Dalyan – 17th & 18th April

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.

Dalyan – 16th April

I had wholemeal toast and Yorkshire tea for breakfast on Sunday 16th April and was getting excited for the afternoon’s plans. By 9.12am I had an apology text from Cath, it turned out she had gone home in someone else’s jacket, which I’d helped her in to, and left her’s in Sofra which explained the missing keys. Cath was very grateful that I had kept turning down her offer to buy everyone shots, though, in an effort to stop them blowing their whole budget on booze. Still, it had been a good night from my point of view and I was glad not to have ended up in a tangle myself.
Drew had arrived at the airport at 2pm and Jamie went to collect him, excited for him being here for a few weeks. I met Jamie, Drew, Alicia, Nanny Kay and Ann at Lukka bar for Sunday lunch at 5pm and ordered a fresh orange juice. Drew, Alicia and I had chosen the beef, Nanny Kay ordered lamb, Jamie chicken and Ann had ordered a salad. The Lukka bar beef Sunday dinner was now 325 lira (£13.42) which is not cheap but it’s a lovely treat, comes with a pud and makes 2 meals for me, easily. The lamb and chicken options are cheaper and it’s not that often I have a Sunday dinner with a good excuse to see friends. I had brought my Tupperware as I knew I would only eat half and I was glad I had my gravy on the side as I prefer it thicker. The cauliflower cheese came without cheese so we let Katrina know we preferred it with the sauce. As always the impressive Yorkshire puddings stole the show and were massive. I really enjoyed my food, Nanny Kay said she preferred the lamb to the beef. The boys emptied their plates which was a tall order and they must’ve been very hungry.
We had a bit of a break before the apple crumble with ice-cream and I even took most of my crumble home. Jamie and Drew wanted to go on for drinks at Sofra and I was hesitant after last night’s fiasco. Ann was also only going for 1 drink too so I agreed and was sensible.
I stuck to my 1 drink of red wine, despite being boring for a change and went home for an early night before work tomorrow.

Dalyan – 15th April

I didn’t bother with any breakfast on Saturday 15th April as I had to get to the weekly market. This is what I bought there:

2 garlic 5.00
6 Oranges 7.00
Strawberries 50.00
2 apples, 2 cucumbers and 11 tomatoes 20.00
Total spent 82.00 lira (£3.39)

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

Dalyan – 13th & 14th April

The lira was 24.22 to the pound on Thursday 13th April, the highest I’ve known it so far! In 1 month there would be the elections in Turkey and the predictions said that the rate could continue to increase, which was not good for the Turkish population. I had tea and buttered toast for breakfast while arranging boat trips for next month. It was sunny today and the predicted storms had disappeared. I had beef stew with extra vegetables for lunch and had a call with Vanessa. We’d not spoken for a while so it was nice to catch up. I had fish fingers and Slimming World chips for dinner, which I absolutely loved. There was also an invite to everyone in Dalyan to the celebration of Dutch King’s day, with the Dutch community in Dalyan, which I popped it in my diary.
I stayed in and started watching a series on Netflix, called Obsession. If you don’t mind a bit of Percy Filth and weirdness, it’s quite good. I also agreed to join Jamie and his goddaughter for Lukka music bingo tomorrow night.

I had something a bit different for breakfast on Friday 14th April; some of the beef stew without the sauce which I stir fried with bulgur wheat and more broccoli. It was very tasty and filling which was good as I was off out drinking later. I didn’t bother with lunch and went to Turkish class at 2pm. After Turkish, I messaged my boss and Captain Caveman as we were getting prepared to book my flights from Athens to Saigon with Scoot, as they had a sale on and were working out rather cheap. Later I walked to Rehab bar to pick up the 6 bottles of wine I’d ordered from Tay. At 146 lira (£6) per bottle, for very nice wine, it was worth it and I also paid my bar bill of 480 lira (£20) from the other night.
I called the bank again but got nowhere and they said they were going to call me back but they didn’t.

I met Jamie and his goddaughter, Alicia, at Lukka bar at 7pm, having already decided I would try to eat the healthiest thing on the menu but with wine. Jamie ordered a bottle of white wine, I ordered a bottle of red wine which was now 345 lira (£14) and Alicia commented that it was still cheaper than you’d pay in most bars back in England. Katrina joined us for Lukka music bingo which is always a good laugh with great music. Alicia had the Yum Yum chicken, Katrina had the satay chicken, Jamie had the risotto cheesy balls and I went for a spaghetti bolognese with cheesy garlic bread. I thought the garlic bread was a bit overpriced for what it was at 85 lira (£3.51) as it was just sliced Turkish bread with melted cheese and a bit of garlic on. The spaghetti bolognese at 240 lira (£9.91) was good and came with 2 bread sticks, a random bit of lettuce and parmesan cheese – beef is expensive here now. Katrina said they didn’t make it with oil or butter which is nice. After Lukka bar, we decided to go on to Sofra bar for another cheeky beverage, as you do! While we were there some friends and relatives of Pamela’s came in and rocked the karaoke! It was another late and fun night and I managed to not fall in to the building materials in the middle of the road, on the way home.

Dalyan – 12th April

Another weigh-in day was here on Wednesday 12th April and I started my day with strawberries and quark. I had 3 cups of tea that morning as I borrowed Jamie’s English phone to call the bank about the monthly fee situation. It obviously still didn’t get resolved and I was asked to fill a form in so that the bank could ring me back.
I took my measurements and found that I had lost 1cm from bust, waist and hips which was good.
For lunch I had some wholemeal bread, a bit of cheese and lots of water.
The sky looked stormy as I walked to Fat Club, feeling somewhat optimistic. I’d consumed 204 syns this last week had 3 no meat days, 5 no alcohol days but only 3 days with exercise. I was very surprised to find I had lost 2.6kg (5.7lb) on Carol’s scales which meant I got a sticker to note my 1 stone loss! I was chuffed with that and it meant I only had another 2.5kg to lose to hit my target. I paid 60 lira (£2.50) for mine and Carol’s tea and then we went to Rehab bar. At the usual pool afternoon were Pamela, Mark, Kate, Rey, Wolfie, Chris, John, Tim, Angelique and Tay. We ended up having quite the afternoon which spilled in to the evening and I got better and better at pool. Unbelievably, we played winner stays on with Kate and I being the last 2 but we were pretty tipsy. I even ended up eating some crisps and ordering a bottle of red wine which turned out to be rather ambitious. At midnight, after finishing work at Hotel Dalyance, Sarah popped by for a game of pool too. I left without paying my bill but Tay said it was fine to stop by tomorrow and pay.

Dalyan – 9th to 11th April

I didn’t have any breakfast on Sunday 9th April as I had a bit of a lay in. At 8.40am the weather forecast wasn’t looking too clever and it was Easter. I didn’t even eat any Easter Eggs and only had a sandwich for lunch. In the afternoon I heard from Cath and Keith and she had been to Sofra to pay their bill, a little embarrassed. Elite Maintenance had been round to our complex to clean the pool so progress was being made over the communal situation, but I hadn’t seen any lights on as yet.
For dinner I had homemade curry which had chicken, cauliflower, aubergine, lentils and tomatoes in, then I had strawberries and quark for afters. I got a bit peckish in the evening as I looked at flights to Vietnam and ate a slice of turkey and a couple of toffees. I was already on 176 syns but it was better than I’d been doing for a while. I would be working for the next couple of days so I was hoping for a good result at Fat Club this week. Before I went to bed I had a rummage in the freezer and took out some mystery meat so that I could have the slow cooker on tomorrow.

As Easter in Greece, where my boss lives, is a different date and Turkey don’t celebrate it, we were still working on Monday 10th April. Before I logged on I had 2 slices of wholemeal toast with Becel spread on and 20g of Comte cheese, some strawberries and a cup of Yorkshire tea. I popped the meat, which I hoped was beef, and lots of veg in to the slow cooker then got on with work. It was a cloudy, cold day and I hoped it would warm up a bit in the month I had left here. Captain Caveman had sent me a photo of Thao and her new baby who he had gone to visit in Dong Hoi and we’d got a loose plan that I would arrive on 14th May. Strangely, the first time I went to Vietnam to visit Captain Caveman, 11 years ago, it was the same date! The morning at work went quickly and I warmed up some Slimming World Minestrone soup and nan bread for lunch. I drank a lot of water and snacked on Turkey slices when I got peckish late afternoon. I finished work at 6pm, I added Oxo, red wine, fresh rosemary and Henderson’s relish to the slow cooker concoction and had it with potatoes for dinner. It was amazing and had made a few more portions.
I was doing well on the diet until I accidentally ate some chocolate from an Easter Egg and then had 2 cream crackers with 30g of comte cheese. I’d had 28 syns today so I needed to be very careful tomorrow! It was my 4th day of zero alcohol this week but I didn’t have any exercise.

There was not much to write about on Tuesday 11th April as I was busy working all day. I cracked on as there was horrendous weather forecast and I was conscious that the power could go off at any time – I was lucky, it didn’t. I had another portion of beef stew with steamed rice ( I will eat rice with anything) and really enjoyed it. I finished work at 6pm and it was absolutely tipping down so there was no venturing outside today.
Instead, I decided to use more of the beef stew to reinvent the Cornish pasty in a Slimming World fashion. I used a wholemeal wrap and filled half of it with the stew and added some sweetcorn. I brushed the edges with beaten egg, folded it over to cover the filling and stuck it down using the back of a fork. More egg was poured over, messily as I didnt have a brush, then popped in the over for 20 minutes.
When it came out, it looked great but it was probably the best thing I had tasted in a while. It was so good that I made another one and had it with my homemade pickled red cabbage then showed it off in the Fat Club Messenger group.
I had a phone call with my parents who were due to come to Dalyan in 3 weeks and I was so excited to be seeing them again.

Dalyan – 8th April

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.

Mark’s video of me doing karaoke

Dalyan – 6th & 7th April

Neither Jamie nor I recalled getting home in the early hours of Thursday 6th April. We messaged each other to slowly fill in the gaps and work out what had happened. I rarely spill a drink but my clothes were covered in red wine, my coat was on the floor in the kitchen and I had no hangover whatsoever. We were lucky to have Mark and Şükrü as friends because they had both looked out for us. I had no appetite, despite not eating anything since breakfast yesterday and that was very strange. I didn’t have any breakfast and I forced down a veggie wrap pizza at 5.30pm, the only thing I managed to eat all day. Jamie found more videos and photos, of us dancing, on his phone that we couldn’t remember. We definitely knew we’d had a lucky escape last night and were grateful nothing bad had happened to us.

On Friday 7th April I made a conscious decision to be sensible, after the events of the previous days I needed to be more careful. The weather was overcast and cold as I ate my banana, grapefruit, strawberries and quark for breakfast with a cup of Yorkshire tea. I was meant to be going for a walk but just as I was getting ready I noticed that last night’s heavy rain and storms had caused the ensuite bathroom to have a leak. It wasn’t bad but it looked like it was coming in from the door frame which needed fixing.
Before midday, the maintenance company came to do something with the pool and lights while I made a Slimming World Minestrone soup in the Slow Cooker. I needed to get back on with this diet if I was to lose a bit more weight this month. For lunch I had a turkey, lettuce, green pepper, spring onion and cheese wrap and I drank a lot of water. I’d been attempting to get at least 2 litres of water in, per day. I had Turkish class at 2pm and was pleased to see that a friend had rejoined us. After class, she and I went to the tea gardens for a couple of teas and a chat.
Back home, I tucked in to the amazing Minestrone soup but I did spoil my healthy day with 3 of the toffees from the Aussies. It was only Friday and already I had consumed 108 syns, 3 over the allowance!

Dalyan – 5th April

The Aussies were leaving for their road trip early on Wednesday 5th April so I’d been invited to have breakfast with them before they set off. The Turkish people here, tend not to get up early for breakfast and I thought we might struggle to find somewhere open.
I went downstairs, as planned, at 8am, it had rained in the night and there were checks being done on the woodwork outside, which looked great. I also had to have a look at the improvements they had been working on last night. Greg drove us to Ekin around 8.30am where we were met by a rather large slobbering black dog, called Negro, who was super friendly. The owner asked us if we could wait for half an hour while he got set up and so we walked about a bit, taking some photos of the beautiful lake.
I wasn’t going to eat the Turkish breakfast for 2 reasons; 1, it often gives me a bad stomach and 2, I had Fat Club weigh-in at 3pm. I realised it would be considered rude to just watch Amanda and Greg eat so I decided to go for it. It was my first Turkish breakfast this year! Just as it was served, it started to rain and we had to move inside. The scenic views were now no longer picture perfect and we were lucky to have seen the lake views we did, before the rain came.
The breakfast was amazing and I really enjoyed it but I knew it would mean a gain on the scales. I ate cheese, jam, honey, bread, cheese rolls, olives, chips and 2 types of savoury gözleme (Turkish pancakes), washed down with Turkish tea and a fresh pomegranate juice. We couldn’t finish it all so Amanda packed 2 small Tupperware boxes up (that’s why I love her) and gave me one with the cheese in. The total bill came to 585 lira (£24) which, considering how much food is provided, was a bargain. Of course, before we even got back in the car, I had stomach issues. Back home we packed the car up with luggage, in the rain, then said our goodbyes. Even Kitler, the abandoned cat, came to say farewell.
I almost didn’t go to Fat Club because I knew it would be disappointing but I forced myself to find out how much damage a Turkish breakfast on weigh day could do.

At Fat club, the inevitable happened; I had gained weight! It was only 1.1kg (2.4lb) but that was enough to undo the previous losses and I only had myself to blame! A more sensible person might have then decided to rectify the bad result by being really good. However, as some of you could have predicted, that was not what happened and I got a lift up to Rehab bar with Carol. I ended up ordering a bottle of wine, as it works out a bit cheaper than having several glasses. I didn’t finish it all as I had to leave to meet Jamie and Ann at Aşkın’s bar. Tay wrote my name on it and said he’d save it for me.
When I arrived at Aşkın’s, Jamie and Ann were already there and had been joined by Mark and Pamela. I ordered a red wine and we all had a nice drink, it’s one of my favourite bars to sit and people watch usually. After a drink there we moved on to Sofra bar for a bit more refreshment.
By 10.30pm, I was leaving Sofra bar with Jamie to go to Umit’s birthday drinks at Sunset bar. Our friend Annie had invited us along and Pamela was already there, as was Yusuf the pharmacist and the flower girl. I had a glass of red wine, Jamie had a glass of white. We thought we were only there for 30 minutes, saying hello to Annie and her friends. Jamie and I do not remember dancing there, having more drinks or leaving but it turns out we were there 90 minutes and had 3 drinks.

We were back in Sofra by midnight, Mark had rejoined us too, and it turned in to quite a night – not that Jamie or I could remember much of it. The photos were a big help to work out the rest of the evening but it was a little concerning.

Photo credit – Greg Le Couteur

Dalyan – 3rd & 4th April

I had Yorkshire tea and a few strawberries for breakfast on Monday 3rd April. I started my second week of work at 9am and worked until 6pm, with an hour for lunch. At lunch time I had a vegetarian picnic style one, again, to save time and I snacked on a couple of bananas.
When I finished work, I met up with Jamie for a quick dog walk and then came back to make my dinner. I decided today was going to be a zero alcohol and zero meat day so I made garlic mushrooms with onion, leeks and quark with roasted pumpkin and sweet potato. I only had 12 syns today because I snaffled some chocolate but it did mean I was already at 219 syns for the week – weigh in was not going to be a good one, on Wednesday.

Tuesday 4th April was another day of work and I was enjoying it. I just had fruit for breakfast as I needed to be logged on to the laptop by 9am. The lira had gone up to 24.03 to the pound now so was very high. While working, I made myself sip lots of cucumber infused water in an effort to detox a bit before tomorrow’s weigh-in. I had a turkey, lettuce, spring onion, green pepper and cheese wholemeal wrap for lunch which was surprisingly filling. Our pool and garden maintenance company, Elite, had started to drain the filthy pool and the green slimy water was slowly disappearing. In the afternoon a massive rain storm came and I was expecting loss of power, but I was fine. After work, I made a simple noodle dish with garlic, courgettes and mushrooms. I was doing so well to resist chocolate or booze but fell at the final hurdle as I settled down to watch a bit of Netflix. This week I’d had 239 syns (89 were on alcohol), 4 meat free days, 4 alcohol free days and 7 days of exercise. I had a feeling that I was going to have put weight on this week, though.

Dalyan – 2nd April

I was up early on Sunday 2nd April because I had organised my first boat trip of the year. It was later than last year but this year didn’t seem to be as hot yet.
Ivona, the Captain’s wife, was sick and couldn’t make it. The weather was dull and quite cold but we weren’t going to let that put us off. Captain İsmail had decided we would go to Little Dalyan, a sheltered spot behind Iztuzu beach, then the lake at Köyceğiz instead of the sea due to the threat of storms and choppy seas.
The Princess of Ekincik boat was leaving from outside River Terrace at 10am, it was costing £30 each (drinks extra) but included food for the day.
On board Princess of Ekincik with Captain Ismail and his team of 2 young Turkish lads, were Jamie, David, Christine, Nanny Kay, Viv, Paul, Anna, Amanda, Greg and me – 10 of us in total. There was only Anna who I didn’t know previously. Tea and coffee was served with fresh pastries and Ivona’s home-made cookies. We had to be quick with the cookies before Nanny Kay snaffled them as she’d had them before and was rather partial. I indulged and they have got to be the best cookies I’ve ever had. The pastries weren’t too shabby either and I had 1 each of the 3 flavours. My healthy eating was definitely on the back burner for today, although I had already decided that I would curb my wine intake in an effort to limit the damage. Our first stop of the day was at Little Dalyan so that those who wanted to, could go for a walk along the beach or even chance a swim in the sea. It was too cold and blustery for me to chance it and most were content to just be there and have a leisurely walk along the beach. Amanda and I collected shells, Jamie collected glass and it was all rather pleasant. I had a bit of a shocker as I found out that Captain Caveman had lead Anna to believe I was disabled. She seemed rather impressed that I could walk on a beach and asked if I was managing ok. When I asked more, it turned out that Captain Caveman had said I ‘didn’t’ walk because of the leg injury in April 2020, which she’d interpreted as ‘couldn’t’ walk!!

We were back on the boat just before noon and I decided to take one for the team with Jamie and sample the beverages. It was the first trip of the season so we needed to check the beer was cold and the wine was up to scratch – it was. Jamie had Drew on the phone and I tried to get a photo with him on the screen. The sun was out and it had turned out quite pleasant as Ismail was getting ready to prepare our BBQ lunch.
The food was incredibly good and there was certainly plenty of it for us all to have a good plateful.

After lunch we sailed up the river to the mud baths where Greg was the only one brave enough to sport his swimmers and get in the dome. Every one of the guests was lovely and it was so nice to just have a laugh with old and new friends. The boat is one of my favourites and I find the owners really respectful and humble too, which is nice. On the way back a few of us had another drink and we had a bit of music for ambience while İsmail served up an array of afternoon treats. There was some delicious homemade cake from Ivona and lots of fresh fruit. I stuck to my 3 red wines and was pleased with that. We all said our goodbyes after a lovely day and I walked back with the Aussies, where they invited me in for a gin and bitter lemon. We’d all had a great day on a lovely boat trip and, as none of us are sun worshipping types, it didn’t matter that it had not really been the best weather. Amanda and Greg had decided to stay a bit longer in Dalyan and would be here until Wednesday. After that, they would head up the West coast towards Bursa, then İstanbul.

Photo credit – Princess of Ekincik, Greg, Jamie.

Dalyan – 1st April

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;

Migros Supermarket
Soup 12.50
1 Bounty 13.95
Noodles 15.90
Turkey slices 19.25
Lentils 25.90
Chickpeas 34.90
Mozzarella Cheese balls 49.90
Wholemeal wraps 57.50
Fish fingers 61.90
Total spent 291.70 lira (£12.28)

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.

Dalyan – 31st March

I met Jamie on Friday 31st March for a dog walk and a bit of a treat. At the bank Halıl, the security guard, let Jamie go in to the branch with Norman and Edna. Edna loved it and went over to the counter for a good nosey. Norman sniffed out the resident cat who was not phased in the slightest. After a walk through town, we went to Ela’s Kitchen for breakfast – I’d missed it there. This time, I just had the small sized English breakfast (without egg or tomato), not the large, as I would usually. Jamie loves the Menemen there so he had that and he ordered an extra sausage for the dogs to share. The food was fantastic and meant I would only need a small lunch. The small set breakfast was 140 lira (£5.90) and Jamie’s menemen with chips was 130 lira (£5.50). The English tea (Yorkshire or Tetley’s) is 40 lira (£1.68) per cup and the freshly squeezed orange juice is 55 lira (£2.31). It’s been 15 months since I was able to go back to England so I like to have an English breakfast from time to time as a treat. I would say Ela’s Kitchen has one of the best breakfasts in town. Norman and Edna can definitely recommend Sev’s sausage and they could hardly wait for it to cool down. I pretended to eat some of it and Edna was cross with me.
Back home, I found a ribbon to tie up my bike stand, which meant I could use it again. I ate stuffed vine leaves and 5 walnut halves for lunch then, at 2pm I went to my weekly Turkish class, which was good. In the evening I made myself some veggie steamed rice then went downstairs to call for Amanda and Greg. We ended up going to Sofra bar where we met up with Carol, of Fat Club fame. She was a temporary football widow as her fella and the lads watched the match. Jamie, who was out with his neighbours (Christine and David), came to join us too. The Aussies decided to go home after the one drink, maybe they had heard about my karaoke skills. Not one to be put off having a good time, I carried on without them. Jamie’s neighbours were absolutely lovely and I got myself a third red wine to join them. The red wine is 65 lira (£2.74) a glass in Sofra bar and is a decent one. It again turned in to one of those nights where I sang karaoke; ‘Simply the Best’ definitely wasn’t, as I didn’t know it very well but it’s Jamie’s song and I had to oblige. I murdered Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ then roped Nigel into ‘Islands in the Stream’ which definitely wasn’t our best song.
I got in after midnight and accidentally ate some Easter egg chocolate because I’d not had a proper dinner and was hungry. The good thing is, though, I’d only spent 200 lira (£8.25) and was still drunk but under today’s budget. As it was the last day of the month I’d already worked out how I was doing on the March budget goal that I had set for myself. It was a miracle but I was under by 993.18 lira (just over £40) and I was delighted with that. I had survived a whole month spending less than £10 per day average – it had not been easy! My weight loss for March had not been as successful as I had hoped, I was only 1.6kg (3.5lb) lighter than at the start of the month. It was still twice the amount I lost in February but I needed to try harder in April. With the start of the holiday season here now, there was going to be even more temptation and opportunity and I wasn’t sure my willpower was up to it.

Jamie’s video of me singing Tina Turner in Sofra bar

Jamie’s video of me singing Adele in Sofra bar

Dalyan – 29th & 30th March

When I got up on Wednesday 29th March I got weighed and took my measurements. Today was weigh-in and Fat Club day but I wanted to know how I was doing. This week I’d had less syns and less alcohol but I’d also done less exercise and ate more meals with meat in. On my home scales I’d done ok but it was Carol’s scales that really counted so I had to wait until 3pm. My measurements were good though;
Bust -1cm,
Waist -5cm,
Hips -2cm.
I had cornflakes and Yorkshire tea for breakfast but I didn’t have any lunch. I spent most of the morning working out my finances and checking where I was to the March budget I’d set myself.
At Fat Club I was really pleased to have lost 1.4kg (just over 3lb) and I stuck to drinking my 1.5 litres of water for 30 lira (£1.27). The Turkish lira was now at 23.68 to the pound so was the highest it had been for a while and set to keep rising.
After Fat Club, I walked to Rehab bar where I treated myself to a beer for 60 lira (£2.54) and then tried a new Turkish wine that Tay had got in. The red wine was now 85 lira (£3.59) per glass or you could get a bottle for 300 lira (£12.69).
I messaged Amanda and Greg to come join us at Rehab and they did. We sat chatting with Mark, Kate and Pamela, until Pamela had to go shopping and then home. Our next stop was to Waterfall bar, a glass of red wine was only 60 lira (£2.53) and is just as good for the same measure. While the 5 of us were there we came up with the idea of having kebabs from the new Hatay kebab place, opposite Migros Square. Mark went off on the Mobility wagon to get them and we each had a gorgeous lamb döner for 80 lira (£3.39). It was obviously not Slimming World friendly but I really wanted one and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was a good night and the Aussies were keen to go to Lukka bar for a last drink after we had said bye to Mark and Kate. I called at the bank on the way and we were in Lukka by 9pm. In there, I had another red wine for 85 lira (£3.59) while the others had gins. I’d gone over budget today but I’d not spent anything the previous 2 days so I was doing ok.

My cold had more or less gone by Thursday 30th March but I still felt tired and a bit run down. I had been doing quite well trying to maintain a healthy eating regime, drink less alcohol and stick to a rather tight budget throughout March.
As for the weight loss I was doing very well, having lost 6kg in total (13.2lb) and hoped to get more off before swimming costume time, this season! As for the budget, I had enjoyed the challenge, tomorrow I would see if I had achieved my goal for March.
For breakfast I had cornflakes, Yorkshire tea and an extra linden tea. I had another picnic style lunch of stuffed vine leaves, walnuts, cheese, pickled onions and falafel. I added a bit of tahini and membrillo which I used syns for.
In the afternoon Sara Savaş popped over as I’d been a bit naughty and ordered some Easter Eggs from her. It cost 150 lira (£6.31) per egg which was not frugal but such a treat. One was a Toblerone egg and the other was mint truffles, hand made by Sara.
I had pasta for dinner and had a quiet night in with a cup of tea and an early night.

Dalyan – 26th to 28th March

On Sunday 26th March I still had the cold when I got back home so I took myself off to bed until 6.30pm.
When I woke up I was so bunged up that I decided I would try something that Mark had been banging on about for some time. He had said that whenever he has a cold he puts a clove of garlic up each nostril to get the sinuses unblocked. Here, in Dalyan, all the cold medicine has pseudoephedrine in it which I can’t take as it makes my heart go weird. I was at the stage where I just wanted to feel better, I was exhausted and I was willing to try anything. I obviously googled it and various doctors advised against it but I was desperate to feel good again. I was meant to leave the garlic in place for up to 20 minutes but after 8 minutes it was doing its trick – it had actually worked!
I cooked myself chicken with garlic, onion, mushrooms and Slimming World potato wedges for dinner, using fres pieces of garlic! It didn’t look too good but it tasted really nice with it being the first hot meal I’d had since Friday. Amanda and Greg, The Aussies, had arrived at B1 but I didn’t go to meet them because I needed more sleep and to be ok for tomorrow. My new part-time job started in less than 10 hours and I was really looking forward to it.

Monday 27th March was my first day of work in over 3 months. I had Yorkshire tea and buttered toast for breakfast, before work then I had my first video meeting with my boss. I was full of cold still as we went through what I needed to do, and how, then the gaffer let me get on with it. I was hungry before lunch so I had a satsuma to put me on then broke for lunch at 1pm. I had more chicken, garlic and mushrooms with rice and then got back on with work. I’d already got some chicken casserole out of the freezer for dinner so I didn’t have to do any cooking once I finished. This was good as it meant I could fit in a phone call to my parents in the evening. It had been Ma’s birthday recently and I’d not yet had chance to speak to her. It was good to catch up with my parents and also it felt nice to be talking to them after a hard day at work!
I scoffed down my casserole with more wedges and then even had 2 biscuits with a cup of tea before another meeting. I’d already signed up for a 1 hour master class following the 4 days of challenges I’d done last week. So I dialled in, listened and took notes – it would come in very useful in the future.

I was up bright eyed and bushy tailed for my second day of work on Tuesday 28th March. It was weird waking up to an alarm and having breakfast while it was still chilly.
I went for cornflakes and Yorkshire tea, even though I knew I had to syn the cereal. For lunch I had a cold picnic style meal so that I didn’t spend my lunch hour cooking. I had stuffed vine leaves, pickled onions, steamed rice, cheese and walnuts. I’d got a chicken curry out of the freezer to have for dinner. The Aussies, Amanda and Greg had been here 3 days and I’d not seen them yet so I hoped to get to meet up after work. Strangely, we should have been having a lot of rain today but the weather was quite nice. When I finished work I ate my dinner then went downstairs to see Amanda and Greg. They had brought over equipment to get their apartment shipshape for the rental season and had already started on some jobs. After a good catch up until gone 11pm I went home for a much needed sleep. This week I’d done really well on reducing my consumption of alcohol and eating less syns so I hoped my result at Fat Club tomorrow would be favourable.