Starting again...sort of!

When you start slimming world the first time, you get a pack with all the things you need to start the diet, one of the things in the pack is a document called something like 'your fabulous first week'.

I have never started SW with a fabulous or fantastic first week usually I either gain weight or maintain, on the odd occasion I have lost half a pound, for whatever reason no matter how hard I stick to the diet, if I have been off it for a while I just don't seem to lose weight that first week back.

I would like to say to anyone who has started SW for the first time, that if this happens to you, it will eventually come good. Stick with it, keep your food diary and bask in the fact that if after 4 weeks you haven't lost weight SW will give you your money back as long as you hand in your diary each week. I have not yet, despite my history of poor starts, been able to squeeze a penny out of them!

Now back to this week, I am sure you can tell from my absence that I lost the plot a bit the other week, felt a familiar pattern emerging again, the pattern I was keen to stop when I started blogging about my SW escapades, 2 gains in 2 weeks - thankfully only 4 1/2 pounds not 7 this time but still a sure sign something needed to change.

I decided to stop with the targets, aiming for a specific weight loss seems to have the opposite effect, the most success I have had was when my only goal was to stick to the plan 100% and keep a food diary.  So I have started that again.

I decided to use the online food diary on the SW website, it is quick and convenient and allows you to look up your syns by keyword - which is great when you can't think who makes something.  There are elements I would like to change - it would be good to be able to group ingredients by recipe instead just a long list but overall I found it helpful, I even logged in at work to keep it updated.

So what was the net result of my efforts,  I had 72 syns all week (and it was a bank holiday) and lost 4lb!!

My food diaries for the week:

Getting back on track - changing plans

I decided that the best way to take control of what (as you can tell from my total failure to complete my food diary) has been a rubbish week.  I am really struggling to get my motivation following my holiday, I ate exactly what I wanted when I was away and now I can't seem to stop.  I am planning SW meals but still snacking on everything else.

Today is the first day that I have really thought about what I am doing, I decided that what I wanted was to eat cheese, and as any long term follower of SW knows, the best way to do this is have green day.

I haven't had a proper green day since extra easy came out, which is a long time now.  I have to admit I found the prospect of no meat really scary, odd considering I was a vegetarian for 7 years during my teens.  I just didn't know what to make, in the end I had pasta salad for lunch, which was a fetching shade of pink thanks to the beetroot. I threw in some chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, apple, and spring onions and despite my reservations it actually tasted OK.


I was starving when I got in, so I had a packet of morrisons egg fried rice which was 4.5 syns (I thought it was less, which proves you should check before you eat!)

For tea I had my second healthy B low fat soft cheese with garlic and herbs with mushroom and tagliatelle (for the first  had my usual breakfast of Alpen lights, it is a good thing they have a few flavours otherwise it could get boring).

I just finished my bowl of cherries, 0% Greek yoghurt, sweetener and vanilla essence.

I hope that I have managed to convince my mind it is supposed to be following slimming world and I can finally get back on track, thanks to all those who offered advice on twitter, I love how we can all be here for each other despite the fact that we could be miles apart - isn't technology great!!

Slimming World Food Diary

I am still reeling from shock, I have gained 7lb, in just two weeks! Half a stone - I feel so annoyed, I won't make excuses, but I will say I didn't expect that size of gain.

The shock has made me determined to stick 100% to the diet this week. I really hope that the result will be a large loss, I am so disappointed I really wanted my two stone award by now, but I am back up at a total loss of less than a stone after this recent disaster.

I feel that there are some clear reasons for losing weight and I want to write them here for the world to see, that way I can't hide from them.

Reason 1: I want a sex life! How is that for brutally honest I think I may be finding my virginity again it really has been that long. I know I am unattractive and I have lost confidence in that department, but I miss feeling sexy and desirable; I don't expect to look like a page three model; just vaguely attractive.

Reason 2: I am reliably informed the PCOS symptoms will reduce if I lose weight down to a healthy level.

Reason 3: I hope losing weight will increase my fertility and my chances of conceiving (see reason 1)

Reason 4; I have little control or clue how to deal with anything else in my life, I think concentrating on weight loss as my primary goal for a while might lead me to resolving some of the other issues I am avoiding dealing with.

I promise to be good from now on, in fact for lent I am giving up cheating on slimming world! I am starting early so here is my food intake for the last 3 days.

Thursday Eve

Spaghetti with Quark, tinned tomatoes, 1 tbsp pesto (4 syns) and Quorn fillets.

1 Banana muller light and 1 plum.

Daily total 4 syns

Friday

Scrambled egg, fatless bacon, and tinned tomatoes.

Butternut squash and red pepper soup.

Pork loin and bovril on 4 ryvitas (HE).

Rhubarb muller light

Fresh Fig

Steak, SW chips, salad and 1 tspHelmans XL mayo (1/2 syn).

1 Hi Fi delux bar (6 syns).

Daily total 6.5 syns

Saturday

Bacon, dry fried egg, wholemeal bread (HE and 2.5 syns)

Butternut squash soup

SW lamb rogan josh, sw chicken balti, rice

4 x SW vegetable samosas (4 syns)

1 x Weight Watchers naan bread (5.5 syns)

2 x Coors Light beers (9 syns)

1 tsp lime pickle (0.5 syns)

1 x galaxy ripple (9 syns)

Daily Total 30.5 syns

Sunday

Bacon, scrambled egg, baked beans, 2 x weight watchers sausages (1 syn).

Plum

Roast chicken, dry roast potatoes, mashed potato, spring cabbage, carrots, leeks, yorkshire pudding (7 syns) and Gravy (4.5 syns)

2 x Alpen light (HE)

Daily Total 12.5 syns

Total so far this week 53.5 syns

The weekend is always the hardest part so I am pleased with how I have done so far, just got to keep it up.

Update will be posted tomorrow.

For the full food diary for this week and the whole of lent please see the Slimming World Food Diary Lent Challenge.