Morning Readers! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been so cold this last week. It’s been frosty on a morning and the darker nights are certainly not helping.

How is you’re weight loss going?

Mine was off track for a few weeks due to holidays but I’m pleased to say, I’m back on track. I had a cracking week this week and lost an amazing 16lb. I was amazed when the lady doing the weigh in told me. I don’t honestly know how I did lose the amount I did. All I did was look back at what I did in the first few weeks when I joined Slimming World. I went back to basics. It certainly worked and it means I’ve completely lost the holiday weight I’d gained.

It’s so easy to give up when life throws things at us, but it also goes to show that even though we’ve been thrown off balance, it doesn’t have to be disaster so long as we get back in the right mindset and go back to basics. We can enjoy things like Christmas, Holidays, Weddings and Christenings so long as we get back on track afterwards. It’s too easy to give up if we know we’ve gained. I know as I’ve been there so many times. The secret is not to feel guilty, but to draw a line under it and move on. It’s not easy but we can do it.

Remember, it’s never too late to start losing those unwanted lbs. Why wait until after Christmas? If you start today, you could be at least half a st lighter which could make all the difference to that little black dress you bought for the Christmas Party Ladies. Let’s make that commitment to start today and see what we achieve by Christmas.

Beef Stew

Ingredients
12 shallots
Fry Light
2 carrots
380g braising steak, all visible fat removed
1 level tbsp tomato puree
1 bouquet garni
170g mushrooms
2 level tsp onion gravy granules
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly chopped parsley, to garnish

Method

1. Peel the shallots. Heat a large pan sprayed with Fry Light, add the shallots and fry for 5 minutes until browned. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

2. Slice the carrots, place in the pan with the steak, tomato puree, bouquet garni and 852ml/1½ pints water. Cover and simmer for 1½ hours.

3. Halve the mushrooms, add to the pan with the shallots and simmer for a further 20 minutes. Sprinkle over the gravy granules and stir until thickened. Season to taste, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

I hope you enjoy this fantastic winter warmer. It can be served with potatoes and I have to say, it such a great comfort food without blowing your healthy eating but also a meal that the whole family will enjoy.

If you have any recipes that you would like to add then please do. Also if there's a recipe you would like to try, why not ask and I'll do my best to share some ideas with you.

See you lighter next week, Love Wendy xxx