Cheesy Garlic Cauliflower Mash

If you follow me on Instagram you probably would've seen me post photos of my cauliflower mash before, I like to make mine with cheese and garlic, but these are optional, you can use whatever you want to flavour your mash, such as oregano or black pepper.

Cauliflower mash is so easy to make, and definitely feels a lot naughtier to eat than it is!

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients

1 Cauliflower

1/3 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

1 Garlic Clove, crushed (optional)

1/4 Cup Low Fat Cheddar (optional)

Makes 3 portions.

To Make

1. Chop the stalks off the cauliflower heads.

2. Boil the cauliflower until it is soft, around 5 minutes.

3. Put the cauliflower in the food processor and add the almond milk, cheese and crushed garlic clove.

4. Blitz the ingredients until a smooth mash like consistency.

And that's it, you have cauliflower mash!

Mine looks a tad watery, but thats because I accidentally added too much almond milk.

72 Calories | Carbs: 7g | Fat: 3g | Protein: 6g | Sugar: 2g | 2 Weight Watchers Pro Points

Let me know if you make this recipe, and if you would like to see more recipes.

Third Month on Weight Watchers

Here we are, in April, the month that I go to Florida (so excited!!) and also the month that all the hard work I have been putting in goes out the window as I gorge on pancakes, buffalo wings and fried pickles. Oh well I can always pick myself up and start again when I'm back!

Anyway, the figures.

Weight lost this month - 7.5 pounds

Total weight loss - 18 pounds

It was a great result this month, but I was quite ill for one of the weeks and couldn't eat, which gave me a big loss, and I think the pole dancing and starting doing pilates has really helped accelerate the weight loss this month.

I am definitely getting into eating more healthily. Weight Watchers helps you cut down the calories and somewhat teaches you what foods are better for you and which ones aren't, but you can still have a lot of chocolate and processed foods on weight watchers and I am going to try and clean up my diet and get rid of as much processed foods as possible. This is something I am doing gradually as it's a hell of a lot different to how I have been bought up, and it requires a lot more planning on my behalf, what with preparing lunches for when I'm at work and making sure I get all the ingredients for meals at the weekend to save me having to go shopping after work. 

I have also kicked it up a notch with the exercise too, I introduced doing pilates using Blogilates on Youtube who is amazing, very inspiring and motivating and I even went swimming today, something I hope to keep up at least once a week.

As I mentioned, I am going to Florida in just over a week and so the diet will go well and truly out of the window. I will try and do some exercise whilst I am out there, but I hold no promises, hours of walking around theme parks might be enough to kill me anyway! 

Hopefully I won't completely undo all my hard work, but I anticipate quite a big gain, I won't let it get me down though and I will use everything I have learned in these three months to move the gained weight quickly and then some more! 

Second Month on Weight Watchers!

Seeing as I shared my first month on Weight Watchers on my blog, I thought it would be good to turn it into a monthly thing so I can share my weight loss journey with you and some tips and tricks I have picked up.

So February was a bit harder for me to stick to, there was a lot of restaurant visits for birthdays and social outings, and although you get a weekly amount of pro points on Weight Watchers, using them still results in a loss, but obviously not as big of a loss as you would normally get.

I am still finding it quite easy to follow Weight Watchers, and I think there has only been a couple of days when I've thought, stick the diet I want to stuff my face, although I stayed strong!

This month I have lost:

Weight Loss - 4 pounds

Loss on Bust - None (yay, I love curves and was worried about loosing mine)

Loss on Waist - 1.5 inches

Loss on Hips - 1 inch

Loss on Legs - None (boo!)

Loss on Arms - 0.25 inches

Overall I have lost 10.5 pounds and I couldn't be happier. 

It is definitely a slow process, but it's working and I think it will be easier to keep the weight off.

Now here is my Weight Watchers tip for the month.

Alcohol is bad.

Now I'm not saying cut alcohol out completely, I certainly haven't, but I have definitely cut back, in fact I have only had drinks at 3 occasions since New Years.

The reason I have avoided it is not only because it is high in points, and I hate wasting my points on drinks (apart from my weekend treat skinny latte's!), but it also makes you do stupid things.

I went to a bar with friends, had a great night and saved lots of points for a few cocktails, but as the drink started to hit and I got a bit drunk I completely forgot about my limits, ended up drinking way past what I had told myself I would, spent loads of money buying rounds, ended up drunk in McDonalds and with a killer hangover that could only be cured by a bacon sandwich, so not only was my diet a disaster that day, I was also pretty poor that week.

I also went to a dinner party, and although I didn't drink as much, I still had enough to get me tipsy enough to eat more then I should've. 

I have been to a restaurant though and successfully stuck to my two glasses of wine that I set myself and had the meal I had planned. Restaurants are a good place to drink in my opinion because the alcohol is expensive so you don't want to buy too much, and where you are eating you pace yourself with the drinking.

The moral of these stories is, once I get tipsy the diet goes out the window. Two glasses is my limit, but I find it hard to stick to that so I have cut down on the drinking. 

The less you drink, the more you can eat, the less you spend on cocktails and the less likely you are to do stupid things, win all round! 

Fitness & Wellbeing Haul

As you may know, I have been doing weight watchers in a attempt to loose some weight and clean up my diet.

As well as improving my diet, I also want to improve other aspects of my life, including my fitness and well being. Having nice work out clothes always encourages me to work out even more and being in a good state of mind motivates me to work out too!

Here are the bits I got for my 'healthy mind, healthy body' attempt:

First up we have 3 pairs of shorts and a yoga mat.

One of the pairs of shorts is actually my mums as I've managed to talk her into going to a pole fitness class with me, which should be interesting....

I also picked up a yoga mat (pink of course) because I have wanted one for ages and now I am doing the 30 day shred, the abs section makes my lower back slightly sore because we have hard wood floors and this helps soften the ground, I have definitely noticed I can do the ab exercises better now I have the mat.

I also picked up a couple of sports bras because my current ones have seen better days.

Sports bras are essential if you don't want a saggy chest!

I'm not one to go for black, white or nude, I'm normally a pink girl so I thought green and red would make a nice change, and I'm not going to lie, I do love a bit of Amy Childs!

I got the two sports bras, 3 pairs of shorts, 3 tennis balls (not shown, for my dog Phoebe) and a yoga mat all for £50 from Sports Direct. Quite pleased with that bargain considering sports bras alone are normally £20! Oh, and the yoga mat was only £6!

And now for the well being part of this haul, because as you know, healthy mind healthy body!

I had to repurchase my Diptyque Ambre candle.

It may be £40, but for me it is definitely £40 well spent. 

I had a terrible day at work on Thursday and needed some retail therapy and this fit the bill perfectly. I light this candle, have a shower, then come back to my room which has been filled with this gorgeous scent, then I sit and knit and let the fragrance uplift and relax me. It really is therapeutic and I have not found anything that affects my mood this much.

I also repurchased my Nuxe Reve de Miel.

I was uhmming and ahhing over whether to repurchase this lip balm after finishing my last pot, but after a few days on the blistex my mind was made up and I had to get my Nuxe back.

It just leaves my lips feeling really hydrated and I wake up with nice healthy looking lips, and I don't feel the need to reapply my lip balm as often.

The last item of my haul is The Full Monty.

Bit of a weird one, but there is nothing like a great film to put you in a good mood and help you unwind.

This DVD was actually a surprise from my mum. We have been watching a lot of Once Upon a Time, and we both really like Robert Carlisle in it. I didn't particularly know who he was but my mum mentioned he was most famous for 'that stripper film' by which she meant The Full Monty.

After she learned that I had never actually seen it she made me search Sky Movies and Netflix, but it wasn't on either.

The DVD was a complete surprise and I can't wait to watch it. I am saving it as a reward for after I do my pole fitness class as I can imagine that will kill me!

So there we have it, my fitness and well being haul. 

What would you recommend for a healthy mind and healthy body?

First month on Weight Watchers

So some of you may or may not know that I have been doing Weight Watchers since the beginning of the year.

At the tail end of last year my weight was gradually increasing, and Christmas just saw it sky rocket.

The doctor told me I was overweight, the scales told me I was overweight, and when I saw my face in pictures from New Years, the double chin told me I was over weight so I decided to do something about it and joined Weight Watchers.

The reason I chose Weight Watchers is because it is so simple to do. You are set  your daily pro points, and this is like your calories allowance. Every food has a different pro point value, and most fruit and veg are 0 points so you can get away with eating as much of them as you like.

Weight Watchers is essentially a low calorie diet, which is my favourite type because I think it mimics normal eating, just on a lower scale, and the points value helps teach you which think twice before consuming something.

Another reason I chose weight watchers is because you also got a weekly points allowance on top of your daily points, which means if you are going out for a night out or fancy a take away, you can use these weekly points to have a treat, bear in mind you would still only get about 2 slices of Dominos pizza with these points!

So my first month is up, before I talk about how I've been finding it, I will share the numbers with you:

Weight Loss - 6.5 pounds

Loss on bust - 3 inches

Loss on waist - 3 inches

Loss on hips - 1 inch

Loss on legs - 1.25 inches

Loss on arms - 0.75 inches

Total inches lost - 11 inches

I think the numbers speak for themselves and show that it is definitely working, and looking at those number makes me feel quite happy. When I look at 11 inches on a measure tape it seems quite a lot!

I have found Weight Watchers incredibly easy to stick to and I think the database is really extensive, it even has a lot of popular restaurant chains menus in there, which makes eating out a doddle.

I think the hardest bit is having the will power to say no when my family has massive portions of something I really like, or a take away curry. The weekly points is a big help though as it means I have still been able to go out for lunch and dinner with my friends.

The only downside with Weight Watchers is I think it would be very easy to put the weight back on afterwards if you are not careful, and I have seen some people do that!

Oh and just to add on, I have been doing it online only, I don't really want the embarrassment of being weighed in front of a bunch of strangers, and I didn't really fancy the meetings either. 

I have however, had a amazing support group on FaceBook. The group is made of of girls I do know, and friends of friends. We are all in the same boat, and I don't think I would have got as far as I have without them!

Exercise wise, I haven't been doing much, just some weights here and there, although after seeing Jodie Marsh's Brawn in the USA programme I definitely want to kick the weights up a notch. I have also been doing a lot of hooping with a weighted hoop. It's lots of fun, great cardio, tones up your abs and is quite gentle on the rest of your joints!

So far I would recommend a diet like Weight Watchers, because it's not a diet as such, it's more about teaching you about a healthy lifestyle. Lets see if I still say that after month two!