--Intro--

Having just finished University I decided it was time to shift the weight I have put on during my time as a student. As I'm sure many people have experienced it can creep up on you sometimes and before you know it you've put on a couple of stone, and I could probably put on a lot more than that if I don't do something about it now.

I am a big lover of food, and cheese is my favourite thing ever, I'll never be one of those people who can live off salad and be happy about it. Prior to Uni I would go swimming at 6am on a morning before work or go to Pilates and other classes on an evening. I was able to eat a few takeaways and other yummy things and it not really be a problem. When I moved away to Uni I quit the gym as I was moving away from home, and as a skint student didn't bother joining another one. Going out several times a week with a takeaway at the end of it and lazing around whenever I wasn't at work or lectures certainely took its toll. Looking back I could have spent slightly less on going out/takeaways and joined another gym but obviously I can't change that now.

Anyway, three weeks ago I decided to join Slimming World, as I'd heard it was fantastic, and that you can eat a lot and still lose weight-providing you eat the right things of course. I was scared to go to the meetings as I didn't want to get weighed and I didn't know what everyone there would be like.

--The meetings--

You can join Slimming World online but I felt the best way to get results was to go to the meetings as the thought of being weighed every week and having the support of fellow members makes the whole thing more effective. It costs £5 a week to attend meetings which I think is well worth it because I would have spent more than that on junk food per week in the past.

My mum joined with me as she would like to lose a couple of pounds but I think she's mainly doing it to support and encourage me and also to make it a bit less scary. When I arrived to my first meeting the consultant/leader took us off to one side with the other new members to give like a welcome talk and tell us what the diet entails. We were provided with membership cards and a folder which tells you about the eating plan/what you can have/how much you can have etc. You also get your weight written in the back of the book everytime you go along with how much you have lost/gained.

Normally you get weighed at the beginning of the meeting and then everyone sits around and has a group talk about things like recipe ideas, whether they've had any problems, or whether they've done well. The weigh in is so scary and it's nice to get it over and done with at the beggining. They're really confidential about your weight and no one else has to know what it is at all. This was one of the things that scared me so it was reassuring to see this.

For every half stone you lose you get an award and the person who loses the most every week and month wins an award too. These get read out in the meeting and everyone congratulates and encourages each other.

Our group leader is absolutely lovely and sends us texts throughout the week and always replies if we have any problems or questions. She gets genuinely excited for you when you do well which is so encouraging.

--The Eating Plan--

I will try and explain the diet plan the best I can.

So on Slimming World there are three different types of 'day' you choose from. However I only use two of them because I don't really get the other one and don't like the sound of it as much. I will just explain the two I use. They are 'Original' days and 'Green' days. I can choose every day which day I want to follow as long as I stick to it for the full day.

Green Day: On a green day you can eat unlimited fruit, veg, pasta, rice, eggs, and various other things.

Orginial: On an original day you can eat unlimited lean meat, eggs, fruit, veg, and other things.

On both days you choose one or two 'Healthy Extra' A option, and one or two Healthy Extra B option. The A options are cheese and milk and the B options are things like porridge, cereal, and bread.

You can also have between 5 and 15 'syns' per day. These are the treats. Everything has a syn value and these can be found in the back of the handbook you get given. As an example a 2 finger kit kat is 5.5 syns and things like mars bars are about 15.

So to sum up you can eat as much fruit, veg, salad, quorn and eggs as you want and then on a green day you can have pasta and rice or on an original day you can have meat. On a green day you can use your B option to have a small piece of meat or on an original day you can use your B option for a bit of pasta or rice. You then have your cheese/milk and bread/cereal/etc and your 'syns' (treats.)

There is not much weighing involved apart from your Healthy A and B options, which do have to be weighed. As there are a lot of unlimited foods it makes it loads easier not to have to weigh out little portions.

There are loads of recipes you can make in a different way from usual to make them slimming world friendly. For example you can make chips if you chop potatos and spray them with frylight before baking them in the oven. You can have as many of them as you want. I also have recipes for lasagne and pancakes which you make using different ingredients to what you would normally use but they're still tasty and filling.

I hope I've explained it well enough, it can sound complicated at first but it's very easy to follow once you get used to it.

--My Experience--

So I started Slimming World three weeks ago and I've lost 17lb which has shocked me in a good way!! Hopefully in a few months I will be where I want to be but I fully intend to continue with the plan after that as I love it. It's very feasible to stick to it as I'm never left hungry and I can have small treats. I've won Slimmer of the Week the past two weeks and I would have lost it in my first week too but you're not allowed to win on your first week. This is been a great boost and loads of people in the meetings have been really encouraging. I love everuthing about it-the food I can have, the support, and the results so far.

I highly recommend it.