Hi all,
My name is Cristina and I live in Cheshire, England and I'm 37 years old.
I have decided to join slimming world for the 4th time on Thursday last week (21/02/19).
I went in with an open mind, and as I walked in there were a lot of people sat down, for a minute I thought that I got the time wrong and I was late, then realised that they were early and that's why they are all sitting. If you've been to Slimming World before you'll know that if the meeting starts at 7.30 then it has to be 7.30 on the dot!
I went and sat down in the new members area. 2 other ladies joined me. The consultant Sarah came over and started the new members talk. This is the 4th one I have been through. I really enjoyed the first one as I literally had no idea what Slimming World was all about. I'm originally from Melbourne Australia and we don't have Slimming World.
Anyway, I sat through the talk and it was very scripted and in the end my consultant told us how much she cared about us...yada yada yada, its all lies. The plan is good, the easiest one to do, but the 'I care about you' spiel that they give you? Well no they don't, they care that you show up every week and pay your money. It is a business after all and I have heard that the consultants are under a lot of pressure from the head honchos to sign up and retain members.
After the newbies talk I went and sat with the rest of the group and the consultant started the image therapy. She goes through everyone who is there and tells everyone their weight loss/gain, when its a gain she doesn't say by how much but she does mention it's a gain. It's worth noting that if you don't want this to happen you can let your consultant know and she wont say a word.
Fast forward to 28/01/2019, my first weight in. I have followed the plan all week and I did struggle at first to try to get 2 healthy choice A's into my plan. This is a pretty new thing to Slimming World, previously you could only have one and I use it on milk. So I tried having cheese, that didn't really suit so not Ive gone from skimmed milk, to two lots of semi-skimmed milk, so that's what I choose now for my healthy choice A's.
I joined the money queue, paid my £4.99 and then moved over to the weighing queue. I took all my layers off, coat, cardigan, shoes and on the scales I hopped. Minus 4 pounds! To be honest I did expect it cause I had been weighing myself at home and whilst no two scales are ever the same, I've got a round about idea. I know they say you shouldn't do that as your weight fluctuates during the week, which is true, but I need to know if I'm going in the right direction. I was pretty pleased with that.
I stayed for image therapy even though i don't particularly like it. I don't think knowing how much everyone lost/gained really helps. The group talk should be spent talking about food and different ideas people have, not going around to every person, asking how their week went and if they did anything different this week. I do actually find it funny when people have gained and they say 'yeah i ate crap or had too many gin's'.
So, over to the food now my first week consisted of oats and milk for breakfast, vegetable soup for lunch and chicken and veg for tea. I played it pretty safe and boring for my first week.
A lot of people are scepital about Slimming World and they can be its their choice, it doesn't work for everyone. I have lost on Slimming World before but the truth is all diets work if you stick to them. The most important thing is your head. If your head's in the game then you will lose. This is my fourth time joining and after a few months I do get fed up of always eating healthy. I am human after all but I'm not going to give up. I'm not unhappy in my life, I don't think being thinner will make me happier, it doesn't work that way (I previously went from size 28 to 14 and I now am 18). To be honest I've joined again because my knee has been hurting and losing weight and taking the pressure off will help it and of course I want to look nicer in clothes! Cue the booing and hissing from the fat positive bloggers but let's get one thing straight, live and let live is my motto. You do your thing and I'll do mine.
Wish me luck for week 2. I'll keep you posted.
xoxo
