It's helped me (SlimFast)

Member Name: suz1584

Product:	SlimFast
Date:	17/09/09 (151 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I've lost so much weight

Disadvantages: Headaches sometimes

If you have had the chance to read my previous reviews you'll know that I'm getting married in November. So for that reason I decided I wanted to lose some weight for the big day.

I have previously tried various diets and never been able to stick to them. My other option was the Cambridge diet but with the costs every week I didn't really see it as an option. One day at work as was chatting to a colleague who said she was starting the Slim Fast diet and we decided to do it together.

That night we went through to Tesco to buy what we needed. I was surprised by the amount of things they now have in their range. When I was younger I remember my sister doing it and there only being the shakes. Now you have the option to choose from powder to make your shakes, ready made shakes, smoothies, meal bars. There are also snacks which include pretzels, cheddar bites, caramel bars and peanut bars.

Within all the varieties there's also a variety of flavours including vanilla, chocolate, banana and strawberry. There are also more varieties in the smoothies which include forest fruits, peach and mango and raspberry.

Price

For the powdered milkshake it will cost you about £4.40 which lasts 6 days if you are using it for your breakfast and lunch. This was my first option as it worked out a lot cheaper to do it long term.

For a ready made bottle of shake or a smoothie it was priced about £1.36 but there is often offers to buy these for £1. I bought a few of these to try and also for days when I'm out and about and I'm not able to make my powdered shake.

The meal replacement bars were £3.69 for 3 which I never tried due to the fact that they were so expensive and I actually thought they were way over-priced considering how cheap the powdered milkshakes were.

The snacks were priced reasonably but if you are going to try this diet I would say it's worth shopping around as I found the snack bars priced between 33p - 49p and the pretzels/ cheddar bites price from 34p - 52p. I did buy a few of these to begin with.

The Diet

It seemed straight forward enough all I had to do was have a shake in the morning, one at lunch and then a 600 calorie meal for my dinner. I could also have 3 snacks per day, which was one for morning, one afternoon and one in the evening.

The snacks you could have was anything sort of low fat and low in calories. I stuck to their snacks to begin with and fruit but as my diet went on I introduced other things like Muller rice, ryvita minis and snack a jacks.

What to drink - I have been drinking loads of water as it fills me up and is also really good for me. I was never a fan of just plain water but I am beginning to enjoy it now. I drink a cup of tea on the odd occasion and think I have 2 in the past 3 weeks but instead of semi-skimmed milk I used skimmed milk.

How I got on

Ok so I had it in my head that for the first four days I would be starving. In the morning I got up with a little excitement at starting this diet, it was something new and I hoped it would all go well.

I decided for breakfast to have a ready made strawberry shake as it was easier than making up the powdered shake. I had put these in the fridge the night before so they were nice and cool. I shook it well and removed the cap and foil lid. First mouthful was fine, I wouldn't say I loved it but I was pleasantly surprised how like normal shakes it tasted. By the time I reached the end I was enjoying it more and I actually couldn't wait to try the next one at lunch.
Half way through the morning at work I felt myself missing a bit of chocolate so luckily I had taken a snack bar with me. I tried the peanut bar which tasted very similar to a snickers bar and although they are the size of a snack size snickers it was more than enough for me.

Off I went home for my lunch and I read the instructions carefully on how much skimmed milk I needed to add to the powdered shake. It was 250ml skimmed milk required and I needed to add two level scoops of the powder. Within the powdered milkshake tin there is a scoop supplied which is really helpful so you know you're putting in the right amount. I decided to use a whisk to mix it together so there were no lumps left as I heard it doesn't mix right if you use a fork or spoon. Again I was happy with the taste of this but it was quite sweet. After drinking it I didn't feel hungry so that was the main thing.

At night I stuck to my 600 calories and had loads of vegetables with chicken. It was fine and I did think that 600 calories was a lot for a meal and only used 400 calories but it's surprising how quickly calories add up.

That evening I stuck to eating fruit as a snack and went to bed feeling good that I managed to complete the first day without feeling starving. All set for day two.

Over the next few days I was happy with the amount I was getting to eat and even though I was only doing it for a couple of days I could start to notice the difference, my engagement ring which is normally quite tight was now loose on my finger. Even my trousers started to feel loose.

After the first week I decided it was time to do a weigh in. Thankfully I had remembered to weigh myself before I began so now I would know exactly how much I had lost......... I couldn't believe my eyes - 7lbs in the first week! I knew I had lost weight but really half a stone? I was jumping for joy and it made me even more determined to carry on with it.

Over the weeks the weight lost has slowed down. I have been doing it for just over 3 weeks and have now lost 10lbs in total which is fantastic but now I am going to have to introduce a lot more exercise to my life to bring my weight down a bit more. Time to stop using the treadmill as a clothes horse then!

My overall opinion

The first four days were meant to be the hardest but I found myself enjoying it. I don't know if this is because I know I am doing it for my wedding but all the same I found it so much easier than any other diet. It has also pushed me into eating more fruit and veg and less crisps, bread and chocolate.

I can't say I miss anything I'm not eating anymore, as the scales show my weight going further down that happier I am to carry on with it. I have done it for just over 3 weeks now and I have decided that after the 4 week mark I will stop drinking the shakes and start introducing healthier meals for myself. It really has given me the kick start I needed.

The only down side was I felt myself having a really sore head most of the day. I tried to get rid of this by drinking loads of water but sometimes it didn't go away until I had eaten my evening meal. I do recommend this if you need the kick start to a healthy diet.

Summary: Great kick start to my healthy diet