I was always one of those really annoying people that ate what I liked and didn't put any weight on. I've never really had to worry about my weight, fortunately, all throughout my 20's, I was a healthy size 8-10.
I have a huge sweet tooth too, I'm about the cake!! haha
My friends would be on diets and I'd be the one hitting the takeaways every weekend and pretty much eating crap all the time!
When I turned 30 I had Taylor, who was a hefty 10lbs at birth! So as you can imagine I had a lot of weight to lose, and although it didn't come off quickly, eventually I was back in a size 10 and still eating as I wished. However, as soon as I hit 35, everything changed.
Maybe it was my metabolism.
Maybe it was my 'eat what I like' lifestyle finally catching up with me.
Maybe it was the fact that around this time I became full-time self-employed which meant lots of sitting around on the laptop, not much exercise and a LOT of snacking!!
Maybe it was a mixture of all them.
Maybe it was my metabolism.
Maybe it was my 'eat what I like' lifestyle finally catching up with me.
Maybe it was the fact that around this time I became full-time self-employed which meant lots of sitting around on the laptop, not much exercise and a LOT of snacking!!
Maybe it was a mixture of all them.
Just a few months ago I started to feel bigger, I started to feel uncomfortable in my clothes. I've never been one to weigh myself, not since I was trying to lose the baby weight 5 years ago. For me, the numbers didn't matter, it was how I felt in myself, in my clothes that was important, and I was starting to feel frumpy, my clothes were getting tighter, I was struggling to dress in clothes that felt comfortable, that FIT me! So it was time to get the scales out...
The numbers on the scales shocked me.
I had no idea I was that heavy.
I had never been this heavy, other than during and post-pregnancy.
The final push for me was a photo of myself I posted on my Instagram. I didn't like the way I looked. I felt uncomfortable every time I looked at it.
Something had to change.
I've tried diet products and often had great results (when I do them properly... ha) but I'm known for giving up too quickly (I fancy pizza, I have the pizza!!), having next to no willpower when it comes to sugary snacks and I tend to fail when doing these things alone. A quick fix is great if I stick to it, but I needed a lifestyle change, and I needed accountability.
Hence why I found myself following the 'Slimming World' signs up the stairs of my local leisure centre and feeling my heart rate rise as I headed for the door. I walked in to see a few ladies wandering around, seating themselves in the semi-circle of seats around a table full of food, books, leaflets and all sorts. I'll be totally honest, when I saw the sign 'NEW MEMBERS WAIT HERE' in the corner, part of me almost turned back through the doors. But I sat myself down, flicked through the Slimming World magazine left on my seat and read through the leaflets and literature that surrounded the 'new members area' waiting to see if anyone was going to join me. I needn't have worried, I was quickly joined by 3 other newbies and the lovely consultant came over and chatted to us about what it all involved before we joined the other ladies.
Stepping on their scales, I was even heavier than I originally thought. But strangely I didn't feel too bad as I knew I was now on the right track and knew what I needed to do to shift the weight and feel better about myself.
Slimming World has been around for 50 years now, but for those that don't know much about it, it's a flexible, 'no-hunger' eating plan that is described as 'food optimising' rather than a rigid weightloss 'diet'. So you can enjoy delicious, satisfying, healthy meals by filling yourself up on 'Free Foods' such as meat and fish, pasta, rice and eggs, paying close attention to those described as 'Speed Foods' like fruit and veg, which will aid weight loss, ensuring you get your (measured) 'Healthy Extras' which provide a good balance of nutrients, for example, milk and cheese for calcium, and bread and cereals for fibre, and then being more mindful about your 'treats', those things that we all love the most but ain't so good for ya! These are called 'Syns' and this enables us to still have a little bit of what we fancy but count them within our daily Syns allowance to ensure we don't have too much.
My consultant, Roxanne was absolutely lovely! She explained everything in simple terms, was relatable, down to earth, supportive and made herself available for any help or advice. I think the support and accountability of a good consultant and group is definitely what I need to help me work towards my target.
My consultant, Roxanne was absolutely lovely! She explained everything in simple terms, was relatable, down to earth, supportive and made herself available for any help or advice. I think the support and accountability of a good consultant and group is definitely what I need to help me work towards my target.
I walked home from the meeting (I know right, starting off on the right track!) feeling excited about the journey and ready to get home with my pack of booklets to read through and start planning my meals for the week. I took my 'before' photos, recorded my measurements in my diary and was ready to go.
I'm now coming towards the end of my first week.
By the time this post goes live, it'll be weighing day. I can't tell you how nervous I am about not losing any weight. What if I don't? What if I've gained? I mean, imagine!! I'm sure many new members often feel like this but I feel like I'm eating more food than ever before, having 3 pretty substantial meals a day compared to my 2 very light meals and a big dinner as before, and that's if I had time for breakfast! But I know these meals are full of Free foods and Speed foods. And I've stuck to my 'average of 10 syns' a day goal and although there have been a few moments I've had to remind myself not to head to the kitchen to grab something sweet, I've not really missed snacking at all. I've enjoyed all my meals, I've been drinking a detox tea which is a botanically infused tea including ingredients such as White Tea, Puerh Tea, Oolong Tea, Green Tea, Rose Petal, Black Tea, Persimmon, Chamomile, Dandelion & Ginger which can help to boost a weightloss / detox diet, as a yummy iced tea with loads of fruit. I've stuck to plan and I've been stepping away from the laptop and going out for short walks, and overall I've been feeling really good.
By the time this post goes live, it'll be weighing day. I can't tell you how nervous I am about not losing any weight. What if I don't? What if I've gained? I mean, imagine!! I'm sure many new members often feel like this but I feel like I'm eating more food than ever before, having 3 pretty substantial meals a day compared to my 2 very light meals and a big dinner as before, and that's if I had time for breakfast! But I know these meals are full of Free foods and Speed foods. And I've stuck to my 'average of 10 syns' a day goal and although there have been a few moments I've had to remind myself not to head to the kitchen to grab something sweet, I've not really missed snacking at all. I've enjoyed all my meals, I've been drinking a detox tea which is a botanically infused tea including ingredients such as White Tea, Puerh Tea, Oolong Tea, Green Tea, Rose Petal, Black Tea, Persimmon, Chamomile, Dandelion & Ginger which can help to boost a weightloss / detox diet, as a yummy iced tea with loads of fruit. I've stuck to plan and I've been stepping away from the laptop and going out for short walks, and overall I've been feeling really good.
There have been a few moments I've panicked... 'what can I eat at the carvery, I wonder what it was cooked in?', 'I wonder how many syns that slice of birthday cake had in, have I ruined everything?' and 'Just one more rice cake to feed my snack habit!!' but I think for my first week I haven't done too badly at all and I'm really hoping I've lost something and I'm on the way to a more happier, comfortable, slimmer me!!
So ladies, WISH ME LUCK!!!
I'll keep you posted!
Have you done Slimming World before?
Do you have any tips for me?
