How to start your Weight Loss Journey

One of the things that people ask me on insta a lot is, "how do I get started", and I totally understand why, starting a weightloss journey is massively daunting, no matter how much weight you want to lose. So today, I wanted to post my tips for getting started on Slimming World

Sign up!

Ok so it sounds totally obvious (but I've got to start somewhere right...), but the first thing you need to do is actually sign up. A lot of people message me asking if it's possible to do SW without paying and, it probably is, but, to me, the resources on the website, motivation of seeing the graph go down each week and the support is well worth it.

For me, one of the hardest parts was going to group for the first time and getting weighed. And I don't know why, it was fine. I thought I'd be in hysterics, crying on the scales (although this was a fair guess, I cry at literally EVERYTHING), but, actually, it was fine, everyone was lovely and made me feel at ease, and, even though when I saw 21 stone on the scales, it was more that I thought it was going to be, it was actually, weirdly, fine, I just thought 'ok, I have to lose 9 stone', and that was it. So don't let the fear of it being hard keep you from making one of the best steps.

Learn the plan inside out

Listen to that new member talk like your life depends on it, scroll through insta til your thumb feels like it's about to fall off and read your book from cover to cover. Slimming World is so simple, and you can eat loads of it, but if you don't follow it pretty much to the letter, then you're not going to lose weight (I'm still bitter about the week that I didn't realise that cooked fruit had to be synned and I put on 3 pounds from eating banana pancakes every day...). So give yourself the best start possible and learn what it is that you're getting into

Plan!

I cannot stress this enough! All of the weeks where I've had my best losses (and I've been known to lose half a stone in a week), it's been because I planned ahead. If I don't plan, it's way too easy for extra syns to sneak in because I've ended up in a lunch venue that doesn't have many SW options, or for me to over syn in the evening because I haven't kept a proper track of my food during the day. So sit down and create a meal plan, including your snacks and syns for the week ahead. If you're going out, look at the menu in advance and plan what you're going to chose. This way, there are literally no excuses to stray from plan.

Get your support team together

Confide in people! I know it can sometimes feel a bit embarrassing to confide in people (I for one found it really hard to tell people I wanted to lose weight, as I thought it would somehow draw attention to the fact I was obese...like, I was 21 stone, I think they probably had that one figured out...but I digress), but the more people that know you're trying to lose weight, the easier. If your partner/colleagues/friends know what you're doing, they will be less likely to offer you cake/gin/crisps *insert your weakness here* and ultimately it'll keep you on track. Plus, the accountability of the people who care about you asking after your progress each week is just another way to keep you on track.

Create an instagram account

I'll hazard a guess that you're probably here because you've found me through insta, but, just in case you've somehow stumbled across my site without it, I cannot recommend posting your food to insta enough. When I first started my journey, I had NO IDEA just how important posting my food on there and updating people on my progress would be. Having a group of people in your pocket cheering you on, giving support and providing inspiration honestly has been one of the best parts of losing weight for me.

Set goals

Obviously most of us have some kind of goal in mind when losing weight. For some people, it's scary to think of their end goal but, SW actually did some research recently that shows that, those who set challenging 'unrealistic' goals are much more likely to lose weight. And I can definitely agree with that - to most people an initial goal of losing 9 stone is crazy but...I did it...in a year! So set a challenging goal...I'll be super cheesy here and say shoot for the moon, even if you don't get there, you'll end up in the stars *cringe*...but it's true.

So, there are my tips for your first week! Quite simply, if you follow the plan, it will work! Good luck! I would love to hear your tips, so if you've got anything else, please leave it in the comments below.

Becca xo