My Slimming World Top Tips

I joined slimming world last year in February. In a couple of months I’d lost a stone and a half and was pregnant with my second child. (Funnily enough, I had my first child after losing 3 stone on my own!)
I didn’t continue going through my pregnancy but have recently joined again now that Paisley is 9 months old and I’m back at work.

There are days that I’m super motivated and stay on plan 100%. Really positive, feel good days.
Then there are other days… Days where I’ll totally not care, fall off the wagon spectacularly and wonder why I even pay my money to go if I’m not even following plan.

But even on those days. I know in my head, I cant let a good day ruin a good week and I try and get back on plan. Sometimes I can pull it back, sometimes I will have a gain but we are all human. As long as overall, the numbers are going in the right direction, thats all that matters.

So, I’ve put together some of my top tips for success. Some of these might be really really obvious and I apologise if so.

1. Find a group that suits you – and STAY after you’ve weighed.

When I rejoined recently, I wasn’t really motivated, I was just sort of fannying around with it and doing a half arsed job. The thing is, even though I was staying to group, it felt like more of a chore. It was quite a long walk, I had to take both kids with me and for the amount of effort to get there, I didn’t really feel like I was getting enough back from it. I looked around the room and there were people there that had been there the first time round and looked absolutely the same and making the same excuses they made a year ago. The group had worked for me in the past but this time around, too much had changed in my life and it felt, if I’m honest, a bit stale. I almost quit after just a couple of weeks but on the recommendation of others, I tried a different group. I went along on my own, Liam had the kids so I had nobody to hide behind, no excuses, it was just me in this room full of strangers, but honestly, as soon as I walked in the door it was like starting from scratch! There was a buzz in the room that I NEVER felt in the first group. People spoke to me, people smiled, there was sooo much stuff on the table to motivate us and help us and before I’d even handed over my card to sign in, I knew this would be my new group. I transferred that day.

2. Include your family.

When I cook, I’m not just cooking for me. I’m cooking for my husband and our two children. It’s far to much hassle to cook something for me and something different for them. Occasionally I’ll opt for salad over baked beans but 98% of the time, we eat the same thing. Giving your children healthy meals is going to be great for them too but not only that, if your food optimising rubs off on them, it’s ultimately going to make your life easier.

3. Use your syns – But check them too!

They are there for a reason. Slimming world isn’t about cutting out your favourite foods or telling yourself you can’t have treats. You CAN eat the chocolate and still loose weight! You CAN have snacks in the evening while you’re watching TV and not have a gain! The slimming world app has a food search function so you can check the syn value of most things in an instant. You can have up to 15 syns a day or 105 across the week so if you need to borrow some from other days, do so. That said, you do need to check them. If you are guessing, or not adding them up properly you are leaving a space for errors.
If you are filling up on your speeds and free foods and using your healthy extras then use those syns and enjoy your food. The moment you start feeling restricted and like you can’t have nice things is the moment it starts to go tits up!

4. Need for speed.

There is a reason your mum always told you to eat your greens! Speed foods are very low in energy density meaning while they are filling, they aren’t high in calories. It’s recommended that you have at least one third of your plate full of speed foods. One thing I’ve found really helpful with this is having a packet of emergency microwavable steam veg in the freezer. Have your normal meal but if you look at your plate and can’t honestly say there is 1/3 of speed, quickly nuke a steam pouch and chuck that on too. They take just a couple of minutes, your plate will look so much more colourful and the scales will thank you for it.

5. Get online.

I don’t just mean log in to the slimming world website, I mean get on pinterest and look at recipes, facebook groups are wonderfully supportive. Google is your friend! I asked a fellow slimming blogger, Sarah of ForgetMeKnit for her top tip for slimming world success and she said:

 

One thing that I find really helps is following inspiring accounts on Instagram. They are great for recipe ideas, hints and tips but mostly to give you a boost. I love seeing other people do well on the plan and it helps me to stay focused and reach for my goals.  – Sarah Diane Morgan aged 29 and a half -2 stone 4 lbs

6. Meal plan!

In our house we have what is known as the ‘Netflix Effect’. It’s all well and good sitting down to watch something but with so much choice, it takes longer to actually pick something than it does to watch it. It’s the same with food. How many times have you sat thinking about what to actually eat for so long that everybody just gets bored and has cereal? Or worse… Takeaway!
Meal planning has made a great difference to being able to stay on plan. If everybody knows what to expect then it takes the choice or surprise or even effort out of it. If you are cooking for a family, include them in the process. Let them all pick their favourite meal for one night of the week each. At least if they don’t like Tuesdays pork chops they might be happier knowing that Wednesday is their choice. Not only that, by doing it this way, you will be able to nip to the shop and buy only what you need because you already know what you are planning to eat, also, you know in advance if dinner is going to use any syns or healthy extras so you will be able to work out what else you can eat during the day.

7. Try new things.

Yes, you can have a week thats amazing for you but if you repeat the week constantly, it will become monotonous and boring and your weight loss will slow down. Mix it up. Have an SP day or week maybe. Find a recipe in the latest magazine you’d like to try. Those online groups I mentioned? Get on them. Look at what other people are eating and try it yourself. You might find your new favourite meal! Always using the healthy B choice for your weetabix? Have a bacon sarnie instead with some grilled tomatoes.  Or have a slimming world fry up and use the B choice on a couple of hifi bars in the evening. Look at what you do and do something completely different every now and then.

 

Over to you…

So those are my top tips. What are yours? What would you say to yourself now if you were starting again? What advice would you give your best friend if they were to join you on your journey? I can’t wait to see what other tips you come up with!
Thanks for reading x