Slimming World: A Lifestyle Not Just A Diet

Hi again, I thought I'd write a blog about Slimming World, something I started at the beginning of the year. I went on a diet in 2008 and managed to lose over 4 stone in weight, starting at 18 stone 3 pounds and ended up getting to 13 stone 7 pounds. Since then after failing to maintain weight and not really knowing how to maintain weight properly, I ended up putting all my weight back on again and more besides.

Back in 2008 I did it by myself, not really having the back up from my ex-girlfriend, who was also trying to lose weight but became very resentful when I was losing weight far more successfully than she was. I won't dwell on her failings as I failed myself as well by putting my weight back on again. Since then I have tried to lose my weight again, but sadly lacked the needed motivation to do so and kept losing some and putting it back on again.

Then at the beginning of 2016, along with my current girlfriend and step son, we started Slimming World. Advertising itself as a lifestyle choice as opposed to a diet, it claimed to work better than other diets. Coming with a whole host of recipe books, they say you can eat as much food as you want as long as it is "Syn Free" and everyone is allowed a certain amount Synned food per day. Women are generally allowed up to 15 Syns per day, men can have upto 20 Syns, Synned food has different amount of Syns depending on how many calories, fat and sugar in them. If you're a Slimming World member, you can download the Slimming World app onto your smartphone and check the Syn value of virtually every item of food to help you work out how much of it you can have, and work out how many Syns you're having each day. You go to a group once a week to get weighed, which costs £4.95 per week, whether you stay for just long enough to get weighed or stay to the group afterwards, so it's worth staying, as the consultant can give you encouragement if you need it and other members help out too. If you stay to the group, the consultant will discuss each member's progress, giving out weekly progress weight loss and total weight loss, but is sensitive enough to never give out your weight to the group (just in case you're embarrassed by it). You'll also get certificates for every half stone you lose, an award for Slimmer of the Week and Slimmer of the Month.

I will admit to being somewhat sceptical to whether or not it would work, but I have been going for 8 weeks, today being the end of the ninth week, so I'll be getting weighed again later. But after last weeks weigh in, I have lost a total of 2 stone 11 pounds, I started off at 20 stone 3 pounds and at my last weigh in, I weighed 17 stone 6 pounds. Which in 8 weeks is amazing, I never expected to lose that much in such a short space of time. I haven't been eating any less than I normally do, the thing is that the recipes for the main meals are balanced in such a way that they taste just as good as their full sugar or full fat versions, but a lot of them are Syn Free, so you can each just as big a portion, or an even bigger portion if you fancy it. Admittedly I have being doing a lot of physical activity at work, but on Slimming World, you don't actually have to, you can eat your Slimming World meals and keep within your Syn limit and still lose weight without exercise.

Thanks to the support I have got from my girlfriend and step son, the Slimming World consultant and other members and all the great friends and family that have given me encouragement on Facebook, I have felt the motivation to continue to do this, the encouragement has really been incredible, just as much as my weight loss to date. So thank you all, so very much.

Before Pictures:

 June 2015

October 2015

Pictures of me now:

See if you can see the difference in me.