Slimfast Day 5

I have just returned from the gym (drum roll please!!!) and both my weight and my BMI are down! I was initially 84kg and have come down to 81.8kg which is a loss of 2.2 kg!! Woo hoo! MY BMI has gone from 31.58 to 31.2 . I guess, the later isn't much of a loss but every little helps

To be fair my last gym weigh in was in October and since then haven't weighed myself on a reliable scale . The ones I have at home are pretty useless. But, I don't care what spurred it on, have a feeling that the slimfast has definitely had some affect and the weightloss feels good. As previously mentioned in my older posts shifting the weight down rather than down up is an achievement in itself. I had almost started feeling as though I couldn't lose weight at all but my faith in myself and weightloss has been renewed today. I will weigh myself next week or the week after depending on where I am around Christmas. And , to be fair it probably won't be in the gym🙋

It's the 22nd of December 2016 and I am on my 5th day of slimfast. I started the day with good intentions and took out a banana milkshake to drink. Big mistake! I absolutely hated it but that may be because I have never really liked anything banana flavoured. Occasionally banana bread is acceptable but otherwise anything banana just won't do it for me. On the plus side hubby glugged it all down and seemed to really enjoy it:)

I didn't have the time to think about what I should eat instead I dropped my daughter to school and then headed home for breakfast. I looked up the calories in a single tesco medium sized egg and thought okay as long as keep this meal in the 200 calorie mark should be okay right?

Breakfast :  was two fried eggs and a slice of kingsmill 50 50 on its own. Perhaps should try boiled eggs next time to save on the calories.This worked out to be 273 calories which is 69 calories more than a slimfast milkshake. That being said I thoroughly enjoyed it and knew I could balance it with the other slimfast meals, snacks , fruit and or dinner in the evening.

Snack 1: 2 Sun date mejdhool dates approximately 80 calories . BALANCED ALREADY:). These are excessively yum!

Lunch : This was another chocolate crunch bar melted to perfection in the microwave with oozing chocolate. I think these maybe growing on me because I seem to be liking the taste now!

Snack 2:  Empire apple and a headache. I have had a headache since started prepping dinner for the family and haven't been able to shake it off.

Dinner : Dinner was a a cup of boiled potatoes, half a cup of boiled carrots, boiled chicken and some butter added in.

I use the myfitnesspal app as a tool to measure calories and measure out my portions by cups. According to that I should be eating 1910 calories a day to lose weight based on my weight! which is obviously about 656 or a whole extra meal on top of what slimfast is guiding me to eat.
Slim fasts calories if I stayed just on the meal replacement shakes, bar and snacks the whole day gives me a grand total of 1254 (including the 600 calories dinner).

Snack 3: I probably will have a snack bar if feel hungry at bit later. I didn't have one in the end as was to tired and went to sleep.

Exercise : The day has been intensive exercise wise. I did 13 minutes on the cross trainer and about 20 minutes of strength training.

Again, when exercise comes in I feel super tired by the end of the day and still have a persistent headache and think I will take some paracetamol before bed.

I do feel slimfast makes me extremely gassy and that has its affect on going to the toilet-which I wouldn't recommend!

Day 5 done!!! 

I am continuing with my visualisation of dreaming of myself like when I was at university and could put on the ugliest t-shirt and jeans and look fabulous-why? Because I had a flat stomach at a uk size ten. To be fair I am not aiming for that at this point -am focusing on short term goals of feeling good when I meet friends over the holidays with a few kg lost (I can actually say that now!!-feeling good)!

Are you trying to lose weight? Do get in touch and drop me a comment below.

Best ,

O

Slimfast Day 4

 Day 4 started with a late breakfast. I find the late breakfast makes sticking to the #slim fast challenge easier. Yesterday, when I had an early breakfast, I really struggled in between breakfast and lunch. Top it with some  exercise and the calories just don't seem enough to sustain you. 

Aims for tomorrow include a proper weight reading from the scale at the gym and getting my eyebrows threaded at Tesco 😛 My eye brows are in a dire need and I have been delaying it so can get it done just before the weekend in preparation for a lunch at a friends.

I have been watching some youtube videos of what other bloggers eat in a day. Oh my god! It does seem as though the whole world is on a low carb diet of only eggs, salad and chicken. How do they do it? 

Breakfast : I had a vanilla shake for the first time today. I repeated the process from yesterday and added enough water to bring it up to a pint and then for a twist added a spoon of nescafe coffee and a small stick of cinnamon. This was all blitzed in a blender to create some yumminess. I don't think I could have managed this vanilla shake on its own.  If I am at home I tend to stretch drinking my morning shake out over an hour. I find I cannot finish it in one go as a pint of milkshake is plenty for me (did I just say that?!). Does this mean my stomach is shrinking or am I just being sensible with the little food we get on this meal plan 😛 I am tempted to start looking for 200 calorie breakfast recipes though and maybe after two weeks to start introducing them in for variety instead of a milkshake or bar every morning and lunch.

Snack 1: Chose a savoury snack today. It was the sour cream and chive pretzels and again quite enjoyed these though the quantity felt less.

Lunch : This was another yoghurt fruit crunch bar with a big cup of whole milk tea. I find eating these bars pretty dull. Perhaps should substitute it with two savoury snacks or two chocolate bars? Good idea perhaps? What do you think?

Snack 2:  I had the chocolate caramel snack bar while juggling toddler bath time, clean up and reading! 

Dinner : Dinner was a 600 calorie meal with some meat, 1 slice of bread  and salad. Again, trying to control quantity and stay within the calorie limit. Coupled with the shakes, I do look forward to this meal the most. This feels normal, easy and keeps me full for longer. 

Snack 3: Will be having the nutty nougat bar below with or without a cup of tea. This entirely depends on if I can be bothered to drag myself of this sofa. Its been a long and  extremely hectic day keeping a toddler busy.How do so many mums do it? I used to find going to work as a project manager much easier than this job. Parenting is the hardest job ever!
update: I had a banana in the end instead of the bar!

Exercise : Activity wise a few random bursts of crazy dancing with my daughter have continued.

In summary I am exhausted today! I was able to stick to the plan without any distractions and believe the structure is working for me. I don't find the food very exciting and really hope slimfast brings out some variety in their 200 calories meals. I really hope to see some results at the end of this week or will be extremely disappointed! 

Day 4 done!!! Feel like a super tired star! I am happy that I haven't been distracted by any of the food I have been feeding my toddler or my husband. I can feel the focus and it has a lot to do with visualisations and short terms goals I am setting myself. My first is meeting a friend over the weekend and the second is a big dinner with lot of friends the week after. Shorter targets are easier to stick to and if results follow we are onto a winning combination! Fingers crossed though! I do feel after this week if do lose weight will be writing on a weekly basis rather than every day -as this has been inspiring but has required a lot more discipline than I have recently shown or known I had. Should I continue? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated and will know that am not just rambling to myself all the time😜

Are you trying to lose weight? Do get in touch and drop me a comment below.

Best ,

O

Slimfast Day 3

Day 3 lead to an early start with the school run and a gym session.  My motivation is still at its peak and I have to admit can't sleep at night with the excitement of seeing some results at the end of the  week ( or so I hope!!). I keep thinking about how if manage to lose even a l lb, I will truly be on the right path towards losing some weight. As previously mentioned have been stuck in a real rut and haven't been able to shift any weight, other than upwards on the scale, so am truly praying this week will make a difference.

I spent last night flicking through my inspiration folder on my iPhone as mentioned in my last post. I also, plucked up the courage to take a 'Before' picture of myself today  but cannot muster up the courage to share it with the world. I have to admit am completely horrified at the prospect of sharing the image of myself but do feel if can lose a fair amount of weight over the next few months , I will try to be braver and share it. That is, of course only when have some impressive 'After' pics.

Breakfast : I had a chunky chocolate shake for the first time today. I repeated the process from yesterday and added enough water to bring it up to a pint and then for a twist added a spoon of nescafe coffee to it and blitzed it in a blender. And Voila ! my chocolate coffee milkshake was ready. I had half of it before the school run and half of it later. I find the milkshakes without added water, much too thick for my liking, and they tend to be a little sickly sweet. Adding the water and coffee really adds quantity, taste and froth, all of which I like:)

Snack 1: Chose a savoury snack today. It was the cheddar bites and quite enjoyed these though the quantity felt a tad on the tiny side ! 

Lunch : This was another chocolate crunch bar that I warmed in the microwave and had with a big cup of tea. The melted chocolate on top makes the whole experience rather nice and eating it with a teaspoon gives it a dessert like feel. I have also been trying to eat slowly and consciously so as to prolong the experience of enjoyment and eating! The tea admittedly had whole milk but no sugar so lets see how that agrees with the plan by the end of the week.

Snack 2:  I googled the calories in a sun date medjhool dates and found them to be 40 calories per date, so decided to make two part of this snack = 80 calories.

Dinner : Dinner was a 600 calorie meal with some meat, rice and salad. Again, trying to control quantity and stay within the calorie limit. I do look forward to this meal the most as it feels normal, easy and keeps me full for longer. The shakes seem to do well in the keeping full department too.

Snack 3: was while writing this blog and I ate the caramel chocolate bar again which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Exercise : Activity wise I had a pretty good day. I went to the gym after the school run and did 15-20 minutes of strength training focusing on my arms and abs - both areas need major rehauls in the fitness area!!! This was followed by some random bursts of crazy dancing with my daughter on some cartoon sound tracks and gangum style! I have been trying to remind myself that 'Abs are made in the kitchen' and not in the gym so am focusing my energy on food and then exercise.

In summary this day felt hard this morning. I wanted to have lunch with my daughter which meant a large gap between breakfast, snack 1 and lunch. I was starving by the time I finally sat down to eat it and this had to be after my little one was fed.

Day 3 done!!! I have generally been feeling lighter as am not over stuffing my face -that has to be a positive thing right? My eating habits have taken a real nose dive over the last few years so am relishing this feeling of going to bed knowing haven't over done my food during the day. It feels really good. May this continue!!

Are you trying to lose weight too and struggling like myself? It would be great to hear from you and to share our experiences.


Best ,
O

Slimfast Day 2

Day 2 and am still feeling pretty motivated to lose weight. I really felt like I have got this under control. It wasn't too rigid a plan to stick to and the 3 snacks really helped. I did end up eating pretty late having to feed and water my toddler first but then a mothers work is never done.

Breakfast : I saw a horrid picture a friend put of me on Facebook and asking her to remove it was a futile effort,  so I used it to motivate myself! I made myself a inspiration folder in my iPhotos and put  all my fat pics into it ! Surely seeing these again and again would whip me into shape, should I need it.

A strawberry milkshake was the choice for the day . I added a water to the shake to bring it up to a pint and then blitzed it in a blender to make it frothy and light. Tasted pretty yummy after that and I sipped it slowly in between toddler breaks and tidying up!

Snack 1: I tried the vegetarian noodle box for this. Big mistake!! It was horrid. Stay away, I repeat step away from the noodles. I had to really force myself to eat them as 1) I couldn't be bothered to come up with another idea for a snack replacement and 2) these snacks are by no way cheap. The noodles cost £3.29 from Asda and to be honest if I wasn't trying to lose weight I would probably have wanted to invest that money into something for my family!

Lunch : I had a yoghurt fruit crunch bar and it was okay. Slimfast UK really need to learn from their American counterpart and get us some variety here in the UK. The meal replacements bars are so incredibly boring. That being said, I preferred this flavour to the chocolate one I had yesterday and haven't bought the peanut butter at this point.

Snack 2:  The timing of this was a bit off today as wanted to have dinner with my Hubster so added it in after dinner and a grocery run. This was a heavenly chocolate delight bar and it was my least favourite of the three they have in their product range. It wasn't bad but it wouldn't be my first choice.

Dinner : Dinner was a 600 calorie meal with some meat, cheese and a minuscule amount on rice. I hope my portions are on point here! I guess time will tell.

Snack 3: I didn't get around to this. I have to admit going to bed last night after Day 1 I did feel hungry so may end up eating this bar after finishing my blogpost 😋.

Exercise : A walk around the grocery store. Does that count?!

Overall the day seemed to go well. I did feel a lot more gassier today but that may have been as was not drinking as much water as yesterday. I had two litres yesterday and just about got there today.

Slimfast UK's food options are pretty limited. You need to check out the American equivalent here. There options are mouth wateringly wider than ours! Why can't both companies correspond and bring us more variety here in the UK?! Variety is definitely the spice of life and would make sticking to this diet so much easier!

Day 2 done and am feeling rather proud of myself. Lets hope this lasts!!


Please do let me know what you think of my posts so far. I would absolutely love to hear from you!


Best ,
O

Slimfast Day 1

Having had a baby and then having become extremely comfortable in my married life, I did not realise how quickly my size and weight went up. I have lost complete control. Having focused on putting my little girl first, everything else went out of the window.

I used to love seeing my pictures on Facebook and they usually weren't terrible😏. Now, I just feel every angle is awful. I can see the bumps and the lumps everywhere. It pains me to think I used to exercise every day and be quite sensible with my food, but portion control has truly become a historical fact.

So, determined to not look obese in every picture, I have today decided to start the slimfast challenge or the slimfast weight loss programme. I have gone up two dress sizes in the span of three years and enough is enough.

The plan seems amazingly simple to follow and is explained here. The idea is that you can have three snacks at 100 calories each ; two meal replacements at 200 calories each and one normal meal at 600 calories. When I read that the first time I thought okay,  this seems like a fair amount to eat. If I can have a 600 calories dinner that is normal food (mind you the snacks could be fruit and vegetables too) this can work for me. The plan is meant to help you lose 1-2lbs a week.

Breakfast : So this morning feeling all motivated and wanting to prove to myself that I was still capable of actually losing weight, I started with a Cafe latte flavoured shake for breakfast. Time wise as it was a Sunday had a late start and drank this around 11 .30 am. It was a pretty thick shake and while a little sickly sweet was not as bad as a expected , especially having tried Extane in the past and failing miserably. Exante was really hard to stick to.



Snack 1: This morning shake was filling and I didn't crave a snack until around 13.30pm. At this point I had a Chocolate caramel treat bar which I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed with a cup of tea. I did labour over it and ate very slowly which doubled the joy. I am not sure if tea is acceptable but I will be having it with whole milk and no sugar.

Lunch : I gave my little one and my husband a normal lunch of carbs galore and then ate my meal replacement Chocolate crunch bar . This didn't compare well to the snack bar which is why I warmed it in the microwave in order to melt the chocolate and hopefully fool myself into eating it like a dessert with tea!

Snack 2:  An red empire apple while I entertained by toddler with playdough.

Dinner : Dinner was with the family at around 18.30pm. I made roast chicken and coupled that with a large salad. I did enjoy this and aimed to keep it around the 600 calorie mark. I hope I calculated this correctly! I guess time will tell.

Snack 3: I have to say after my dinner I didn't actually need this snack but I had it anyway as knew I could. I ate  a Chocolate nutty nougat snack bar at around 15.30pm. This again was something I really enjoyed as could taste and see the nuts in the snack and it made me have check myself. I had to remind myself that this was a diet!

Exercise : 20 minutes yoga video and spontaneous dancing 10 mins with my little one!

Overall the day seemed to go well. I did feel a little gassy around lunch time but other than that I felt pretty light throughout the day. The only time I felt as though I was depriving myself was at lunch time as the meal replacement bar wasn't my favourite.

I am aiming to keep this up for a week and then take it further if my motivation remains high, which of course will depend on the results! Here is me signing off for now. I will keep you updated as the week progresses and will probably post again in a few days. Wish me luck.


Best ,
O