New Directions

I'm having another bash at this blogging thing as changes in my lifestyle have meant that I've started to look at food and recipes in a new way.

I've always loved cooking - and I'm not too bad at it, if I do say so myself. Recently, however, I reached a turning point and knew something needed to be done about my weight. I'm not sharing numbers with you here...yet; I may share when I reach the end of my journey, I don't know.

It started when my size 20 clothes were starting to feel tight. Old, already stretched clothes. New size 20 clothes weren't fitting and I walked away from the shop rather than move up to size 22 clothes. I tried to rationalise it by saying it was the style, the shop, the cut... It wasn't, though, it was me.

Something else happened around that time: a girl I went to school with posted a picture on Facebook. It was a diptych showing her 'bSW' (before Slimming World) and a year on. She'd lost stacks of weight and she looked fantastic: years younger. I sent her a message and asked her what her 'secret' was.

That's me all over, though. I've always thought of weight loss as some sort of miracle and wondered why the latest gimmick hasn't worked for me. I was looking for some sort of secret nobody was sharing with me; some magic potion that makes me wake up thin. Until I discovered it, however, I'd just keep eating and eating. And growing and growing. Size 22.

Turns out it wasn't a secret. It was Slimming World. It hadn't happened overnight, but it had happened. She hadn't been able to eat whatever she liked whenever she liked, but she hadn't starved.

I could do this.

I joined Slimming World Online that night.

That was in May this year: 7 months ago. You know how else you could measure that time...? 4st 5lbs ago.

Insert big grin here.

It's been fantastic. I hesitate to use the word 'easy' - I think that would be driven by bravado. It hasn't been difficult, though.
I've had to rethink my favourite recipes - not by too much - and this is what this blog is about. I'll talk about the food I make and post pictures and recipes in the hope that someone else sees them and realises that losing weight really is about making changes to what you eat; to the way you think about food.

I still have about 3-4 stones to lose. I hope you'll join me on the rest of my journey!

Location:United Kingdom