I'm New and Need encouragement!!

Hey guys! I've been trying and failing to lose weight for years and I've decided that Slimming World is the BEST way to lose weight! I mean steak and pasta for dinner? FREE!? Yes please!! Anyway I'm finding it quite difficult to stick to at the moment - I work in Shakeaway and I work a lot, so I need some encouragement to keep a track on my food intake and make me feel like I have people to answer to and support me, PLEASE HELP!!

Much Love Xx

Hello and welcome

The initial step is done, you have realised you want to do something for yourself and your health and lose weight. Well done
I can only talk for myself, but my biggest encouragement is seeing the weight coming off, week after week. I feel healthier and I have become more active and the best thing is that I've just come back from clothes shopping in the next size down
Are you going to a group? I have learnt (the hard way) that I need the "pressure" of being weighed by someone else and the group support to be successful.

Good luck on your weight loss journey xx

Does work hinder your weight loss or do you think it will, I've no idea where or what your workplace is.

Where do you think you'll need encouragement?

Well thank you both for replying! I work in a Milkshake place and sometimes you need to 'market research' a few flavours, you know? Also its all too easy to miss making lunch and getting something in town, which is always difficult when you're trying to lose weight, because the people want FAT right? I'm not going to a group right now and I do think I would get on better if I did, but money is tight right now and to be honest I find it difficult to juggle my schedule as it is at the moment. I've got a boyfriend who has very strict instructions to keep an eye on me, because he is good at that and although it makes me feel bad and he doesn't like doing it, the fact it makes me feel bad makes it important! As of today I am starting a food diary counting my syns and keeping an eye on myself, so I can do it too!
One thing though, having never been to a group rreally cant get my head around certain things, if you guys could help me I'd appreciate it..
1) If its free I can eat as much as I like. Does that mean that if I have a syn free dinner and i'm still hungry afterwards, I can have dinner again??
2) I get peckish between meals a lot because of work patterns etc - what snacks are best? I've just discovered the mug shots and i'm gutted about uncle bens not being free anymore!!
3) I'm on a budget - any suggestions??
4) I cannot for the life of me figure out how I posted a new thread yesterday - how do i do that? it is NOT clear!!
I also can;t find my book right now which is annoying, but i;ll find it in one moving box or other...

Thanks guys!

Hello deakini13! Welcome to the forums and congratulations on taking the step into Slimming World

I've been to Shakeaway and can imagine the temptations you're faced with there! So, taking your questions one at a time...

1) What plan are you following? Are you doing Extra Easy or going down the red/green day route? You can eat as much as you like of free food but with Extra East one third of your plate has to be super free. For red and green days, you can eat as much free food as you want but exercise portion control too, don't just eat it because you can. Remember to stop eating when you get full so you don't overeat

2) Mug shots are good snacks as most of them are free, although that doesn't mean you should eat a lot in one day. They're not particularly healthy so for snacks I tend to go for things like fruit (this is a great time of year for fruit as the strawberries are delicious and the cherries are super juicy!), eggs (a hard boiled egg can be nice and filling) or (as I'm a total cheese addict!) Babybel. I do the red/green days so I think that 3 light Babybel is one healthy extra A choice. Other good snacks are Alpen Light bars or HiFi bars if you did decide to start going to classes. I think it's 2 Alpen Light bars for a healthy extra B choice.

What I also do when faced with temptation (like Shakeaway) is chew some of that menthol chewing gum. I hate the stuff but it also makes anything I eat afterwards taste awful so it puts me off of wanting to eat the things that would normally tempt me.

3) If you're on a budget then loads of cheap fruits and veggies are great. The basic ones in supermarkets are reasonable or if there's a local market to you that's a great place to pick up cheap food. Cheap cuts of meat are great too if you trim off all the fat, pop them in a slow cooker for a few hours and make an amazing stew with root vegetable mash and boiled potatoes. Pasta is great too and pretty cheap, if you make a lot of it and a homemade free tomato based sauce then that could last you a few days. I don't eat fish so don't know what fish prices are like. My favourite meal on a budget is a big jacket potato, a whole tin of beans and cheese on top! Totally free on a green day (with cheese as a healthy extra), very filling and super scrummy too! Throw a salad on the side too and it gives it a lovely bit of crunch.

4) There's a blue button near the bottom of the screen that lets you create a new thread. Took me a while to spot it too!

Good luck in your weight loss journey! arty0011:

I'm doing Extra easy. I'm not sure about how the red and green days work, but also I like too many different types of food together to handle the restrictions!! Thanks you for all those suggestions! We're pretty good at basics buying in our house, but the sainsbury buy 3 for £10 meat deal is great because they do a lot of extra lean beef chunks and chicken and stuff, so thats cool. I've got the slimming world magazine this month as well and i think I'll get it more often because there are loads of great recipes. I'm going to make the fish and chips tomorrow! I've done really well today too, because of doing some minimins chatting this morning before work! Thank you for that guys! I didn't touch a snip of milkshake today and had a really lovely healthy dinner cooked by my lovely keeping an eye on me boyfriend! yay!