I seem to have developed a rather embarrassing habit since getting back into the slimming swing of things

I feel like I'm proper back in the slimming swing of things now after losing another two pounds this week, yippee!

I'm now just one pound away from my target weight, which I reached one whole year ago next week, and creeping slowly down my target range ready for a food and booze-filled few days for my hen do next weekend.

This last week I really felt like I had a firm grip on things and was in control, making good choices. Each hurdle I was faced with I overcame with relative ease.

Friday night we ended up having an impromptu Chinese takeaway at Tom's mum and dad's. We never really have Chinese, unless we make it ourselves, so I had no clue what to order. I also didn't know what was good/bad syns wise and didn't want to write my week off on just the second day in. I put a quick shout-out on our Slimming World group Facebook page and within minutes I had loads of responses advising me on the best low-syn dishes. I went with chicken in black bean in the end, which has always been a firm favourite when my dad has made it.

Saturday I had my wedding dress fitting (more about that later!) and when I got home Tom decided he wanted to go to Kitchen for lunch. For those not from round here, or not privy with Kitchen, it's basically like food heaven. Imagine the best, nicest cakes and sandwiches, deli foods, sausage rolls, quiches, flatbreads, and pork pies then double it - and you're somewhere near Kitchen. I've only ever been once and not gone all out with a huge sandwich and a cake, so I wasn't sure how it would go.

I managed to restrain myself, though, and had a piri-piri chicken skewer salad bowl. It was so, so tasty. It had some dressing (forgot to ask for it without) and obviously the piri-piri will have had syns in, but I have no clue how many. I imagine it won't have been too bad, but I did keep in mind for the rest of the week my uncertainty surrounding those syns.

Saturday night I was at an engagement party so had set myself the plan of just drinking vodka and Diet Coke - easy peasy. That is, until, my best friend, bless her, went and bought me a couple of drinks. Only when I was ordering my last drink of the night did she realise that I'd been drinking Diet Coke, and not full-fat coke, and that she'd ordered me full fat. By this point, I was fairly tipsy so didn't really care! Two full-fat cokes isn't going to kill me and, as the scales showed this week, didn't impact at all on my weight loss.

The rest of the week was pretty plain sailing. I haven't really been too adventurous with my meals, although I have developed a new obsession with the butternut squash crinkle cut chips from Sainsbury's - they're beaut! I just spray them with Frylight, sprinkle on some garlic salt and paprika, and whack them in the Actifry for 30 mins and they taste just like 'normal' chips.

They featured in two of my teas this week...

Homemade chilli burgers with the SW burger relish, butternut squash chips and spinach

Pizza-topped chicken with butternut squash chips and salad

I tried a new fakeaway recipe this week, too, from a recipe I had seen on Instagram. It was salt and chilli chicken Chinese and ooooh it was beaut. Just thinking about it now is making me want to eat it all over again. It was really simple... Just 120g Smash/instant mash, one teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of pepper, one teaspoon of chilli powder, one teaspoon of garlic powder and one teaspoon of garlic salt. Mix it altogether in a bowl then beat two eggs in a separate bowl. Dip your chicken pieces in the egg, then in the mixture, then back in the egg, then in the mixture again. Pop them on a baking tray and bake at 180 for 20 to 25 mins. I served it with the SW egg-fried rice (first time I've done it and it was beaut) with some peppers and onion for added speed. Absolutely beaut.

The salt and chilli chicken Chinese fakeaway

I'm feeling really, really good at the moment. I seem to have developed a rather embarrassing habit of stopping at every mirror I pass at home and lifting my top up to look at my stomach. Even when I got to target last year I don't remember feeling this confident and happy in my skin. Today I am in a fitted size 8 dress that I haven't worn since about this time last year. And, as I mentioned above, I had my wedding dress fitting last weekend.

I was a bit nervous, although I knew I shouldn't have been, after I tried it on last. I went the week before Christmas and it was so, so tight. It barely went over my bum and was a struggle to fasten. I didn't dare move in it incase it ripped! This time, however, it went straight over my bum no problem and fastened easily. It felt amazing! It's now just eight weeks until the wedding, and four weeks until my final dress fitting. But, before all that, my hen party next weekend.

I certainly have lots and lots of things to keep in my mind as a goal whenever I feel like throwing in the towel and eating a whole pizza and all the chocolate!

Food diary

Thursday: (SP)
Breakfast - Bacon, poached eggs, beans and spinach
Dinner - Chicken sandwich in a wholemeal roll (HEB) and an apple
Tea - Pizza - base made with the Aldi crusty wholemeal bread mix (HEB) - topped with tomato puree/passata, chicken, peppers, onion and 45g 50% reduced fat Morrisons cheddar (HEA) and served with a huge side salad.
Syns for the day: 0

Friday:
Breakfast - Choco-nut malt wheats (40g HBE) with semi skimmed milk (HEA)
Dinner - Tomato and spinach tomato packed with cherry tomatoes, spinach and passata
Tea - Chicken in black bean sauce (7.5 syns) with plain steamed rice.
Syns for the day: 7.5

Saturday:
Breakfast - Choco-nut malt wheats (40g HBE) with semi-skimmed milk (HEA)
Dinner - Piri-piri chicken with salad and dressing (syns unknown)
Tea - Cajun chicken pasta with a side of spinach
Drinks - Three vodka and diet cokes (9 syns) and two vodka and cokes (15 syns)
Syns for the day: 24

Sunday: (SP)
Brunch - Sausage sandwich using Morrisons Eat Smart Cumberland sausages (1 syn for 2 sausages) in wholemeal bread (HEB) with poached eggs, beans, spinach and cherry tomatoes.
Tea - Homemade chilli burgers with butternut squash chips, spinach and the SW burger relish
Snack - Two Hi-Fi lights (HEB) and a chocolate brownie Fibre One  (4 syns)
Snack - Strawberries and two pears chopped and mixed with chocolate-y fat free quark (made using one teaspoon of Choc Shot for 0.5 syns)
Syns for the day: 5.5

Monday:
Breakfast - Strawberries with chocolate-y fat free quark (two teaspoons for 1 syn)
Dinner - Homemade tomato and chilli soup
Tea - Chinese chilli salt chicken fakeaway with SW egg-fried rice, peppers and onions with 2 tbsp of sweet chilli to dip (3 syns)
Snacks - Two mint choc Hi-Fi bars (HEB) and a caramel Fibre one (4 syns)
Syns for the day: 8

Tuesday: (SP)
Breakfast - Two dippy eggs with soldiers (HEB)
Snack - Fat free quark with strawberries, blackberries and raspberries
Dinner - Homemade tomato and chilli soup
Snacks - Clementine, pear, apple
Tea - Pizza-topped chicken (topped with 45g of 50% reduced fat mature Morrisons cheddar as my HEA, peppers and onion) served with butternut squash chips, spinach, peppers and onion.
Snack - Two Hi-Fi lights (HEB)
Syns for the day: 0

Wednesday:
Breakfast - Fresh strawberries with fat free quark
Dinner - Homemade tomato and chilli soup
Snack - Two clementines and a pear
*I have tea after I'm weighed*
Syns for the day: 0