It was weigh-in and Fat Club day again on Wednesday 26th April and I was a little worried. Even though I’d done 3 speed days, 5 no alcohol days, 5 days with exercise and 1 meat free day, I had consumed 219 syns. The weekly allowance is 105 and I’d noticed the pattern showed I didn’t lose anything once above 210 syns. I took my measurements to find I’d put 3cm on my bust but lost 2cm from my waist and 1cm from my hips. I took my leg measurements for the first time in a while to find that the thighs still had a difference of 0.5cm but the calves were different by 1cm, still. It was also 3 years now since my ligament injury and my measurements were not back to normal yet. For breakfast I tried something a bit different; strawberries with black pepper and balsamic vinegar and a blob of quark – it was really good too. I had a cup of Yorkshire tea with skimmed milk as usual and then planned for a healthy lunch. I even peeled some carrots and put them in a jar for snacking on. I had beans on wholemeal toast for lunch and then went to find out my weight on Carol’s scales at Fat Club. Carol had brought the dress she promised, plus another one, and I was nervous to see if I would get them. It was only if I had lost weight, that I’d get to see if I could get in to the size 12 dress! (I’m usually a 16). Miraculously, I had lost! It was only 0.4kg but that was all I needed and I was promptly trying on the dresses. They both fitted me fine and I was so happy, I think Carol was chuffed too as she had really wanted to give me the dresses. I was so pleased and even decided that I would not be going to Rehab bar after class, to avoid temptation and going mad on Weigh day! Instead, I popped to the shops and got some essentials;
Migros Supermarket Plastic bag 0.25 Chickpeas 16.90 White beans 16.90 6 eggs 25.95 Walnuts 32.50 Olive oil soap 78.90 Bin bags 79.90 Total spent 251.30 lira (£10.38)
Back home I made chickpea biscuits and sweet potato cottage pie for dinner, which was fantastic. I retried on Carol’s dresses and even found my high shoes out. I then still allowed myself a weigh day treat without going daft. I had a piece of Easter egg while watching Netflix before bed. For a change I’d only had 12 syns on a Wednesday and refrained from alcohol. This was mainly because I knew I wouldn’t tomorrow, due to there being a big celebration in town.
After a rather boozy and cheesy last night, I decided that Thursday 20th April needed to be a good day. I made pancakes from banana and egg (nothing else) and had them with a fruit salad and chickpea biscuits for an amazing and healthy breakfast. By lunch time I was tucking in to a warmed up chicken, lentil, aubergine and cauliflower curry with steamed rice, which was also syn free and tasty. I decided that while I was in the biscuit making mood to nip to the shop to restock on ingredients. I drew more money out of the bank and popped to the A101supermarket where I bought the following;
Becel spread 17.45 Mushrooms 17.50 2 lots of chickpeas 47.50 1 pair of orange shoes 79.95 Total spent 162.40 lira (£6.70)
When I got home and put on my new jazzy shoes, then I sent a photo of them to Jamie, who had always wondered who on earth would wear such shit! On my way in, I had noticed how tidy the outside area was looking for the guests at B1. I made chicken with black bean sauce and steamed rice for dinner, another low syn meal with extra veggies in. It was an early night for me as I wanted to be up early tomorrow.
On Friday 21st April I attempted what is known in Slimming World terms, as a Speed day. This involved eating only certain veg, meat, dairy and grain – no carbs were allowed. I had an apple, an orange and some strawberries with a cup of tea for breakfast. I had leftover chicken in black bean sauce with bread for lunch and then looked in to what I could have that would fill me up for dinner. I decided to make a courgette grilled cheese ‘sandwich’ type of thing; grated 2 courgettes, and added an egg then mixed it together and put it in to pancake shapes, cooked in the oven so no oil, then melted cheese in the middle. It was so great to say I’d managed no potatoes, rice or pasta today. I collected some jars from a lady called Michelle, who was giving them away, as they come in handy. Then I went to Jamie’s to borrow his phone again to call my English bank, the complaint I had was turning in to an absolute joke and no one seemed to be able to help at all. Later, I had a walk with Jamie, Drew and the pooches where we called for a cold beverage at Bistro Blue. I had a diet coke as a treat but when we got the bill I realised soft drinks were 50 lira (£2.06) but a beer was only 60 lira (£2.48) – I won’t make that mistake again in a hurry. Of course, Norman and Edna got free water and we were all made welcome by Selahı and Annie, the owners. We bumped in to Mark and Kate who’d been out and about, both wearing summer wear. I commented on Kate not feeling cold in her short shorts and Mark asked why I was dressed for skiing, which was funny. My clothes were starting to look too baggy on me because of me having lost a total of 7.3kg (16lb) now, so I didn’t have many options of what I could wear. Back home, I was still hungry not having had any carbs, so I snacked on turkey, lettuce and gherkins before bed!
Monday 17th April was the start of my 4th week of working and I was getting in to a bit of a routine with it now. I was able to be flexible with when I worked but I was quite liking doing 2 full days and getting it done early in the week. I suspected when I went to Vietnam I might have to do 4 half days instead but we would see how it worked out. I had a cup of Yorkshire tea and an apple for breakfast, then a second cup of tea before lunch time. I warmed up the leftover chicken dish from Saturday for my lunch which I had with steamed rice. After work, I surpassed myself by making a Slimming World Hunter’s Chicken which my sister had recommended. I had it with half of a jacket potato and I even got a half hour walk in beforehand to get some exercise. I called at the Şarküteri to buy some English items which can be on the pricey side because of them being imported. Here’s what I bought and the prices in lira;
1 tin of baked beans 40.00 2 boxes of Jacob’s cream crackers 80.00 2 Chinese sauces 100.00 Total spent 220.00 lira (£9.08).
I had the remaining apple crumble from Lukka Sunday lunch, for dessert with quark on. I put my leftover Sunday dinner in the freezer for another time. I had 2 days left until weigh-in so I only used a few syns today and refrained from any alcohol for only the 2nd day this week. I would be lucky if I lost any weight this week but I was still trying to put in damage limitations by drinking cucumber infused water, which I don’t actually like! I sat down to watch Netflix and catch up on messages, the pool lights and filter were not working so we had to buy new ones. I suspected the pool would not be ready any time soon. The Aussies were getting a bit frustrated though, as they had guests arriving for the holiday weekend on Friday and the weather was starting to warm up.
I had a banana and 2 cups of Yorkshire tea for breakfast on Tuesday 18th April before starting work at 9am. I decided to make broccoli and potato soup in the slow cooker while I got on with my day’s work and I warmed up some leftover Hunter’s Chicken for lunch. I really enjoyed it and would definitely have it again. After work I went to check on my homemade slow cooker soup to find it was terrible and I had to admit defeat and bin it. Instead I had a turkey salad wrap and a cuppa soup, loads of cucumber infused water and a couple of toffees. I got a message from Sue asking if I would be able to help her set up a Facebook event for her forthcoming 70th birthday. She had decided that she would be combining her birthday with Adam (married to Kath) who was 60 and they planned on celebrating with a boat trip. I set up the invite which was for the 17th May, let her know I wouldn’t be there and showed her how to invite people, once I’d set her and Adam up as co-hosts. She then proceeded to invite everyone she knew in Dalyan and it looked to be a good day with 4 boats going.
It was 1 month until I would be back in Vietnam, I was conscious of planning my meals and batch cooking so that I didn’t end up with too much food left when I had to turn the electric off on leaving the apartment. Lunch consisted of reheated Minestrone soup and tasted better than it looked. I went to the supermarket, as I sometimes do on Saturday afternoons, and here’s what I bought;
Migros Supermarket Cheese triangles 17.50 Milk 18.50 Turkey slices 19.25 1 box of Linden tea 23.00 400g chickpeas 23.75 1 jar gherkins 34.50 1kg Rice 35.90 1 pack GF Wraps 48.50 1kg Chicken 48.88 Total spent 269.78 lira (£11.13). Kitler, the cat, was sat between 2 of the ground floor apartments hoping as if posing for a photo.
It was good to see that if you spent more than 200 lira in Migros there was quite a bargain to be had on chicken. I reported back to my mates at Fat Club and to Jamie so they could also take advantage of the offer. I realised I was out of cheese so I went to buy cheddar at Şarküteri and it was 90 lira (£3.72) for a small piece, which is pricey, but I’d already asked my mom to bring some more when she came to Dalyan.
I decided to go back to the supermarket around 5.30pm and bought the following;
3 Tomato puree 32.70 Bananas 40.17 3 Quark 44.85 1.1kg chicken 49.23 2 tins of tomatoes 49.80 Beef bacon 55.90 Total paid 352.45 lira (£14.55)
Obviously, because I spent more than 200 lira again, I bought more chicken at a bargain price. When I messaged Jamie to let him know he had also gone back and got more. The beef bacon also had a big discount.
I made chicken with green peppers, spring onion, mushrooms and paprika for dinner and had it with steamed rice. It was super tasty and I really enjoyed my healthy dinner before putting my PJs on for an early night. As it happened, my night would not end there!
I was definitely settling down for the evening, with no plans to go out on a Saturday night, when I got a text. Jamie had already invited me out earlier and I’d been in 2 minds but had said no. Mark messaged me from Sofra bar to say my presence was requested, as our friend, Gareth, was in town for one night only. I also got the tip off that Cath and Keith were out on the tiles and that everyone was having a good time so I agreed to come out ‘for one’. I got back changed in to clothes and called at the bank for some cash, arriving at Sofra bar after 9pm. When I arrived, I made a joke about some keys on the table and whether a fruit bowl would be a good idea. Everyone was pretty merry apart from Gareth who was also only having a couple of beers. I ordered a draft beer which were still only 65 lira (£2.68) for a pint. I noticed later that the small beers had gone up to 50 lira (£2.06) and shots of whiskey were 60 lira (£2.48) now. By 10.30pm, Ged had joined us and someone had convinced him to sing an Ian Drury and The Blockheads number on the karaoke. It wasn’t long before one of us really wished we had a rhythm stick to hit him with! Mark and Cath started the dancing with a bit of Club Tropicana, both of them hoping the drinks were free. In the end there was lots of dancing and I even managed to drag a few other customers up to boogie with us. Jamie was sat outside with his goddaughter, friends and the dogs and he was having an easy night too. We had a great night, that is until it got to 1am. Most people had (sensibly) gone home, I’d had 2 pints of draught Efes and there were just Cath, Keith, Mark and I left. Keith insisted on buying another round of drinks and I helped Cath get ‘her’ jacket on, thinking we were going. When she got the bill she tried to pay but couldn’t get the card to work so I took a photo of the bill. Keith then had a little mishap and he fell on to the table of drinks, cutting his hand quite badly. We got them in a taxi after some struggling and Mark dropped me off at mine before heading home on the mobility wagon via the beach road. The small bridge was still down so he had to go the long way round, using the main roads. At 1.40am Cath called me to say she couldn’t find her keys and they couldn’t get in the house. I spent the next 20 minutes on the phone trying to help her empty her bag and jacket pockets to try to find the house keys, but she was too drunk to make any sense with. I didn’t know where she lived so I couldn’t even go to help and I gave up in the end. At just before 2am, Mark called to say he’d had to turn back because there were police checks on the main road and could he stay at mine. He’d called Kate and she’d told him to go to mine so that he didn’t get in to any trouble. While I had one last attempt to help Cath, Mark sipped the red wine I had opened. We only had the one glass before calling it a night as Mark was already falling asleep on the sofa. I’d had a good night but could’ve done without all the drama towards the end. I was definitely going to resist any more alcohol now until after Fat Club on Wednesday.
A short video of some karaoke Video of a bit of dancing
In the morning of Saturday 8th April I popped to the market just to buy strawberries for 50 lira (£2.08). I had some for breakfast with a cup of Yorkshire tea when I got back. I went to Bim supermarket in the afternoon and I only bought some essentials;
1 wholemeal loaf 10.00 6 eggs 16.50 500g of pide bread 19.00 Total spent 45.50 lira (£1.89).
I got a top up of water, 19 litres for 30 lira (£1.25) at Selçuk Market. I was getting excited because I would get to see my parents in just over 3 weeks, then I was off to Rhodes and would be reunited with Captain Caveman again in Vietnam, shortly after that. For lunch I warmed up some of the minestrone soup and it was delicious. I’d arranged to meet Pamela and Mark at Rehab bar in the afternoon because I still had some of the bottle of red wine from Wednesday left. It also meant I got to see the lovely Angelique and Tay. While we were playing pool, I got a pleasant surprise; our friend, Babs, was back in town and had popped in to Rehab bar to see me and joined us for a drink – her cocktail was an aperol spritz. After finishing the wine in Rehab, Mark, Pamela and I went to Aşkın’s bar and we each carried some of Pamela’s shopping. We just had the one drink there before heading down to Sofra bar. It was all a very civilised evening up until then. Friends, Cath and Keith, joined us and we were talking about landlords putting rents up by more than the 25%. It’s illegal but unfortunately it’s happening to a lot to tenants here, as landlords want to get new people in who will pay more. We had a good time in Sofra bar, for the rest of the night. I made sure that in between my drinks I had a water and some of the time I sat without a drink, while Cath was double parked. Prices of drinks were still reasonable in Sofra bar; large draft beer or glass of wine 65 lira (£2.70), small draft beer 45 lira (£1.87), shot of Jameson’s 50 lira (£2.08). I ended up doing karaoke (again) which Mark took a video of. It was generally a good night until it was almost time to go home. Mark and I had been keeping an eye on Cath, when Keith fell over and banged his head on a bench. It was home time for them, we put them in a taxi which took ages because neither of them remembered where they lived but one of the taxi drivers and Ahmet, the bar man, knew. Mark said he’d walk me home but instead of going home we ended up going to Dalyano’s for a glass of wine. I got my coat zip stuck about halfway up and I couldn’t free it, so ended up getting upset. I went home by myself from Dalyano’s (which isn’t far) and Mark got a taxi home, but called me to check I was home safely. I was, but I couldn’t get my coat off until he suggested I take it off over my head and look at the zip in the morning. I think I’d got a bit emotional as I was concerned about Cath and Keith more than my coat.
Last month had been a tough one but I’d managed to get by and I was glad to see April. This would be my last full month in Dalyan as I was planning to go back to Vietnam to see Captain Caveman next month. On Saturday 1st April, Mark rang me to see if I wanted to meet him at Tez bar at noon. I agreed and went round the corner a few minutes before. I ordered a cheese toasty and a cup of tea for my brunch which was 80 lira (£3.37). It came with chips so that was rather naughty of me – so much for being good this month! When Tez brought my tea he put a carnation on the table for me, which was nice. Mark arrived and ordered a coffee before going to meet the pool group at Rehab bar. I finished off my food and drink before getting a lift with Tez to the weekly market. It was busier than usual, lots more tourists were here now and there were more stalls open.
Here’s what I bought at the market this week, I didn’t get the individual prices just the total. Prices were going up but it was still fairly affordable compared to the UK.
6 bananas 1 punnet of strawberries 1 bunch fresh mint 4 big potatoes 8 small potatoes 3 sweet potatoes 3 leeks 1 bunch spring onions 3 onions 1 lettuce 6 carrots 5 green peppers 2 bulbs of garlic 1 bag of pumpkin Mushrooms
Total cost 273 lira (£11.50)
I even got a free snail on my bunch of spring onions and had to take him downstairs in to the garden. I chopped some of the veggies and the strawberries, putting them in to glass jars to keep fresher for longer. I met Jamie for a dog walk and quick soft drink in Waterfall around 5.30pm. On my way back from Waterfall I happened to see Kaan on his building site and he showed me the villa he is building. It’s very nice and I had the full tour. My next stop was at the supermarket and here’s what I bought;
For dinner I made a veggie pizza on a wholemeal wrap and it tasted very nice. I resisted the urge to go out to meet Mark, who had gone from Rehab bar to Rodrigo’s then to Mustang. Instead, I had a no alcohol and a no meat day, for the second time this week. I organised a cheese and wine boat trip for when my parents were here and then I had an early night because it was Amanda and Greg’s last day in Dalyan and we had a big day planned tomorrow.
I woke up on Thursday 23rd March feeling full of flu. I was still cold despite sleeping in pyjamas and my dressing gown under two duvets. I made myself a cup of Yorkshire tea and a fruit salad to force down for breakfast. In my fruit salad were 2 bananas (even though I don’t like them), 1 kiwi fruit, strawberries and some low fat yoghurt (which I also don’t like). As I was eating the fruit, I was finding it more difficult to chew, swallow or breathe and it was getting worse. As I tried to drink the tea, the roof of my mouth was super sensitive and it felt like it was blistering despite the tea not being too hot. I went to the bathroom and got a bit of a shock, half of my face had started to swell up, my lips were tingling and my throat felt tight. Then it dawned on me, the side of my mouth I’d eaten the kiwi fruit on yesterday and today was more sore than the other side. The face swelling, and now tingling, was similar to when I ate a mussel in Belgium – I was having an allergic reaction. I was out of antihistamine tablets and so I had to go to the pharmacy to get some. It turns out allergies to kiwi fruit are more common than I’d thought. Once I’d got the allergic reaction under control, after several cold flannels to the face and head, I felt able to eat and had a Slimming World friendly mushroom pasta for lunch. I did still have a bad cold but I could breathe a bit better and the blistering mouth was recovering. I forced more Strepsils down, had 5 walnut halves, some sugar free lemon drink, a satsuma, lemon tea and linden tea, as well as 3 litres of water, in an afternoon. I was still taking the ibuprofen and paracetamol alternatively every 4 hours in the hope I’d feel better soon. My Mom had been told that some work had been done at her apartment and she asked if I’d mind checking on it from the outside. I got some warm clothes on and took myself round there. The walk was fresh, the work had not even been started and I noticed that our complex was much more pleasant to be walking back in to these days – Elite Maintenance seemed to be doing well so far. For dinner I had more chicken curry with steamed rice and tried for an early night. I was coughing a lot when laying down so I was still awake after midnight.
On Friday 24th March I was starting to improve a bit! I could still have stayed in bed all day but I couldn’t because I had plans. I went to the shop to buy some essentials. Here’s what I bought and the prices in lira;
I had a banana and linden tea for breakfast then got ready for a couple of days out of Dalyan. I had vegan pasta bolognese for lunch, which was healthy and tasty. Unfortunately, I was going to miss Roy’s 60th birthday bash at Tez bar at 4.30pm today. It was disappointing as Roy and Debbie (Darling) are 2 of my favourites, but it had been booked a while for a trip with friends to Fethiye and Hisarönü this afternoon. After a taxi ride with Fikri, from Dalyan to Fethiye and running some errands in the town we got a lift to Hisarönü. We went to Fez bar, and the guy there took a photo of Mark and I at the entrance to the bar so that I could send birthday wishes on. I thought it would be funny to send it to Debbie (Darling) with apologies for going to the ‘wrong’ birthday venue – Fez, not Tez! I couldn’t finish the beer because I was still suffering from the sniffles. That evening, our friend cooked a lovely chicken pasta dish for dinner and I really enjoyed it. I also decided that I would have another break from my blog for a couple of days, by which time I hoped this cold had gone.
Tuesday 21st March wasn’t such a good day as I woke up feeling like I had a cold/flu/Corona type illness coming on. It might have had something to do with the fact that I was still awake and a bit merry at 2am! I had 2 cups of Yorkshire tea and more masaman curry with steamed rice for breakfast. By lunchtime I was sipping linden tea and sucking Himalayan salt and lemon sweets because my throat felt like razor blades. I had my leftover sweet and sour chicken with chicken fried rice from China Town for lunch and it was so good, but foolish as I would definitely have put weight back on this week. In the afternoon I paid the 5,000 lira (£213) to the pool and maintenance company, which Captain Caveman had sent over. It felt difficult because it was a lot for me to pay out upfront when I wasn’t yet working. In addition to that I also had been told that the Communal electric was being reconnected but we all needed to pay 1382 lira (£59) to have it reconnected. I didn’t understand how it could possibly cost almost £600 (between 10 properties) to have the issue sorted when it was not our fault and the electric company had told me they were sorting it. I was annoyed and upset about this because I just didn’t have it in the budget plus we now had to put extra in to a kitty for any future bills. Of course, Captain Caveman was in the cave so I had to go along with what was asked. He had paid the communal electric for 3 years prior to all this too with no intention of him asking for the money from anyone. In the afternoon I logged on to the 2nd day of the course I was doing, which I enjoyed, but I started to feel more ill. I found some Strepsils in the medicine box so I had some of those and 2 slices of wholemeal toast for dinner. I went to bed feeling sickly, tired and disappointed that my Fat Club weigh-in tomorrow would not be a good one. This week I’d consumed twice the syns of the week before, had more alcohol and 3 times as much sweet stuff.
My health was much worse on Wednesday 22nd March and I could barely speak or swallow. I didn’t want to get out of bed but I knew I needed to feel better for this afternoon’s Fat Club. I did my weekly measurements and got on the scales at home, the results weren’t ideal. According to the home scales I was 0.85kg heavier this week, my bust and hips remained the same but I had put 4cm on my waist. As I knew the scales would show heavier at Fat Club, I decided to attempt to treat my symptoms. I had ice-cream, cream crackers and some Gouda cheese for breakfast. I could hardly manage to drink a cup of tea as my mouth felt weird. I went back to bed for a nap but was restless. By 1.30pm I was convinced I had Covid as all my symptoms pointed towards it so I took a test. It was negative. Before Fat Club, I ate strawberries, Quark and some cheese spread on wholemeal bread. On my way out of the complex I noticed that the maintenance guy had moved both benches back to outside B1, I’d only asked for 1 to be moved back to where it used to be. I went to get my bike and saw that the string Captain Caveman had tied my faulty kick stand up with, had been removed and the stand was down. I wasn’t very happy because the stand rubs on the wheel when it’s up, hence why it’s tied up and the bike leans against something. I checked my basket to see if the string was in there but it was gone and so I had to walk to Fat Club, feeling crap and late. I went in, got on Carol’s scales to find I’d only actually put on 0.6kg (1.3lb) so I was a bit happier at that. Carol could see I was quite sickly and suggested I dose up on Vitamin C and get back to bed. She’d noticed that Migros had some kiwi fruit on offer so I decided to pop and get some, as well as a few other items;
Migros Supermarket Plastic bag 0.25 4 kiwi fruit 10.58 Bananas 17.72 2 Quark 29.90 646g chicken 58.08 Total spent 116.53 lira (£4.96)
When I got home, I had 1 kiwi fruit but it took me a long time to eat it. I forced a bit of bread and cheese down while I waited for my dinner to cook. I’d gone for chicken curry with a hot pot style potato top and it looked pretty good. I’m not quite sure what happened after starting to eat the kiwi fruit at 4.50pm. It took me until almost 9pm to eat dinner. I’d started to feel like my throat was getting smaller, I couldn’t breath as easily and I thought I’d started to lose my sense of smell. I was coughing a lot too, my eyes seemed to want to close and my face and head hurt. I took paracetamol and ibuprofen and went to bed sucking on a Strepsil.
The one thing about being apart from your partner on Tuesday 14th March is that you don’t have to partake in Steak & Blow Job day – Google it, it’s a thing now! Lucky for me, because I’m rubbish at cooking steak! By the time I’d woke up Captain Caveman had gone back in to the cave but had messaged me at 4.30am (while my phone was on silent) to ask for me to sort out the payment to our new Pool and Garden maintenance company. Finally the other people on the complex had agreed to let Mehmet Kör at Elite take on the task. It was going to cost 50,000 lira (£2,128) for the year plus there was still the matter of getting the communal electric put back on. On another note, my ‘missing’ parents, who had failed to fly home from their holiday had managed to get in touch. They were in a hotel the other side of the world, somewhere, but the suitcases which were elsewhere had Mom’s phone charger in. Luckily it wasn’t much to worry about but it hadn’t stopped my sister and I having a slight panic on! We didn’t even know which hotel they were at, or even which country for definite. Luckily Ma & Pa managed to reassure me a little, while they sipped on the All Inclusive rum punch, that they would be coming home tomorrow. My food choices started out sensible and, as planned, with wholemeal toast, a cheese triangle and a cup of Yorkshire tea for breakfast. I did a 30 minute walk then popped in to Migros where I bought;
Lunch was the remaining chicken casserole and jacket potato (no butter), then some quark with satsumas. I had a red apple with cheese as a snack and, as I had plans for later, I warmed up a piece of nan bread to prepare me. I had to miss Singing Group in the afternoon but I did pop along to meet Mark and Kate at Tez bar where I decided I would pace myself with just a soda water for 20 lira (85p). I dropped off some old clothes and some cushions for Kaye, who was having a sale for the Earthquake charity this weekend. Daisy’s friend, Phoebe, had arrived and, after Daisy had finished work, we were all going to meet her for a night out. With it being winter, there were still only a few bars open but we decided to meet at Mustang bar. Mark and Kate agreed to come for one but then were going home as Mark was fancying a bit of scampi for dinner. The owner, Salih, let me try the wine, as I’d not been a fan of it last time but it was good tonight. Well, it must have been pretty good as I managed to have 5 red wines, a tequila, some of Daisy’s chips and the free popcorn! There was a cute resident cat who liked to get some attention. Mark and Kate ended up staying for a couple and left around 9.30pm, I got a lift with Mark on the mobility wagon to the bank so we could get more cash out. We had a right old laugh, but once Daisy had split her pants dancing, and Phoebe had started doing some sort of sexy dance, it was time for me to go home! I was home around midnight which wasn’t bad for someone who’s meant to be on a diet! Tomorrow’s weigh-in at Fat Club could be interesting; I’d had more alcohol this week but overall less total syns and a 5th of the sweet stuff compared to the previous week. I’d had exercise on all 7 days and 3 no meat days but would it be enough to still get a loss on Carol’s scales!?
Despite the weather forecasting that we were going to encounter quite a few days of rain, it seemed to be quite the opposite on Monday 13th March. Captain Caveman and my friend, Kat, sent me a photo of them in Coffee Station, Phong Nha, and they both looked like they were wearing warmer clothes than I needed in Dalyan. I got some Yorkshire puddings out of the freezer so that I could have them for dinner later then I had a nice walk around Dalyan, including a trip to the supermarket. I saw Gay Gaz and Roy having a beer at Ela’s Kitchen and politely declined joining them. It was tempting to give in to sitting in the sun with a cold one, and then end up having more than one and a possibility of ordering a sausage sandwich or something similarly synful. I excused myself that I needed to keep walking to get my steps in and buy fruit. As I’d not been to the weekly market on Saturday, I was short of a few things, here’s what I bought:
Bim Supermarket 2 red apples 4.79 2 grapefruits 7.55 2 onions 9.92 400g wholemeal bread 10.00 Sugar Free lemon drink 16.75 1 bag frozen green beans 19.75 2 fruit flavoured Quark 23.00
Total spent 91.76 lira (£3.90)
I was feeling quite pleased with myself for still being within my budget and not buying anything over £1 per item. After walking for almost 2 hours, I went home and had to get some less wintery clothes on after sitting on the balcony for the first time this year. I had something different for my breakfast today; a red apple and some Turkish cheese, with a Yorkshire tea, of course. Lunch was a generous portion of the chicken, aubergine, cauliflower and lentil curry which I had with steamed veggie rice to give me extra vegetables. I sat on the balcony a bit more and had to get the Factor 50 Aussie sun cream out as it was a real suntrap. I joined Jamie for a short dog walk but we resisted going for an alcoholic beverage. Once the sun went in, I put my winter clothes back on and reheated the chicken casserole and Yorkshire puddings. I chopped up the left over jacket potato in to chunks and recooked them in the oven, without oil. It was a really nice dinner and I enjoyed the healthy ‘roast’ potatoes. I made it my 2nd day of not drinking any alcohol this week as I’d only got until Wednesday to make a difference on the weight loss. Tomorrow, though, I had exciting plans!
Weigh-in day and Fat Club seems to come round rather fast. Wednesday 8th March had me on the home scales as soon as I woke up and I was 0.4kg lighter than last week. I had been awake most of the night, had a dodgy stomach and my eczema had flared up again. Of course, Carol’s scales are slightly different and I still had to get to 3pm. I took my measurements to find that my bust had remained the same but my waist and hips were 1cm less. I just had strawberries for breakfast with a cup of Yorkshire tea. It was John’s birthday today and Andrea had organised a surprise trip to Fethiye to go bowling. I’d said I was going and we were getting the bus at 10.30am, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to go as my stomach was still a bit iffy. Coincidentally, I got a message from Leanne at King Emlak who needed the Aussie’s keys from me and was popping over. I’d already had lunch by the time she arrived, later than planned. I’d added mushrooms to the vegan bolognese which I had with pasta. I found out 2 bras that were now too big for me to give to someone who had said they needed them. I wrapped them up and popped them in a gift bag, then dropped them at Tez bar, so they could be picked up later. At Fat Club I had actually lost another 0.4kg (0.8lb) and although it’s not very much, it was still another loss. This meant I’d now lost a total of 4.8kg (almost 11lb). I was pleased with that but I really needed to do better if I was going to be skinny in time for boat trips this season! It was also less than 10 weeks until I was due back in Vietnam and I wanted to be the same weight I was when I left there. On the way home, I popped to the shops. Here’s what I bought which took me over today’s budget;
Migros Supermarket Plastic bag 0.25 Pasta (macaroni) 7.90 Pasta (rigatoni) 10.90 Cotton buds 11.00 Pineapple Quark 14.95 Blackcurrant Quark 14.95 Paprika 16.73 Skimmed milk 17.50 Linden Tea 19.50 3 Plain Quark 44.85 1.1kg chicken 105.26 Total spent 263.79 lira (£11.23)
I had a snack of beans on toast when I got in because I was peckish and didn’t want to eat anything naughty. Andrea had messaged to say they would be in Waterfall after getting back from Fethiye but I still wasn’t feeling like going out. I was doing so well on the diet, not too bad on the budget and I knew I’d regret it if I blew both. I decided to stay in and have more vegan bolognese, with cheese. I treated myself to 15 syns worth of birthday red wine and had more cheese with pickled onions and some lemon drizzle cake. My stomach was back to normal now but I still felt really tired and lethargic.
Monday 6th March was quite a healthy day. Before Captain Caveman had left Dalyan, he had put some chicken livers in to the freezer and I was conscious that I hadn’t yet used them. So my attempt at a chicken liver slow cooker curry became a thing. I put the defrosted livers in to a bowl of milk to soak for a bit, this takes away any taste of iron or blood. For breakfast I had wholemeal toast with a cheese triangle and a cup of Yorkshire tea. For lunch I had one of my favourite treats; Slimming World style potato wedges with a third of a tin of Heinz baked beans. I had only just discovered that baked beans were allowed on Slimming World and that made me very happy. They are quite pricey so I tend to just use a third of a tin as a portion and add a drop of milk to make them a bit more runny. Before dinner I went to the shops to buy some food and here’s the items I bought, with prices in lira;
Although chicken liver curry wouldn’t have been my first choice of meal, it was quite enjoyable with some bulgur wheat and it was diet friendly.
It was quite a disappointing day food-wise on Tuesday 7th March. There was no electricity in the morning so I couldn’t have my Yorkshire tea. For breakfast I had just had a few pieces of fresh pineapple. I’d had to make do with fresh bread and a banana for lunch but the power came back on just before I needed to leave for Singing Group. There was a bit of tension between a couple of the old dears at Singing today, but apologies were made after snappy comments. Is it wrong that I enjoy the comedy gold of the participants’ interactions more than the actual singing? I treated myself to a cup of tea from the Merhaba Cafe but managed to resist the cakes. I must be losing weight because Madge spoke to me but didn’t ask about me being pregnant, this week! After singing, Kate and I cycled to Shiela’s for our first wine making lesson. With wine prices ever increasing we thought it would be a good time to start making our own. Sheila had very kindly given us some equipment to get us started. I’d, at first, suggested keeping the fermenting bottles at mine, away from cats! However, I was hoping to go to Vietnam, so Kate was going to have it at their place, but keep it away from the cats! Sheila gave us great instructions and also a couple of samples to try out. I was tiddly by the time we stepped back outside of Shiela’s gorgeous villa. There were some goats which were friendly so I took some photos before Kate and I cycled off to meet Mark at Tez bar. Once there, we joined Debbie (Darling), Roy, Ali, Kev, John & Andrea and had a good old laugh. I allowed myself 1 glass of red wine which is 80 lira (£3.50), and couldn’t resist the crisps which Debbie (Darling) had popped on the table. When the strawberry man came round, loads of us bought some. As Kate and I already had some at home, we shared a punnet for 25 lira (£1.09) each. Back indoors, it does get nippy once the sun goes in, I had a cheese sandwich for dinner and some strawberries. It was Fat Club tomorrow and I wasn’t convinced I would have lost weight. I’d had almost double the weekly allowance of syns but only 52 of them were alcohol. I had 2 meat free days, 5 days of exercise but only 1 day without any alcohol.
I felt very rough on Saturday 25th February as I got up to see what carnage remained in the kitchen. I had leftover curry with rice and the forgotten nan bread for breakfast, washed down with an orange juice and soda water and a cup of Yorkshire tea. I really needed to get to the market before it closed but I was feeling so fragile that I just couldn’t. I was meant to be meeting Debbie (Darling) for an afternoon drink but seeing as her Slippery Nipples were my downfall last night, I thought it would be wise to stay home instead. Around 3pm I pulled a bit of energy from somewhere and got to the market. I had a few things on my list but, after buying some strawberries for 50 lira (£2.13), I had an urgent need to get back home for a lay down. I called in to Migros on my way back to buy cornflakes and Quark which came to 51.40 lira (£2.19) and was a bit of a blur. As I came out of the supermarket Debbie (Darling) shouted me and was sat in Jiks with Brian and Ann. I was in no state to stand around watching people drink wine so I said to Debbie I wasn’t coming back out or joining them but would be on Jamie’s alcohol free night out later if she wanted to come along. Debbie (Darling) was so drunk yesterday that she didn’t recall seeing me, Jamie or Mark. I proved she had, by telling her we had restored all her lost photos on her phone and, when she checked, she was genuinely surprised. Back home, I ate strawberries for lunch, had a nap and a shower then had chicken, Turkish sausage and vegetable pasta for dinner before getting ready for another night out. This time, it was a pool night with Jamie and the Beverley sisters, which is always good fun. Both Jamie and I were on water and managed to enjoy a really lovely, civilised and sober evening. I went home just before 10.30pm and Jamie walked home past a rather lively Tez bar. I got an invite to go to Sofra bar but I declined, I was quite tired and sober on a Saturday night – it felt good!
I was awake for sunrise on Thursday 23rd February and got up early for my cup of Yorkshire tea. I decided that since I’d had zero syns on weigh day, yesterday, I was also going to be good today. I’d done a meal plan but instead of it being for the week, I had just done it up to Saturday. This is because I would buy what was on offer at the market and plan the rest of my meals around that. For breakfast I had a banana, strawberries, pineapple and quark. Debbie (Darling) messaged me to ask if I fancied joining her and Sue after their Turkish class this afternoon and I did, as I’d not seen either of them for ages. I had my lunch first which was a bit of an eclectic mix; radishes, carrots, stuffed vine leaves, roasted pumpkin and potato wedges. I met Debbie (Darling) and Sue outside Lukka bar, where they were having a beverage. Katrina was getting ready to open up the Maizie Moo shop for the season and she gave me my dogsitting money, which was nice. It would have been easy for me then to spend that money on having an alcoholic beverage but I resisted. We wandered over to Tez bar where I just had a soda water with ice. After saying hello to Angela and chatting briefly to Gary about residency renewals, it was time for me to go. At 5pm I walked to meet Jamie, we had arranged to set off on a dog walk from Mosque Square then call in to Waterfall bar. Again, I was good and had just 2 sodas, Jamie had coffees. On my way home, I decided to treat myself at the Şarküteri where I bought the following; 1 tin Heinz baked beans 35.00 BBQ sauce 45.00 Gluten free soy sauce 50.00 1 tin Coconut milk 55.00 Total spent 185.00 lira (£8.20)
It’s expensive to buy imported food here but I’d decided that I really wanted those items and had only spent just over the equivalent of a bottle of wine from the off-licence. When I got home I made more of my fake takeaway, sweet and sour chicken, which I had with egg noodles and loved every mouthful. I had a video call with my parents, the last for a while as they were off on holiday, then I did another Decluttering Bootcamp challenge at 10pm. I was starting to see some areas I could make some small changes and improvements, which was really good.
Sunday 19th February was a lovely day all round. It was still dark when I set up my makeshift dining area, ready for my first Sunday dinner with 4 guests. Some had doubted I’d get everyone in, in our small apartment, but I’d squeezed in 7 for a curry night once, although that was a bit too much and we didn’t have enough spare chairs. I had a cup of Yorkshire tea and some fruit to start my day off then took a trip to the shop. Here’s what I bought, some of which I needed for today, with the prices in lira:
Migros Supermarket
Fresh ginger 4.00 Fresh bread 5.00 Bottle of water 5.45 Becel spread 17.45 6 bottles of soda water 18.75 Flour 19.50 White beans 27.90 Fresh milk 28.90 Fabric softener 41.50 Falafel 49.90 3 tins of tomatoes 59.76 Toilet roll 68.90 Chicken breasts 78.45 500g Diced beef 82.00 Total spent 507.46 lira (£22.26)
I called at the corner shop to chase up what had happened to my water refill and they had forgotten again. They promised it would be there by noon and it was. Jamie was the first to arrive with his leek and potato soup and a bottle of water with cordial in. Next was Matt with his slippers and he grabbed the orange chair so he could pop them on. Mark and Kate arrived late and hungover after Sofra last night. Kate had brought orange juice and soda water as she wasn’t drinking alcohol today. She’d also brought a huge fruit salad for dessert. Luckily, I had got some cream and some ice-cream at the ready. Mark brought some cans of Efes and had them in a cooler but he too wasn’t feeling like drinking much. I had been looking forward to wine today and had opened a bottle of Tılsım, just for me by the looks of it! After a bit of a chat I warmed up Jamie’s soup in the Pampered Chef jug that he said was microwave friendly. Unfortunately it wasn’t and the handle melted so we had to resort to the good old fashioned pan method. In the to-do I forgot to get the butter out of the fridge but no one commented as we ate the soup and dry bread. Jamie’s soup was packed full of extra veggies and tasted really good. Our next course was more of a chicken casserole with carrots, onion, leeks and boiled potatoes. I served this with Yorkshire puddings and mini jacket potatoes so that it was more diet friendly than a usual roast dinner. Kate had brought some stuffing to accompany it and I’d made a chicken gravy from my own stock for those that wanted it. For afters we were ate the fruit salad with different combinations of toppings (crumbled ginger biscuits, ice-cream and cream). It was a lovely get together and Mark did quite a bit of the washing up and clearing/rinsing the plates as he likes a tidy ship. Once everyone had gone I finished the wine off and chilled out on the sofa for the rest of the day.
joloyolo 