Here goes nothing.

I’m so absent on here all of the time! But I’ve joined Slimming World and am now at the end of my first week so I’ve had the idea that I am going to try and do some weekly posts on how my weight loss journey is going (yes, I’m going to be one of those people). I handed in my food diary for this week already so I don’t have a note of everything that I ate or how many syns, but will add where I can remember and will take a note going forward.

So my main reasons for really wanting to lose the weight is that I’m getting married in October and want to actually look good in my dress. The second reason is that my anxiety is pretty bad, to the point where most weekends I don’t even get dressed or leave the house and I’m finding it really difficult to maintain any friendships. I’ve sometimes put on makeup and clothes for a night out and then my anxiety kicks in and I end up crying uncontrollably and texting my excuses. I’m really hoping that the weight loss will help to boost my confidence again.
So here’s how my first week has went....

Week 1

Date started - Saturday 23rd February
Weight - 13st 6lb (OMG!!!)

Day 1
The first meeting. My mum wants to lose weight and have a healthier lifestyle as well so we’re both going to attend the meetings and support each other. It’s nerve-wracking to walk into the first meeting but I’m thinking of the long term goal. The group consultant gives us our member packs, explains how it all works and we stay for the group session. It sounds amazing and everyone is so positive and shares recipes or tips and just generally seem really supportive.
When we leave the group, I feel excited and determined to eat the right things.

Breakfast - Cornflakes and milk
Lunch - Omelette with red peppers
Dinner - Spaghetti carbonara and garlic bread (homemade with low syns)
Snacks - I can’t remember
Total syns - not a clue

Day 2
I’m having one of those days where I know I’m just wanting to eat a load of crap. The main meals I eat are pretty healthy but then I have ice cream in between and then decide to look up the syns afterwards... bad idea.

Breakfast - Cornflakes and milk
Lunch - Homemade tomato soup and 2 slices of white bread
Dinner - Sweet potato chips and 2 x homemade chicken bakes
Snacks - Ben & Jerrys cookie dough ice cream
Total syns - 36 (I only remember this day because it was so high)

Day 3
I’m back at work today and I’ve been wondering how I’m going to cope with the healthy eating thing when I’m at work. But because we’ve already switched to wholemeal bread and pasta, and I leave snacks at home so I don’t nibble when I’m bored, I do better than I expected.

Breakfast - Tuna sandwich (Oatmeal bread)
Lunch - Pasta with Salmon
Dinner - Sweet potato chips, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and 2 x homemade chicken bakes
Snacks - I feel like I probably had some Walkers baked cheese & onion crisps. I definitely remember finishing the rest of my ice cream. It'd be rude not to.
Total syns - ?

Day 4
I’m working in a different work location today and usually I just go to the shop across from my work and grab breakfast before I start, but today I can’t because there aren’t any shops. I can’t function without breakfast so I need to grab something from the canteen. But it’s all fried food they do... french toasts, square sausage, bacon. I had a roll and sausage but I didn’t realise until my 2nd meeting today that I had to count the sausage because it was cooked in oil. Also a roll is so high in syns! What is the deal with that?! Meal prep is definitely going to be a must.

Breakfast - Roll and sausage (I felt guilty, but I savoured that roll haha)
Lunch - Wrap with chicken and lettuce
Dinner - Sweet potato chips, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and cod
Snacks -
Total syns -

Day 5 
Bringing breakfast to work definitely made the difference today. It was good knowing I wasn't going to use up all of my daily syns just on breakfast and I didn't have to worry about what to eat.

Breakfast - Cornflakes and milk
Lunch - Pesto pasta
Dinner - Baked beans and breaded mini quorn chicken fillets
Snacks - I had another bowl of cornflakes as a snack in the evening, an orange at lunch.
Total syns -

Day 6 
Our food shopping arrived today so that was brilliant since everything we ordered (apart from 2 individual cheesecake pots) is healthy. I done a bit of meal prepping for Day 7‘s breakfast and for snacking. Work was a struggle though because a girl in my team had brought in homemade caramel shortbread cake for everyone and I had to pass.

Breakfast - Cornflakes and milk
Lunch - Pesto pasta
Dinner - Homemade tomato soup
Snacks - Homemade tortilla chips and hummus (red pepper and chilli). An orange at lunch.
Total syns -

Day 7 
Today is my nephew’s birthday and we were given 2 pieces of his chocolate cake and I also bought my favourite chocolates at Thorntons. But I stayed strong and didn’t eat any of them because I was too scared about what my first weigh in would be like the next day. Turns out I do have some self control after all...

Breakfast - Low fat greek honey yoghurt with granola, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries
Lunch - Pasta with chicken
Dinner - Homemade tomato soup and omelette
Snacks - Homemade tortilla chips and hummus
Total syns - 8

This first week has been a struggle and I feel hungry all the time. I try to fill up on the free foods and also water, but I’ve always had a massive appetite so I’m hoping that over time my appetite will shrink as my consultant has promised.
I’ve learned things though, like not to have rolls too often and things I thought were healthier like Granola and Walkers baked crisps are actually pretty high in syns. Bread, pastries and crisps are my downfall though but I’ll try and use my syns more wisely on them when I have the cravings. But I’m pretty proud of how many times I’ve refused foods and followed the plan. And after having my first weigh in today (I’ll write how that went on the next weight post), I’m not going to deprive myself of having a treat day when I need one or else I’ll go mad.