goal

Hi hi hi!

It’s feels like ages since we last spoke! How’ve you been?? I’ve been good, thanks. Having a holiday was absolutely needed and it gave me so much, including time to do jack! Which, as the mother of a 2 year old boy, I never get to do! Part of my holiday also included the decision to take a weeks break from Slimming World. When I say I took a holiday from Slimming World, I don’t mean I ditched everything I’ve become and went back to all my old ways. No, it was more a case of not counting syns and eating things with a bit less thought than I usually do. It was nice not to have to use brain power on food for a while, but it didn’t come without it’s lessons.

If you read my last post, you’ll know that last week we went away for a couple of nights, staying and eating in a hotel. This was really interesting from a SW perspective as some of the choices available were clearly better than others. The first night I chose Scallops, followed by Salt Cod and a Yoghurt based dessert. None of it syn free, but definitely the ‘better’ choices on the menu. Second night I went completely the other way, choosing duck liver pate, followed by pork belly and a peanut and chocolate parfait! I enjoyed both menus equally (and have discovered that I love salt cod having never had it before!), but it was interesting to me how optimised the first menu was, compared the second one. And all done without thinking 🙂 . Of course the scones we had on the first day were not optimised at all, and neither were the handmade chocolate chip cookies they delivered with every coffee, but less said about those the better hey 😉

Scones and Clotted cream definitely NOT Food Optimised!

Anywho, I spent the rest of the week occasionally having bits and bobs I generally avoid. One of my biggest weaknesses in the past used to be bread, particularly white crusty bread or baguettes. As such, I’ve stopped having it all together. I just don’t eat it any more. It was hard to get my head around this choice to start with and I would get cravings for it now and then, but slowly it got easier and I rarely think about it now. I’ve not had a baguette since I started SW, but last Friday I decided that’s what I wanted for lunch, bought from a local farm shop. I had it with syn free roast beef and yeah it was nice, but I didn’t feel the rapture with every mouthful I thought I would. And actually afterwards it made me so gassy! I just couldn’t stop belching (haha sorry! You know me, I just love to share!) I guess having cut out much of the wheat (not on purpose I just have) from my every day diet, my system was a bit perplexed at what to do with it all. In fact several times in the last week or so I’ve had episodes where I’ve eaten stuff I wouldn’t usually and its been nice at the time, but has quickly made me feel properly ill. The sugar in the peanut and chocolate parfait I had at Moonfleet gave me serious palpitations and I’ve had stomach cramps so bad I’ve had to sit down more than once this past week. I think I would be a fool to ignore my body’s very clear signals that it really doesn’t enjoy these things any more, regardless of what my head says it likes 😉 !

The hardest thing I think I found about having a SW holiday was the snacking. When I wasn’t counting my syns, I didn’t have to think about having the odd biccie here or the odd bag of Twiglets there. Getting my head around noticing things like that again was really difficult and it made me realise how easily the control can slip when you’re not mindful of what you eat. I mean meals wise I was straight back to SW fare, with delicious first attempts at a Thai Yellow Vegetable Curry (from the Fakeaways book) and a Moroccan Vegetable Tagine (from the Family Feasts book). But I really wrestled with the desire to snack! I guess it was a bit mean to give my body all that sugar and then just take it away again again overnight. Several times in the past week I’ve found myself raiding the huge bag of sultanas I have for Oscar. Dried fruit isn’t free, but it was better than gorging on chocolate I suppose.

SW Moroccan Vegetable Tagine, severed with Bulghar wheat and Pomegranate. All Free on Extra Easy

So when it came to weigh in this week, I was fully expecting a gain. You just can’t spend a week and a half eating cake and drinking wine and expect anything else. But I was astounded when I found out that gain was only 1.5lb. Tiny in the grand scheme of things, and much smaller than I’m sure I deserve (not that I’m going to question it 😉 ) It’s taken me to just (and I mean just) back under the 6 stone mark to 5 Stone 13.5lb. It would obviously have been nicer if it was going in the other direction, but I can live with that.

So where are we now? Well, it was pointed out to us last night that we have 17 more weigh ins before Christmas. It sounds like a lot but actually at rate of 1lb loss per week, that’s only just over a stone. Which is what I’ve decided to aim for. I have 14.5lbs to lose to get to my 7 stone award and I plan to do that in time for Christmas. It will mean being consistent, which I’ve really struggled with lately, but I believe I can do it. It also reflects that my journey is likely to be a slower one this far down the road, so I feel it’s a realistic target. I’d like to start this week by losing the 1.5lb I gained on holiday, setting me back on an even keel. I’m not saying it’ll be easy this week, but I believe it’ll be easier. I’ve bought lots of fruit and I’m treating myself tonight to a 6 syn bag of cinnamon popcorn. I’ve not tried it before but it sounds lush!

Sweet Cinnamon Spice Popcorn for 6 syns? What's not to like? — Sweet Cinnamon Spice Popcorn for 6 syns? What’s not to like?

If it applies to you, have a great Bank Holiday Weekend. If it doesn’t, Happy Friday y’all. Have a great week

xxx

What a great week it’s been. Glorious weather for this time of year has lead to lots of time out of doors. It’s good for the soul I’m sure of it. Well, it is for mine anyway. Seeing the buds on the trees and the first daffodils in the garden give me hope. Faith that every day counts, every day is new, every day matters. The world keeps turning regardless and summer will be here again soon. Aaaaaand breathe 🙂

We had friends to stay this past week, which was super fun. The meal I made was fully Slimming World, but had they not asked they wouldn’t have known. I did two recipes from the SW website, again both completely new to me. As several members of my group have asked, here are the links for Black Eyed Bean and Vegetable Chilli Bowl and Zesty Lemon Cheesecake. The chilli was fully vegetarian, like my guests, however the cheesecake does have gelatine in it. One guest decided this didn’t bother her (the other had good old strawberries and cream), but I think you could make this into more of a dessert than a cheesecake without the gelatine quite successfully.

Anyway the point is both recipes were roaring successes, both with those following SW and those not. And that’s one of the things I love about this way of eating. Cos I can’t stress enough that that’s what this is. It’s a way of life, it’s not a diet. It makes me sad when I hear people calling it that, particularly SW members. I think this is because, primarily, their view of what we’re doing is soooo far removed from mine, that its difficult for me to relate to them. And that makes me a little sad. Ahh well – to each their own. I would never dismiss any way people choose to lose weight. Weight that might be making them unhappy or unhealthy. What works for some wont work for others. Live and let live. Aaaaaand breathe 😉

So last nights weigh in was a bit of a rush job. Unfortunately Sarah and I were quite a bit late getting to group last night, which meant we got there for Image Therapy but had to weigh in at the end when most people had gone. There seemed to be a real mix of great losses and gains last night. I was so happy to hear Tamsin had had such a good week, following some really stressful times in her life. And I all I wanted to do was hug Corrin! Such a beautiful girl who has done so well so far. She’s having something of a stumble at the moment and I only hope she can find it in her to pick herself back up again. We are all here for her and I hope she knows that 🙂

So anyway, I weighed in at the end and was thrilled to see I’d lost 2lb. Which on any other week would be a very satisfactory loss. But on this week was enough to make me punch the air. Because that meant I’d done it. Yes, I’ve reached my interim goal of 5 stone! Total lost now is 5 stone 0.5lb (70.5lb). I didn’t stop smiling for hours and when I came home and put my certificate in the space I’d made for it, I felt some really powerful personal emotions. I think it’s called deep pride!

So yeah I’ve reached an interim goal and I’m not denying it’s an amazing achievement, but I’m not finished yet. I set my next interim goal last night. For those of you who don’t know, we only ever set our own goals at SW and my first target was 2 stone, then 3.5 stone, then 5 stone. Its not that I doubted I could get to 5 stone, but it sounded like such a massive amount, it was daunting. Which is why I split it up into smaller targets. But for a while the quiet voice in my head has been whispering what my next target should be. I’ve done the best I could to ignore it, but when I was asked outright last night what I wanted my next target to be, the quiet voice won the argument.

My next target is to lose another 3 stone. Making 8 stone lost.

I know! Its a mahoosive jump, but something in me wouldn’t let me break it down any further. What could I do? It never occurred to me I might ever reach the weight I am now. But I did. Which begs the question – just how far can I go?

Wanna come find out?

Big loves

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