need to lose at least 30lbs by end of March 2017-- going to be a Bride!

[Pinkemi]

Hi All,

So I did start a diary in the Atkins section of this website and was "trying and failing" to follow that plan for a while. I am now switching to Slimming World (as of tonight) so thought that I better start a new diary! (At least if its in this section I can switch to another plan if needs be and NOT have to start a new diary!)

If anyone wants to read my old "story" then they can do here: https://www.minimins.com/threads/trying-to-lose-40lbs-by-end-of-march-2017.356367/

I am getting married (finally!) at the end of April.. but I want to be pretty much near my goal by the end of March, so that I'm not stressing too much about weight loss before the wedding! plus i'd like to be thinner before my hen-party which is at the beginning of March. If I could get to 12stone 11lbs then I would be happy.. obviously lower I would be extatic!! When I was at my most confident I was about 12stone 11.. this is why I want to get at least there.. so 15stone 1lb to 12stone 11lbs.. is... 32lbs.. I can do this!! Overall however I would like to lose about 40lbs.. and March is about 4 months away.. so roughly 10lbs a month. phew.. thats gonna be hard!

So this morning I weighed myself in at 15stone 1lb. Not the worst I have ever been but not the best! I have my first class at SW group tonight.. Same one that I used to go to at the end of last year, but it has a different consultant!

What I don't understand is that if I pay £14.50 something I can re-join and keep my pack ... but if i pay £10 i can have a fresh start?! Why should it be cheaper to have a fresh start when you are getting a new pack? It doesnt make sense to me! haha

Food today is as follows:

Breakfast- 2 babybel (I guess I have to syn these as they aren't the light option?)
Lunch- Homemade Cauliflower and Leek soup (i threw other veggies in there but don't remember exactly what!) 4x seafood sticks. (Free right?)
Supper- Not sure.. but will probably be a chicken breast with veg.

HepA- 350ml of skimmed milk
HepB- not sure what to have at the moment.. I always struggled with this one!

Syns- 2 babybel = 6syns!

 

[Grunka Lunka]

Hi Pinkemi! Just wanted to drop in and say hi after our chat earlier Best of luck with Slimming World and I hope it works out for you. I'm sure it will and it'll help loads that you're already familiar with the plan.

It's a bit strange about the pricing, I'd say that it's definitely better to join as a new member as there have been some changes to the healthy extras recently - we were all given a new page to stick into our books about 5 weeks ago so you'll be getting the most up to date version.

Babybel can still be used as a healthy extra. It's 2 of the full fat ones or 3 of the light ones that count as a HEA...this was one of the first things I looked up when I joined as I loooove them! I tend to go for the full fat ones too since there are only 6 in a pack...makes a pack last 3 days instead of 2! You're also right that seafood sticks are free

I sometimes struggle with the healthy extra B choices too as I can't eat wheat and I get sick of gluten-free bread. If I can't think of anything, I have 16 almonds and munch on those while I watch TV in the evening. If you prefer sweet things then you can have 2 Alpen Light bars or 2 of the light HiFi bars from group. The Rocky Road ones are lovely

Looking forward to seeing how you get on!

 

[Pinkemi]

Oh really? so actually my old pack will now be out of date as I last went to SW in December of last year.

I drink a LOT of tea and coffee.. so I tend to use my milk as a healthy extra. Maybe I should swap them round? I dunno.. will wait and see I think.

thank you for the reminder about the Alpen bars! I have a couple in my desk drawer! Now i will go off and munch on one of them. haha

 

[Pinkemi]

So far I am finding today okay.. I feel positive! Although to be fair its always like this for the first few days of a plan! haha
I'm always really gun-ho until something slips, or I get bored.

I've had a bit of a backlash from family who see me spending the £5 a week for weigh in's as a "waste of time" and money which should be going towards the wedding. This is because in the past I haven't really stuck to the plan and sort of faffed around with losing and gaining the same 5lbs or so. I've tried to explain that actually.. this money IS going towards the wedding as it will help sort my image out.. so that I am a happy and smily bride.. but that didn't go down very well. LOL

But to be honest.. i'm like.. pfft whatever. Even if I only stick to it for a month to get myself back into the right frame of mind.. so that I actually start losing again.. that's what is important right? Not the £55 I will be spending this month on SW (instead of spending it on say.. takeaways. )

 

[Grunka Lunka]

I'm glad you're feeling positive, that's always a nice frame of mind to be in.

I've had the same kind of comments from my friends on spending £5 a week for weigh-ins but I just ignore it. The way I see it is that yes, I'm spending £5 a week to stand on the scales but for that money I'm also getting support from the other members, enthusiasm and accountability to stick to plan and, at the end of it all, I'll (hopefully) be at my target weight. I figure that if it takes me 2 years to get to target, that'll be about £515 (deducting my free week for hitting Club 10 ) and if someone came up to me and said that I could be at my target weight right now if I paid £515 I'd do it in a heartbeat. It's just going to take a bit more time but the end result will be the same. Before joining SW my hubby and I would get a take away at least once a week and that cost about £20. Therefore, I see it as a £15 a week saving

Keep going, you're doing really well!

 

[Pinkemi]

So last nights meeting was... I dunno.. The consulant seems really nice.. but I saw a lot of familiar faces from a year ago at the group! I hope they are target members and not members who are still trying to lose the weight. I also found the meeting a little bit.. tedious. I know thats terrible to say but it seemd a bit.. playgroup? Maybe I just dont like the new consultants way of doing things.. I dunno. Also because my surname is towards the end of the alphabet.. I am always near the end! haha

I decided to keep my history and carry on from where I left off.. and I have lost 9lbs since I last attended in December last year! Could have been a lot more in a year.. but at least its not a gain eh!

I didn't get home until about 8pm.. (thats the only issue with it being right near work) and because the OH was away last night.. I was left to fend for myself! Was so hungry I couldnt be bothered to have a cooked supper.. So I had the following:

Supper- cucumber slices, whole green pepper.. (good free foods!), 30g of cheddar (forgot I had already had my HexA. ) and 4 salami slices (more syns then I would have liked!) and 1/4 pot of red pepper humous.

So total syn count for the day was.... about 40 odd.

Had a weigh in this morning for another group I am with..

Weight- 14stone 12lbs!

Breakfast- 2 slices of bacon (with the fat trimmed off) and 2 x fried eggs, both cooked with fry light and a cup of coffee.

Oh and some raw spinach for my speed!

 

[Pinkemi]

Grunka.. Thats the point that I'm trying to make! I would rather spend the £500 on weigh in's which will hopefully make me into the person that I wanna be for my wedding.. instead of say £500 on decoration. Yes the decoration might help make the venue beautiful, but it wont be worth it if I dont feel beautiful in myself. I will be so gutted if I can't stand to look back at my wedding photos.. and for the amount of money its costing (weddings are insaine,) I want to be able to remember it with pride!

 

[Grunka Lunka]

Looking at your stats, over a stone and a half lost already is so brilliant, you must be really pleased with that! It may be over a year but it's still a great achievement

I know what you mean about seeing old faces at group. Since I joined SW again I've found that there are some ladies in group that have been hovering around the same 3lbs since I joined. Small losses and gains every week but haven't really moved out of that range. However, I also find that when we ask them if they want support, they always say no, that they'll be good next week except for the 4 meals out they're having and the afternoon tea at such and such a hotel etc. When asked if they'll make healthy choices, more often than not the answer is 'probably not'. It's a shame since they're paying for the support but not really using it; however, that's their choice. If you have the determination and a clear goal, which you do, I think the plan will work well for you. There are other members at our group who have worked so hard and had the losses that they want. My mum hit target last week and someone else hit target the week before. The target members there are very nice too and won't hesitate to give you a bit of a telling off if you start coming up with excuses Not in a nasty way, it's all friendly banter.

I know exactly what you mean about the wedding photos too. I got married 2 years ago (and you're right, SO expensive!!) and although I'd lost a little weight for my wedding, I'd have liked to have been smaller. There are some wedding photos that I really like but I always think that they could have been better. It'll be so worth it in the end though as you'll have all those wonderful photos of you looking and feeling the way you want to (and you'll be able to show your family that the £500 was worth it )

 

[Pinkemi]

Ah.. that loss has been more like over 2 years! I keep losing a lot.. then putting on a lot.. and then losing again.. I think I have seen the same 10lbs or so again and again for the past 6 months.

Not-so mid morning snack- pink lady apple and 2x babybel (HEA)

Not sure what to have for lunch.. I have a bbq chicken breast that I could use up.. if i just syn the bbq sauce. Maybe have it with some veg or salad.

Im working from home today so have a lot more flexability in what I cook!

Syns-
2x dash of milk= 2.5syns
bbq sauce= 2syns
Total- 4.5 syns

 

[Pinkemi]

Doing okay today on my first day!

Just enjoying my second cup of tea for the day and have a salted caramel hi fi bar as a snack.

We are possibly out for supper tonight so not sure what to have. Hopefully we can go somewhere where I can get something low fat or low syn.. so steak and bake potato. We will see! Need to step away from the cinema snacks too.

Syns-
2x dash of milk= 2.5syns
bbq sauce= 2syns
Salted caramel Hi Fi= 6syns
Total- 10.5 syns

 

[Pinkemi]

Ah wait! I have just noticed on the website that you can have 1 salted caramel bar for your HEB choice! woop! I'm gonna do that instead so it gives me more options later.

Syns-
3x dash of milk= 3syns
bbq sauce= 2syns
Total- 5 syns

 

[Pinkemi]

SO we might be going to Pizxza Express I think later for supper so thought I would have the superfood salad. Checked on the website the syn content and its come up as 11?!

I presume the 11 syns is for the dressing? This is what it says on the pizza express website:

A superfood mix of black rice, edamame beans, red quinoa, mung beans, chickpeas, cranberries, pumpkin seeds and kale in a flavoursome vinaigrette on a bed of seasonal mixed leaves, rocket, cucumber, roasted red & yellow peppers, red onion and fresh parsley with our light house dressing

Ah.. i didn't notice the pumpkin seeds. So im guessing the "bad" things are the dressing and the pumpkin seeds.

I just have to make sure I don't have any other syns then as that will take me up to 15.5.

annoying that a blasted SALAD is so high in syns.

 

[Pinkemi]

You know what.. thats's really annoyed me that a blasted salad is so high in Syns.

 

[Mini]

Pizza Express House Light Dressing (1 level tbsp) 2

You could ask for the dressing on the side so that you can control how much you use?

 

[Grunka Lunka]

That's good advice from Mini, I always ask for the dressing on the side. I also push to one side the things I don't want so you could always eat around the pumpkin seeds, or just leave some of them so you won't hit 15 syns? Or ask for the salad without them? 25g are 7.5 syns so that'll be where the bulk of the syns are. They might also roast the peppers in oil so there might be a couple lurking in there too. Whatever you do though, I hope you have a nice time and enjoy your dinner

 

[Pinkemi]

So.. I did enjoy dinner but I also failed a little with my choices.. I got the resturant wrong! We went to ASK instead of Pizza Express.

Haven't had pasta in forever so really fancied it.. stupidly went for the pesto pasta. Really don't want to think how many syns were in that seeing as it was about 780 calories for the dish. I also shared a garlic bread with cheese with my OH.. (sigh)

(I just looked this up using Pizza Express examples, as ASK doesn't seem to be on the list. My whole syns for yesterday came to 70.5 )

However, when I used to go to ASK I would have a garlic bread maybe to myself and then a meaty Calzone.. (which has about 1,000 to it alone!) So I'm pretty happy with my food choices... sorta. lol

I then also managed to resist getting an ice cream at the cinema even though all the others got one! So a small pat on the back for me there. lol

Food today...

Breakfast- Morn Flakes 2 Go, Golden Syrup flavour made with water. (7syns!!), 2x babybel (HEA) and a pink lady apple.
Lunch- BBQ chicken breast (2syns for sauce), pepper, cucmber and spinach.
Snacks- Cucumber and low fat cottage cheese.

I've just thought.. the cottage cheese has to be FAT FREE doesn't it? to be counted as free?

Total syns- 9syns

 

[Pinkemi]

URGH! I have just realised I have left my blasted Hi Fi bars at home. Bought 3 flavours so I could keep 1 in my desk drawer for emergencies / HEB choices. Need to stock up on Alpen bars too actually.

 

[Pinkemi]

Just found out I'm round the mother-in-laws for Supper tonight. She knows I'm on slimming world so hopefully will cook something slimming world friendly!

Am seriously craving something sweet.. but am trying to save my syns for later just incase I get given something that isn't completely free food! I seem to be up to 10 syns already! it was that blasted porridge. Luckily I only have one packet left so after that there wont be anymore tempation!

 

[Pinkemi]

VERY good day yesterday! Last night's supper was chicken stir fry ontop of some noodles. And then for pudding I had merguine and fruit salad. (fresh!)

Feeling positive! Hope I can keep it up over the weekend! That's normally the time when I slip.

 

[Jenny_b]

Hi, subscribing. best of luck getting to goal for ur wedding x x