41 Weeks - 7 Stone 3 Pounds - Target Member

Well, that almost seemed like forever, but I sit back and realise it usually takes people a lot longer to lose the amount of weight I've lost. I've lost a grand total of 7 stone 3 pounds and I'm now at my target weight of 13 stone, with a starting weight of 20 stone 3 pounds.

My Slimming World journey started on 7th January 2016, being one of the most sceptical new members you've met. Why was I sceptical? Because I couldn't get my head around the fact that you can eat as much food as you wanted, as long as it was healthy and Syn Free. As time went on I understood the plan more and weight seemed to drop off.

I've not lost weight every week, there's been six weeks where I've put on weight as I've been off plan and two weeks where I've stayed the same, but I've still managed to average a weight loss of just under 2.5 pounds per week. Here's pictures of my weight loss.

Not sure what happened to Week 18, I have input my weight, which is 15st 10lbs, with a total loss to that point of 4st 6½lbs. 

The dates shown show the week commencing date, each week I got weighed in, in group on a Thursday. Along with my girlfriend Fliss and step son George. The group that we go to is Nicci Montgomery's 7:00 PM group in Bedworth, which we've been going to since 7th January. Apart from the very odd occasion, we've stayed to the group after we've weighed in, Nicci will go around everyone, reveal how much weigh they've lost, make sure people are OK if they've put weight on that week and everyone gives encouragement to each other. The support Nicci & the group have given me has been epic.

My encouragement & support hasn't just been from Fliss, George and the group though. As many of my Facebook friends will know, I post my latest weight loss or gain on Facebook every Thursday. These posts tend to get a lot of likes and comments from friends and family. I'm not going to list all the people here as there is too many to mention, but each like and every comment that my posts get have also helped encourage me a hell of a lot and kept me going to my target.

I genuinely can't put into words how much all this encouragement and support has meant to me, it really means so much, and I appreciate every single like, every single comment and all the support in person from the group and family. It might not seem like a lot to the people giving me the support but it really means the world to me.

That's not the end of the journey though, Fliss and George have both lost over 2st each and want to power on to their targets and I want to be able to maintain my weight, so we'll keep going to group, keep on the plan, and who knows, I might change my target after Christmas, but we'll have to see how I feel then.

Now for the photos:

vvv And as I trimmed my massive beard last night vvv

Week 35: Sub 14 stone.

First thing's first, sorry I've not posted for a couple of months, I've had a couple of up and down months, but I've been back on it for the past three weeks. It's taken me until September, but I'm here, I'm now weighing in at less than my 2008 target weight, only by 2lbs, but 13st 12lbs is an achievement, having lost a staggering 6st 5lbs.

Since I last posted, back in June, as mentioned, I've had up and down moments, where I've been on and off plan, some of this was thanks to friends coming round and bringing home baked cakes. With Kerry bringing round her carrot cake and Louise bringing her mint chocolate cupcakes, Fliss also did some baking, including Creme Egg brownies, Smarties cookies and Graveyard Snickers cupcakes. All the cakes and cookies were delicious and completely off plan, so it's no surprise that I put on weight that week, although we enjoyed eating them and don't regret a thing.

The few weeks after Kerry and Louise came over, George went to his grandparents for a few weeks, so Fliss and I had a few weeks where we were wavering a bit, we weren't really on our game, so we did have things, besides the mountain of cakes, we really shouldn't have done. But since George has come back, we've been fully back on it. While George has only been back for two weeks now, I've had three weeks worth of losses, having lost 10.5lbs over the three weeks.

I have had my 13st target in mind for months now, but only just given my Slimming World consultant my target, so after weighing in on Thursday, Nicci got a bit excited about the fact I only have 12lbs to go until I get to my target. The target is 1st less than my 2008 target, because when I got to my 14st target in 2008, I wasn't 100% happy with myself and my body, so I'm hoping the extra stone will help. The fact I wasn't 100% happy at target in 2008 might have contributed to me falling off the wagon and putting all my weight back on, and then some more. My heaviest weight in 2008 was 18st 3lbs, and was disgusted with myself then, so you could imagine how I felt at 20st 3lbs at the beginning of this year.

I'm much happier with myself now, still not 100% happy with my belly, but hopefully once I've got the last 12lb off, that will change. I've gone from having a BMI of 42.3 to 29.5, which I'm pretty impressed by. When I got my original work uniform, I had 4XL tops and 50" waist trousers, now wearing 2XL tops and 42" waist trousers, which I've had since April, and now they're getting too big for me. So plenty of non-scale victories to go along side my weight loss.

I'm looking forward to getting to my target weight, if I'm not 100% happy at 13st, I might change my target, maybe to 12st, but we'll see.

But in all honesty, I wouldn't have made it this far in losing weight if it wasn't for the support of Fliss & George, the people liking and commenting on my weekly Slimming World posts on Facebook, our consultant Nicci and the Slimming World group. It really is appreciated and I'm thankful to you all.

Week 24: Sub 15 Stone

At Slimming World this week, I had a pretty good week, as did Fliss & George, as we all lost weight after having a couple of weeks where we put on weight, but after Download, that wasn't really much of a surprise.

I write this blog post this week, having got under the 15 stone mark. It's only by half a pound, but for me it's a big land mark. Apart from 2008, when I last lost a lot of weight, I have always really struggled when I've got to 15 stone or just over. Besides 2008, I've tried, unsuccessfully, to lose weight, because every time I got to around 15 stone, my will power totally disappeared and I went back to my old ways and put the weight back on again.

Granted, I put the weight back on and tons more after I lost the weight in 2008, back then, it wasn't the will power that killed me, it was the lack of knowledge when it came to maintaining weight, which is something I hope to conquer this time with the help of Slimming World. In 2008, I had no help and didn't know where to turn when it came to getting info about maintaining weight. Prior to that, when I started to struggle to get below 15 stone, I was working for Sainsbury's and maintained a weight of 16 stone 7 pounds virtually the whole time I was there, which was thanks to a combination of unhealthy eating and doing working in the car park collecting trolleys.

The will power to eat healthily was the thing I struggled with prior to 2008, as I was clearly doing the exercise to burn enough calories to lose weight, if I just had the will power to eat more healthily, I was always in the habit of going to McDonalds, Burger King or KFC for my lunch while I was at work and on an early shift, I'd quite often have a fry up in the staff canteen and then a cooked meal when I got home from work. Thankfully, now, I don't have any fast food restaurants near to wear I work, but there is a staff canteen that sells fry ups in the morning and cooked meals at dinner times. But, gladly, I am able to resist them by taking in fruit, a cans of sugar free pop and cereal bars in for my breaks.

Back in 2008, I had got to my target by now, which I thought was nothing short of a miracle, but then, I did have less to lose and did have the help of going to the gym and going swimming, which I did enjoy doing at the time. But going to the gym and going swimming cost me money and took my free time up, but this time around, I have an active job, so I don't have to spend money to go exercise, I can just do it at work, while I'm being paid to do it, BONUS! Not only that, but because I'm going to be able to continue doing my job once I have got to my target, I should be able to keep it off more easily.

I've got another 2 stone to go, I'm in no rush, it's taken me 24 weeks to get this far, which is an average loss of just over 3lbs per week, by that estimation, it should take me another 9 weeks to get to target, which would be 25th August. But if it takes me longer, then it takes me longer. I'll get it off whether it takes me 9 weeks or 18 weeks or however long. I'll get there for me, I want this more than anything (well most things).

You may be tired of me saying so, but I've only got to this big milestone of mine thanks to the help and support of the amazingly awesome people I've got around me, which includes Fliss & George, our Slimming World consultant Nicci, everyone at the group and everyone of my friends and family who has liked and commented on my Slimming World related updates, which are too numerous to list, especially as I'd probably forget half of you and I really don't want to leave anyone out, it wouldn't be fair. Thanks to you all, I've got to where I am now, I'm happier than I've ever been, more confident than I've ever been, I've come a long way in the last 6 months, and even since I moved in with Fliss & George, a little over a year ago and started my current job and gained loads of awesome friends while working there, you're all to thank for me being the happy Dan that I am today. Please remember that every time I thank you for things like this, it's 110% heartfelt.

Slimming World Man of the Year

Well, we're not even 6 months through the year yet, but Slimming World are doing their Man of the Year award. As people know I've been going to Slimming World since 7th January and apart from three gains, I've lost weight every week. Having now lost a total of just short of 5 stone, up until 16th June.

So, thanks to this weight loss, with astonishes me as much as anyone else, I've been awarded the Man of the Year for our group. And received this award:

I have to say, I wasn't expecting this, despite the success that I've had in losing weight by doing Slimming World, so it came as a bit of a shock. I was asked to stand up in front of the group, which was smaller last week than usual, but it still made me get slightly embarrassed and not sure exactly what to say.

I lost weight in 2008 on my own steam, with little to no support from anyone, not even from my (now ex) girlfriend. I lost 4 stone then and was at my target weight by now, but while I'm not at my target weight yet, I've had more to lose and have actually lost more weight by this point than in 2008. So in some ways, I'm in a better place now, but in other ways, I'm not, but I was under no illusions that with more weight to lose, it would take longer to lose it.

This time around I've had the support I've needed to lose the weight I have and to continue to lose it. The support I've had from my girlfriend and step son has been nothing but astounding and the support from our Slimming World consultant and group, both in group and on Facebook has been amazing. But they are not the only ones that have offered me support, I am also extremely grateful to all the friends and family who have liked and/or commented on Slimming World related posts. Those likes and comments might not seem like a lot to most people, but those combined with all the support from Fliss, George, our consultant Nicci and the group actually mean so much more than I can put into words, all of the support does, which is why this award also means a lot to me and why I felt a bit choked up when I received it.

Too many people have liked and/or commented on my posts to list them all here, but I hope you all read this and appreciate how much it all means to me and how much I truly appreciate all the support I've been given from you all, even if it's just one or two likes and/or comments or continued support. I promise I won't let myself down, because that would mean letting you all down too.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

18 weeks - 4.5 stone award

It's been a little while since my last blog post, but I've hit the 4.5 stone mark, having been half a pound off last week. I've now lost a grand total of 4 stone 11.5 pounds, starting at 20 stone 3 pounds and now I'm 15 stone 5.5 pounds, in 18 weeks, which is astonishing when you think about it. So far, I've lost weight every single week, even on the weeks I've been a bit naughty, like going to Comic Con, going to my parents for the weekend and last week when we celebrated my step son's birthday and had cake, steak, chips and breaded chicken with a sweet chilli dip.

Remembering back to 2008 when I successfully lost a lot of weight previously (before putting it all back on & more) it took me until the end of May to have lost 4 stone, but that was when I was doing it on my own, with no help from Slimming World. Even my ex-girlfriend, who was supposed to be dieting with me, wasn't much help, but it's different now as my current girlfriend is doing it with me and is giving me the help and support I need, along with my step-son, it's a whole family effort, which really helps. One of the other things that helps a lot is the encouragement I get from friends and family on Facebook, who will all know that I post every Thursday, how much I've lost and there's a lot of them who like and/or comment on my post, all of which helps and encourages me to continue with my weight loss. The other major thing that helps me is seeing the results, seeing my weight appear on the scales at my Slimming World group and seeing the progress is great, the support from the group and consultant, Nicci is great too.

I am visually slimmer too, having gone down from wearing 48 to 50 inch waist trousers to a 42 is amazing and even they're getting to the point they're slightly too big now. Had two people at work comment on the weight yesterday too, which made me feel good about myself, while both are on Facebook, I don't know if they actually read my status' or pay attention to anything else I post, if they do, then great. The physical difference I can notice in myself makes me feel good within myself and also encourages me to continue, still need to get my belly down a bit, but it is noticeably smaller.

I'm also cooking more lately, which pleases my girlfriend. Might not cook every day or every week, but I cook every now and then, and while I'm not the most confident cook on the planet, all of my meals seem to come out well and everyone enjoys them. Cooked SW spag bol earlier this week and then the SW Szechuan Pork (it's beef in the book, but it doesn't really matter what meat you use, as long as it's lean and all the visible fat is removed) last night.

I'm getting there and I'm eager to continue losing weight until I get to target. My initial target is 14 stone but might lower it to 13 stone if I'm still not 100% happy with myself.

4 Stone Mark Achieved

Sorry for the lateness of this blog post as I get weighed again tomorrow, but I've been busy doing other things, like working and visiting my parents.

Last Thursday marked the end of my 14th week doing Slimming World and upon getting on the scales, I had lost the 3 pounds needed to get to the 4 stone lost mark. Weighing in at 16 stone 3 pounds, it marks exactly 4 stone from my starting weight of 20 stone 3 pounds. That means that I am 2 stone 3 pounds off of my target weight, which I may change nearer the time if I'm still not happy.

Speaking about Slimming World to people, I've effectively preached about how well SW works and how I can't understand how people can't lose weight when doing Slimming World. As mentioned before, at the beginning, I was a die hard sceptic of how you can stuff your face with food and still lose weight, but I am living proof that it does work, having lost 4 stone in such a short space of time. I do tell people that they shouldn't expect to lose weight as fast as I have, everyone's different, everyone's body metabolises energy at different rates, some people like me seem to be blessed with quick weight losses and others quite slowly in comparison, but still steady losses anyway, which is still good and people shouldn't be down in the dumps if they only lose 0.5 - 1 pound a week, a loss is a loss and any loss is good. Even if you gain every once in a while, as long as you lose it again, everything is OK.

At the weekend, my girlfriend, step son and I visited my parents from Friday to Sunday and were completely off plan, we didn't count Syns and had a weekend off. I don't know if I should expect to gain this week, maintain or lose, as I ate as if I wasn't on a diet, eating cheese, having full bowls of cereal and eating white bread and premium sausages, along with shephards pie, gravy, roast lamb, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, steak, chips, onion rings, ice cream, to name but a few things. We were back on plan on Monday, 5 syns on Monday, 16.5 syns on Tuesday, haven't had any yet today. So hopefully, if I do gain (it'll be the first time I wouldn't have lost weight) hopefully it won't be too much, but the important thing is that we enjoyed ourselves and it's not every day we see my parents and family.

You should try Slimming World, if you're like me and you like your food but you want to lose weight. I was sceptical, but it really does work. It really does, I cannot empathise that enough, 15 weeks in tomorrow and 4 stone lighter up to last week, you cannot dispute that!

15 April 16

Week 12: More Loss, Less Waist & Slimmer of the Week & Month

Hi again and welcome back to my Slimming World blog. As with every week, Thursday is my weigh-in day, this week was no exception. So my girlfriend and I went to Nicci's 7:00pm group, I lost a good 3.5lbs, which takes me to 3 stone and 9,5 pounds. This means I get my 3.5 stone certificate and takes me to 16 stone 7.5 pounds in weight, meaning I've got another 2 stone 7.5 pounds until I get to my target weight of 14 stone.

This week as been a week of scale and non-scale victories, thanks to my 3.5 pound loss, it meant that I got Slimmer of the Week this week, which is amazing, next nearest was a 3 pound loss. I also got Slimmer of the Month for the third month running, having lost a total of 1 stone 3 pounds in March. The non-scale victories included a measuring yesterday, I lost 6 inches off my chest, 9 inches off my waist and 8 inches off my hips since I began Slimming World. It was becoming more and more obvious that my jeans and trousers were getting more and more bigger on me, it lead to me finally listening to my girlfriend and buying a new smaller pair of trousers. Most of my jeans and trousers have 48" or 50" waists, the trousers I bought today have a 42" waist, which I think is great. I did try on a pair of trousers with a 40" waist and while I could get them on, they were a bit too tight for my liking right now.

Here are some key pics from this week:

And now the new trousers:

All I can say, is that I'm amazed that in 12 weeks, these are the results. I am going to continue with the weight loss until my target and maybe go a bit more. Thanks to everyone for the support people have been giving me, all the comments and even the likes are all spurring me on to continue with it and keeping me motivated, so a big, big thank you to you all.

Week 11: Another Week, Another Loss

Hi again, another week and another loss for me. On my week eleven weigh in, I lost another 3 pounds, meaning that I've now lost a grand total of 3 stone 6 pounds, another pound and I'll have my 3 1/2 stone certificate and 4 pounds to 16 stone 7 pounds, which was my consistent weight when I worked for Sainsbury's.

All of that is great news, and I was considerably pleased when I weighed in, especially when you consider that my girlfriend and I went to Comic Con last Sunday and didn't exactly stick to plan. By that, I mean, we both had a 6 inch sub from Subway, a packet of Doritos and a cake each. The cake I had was a Creme Egg Brownie, which in itself was plenty of Syns, but have a look at it:

It tasted as good as it looked, and I really enjoyed it. I will point out though, on Sunday, I worked out that I consumed a grand total of 64 Syns, which was a big deal for me on Slimming World. But in an attempt to make sure I lost weight or at least maintained, I restricted my Syn intake between Monday and Thursday, so I didn't go over my weekly Syns, which I managed to do, even though it was quite hard to do, but it was worth it.

The thing I like about Slimming World is that it's easy to do. I know that might sound like a contradiction compared to what I said in the previous paragraph, but as long as you're honest with yourself, you can lose weight, if one day during the week, you do have more Syns than you're supposed to, you just adjust the Syns you're allowed each day, you should be alright to still lose weight. It was only a bit hard for me because I had 3 times the amount of Syns on Sunday than I was supposed to have had.

If you keep a food diary and keep track of the amount of Syns you're having, it should be easier to make sure you don't go over. Just think, in the 7 days between weigh ins, guys can have 140 Syns and women can have 105 Syns, keep that in mind and you shouldn't go far wrong.

Thanks for reading and if you're doing Slimming World yourself, keep at it, keep motivated and remember how easy it is to do and to lose weight.

Welcome to my Slimming World Blog

I know this blog is a little late to the game, I've been doing Slimming World for 10 weeks, but from now on, I'll try to post a blog every week after I've been weighed, so people can follow my weight loss journey.

I did a blog post in my main blog a 10 days ago, entitled "Slimming World: A Lifestyle, Not Just a Diet", which can be viewed at http://danielcollins1980.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/slimming-world-lifestyle-not-just-diet.html - So please, have a read, there's a couple of pictures of me on that post, to show you the difference between me last year and at the 9 week mark.

In 10 weeks, I've lost a grand total of 3 stone and 3 pounds, averaging a weight loss of 4.5 pounds per week, which is no mean feat. On my very first weigh in, I was very sceptical that Slimming World would work, but 10 weeks in, I can honestly say, YES! This week I lost 3 pounds, which I wanted to get myself rounded off to 17 stone, 3 stone away from my target weight of 14 stone. I will point out that you'll never be asked to reveal your weight to the group, the reason being is that a lot of overweight people are embarrassed about their weight, the only thing that will be revealed is how much you lose each week and how much you have lost in total. I'm not embarrassed about my weight, so I'm OK with sharing it with you here, on my blog.

My girlfriend Fliss and my step-son George are also doing Slimming World and have both lost a good amount of weight each. I won't talk about them much on my blog as this blog is about me, we all support each other and I think that helps us all with our journey.

The food is great, which is one of the great things about Slimming World, you can have as much or as little Syn Free food as you want and a lot of the meals that we eat are Syn Free, so we still have the same size portions of them as we used to. There are a lot of recipe books with all your favourite meals in them, from Spag Bol to Chilli Con Carne and from Burgers to Fish and Chips, so you can still have the food you used to eat, difference is that the Slimming World recipes for them are healthier, sometimes a lot healthier. I might add that the food might taste different from the full fat/sugar variants of them, but in my opinion, it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the meal, which is another great thing about the food. Anyone who knows me will know that I love my food, so being on a diet that allows me to eat as much as I used to is an amazing part of this diet.

I know I've referred to it as a diet a couple of times, Slimming World is more of a lifestyle than a diet. What diet lets you eat huge portions of food and still lose weight? Exactly! Fliss, George and I get weighed in every Thursday evening at the 7pm at the Old Meeting Place in Bedworth with Nicci Montgomery as the consultant, she's really nice and really supportive, so if you live in the Bedworth & Nuneaton area and you want to lose weight, get yourself down there, join up and see your weight come off.

Another thing to have a look at is Tom Lawton's Syn Bin blog and group on Facebook, he's really entertaining, take a look: https://www.facebook.com/thesynbin/?fref=ts