WEEK FOUR HAS passed and Sunday didn’t go by without doing my weekly weigh in. I maintained my weight this week, which still leaves me stuck at 14st 3lbs. I think my body has hit the dreaded week four “plateau”.

I was furious and disappointed but I am strong enough to not let it get in the way of smashing my weekly weigh ins, until I reach my target weight of 13st 5lbs. Following this result I am going to make a few changes to the week ahead, to make sure I am 100% on track.

I am going to record a food diary, push even harder while exercising and make sure my water intake is up to scratch. I will also focus more this week on weighing and measuring my food, to help keep portion sizes under control.

My week

Lucy recording the podcast.

On a more exciting note, I was invited up to RTÉ Radio on Friday last to record a podcast interview with the lovely Taragh Loughrey-Grant, based my OT journey up until now. This will be published through RTÉ Radio1 extra, RTÉ.ie, RTÉ News Now App and RTÉ Lifestyle. Some of the questions that Taragh asked me were:

What helps you to get back on plan when you have slipped off the wagon?

This is the first time I have ever lost weight and managed to keep it off and continue to lose more. I am a strong believer in acknowledging and accepting what has been done when I slip off plan, and once I do that it gives me the freedom to move on from it and not carry the guilt with me into the following day or week or month ahead.

The quicker you nip it in the bud the quicker you start to feel better and see results.

Do you keep in touch with the other leaders from last year’s show?

Yes, I keep in touch with Clare and Noeleen, aka “Charlie’s Angels”. I love making a random phone call to see what they are up to and to see how they are getting on.

What are your top 3 recipes?

1. Chicken pesto pasta
2. Frittatas (meat free option)
3. Thai red curry “fakeaway”

Porridge day

Operation Transformation’s “Free Porridge Day” took place last Saturday. OT teamed up with Irish oat producer Flahavan’s to give away 200,000 packets of oats on the day.

I thought it was a fantastic idea to try and encourage more people to start their day off by eating a healthier breakfast. I got down to business and started getting creative in the kitchen and made banana oat muffins for the first time. They were just delicious. Here’s the recipe.

Banana-Oat muffins recipe

Shutterstock / minadezhda Shutterstock / minadezhda / minadezhda

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup maple syrup or honey
• 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 1 cup packed mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
• ¼ cup milk of choice (I used almond milk)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling on top
• 2½ cups of oats (or gluten free oats)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 165 degrees Celsius. If necessary, grease 11 cups of your muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray (fry-light).
2. In a large bowl, beat the coconut oil and maple syrup or honey together with a whisk. Add eggs and beat well. Mix in the mashed bananas and milk, followed by the baking soda, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon.
3. Add the oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, until combined. If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins, like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in at this stage.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the 11 muffin cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Bake muffins for 23 to 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
5. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool.

I hope you all enjoy this week’s OT programme and have a successful week following week five’s plan.

Follow Lucy’s plan on Facebook and Snapchat at lucydillon1. Operation Transformation airs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8.30pm on RTÉ One. Follow the OT plan.

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