So you want to go out & still lose weight?

One of the best things about Slimming World is that you can still carry on with your life as normal without your eating habits having to change what you do in terms of enjoyment. I have been on many a night out and eaten lots of meals in restaurants since I've been following the plan and I've always lost weight that week. One bad meal or even a bad day does not have to mean a gain at the end of the week. This is how I 'limit the damage'...

use 'flexible syns':- This is where you decide a set figure for the day/night and you count down from that to zero, when you get to zero you stop eating syns. If I'm on a night out I generally allow myself 40-50 syns, this sounds like a lot but if you follow SW you'll know alcohol isn't very syn friendly and one of my favourite tipples is white zinfandel which comes in at 9 syns per 250ml so for my syns I can have 4 large glasses of wine and have a few syns left over. Obviously it's upto you what you use your syns on but as long as you don't go over the amount you agreed with yourself, you are still maintaining a degree of control and therefore you should find it easier to stay on plan for the remainder of the week.

plan before you go:- If you're going out for a meal and you can get hold of a menu online then you need to be having a look at the different options available to you. My usual SW friendly choices include steak, jacket potato and salad & tomato based pasta dishes. There are of course lots of different things you could have within your usual daily 15 syns (or you could use flexible syns).

be good the rest of the week:- Might sound obvious but if I'm going out at the weekend I find it's a bit too close to weigh in day for comfort so I'll make sure I keep under 5 syns on all the other days and I also get straight back onto the regular plan afterwards. So many people think that a bad day has ruined their whole week so they'll continue to sabotage themselves for the days leading up till weigh day. There really is no need to do this, trust me I've been really naughty before and still managed a loss or a maintain on weigh day. 

Do you have any ways of coping with days/nights out?

What to buy on your first Slimming World shop

One of my friends from twitter (@what_a_twit) gave me a really good idea for a post on here the other day so I thought I'd get on and do it because I do think it'd be a massive help for anyone just starting SW, or even people who have been doing it a while. I think the first couple of weeks of Slimming World are the hardest because you struggle to know what to eat and it's the worst when you don't have enough in your fridge. Here are a few of my staple products that I ALWAYS have in without fail:

Salad items (lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes & peppers)

Eggs

Lean Meat (whatever takes your fancy)

Extra Lean Mince (less than 5% fat)

Fruit (not in a tin)

Frozen Peas

Veg (fresh or frozen)

Potatoes

Fat Free Yoghurts (my favourites are Muller Light and Weight Watchers... stay away from Yeo Valley)

Mug Shots (the ones with the black 1% triangle in the corner are free)

Bachelors Savoury Rice (these are all free)

Baked Beans

Alpen Light Bars (these count as a Healthy B)

60g Wholemeal Breadcakes (I buy Kingsmill)

Cottage Cheese

Semi Skimmed Milk

Babybel Cheese (great for grabbing as a healthy A)

Philidelphia Light or Lightest (great for spreading or cooking with)

Dried Pasta (white or brown)

Tinned chopped tomatoes (these are included in so many recipes)

Ready meals under 5 syns (for when you're in a rush)

Salt & Pepper

Dried Mixed Herbs (these can be used in lots of recipes)

And not forgetting some stock for your syn cupboard. This will obviously vary from person to person, if you're a savoury kind of person then you'll want low syn crisps which include Quavers and French Fries... I will be doing a full post about low syn savoury snacks so watch this space! If you're into sweet treats then you'll want to pick up things like treat size chocolate bars or a selection of chocolate bars under 10 syns.

As I said, this will vary from person to person, this is just an idea of what I always have in. Your first shop tends to be an expensive one but trust me, once you have got going it gets cheaper. You can buy frozen meat and veg if this is cheaper and easier for you, it doesn't change the fact that it's free/superfree.

What are your staple foods for living a healthy lifestyle?