So as you’ll recall from my previous post about joining fat club (Slimming World), I thought I would blog my progress as I think it will make me more accountable and I’m going into this with a positive mind that I can do this and blogging for some reason I think blogging will help.

So my first week has been great as finally my body has started to experience what real food is like again, you know the kind of food that gets yanked out the ground or falls off trees or the types of foods that have minimal packaging and you actually need to prepare it. Yes folks, I’m talking about vegetables, fruits, beans, pulses, lean meat, and some dairy that on this diet you can eat unlimited amounts of.  Yes, you heard it here first – well that’s probably a lie, not the fact you can eat unlimited amounts but that you heard it here first. But you really can eat unlimited amounts of them and in fact the more of the fruits and veg (there are a few exceptions) you eat then the more you will supposedly loose.  It just seems alien to whatever society has told us about diets as diets are supposed to be about suffering but it works.  Fill yourself up on all these foods and you’re less likely to reach for all the high calorific, full of sugar and fat foods.

Now I actually prefer eating healthy and would love a diet of all this stuff however it does require a bit of extra work like food shopping which is really not my favourite pastime, preparing and cooking, so really that’s what’s been holding me back but now spring is here it’s a fabulous time for new starts and also to come out of hibernation plus I know eating healthier and cutting out alcohol is only going to give me increased energy etc so i’ve started this at a good time.

First week was pretty easy, although the first couple of days were a tiny bit hard as we didn’t really have much food in the house so it’s hard to eat a lot of the ‘speed’ foods when you don’t have any!  Now, I’m getting technical, yes speed foods which mainly consist of fruits and vegetables are supposed to speed up the weight loss so effectively the more you eat the more you loose! Yes totally my kind of diet especially when these foods are full of nutrients.

I was pretty motivated all week and really didn’t need to even think about going off piste and synning!  Yes there is a thing called synning which allows you to eat what you want but it has to be measured and all foods that are not free have a syn value.  You’re not supposed to go over 15 syns a day but if you do then you can always make up for it the next day by having less or no syns.  Personally, I don’t like how they are called syns as it’s putting negative connotations on foods and some of the foods actually happen to be really good for your body such as avocado, nuts and seeds but due to their fat content they are obviously not going to aid weight loss.  Anyway, this synning lark is great for people who feel deprived by diets as it does allow you to eat any type of food but it just means you can’t eat a lot of it to stay within your synning limits.

Even on a night out I felt motivated and was still able to enjoy a few drinks but I just planned ahead and instead of glugging on the vino I switched to dark and stormy’s (rum, ginger ale and lime) as these are a much lower syn value and it meant I could have quite a few drinks and still keep within my daily syn’s.  It wouldn’t had really mattered if I’d have doubled my daily syns as I hadn’t really had any all week.

So first week kind of flew by with me eating probably more than I would normally as when you are on a diet you have to think more about what you are going to eat etc rather than just reach for anything.  Also I don’t know if you’ve seen the slimming world paraphernalia but it’s just full of pictures of really mouth watering dishes which doesn’t help although it’s great that there is so many dishes you can choose from and all the traditional dishes you were brought up on – spag bol, chile con carne, shepherd’s pie, fish and chips, a fry up and Sunday roasts are all on there but obviously their recipes are the lower fat and sugar versions and actually are much tastier to me than shop bought sauces etc.

So day of weigh in, note to self, DO NOT EAT BAKED BEANS ON WEIGH IN DAY! Yes, I learnt the hard way and had a can of beans in the morning which left me bloated all day and I know you shouldn’t weigh yourself in the week but I had been doing on a daily basis and I’d literally put 3lb’s on from eating the beans!  I had 3 hours to take it off so was drinking different herbal teas – chamomile, peppermint, ginger etc that help de-bloat, I took the dog for a good walk – exercise helps to get rid of the excess gas and had hot water with lemon squeezed in.  This all did the trick and after making a deposit on the throne I’d managed to get rid of that extra 3lbs!

So step on the scales at fat club and oooosh! 5 1/2 lbs lost in my first week!  Yes I’ll have that and committed to loose another 3lb for next week.  Now I know it’s not healthy to lose more than about 2lb a week but to be honest the first week or two is usually a lot of water retention you are losing so after week 3 I’ll be happy if I can then lose a steady 2lb a week!

Also not only did I experience a decent loss but I had been suffering with dermatitis on my arms for the past few years on and off and it’s completely cleared up, plus my skin is a lot more hydrated and not as dry due replacing alcohol with water!

Right best get off and do some online shopping for the week ahead – yes highly recommend online shopping as less tempted to get things that you don’t need!

Will see you back here soon for the next update!