Cruise Phase: Week 3

Cruise Phase:

Week 3

Monday 1st April - Sunday 7th April

So another week down! After being a little disheartened about last week's weigh in results I have been determined this week to work extra hard to shift as much as possible in an attempt to get ever so closer to that 14lb mark! I have cut back on extras and been extremely vigilant. So lets see how it has gone...

Monday 1st April - Protein & Veg

Breakfast: Cup of English Breakfast Tea

Unfortunately I was a little unwell this morning so I spent most of it in bed. Thankfully it didn't last too long and I made up for it by lunchtime!

Lunch: Tuna Fishcakes with Boiled Eggs Topped with Tinned Chopped Tomatoes

Day 23: Lunch

These were delicious and really filling. I have made these tuna fishcakes before, but adding the boiled eggs to the dish really curbs your hunger, lasting all day even beyond tea time. Which is why my dinner was so light:

Dinner: Vegetable Soup

Day 23: Dinner

The veg were carrots, swede, cabbage and broccoli. I also added fresh chives and parsley and it was seasoned with salt, black pepper, cumin, turmeric, chilli powder and crushed chillis. It was delicious, two bowlfuls and I was absolutely stuffed. Maybe my stomach is shrinking?

Tuesday 2nd April - Pure Protein

Breakfast Cinnamon Oat Bran Porridge

Day 24: Breakfast

Nowt beats breakfast in bed ;)

Lunch: Lean Bacon Slices Topped with Salmon Scrambled Eggs

Day 24: Lunch

Dinner: Two Steak Fillets with a Homemade Peppercorn Sauce

Day 24: Dinner

This homemade peppercorn sauce was so lush, and honestly it was just like the real thing if not BETTER! 

I got it off someone's blog, a girl who also did the Dukan diet and who lost a remarkable amount of weight. Her story was really inspirational! And since then I have been researching other 'Dukan-ers' to keep me going :)

Anyway, the peppercorn sauce recipe:

Ingredients

1 clove of garlic

Half a teaspoon of ground black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoon of whole peppercorns

A generous spoonful of extra light cream cheese

A generous sprinkle of sweetener (around half a teaspoon)

1/2 low salt beef stock cube

Note: For Protein and Veg days you can add mushrooms to the sauce.

Fry the garlic in a pan for thirty seconds then pour in the already mixed beef stock (mixed with about 200ml of water) and simmer until the water is reduced by about a third. Add the ground black pepper and the whole peppercorns. Whisk in the extra light cream cheese and sweetener and simmer until thickened. 

Serve immediately over your gorgeous steak.....I like my steak rare...mooooooooo!

Wednesday 3rd April - Protein & Veg

Breakfast: Cinnamon Oat Bran Porridge

Starting to get a bit bored of this....yawn! I'm going to have to think of different ways in which I can incorporate this into my meals..

Lunch: Bowl of Tuna and Cucumber

No picture for this unfortunately but it was literally a bowl of tuna and cucumber. One of the meals where I restricted myself!

Dinner: Garlic and Chilli Spiced Chicken Wrapped in Bacon with Cauliflower Poppers and Cheesy Mustard and Chive Mushrooms

Day 25: Dinner

Oh my god! This is by far the best dinner of the diet so far. The chicken was so succulent and the spice just gave it so much taste. The cheesy mustard mushrooms felt like a sin, and I was seduced by every bite. But the best part of this meal will certainly from now on be my new best friend! The cauliflower poppers actually tasted like french fries. And here is how to make them:

Ingredients

Cauliflower (as many as your heart desires!)

1/4 of extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of ground pepper

1 teaspoon of chilli powder

Preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Chop your washed cauliflower into small pieces. In a large bowl combine the olive oil, salt, pepper and chilli powder. Add the cauliflower pieces thoroughly coating each piece. Place cauliflower pieces into a baking dish. Bake for forty-five minutes to an hour and turn three times whilst cooking until each piece goes brown evenly. The browner they are the better! Remove from the oven and enjoy!

Thursday 4th April - Pure Protein

Breakfast: Oat Bran Cinnamon Porridge

Again! But alas I have found some oat bran recipes to test out at some point, so watch this space...

Lunch: Bacon and Poached Eggs

Day 26: Lunch

Simples.

Dinner: Almost Chicken Nuggets Seasoned with Ginger, Garlic and Chilli with Scrambled Eggs

Day 26: Dinner

Lovely and fragant. Ginger is so lovely and refreshing. Adds a nice zest to a dish. The scrambled eggs were seasoned with the usual salt and black pepper and sprinkled with chives!

Friday 5th April - Protein & Veg

Breakfast: Cinnamon Oat Bran Porridge

Lunch: Tuna Salad of Rocket, Tomatoes and Cucumber

Day 27: Lunch

Dinner

Starter: Garlic Mushrooms with Scallops

Day 27: Starter

The garlic sauce was just a simple extra light cream cheese, garlic, chives and seasoning combination.

Main: Spicy Chicken and Ham with Cauliflower Poppers

Day 27: Main

And the poppers are back again :) looovely dish. On par with the previous popper dish!

Saturday 6th April - Pure Protein

Breakfast: Fat-Free Vanilla Greek Yoghurt

I wasn't feeling too hungry this morning so the yoghurt did the trick just nicely!

Lunch: Ham slices with Quark and Seafood Sticks

Pretty self explanatory.

Dinner: Baked Salmon and an Egg

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of this meal. I baked some salmon and had it with a fried egg. Standard.

Sunday 7th April - Protein & Veg

Breakfast: Cinnamon Oat Bran Porridge

Lunch: Fried Egg Pepper Rings with Ham Slices and Tomatoes with Melted Cheese

Day 29: Lunch

Dinner:

Starter: Homemade Tzatziki with Yellow Peppers

Day 29: Starter

Lovely refreshing starter. The tzatziki was really simple: low fat plain yoghurt with finely chopped cucumber, parsley, chives and black pepper.

Main: Balsamic Glazed Chicken with Garlic, Mushrooms and Curried Tomatoes in a Balsamic and Red Wine Jus

Day 29: Main

This was one of the best mains on this diet. So tasty. The curried tomatoes were divine: just a dash of chilli powder and turmeric to chopped tomatoes and regular tomatoes. I also enjoyed the remaining juice of tin tomatoes as a smoothie...

Day 29: Side

Was really refreshing and gave me a more fuller feeling.

I also decided tonight to experiment with an oat bran recipe so I made some cupcakes:

Day 29: Oat Bran Experiment

One half are chocolate and the other half are cinnamon. Now I haven't tried them yet so you will have to wait until next week's blog to find out! 

So this week I have been extremely successful in achieving some yummy meals surrounding dinner time. I haven't been to the gym at all this week as I have had other priorities however this has not affected my diet in any way because this week I have lost a whopping 5lbs!

That takes me up to an overall loss of 15lbs! That's just over a stone! And in the fourth week?!?!?! I am ecstatic. All that hard work and ruthlessness has paid off.

That is definitely enough to keep someone's positivity and motivation going however a picture won't hurt either:

Thanks for reading :) and remember......keep following!

Kate x