OK, well I've done it, I've joined. What are your essentials?

[SpiderCharlotte]

Just about to do my online shopping and would really appreciate your input on things that you find have made your SW 'journeeeee' that much easier.

I don't like yoghurt. I do like just about everything else (which is why I'm in this position in the first place!)

So, I'm looking for your best advice folks!

Hi Spider! I have been lurking for a while .I am not really new to sw. but rejoined four weeks ago and have lost six pounds .I have about three stone to lose.

You have probably done your online shop now, but maybe go through the books and find all the speed and protein foods that you like and think of recipes for them.I have invested over the years in some of therecipe books and I find If i base my weekly shop on recipes from them ..it really does help.

I do lots of Body Magic ( walking ,) which I feel does help...it stops me from snacking, as well as burning calories.X

Syn-free hummus gets me through a sticky snacking moment after a couple of glasses of wine. No tahini, no oil – just chickpeas blitzed with lemon, 0% yogurt, ground cumin, ground coriander, smoked paprika and water.
Batch cooking helps me stay on track during the week.
Get yourself a portion plate. It tells you exactly what portion sizes you would be eating and it really does work.
Keep lots of low syn snack foods on hand. If there is always something healthy and syn free to snack on you won’t end up cheating. I like to keep carrot sticks, raspberries, strawberries and packets of wafer thin chicken for snacking.
Always weight your healthy extras. Sometimes I get lazy and think I know what 40g of cereal etc looks like.. always weigh it.. because you might be slowly adding extra everyday and not even realising.
I see many having little to no syns or healthy extras each day in a bid to try and boost their weight loss. I personally don’t recommend it, as restricting yourself too much like that, is not maintainable. If it feels like a diet, it won’t work and you won’t stick to it. Syns and healthy extra’s are there to be used, so don’t be afraid to use them. You don’t have to use your syns on snack foods, syns can be used in recipes for things that are not syn free. For example a little bit of olive oil in a dish, or maple syrup in your oatmeal etc.
Buy frozen veg and add it to everything for speed. So much easier when you’ve no time.
Buy lots of Snack a Jacks for when you’re craving something crunchy! So light, so fluffy and so full of flavour!
Fat free cottage cheese will rescue anything from salad, to crudités, to jacket potatoes…
Curly Wurlies are good. For 6 Syns they really take ages to eat!
Balsamic vinegar can be splashed over almost anything!

Hey OP.

I hope the online shop went well and your early SW days are going ok.

I lost over 7st in 11months on SW and have maintained that for almost 2 years. I planned everything- all meals and snacks. I am vegetarian so might be different from yourself but I made 3/4 of every meal as vegetables or fruit. I also bulked everything out with speed - eg grated carrots in veggie Bolognese, long strips if leek / courgette with spaghetti. I had lots of snacks at the ready - fruit salad, veggie sticks etc. I always carry fruit in case I get hungry.

I wrote down everything I ate - it made such a difference and stopped me from my old habits like grabbing a biscuit every time I went to the cupboard.

I also made a chart, planning on losing 1lb a week. I viewed it as weeks and not weight so if I didn't get my pound one week, then I always made my monthly target. I know groups heap praise on members who have big losses every week but I wanted to take it slowly. It didn't happen like that and I lost it much quicker than planned but didn't put pressure on myself.

I bought myself really nice crockery so every meal looked great and gave me pleasure to look at.

Small things but they helped.

Good luck.

Thank you for the replies, some really useful info.

I was fine Friday and Saturday (during the day) but fell off the waggon last night, which is pretty pathetic for day two but I'm back on it today so won't beat myself up. I was tempted to think well I've blown it now so I might as well not bother (like I usually do) but I won't.

Thinking about what I eat, I eat pretty much ok normally but my problem is overeating and snacking and sugary snacks. So I have to get my head round that. My favourite snack is bread and butter!

Anyway, I'm prepping as much as I can and I've just made vegetable and mixed bean soup, like I do every week, but instead of having it with slabs of bread and butter, I'll have it with a couple of Ryvita crackers as my HEb.

Do you think that making consistent small changes and choosing healthy snacks will help me on my way?

I'm due to weigh in on Thursday night so I'm really going to try this week.
It's been a tough year and I've been quite ill, so I'm feeling at a really low ebb with my health and my looks so this is giving me something to really focus on. It's been difficult to get out and exercise but I'm getting out for short walks too.

Spider..I think making small changes is the way to go..and picking up tips on the way like the ones above.Slow and steady wins the race!x

Slow and steady wins the race!

That's what I'm hoping. I don't see the point in starving myself and losing loads quickly because it's not sustainable. X