speed food

Extra Easy SP

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Please note: This post has been edited to reflect the changes Slimming World has announced this week.

Picture this, a weekend spent going over your syns limit, some may be worth the extra syns, others not so much. Then you remember weigh day is looming so you’re in need of a quick fix, hands up who turns to Extra Easy SP for a miracle maintain or even a loss that week?

Well, let me tell you that this isn’t why this plan was designed! Extra Easy SP is not a quick fix to undo damage you have done, you might get lucky and maintain or even lose that week but realistically many of us do not. As a consultant I had a few disappointed members who after an over indulgent weekend or mid week event followed by the Extra Easy SP for a few days didn’t get the results they’d hoped for.

I can assure you that when followed 100% without tweaking the plan and definitely not after going over your maximum syns over a day or more, it will give you the results you want. The plan is designed to re-boot your motivation if you’re struggling a bit, it is perfect for those getting closer to target and are looking to shift those last few pesky lbs or for those that may have a special occasion looming and are in need of a weight loss boost.

If you are thinking of giving Extra Easy SP a go please bear in mind that this isn’t a plan suitable for everyone. It is recommended that if you are mum-to-be, breastfeeding mum, 16-17 year old member, Free2Go young member, or have diabetes or kidney problems, you are expected to continue to follow Extra Easy every day or Free2Go if applicable. Extra Easy SP is not suitable for you to follow.

If you’re a standard member and none of the above applies to you, then it is recommended that you follow Extra Easy SP for a week first. If you love the results you’re achieving, you can either:

  • continue Extra Easy SP days, building in some standard Extra Easy days to ensure you’re getting a well balanced diet

or

  • add another Healthy Extra ‘A’ choice each day to ensure you’re getting plenty of calcium. If you prefer not to add an extra Healthy Extra ‘A’ choice, you can have one regular size pot of yogurt instead

So how does Extra Easy SP work? It’s simple! Before I explain  I just want to point out that as a consultant I would only have recommended this plan for those members that had grasped Extra Easy fully, if you’re not familiar with the basics of the plan then you may find this one a bit too restrictive. You can read more about the basics here. If you are familiar with Extra Easy then this will be easy to understand.

When choosing to follow Extra Easy SP, you will be ensuring that all your food choices contain an S (speed) and P (protein) symbol only. You will need to look into your food optimising book and familiarise yourself with your fave S and P foods. Planning will also be key to ensure you get the results you want.

Omelette filled with cherry tomatoes, beans, spring onions & mushrooms

Omelette filled with cherry tomatoes, beans, spring onions & mushrooms

Step 1 – Free Foods (S and P Foods)

Speed foods are very low in energy density which means they have very few calories for their weight. You will need to fill at least half of your plate with Speed Free Foods. The more Speed foods you choose, the better the weight loss as you’ll be eating less calories! Look out for the Speed Free Foods in your food optimising book with the S symbol next to them on the fruit and veg pages.

Protein rich foods will satisfy your appetite and keep you feeling fuller for longer. The choices for P symbol foods include fish, lean meat and poultry, eggs, pulses and meat replacements. Look carefully over the pages 14-19 for those foods that contain the P symbol and aim to have half of your plate with these foods.

On top of all the S and P foods you can eat, you can also use all the store cupboard staples listed on page 21 of the book freely and enjoy the drinks listed on page 23.

Step 2 – Healthy Extras

You can choose:

  • two Healthy Extra ‘A’ choice

and

  • one Healthy Extra ‘B’ choices

To power up your weight loss even more, look out for Speed Healthy Extra choices with an ‘S’ symbol

Step 3 – Syns

Enjoy 5-10 syns as usual. These should not be used for foods that you’d have on Extra Easy. For example Pasta! We all know that plain, dried pasta is a free food but you can get varieties that contain syns (Pasta & Sauce packets or Mug Shots etc). Please don’t use your syns on those! When following Extra Easy SP 100% your food should contain S and P symbols only and your syns should not contain any other free food element. Hope this makes sense!

And that is all there is to the plan! You can get a food diary designed to help you when following Extra Easy SP from your consultant. I find the food diary is an essential tool as it will help you understand your eating pattern.

You can also get a 7 day Extra Easy SP menu from the Slimming World website to give you some ideas or use the recipe books and magazines available in group to find your own fave recipes that you can enjoy when following this plan.

 

 

Chicken Fajitas

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This is perfect if you have a fussy family like mine. My girls love this recipe as they get to add whatever they want in their wraps and always have fun trying to stuff it with as many fillings as they can! I use a Weight Watchers wrap for myself which is a healthy extra B choice or 5.5 syns each and use cheese as part of my healthy extra A choice. If you want to save syns, you can use iceberg lettuce leaves instead of wraps. I tend not to use sauces like ketchup or mayo, but if you do use them, remember to syn them accordingly.

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 30-45 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Chicken Fajitas

Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients

  • 3 chicken breasts, cut into strips
  • 2 red onions, finely sliced
  • 1 green, 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and finely sliced
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • Juice of 1 lime

Method

Spray a large wok with a free spray oil and place over a medium heat. Add the chicken and stir fry for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is mostly cooked.

Add the peppers and all the spices to coat the chicken spices and cook until the chicken is fully cooked.

Serve on a wrap with salad and cheese.

 

Ways to eat more Speed Foods

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Free Foods are naturally low in calories, bulky and filling. Speed Free Foods are even lower in calories so they’re the very best foods to eat when you want to lose weight. So if you swap one third or more of the slimming Free Food on your plate for super-slimming Speed Free Food, you’re naturally reducing the calories – without weighing, measuring, counting or going hungry.

You can find the fruit and vegetable lists that are just bursting with Speed Free Foods in your Food Optimising book – just look for the ‘S’ symbol. If you haven’t got your book handy, in the Weight Loss Planner section of the Slimming World website you’ll find drop down lists of all the basic Free Foods. Speed Free Foods are all marked with an ‘S’.

If you are a Slimming World group member you must have heard at least once in your group ‘The more speed you have, the more weight you’ll lose’!!! And that is correct, but it does not mean filling up on Speed Foods after a meal full of syns hoping it will counteract the calories consumed! What Slimming World mean by ‘The more speed you have, the more weight you’ll lose’ is replacing Free Foods and Syns on your plate with Speed Food, not adding extra calories if you do not need them.

Below are just some of the ways that helps me and my members get our Speed Free Food in our day. Please do share how you get more Speed Foods in your day!

  1. Fill at least 1/3 of a plate, add more if you like! I always find filling my plate up with Speed Free Food first helps me get this right
  2. Reach for them first as a snack between meals – whether it be a Satsuma, an apple, carrot batons or cucumber sticks, whatever you enjoy the most, reach for that Speed Food first
  3. Enjoy them for desserts – you can make a delicious Speed Food fruit salad with all your favourite fruit
  4. Whizz them into a soup, great for lunch or as a warming snack – soups are a great way of getting more Speed vegetables into your day
  5. Cram them into your Free main meals – this is ideal especially if you don’t enjoy bulky veggies or have fussy eating children and partner like mine!
  6. Sizzle them in a stir-fry – drizzle some soy sauce and oyster sauce for flavour
  7. Load them into a quiche, frittata or omelette – I love adding veg like onions, mushrooms and peppers into these
  8. Enjoy them as an alternative to pasta, rice and noodles – if you haven’t tried cauliflower rice yet, you must! There are so many other veg that can replace pasta too like courgetti or butternut squash lasagne sheets!
  9. Get creative with your cooked breakfast – how about using asparagus or spinach into your cooked breakfast for a change!
Lasagne with butternut squash sheets

Lasagne with butternut squash sheets

Cauliflower Cheese Patties

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I had a tub of cauliflower rice that needed using up and normally I only ever make pizza (see full recipe here) with it but thought I would try something else to have with the chicken we were having.

I used pretty much similar ingredients to cauliflower pizza but made patties out of them. I didn’t measure anything out, just added everything randomly! This is what I used:

  • Tub of cauliflower rice with parsley
  • Garlic granules
  • Chilli flakes
  • Salt & pepper
  • 1 egg
  • 20g light cheddar cheese (half healthy extra A choice)

I dry fried the cauliflower rice in a large frying with the spices for about 5 minutes. Once done, I removed it from the heat and transferred to a mixing bowl and let it cool. I left it for about an hour as I had gone out! Once back home I added the egg and cheese and mixed it altogether. In the frying pan I sprayed lots of fry light and added a couple of spoonfuls of the mixture making a round shape. I used a ring on top of the frying pan so I could get a perfect round shape. I cooked the patties for about 5 minutes on each side. And that was it!

This is what I had it with!

Cauliflower Patties with Piri Piri Chicken & Salad

Cauliflower Patties with Piri Piri Chicken & Salad

Asda Shopping Haul

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I don’t tend to stick to one supermarket when shopping but one of my favourite has to be Asda. I am more likely to pick up what I use most in an Asda rather than any other supermarket, so it is always my first choice followed by Aldi then Tesco!

I went to Asda this morning to pick up my essentials and this is what it looks like!

Asda Shopping Haul

Asda Shopping Haul

My favourite fruit includes raspberries, banana and pear. I am obsessed with clementines at the moment though, I’ve lost count on how many I have in a day! I picked up a melon and some strawberries and apples to vary my fruit a bit.

We eat a lot of pasta in our house. We go through a lot in a week and I tend to buy a big bag. We never run out of pasta in our house!

Passata is an absolutely essential store cupboard item for us slimmers. I use it to make pasta sauces and curries.

Eggs is another food item that I buy often! I usually make 5 or 6 boiled eggs in the morning so I can snack on them whenever I am hungry throughout the day. That amount usually lasts me a couple of days unless my youngest daughter and hubby decide to have some too! I’ve seen Asda and other supermarkets sell a couple of boiled eggs with some spinach leaves for £1 or so, I wouldn’t pay that much for it. You can get a box of 6 free range eggs for less than £1 and make your own in minutes!

I always buy packet salads for convenience as I am the only one that eats them at home and add cherry tomatoes, jalapeños and any other pickles I have in my fridge to it.

I bought leeks and celery today as I intend on making a soup with it in the next couple of days, or I might make a Homity Pie with the leeks! I am not too sure yet.

Kia Ora is our family favourite sugar free cordial, we don’t like any other brand.

It is the first time I bought best of both milk, it was on offer for £1 instead of £1.50 so why not? You can have 300ml as a healthy extra A choice. It is supposed to taste like semi skimmed milk but has a lot less fat in it. I also bought the Low Low cheese for the first time. Not sure if it a healthy extra choice but it is handy for my girls to sprinkle on their pasta!

I bought the teas for my members at groups. I am not a fan of tea, I prefer coffee. I like to offer my members a variety of drinks to choose from to enjoy in group.

We love baked beans in our house and it has to be Branston. I only buy Heinz baked beans if it’s the chilli ones.

Lastly on my shopping is the halal turkey slices. Perfect protein rich snack to enjoy anytime or as part of a meal.

What are your essentials? Comment below with your favourite items x

Top Tips to help you stay on track

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Losing weight can be challenging for many of us, we all have our own daily trials to overcome as well as trying our very best to eat well too. Luckily with Slimming World you can eat generous amount of food! For many slimmers who have not yet found a Slimming World group, they may be out there still struggling with and battling their weight loss demons. If you think you’ve tried EVERYTHING and Slimming World is just another ‘diet’ you’d be so wrong. If you want to maintain a weight loss forever then understand this; Slimming World is a lifestyle change, not a ‘diet’.

I hate that word – DIET. To me it sounds like I have to give up eating real food, be confined to no social life and be miserable for the sake of losing a few lbs that might give me temporary happiness until all the weight lost (and usually more on top of that) piles back on again. It’s like a vicious circle, a yo-yo of ups and downs.

I am so glad I found Slimming World when I did. If I can lose weight, so can you. Trust me!

I’ve compiled some top tips I have picked up along the way from my own experience and I have added some from my members as well in hope this can help you too. The best way to get the support to your weight loss journey will be by going along to a SW group, and not just weighing and going! You can do that at home yourself! You’re not paying just to get weighed at a group, you’re paying for the support and help from a room full of people who are on the same mission as you – to lose weight. I hope you find the tips below useful, if you have any of your own you would like to share or add to this list, please comment below.

1 Batch cook, then you always have a Free or low-Syn meal to hand!

Be organised. Make Monday’s lunch on Sunday night and freeze home-made soups/spag bol/chilli/curries for when you need something filling but don’t have time to cook from scratch.

2 Measure your Healthy Extras – ALWAYS!

It is so easy to guesstimate the amount of cereal you have or the milk you put in your tea/coffee. Just 50ml (that is two dashes) extra in your tea or coffee every day could add 10.5 syns per week! An extra 25g of porridge oats can add an extra 31.5 syns per week!

3 Plan for your ‘danger’ time of day and find something Free or low-Syn that will satisfy your craving

Mine is once I’ve got the kids to bed and I have some time in the evening to chill out. I like to save my syns for then so that I can enjoy them without being disrupted! A little of what you fancy is fine so you do not feel deprived and binge – that is what Syns are for!

4 Include at least 1/3 Speed foods to every meal

Speed foods are absolutely vital for your slimming success. The more speed foods you have, the better your weight losses on the scales. Slimming World do recommend us to have at least 1/3 speed foods with every meal, if you can have more, even better! Sometimes it might not make any sense to add any speed foods to a certain meal, for example a free food soup. You don’t have to eat some speed food to make up for it, unless you are hungry! There is no point in adding extra calories when you don’t need it.

5 Plan meals

All of us know the importance of planning meals. You might not like to plan a whole week in advance, that is ok! You don’t have to. You can plan your food day a day in advance, that way you will be in control and there will be nothing stopping you from a weight loss.

6 Drink plenty of water

You hear that a lot from many people. Water is great for our bodies and some of us are great at keeping hydrated, others not so good. The good news is that if you drink tea/coffee that can count towards your fluid intake, as can sugar free squash. You only need 6-8 glasses a day. No need to go overboard by drinking 3-4 litres a day! It is not necessary. I think I would be forever sat in the toilet if I drank that much!! Drinking water does not aid to weight loss may I add, if you didn’t drink any water you would not gain weight or not lose anything. Fluids are important for good health.

7 Stay to group

Stay to IMAGE Therapy rather than getting weighed and leaving. I can honestly say that every week (even though sometimes I don’t feel like it!) I’m always glad I stay. I always learn something new, get inspiration from the other members and have fun, too! I sometimes hear people say image therapy is boring or the same topics are discussed every week. Well, are you doing anything to make it inspiring? Are you sharing your ideas and supporting others when they need it? If the answer is no, then if a room full of people thought the same as you then group will be boring! You make it as exciting and fun as you want. You need to let the group and your consultant know what help you need (if any) or if you are a superstar at losing weight, then share what works for you with the rest. Sharing is caring!

8 Keep you fridge and food cupboard well stocked with Free snacks like fruit salad, veggie sticks and Free yogurts

So important to make sure you have all the right food in so that when hunger strikes you do not reach for the high syns alternatives.

9 When you buy something with a Syn value, write the Syn value and portion size on the packet

This can stop you reaching for a flapjack or a biscuit (or the whole packet!).

10 Stock up on herbs and spices

These will add so much flavour to all your meals. Whether you buy fresh or dried herbs, your food will not lack in flavour. Just be careful if buying spice mixes as not all are FREE.

11 Don’t take other people’s word for Syn values, always remember to check for yourself

With so many different social media out there, information can sometimes be passed on incorrectly or can be out of date. For your weight loss success, always check syns for yourself. Download the slimming world app or visit the Slimming World mobile website – it’s so useful when you’re out shopping.

12 Don’t think of it as a ‘diet’. It’s a change in eating habits – enjoy it

So many times I get asked the question by new members if I still follow Slimming World! Well, of course! Even if I wasn’t a SW consultant, what I learnt with SW will stay with me for life. I have completely changed the way I cook. If you’ve had a bad day it doesn’t mean you have to make it a bad week – just start fresh the next day.

13 Have a visual reminder of your long term goal and keep it in the kitchen

This can work well for many. For me personally, I put up a picture of myself of how I looked at my largest and every time I opened the snack cupboard or the fridge, I would see the photo of my larger self and that would make me think twice before putting anything in my mouth! Of course sometimes I do not have the will power to stop, I am human and nobody is perfect. But don’t let little setbacks stop you looking at the bigger picture of where you would like to be.

14 Don’t compare yourself with other people’s progress

This is your journey and it will be as unique as you are – follow Food Optimising and you’ll feel amazing in no time! Stay positive, believe in yourself and remember it’s not always about the number on the scales but how you feel on the inside. Some people take the fast route and some people take the slow route – but they both reach the finish line. If you give up you won’t reach your target weight but even if you continue on the slow route you’ll get there eventually.

15 Once you reach your target, don’t think you can go it alone!

Remember when you reach your target weight, coming to SW each week is FREE! Even if you can’t attend every week, try to go to a group at least once a month and stay to IMAGE Therapy to re-inspire you and keep you on track. Make the most of your group and all of the lovely people in it. We’re all going through exactly the same feelings, having the same thoughts, fears and emotions. Support is the best tool on our journey – use it often!

16 Enjoy regular walks

Or any other sort of Body Magic. It will help you feel so much better. Walking is my favourite, I can do it anytime I want and it is FREE!

17 Keep a food diary

Online, diary sheets, photos. Whichever suits you. Keep counting and be honest on the diary – even if you go over your Syns! You are only cheating yourself by not being honest on the food diary.

18 Take your body measurements when you start

What better incentive to keep going than when you check your measurements and you’ve lost inches as well as lbs! I took my measurement when I first started as a member every 2-3 months. It really helped me stay on track especially on the weeks I didn’t see a weight loss on the scales.

These are just some of our tips, do share what works for you in the comments below.