I’m really thrilled with this weeks weight loss. I’m still trying to get my head around the fact I have decided to start my weight loss journey again and I haven’t made any further changes to my diet or exercise regime/intensity. As long as I get the exercise in I’m happy.
At the end of week 2 I’ve lost an additional 2.5lbs bringing my weight down to:
Flab to Fab Weight Loss History
| Total Weight Loss to Date | 4.5 | lbs |
| WK2 Weight Loss | 2.5 | lbs |
| WK1 Weight Loss | 2 | lbs |
Ria xx
One of the things I love about living in this part of the World is the huge variety of leafy green vegetables to be found in the markets. Today I bought Chrysanthemum leaves or Tong Ho. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them so when I got home I looked in my Chinese & Asian Vegetable reference books for cooking instructions. They are mostly used in soups and hot pots in Cantonese cooking but can also be stir-fried. The younger leaves can be eaten raw.
I decided on a stir- fry using a little 
vegetable broth in place of oil for frying and some minced Thai aromatics. The leaves only needed a little cooking and they really cooked down. It had been suggested they were strong flavored in the reference books so I used sweet red bell peppers and some very sweet organic grape tomatoes to counter-balance the bitterness along with an assortment of mushrooms.
The books were right about the bitterness! I wasn’t expecting them to be as bitter and strong tasting as they actually were. The hints of lemon grass and galangal, the bitterness of the greens and the sweetness of the tomatoes made for interesting bursts of flavour and I quite enjoyed this stir-fry. Next time though I will use less of the Chrysanthemum leaves and include milder leafy vegetables too.
I still have over half a bag of leaves left which I’ll be adding to soups just before the end of cooking. I might even try a few of the smaller leaves in a salad.
Ria xx
These look much more impressive than the actual effort they require to make. Well they would if they weren’t assembled at 5.45am in the morning like the ones in the photo above.
Me up so early? I’ve mentioned before I’m not a morning person, but with the time difference the Academy Awards are aired on Monday morning this side of the World. Live coverage of the red carpet started at 6am and that’s the best bit in my opinion. So safe in the knowledge one could go back to bed afterwards, those of us that didn’t have to be at the office donned our best {dressing} gowns and gathered for a very early breakfast in front of the T.V. Favorite by far was Gwyneth’s Tom Ford dress and cape.
These trifles are great to serve when entertaining because you can put all the different components onto the table for everyone to assemble their own. And it’s more fun that way as well, seeing all the unique creations {I mean the trifle’s not the dresses but it was fun critiquing those too}. I’m always split whether to layer mine like a more traditional trifle as in the picture below right or more freestyle as in the picture below left. Many of the layer components can be prepared the night before so you get to sleep for longer. These just keeep on getting better, don’t they?
To make Breakfast Trifles layer the following in pretty glass serving dishes in any order you like.
Mix n match trifle components
Fruit {I used fresh strawberries blueberries and blackberries}
Oats, granola or muesli {I soaked oats overnight in fresh apple juice for a bircher style muesli, pomegranate is good too or even non-dairy milk}.
Fruit puree {I processed some frozen fruits of the forest berries with a little water}
Dried fruit {I used dehydrated apple as a garnish in one of the trifles pictured}
Nut cream or milk {for one trifle pictured I used cashews blended with non-dairy milk}
Whole or chopped nuts or granola {I used a piece of dehydrated nut banana granola I’d made earlier in the week}
Endless possibilities for flavour combinations and layers, I think I’m going to try an apple and pear variation with walnuts next.
Ria xx
Technically this isn’t really a pâté but I was aiming for that sort of texture when I first made this. I wanted something to spread on wholemeal crackers or stuff in lettuce wraps like those little pots of spread that were always in the pantry of my childhood home. They still sell those potted spreads here in the Marks & Spencer food hall, although of course they don’t have a version suitable for a plant-based diet.
This is a simple recipe - it only contains 3 ingredients, one of which is a grinding of pepper! The roasted peppers are so flavorful in themselves I don’t like to add much else, although I have on occasion added a pinch of chili powder or curry powder. It is very versatile – I use it as a topping for all sorts of things, a spread for sandwiches or wholewheat crackers, as a filling for lettuce or tortilla wraps and scoop it up with vegetable sticks or pitta chips and sometimes just a spoon. I favour red bell peppers because they always taste sweeter but I do use green ones too. I suppose any kind of cooked white bean could be used but I love the velvety texture of butter beans so always used those.
Lunch was on the run today and for the first time in too long I was organized enough to bring a nutritious lunch with me. It was much tastier than the take-out salads I usually get when I’m out and about and more frugal too.
For my appetizer I packed butter lettuce “wraps” stuffed with red bell pepper bean pate. Then I enjoyed a salad of mixed lettuce leaves, cherry tomatoes, carrot medallions, sliced red pepper and pumpkin seeds with a slice of juicy Amalfi lemon to squeeze over as a dressing. For dessert a strawberry banana creamy pudding and a sweetly-tart Moro blood orange. I can’t get enough of these blood oranges at the moment they are so delicious with a beautiful ruby red flesh.
Ria xx
At the end of week 1 I’ve lost……
drum roll…..
…
..
.
Looks like I’ll be taking the scenic route to my healthy weight goal!
But it’s all good.
I’m really happy with the amount of weight I’ve lost.
I didn’t expect to see big numbers like those who are swapping from a diet full of processed foods (also known as SAD & MAD for standard/modern American diet or in my case Asian as I live in South East Asia) to Dr Fuhrman’s Nutritarian plant-based plan as I’ve been eating plant-strong for some time now.
My excess weight is a combination of the weight I still had to loose before postponing my weight loss efforts, failing to adjust my food intake when I reduced the intensity and frequency of my workouts and over indulging in nut and starch heavy vegan foods too often!
Week One
Weight at end of Week 1 of Flab to Fab Project
This week was about easing myself gently back to what I call weigh loss mode. I didn’t make drastic changes to my menu or suddenly increase my exercise intensity.
Dietary Focus
Exercise Focus
| Total Weight Loss | 2 lbs |
| WK1 Weight Loss | 2 lbs |
Ria xx
It’s Pancake Day! As children my siblings and I would have a competition to see who could eat the most, my personal record was a mere 8. The pancakes I grew up on were more of a crepe rather than the thicker classic American style ones and were always served with a squirt of Jiffy lemon juice in the plastic lemon shaped bottle and a sprinkle of sugar. Shrove Tuesday was the only day of the year we had these. Apart from a brief period when I was first traveling in South East Asia and banana pancakes in the backpacker cafes were a staple food I still only eat them once a year on this day.
I usually make a vegan batter with wholemeal flour and non-dairy milk but because I am watching my weight, it was suggested yesterday that I serve a healthier alternative for dinner tonight without wheat flour or using oil to cook with. I thought of serving the savory wraps I made using besan flour but it’s not really the same, we always have sweet pancakes. So this afternoon I made time to experiment and couldn’t quite believe it when the first batter I made tasted exactly as I wanted it to. It also made loads more than I’d anticipated so it’s in the fridge chilling * until dinner time although I had planned to use an Asian pear instead of an apple in the final version.
Usually before indexing an experiment as a recipe I triple test it at the very least but I’m so thrilled with how these turned out, they are so reminiscent of the ones my mum made but so much healthier, I’m adding them right away. Made with oat flour and sweetened only with dates I’m sure I’ll be enjoying them more than once a year. They’re kind of in between a crepe and a thicker pancake so I’m calling them pancrepes.
Ria xx
* Post Edit: The batter needed to be thinned with additional liquid after being in the fridge, better to use immediately after making.
I dusted of the scales this morning because it’s time to re- start the quest towards my healthy weight. In fact it’s long overdue. It was postponed sometime last year (due to a minor surgery) and I’ve since gained more than a few pounds. I am now at my heaviest weight. Ever.
It’s been so difficult to motivate myself to get started again and make the changes to my diet. I’ll still be following my plant-based eating preferences but monitoring my intake of nuts and fats and starchy foods. I’ve been enjoying far too many nut based deserts that are very dense in calories! I know I’ll still be able to enjoy them in moderation and they can become a part of my more regular diet again once I’m at my healthy weight.
It’s not just about loosing weight but regaining my fitness too.
Every Wednesday I’ll review the past week, checking my weight and recording my progress here.
Starting Weight Thursday February 16th 2012
Ria xx
