Sarah Butterfly's Slimming World Journey

Hi everyone I'm making a weight loss diary as tomorrow is the day I join Slimming World! I've found a morning class so there's no excuses for not starting straight away with healthy eating!

I'm excited, and nervous, and hoping that this time I get my head in gear and lose the weight. I tried WW a year ago and I found that I kept trying to bend the rules, and cheat. I lost about 14lbs but it took me a year to do it! I'd often lose some weight and the next 3 or 4 weeks would be gains or STS because I'd be telling myself that I deserved treats for losing 1lb!

I'll find out tomorrow what my weight is. I think it's probably about 13st 10lbs, and when I joined WW it was 14st 7lbs so I've kept some of it off. My target is 10st 10lbs so a target of 3 stone to lose which I hope to reach in 2015 by the end of the year.

I piled on about 4 stone in recent years due to struggling with depression and anxiety. I am a big emotional eater and I need to stop rewarding myself with food, or eating when I feel any kind of emotion! I think that's going to be the hardest part.

I'm excited to start and make new friends! I'm keen to try cooking new things and I've been looking up lots of yummy SW recipes.

I think that's everything.... so, onwards and downwards!

Well I'm all signed up!

I decided not to go to the class (due to health reasons) and instead signed up for Slimming World Online with the Bella offer. Just been reading up on everything and about to have breakfast!

I'm going to be awkward and split my HEX A and HEX B choices because I won't be able to have all of the recommended milk or oats allowance, so I might as well have half the milk and oats and have half cheese allowance and Alpen light too!

Fantastic, good choice

Your posts struck a chord with me as my weight gain if 3.5 stone has been a result of anxiety, depression and the pills I took to regulate it all. I weaned myself off the tablets last year and started fresh in 2014

I have never found losing weight so difficult due to emotional eating. I have settled into a 1lb a week pattern this past couple of months (after bursting into tears at group) which brought my weight back to my starting weight and I'm finally in the weight loss period again.

Good luck with you journey and make you vary all the lovely recipes to keep it exciting.

Thanks! Yep I am also on antidepressants and other medications that definitely played a part in my weight gain. Though I couldn't manage without them, so I'm learning to eat sensibly and exercise more to lose weight in spite of the pills! Glad to hear you are now medication free.

Lunch today was baked jacket potato skins with cheese and ham, and baked beans. I used the remaining half of my HEX A allowance for the cheese.

About to go to Sainsbury's to get lots of fruit and veg!

Had a snack of an alpen light lemon bar (so yummy!) as the second half of my HEX B and an apple. About to head off to Toby Carvery- my favourite! Been looking the syns up. I was amazed that the meat and veg are all free! Just to go careful on the roast potatoes and stuffing

Carvery was yummy! I had turkey, 2 roast potatoes (3 syns), some stuffing (4 syns), peas, carrots, green beans and gravy (1 syn). I ate a lot less than I usually do at the carvery- I started on my veg first and then started on the other bits and I actually stopped when I felt full rather than carry on to bursting point!

Got home and had strawberries with an alpro soya yogurt (2 syns). Total syn count for today is 10.5 not bad!

Your carvery sounds like a right victory! Well done

Good luck on your journey. I'm a slow loser but this site really helps me keep on track, and also keep my meals varied so I'm sure it will help you too

Subscribing. Good luck on your weight loss journey x

Thanks everyone! I was a bit puzzled as I mentioned on facebook I had a carvery and a friend who's on SW said you can't have carverys on the plan! I said I'm sure you can as long as you have lean meat, 1/3 superfree and syn any extras.

Breakfast this morning was oats from half HEX B and 1/3 milk from HEX A and 0.5 syns of golden syrup.

Lunch was 1 slice of wholemeal bread (the small loaf) as rest of HEX B with baked beans, and 2 crispbreads (2 syns) with ham and a LC light triangle (HEX A)

I struggle to think of decent lunches! I was shocked to find my 'usual' lunch of 4 crispbreads would be 4 syns and pom bear crisps would be 5 syns! I'm not spending 9 syns on lunch every day. The crisps can be a treat rather than a daily thing!

Dinner is in the slow cooker. It's kedgeree- a fish curry. I've done mine with smoked catfish and basmati rice. I'm excited to see how it turns out!

Just done a 1.3 mile walk towards my silver body magic award. It's such a lovely day outside!

Good luck on your journey. I've been cutting my anti depressants down over the last few months+been completely off them since sat, not slept since. Hope its just a coincidence xx

Hopefully things will settle down and you'll sleep soon!

Dinner was lovely, I had the Kedgeree I made- catfish (free), basmati rice (6 syns), hard boiled egg (free), milk (2 syns), spices (free), garlic (free), onion (free), carrot (superfree), broccoli (superfree), green beans (superfree) and carrot (superfree).

Also I bought a weight loss plaque from ebay and thought I'd share it!

Just found out plain rice is free! Woohoo, saved 6 syns there!

Dessert was banana, strawberries and a pot of Alpro Soya apple and pear yogurt (2 syns).

Syns so far- 6.5

Just had an Alpen Light lemon drizzle bar! They are so scrummy.

Total syns for day 10

Im subbing too! Im on anti-depressants as well and they coupled with post natal depression led to me gaining 2st back in 6 months. SW is helping so much with emotional eating as I know if its within my syns I can have a treat, plus with better food and bigger portions I dont feel the need to snack as much! The carvery meal sounds so yummy. Im jealous! Im not the best at making lunches either. Im trying to make soups or vegetable based pastas or rice dishes at the moment followed by some fruit/yogurt. Your day sounded really good and hope you keep doing well x

Thanks I find SW so much better for my binging/emotional eating because I can eat big portions of free and superfree food I'm actually not hungry inbetween meals so don't really feel like binging! And as you say being able to have some treats every day using my syns is fantastic.

Breakfast this morning was 30g All Bran Golden Crunch as HEX B with a dash of milk from HEX A.

Lunch was the same as yesterday- 1 slice brown bread (I think 2.5 syns) with baked beans and 2 crackerbreads (2 syns) with ham and LC light from HEX A. I did have some pom bear crisps (5 syns) to satisfy my craving for crisps!

Snack of a satsuma!

All this extra fibre is making me constipated and gurgly

Dinner was a stir fry. Chicken, egg noodles (3 syns), sweet chilli sauce (3 syns), grated carrot, cabbage, red onion, broccoli, peppers and beansprouts. Very yummy!

I honestly am starting to worry that I won't lose any weight! I feel like I've eaten so much.

Going to have an alpro yogurt later with fruit bringing my syns up to 17.5 for the day. I know I've gone a bit over, but was under the previous two days so hoping it balances out!

I feel like that everyday!

Breakfast this morning was 20g oats and some skimmed milk using part of HEX A and part of HEX B with 0.5 syns worth of golden syrup.

Thanks to all this fibre I've been getting I'm really bunged up! I'm worried if it doesn't shift by Monday my weight will be artificially high.

Just done 15 minutes aerobics, only got 15 minutes of activity left to do this week and week 1 of silver body magic challenge will be complete!

About to have lunch. Have decided to hard boil some eggs, and have a go at making potato cakes.

The potato cakes failed at being cakes so I kind of just mushed it up in the frying pan and ended up with lightly fried (using fry light) mashed potato but it tasted very yummy!

I had about 1.5 potatoes, garlic, 2 slices of ham, some cheese from HEX A, black pepper and some paprika and 2 hardboiled eggs.

Then an Alpen Light for rest of HEX B.

Planning on having a dairy free chocolate bar later but was shocked that it's 10 syns! It's only a small bar!