A new guitar!

...in which a new musical instrument has been "accidentally" purchased.

Today it was the first day of the Oswestry food festival, which I thought would be a hotbed of temptation to go well beyond my normal syns allowance. I had therefore avoided syns all week, but when I came to it I found that it was quite possible to eat lots of yummy stuff without going beyond my syns allowance:

Chicken tikka with salad and pilau rice (1.5 syns for the rice; tikka/salad should be free as it's just grilled chicken with spices, but the Slimming World app only has Tikka Masala which is not the same and not as low-syn as it has sauce)

Venison burger (grilled) with fried onions on a wholemeal roll (2 syns for fried onions, wholemeal roll as healthy b)

Ice-cream cone (2 scoops of rum & raisin, 14 syns, plus cone, 2 syns)

50g fudge (11 syns)

So, that's errr....(clicking of calculator keys despite the maths degree)....30.5 syns

And then tonight I had 750 ml of red wine (27 syns) so that's 57.5 syns, which is considerably less than I had last week at the stag night. Oh, and about 8 syns' worth of rosé last night, so that's a grand total of 65.5 syns. But I'll probably "have to" drink another glass because A. never drinks a full bottle, so call that a 250 ml of rose and that's 74.5 syns. Which I can live with.

At some point today I decided that I needed a new electro-acoustic guitar (although actually I decided this several months ago). I went to the local music shop and they happened to have a rather nice electro-acoustic in, which was reduced from £170 to £110 because it had been dropped at some point and there was a bit of a crack in the lacquer. 

I tried it out and it sounded fine, and was certainly a lot easier to play than my current guitar (which is OK, but very difficult to play barre chords on due to a high action - if you don't know about guitars, the action is how high the strings are above the 12th fret. If the action is high then it's harder to fret the strings; the one I had was fine for open chords but difficult to play barre chords (where you fret several strings at once with the same finger)).

I may post a video of me trying the new guitar out tomorrow, although that might be the wine talking.

The wine has probably got to me so I shall just list what I've eaten today now...

Saturday 12th July

Healthy A: Milk

Breakfast

Fruit (nectarine, apple, satsuma).

Lunch

Err...yeah. Chicken tikka with pilau rice and salad, venison burger with fried onions on a wholemeal roll (see above for presumed syn values).

Dinner

Diet cola chicken

Snacks/Drinks

Fruit, yoghurt, coffee, ice cream, fudge (see above for syns)

Exercise

30 minutes brisk walk.

Houston, we have a problem.

...in which an issue is encountered.

While out running last night my knee decided to sort of stop working. I'm not sure why, as all I'd done was stop to change the tune on the MP3 player as I didn't want to listen to whatever had shuffled itself on, but when I started running again my knee made it clear in no uncertain terms that it was not going to co-operate in this endeavour any more. It had been fine up until then, so I'm really not sure why it suddenly decided it wasn't going to work any more.

I had to walk/limp the last 1.6 miles or so home (this happened at about 5 miles in and I was aiming for 6.6 miles - I didn't take my mobile with me but I'd have called A to come and get me if I had). I found this a bit frustrating because the rest of my body was perfectly happy to keep going and I'm fairly sure I could easily run 8 miles or so if it wasn't for that knee, but there's not much I can do about it.

Since running is currently the main form of exercise I do this is a bit of a problem; it feels a bit better today but I know better than to run on it for a few days, so I'm going to stick to the exercise bike and see how that goes - on the plus side the 75 minutes I did running/walking/hobbling means that I only need to do about 15 minutes each day for the rest of the week to fill up my fit log (this is a Slimming World thing - I'm currently going for my Gold Award, which means doing 150 minutes of exercise a week over 5 days for 8 weeks).

Today I made what my Very Significant Other (VSO) described as "the nicest beef stew I've ever tasted" so I thought I'd record it for posterity here, since it was totally made up on the spot (done in the slow cooker)

4 -500g extra lean casserole beef, cut into bite size chunks
1 onion, finely chopped
3 - 4 small tomatoes, quartered (cherry would do - I used Vine Ripened tomatoes from Sainsbury's),
5 carrots, peeled & chopped into bite sized chunks
1 swede, peeled & chopped into bite sized chunks
1 500g carton passata
600 ml beef stock
2 cloves garlic, crushed
~2 Tbsp Paprika (I just sprinkled it in out of the jar so quantity may not be exact)!
1 1/2 tsp sweetener
Low calorie cooking spray

(Preheat the slow cooker if required - ours has an "auto" setting that it has to be left on for 20 minutes before cooking but I've no idea if that's a normal feature)

Spray a frying pan or wok with the low calorie cooking spray and heat over a medium heat; add the beef, garlic and onions and fry for 5 - 10 minutes, until the beef is browned

Put the swede and carrots into the slow cooker and add the stock. Transfer the beef, onions and garlic into the slow cooker and sprinkle the paprika and sweetener over the mixture; stir well to mix, then add the passata and tomatoes and stir again.

Leave the mixture in the slow cooker for 4 hours on high, then turn down to low for 30 minutes or so.

Serve with boiled potatoes and superfree veg (I used fine beans and broccoli).

Friday 11th July

Healthy A: Milk

Breakfast

Fruit (nectarine, apple, satsuma)

Lunch

Bacon and tomato on a wholemeal roll (healthy b)

Dinner

Beef stew with potatoes, fine green beans and broccoli

Snacks/Drinks

Yoghurts, fruit, lean meat, more fruit, coffee, a bit more fruit and some fruit (having a hungry day)!

Exercise

15 minute exercise bike (I hope...about to go and try the leg now).
Update - 30 minutes done on exercise bike and the knee actually feels better than when I started, so I'll do the exercise bike thing tomorrow as well and then maybe do a short 2 mile run on Sunday...

Thursday Food

...in which I've already said most of what I have to say!

I did a long blog post earlier (here) and I don't have the inspiration or time for another one (I have mowed the lawn though) so here's today's food (I'm having another "eat ALL THE THINGS" sort of day).

All caught up for the week now....normal service may resume tomorrow if you're lucky.

Thursday 10th July

Healthy A: Milk

Breakfast

Fruit (peach, apple, orange)

Lunch

Pasta with bacon & veg stir-fry and crushed chillies

Dinner

Chilli (made with Quorn)

Snacks/Drinks

Fruit, yoghurt, bacon on a slice of wholemeal bread (healthy b) with tomatoes, blackcurrant ice lolly (3 syns).

Exercise

30 minute run (may be longer, we'll see how I feel later).
This turned into a 75 minute run, but I had to walk most of the last 2 miles due to a dodgy knee. No running will be happening for a couple of days at least :(.

Of Karting and Curries

...in which the stag do is discussed

Right, I've been meaning to get around to writing this since Sunday but life kept getting in the way. I have therefore neatly moved life aside and will mow the lawn later, honest.

As you'll know if you've been following the blog, Saturday just gone was Saira's VSO's (henceforth referred to as G) stag party, which I was invited to and attended with much enthusiasm. We first went to glan y gors karting track, where we drove small go-karts at what felt like very high speed around a big track. I thought the hair-nets and overalls we had to wear were particularly attractive. Unfortunately G's brother had neglected to mention that it was a stag do when booking it or G would have been wearing neon pink overalls.

I am not (normally) hugely competitive, but once you're in those karts and racing there's a certain impulse that kicks in. If there's somebody in front of you then you really, really want to overtake them and if there's somebody behind you then you really don't want to let them. This may or may not have led to a "oops my kart's on the grass" incident...but generally I think I held my own, given that I'd never been karting before and most of the others had. I didn't come first, but I wasn't last and I had a great time, and shall definitely go again if I get the chance.

There are, however, certain disadvantages to sitting in what is effectively a plastic bucket travelling at anywhere up to 80mph, especially when you're high on adrenaline. During the racing you don't really notice the way you're being thrown around in the seat (although you certainly do notice the strain in your arms from turning the kart); the turning circle on those things is insanely small and you do tend to start throwing them into corners with complete abandon once you get the feel for them. 

You do, however, notice the bruises and bumps the following day....although to be fair some of those might have been self-inflicted during the drunken shenanigans that followed.

After the karting we headed back home in the minibus, via Llangollen and a couple of pubs (allegedly to watch the Belgium match but very little football watching actually happened). After that my memories of the day are somewhat hazy. That may have something to do with the Guinness and the wine that followed, but I do vaguely remember leaving the remainder of our jolly band at around 11:30pm to go and get a curry, because that's always been the traditional end to a night out for me.

I'm quite impressed that at that point I could remember that a chicken vindaloo is 6.5 syns and that therefore I should go for that, although having walked/staggered (delete whichever is least appropriate) home with it I apparently forgot that the accompanying complimentary poppadom was 4 syns by itself. Apparently I was singing along very loudly to my wife's MP4 player and attempting to eat with my fingers...

Anyway, moving swiftly on...I worked out that I'd had around 78.5 syns for the entire day, but since I'd saved my syns all week that was fine (yes, I know you're not meant to do it, but it works for me). I still lost half a pound, and am now 3.5 pounds to target.

I'm planning a very low syn this week as it's the last week that I've paid for and once I hit target membership is free (as long as I stay within 3lbs of target), although it's likely that I will lower my target by at least half a stone once I'm there...and it's the Oswestry food festival this weekend, where it is traditional that I take my daughter and eat a lot of stuff, so that may get in the way.

Wow, that was a long one (as the actress said to the bishop). Yesterday's food (I'll do a short post later with today's now that I'm caught up):

Wednesday 9th July

Healthy A: Milk

Breakfast

Fruit (peach, apple, orange)

Lunch

Bacon pasta salad (bacon fried with mushrooms, red onion, tomatoes and spring onions and added to cold pasta with some crushed chillies)

Dinner

Gammon with Jacket wedges, sweetcorn and broccoli.

Snacks/Drinks

Coffee/fruit/yoghurt

Exercise

Rest day.

Busy busy busy

....in which life is not playing ball

Since I run my own company occasionally things get a bit manic. This is one such time, so here's a quick update with the last few days' food - I will try to do a longer post later, but more work beckons (because apparently we need money to buy stuff).

Oh yes, I lost half a pound this week despite the stag do shenanigans - 3.5 pounds to target!

Sunday 6th July

Healthy A: Milk.

Breakfast

Fruit (peach, apple, satsuma), fat-free yoghurt

Lunch

Roast pork (fat removed) with boiled potatoes, carrots, broccoli, roast potatoes & sweetcorn. 1.5 syns for gravy.

Dinner

More fruit...wasn't very hungry!

Snacks/Drinks

Coffee, fruit, yoghurt

Exercise

Rest day (largely because of various bumps and bruises that were either a result of karting or drunkenness - not sure which!

Monday 7th July

Healthy A: Milk.

Breakfast

Fruit (apple, peach, satsuma), fat-free yoghurt

Lunch

Ham & Mushroom omelette with spicy wedges & baked beans

Dinner

Paprika Pork

Snacks/Drinks

Coffee, fruit, yoghurt

Exercise

30 minute run (approx 3 miles)

Tuesday 8th July

Healthy A: Milk.

Breakfast

Fruit (apple, pear, satsuma), fat free yoghurt

Lunch

Piri-piri jacket wedges with runner beans and fish.

Dinner

Diet Coke chicken (never tried this before)!

Snacks/Drinks

Coffee, fruit, yoghurt, marmite on a slice of wholemeal bread (healthy b)

Exercise

Another rest day because ow my side and my arms and I think I might have a bruised coccyx....
(Okay, I ended up running 3.63 miles despite all that. Somehow I now consider this to be a medium length run...)

Stag Do Food and Drink

...in which Saturday's food diary is presented

I'll talk about the karting (which was excellent fun) and general shenanigans more in a later post. Here's what I had on Saturday though:

Breakfast

Fruit (can't remember exactly what, I've slept twice since then), yoghurt

Lunch

Plain burger in a white bread roll - 7.5 syns for the bread roll, 3.5 for the burger (I think it was grilled); I'm assuming that the meat wasn't extra lean, but it's possible that it was.

Dinner

2 Fish from fish & chip shop with batter removed (free - yes, I remembered to remove the batter even after 3 pints of guinness).
And then later on the way home I got a chicken vindaloo (6.5 syns) with boiled rice. I don't remember eating a poppadom, but judging by the mess on the table yesterday morning one of those ended up in my tummy too (4 syns)

Snacks/Drinks

Coffee (espresso, so free)
6 pints Guinness Extra Cold (6.5 syns each = 39 syns)
500ml red wine (my head was a bit fuzzy by then so measurements may not be accurate) 18 syns

Exercise

30 minute run (in the morning)
15 minute walk (home from town....may have meandered a bit....)

Total syns for the day:78.5. Which is actually kind of disappointingly low when I saved all my syns up for the week for it!