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 Pasty / Steak Bake Recipe

This Slimming World steak pasty recipe is all over Instagram today, and it's free if you use the thin as a Healthy Extra!

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!

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.

Love Your Freezer

Brilliant article here from the Hello Healthy blog about freezing stuff! I use my freezer loads now and quite often batch cook stuff, portion it up and shove some in the freezer. I also use frozen fruit quite a lot as love the fruit juice you get when it thaws.

Total 0% yogurt with  sweetener, chocolate Hi-Lights Bourneville flavour with frozen blueberries and strawberries.



Quark with sweetener, lemon flavouring, frozen blueberries, strawberries and mango with a crushed meringue nest.