Slimming World Diary | Week One

Last Monday I took the decision to join Slimming World (hereafter: SW), or, as it's more affectionately known in my student house, 'fat fighters'. This is my SW week one diary, because to document is to have proof right? And to have proof means I can't ever forget how far I've come from where I've been...so here goes...

There's only so much a computer and the Internet can display about a person. The girl typing this is me, but what I post online is one a teeny tiny portion of my life, so much so that it can be easy to forget that there's still a whole person behind the blog, the website, the Twitter account and the Instagram pictures. In essence, we channel exactly how we want to be portrayed and viewed in our online pursuits and leave the bits of our lives out that we're not comfortable enough to show. For this reason alone, I have never really displayed full body shots of myself. Not because I am ashamed or extremely hate my body, but because the past 4 years of my life have caused it to change shape beyond my own recognition and that scares me.

At the start of this process I was 18 and about 10-11 stone (I can't remember exactly, but at 5'7 this was perfect for my height) and I decided at the time that getting the contraceptive implant was a good thing for me to do. Big mistake. It reacted badly with my body, I instantly began piling on the pounds with the crazy hormones it was giving me and had some other horrid side effects. At the same time I started my job in McDonald's, which was where I met J, my boyfriend. So, the combination of these three factors, all happening at the same time, propelled me to start gaining weight. At the time, when I was 10-11 stone I had the typical teenage hang ups, all my friends were much smaller than me and I thought I was massive. I know now that I was, in my eyes, perfect. I was my envision of perfection and it's only by realising that now, when it's too late and I'm 4 years older, that I am able to see what I've got myself into.

I'm not revealing exactly what I weigh now. I'm going to do that at the end when it can no longer haunt me. I am going to reveal my weight loss for this week through SW though: -7.5lbs! I was so excited to see that on the scales that it didn't really register with me what was happening. I got given my half stone certificate and a sticker for my diary...and the idea now is onwards and downwards (for going upwards would be a very bad thing to to!).

I have found my first week on SW amazing. I, along with my friends, am amazed at the things this plan lets you eat and how it addresses the psychology of overeating. I'm following the 'Extra Easy' plan, where I'm allowed 10-15 syns (the humorous SW name for naughty treats like freddo bars, crisps, biscuits and cake) a day, and can consume as much of the free and super free foods as I want (pasta, rice, vegetables, potatoes, noodles, soy sauce, fruits etc). I then also pick one choice a day from option A (dairy products like milk and cheese etc) and one choice from option B (carbohydrate based products like bread, cereal, crackers etc). If i'm hungry I reach for my free and super free foods, I've discovered Quorn and have eaten so much more fruit and veg recently. This is called Food Optimising, which is basically portion control with a fancy name and it teaches you about the different food groups. The psychology of it all has got me, and it's definitely working with my brain! For example, this week I've been cooking more (and have the burns to prove it) and made stir fry, pasta bakes, pizza, quorn dishes and fry ups for breakfast!

The other half of the plan is exercise, cleverly disguised as Body Magic, where you build upwards from 45 minutes per week of moderate exercise on a Bronze level, to multiple minutes of intense exercise per day on Gold, and then Platinum levels. Even in these past 7 days alone I've found myself walking much more, getting off the bus 2-3 stops earlier and walking the rest of the way, walking faster around the city and I even tried the 30 Day Shred. I have decided to work towards my bronze certificate this week and then once I reach my Club 10 (which is once you've shed 10% of your body weight) I will go for Silver and then Gold. 

So my target for this week is to lose another 3lbs, as set at my SW meeting. I'm feeling positive, and fingers crossed I can mirror this week's success, but burn myself less whilst cooking! 

I just have to remember to strive for progress, not perfection...

<3