Week 3 weigh in

Went shopping straight after the group weigh in this week, so the post is later than usual. Woohoo a 4lb loss this week. That means another sticker for my collection.



I've now lost 31lbs in three weeks whilst mostly following the Slimming World plan. I know the experts say you should aim to lose a healthy 1-2lbs per week, but I'm eating enough food that I don't feel hungry. I'm eating a balanced diet, which typically sees me eating at least five portions of fruit and or veg per day. I've reduced my salt intake to an average of 3g per day, that's half the recommended amount. It's probably a little higher than that as I don't bother looking at the salt levels in the fresh foods, but all those trace amounts will add up.

As the weigh in is early in the morning and I don't typically eat that early, I tend to leave the house without eating breakfast and take some fruit with me in case the munchies strike during the group meeting. After the meeting I headed straight into town to pick up some shopping, we were running low on quite a lot of the fresh ingredients. I made the mistake of going food shopping whilst I was getting hungry. This made the freshly baked bread in the supermarket extremely tempting. This gave me the idea to post my tips on how I avoid buying less than healthy food whilst shopping.

• Never go shopping hungry, or if you know you will be getting hungry soon. Eat a healthy and filling meal before you leave the house.

• Make a list and stick to it. If you know what you want before you hit the shops you are less likely to be swayed by the special offers on foods that you don't really need or want. I find my resolve to get healthy is stronger at home, where I control my exposure to food etc. If I make up my meal plans on the fly, in the shop, I tend to overspend and don't always make the best choices.

• Supermarkets do us a favour for this next tip, they put all the nasty cakes, chocolates, sweets and crisps together in one or two aisles. That makes it easier to avoid temptation when the willpower is flagging. Walk past the danger zone, if you don't see it, you won't know what you are missing.

•  Plan your meals. I like to do one big shop a week, and one smaller midweek shop to top up the fresh fruit and veggies. Planning our meals is essential. I find there is nothing more dangerous to my weight loss, than being hungry and standing looking at the cupboards, wondering what to eat. I could still do some serious damage with the healthy foods I have in the house.

• Use the Internet to plan your meals. Most supermarkets allow you to browse their products and special offers online. The temptation to impulse buy is reduced as you can't just throw the items in your trolley. Find the offers that will let you make tasty but healthy foods and add them to your list.

Now I'm off to cook my favorite Red-day-all-day-grill-up-breakfast-extravaganza. Fat free sausages, bacon, baked beans and a cheesy omelet with onions and sweet red peppers.