Now what if I told you that I have lost one stone in under four weeks? Seems impossible, doesn't it. Even though it may seem like an ambitious goal to set yourself, you can totally shed those pounds. I have managed to lose one stone and three pounds in under four weeks, and that's without skipping meals, using shakes or depriving myself of all the food I wanted. I didn't even have a strict exercise schedule, unless you count running to get the little lady to school on time? By losing these extra pounds has really helped kick start my weight loss, I already feel better, stronger and feel so much more confident in my skin. In a way, eating good food, making sure I am getting in my five a day and drinking lots of water has really improved my mood, my skin and even my hair. So what's the secret?
Before I tell you all my secrets I thought that I would tell you a little more about me. I'm a working from home mama who is constantly on the go, like so many of us. I rarely make time for myself even though I know that it's pretty important. But let's face it working from home, being a mama to an energetic four year among other things I never make myself a priority. With the start of the new year I made a few promises to myself and the most important promise was to make an effort to shift some extra pounds. A few weeks into my health kick and I feel more determined and focused that ever. As the pounds are vanishing it's giving me the confidence to keep with my new lifestyle and become the best version of myself.
Ever since I can remember I have always had an issue with my weight. No matter what I am doing my weight is always a thought. A few weeks ago I came across some old diaries and a common theme throughout was my body and my weight. Reading through them made me feel quite sad, I really didn't think much of myself and would constantly refer to myself with unkindness. My weight was a kind of obsession. I was often called ‘fat’ at school despite being a normal weight meaning that my relationship with food wasn’t the best from an early age and it didn’t get much better as I got older. It effected me in ways where I would try and make myself sick, reading these diaries of my younger self certainly brought back memories and raw emotions. Now that I'm a mama I don't want my daughter to ever feel that she isn't good enough and I most certainly don't want her to think she's fat. It's not a term we use in our household. So it's all about positive body image, and being healthy in a bid to battle those demons. I want my whole family to be healthier, personally shedding those extra pounds may even improve our chances of conceiving. My ultimate goal is to try and shed three stones in three months and so far I believe that this is an achievable goal.
So the secret? Strip your diet and start again. Understand the importance of eating food that's good for you and preparation plays such a key role when it comes to wanting to lose weight. And whatever you do, don't call it a diet! Diets don't work, they may work on short term but in reality, you'll slip back into old eating habits and gain the weight back. It's more of a change in a lifestyle and wanting to feel good inside and out. Over the last few years I had heard great things about the slimming world plan and so many friends shed loads of pounds on the plan, so it must work right? The only downside of being a part of slimming world was those weekly meetings, I couldn't think of anything worse. The whole idea of sitting there in meetings, getting publicly weighed and talking about food make my feel so anxious. Nothing against them personally, but they are not for me. So I decided to adapt the plan to my lifestyle and go it alone.
It’s Back To Basics…
A big part of slimming world is that you have to cook everything from scratch, so you know exactly what is going in your food and no hidden extras that are not good for our bodies. Before changing my diet I would always break out and feel so drained all the time, and it's not because of some late night wake up call, my little lady sleeps through. I knew it was because the food I would put into my body. I would choose food and meals for convenience instead of preparing meals from scratch and load them with added extras that would do nothing for my body. Over the last few weeks I have been planning, meal prepping and eating a whole lot of good food and drinking more than three litres of water a day. So far, I'm feeling refreshed, alert and my energy levels are soaring. I'm feeling so good and it's good to know that my body doesn't have an ounce of bad food inside. Going back to basics with my cooking has been amazing and I can completely understand why people spend their Sundays with meal prep and planning their meals for the week. It's been pretty life changing so far and the best part we have lost pounds in weight and gained pounds in our pockets. What could be better right? Planning is EVERYTHING, so if nothing else try a little meal planning for a few weeks and see the difference.
Set a Reasonable Goal…
The more weight you have to lose, the easier it is to lose a lot in the first month. If you eat a lot of processed foods and don't exercise drastic changes to your diet and exercise plan may cause you to lose weight rather dramatically during the first two weeks, as you drop water weight. This means you could potentially lose a stone in a month. Strictly speaking the slimming world plan doesn't calorie count, however I have been watching my portion sizes and taking note of my calorie intake as I don't really want to overeat when it comes to carbs. I have set myself calorie limits to around 1,200 calories a day and if you prepare your meals in advance you are more than able to keep to your goals. Your doctor or a nutritionist can crunch the numbers to give you a better idea of how many calories you should be consuming based on your age, size, gender and activity level.
Focus on High Quality Foods…
In addition to watching calories focusing on the quality of foods is also key in determining what we should and should not eat in order to achieve and maintain a healthy weight or lose weight consistently. High-quality foods include unrefined, minimally processed foods such as vegetables and fruits, whole grains, healthy fats and healthy sources of protein. The slimming world plan is made up of five sections. Free Food, Speed Food, Healthy Extra A, Healthy Extra B and Syns. Foods that fall under the free food category require no weighing or measuring and are yours to enjoy. They should make up the main portion of your meal. Speed food is so important on the slimming world plan. It’s important that a third or half of your plate is full of speed food. Speed food can really help boost weight loss, and has certainly helped me lose one stone so far. I love speed food. You also have Healthy Extras that are placed into two categories known as Healthy Extra A where each day you are allowed 2 portions of dairy. This is to ensure your body is receiving the correct amount of calcium per day. And Healthy Extra B where each day you are allowed a portion size of fibre. This is called your Healthy Extra B allowance. The last section of the plan is focused on your syns, each day you are allowed between 5 and 35 syns per day. Everything that isn’t included in the free food section has a syn value. Syn’s are used to treat yourself. Even though I am allowed 15 syns a day I can't say that I have more than 10 on the really naughty day. There is a common theme with syns though people save them up during the day and snack on chocolate or sweets. I prefer to use them throughout the day and use them wisely and snack on flavoured yogurts, nuts or frozen fruit.
So far, slimming world has been amazing for me and my family. In less than four week both my husband and I have shed over two and a half stone and we feel amazing. By going back to basics and making some good swaps with our food and planning our weekly meals has been pretty life changing. We have been pretty strict with it and we have never been left hungry. We are enjoying the lifestyle change so much and even our daughter is trying new food. Only last week we made a couscous banana cake, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would look forward to a cup of tea and a slice of couscous cake. But I did. There are going to be times where we will indulge in the odd sweet treat (curly wurlys are everything) and treat ourselves to a takeaway, but majority of the time we are going to be cooking for scratch, filling our plate with good food and enjoying our diet. The next goal for me is to try and implement some kind of fitness routine, so it's onto the next stone.
* Please note this post is in no way sponsored or endorsed by Slimming World or any other company. As always all opinions are my own. I am not a medical professional or dietitian. You should always consult your GP before undertaking any change to your diet. This information is not intended to replace the advice or information provided by a medical professional. If in doubt speak to a healthcare provider or dietitian.
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Well done on making the change! We cook almost all our food from scratch now, and it's made such a difference.
ReplyDeleteWell done to you, that is a great achievement. It sounds like you are making great choices and stripping your diet back to basics is the way to go.
ReplyDeleteI too have always struggled with my weight. Slimming World has worked for me in the past but unless I stay on it permanently I always put the weight back on.
ReplyDeleteWe are a 'SW family' - the kids don't know it, but they are following the Slimming World plan alongside us - they are even making a few of the meals, which is teaching them about quality ingredients and what is good etc. My husband loses lots on this diet - less successful for me as I have PCOS - but I do feel better for doing it
ReplyDeleteI recently cut out all processed foods and was amazed at how much I lost. Anything in a box or bag I did not eat. Good for you! #kcacols
ReplyDeleteWell done! That's great! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteCongrats!! It sounds like you are doing really well! Keep up the good work! Thanks for sharing what is working for you! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteGood for you! You should be really proud of this. You are exactly right about diets...they are temporary. It does that a life change.
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating in #KCACOLS!
Well done on your weight loss, and this sounds like a really great way of going about it all. Readymade meals often hide a lot of less healthy ingredients in them, as well as being less nutritious so providing less real energy. It sounds like slimming world makes pretty good sense in that way, and it's obviously working well for you and your family! x #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteWow that's some incredible weight loss and sounds like a very healthy way of doing it too. Congratulations! #KCACOLS
ReplyDeleteOh wow! How amazing is that. Well done you. Such great tips.
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