Syn Free Food Treat

I've got out of the habit of having regular food treats. It's something I used to do years ago when I got to target weight. I'd follow plan weekdays and then eat what I wanted at the weekend, then the weekend crept into Friday, then Thursday....you get the idea? Diets I've followed before had always be so much more restrictive on what and how much you can eat that it's so easy to fall off the wagon as soon as you start eating normal food at normal quantities on the weekend. 

As I've found Slimming World to be so much more like a healthy eating plan where you just tweak normal every day food, in normal portions I don't really feel like I need a treat - other than wine ;-) I'm probably happier with a Slimming World burger than a Whopper from Burger King these days! I also like how they don't ask you to up your Syns once at target, which would just encourage me to slip back into bad habits. 

The easier a plan is to follow the easier it is to stick to and end up as a new normal . The more difficult and time consuming it is to follow the more likely I am to get fed up of it's restrictiveness and go off plan. It's easy to be more laid back around planning meals if all you have to have is a fridge full of normal food. As long as it's there you don't have to plan everything in advance, you can just open the fridge and decide on the spot. It's also nice and easy to have fall back food in the cupboard or freezer for a busy day. Pasta, couscous, tuna, beans, potatoes, Iceland ready meals...I could go on! So it's not the end of the world if you've not had time to spend all day planning your evening meal, then weighing and measuring it all out when you get in before you can even cook and eat it!

Whilst the food optimising plan might seem really complicated when you first read through it, as it begins to make sense and sink in it's surprisingly easy to follow. If you're struggling get help in group, or most Slimming Word groups have online Facebook pages only accessible by the members of their group where you can get help, support and advice.

I digress, now I just need to decide what to have for dinner and which pepper pot to use first!!

Slimming World Iceland Singapore Noodles

Making room in the freezer for a few bits coming tomorrow. The Slimming World Iceland ready meals are so huge they take up a lot of room! Very impressed! This was really nice, quite spicy although I needed to add a bit of salt! Best of all completely FREE! Even ate the peas, and I don't like peas much!

Starve Binge Dieting Cycle

This started for me in my late teens early twenties when I first started dieting. I've been on all kinds of diets but my own downfall has been restricting what I eat by eating very small amounts of the wrong foods, especially on days where I want a glass of wine or three in order to stick to plan. It seems so simple now, getting the most amount of food for the least calories by choosing wisely 5% mince instead of just lean, removing fat and having a third of a plate of speed food. But, until that lighbulb moment clicked on and started shining I'd eating small portions of high calorie foods! I got to target, but then what? I'd add more points, calories or drop the shakes choosing treats in order to try to maintain and fell easily back into bad habits. The problem I find is when you've been restricting your food intake and let go of the reigns a bit with treat food the bloody horse takes off and you're galloping back down the road to binge central!



At the time you don't think you are starving yourself, you're genuinely not interested in anything that's not on plan and can easily skip a meal or eat very little because you're focused, your goal is in sight and you're losing weight at the rate of knots! By restricting the food intake you can get the wine in and you hit target!

I initially resisted Slimming World because I thought portion control was my whole issue and thought by giving me free reign to eat as much of certain foods as I wanted would send me spiraling out of control and end up with me being bigger than ever.

For me once the control has gone and I've gone back to eating without counting points or calories the weight starts to pile back on, and it's then really difficult to snap back into "starve" mode to get it back under control. It was at this point I decided I might as well give Slimming World a go! I'd got to target, I'd started putting weight back on and thought the way I'm going it's not going to make any difference.

The first week I went for it with everything, all on plan but let myself eat as much as I wanted, and couldn't believe it when I lost 3 1/2 lb! By about week three the novelty of a cooked breakfast and huge lunch, and a huge dinner had begun to wear off and gradually over the weeks the meal sizes reduced as I settled into the plan and the weight came off.

I had tried a few time in the past that "diet" where you say to yourself I'll just eat what I want and eventually if I'm not restricting myself I'll naturally lose weight as I wont be craving anything. You can probably guess how that worked out for me.....not very well. This is the closest thing I think I'll get to it! If you're realistic and you struggle with your weight you have to restrict some things. It's a simple calories in versus calories out sum at the end of the day, but if you can still enjoy normal everyday foods just tweaking things here and there and watching out for synned food and your HEXA and HEXB, which is't really difficult then it's as close as I think you can get to that ideal.

I love the way that Slimming World educates you about food, I love the way they and their members are so inventive. If there's something you love, and miss you can bet there's a Slimming Worlded version of it somewhere on the internet, and nine times out of ten it's good enough to satisfy! I love you can feed the family the same things as you're eating and how they encourage you to eat normal every day foods and cook from scratch. It doesn't feel like a diet in the traditional sense of the word, but a re-education to learning a new normal way of eating and a normal relationship with food.

I'm sure I'll be in for some up's and downs as I try to stay at target but I feel like I've already made some important changes and am learning a new normal way of eating!

Check out here to see the kinds of things you eat on Slimming World!

Rude People and Feeders

Love this post from spanjee_sw on Instagram

I totally agree, and can relate to some of those comments. I'm not sure why people think it's OK to make rude comments about a persons weight when they are losing or have lost their weight. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't hear people making rude, sarcastic or patronising comments about someone being too big, but somehow some people think it's OK to do this when you've lost weight.

I've had.....

You've lost too much weight!
Are you sure you're eating?
You're eating too much!

It got worse as I got near target to the point where I'd tell people I was't losing anymore rather than argue with them as to why I needed to lose another two pounds when asked! Sometimes it's just easier that way!

But my absolute pet hate are "feeders"

Have a couple of biscuits, they wont hurt!
I got you this cake!
Have a couple of chips!
It's Slimming World Friendly....as it drips with oil.....

I think nearly everyone who has ever dieted has come across feeders. These are the people who try and force feed you anything bad, will buy you cakes without asking and then try and guilt trip you into eating them. I've done everything from giving in and eating it, saying I'll have some later and then trying to get away with not having any....

....Don't forget to have your cake!

I've said I'll take it home and eat it after dinner, and then given to my husband or son.

It can actually be quite embarrassing trying to refuse things as the feeder argues with you that you should have it. To be honest nine times out of ten I actually really am not bothered by whatever is being offered. I'd rather save my Syns for a glass of wine. So I've put my foot down, and it's got easier. Now people don't pester me to eat things, and never buy without asking, or expect me to have something just because they've bought everyone one!

Some things are easier to lie about, like being at target when you've only a pound or two to lose, and some battles have to be fought to protect yourself and your weight loss!

Monthly Goals - July 2015

Been inspired by Instagram to set myself some monthly goals! Here's my three goals for July! Let's see how I go!

Away in July and August so want some extra lbs in the bank to cover the additional wine that will be consumed! Need to get the exercise levels back up too as I've been slacking a bit so cycling to work will help that and save some money on petrol! Need a push to try something new as well as I can sometimes play it safe and eat the same things over and over! 

It will do the control freak in me good to have new targets lol 

How the order you eat your food affects your health......

Interesting article here ......

How the order you eat your food affects your health: Eating protein and veg BEFORE carbs makes you fuller for longer and could help diabetics control their blood sugar.

Now, however, scientists say it's the order in which we eat food that is key, rather than eliminating key food groups.

Starting a meal by eating vegetables and protein, and finishing it with carbohydrates, keeps us fuller than if we ate the same foods in the reverse order. 

This is because protein slows down the release of sugar from carbohydrates into the blood stream, preventing a sugar 'high' and then crash - and hunger pangs.

Read more by clicking the link above.....

Liberation From Be Perfect

Many years ago I went on one of those training courses that you get sent on by work every now and again and found out something about myself that I didn’t know. Usually it’s the same old buff in these things going over things you already know, but I came out of this one with a new insight into myself that I’ve tried to keep a check on ever since. One of the exercises was multiple choice personality questionnaire, I came out at the end of it as a “Neurotic Be Perfect”. I not only want things doing, doing right, and perfectly I want them done my way, or the way I would do them. It was 100% true and I’ve taken that on board ever since and always try to ask myself will the result be the same if it’s done differently, someone else’s way. If the answer is yes then chill out and let them get on with it! 

This overspills in to my personality in general. Whatever I’m doing I like to be as perfect as I can at it, whether that’s dieting, exercising or whatever. That’s why I think when I’ve done any kind of diet before I get veryfocused and rarely have a week where I put on, and have never had a huge gain whilst on my journey to target. Great, you might think, and in a way it is, but it also set me up to fail when the journey is over and target is reached. If I had more gains and struggles along the way it might just help the learning curve and make me better able to cope with the ups and downs when at target. What generally tends to happen is that as soon as I fall off the “Be Perfect” bandwagon I struggle to get back on, once the “Perfect” is broken it’s hard to fix. I need to let go a little and not feel such a failure when gains happen, as they will surely do.

6 Months Untill Christmas ......

Which means party frock season! I was reminded yesterday on our group Facebook page that it was 6 months until Christmas Eve! Although I spoke about the butter & coleslaw fest I will be having, that is planned for the day, and boxing day....and however long it lasts till it goes off or gets chucked out after that..... before Christmas means parties, work do's dressing up and going out all poshed up! I'm determined this year to be at target still and be able to splash out on something new and glam to wear! I know we are six months away but keeping these things in mind can help me to focus and try not to go off plan between now and then!