christmas that the year ahead will not only bring me a beautiful figure, winning the lotto and of course good health but I usually wish that I can be brave to face my demons head on.

I remember that year before I joined and It was worse because I knew I needed to do it but it was like a dream and I was too scared to make the first step. So the usual feelings of dislike that I had for shopping in the very expensive plus size clothes shops, whose clothes never suited me at all, got even worse.

I was happy, in black as usual but content.

Move on a few years to where I had possibly about 3 stone left to lose. Anyways, I was sitting in class just before Christmas and it must have been the class right before we broke up for the holidays and my leader asked the question about what we had all worn to our Christmas Parties. There was a lot of Little Black Dresses.

Then she asked what we would like to wear to next years Christmas party and I raised my hand and I said a silver sparkly dress.

I didn't want to be in black but yet it was quite the comfort for me and I always feel safe in it.

It was also the start of me realising that dreaming is all well and good, but dreaming about something, even if you do it lots, will not make it a reality.

Reality is the doing of the dreaming. It's also something that I had to do, I was only dependent on myself making the plan work for me and sticking to it.

So now, since getting to goal, as normal, there are lots of dinners out and parties in the run up to Christmas I always in the middle of a really indulgent dinner or party. I will decide there and then to say NO to something.

Not because I don't want it but because I can say No and I can choose my own faith of the year ahead. because what I eat today becomes my tomorrow, and what I eat this year, is next summer's body and I choose to decide what that body will be.

Your dreams are special and only you will know what losing the weight will do for you.

Stop dreaming, start doing and the reality is much better than the dream because it has the ripple effect on everything.

Give up yer aul sins

2014-11-19T22:32:00.000+00:00

I have got to tell you that this year has been the hardest year of my life so far. I don't know why but it really has been difficult and there has been a lot of growing up.

When it comes to sins, I have many, many which I really enjoy but the more I seem to like my bad habits, the badder the habits seem to be for me.

7 years ago, I joined WeightWatchers and embarked on losing the 9 stone 1 pound that I needed to lose. 5 years later I achieved it.

In July of this year, I gave up drinking Pepsi Max and fizzy drinks.

Now losing the weight made a huge difference to my life, it was very slow but substantial differences were had in my life.

I gave up Pepsi Max and I will be honest, absolutely no difference was made to my life and I feel no different, but because I am such a stubborn person I wont go back on it.

Then this Sunday, I gave up smoking. I am a smoker 21 years and before anyone tells me how well I will feel, there will be no tabacco smell off me and so, let me express myself clearly.

I never have minded the smell of tabacco. That is like saying to some one who wears Jean Paul Gautier perfume that you don't like the smell of their perfume, well, the other person is wearing it and they obviously like it. Yea, it's really like that, we don't get why people would say that to us, in an attempt to tell us that we smell bad, as oppose to someone who is wearing some god awful perfume that catches your breath. Yep, it's just plain rude, keep the remarks to yourself.

Now here is the second one, "have you ever seen those ads where they dissect the lungs of a smoker?

Really, you want me to give up something that I really enjoy so that I have prettier lungs when I die?

and die I will, I mean the only thing that I am sure of in life is that it will end at some point. I will not life forever. I will not turn into Lord Voldemort "Master of Death" because I have given up my 3 Deathly Hallows weakness.

Now here is what I cannot grapple with, when I joined Weight Watchers it was so that I could shop in any shop that I wanted to and so that I could feel better in myself and not have to worry about what anyone else thought of my.

Pepsi Max was something that I have wanted to do to feel grown up and to have more of variety.

Now with smoking, I'm in the phase of dense fog, no I cannot see the wood for the trees, I don't know how or what type of difference it will make to my life bar the money and to be honest I really miss it.

Yesterday I wanted one so badly that while listening to the radio and they were talking about the water charges and I realised that had any one have heard what I was shouting at the radio that yes I would have been arrested and then I thought that if I was arrested and sent to prison, sure couldn't I smoke anywhere I liked and not have goodie two shoes sticking their nose up in the air.

So I signed up to Quit.ie it's run by the HSE and it's a helpline and interactive thing. The girl I got is adorable, so lovely and really does have time for me, but she never smoked a day in her life. She hasn't told me this and I never asked her, but how do I know, well, she asked how I felt and I gave her a rough guide to how I was feeling and she read from a script how I will be much more likely to stay off them if I feel this way.

Please remember that what I had told her was that I felt like ripping my face off and going to smokey heaven with a Pepsi in one hand, no diet crap with a big smokey smoke, Im in heaven, dead already and you ain't judged in Gods house because surely god has the space to facilitate smokers and non smokers?

It has the same effect of a person going to an AA meeting and it been run by Legion of Mary who never broke their pledge!

So, as you can tell, Im pretty cool and calm about the whole giving up smoking thing. Then to top it off, I got put on medication and last week because I am sick and I have gained 8 pound in 1 week. I cod you not.

Now I will gladly do the time for crimes that I have committed but when your up more than the average birth weight of a baby from buying the fruit bags in McDonald's while the other people with you melt into a big mac, then I get pretty agitated.

Then I thought that really, I would rather be a smoker for the rest of my days than put the weight back on me. There are some mental tortures that Im not prepared to go through again and then this comes into my email.

Is this something out of the Twilght Zone and by Twilight I mean crazy weird stuff? Does this mean that the battle is as great as the weight loss battle that I have and still have.

I mean this, I would rather go back on the smokes anyday than gain that weight back. If I had to choose a sacrifice, it would be my pretty lungs that I would sacrifice, rather than be a size 28 from Evans again.

Now as if I was not doing enough, to try to counter act the smokes and for distraction, I am trying to run, well jog, I would like to jog without thinking that my breathing sounds like something out of the climax of a porn film, when in actuality it's because I ran from one lampost to the next.

So here is my plan. I want to jog/walk the Aware 5k in Park on the 13th December, and still be smoke free and the same weight. That all depends and whether I am not locked up in Mount Joy smoking my ugly lungs into oblivion.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Don't preach, I mean it, but if you have tips please pass them on.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Oh it's just so mundane

2014-09-09T07:36:00.001+01:00

This losing weight, maintaining weight, sensible eating, constant trying to not go off the rails really can be mundane and mind numbing boring.

I'm doing it, I'm trying, I'm open about some of my faults but crikey can it not just get easy?

Somewhere inbetween determination and destination is the road trip of flat lands and vastness of nothings.

The worst part of being a leader is having your own scales at home. Seriously, I have weighed myself in the morning, in the evening, before going the toilet, after going the toilet ( and I was heavier afterwards which was really weird) with clothes on, with clothes off. I swear it was like the scales is being purposefully horrible and not moving in the direction I wanted.

I have spent the last 2 weeks doing what I ask members not to do. It's like I have a daredevil streak in me that tries to push my own patience to the max and then I stretch my stomach to the max.

It's not like I'm eating lots for no reason, it's just that I got out of the habit of cooking. With getting an extension on the house and really no time, I just started snacking all of the time. Dinner was a sandwich, breakfast was toast and lunch was even worse.

So how do I get back on track. Well today I made lasagne, enough for the week. I made soup for the week, I surrounded myself with foods that are only on the plan and stopped kidding myself that I could never go back to what I was.

I said it before, I'm heavily flirting with my old life, it's like having a bad ex, every time you find yourself in a good place, they show up looking all dapper and do that thing that made you fall in love in the first place, usually right before their devil horns appear and they can make you feel trapped in bad romance (gotta love Lady GaGa).

High's are great, low's are bad but the inbetween is the real test of strenght. When I had all of the weight to lose, I had a goal, the next half stone, the new clothes. These 4 and half pound is like aiming for nothing. I need a dress and an occasion to really spur me on.

I think I will pay a family member to get married, just for the dress up.

My challenge for September is to really give the plan my all, even when I want to go on a bender. I must stop weighing myself, I'm allowing the scales to determine what I'm eating for my next meal, if I'm up, I'll eat what evers there, if I'm down, I'll keep trying.

I will find an occasion and I'm going to work towards it.

I have decided that determination is also a brief affair, staying power and persistence is the key to weight loss.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Dealz sweet Treats

2014-08-25T10:30:00.000+01:00

Feeling much more myself this week. Cravings for fizzy drinks seem to be getting much better and I'm much more positive.

Also I got my Weight Watchers weigh in and I was up 4 and a half pounds. It was such a relief to just get it out of the way.

I knew I was up but not knowing the damage exactly meant that in my head I turned it into a gremlin, I felt the pounds were multiplying by the day and it was dragging me down.

Now I know the damage, I'm not as upset, damage done and I'm taking back control of my own weight and emotions. It's very empowering to take control of your own situation.

If anyone out there has had a bad summer or too good of a summer and it's playing on your mind, stop, get back to class and look ahead. You'll feel so much better.

No wonder I'm more positive, this week I'm part of the leaders dance in the Leinster Strictly Come Dancing and I've been nominated to do the Ice Bucket Challenge in my Tuesday Weight Watchers Class on Tuesday in aid of the Laura Lyn Foundation.

On the note of Strictly Come Dancing, as much as I cannot divulge much of the leaders dance, these are part of the costume.

Yes, they are as tiny as they look on the picture, put it like this, I will need to exfoliate before getting my orange peel out on stage lol.

To top off the better week I've been having, I went into Deals on the browse the other day and I found a plethora of great food finds.

Some times I find that the best food finds, especially for sweet treats, can really pull at the purse strings.

I love the Weight Watchers Rich Toffee Bars but I do keep them just for me, but even finding family friendly sweet treats can be expensive.

Then I entereed Deals. It was great doing a shop and not being broke.

Firstly, lots of Weight Watchers Products at €1.49 including the wraps which can be hard to get.

These are just like the normal Animal Biscuits but they are proper biscuit size and their gorgeous for dipping into a cup of coffee.

The pack cost €1.50 and each biscuit is 1 Propoint and if you have 2 it will only cost you 2 propoint.

I actually did a happy dance when I Propointed these. I'm very easily excited, especially when it comes to chocolate.

The Snack size Ripple Bars each one is 2propoints. I had such a melt in the mouth moment after dipping this in coffee. Absolutely delicious. I think it was the first time I really 100% enjoyed a coffee.

These are lovely and the 6 pack cost me €1.49 making them extra sweet chili. Each pack is 2 propoints.

Now for the one product I got really excited about and I was not disappointed.

This is a pack of 4, €1.49 for the pack, each bag is 1 pp, for 2 bags it's 3 propoints. I actually had a pack of popcorn and a snack size Ripple bar and it only cost me 3 propoints.

I really did find my fav dealz at Deals.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Darn, it's just so hard

2014-08-18T23:46:00.000+01:00

This past week has been one of the hardest weeks of Weight Watchers for me ever.

Since the cycle, my energy levels have been in my boots, I mean exhausted and cold and tired and nothing seemed to help. 3 cups of coffee and I was still shattered one day and slept like a baby that night.

Ive gained 7 pounds in the last few weeks and I'm really starting to feel it in my clothes but also in my brain. You know when you start to feel disappointed in myself with my lack of restraint and really not feeling at all like myself.

I think having the kids home all summer when I had gotten used to them being in playschool has really knocked routine completely out the window.

Being a working parent is a lot harder than I had ever imagined and as much as the feminist part of me, (which is substantial) wants to earn the living and have it both, sometimes I find that it just can't gel together.

What I thought it would be!

I'm already regretting the fact the I look forward to my children going back to school so that I can fit in all of the other motherly duties and yet I don't have the time to enjoy them being off.

My reality

I'm still eating healthy, but I'm constantly hungry, it's like my stomach can just consume so much and I know that it's because between still getting work done, the kids being home and everything else, my life registering largely on a richter scale.

I'm still off the Pepsi Max and I got an email asking me how I did it and I haven't responded yet because quite frankly it's a blooming miracle that I have gotten this far.

Pepsi max was my Morning Coffee to others and once I had it, I could try to piece the day together. Old habits are killing me.

It's funny because I actually thought to myself that, after losing the weight, getting fit and healthy, breaking out of my "fat" ways and giving up drinking 4 litres of Pepsi Max a day, that if I drop dead because of a heart attack, I will go and haunt every doctor I ever heard saying to getting healthy will help you live longer.

The detox is creating a dark dirty unpredictable cloud over my life.

I had thought that it would be easy at this stage but it's so hard.

It is sending my eating into the black hole, just so I can get some energy.

The black hole being my destruction button, it's flashing, it's beeping and yet the temptation is over powering for me. It's like I want to have a fling with my old life because sometimes, being overweight was very protected and being thinner makes me feel vulnerable.

Class this week is all about finding your mojo, and here was I sitting there trying to arrange my class when all I wanted was to go find my own mojo.

Then I spoke with someone today who just said to me, Claire, your always only ever as happy as you make yourself. You will always only be a few months away from being the woman you were, but your always only a few months away from being the person you want to be.

This week Im going to work on getting my mojo back. I'm going to stop lying to myself about what I eat and I'm also going to stop comparing my body to what I think mine should look like.

As with the cycle, Im going to remind myself that after every uphill battle, there is the beautiful free flow of the downhill.

How do you all cope when life just drags you into your black hole? Does it affect your weight? Has anyone else had this affect from giving up fizzy drinks?

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

And it was all knickers fault

2014-08-12T10:37:00.000+01:00

160km achieved but it was the thoughest 160km ever.

It all started when the Lord mayor stool to make a speech to wish us all well, I knew I was going to vomit but I just couldn't hold it in and I had to run back to the field and puke.

I was vomiting out of nerves, the really got to me and I just couldn't hold it in.

See I'm afrwaid cycling, getting to flow to other bikes, speed, I'm as afraid of the downhill as I am of the uphill. So everything I had to do on the cycle.

The first day was really though, the hills nearly broke me and I'll be honest, I really needed a push.

And here's the push that got through most of the day.

So I completed 130km on Saturday, the full mileage and I was over the moon. I went and won legs 11 female of 2014, I would say that I won it because I tried so hard rather than my legs because look at the male winner.

Yep, his legs were literally at least a whole foot longer than mine, but I was delighted to have a little award and people recognised that I was trying my heart out.

The next day though, I was so sore, tired and it was raining, a big fear of mine. 6 km in and I was flagging behind, exhausted and no concentration and I was wobbling so I had to think if I was a danger to myself and to others and I really was, it was time to jump out of that stage.

My teeth chartered and my body was shaking with the cold, people on the cycle thought I was sick but I knew it was my bodies way of saying, no cycling. I think my body was in shock.

The funny thing was, I actually think that eating scrambled eggs, hash browns and toast for breakfast zapped my energy.

Now to think I ate healthily on this cycle would be a lie. I ate like a warhog. At every stop I had a sambo and chocolate biscuits or protein bars. It's weird but I really needed to eat and I needed sugar, I also had 2 gel drinks their for energy, actually pure sugar and their super stuff for bursts of energy.

I did however make it through the weekend without any fizzy drinks. No lucozade or anything.

I told the safety cyclist what I ate for breakfast and he said it was not helpful. That it just bloated me and made me tired which it did.

I got back on the bike for the last 35km and it was lovely.

I was the weakest link, absolutely no doubt about it. The others had trained and knew what gear was what and I didn't and they had stamina, which I lacked but I'm still proud of myself and my trophy.

Yesterday and today I'm not such a come down from it.

Then I heard that Robin Williams most likely died yesterday through suicide and I was deflated. The whole cycle was a suicide awareness campaign.

The man who organises the cycle does so because his son took his own life 8 years ago.

I don't know why the other cyclists were there, whether they lost someone through suicide, were they there for the challenge or whether they themselves felt at some stage that suicide was a good option, ill never know but I do hope that someone saw the cycle, while their in a dark and low place and might seek help.

On a lighter note, I will have a saddle mark on my bum forever. You see, your not suppose to wear underwear under the shorts. Huge mistake. I will never cycle again with underwear on, it burns and in mean on fire burns.

Now all I need to do is train hard for next year, and this time I will train.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Crapping Myself

2014-08-07T11:46:00.000+01:00

This is the actual face I'm pulling today knowing that I have to cycle 240km over 2 days.

What in the name of dear crap was I thinking when I signed up.

Even with s one training, my booty feels like it's on fire when cycling, my hands go numb and my legs scream for me to stop. In the up side 1 hours cycling burned 700 calories but it also burned my bum so still waiting on the silver lining.

I know it's a great cause and the funds are badly needed but taking money off people when really the chances of me completing the blooming thing are slimmer than a weightwatchers leader make me feel uncomfortable.

Speaking of uncomfortable, this is how my bum is going to look on Saturday night.

Then on another note, I'm afraid that I will go back on fizzy drinks, they say you need something to help you go the distance and some instant sugar in the system to keep you going.

If I drink it at the weekend I would have to start from scratch again.

Has anyone any idea of what I could drink to get the sugar into me without drinking Pepsi or coke?

To be honest, if I survive this, I will make myself a little blue peter badge because I really will deserve it.

I'm absolutely cacking myself and feel that if I even manage half of it, I will be doing more than I ever have before but my nerves are shot to pieces.

I'm not going to ask anyone for money. I'm asking you all to hope that I make at least half of it safely.

However, I seen this on Ireland Am yesterday and I did realise that it's about trying. I realised this through tears watching this.

This little girl lost her dad through suicide and she's only 10 and this is her take on it.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Food Finds for sweet treats

2014-08-05T09:41:00.003+01:00

Did you ever just get a mental week where you just don't have time to scratch your bum?

We're still mid building work, I have got to tell you, I love the idea of getting work done, and I love it when it's done but getting it done is not something I like. The workmen must have the biggest and dirtiest feet ever.

I dint get how the dirt gets everywhere, turning up in places in had thought it couldn't get to.

With this in mind, I'm still eating bits of food as cooking is still proving difficult and searching for weightwatchers friendly treats to have in the house to feed the workmen is the quest for this week.

If course I could buy just any treats but see I would eat them. If the goodies are there, I would definitely eat them and I'm still trying to get back on track after my holidays.

Builders appear to love their biscuits and these are great. There small but one of these will cost you 1 pp each and if you have 2 of them it will only cost you 2pp.

I got these in lidl and there very like cadburys squares. There a good size and they'll only cost you 2 pp, I have found these so handy.

They also have them in choco caramel aswell and gorgeous with a coffee (as I am now drinking the coffee)

Also in lidl, they now do sugar free jelly packets, it's only €0.49 a pack and its gorgeous.

There's 3 flavors, orange, strawberry and raspberry but a great price.

Each of these are 4pp, there not huge but its really nice to have proper chocolate.

Enjoy the niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Is this goodbye?

2014-07-30T07:07:00.002+01:00

I have long spoken about my addiction to Pepsi max, well it spans about 20 years. I love it, cool, refreshing and a good caffeine hit.

I dont drink tea or coffee, mainly Pepsi max.

My car is usually littered with empty bottles of Pepsi max and my friends would testify that I am an addict to it.

Had I have bought shares into the company with the amount of money I spent drinking it, I would be a very rich woman now, alas, I drank it.

Then 2 weeks ago, I got really sick in work, really bad pain s in my stomach and I start vomiting.

I had previously had an ulcer and I knew it was back. By that evening, I was so sick, and driving to a late night doctor, vomiting out my car door was the longest drive if my life.

It was back with a bang, and I was given a huge dose of nexium.

That day I stopped drinking fizzy drinks and today, my 2 week anniversary and I'm still Pepsi max free.

The replacement is My Wadi summer fruits or just plain water.

I even start having a cup of coffee in the mornings, just to be grown up.

I did really well, then day 8 came and I actually had a really bad headache and I wanted nothing more than a can of ice cold Pepsi max but I really pushed through and day 14 and I'm still off it.

People say you can't lose weight drinking diet drinks, well I did, in fact I survived on it, not that I would recommend it but I did do it.

I'm not ready to divulge how much of it that I used to drink, just in case I go back on it, but I am trying really hard not to.

I even survived my holiday over to Germany where they have carbonated water and any juice you can think of.

Watching myself spew Pepsi max all over the street from my car seat definitely helped but I think it was more to do with, I got sick of people saying " do you drink that much fizzy drinks" yes I do now leave me alone.

Here's hoping that this is goodbye to another of my long standing addictions, I'm still on shaky legs but I'm quite proud that in even at this stage.

Aufweder Sehn Pepsi max.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Cement, Food Finds and eating like a cave man

2014-07-19T11:40:00.001+01:00

This is pretty much how my week has been and no I was not just messing with this machine, well actually I probably was because I've been filling up skips and all other types of mess.

Great activity for earning propoints but savage hungry work.

I was so tired yesterday and hungry that I became Hangry and yes I had to apologise for whatvi said when I was Hangry, which entailed me telling my other have to put a joicer in a most unorthodox orophis.

So to say that there has been no cooking would be an understatement. We had no gas and dust burying us in our house. Freezer food and sambo's have been the saving grace.

However, feeding a family of Hangry savage men, makes it very difficult to shop.

So here have been the food finds from this week.

Only in the half pan size not in the normal pan, each slice is 2 propoints and 2 slices is 4 propoints and there considerable slices and went down very well.

Each slice is 2 Propoints or 2 slices is 3 propoints but great strong cheese, bought in Lidl so great on the pocket aswell.

Also in Lidl for the same propoints as above and great with their light salami.

A great snack Laughing Cow blue cheese dips with bread sticks, each pack is 2 propoints.

I got these in Aldi 1 propoint each and great thirst quenchers.

Me a lot happier before the Hangry episode.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

The dog ate my homework, oh no, sorry, that was me!

2014-07-05T23:25:00.002+01:00

Picture by www.deviantart.com

I know I'm 5 foot 4 but I'm very big boned for a very short person. Those doctors just don't understand me at all, I really am big boned.

I really believed I was big boned, as in I was not lying I really believed this.

Not that I am disagreeing with anybody on this one, however, are you using it as an excuse? and if you are I am still not going to argue with you!

Yes, there are a huge amount of changes happening to your body and your natural rhythm is all out of sync. Don't allow this as your tool to determine how you feel about your body as a more mature lady. Being fabulous has no boundaries, but you create the boundaries of your own beauty.

Just before I started Weight Watchers I went to my doctor as I wasn't feeling too well. I told him that I felt I might have a thyroid problem and he said "it's possible"

A lot of bloods was taken and I went home and did my research, with my PHD of Google. I was convinced that I had this and once I was diagnosed, everything would sort itself out.

I told all of my family and in my head I was quite happy in the knowledge that the root of my weight problems was down to this pesky Thyroid and then I wouldn't have to feel bad anymore about my weight, because it was not my fault.

It's a medical condition.

I waited and I waited and I waited and still no call came from my doctors about my thyroid? I couldn't understand what the problem was, why weren't my bloods back?

So I called them instead and got through to the nurse and explained about bloods and waiting for results and off she goes looking for the results. Then she responds with, "nope, all fine in that department, a clean bill of health"

I was devastated, if it wasn't that what on earth could it be, I had done the research, I definitely had it, then I got a call back from the doctor himself, allelujah, here we go, problem identified.

Nope, just letting me know that my calcium was low and my iron?

Why did I have all of this weight on me

At that time, I would have rather have a life threatening disease than take responsibility for my own weight problem. I searched for excuses beyond the

"I don't have the energy" or I'm too far gone to do anything about it".

I wanted illness, after this I then thought that maybe I was a ceoliac, that would explain the bloating, yes, the bloating of me when I weighed 19 stone 4 lb but it was the white bread that caused the problem.

Did I mention that the white bread was roughly 4 slices of batch bread or a giant Cuisine De France roll, no that didn't matter, it was white bread.

Then I realized that it was all just an excuse.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Oh Crap, I know this means a very sore bum

2014-07-03T00:23:00.000+01:00

I know that this is how my bum is going to look on the 10th of August this year.

I have decided that decisions I make lightly have a cruel karma cycle of biting me in the ass at a later date.

This is one of those cruel karma moments.

I agreed to participate in the Tomas Mulligan Memorial Cycle for Pieta House this year. I was informed of it being the shortest cycle to date.

I thought, yea, no bother, cool as cucumber because in the words of Garth Brooks "Tomorrow never comes" Dopey Dora here had the spectacular idea that I would be, in the very lose Irish term "Grand"

240 kilometres in 2 days. No, that is not a typing error, that is the distance that I need to cover, on a bicycle!

Last Sunday I decided to test cycle the racing bike that I had been given a loan of. We said that we would cycle the 12 Locks of the canal, from Crumlin out as far as Hazel Hatch just past Lucan. How hard could it be?

Not a picture for the faint hearted

I thought the pain in my bum was going to be the end of me. I thought I had been impregnated by a racing saddle, which as it turns out was a man's saddle, I later found out was the reason for it hurting so much.

I couldn't even sit afterwards. I had visions of ending up in the Coombe Women's Hospital having to get a saddle surgically removed.

Laugh and mock as you may but I tell you, it was very real pain.

I did all of this while my other half cycled the same distance with 2 children on his bike and the picnic and he laughed for the whole time.

In fact he thought it was that funny, when we arrived back home after having the bum wrenching cycle and I needed to stretch "myself" out, he just had to take a picture.

Such a delicate bottom

I then went later that day to a concert to see the Pixies in Marley Park, the plan was to drop the children home and cycle up.

Those plans were changed to the safety of driving. Sitting on the grass at that concert was impossible. I cannot express the hilarity of how I must have looked.

Using the facilities at any music concert normally comes with a health warning, but this particular occasions, I had a vision of mister Bean, the following day still being stuck in the same position in a urine filled cubicle and waiting to be air lifted to a hospital.

What on earth have I gone and done?

A challenge is very good for the mind, but this particular one may just break my spirit, and by spirit I mean my arse.

At this particular time, I am not looking for sponsorship, I am looking for tips and strategies, either how to get out of this mess, or how on earth I survive it.

I have changed the saddle to a more appropriate one.

It's called Plush for my plentiful bottom.

I have welts in my hands because I'm holding on so tight, out of fear, I have welts on my bum and a face that says

This multi tasking things is way beyond my abilities, changing gears while cycle on a road with other vehicles speeding past, laughing at me while I am screaming to my other half that I don't know which way is up gear.

Now going back to my first picture

Now you understand how relevant this picture is, if you can help please contact me.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Eating Out Food For Thought

2014-07-02T23:39:00.000+01:00

For those of us that have been chipping away at this weight loss battle thing for a while, will know that we do actually know the basics of how we can eat out and still enjoy ourselves, while making good choices, food wise. When we first start out on Weight Watchers, eating out is the first big test of if we are going to last at this.

That first restaurant experience after joining, is the make or break of our weight loss journeys.

Will we be able to do this? how do we know what is a healthy option? will we be able to resist?

Some of us will fall completely off the wagon leading to an abrupt ending to our journeys, some of us will fall off and go back to find out what the actual damage of our night out has been and then some of us will excel ourselves and do some background research on the restaurant, look up their menu prior to arriving and know what we are going to have and stick with it.

However, sometimes the best intentions don't translate into actions.

In class this week, we were talking about eating out and how more than the food being the problem, it's our behaviour. We know what we could do, but our problem being food, we use it to fill the void of our emotions and then we use it because of our emotions.

We treat our good behaviour with food, we punish our bad behaviour with food. We celebrate and commiserate with food. I have never thought to myself, well, it's my birthday this week so I will celebrate by doing a family swim?

However, there is something else that happens when we eat out. We get caught up in the emotion of over indulgence.

We walk into the restaurant and it sweeps through us from the very first bread roll that's placed in front of us and it develops a live of it's own just like a rolling stone gathers moss.

Your wondering what I'm talking about.

Read the menu below and see if this has ever happened to you, you had the tools to make smart choices, you had the intentions to make the right choices and you didn't go to the restaurant starving but yet this is how the evening meal went.

You’re Menu

Starters

A hearty bowl of" what the heck" with crusty warm rustic "I plan on enjoying this",

Washed down with a glass of "letting your hair down"

Salad

Crunchy mixed leaves, smothered in oil and buried deep under a mass of parmesan cheese, topped with "it's just a few salad leaves"

Mains

A plate of indulgence with a decadent creamy sauce of naughty with a side of fried "who cares"

Mashed potato, smooth with thick cream and lashings of pure gold stomach expander

Dessert

A large bowl of "in for a penny, in for a pound" encased in a thick layer of tomorrows guilt

Served with a bottle of our house "I’m out of control" wine

Please feel free to loosen your clothes before you eat your mains

The next day, you wake up to the fear, the hangover fear and the food fear and one of the best ways to combat these is with the FEAR FRY.

The greasy breakfast that sets you up till you can think straight and really get caught up into the guilt of the previous nights affair.

Did you ever hear the saying, "your eyes were bigger than your belly" and thought, have you seen me?

Behaviour is a huge part of our problem, it's not just food, it's our mind that we need to convince.

I say this as if I adhere to all of the Weight Watchers strategies thoroughly and I would love to say that I do, but, from experience, this is what I feel happens to me sometimes, the emotion of indulgence just knocks me off my feet.

So next time that your going out for dinner with your great intentions, keep an eye on what happens when you get to the restaurant.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Super glue instead of lip gloss

2014-06-23T22:25:00.000+01:00

Birthday maddness went to my head, I lie, it went straight to my mouth and right down to my ass and tummy, I have that blurb of a belly that expends at the thought's of over indulgence. It's so ready for it, feed me, feed me now, and I don't really get over full until I look like I'm about 6 months pregnant and I mean my tummy actually goes rock hard.

That's the week I have had. You don't believe me, well it started last Monday. My birthday, 21 plus VAT, tax is undisclosed. I ate half of a Superquin Black Forrest Gateaux. I mean not only did I eat half, I only ate the have that had all of the the chocolate sprinkle on the outer parts, if your gonna do it, do it with a bang right?

Then I ordered take out, there is a new bbq take out beside me. I got shredded pork in a large bap, sweet corn, rice, then had to try some of everyone else. Tuesday was not much better as I a made the strawberry tart and ate most of that.

After being on Filling and Healthy and then going back to Propointing, my concept of portion was and is completely distorted. There ginormous, I couldn't seem to reign it in.

Thursday I went out for dinner to an Afghanistan restaurant, it's delicious food and great value for money and real child friendly, I ate everything, I got mince meat dumplings, there were 10 large dumplings on my plate and not a trace of it was left. I needed to be rolled home.

I was then working and decided that I was going to write down everything that I ate and add it all up at the end of the day. I forgot to do this so Sunday I totted everything up.

On Saturday I ate 76 Propoints and on Sunday, I ate 101 Propoints and because I am such a rebel, I calculated all of this with a "mini" snickers bar from Aldi in my mouth.

What I ate last week is now a 4 pound gain on me for this week. Absolutely gutted with myself. Firstly, I work at this, I should know all of this, I do know all of this and yet I did it. I have been flailing off the wagon for a few weeks now.

I exercise only so that I can eat more, every training session is giving me lots of extra propoints, It's giving me a greater appetite, I'm not officially getting weighed for another few weeks. All of my excuses but I had a choice.

At every meal I have, I have a choice and yet I kept making bad choices. I actually feel rather fake being a weight watchers leader when this is my behaviour. How can I stand up in class and talk about our habits, "ours" when mine are just awful.

I am conciously over eating, which I feel is worse than mindless eating. Not even standing on the scales and seeing the gain had the impact it usually would.

Why has this happened?

With all of the food I was having, I wasn't feeling satisfied at all.

Then today happened.

I went to put some nice toast on and it was the lovely soft batch that is 2 Propoints per slice, that with my butter would have made my breakfast 6 Propoints, but I decided that today was the day that I took control of myself again. I took out the Weight Watchers Bread and toasted it.

People say to me " I don't like it" well how many of us liked alcohol the first time we had it? yet we persevered it till we liked it and so did I.

I made my veg soup, yes it's roasting out but I don't like salads and soup fills me up. I made a choice at lunch time not to have a 3 course meal. I ate my fruit and had my dinner and I'm satisfied today and yet I have only had 22 Propoints. I threw out all of my lovely little treats. Yes they are all only 2 or 3 propoints but really because the are small I was having 2 of them and thinking there only little. I had my Weight Watchers bar as my treat.

I had my head buried in the sand and as they say, an ostrich is not looking at it's ass when it's head is in the sand.

I am not an ostrich but I don't fancy being a hippo either.

I'll be honest, it's been a good day but I really feel crap. Old habits really do die hard and make me doubt that I can maintain my weight and is always there reminding me that I could easily put all of the weight back on but I started to take my own advice and realised that it's choice not chance. I don't fancy risking it all again on chance. I need to stand on the scales every week.

My plan for this week, when in doubt, super glue my lips together instead of lip gloss.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

The Cost of the Big Fat Ugly Truth of Healthy Skinny

2014-06-16T22:13:00.002+01:00

RANT ALERT

I am not usually a ranter, (unless your my other half and they might disagree) but I have been getting irritated lately and the source of my irritation is this woman. Not so much her but the nonsense that she can come out with.

Now usually I am not bothered by the likes of her because, really, they just don't bother me because I don't generally hear what there saying but I kept getting her take on obesity in my news feed on fb and it annoyed me that much that I hit the button that said I don't want to see this on my newsfeed.

Yes it got to me that much.

The, oh if you can afford to eat crap you can afford to pay for WeightWatchers yourself, in relation to the NHS footing the bill for morbidly obese people to go to Weightwatchers as it was more effective than other measures that they had tried.

Crap food is cheap. 1 pound of lard is 83c in my local supermarket. A half pound of a Proactive one is nearly 3 euro. The BOGGOF (buy one get one free) specials don't generally happen with apples or grapes of bananas. there with biscuits and cakes.

A pack of high fat minced beef is about half the price as the less than 5% fat one.

Then I started to see a post about 'FAT' people being entitled to be with hot people, even though their fat. The Beautiful Skinny Doll, fellow WeightWatchers Blogger, whom I love. It was a post about 'Fat' people and confidence and not pinching themselves if they meet a hottie rather than being with someone that is in their league according to society? It was interesting but I had to stop and think, are we that shallow as a society or do we, the obese, has been obese or even overweight people project in public what we think of ourselves.

What is the definition of a hottie, I know that I am out of the loop a little on this but I have met men of all shapes and sizes and thought, wow, utter hotties but they didn't come with a criteria.

Both Hotties

I have met a lot of women, yes they have weight on them but wow, I mean wow, they have it, I don't know what it is, curvaceous, vivacious, sexy, yes they were damn sexy and no, they were not sexy in a fat way, they were sexy, simple as.

Fat. there term, even that is bugging me, it is now thrown around as a medical term to describe a group of people that has it's own connotations, unhealthy, unsexy, lazy, food gorgers, loners, introverts or shy. I am none and all of these verbs at different times, but what does Skinny describe.

I didn't join Weight Watchers to be skinny, yes that would be a nice side affect, I thought, I went there to actually start gaining some confidence, to start feeling healthy and to learn how to take control of my life.

Yes, I went to Weight Watchers for me to learn how I could start grabbing life by the reigns so I could start steering my own course.

I wanted sexy and curvaceous, not skinny. Not that being skinny is not sexy, it can be, but not all skinny people are sexy.

Being healthy costs, money, time, commitment, self control, confidence and moderation, there not cheap, but there effective. There also sexy, because when you meet that person who has the sexy factor and yet has weight on them, they usually ooze the above.

Now back to the top pictures, Marilyn Monroe, a size 16 in the above photo, smoking hot, Katie Hopkins oozes bitterness and really a lack of insight.

Who would you rather be?

You can bet your life that Nigella works very hard to look like that when her profession is cooking all of those beautiful dishes, it's called moderation, not deprivation.

Get healthy and focus on healthy. Eating good foods, learning how your body works and keeping active.

Rant is now over.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Summer Food Finds and Propoints Heaven

2014-06-16T21:18:00.001+01:00

The sun has got it's hat on, hip hip hip hurrah. I love the sun and everybody is so much happier when the sun is shining in Ireland. I was away camping over the weekend in Hidden Valley in Wicklow and it was gorgeous.

I have been enjoying the freedom of Propoints for the last week, firstly because my portions had grown so big on the Simple Start that I actually needed to pull back and actually look at the amount of food I was consuming.

My line was that because I was training (boxing) so much that I was gaining muscle. Lets get this straight, I don't have that type of body, because my mouth doesn't close long enough to allow to muscle to set in.

To be honest, I was exercising so that I could eat more, completely undoing any good work that I was trying to achieve.

Ah well, that is the life of an utter food addict.

Secondly, I really needed to go back to a more free plan, just to suit what was happening in my life.

I love that there is 2 plans, one of full flexibility and one that needs more planning. It keeps me on my toes and reminds me not to give up, that I just need to switch programmes.

So while relearning portion control, I am loving this freedom. Yes I am eating less, but I can have little amounts of exactly what I want.

If you are planning a bbq at all this week, I found this range in Supervalu. There Irish and gluten free and delicious. Expensive but really tasty. The bbq sauce works out at 3 Tbl for 1 Propoint and goes so well with a homemade burger.

If you like your burger with a slice of cheese on it, try the Leerdammer LightLife. It's different and they are rather large slices. A slice has a propoints value of 1 Propoint for 1 slice or 3 Propoints for 2 slices.

On the breakfast front.

I have been on Simple Start since January and I had gotten very used to porridge or shredded wheat for breakfast but with doing propoints, the breakfast has been the most enjoyable change of scene for me.

In Aldi this week I found these different types of Muesli. There's Really Nutty, Exotic or Chocolate crunch. Each 30g has a propoints value of 3 and they are really worth it and there all for under 2 euro.

Not in the mood for cooking?

When people tell me that it's too hot to eat, I generally think it's like saying, I want banana, cartoons, super hero's, absolutely no sense whatsoever.

However, I do understand not wanting to cook, that is an easy one for me. That's when the takeaway thing usually happens and I never just have a handful of chips with a salad.

So here is a freezer friendly meal that is on special in Dunnes Stores for 1euro.

This whole pie works out at 9 Propoints which is great value. Now I am not usually into ready meals at all but sometimes it's great to have something propoints and pocket safe in the freezer for those, just not in the mood days.

Now go forth and enjoy the sun and lap up the difference a couple of pounds of weightloss can do for your self esteem.

Oh and btw I lost 4lb this week while enjoying everything under the sun, literally.

Just remember how it felt when you were at your heaviest, now smile because your not going back there.

Strawberry Tart, not you, the cake!

2014-06-10T12:08:00.000+01:00

Scrumptious

Looking to impress people at a BBQ or just to ensure that you have a dessert that is Weight Watchers friendly while not lacking on taste.

This is delicious and really, there is nothing low fat about it, just that added up, it's great value.

WeightWatchers Propoints per slices 3

Weight Watchers Propoints per Recipe 22

Serves 8

Ingredients

A large store bought Flan, I got this in Dunnes Stores

1 pack of Greens Quick setting Gel

1 Tbl of Sugar

1 punnet of chopped up strawberries

Directions

Place the chopped Straberries on top of the flan. In a small saucepan, add the jelly powder, 1 Tbl of sugar and the amount of cold water on the instructions.

Follow the pack instructions and then spoon over the flan.

Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour and that's it. Beautiful dessert ready in no time.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Fruity Tooty Kebobs

2014-06-10T11:59:00.002+01:00

Getting the bbq fired up or at least living in hope that we will have a weekend when we can.

BBq is actually a really healthy way of cooking and I love it. It just means summer and the fact the my other half is German, I don't do the cooking for it, so it does be a very happy day in the Niptuck house, except the Ice Cream part.

Everyone loves an Ice cream but I generally overdo and that's one slippery slope for me. So, now it is divided up. Other half does the cooking but I take care of the dessert.

Now, this only works with Weight Watchers Rich Toffee bars. It's the fact that they don't melt so quick so at least you get a little charring on them.

WeightWatchers Propoints per serving 1

1 Bar serves 2.

Ingredients

1 Rich Toffee Bar

Fruit of choice, but large bulky pieces are great because it keeps the bar directly away from the metal so that it doesn't stick.

Directions

Soak the skewers in warm water before adding the fruit.

Break the bar into 4 with a knife. Inbetween the fruit place 2 pieces of bar onto each skewer.

On a hot BBQ, ensuring that there is bulky fruit either side of the bar, place the skewers on the BBQ and grill for around 6 minutes. Fruit will be warm and juicy and the bar gooey.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

The good fart, the bad fart and the fart that never was a fart

2014-06-07T22:30:00.000+01:00

Not the best topic, but lets face it, a change in diet can sometimes cause a change in wind and it's something that is said more than what you think.

In fact, it's that prevalent, Kelloggs are campaigning about saving our stomachs, you heard me, apparently people take days off work because of wind and poop issues and I don't mean a bug, I mean windy weather that causes embarrassment.

I have to let you all in on a little secret of mine. Before I get weighed, I have a process that I have to do, otherwise I start to doubt how my week was. Firstly, I go to the toilet directly before I get on that queue, this is essential, even if I just went 10 minutes before that, I have to make sure that there is no heavy wee. Then I have a light pair of flip flops, you know the one's that are in hotels to welcome you and there like paper, well then. Then, directly before it's my turn, I will try to remove as much clothing as legally possible and weather permitting.

I have done this process for 2 years. Then, one day I stood on the scales knowing that I had been angelic for the week but I was up half a pound. Gutted, it was tangible. My leader jumped in real quick and said that it's possibly wind. Well it took the wind out of my sails I can tell you.

I sat on the chair in my class and wondered, how, on this earth could a fart weigh at least 1/2 a freaking pound.

This had to be false and since then I thought it was just an off week. However, then the Simple Start came in and I heard from so many people about their windy week's after starting the plan. Members were laughing but at the same time, apparently could not stop farting.

MY DIGESTIVEHEALTH

It’s a little known fact that a healthy and efficient digestion can help you feel good each day.

That goes for your mind as well as your tummy. By including more natural wheat bran fibre in your diet, your whole body will thank you by saying goodbye to sluggishness and hello to a bran-new you.

Now we have all had the normal fart, the fart that you do and move away from yourself and blame the cat on and then there are the farts that should only happen if your in the appropriate facilities at the time.

Like Christmas, you eat too much and then you learn what magic Santa uses to go back up the chimney.

Your not alone, apparently, women especially (I don't believe that at all) summer with Tummy Turmoil because of a lack of fibre.

So the secret is out, women fart, have bloating and dicky tummies, let's rejoice in it and get this stuff moving.

Kelloggs are running a 5 day challenge and it's about increasing your fiber intake to help things run along smoothly if you get my drift.

The very basis of the Simple Start Plan is the fiber content, so apparently, the poop issue is actually a healthy sign that your system is doing exactly what it is suppose to.

However, if your Propointing and you get that bloated feel, you know the one where you look like your about 5 months pregnant and can't seem to fart yourself back to normal, well that's what this is trying to combat.

So, if you feel that your farting around on the Propoints plan, why don't you challenge yourself to 5 days to feel All Bran new.

www.allbran.ie

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

The knicker and bra issue continued

2014-05-23T00:48:00.002+01:00

I blogged a post recently about my experience of sports underwear and what happens when they stop working in the middle of the work out, I entered the danger zone, as in I became a danger to myself.

Imagine I had ended up in hospital because I boxed myself in the face with a stray breast, these things could actually happen to me.

Well I found something that really works and it cost me E15.00 in Dunnes Stores.

It's underwired within an inch of it's life. Nothing is getting out of this.

Really, it's supportive enough for Dolly Parton. It goes up to a size 38DD and it is the best.

I think that it is the under wire that makes all of the difference, but I mean I did burpees, boxed and jumping jacks and nothing wobbled, on top at least.

Now for the bottom half, I have an unusual tactic that has helped. I think that I am one of those people who just has a wobbly bum and it will always be that way.

I found that the women's underwear, I either had to wear it tight and then everyone knew that my underwear was to tight and I felt that I was going to need to have a c section to remove the underwear, all of the others just continued with the wobble.

Now without going into detail about how I found this out but here's what helped. Call me mad if you will

E6.00 in Dunnes, I know the last of the big spenders, but there was no underwear going into places that they shouldn't and I felt really comfortable and supported in them.

Now as my mother would say, if I was in an accident and they removed my clothes, I would possible be a very odd victim, but these work.

"Dolly Parton once said that she was one of the first to burn her Bra's, it took the fire department 3 days to put the fire out"

Now that's the support that I'm looking for!

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Food Finds and Summer Day Trips

2014-05-23T00:32:00.001+01:00

The summer season is starting and for some of us that will mean more outings and day trips.

Being a Weight Watcher can be difficult when routine gets thrown a little and trying to decide what to eat when your out can leave us falling back into our bad habits.

Firstly, I have been hearing a lot that summer is too difficult to be a Weight Watchers and it's easier to start back after the summer.

In my experience, it's a bit like when you fall off your bike as a child, the quicker you get back on it, the easier it is.

Packing a punch with your lunch

I got these in Lidl and they were lovely, there not Filling and Healthy, there 3 Propoints and just over a euro so well worth the buy.

The Sweet Treat

1 Propoint for 1 or 3 propoints for 2, but there huge and lovely. I can only get these in my local Tesco.

I got these in Supervalu, 1 for 1 Propoint and 2 for 3 Propoints and they are delicious

Ice Cream

5 Propoints worth of heaven, if your a Snickers lover, it's so worth it

1 Propoint each

If your looking for your Fish and Chips at the beach

13 Propoints, that's so good you could have your ice cream afterwards aswel

With this being Ireland, expect the unexpected, if events turn for the worst and you end up eating out somewhere, try the soup if your trying to stay on track.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Crumpet Snickers

2014-05-16T22:00:00.000+01:00

Addictive!

This is the heartiest dessert I have had and if you like peanut butter you are going to love this.

Again I found this off a Facebook page and I didn't really fancy spending 6 Propoints on it or 3 if I am having a Filling and Healthy day.

That was until I found this,

I went a body building store in Terenure, I was walking past and said I would have a nosy and I came out with these. They are E10.00 each which is pricey but here is why.

These are powdered peanut butters, one plain, the other chocolate peanut butter. You take 2 Tablespoons and mix with 2 Tbl of water and you get roughly 3 Tablespoons worth of chocolate peanut butter for 1 Propoint.

That's why they are worth it. I have tried other calorie free, infact it was everything free and I paid a fiver for a much smaller jar and it tastes like poop, with a weird gelling agent. Seriously, it even smells weird and not at all like peanut butter.

There are no weird ingredient's, it's a type of dehydration process that they use.

Now I have only thought that this could be got on the internet, shipped from America, but there it was in Discount Supplements but you can also go onto the website and they deliver.

Seriously, if your a peanut butter fan, this is definitely worth a tenner.

So to make the Snickers Crumpet

WeightWatchers Propoints per serving 4

Ingredients

1 toasted crumpet
2 Tbl PB2 Chocolate made with water

Directions

Spread on toasted crumpet, add a drizzle of Sweet Freedom honey, if you like it more on the sweet side.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!

Crumpet Quiche

2014-05-16T21:30:00.000+01:00

Crumpet Quiche?

I seen this on a facebook page and I thought that I might give it a go and see what it's like. It's actually really worth trying because it's very nice.

My problem is that Quiche alone never fills me and I'm never quite sure what I should have with it, from pre Weight Watchers day's it would have been chips and since then a salad just doesn't cut it for me, not for my dinner anyway.

So when I seen this I thought I would try it for my lunch and see what happens, plus I had a few crumpets that needed to be eaten because with it being quite warm, I find that they are not lasting that long.

This was actually so easy to make but on the original recipe it said that cooking time would be 25 minutes but in my oven which is a gas oven, it took nearly an hour so just keep check on it.

WeightWatchers Filling and Healthy

WeightWatchers Simple Start

WeightWatchers Propoints per recipe 6

WeightWatchers Propoints per serving 24

Ingredients

4 McCloskey Crumpets halves

4 Eggs

100mls of Total 0% Greek Yogurt

6 Bacon medallions sliced thinkly

4 scallions thinly sliced

1 tomato chopped finely

Salt and Pepper to taste

Spray Oil

Directions

Using a pyrex dish, mist with spray oil, ensuring that you get the sides of the dish aswel. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5.

Taking 2 crumpets, with them halved making 4 rounds and place at the bottom of the dish and line the remaining around the sides of the dish. Cut to fit the dish.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, add the yogurt and mix. Add the remaining ingredients, season and combine.

Pour into the dish. Place in oven and cook for at least 45 minutes.

Allow the quiche to sit for roughly 10 minutes when you remove it from the oven, slice into 4 and serve.

Enjoy the Niptuck way, so you don't have to!