DIET: The Beginning Of A New Me

OK, I've taken the plunge and am on a diet as of today (30th April 2011). I would like to give a huge thank you to Slimavite who are providing me with the milkshakes for my diet as part of their trial.


I was ashamed when I finally got on the scales and my weight came in as 15st 2lb - at 5' 3" this makes me very much overweight. I was even more horrified at my waist size - an horrific 48" was what I saw.


I've wanted to lose weight for quite some time. I used to be a clothes size 12/14 (not sure on the weight) before I had my son, but that was more than 8 years and 7 months ago when I gave birth to him and the added weight never went away and I didn't put any effort into shifting it. Instead taking to eating what I like, whenever I like  and gaining even more weight.


I have tried a calorie controlled diet previously using Slim Fast, but I gave in, mainly due to the fact that I was finding it quite costly.


I've been saying for a while I want to lose weight - I'm sick and tired of feeling drained of energy and not being able to do as much with my 8 year old son as I would like. So when I heard from a friend (Sandy Hallett) on Twitter about the Slimavite trial, I was very eager. I would like to thank Sandy for making me aware of it.


I'd been putting off starting, but the decider for me was that I won £2,000 in holiday vouchers from Vue Cinemas back in January 2011 and I knew I would finally be able to visit my dream destination of Cairo, Egypt and I knew I would be going to the beach at some point and I don't want to be the "big beached whale" - that, plus I'm sick of wearing frumpy, unflattering clothes because that is all that is available in my size!


Today, my meals were made up of:


Breakfast - N/A (I got up too late for breakfast)
Dinner - A Slimavite strawberry milkshake
Tea - Jerk chicken with rice and black eyed beans (I was a bit naughty as I had a small glass of wine as we had family & friends around for tea)
Snacks - Low fat yoghurt, 2 bananas
Drinks - Strawberry & vanilla sparkling water, 2 cups of coffee, small glass of wine


I found myself feeling quite full after the milkshake. It didn't stop me yearning for a bar of choccy or a biscuit, but I made sure I didn't buy any when I went shopping yesterday, instead buying fruit, salad and healthy yoghurts for if I needed a snack. I'm quite pleased with my ability to resist my urges - but it is only the first day - better hope it continues!


I must say, I don't want to sound ungrateful to Slimavite, because I really am grateful, but I did prefer the Slim Fast milkshakes. Why? Because the Slimavite has bits in (I think it's granola or something) and I really can't stand bits in drinks (I do realise it is a meal replacement, but bits are a no, no for me) - mainly due to the fact that I have enlarged tonsils (this is a permanent thing) and I spend a very long time eating food (I have to chew food to oblivion basically to prevent me choking), so drinking a drink with bits in is very much a challenge for me - it often sticks at the back of my throat thus irritating it and causing me to cough a lot. I assume the majority of people don't have the same problem as me though, so for most people this wouldn't be a problem. The taste itself is fine, quite nice actually. The strawberry tastes of strawberry (though the after taste is a little straw-like because of the bits). The consistency is nice as well - not too thick like a McDonald's milk shake, but not so thin it's like water either. Despite the bits in the drink, I'm going to push forward with the Slimavite as it does have a nice taste and it's worth the difficulties with my throat so I can lose weight.


I'm going to post short daily updates on my progress over on this page - DIET PROGRESS - so please have a look there regularly and see how I'm doing.


STARTING WEIGHT: 15st 2lb
TARGET WEIGHT: 10st 5lb


My dreaded "before" pictures: