EuropeCrazy's World of Slimming: Week 3 weigh-in

I had looked forward hto my week off and had planned lots of things to do, and goodies to eat!  At the beginning of the week though, I took a very sore throat which turned into what I initially thought was just a cold, but then went into one of those horrible virus-infection-things, leaving me with a horrendous and constant cough, no energy at all and a complete lack of appetite.  I was very annoyed at the timing of this, as the very same thing happened to me over Christmas, but at least I was off work and was able to sleep when I wanted to, which was very often.  Especially as the coughing fits completely blew my sleep routine to pieces.

Although I have a little more energy, I'm still a long way from feeling well and am worried how I'll cope tomorrow when I have to go back to work.  My colleagues will probably need earplugs to cope with the volume and extent of the coughing fits.

But I digress.  There is a weigh-in to be done today, and this morning the scales revealed that...

I've lost 2lbs this week!  Which is great news, although I'm never happy when weight loss is due to illness/loss of appetite.  However I won't refuse a 2lb weight loss!  Added to the previous 3lbs, this makes a total weight loss of 5lbs over the past 3 weeks.  That might not seem like much to some, but it's a lot to me as I really struggle to lose weight.  And as my friends keep telling me "it gets harder to lose weight when you get older" (thanks for that!) so it's an even bigger achievement.  So far so good!

BMI reduction this week: 0.4
Total BMI reduction so far: 0.9

EuropeCrazy's World of Slimming: Week 2 weigh-in

I just realised that I forgot to post this last week.  After my very successful first week I persevered and stuck to the plan, so was very disappointed to discover that I hadn't lost anything at all last week and had stayed the same.  Or as Slimming World reassured me, I had 'maintained' my weight loss which I suppose is putting a positive spin on it.

Anyway it was onwards to another week.  The original plan for this past week was to take a break from my slimming plan as I was having a week's holiday off work, what has become my annual June 'staycation'.  Events were to take a nasty turn however...

EuropeCrazy's World of Slimming: Week 1 weigh-in

Weight loss: 3lbs
BMI reduction: 0.5

What a week that was.  My first week on Slimming World turned out to be a fascinating journey of discovery into a new world of free foods, healthy extras and syns.  And by the time I stepped on the scales this morning, I discovered that I had lost 3lbs in my first week!  That may not sound much when you hear about people losing 7lbs in a week, but it's a gigantic achievement for me and I'm delighted with it.  I've also had a lot of unrelated pain and fatigue this past week which has prevented me from doing much walking or exercise (and three days of extremely hot weather didn't help), so to lose all that weight by following the plan on its own makes it even more of a successful result.

It has been very easy to follow the plan as many of the foods which I already eat are termed 'free' foods, and the 'syn' values mean that I've pretty much wiped out my crisps addiction too.

Being very realistic I know that I'm probably not going to achieve that kind of loss every week, but I will be very happy with every pound I lose.  

Now I'm off to the kitchen to make a batch of some home-made soups for this week's lunches....

EuropeCrazy's World of Slimming!

So I haven't quite mastered total internet detox, and there hasn't been enough hours in the day to get those outstanding blog posts done. I have also hurt my back in a freak injury over the past week so mobility's a challenge and exercise is out :(

I do have some news though: I've only gone and joined Slimming World. Drastic measures are called for, and I've seen a lot of people doing very well on it, so on the spur of the moment I decided to sign up for the online version of this very popular weight-loss plan.  Going to a class will never be my thing, especially when it comes to weight loss, so I'm sticking to online tracking.

I'm doing this initially for 3 months although if it's successful I may just continue for a further 3 months in the lead-up to Christmas.  It's quite a different concept, all those "free foods", many of which are my favourites anyway.  And as for the "syns"....well this could finally help me to kick my crisp addiction for good.

Today I went supermarket shopping for fresh foods and other staples which will form the basis of some cooked-from-scratch treats.  They may all have been "free foods" on SW but definitely not free when it came to the till (lol!) Slimming is a costly business isn't it!  Perhaps all those who persistently moan about this country's OBESITY TIMEBOMB! should be lobbying for a reduction in the price of healthy food.  Especially fruit.  The price of fruit - particularly my favourite strawberries, raspberries and blackberries - is outrageous.

Anyway after spending hours last night familiarising myself with the whole Slimming World concept, I'm still amazed that people can still eat all that stuff and lose weight.  Will I be one of those people?  Can a menopausal woman with a shoddy metabolism succeed on this plan?  Well, I will just need to stick to the plan and get on with it!  More to follow....