Mr C and I have been going to Slimming World for 9 weeks now. He is very competitive, and is doing really well, beating me by a few pounds overall. He hasn't read any of the books or looked at the app or website. He has no idea of any of the phrases or what they mean, and is deliberately making this very clear at the meetings when he looks at me and smiles, before asking questions such as "but what is speed food?" Such a dreadful wind up merchant!
He has listened enough to know a few things, and has foods he knows are ok, for example he has a sweet potato jacket with salad and tuna every day for lunch. And he knows he can eat as many crab sticks as he likes (although why would you?). And he does really well, so obviously knows enough!
He won slimmer of the week(*), for the most weight lost 4 or 5 times in a row, much to the annoyance of some of the members who had obviously been with the group for a long time and didn't stand a chance against him. So he won the bag of goodies (every member donates good food, such as a tin of tomatoes or some apples, and the SOTW(*) wins it all), and for several weeks running, he brought home the same tins of lentils and sliced mushrooms that he had put back in the bag, having won them the week before.
But now, the loss is slowing down and we are only losing a pound a week, and there are some newbies with really good losses, who are beating him. Every Monday he gets changed just before we head off for the weigh in, changing into his shorts that he wore the first time he got weighed back in August, not wanting to wear heavier trousers, going for a tactical wee before we leave. He may no longer be the darling of the leader for his astronomical weight loss, but he's much more popular now that he isn't winning SOTW every week.
We are both surprised at how much we are enjoying the social aspect of it. We have made some lovely friends there, it's a great mix of people (mainly women) of all ages, shapes and sizes, but they are warm and kind and funny, and genuinely supportive. There is /are (not sure whether it's singular or plural because I am actually too old to be using the phrase ) great "bants", and so we look forward to going, even when the news may not be so good.
So now we are healthier and weigh a little less, but God I miss cake. I want a big thick wedge of layered cake, filled with ruby red strawberry jam and covered with thick creamy butter icing.
Most foods, we can eat in moderation or make a Slimming World friendly version (even fish and chips!), but cake is out of the question. I have tried, unsuccessfully to create edible alternatives. The most recent was the mashed potato cake. The only cake ever to have survived in our house for longer than 3 days.
I make oat pancakes, which are OK, and today have even done a rice pudding - made with rice and fat free greek yogurt. I had it with lots of frozen forest fruit and a spoonful of special sugar which is something to do with fir trees, and just pretended it was the real thing. And whereas with other diets (although of course this is a lifestyle choice (shouts again) NOT A DIET), I have felt deprived and sad, and not been able to eat or cook the food that I love, with this one, I mainly can. There are many things we have to have in moderation or replace - for example I haven't bought butter since we started, but I can choose to have a little if I want some - I just have to do without something else. So, it's going well I think. Eating out is a challenge, but we have found what we can eat and stay "on Plan" at the Balti King. Hence the Balti King is now our second home.
Christmas will be the big test, as it always is, but we will just have to be strong and make good choices. Knowing of course that we will be weak, drink all the gin, eat all the food, and undo all the good we have done so far.
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