Guzzi

Wow, congratulations! That’s fantastic!!!!!

Except that a “grill” is a completely different thing in Britain than it is in America Deffy will be referring to a “broiler”.

There you are! I'm still in panic mode right now (I have until 12 noon on Sunday to submit my assessment) but I shall be back! (eventually)

Yaaaaaay! Good to see you back!

Haha! Happy birthday!!!! Personally I keep trying NOT to level up in that dept but it doesn’t seem to be working.

All sounds good, but, errrm.... what is level 38?

Isn't it funny how temptation sneaks up on you like that? I bet if you’d had your lunch with you you would have been fine - “a cookie? No thanks”. But let your guard down for a second and BAM! There goes the calorie count. It happened to to me on Saturday night too

Eeeeeeek! I have just discovered that in my manic desperation to get my EMA (End of Module Assessment) completed for my Languages and Cultures module (I was really far behind and had to seriously cram to catch up) I’ve missed the deadline for an assessment on my other module! My tutor has given me a week’s extension to get it in so this week will probably be a bit of a write-off for all my other goals whilst I scramble like mad to catch up AND complete an assessment. Doh!

Yay, you’re back!!!

I used to use mine all the time in summer, working until 7pm doesn’t leave much time for cooking, and it was brilliant. Did you know you can roast a chicken using it? You simply scrunch up some tinfoil into balls (about golfball sized) and sit the chicken on top of them. The skin is pretty pale but you can sit it under the grill (broiler) to crisp up if you want crispy skin. I love this recipe for honey mustard chicken and adapt it for the slow cooker. Basically I place the chicken in the slow cooker (I use thighs because they’re cheap!) then heat up the sauce (minus the milk & cream) and just pour it over. If you want to speed things up you can brown the chicken before putting it in the pot. I don’t usually bother with the bacon, I didn’t find it really added anything, and sometimes don’t even bother adding the milk/cream. If I want it creamy then I transfer it into a pan then add the milk, cream and cornflour. I don’t think the temperature is high enough to thicken the cornflour in the slow cooker (although maybe it is, I’m not sure if this comes from experience or if it’s something I’ve just made up in my head). One thing I would say though is to reheat the creamy version slowly as I suspect it could curdle if you heat it up too quickly. I will I’ll look up some more recipes but I might take a while.... I’ve just discovered that I missed an assessment and my tutor has given me a week to get it in. My nose will be well and truly to the grindstone this week.

Following!

Start of challenge stats. Weight - 71.8kgs Body fat - 24.5% BMI 24

Bahahahahaha! That’s a classic!

Buy a shoulder of pork and just trim the thick layer of fat and skin off the top, then slap it in the slow cooker (crockpot) on med/high and leave it all day (6-8hrs). It is much easier to just leave the fat and skin on whilst it’s cooking and trim it off before you “pull” the pork, but some of the fat will render out and make the dish fattier. It’s totally your choice. I will look out some decent recipes and share them.

Thanks guys! I’ll try not to slope off towards the end of the challenge this time, lol!

I think all you folks are wrong, you’re clearly talking about cheese toasties. Grilled cheese is bread, toasted on one side, with melted cheese on the other. And it’s cooked under a grill (or “broiler” for you yanks).

It's Ranger Time!* *Except that I'm closed to Park Ranger Smith than anything else! Doh! This challenge I'm taking my inspiration from Yogi bear Goal 1. Be smarter than the av-er-age bear. I managed to scrape through the first module on my uni course but I'm now drastically behind on my second module. This isn't through lack of ability, but simply that I've really struggled to make time for studying. In order to get back on track then I'm going to have to make this a real priority over everything else. Realistically I need to dedicate 5-6 hours a day to achieve this one of my biggest obstacles has been thinking "there's no point starting studying now because I only have an hour...." For the purposes of this challenge I just need to do something every day, even if it's only 30 minutes, that should help me psychologically. Goal 2. What's in those pic-a-nic baskets? I need to shed some of the extra poundage I added at the start of the year so that my clothes fit me again. I am going to continue with 5:2 fasting and work on getting my nutrition back on track. For me this means not eating bread (at least not leavened bread) and focusing on eating a wider variety of foods. I will be taking part in a plant-based PvP which should (hopefully) cover that aspect so I will be focusing on tracking my fasts in here (but possible with food pics). Goal 3. Hurry up Boo Boo, time's a-wasting! I've spent too long in hibernation and now it's time to get my Grizzly on! I have lots of brilliant ideas I want to achieve but I'm making little progress towards them right now. I need some more structure to get some gainz! I want to work on push-ups, because I suck at them, and I'm going for a daily dose to grease the groove. Right now I need to do incline (or even wall) push-ups but I'm hoping that by the end of this challenge to be able to do at least 10 proper knee push-ups. I'm going for a similar goal with squats to try and get the movement pattern for low bar back squats. These are being done with a broomstick, not any weight, just to get the movement. Both exercises can be broken down into small numbers of reps throughout the day so it's not actually as much as it sounds. Strength train 3x per week Yoga 3x per week 100 push-ups daily 50 squats daily

Well, you have more worktop space that I had in my caravan so you should be good, lol! One of my staples for lunch at work was simply a steam-baggy of mixed veg with some cherry tomatoes, a source of protein (usually chicken or fish) and a dressing of some description. This is an easy option than you can change up day to day depending on which veg or dressing you use. I used to batch cook meat (using different marinades) them freeze them in individual portions so that I just had to grab a portion from the freezer whenever I needed a quick easy lunch at work. Another good option is on is to make pulled pork in the slow cooker (crockpot). Pork shoulder can be very cheap (way cheaper than chicken!) and it’s so easy to make! I’ve tried dozens of different recipes for making pulled pork but tbh the best method I’ve found is just to use a couple of bottles of good quality BBQ sauce. I use one bottle to cook the pork in, then, once the pork is cooked I drain off the liquid and add the second bottle of sauce. You might get away with just one bottle if you’re cooking a smaller piece of pork. I find pulled pork to be very versatile, it goes with a salad, makes awesome wraps or pittas (especially with salad and chilli mayo), you can serve it with rice etc. One pot meals like chilli, stews/casseroles, or bolognese that can be portioned out are awesome too. You can also add a TON of veg into them. If you have the freezer space then I highly recommend opting for frozen sliced veg (onions, peppers, mushrooms etc) because they save you time and money. I can share some recipes with you if you want?

Aw, sorry to hear that man.

My life is complete now!

Geez! You said you got snow and I assumed it was like one of those days when it tries to rain but ends up as wet slushy snow that melts by the next day. 10” is nuts!!!! Snd that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I don’t touch energy drinks! She probably felt like crap for the whole day too. Well done! If you can survive all that without giving in to temptation then you can do anything! (I think the snow alone would have sent me over the edge!)

Oh no, what happened? I was away for a couple of weeks so missed a bunch of stuff. Last I heard you had your offer accepted.

I have this issue right now too, my sleeves are all too tight because I’ve grown Bingo Wings again. Life sucks sometimes!

I’m in!!!