Last year, I joined Slimming World. I joined just before Christmas and at the time I remember everyone saying that I was mad for joining at such a silly time. A silly time it may have been for them but for me it was the perfect time. I wanted to be more healthy and I wanted to go back down to a weight I was happy with. My Slimming World journey started on the 14/11/2016 and to date, I have not looked back.
My top 10 tips to survive Slimming World on your first week are:
1) Use your syns
They are there to be used. On my first week I stopped eating sweet treats and tried to cut my syns as low as possible but after a few days I realised that the syns were there for a reason - to keep me sane and to keep me happy. My motto about syns: Use them but don't abuse them!
2) Plan your meals The less I plan, the more rubbish I consume. Over recent weeks I have found myself getting an Ocado order delivered to me in the afternoon after my weigh in. Having a delivery of food ensures that I stay on target throughout the week as I can meal plan. In the week I often pop to the shops and stock up on some of the essentials.
3) Switch to "light" products Did you know that Hellmanns normal mayo has 5.5 syns in 1 tablespoon however Hellmanns lighter than light mayo only has 0.5 syns in a tablespoon? Before I started Slimming World I never thought about what I was buying when it came to light and full fat products however since starting Slimming World I am very aware of what I am buying. I now buy products in their light form if I am able to. Most products do not taste that different.
4) Drink lots of water Before I started Slimming World I craved fizzy drinks however since I have been on my Slimming World plan I have started to enjoy them less and I have gone back to drinking water. I came to the conclusion I drank fizzy drinks out of habit and because they were convenient for my lifestyle however recently I decided to buy a few water bottles as well as a jug for my water and I now prefer drinking clean. Drinking water is great for weight loss, especially if you can add things such as lemon into your water.
5) Make use of all the resources out there There are so many resources out there to aid your Slimming World weight loss journey. From the start I used the Slimming World phone app and I found this really helped whilst I was out and about as I could always use it to check the syns in any food that I felt I wanted to eat. After a while I found myself looking at Instagram for inspiration. To help aid my weight loss I have joined up to Instagram and have my own Slimming World account. You can view my profile here.
6) Get rid of the tempting rubbish On the first week that I started Slimming World I decided to give away the rubbish which I had accumulated in the house for myself. I decided to give away tempting cakes, tempting crisps and even chocolate. Once I had got rid of the tempting rubbish that littered out house, I had no temptations and when I craved sweet things, I found myself heading to the fridge to snack on syn free yoghurts and syn free fruit. 7) Pay attention to what you are eating and how many syns it holds It is so easy to try and sweep under the carpet about what you are eating and forget to write down what you are eating however when you do this the only person you are failing, is yourself. On my first 4 weeks of Slimming World I worked out every syn which I ate and I wrote it down. Although I did obsess over it, I worked out it was the best way to teach myself how many syns most things had. 9 weeks in and I do not write everything I eat in a book, I do still work out how many syns I am eating a day.
8) Don't be afraid to try something new On my first week of Slimming World I tried lots of new things due to the recipes I kept following which I found all around the internet. Some of the recipes I tried, I hated and some of the recipes which I tried, I really enjoyed. Before Slimming World I refused to eat cherry tomatoes however I now find that they are bearable. As a family we used to eat very little fish however since Slimming World we all enjoy eating it. Foods which I hated 4 years ago have now become my favorite. Trying new things is one thing which I am loving about Slimming World.
9) Always keep a syn free or low syn snack with you
On your first week of Slimming World you may have cravings. On my first week of Slimming World I kept simple things in my bag to eat on the go, that way I was never tempted to pop to the shops and get something full of syns. Over the first week I kept simple things in my bag such as fruit and low syn snacks. Over the first week this helped me out often.
10) Don't give up You started this journey for a reason! You may be going through a tough time sticking to the plan and you may feel like you are failing but a bad meal, a bad day, a bad week is not going to run in to the bad year you had last year when you gained weight that you are now looking to shift. Stick with the plan. Everyone has bad weeks and just because this is your bad Slimming World time don't lose focus on what you want to achieve.
