Delicious and very quick and easy to make! If you can’t get hold of a good quality sausage meat, remove the skin from some good quality sausages and this will work equally well.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Serves: 3

Calories per serving: 215

Ingredients

Olive Oil – 6ml

Pork, Sausage Meat – 180g

Tomatoes, Chopped, in Rich Tomato Juice – 1 Can/400g

Fennel, Bulb – 1 Medium Bulb/300g

Garlic, Raw – 2 Cloves/6g

Peppers, Chilli, Dried, Flakes – 1 Pinch/0.1g

Fennel Seeds – 1 Tsp/2g

Preparation:

Trim and slice the fennel bulb. Peel and finely dice the garlic.

Method:

Break up the sausage meat. Heat the oil in a saute pan over a medium heat and fry the sausage meat until golden, then set aside (leaving any oil produced in the pan).

Add the chopped fennel bulb (reserve the fronds) to the pan and fry for 10 minutes until softened and golden.

Add the garlic cloves, fennel seeds and 2 tbsp cold water. Turn down the heat slightly, cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the chilli flakes, tinned tomatoes, and the browned sausage meat with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti (or other pasta of choice) in a large pan of salted boiling water according to the pack instructions.

Drain loosely and toss in the pan with the ragu and reserved fennel fronds. Garnish with a handful of chopped fresh basil and parsley.

Nutrition Data Per Serving

Calories (kcal) 215

Sugars (g) 7.2

Fat (g) 13.6

Fibre (g) 3.8

Fruit & Veg 3.1

Protein (g) 13.9

Carbohydrate (g) 8.6

This is something that has changed for me during my weight loss journey.  At some point during my weight loss journey (probably about 2/3 years in) I recognised that I just could not afford to eat out every week….

I used to plan every trip out of the house to include some food, ie, trip to town = lunch in a pub, trip to the garden centre = cake and coffee.  Now, my trips out of the house are planned around my food – so I make sure that I am back home for a lunch that I have already planned or made (soup, salad, etc) OR I will take a packed lunch with me if I know that I’m going to be out over my lunchtime.

So for example this week, I have a meeting that starts at 11.30am and goes on until 1pm.  As I don’t eat breakfast, it’s crucial that I eat my lunch between 12 noon and 1pm or I start to feel really hungry.  I will therefore make up a bowl of salad and take it with me in a cool bag with cutlery and a serviette plus a flask of water.  If people are going to arrange meetings over the lunchtime period, then they just have to put up with my munching a salad whilst we talk!  Usually other meeting attendees are very complimentary about my healthy bowl of food and I’ve never been told not to eat it (I always make sure I warn people that I’m going to eat my lunch at some point!)

We rarely eat out now – usually just special occasions.  In itself, that is quite nice as it makes it a bit more of a treat.  I recognise that isn’t a popular choice for many,  but as I am short, sedentary and don’t have a lot of weight to lose, I sadly have no choice.

With previous weight loss attempts, before my mind set had changed, I would often look at the menu – see what choice I “should” make (in terms of fewer calories), and then at the point that the menu choices were being taken I would still end up selecting the thing I “really” wanted )often quite calorific)!  I would feel I was missing out if everyone was having a dessert, so I’d inevitably cave in and have one too.

My mindset has changed, as well as my palette.  I’m not bothered by many of my previous “favourite” menu choices – for example, fish and chips, or a curry with rice and a naan – I simply cannot physically eat that amount of food and I don’t like to pay for food and waste it.  I’d rather have new potatoes to fries.

I LOVE vegetables and therefore I will look for restaurants that serve plenty of fresh vegetables with their dishes.

As portion sizes in many restaurants if often too much for me, I’ll sometimes select 2 x starters…. or I’ll choose a side salad and another side dish and have those with a starter as my main course.

I only have dessert if I see something on the menu I “really” want; again, many of the choices I’ll just find too sickly or stodgy.  I’d enjoy a pavlova or a creme brûlée – but won’t fancy cheesecake, sticky toffee pudding…  I’ll often just have a mouthful of the husband’s dessert (if he can be persuaded to part with it) and a nice coffee.

I purposefully select restaurants which serve higher quality (nicer) food in smaller quantities.

At the end of the day, it is all about my choice.  What do I want more – that meal out, that dessert – or to lose weight?

It does help that I love cooking and I really enjoy the food that I prepare.  I am often disappointed by a meal cooked by a restaurant – finding it too salty, too greasy or too bland.

I know I make it all sound so simple… but believe me, these changes didn’t happen until well into my weight loss journey.  My new “normal” just became my normal “normal”!

By adding plenty of vegetables to this curry, you can bring the calorie count right down – plus make it even healthier!

Served the curry with 50g (dry weight) of brown rice (174 cals) and half a mini naan bread – garlic and coriander (65 cals). Total for the meal = 384 calories

King Prawn Jalfrezi – 145 calories

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 40 mins

Serves: 4

Calories per serving: 145.0

Ingredients

Jumbo King Prawns, Raw – 1 Pack/240g

Red Onions – 75g

Mushrooms – 120g

Red Peppers – 1 Medium/150g

Green Beans – 200g

Olive Oil – 8ml

Curry Paste, Jalfrezi, Patak’s – 2 Servings/60g

Tomatoes, Chopped, Canned – ½ Can/200g

Method

Preparation:

Finely chop onion, core and de-seed pepper and cut into bite sized chunks. Wipe the mushrooms and cut into pieces. Top and tail the beans and cut in half.

Preparation: Peel and chop the onions. Top and tail the beans and cut into short lengths. De-seed and remove stalk from the pepper and cut into bite sized chunks. Wipe mushrooms and cut into quarters.

Method:

Pour oil into a large pan and heat over a medium heat. Add the onions and beans and cook until softened (about 7 – 10 minutes). Add the pepper, mushrooms and curry paste. Cook for a further 2 – 3 minutes.

Add the tinned tomatoes, bring to a simmer. Add the raw prawns, stir through and cook for a further 8 – 10 minutes until the prawns are cooked through.

Nutrition Data Per Serving

Calories (kcal) 145.0

Sugars (g) 6.9

Fat (g) 6.9

Fibre (g) 4.2

Fruit & Veg 2.4

Protein (g) 11.0

Carbohydrate (g) 9.5

Sometimes, a little reminder pops up on my news feed that serves to remind me of just how far I’ve come in the seven years since I started my weight loss journey.

Today it was this!

Filmed on 4th February 2013. I weighed 11 stone 12lbs.  I am breathless just walking at a very slow pace.

Compared to how I move on the treadmill these days:

Weight hovering around 10 stone (still attempting to get back to 9 1/2 stone, and perhaps a little lower).   I am able to get my heart working to cardio level for over 20 minutes when I use the treadmill.

I have incorporated exercise into my daily routine for good.

The change in my appearance is quite shocking – but in a very positive way….