Tag: Slimming

When Life Gives You Lemons Do You Make Lemonade?

Sometimes, even after you have put you heart and soul into something, the outcome isn’t what you expected.

Take my current mission to hit target again by the time I reach 50.

I really want to be at my target weight by the time I go out for dinner on my birthday.  That is now only 6 weeks away.  I set myself a realistic target of 2lb a week.  I should reach target with a couple of weeks to spare, which gives me a contingency.  Well that was the plan!

Last week I made the conscious decision to make sure I wrote everything down that I ate.  I planned every meal.  I have the new SP Sensations cookbook from Slimming World as you know, and this was a true inspiration for me.

Every day I took breakfast and lunch to work with me.  For snacks I had plenty of fruit.  I had cleared the house of all temptation, so at night even if I felt tempted, there was nothing in.  When I was peckish one day, I popped to Sainsburys and bought a pack of sliced ham!  I kid you not!!

I had made a great decision that I would use my syns this time round.  Previously, I would try and get through the week without having a syn.  If I did, it was never on meals, but treats.  To help me keep motivated, I decided it was ok for my meals to have syns.  It would ensure I was able to have variety and keep me focused.

The meals I had were amazing.  Even hubby enjoyed them.  Many of them are on my Youtube channel for you to enjoy.

I wear a Fitbit so tracked my steps.  On average around 15000 steps a day.  It is easy for me to keep active with 2 border collies to exercise. I also go to the gym in my lunch break.  It all helps to burn those calories off.

In the evenings, I would try and make sure that I found 30 minutes to do sit-ups.  Usually this would be in front of the TV whilst catching up on one of my soaps.  I think last night was the only night I missed, as I just didn’t have even 5 minutes to myself!

We had a work event where cakes were in abundance.  I opted for the fruit bowl.  Later on, there was a basket of pretzels and fruit and nut.  I picked up a pack of each.  Before I opened them, I checked on my Slimming World App.  The pretzels were 4 syns.  I couldn’t find the fruit and nut, so looked at the back of the packet.  They were 250 calories.  That is potentially 13 syns!  Wow.  I was not wasting my syns on that.  I did decide though that as I hadn’t got any syns planned for the day so far, I would treat myself to the pretzels

I really don’t think I could have done any more than I did last week.

I arrived at my weigh in just as they were about to start group due to my train being late!  I was a bit flustered already.  As I stood on the scales, I watched the numbers!  Half a pound on!  That is right, on!  I literarily had to hold back the tears.  If my hubby hadn’t have dropped me off and wasn’t coming back for an hour, I think I would have turned around and left!  As it was, I sat in the group furious.

I looked at my food journal.  I read all my meals and snacks.  How on earth had I gained?  My consultant asked me what I could do differently this week.  Did I want an SOS log.  No, I didn’t and nothing could be different.  I had followed the plan.  I had been really good.

Suddenly I was no longer motivated.  I was never going to lose that last 11 pound now! 

I left group and went home.  I could have hit self-destruct, but thankfully there was nothing in the house for me to have.

All night it was going around in my head.  How could I do the plan and put on!

The next morning, I looked in the mirror.  Yes, I want that 11 pounds but if I don’t get it, it is ok.  As long as I can honestly say I’d tried.  My body has obviously decided it didn’t want to lose the weight this week.

If I quit now, how would I feel.  I’m gutted now and I had really tried.  If I gave in now, I would feel a million times worse. 

I’m not in a great head space at the moment because of this knock back, but it isn’t going to beat me.  I’m going to continue for the next 6 weeks.  I may not get the 11 pounds, but for every pound I do lose, I’m going to be a step closer.

Sometimes life doesn’t always go to plan.  That doesn’t mean you have to give up.  What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.  It’s a saying I always live by.

So, the week ahead, I’m still on plan.  I’m still writing it down and I’m still exercising.  Hopefully the scales will be kind to me this week.  Whatever happens, I’m keeping the reason I want this in my mind.  It is to feel the best I can the day I turn 50!

So guys, don’t quit – be true to yourself.  Keep going!  It will all be worth it.

See my personal account on my Youtube video when it is published tomorrow.

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Well, what a year!

I really can’t believe it that this time last year, I published my very first blog! https://slimminginspirations4u.org/2018/01/14/slimming-world-online-or-join-a-group/.

I had wanted to write my own blog for many years, but never really had the belief in myself to do it.

I decided in 2018 to make it my New Years Resolution to do it. I already knew what I wanted to call it, I just needed the courage. It wasn’t about making money, but a hobby. A way to reach out to others, provide help and support, and just have a bit of fun!

I researched the best way to do it, and on what platform. It seemed that WordPress was the right place for me, with GoDaddy as my website.

So on 14 January 2018, almost a year to the date I had joined Slimming World, I published my very first blog. Since then it has been ready by 36 people. OK, that isn’t a lot, but it is a start.

This blog is my hobby. If I only reach a handful of people that is fine! Ok that is a lie, of course I would like to see thousands of followers, but everything worth having takes time.

Since that very first blog, I have since written another 101. In total 3,783 people have viewed my blogs. I hope that people will see from how I write, that I am just a normal person, with the same problems and challenges as most of the people out there. I keep it honest and fun.

So which have been my most successful? Well they are both very different. In second place, my own personal cancer journey. I am very pleased about that, as I hope that my very own experience will help others to firstly get diagnosed, and secondly to beat cancer!

In first place is my blog about an amazing product. Slimline Wine. This product is only just slightly older than my blog. Since then it has grown so much, and I was lucky enough to get to see where it was made.

Since starting my blog, I have also ventured into YouTube. Again, I always wanted to do this, but was even more scared than I was doing the blog. When you are writing a blog no-one really has to know who you are. When you vlog, you are fully exposed. Bizarrely, I have enjoyed this so so much more than I ever thought possible.

I’m hoping that in 2019, I can grow both by blogs and vlogs. I publish everything I do on my website http://www.slimminginspirations4u.com. This has been another learning curve. I’ve never designed a website before and it has been so much fun.

Each week, I am learning so much more about how to build websites, and vlogs from tutorials from Youtube. More importantly though, I have learnt so much more about me. I feel so much more confident in public situations.

If you have a dream, follow it. It may be scary. It will put you outside your comfort zone, but if you don’t try it, you will never know what you can achieve.

If you are worried what others may think then don’t. Yes, there may be that one person out there who will make fun out of you, will try to use it to put you down. If they do, it says more about them than you.

If people don’t like your content, they won’t read it. If they do, they will follow you. Don’t expect it to grow overnight. It takes time. As long as you remember that, you will be fine.

So anyone out there writing their blogs in their heads, just take the bullet and publish it! You will surprise yourself and find a whole new you!

Happy blogging.