A Slimming World Christmas

If you've been a long time reader of my blog, you'll know that I've previously followed the Slimming World plan to lose weight, and I'm now a member again as I lose my baby weight. And let's face it, Christmas is the most challenging time for anyone trying to lose weight. Today I'm going to share a little bit of advise for anyone else who is trying to follow a Slimming World Christmas.

Slimming World Sunday - The Best Motivational Tools

When you're on a weight loss journey it's inevitable that at some stage you'll hit a wall, which can often be difficult to get past. It's important that when we get to this point we've got something there to push us to keep on going, to keep us motivated. I tried all sorts throughout my journey, and also gained some great ideas from fellow group members, and these are the tools I've found to be most effective.

Slimming World Sunday - How I'm Spending My Syns

It's been a while since I did a Slimming World Sunday post. Unfortunately, the lure of Euro /2016 has been too much for me, so I haven't had much time to sit down and actually write any blog posts recently, let alone anything Slimming World relating. Luckily I had a day to myself yesterday and had a mammoth blogging session, so they'll be plenty of content up for you for a while.

So today I'm going to be taking about Syns - probably the best part of the Slimming World plan! I'm always scouring places like Instagram looking at what people are using their Syns on. If I can find something with a low syn value that's going to keep my cravings at bay, I'm more likely to stay on track, so I always make sure I;ve got my cupboards stocked with tasty treats. Here's what I've been loving spending my syns on recently.

Slimming World Sunday - Nacho Style Feast

I was really late on the bandwagon when it came to this recipe, but those of you that follow me on Instagram will know that I've become obsessed with this dish since I tried it a few months ago. It's so tasty, just like having a naughty Mexican dish, and is really fillling.

Slimming World Sunday - Back To Basics

I am going to be completely honest with you now. I've really struggled with any kind of Slimming World plan these last few weeks. In order to maintain my weight after reaching target, I was going to have one evening off plan, and stick to it 100% for the rest of the week. Well.....so far that has not been the case! One evening, turns into a whole day, which turns into a whole weekend, you get the picture. At the moment I'm a couple of pounds outside of my target range and I'm determined to stop it there. I don't want to go back to how I was, so this week I'm making an effort to get back into target range, or as near as I possibly can.

Slimming World Sunday - Free Body Magic

Whilst I think that the key to successful weight loss primarily lies with the food you are eating, getting in a decent amount of exercise also helps to give it that boost, and builds towards living a healthier lifestyle. When I first joined Slimming World, I also signed up to my local gym. It wasn't the most expensive membership in the world, but with a wedding to save up for and other more important commitments to pay for, it wasn't the best use of my money. I also found that I wasn't really getting my monies worth, particularly in the winter months when motivation to get up and go was at a low, so I soon found myself cancelling my membership. Since then I've found much more purse friendly ways to get a bit of body magic into my routine.

Slimming World Sunday - My DIY Recipe File

I think one of the keys to Slimming World success is to make sure you've always got inspiration to hand when you're completely lacking in ideas and are bored of eating the same old meals week in week out. It's always good to try something new now and again to keep interest in the plan. I used to keep a stack of my Slimming World magazines in my bedroom to dip into whenever I needed some recipe ideas, but it wasn't exactly the greatest filing system in the world. It took up a lot of room, and took a lot of flicking through to find something that took my fancy. It was time my stacks of magazines went off to the recycling, so I needed a new plan to make sure I still had my inspiration to hand.

Slimming World Sunday - 10 Weeks At Target

I'm back!! I considered writing a whole rambly post about why I've been away etc, but I wasn't sure how interesting you'd actually find it, so I decided as it was a Sunday just to crack straight back on with my Slimming World Sunday posts. Whilst I've been away though, I've been putting together a big list of blog post ideas, and to put it to good use I've decided to blog every day during the month of May, so if you're following me, expect to see a new post pop up on your Bloglovin feed every morning at 8am!

This Thursday marked 10 weeks since I reached my target weight at Slimming World, and I thought I'd share with you how this new part of my journey has gone so far.

Slimming World Sunday - Speedy Spag Bol

Spag Bol is easily one of my favourite meals to make on Slimming World. It's so quick and cheap to make, and tastes delicious. I've even managed to convert my mum, who really isn't adventurous with food at all, to this recipe. It's packed full of speed foods too, to help boost weight loss.

Slimming World Sunday - I've Reached Target!!!

Just a quick post from me today, as I'm still currently knee deep in boxes and carrier bags from our move yesterday. If you follow me on Instagram you may already know, but on Thursday I finally reached my target weight at Slimming World!

Slimming World Sunday - Inspirational Instagram Accounts

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! As it's Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share the love a little, and show you some of my favourite Slimming World Instagram accounts to follow. I find Instagram a great motivational tool for my Slimming World journey, whether it be posting my own meals to keep me on track, or finding new meals on others posts. I spend many an evening scrolling through #slimmingworld looking for delicious new recipes to try. Here are just five of my favourite accounts that have kept me motivated over the last few months.

Slimming World Sunday: My Christmas Gain

The Christmas gain was always going to be inevitable, but it's still never nice when it happens. I applaud anyone who can lose weight over the festive period! The 4lb gain I had this year was actually the biggest gain I've had over Christmas whilst following Slimming World. I guess it's because I've taken a much more relaxed approach to the plan this time around, and I knew I really wanted to enjoy the week.

Slimming World Sunday - Scan Bran Christmas Cake

When it comes to Christmas treats I absolutely love mince pies. Before I joined Slimming World, I would buy a 6 pack from the corner shop, and they'd be gone within a couple of days. Now though, with them being so incredibly high in syns, I've had to resist indulging as much as I used to (though I did have a mini one at an Xmas party last week!), but I think I've found a perfect Slimming World friendly alternative. Someone from my group had made the Scan Bran Christmas cake and brought it in to one of our taster nights a couple of months ago. After tasting a small square, I was struck by how much it tasted like mince pies (and perhaps even better!). I knew then that I had to make it for myself, as this was going to be what saved me from my mince pie cravings this year!

Slimming World Sunday - Surviving The Festive Period

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December can be a real struggle when you're following a weight loss plan. With all of the social events, and just generally being busier than we usually are, it can be really tempting just to write the month off entirely and overindulge at times when really we could've stayed on plan, leaving us with a big gain to tackle in the New Year. Truth is though, if we really sat down and took a look at our schedules for the month, we could probably still be on plan the majority of the time. There are some events that we all face through December though, that can be really tricky to Food Optimise through, but here are my tips for tackling those moments, to limit the overall damage that Christmas can do to our weight loss journey.

Slimming World Sunday - A Long Overdue Update

Well this is a very long time in coming! It's been over two months since there was last any mention of Slimming World on my blog. If you've been following me on Instagram though, you'll know that I've still been 100% committed to the plan, and have done pretty well in my blogging absence.

Slimming World Sunday - September 2015 Update

 Another month, another award! I'm so pleased I've been able to keep this up, and if I carry on at the rate I've been going, I should get to target for Christmas, which would be amazing. Having sat down and worked it out, that is now the aim I am focusing on. September was a good month for me in terms of weight loss, when you look at the month as a whole, but I think it highlighted to me just how important going to group is for keeping me on track.

Slimming World Sunday - Coming Back From A Gain

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I remember the first ever time I gained weight whilst following Slimming World. It was only half a pound, but I was absolutely devastated! Looking back know, I know it was silly to get so upset about it, but it's not always easy to brush it off and move on. Here are my top tips for getting back on track following a gain.

Slimming World Sunday - New Recipe Book

I'll be honest, pretty much every time there's a new Slimming World recipe book out, I'll get really excited and have to buy it straight away, but this time I was even more excited than usual! The title alone "Best Loved Extra Easy Recipes" set my expectations high, as I was looking for it to be jam packed full of recipes I'd want to try. It seemed to be a really popular choice in group too, but luckily I was able to pick up one of the last two left this week.

Slimming World Sunday - Veggie Pasta

A couple of weeks ago, I featured one of my current favourite lunches, veggie quiche. Another veggie dish that I've really been loving recently, both for lunch and dinner, has been pasta. I've tried quite a lot of Slimming World pasta recipes in the past, but nowadays just tend to do my own thing rather than sticking to one set recipe.

Slimming World Sunday - August 2015 Update

August has been a really up and down month for me on Slimming World. I started the month all fired up and ready for a great month of weight loss, but my motivation started to dwindle a little towards the middle of the month and I started to lose my way a little. Luckily I've managed to get back on track and am now well on my way to my next award.