Yup, I've Lost Weight!

Yup I'm a slightly slimmer version of me. 

It was through choice(& effort) & not because I had an issue with what weight I actually was (as I've never been one to weigh myself regularly), nor was it anything to do with being unhappy with my clothing size.  I've been comfortable with being mostly a 10-12 (my JLo booty sometimes needing even more room!) for the last few years. No biggy really... it was a case of, you just feel you could do with shifting a lil' bit of padding and you make the effort to do so.   I felt it had crept on gradually & was needing the heave ho, especially with a swimwear kinda holiday on the cards. 

 Hubby had also been keen to lose a bit of weight but was not so enamoured by the thought of  attending a class (for various reasons) which I could totally understand. Having taught a weekly dance class to a marvellous Weight Watchers group in Cumnock near Ayr , I'd heard great things & seen the amazing transformations of so many of my participants that it seemed the obvious choice. With the app being the affordable & best option for us both, we joined then navigated our way through the it, figuring out what our weekly points allowed us to munch on.....which we discovered was everything and anything really (you just gotta 'point it')'!! 

Using the app & following the ProPoints system has been a walk in the park...a breeze...an absolute doddle! Each day you type in what you've eaten (1000s of brand name products are uploaded in to the site for you to find and choose from) & you can see your remaining daily allowance, as well as your weekly points. So there's no way to lose track of what you've eaten! Of course you can also use it to make healthy, informed choices too. If you fancy something but not sure how many points it is, you simply type it in & it'll bring up the value....then it's down to you to decide if it's worth it to dive in or opt for something lower in points!  

We began our weight loss journey June 4th & within that 4 months of sticking to the program & enjoying regular exercise (I have an active job) I have lost 1 stone 6lbs thus far!  It's been a steady, gradual process with some weeks there being no weight loss at all. 

So what does a typical day look like for me? Firstly I'd like to point out that these are my preferences & that the program offers variety....I'm just a creature of habit most of the time & enjoy certain food groups over others. 

Brekkie? 

Crumpets have become my staple diet. They are low in points, filling and go with almost anything.  Can't even imagine how many of them I've eaten since we started the diet!  I quite often have mashed-up,  heated banana over them. Could literally live on that. It's soooo yummy! Eggs are a fave too and I usually boil an egg the night before to ensure I get that protein fix first thing. 

Lunch? 

Tends to be either tuna or chicken breast with heaps of salad. Low points, mega filling (haven't imputed my spinach leaves below but believe me, they're always there). I've seen myself add all sorts of veg too. Whatever we have that's zero points & will fill out my lunch goes in. Spring onions, broccoli, peas.... My tub is always brimming with greenery! 

Dinner?

We are enjoying the foods we ate before (mainly)but have adjusted portion sizes and thought twice about a jarred sauce, opting to make our own to allow us to control the calorie intake. Chicken fajitas, burgers, stir fries, curries.....we enjoy a varied and tasty diet. Will be posting a few recipes soon!

  My current daily allowance is 26 points which I ALWAYS eat. Rob on the other hand, has a much higher point allowance than me (men get more and it also differs depending on weight) and almost NEVER eats his full allowance. He annoyingly updates me every evening after dinner, when I've only got 2 points or so left, that he has something like 26 left....26 left??!!! He's eaten all day and is still left with the amount of points I get in a whole day! What the actual....?? He apparently should be trying to eat all his points each day but he finds it virtually impossible. He snacks on fruit mainly at work which has a zero points value so he doesn't clock up points during the day. We also both have 49 'weeklies' which you can tap into if you'd like to have that dessert or that glass of wine. Some days I find myself going over my daily 26 by a few points so this is where the weeklies come in to play and I don't feel too guilty about stretching out my allowance. I rarely eat even half of my weeklies but I know they're always there in case of scran emergencies! Oh yeah, we all have 'em! Birthday cake is of course a must-have! 

 My diet hasn't changed much to be honest. I was a healthy eater beforehand with a very balanced diet. What I would say has been the magic ingredient for me with Weight Watchers is the weighing and measuring of my food. Portion control is the key! Yes fruit and veg are 'free foods' so they require no measuring at all but my meat, dairy, carbs etc are weighed (or their weight checked on the packets) before consumption. Cooking or preparing food for two often left us in a scenario where we were overeating at dinner time in an attempt not to 'waste food'. Of course we could have cut down the portions and used the leftovers another day but we weren't....we were just eating them unnecessarily. Filling up on veg and fruit now allows us to eat plenty of the good stuff and manage everything else better than ever before. Tonnes of salad with a burger means I don't need potato wedges with it. Heaps of veg in a casserole means one chicken breast each is plenty for us. Swapping rice for grated cauliflower allows us to eat a heaped plateful without the bloated tummy and the carb overload! It's not rocket science but it kinda feels like it.

  As someone who ate healthily I wasn't convinced that the diet would work for me. I thought any weight loss would only be in high intensity workouts, which sadly (due to my work load,  I don't always have time for. I love exercise, it's my job to be active but because of the regularity of my daily 'workouts', my body expects that level of cardio and needs something far more intense to have an effect.  I was convinced that I didn't have much to change diet wise and yes, that was partly true but a few tweaks have made all the difference surprisingly.....1 stone 6 lbs to be exact! 

I'm down a dress size. I feel great. I'm never hungry. I have stacks of energy. I'm not bored as I can eat anything. It's given me the boost I needed mentality as well as physically. Result, I say! 

I'll keep y'all posted on our weight loss adventures and will be sure to post some recipes too. 

Over and out,

Weesse x