Hello all! Happy New Year! In today’s post, I thought I’d combine sharing some of my new clothing pieces* from Femme Luxe Finery with an insight into my weight loss journey with Slimming World. 

BLACK PUFF SLEEVE TOP

The first item is their Black Organza Puff Sleeve Ribbed Top - Callahan (£14.99) . I love the ease of wearing jeans and a 'nice top' for a night out, and this top is really ideal for that and was perfect over the festive season. Femme Luxe has a great selection of going out tops which are great paired with jeans or a bodycon skirt. For reference, I am wearing a Size 10. 

I’ve mentioned in passing in a couple of posts about my weight loss journey. I joined Slimming World back in July after I returned from an overly indulgent week in America and faced the scales in horror of what I saw. Between mid-July and mid-December I’d been able to lose 30lbs, just over 2 stone. I’d been able to lose 10lbs in the first few weeks following the plan loosely by myself, however, officially joined a local Friday group and was able to lose another 20lbs with their help. I really don’t think I’d have been able to have continued losing the weight had I not stayed to the weekly group meetings.  I've got 1.5 stone to go until target but I really hope I'll be able to reach that in 2020.

BASIC CONCEPT OF SLIMMING WORLD EXTRA EASY PLAN

The slimming world ‘Extra Easy Plan’ is as the name suggests, very simple to get your head round and involves minimal weighing and measuring. The plan consists of 5 key areas: 

• Free Food (No weighing or measuring, e.g. Fruit, Veg, Rice, Meat (lean), Fish, Pasta, Beans) 
• Speed Food ( Try to make up at least a third of your meal as speed foods. which are certain Fruit and Vegetables) 
• Healthy Extra A ( 2 x each day, weighed and measured, e.g. milk, cheese) 
• Healthy Extra B (1 x each day, weighed and measured, e.g. cereals, breakfast bars) 
• Syns (5-15 per day) - Syns are foods that are most likely to jeopardise your weight loss but can be enjoyed in measured moderation. You’re allowed up to 15 syns per day as a woman and I found myself using the maximum number of syns per day and still losing weight, however, some people only use a handful of their son allowance and see great results.) 

SLIMMING WORLD ESSENTIALS

During my 6 months of following slimming world I’ve found myself some key essentials for my kitchen cupboards:

Fibre 1 Popcorn Bars ( Hex B Choice/ 3.5 Syns) 

Fibre 1 Cinnamon Bars (4 Syns)

Babybel Light ( 3 x = Hex A Choice)

ChocShot (0.5 syn/ tsp)

TURTLENECK JUMPER DRESS

Oh my word is this jumper cosy! This Grey Knitted Turtleneck Mini Jumper Dress - Elmore (£15.99) is guaranteed to keep you warm on a crisp winter morning. I'd pair this with black jeans or leggings as its the perfect amount of oversized in the M/L (12/14) size.

• Before you start, get to grips with the basic concept, read the booklets you are given cover to cover to familiarise yourself with the 5 parts. I didn’t do this properly in my first week and came to my second weigh in with a 2lb gain and couldn’t work out why. 
• Make sure you have easy access to the information. I loved using the SW app for this to familiarise myself for the syn values of things I wasn’t sure on. I also recommend using group and your consultant as your point of reference. 
• Make sure your cupboards and fridge is stocked with all the right foods and you have used up any of the wrong foods to avoid temptation. 
• Get into the routine of meal planning and doing a weekly shop to ensure that you can stay 100% on plan. 
• Keep a food diary to help keep you accountable for what you eat. SW offer them to new members but I’ve recently got hold of a 12 week food diary from HomeBargains which is equally as beneficial. 
• Keep to a routine weigh day and only weigh yourself once a week. I once thought I’d gained 4lb because I’d weighed myself on a different day and time when the reality was I’d stayed the same weight when I’d weighed in at group.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information on Slimming World and to find a local group visit their website here.

Have you ever tried Slimming World?

*I have an ongoing partnership with Femme Luxe Finery who allow me to choose gifted items from their site to review. This does not affect my opinion of the items in anyway* Find out more information about Femme Luxe Finery by heading to their website, femmeluxefinery.co.uk.