Thursday 05/06/08

I was persuaded to try quark by my WW leader. I have a track record of gaining weight with cheese - but there are so few calories / points in it that it has to be worth an experiment to see if I can have it.

Thankfully my weight is down Friday - so it looks like I can have quark.

General Data:

Morning walk = about 6.9 miles
Round the block = 6 laps
Extra exercises = none
Weight = 10st 0.6 lbs (i.e. 140.6 pounds)
Steps = 30,670
Distance = 11.85 miles
Remembered to take normal vitamin / supplements
No creaming regime – apart from morning / evening moisturising face
No ankle exercises

My Food / Drink:

2.5 litres of cold water
some diet cola
3 weetabix, sweetener, 350 ml skimmed milk
Shape no fat yoghurt
175g jacket potato, 80g quark, cucumber, lettuce, 1 tomato, 1 spring onion
pork loin steak, tin of baked beans
1 banana
2 clementines
4 plums
1 pear
1 pear
1 apple
sugar free jelly (1 sachet)

Oh, I really like quark! Though I like it chiefly cooked with milk, butter and caraway seeds, which I suspect is not the point.

Sophie

Hi Sophie

I had it on my jacket potato. I had never had it before and didnt look into recommended things to do with it - as I didnt know whether I would be able to have it again. It looks like I can.

I think that I had better not develop a liking for it with butter though - I am inclined enough to put on weight without that!!!

My next cheese experiment will be cottage cheese - I had some on Saturday - but my weight gain then can be easily explained by the garlic bread and snacks that day - so I think that it will be worth an experiment if I can have another "otherwise good" day.

Take care
Love
Margaret

You have said that I have made you have to look up unknown words online, well I had to do this today b/c I'd never heard of quark..lol

I suppose this is why I haven't. I will have to try some when in England.

Dawn and I don't think your gift is ugly..lol...or we wouldn't have bought it, silly. But tastes vary, so you might think it's ugly. Here's another hint: it fits into a suitcase.

Hi Margaret,

I do like Hifi bars also. Quark is free on slimming world, so I use it quite a bit. Its really nice with salt and pepper on a jacket potato or ryvita and also if you mix it into chopped tomoatoes after they have cooked. Be carfull putting it on any heat though as it has a tendency to curdle.

It would be good if the cottage cheese was okay for you, also really good on a jacket potato!

Don't worry I have this problem too! Its a joke among my friends that I take a holiday the moment I start my new job. At my last job, I started for about 3 weeks then went on a 3 week holiday. The one before I was there for a month and went away for about 3 months across Europe. But hey you're only young once and if I don't do this now I'll never get to!

I love travelling too, I think maybe I should be a travel agent.....

On other news, I tried to step up the challenge, but only managed to do 25k steps yesterday. AND I sprained my ankle so sad!

Thanks for visiting.

Kimberly
Quark isnt really in common usage over here - but it would appear that both the main slimming clubs in England really love it. Becky has just said that it is a free food on Slimming World (so you can have as much of it as you want without measuring) and WW have it as a free food on their "core" plan and count it as just half a point for 55g (a heaped tablespoon) on their "points" plan. I am on WW core plan which is pretty good.

Since it is basically a soft cheese - and I have just found that I can eat it - I am going to have to investigate how I can use it. We dont get too many fats that everyone says you can eat as much as you want.

Nutritional info from the container of quark:
Typical values per 100g
73 calories
protein 13.6g
carb 4.1g of which sugars 4.1g
fat 0.2g of which saturates 0.1g
fibre nil
sodium 0.04g

I am sure that I will love the gift that you have kindly bought for me. It is good that you dont think it is ugly. I am so pleased that you told me that it fits into a suitcase - I would never have guessed that for myself.

Becky
I will try out the suggested ideas for using quark and cottage cheese. I may well be using both a lot more in the future. I really like the idea of trying some new ingredients.

Ysolda
I am really pleased Kimberly loves to travel because it means that despite living in different continents we will be able to meet up in a couple of weeks time.

When I was a teenager I once went on the sick for a week a week after starting a new job. I think that they were uncertain whether I was going to come back.

I am sorry to hear about the sprained ankle. It sounds painful. Keep it elevated and put a packet of frozen peas on it. You can get a tubular bandage to give it some support while it heals. Do little ankle exercises where you make little circles with your toes (round one direction then the other), also point your toes forward and back a few times. When I last sprained my ankle I also found that swimming helped to strengthen it up afterwards. I hope that your ankle is better soon. 25k steps is a very good total for the day.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Margaret your weight is looking very low today!

Maybe the quark is actually good for you!?

I had to google quark as I'd never heard of it. It sounds good but I don't think I've ever seen it in the store here. I'm guessing it's not readily available here in the US??

Thanks for visiting.

Becky
I was thrilled to see my weight. Got a new low Saturday of 9st13.6 (139.6 pounds) and an even better new low today (Sunday) of 9st12.0 (138.0 pounds). I have to say that I was delighted as both days I have expected a gain (I am due to start retaining water). I have seen nothing to put me off using quark yet!

Judy
Kimberly said that she had never seen quark either. It really isnt that well known here - so it may be worth you looking out for it among the soft cheeses. I had never tried it before this week - but that is where I found it in my supermarket.

Take care
Love
Margaret

Excellent!

Now even if you do go up al little with the water retention at least you have gone down first!
Although your own eating plan obviously worked really well for you and you lost a big huge amount of weight with it, it looks like the WW one is doing wonders for you!
Hope you have had a nice weekend Margaret and enjoy whats left of it =D

Look at you go already down in the 130's I'm just beside myself with happiness for you! You certainly are an inspiration to everyone on this website. I can't believe how fast your body loses weight, it's amazing, and to think walking is your key to most of it. I know you eat real well also, and that to is a key factor, but WOW, Just WOW I couldn't be more excited for you! Your almost at your goal weight. What next?? I mean after you hit your goal, what will you do?? Any plans to celebrate?? CONGRATS miss super duper hot stuff! And thanks for stopping by my diary to check in on me, I really mean that!! way to go!
Hugs
Kim

138!!!!!!!!!!! Brilliant!!!!

Well done!

Out of curiosity, I looked for quark in the supermarket the other day. I found it. It was called Baltic style farmer's cheese. I googled it before going to the supermarket, so I saw a pic of it plus the origin (Baltic). I didn't buy any, though, b/c it was rather expensive..lol. So, you can get it in the U.S.--and mind you the supermarket where I found it was in a small Mid-western town...lol. So anyone in a more urban area is bound to be able to get it.

I'm surprised you can eat as much of it as you like, though--b/c those calories would add up pretty quickly if one pigged out on it--as I am prone to do.

I don't know how Ysolda gets away with taking so many vacations after starting new jobs..lol. I'm jealous. Here you have to work a year before you get any vacation time in most cases--especially at entry-level jobs.

Well well well well done Margaret!

You are truly a brilliant role model to all of us. Thank you for sharing your successes (and failures) with all of us, it goes to show we can do it!

Thanks so much for your good wishes. Am feeling heaps better now! Went for a mini walk this morning with a friend. Except I popped $20 in my shoe so that we could get a coffee after our walk. Only to find out it had fallen out!!
Seriious doh! moment