I Lost 4.5 Pounds in 5 days, here's how!

In the last 5 days I have lost 4 and a half pounds starting back on my diet! So let me tell you how I’ve done it!

I started in Jan 2014, I lost a total of 2 stone and 4 pounds up until Aug 2014, by following this diet. After my summer holiday the weight started to creep on and by Christmas I was stuffing my face. I let myself go a bit crazy over December because I knew I’d be starting back in January. So here I am in January starting all over again, after putting back on some of the weight I was 1 stone 3 and a half pounds lighter than when I started this in Jan 2014. But I’m now going to start a new slate, with a new starting weight and a new weight loss goal!

This is my last 2014 transformation

I started on Friday 2^nd January, I measured and weighed myself with my new initial amounts. My new weigh day is now Wednesday, so this means that this week was just a 5 day week, but next week I will give you the full 7 day breakdown, Wednesday to Wednesday. And I plan to measure myself every month!

My diet is basically slimming world, but with a few twists as I’m quite fussy, love junk food and hate veg and salads!

So let me start with some top tips!

Top Tips

Don’t starve yourself!! It doesn’t work, it makes you store food and makes you less able to exercise. If you feel hungry then have a banana or a fat free yogurt or a chunk of chicken. Something healthy!

It doesn’t matter how much you eat AS LONG as you’re eating the right things!

Drink plenty of water, it helps you to digest food and also makes you feel fuller!

If you cheat don’t have a cheat day! So you had a bar of chocolate, do not write off the whole day and start eating pizzas and kebabs and saying that you will start again tomorrow.

Not all takeaways are REALLY unhealthy!

I always stick to counting saturated fat, I don’t take notice of calories or sugar, saturated fat is what we store, so that is what I concentrate on and I love carbs! This diet works for me and it helps me lose weight. Not all diets work for everyone, but this is definitely worth giving a go!

What I Ate

Friday 2^nd Jan

Granola and semi-skimmed milk (ALDI Granola)

360g of ASDA pineapple chopped up

A packet of curry Super Noodles

Slimming world spaghetti bol using pork mince (I’m not a fan of beef) (find recipe below)

A Morrisons fruity milk choc cereal bar containing 2g of saturated fat.

People think super noodles are terrible for you because they’re quick to make, but they aren’t so bad. They are spicy so speed up your metabolism and are filled with good carbs to keep up your energy without loads of fat. And my cheat here is the cereal bar, instead of eating a chocolate bar, opt for a cereal bar, the fat content is pretty similar but due to the good carbs in a cereal bar it will make you feel fuller for longer and use up more calories to digest. Don’t have a BIG bowl of granola, just a small bowl around 30g!!

Sat 3^rd Jan

Granola and semi-skimmed milk (again a small bowl – 30g)

Tomato and Basil readymade pasta from Coop (2g sat fat)

A handful of wine gums

And a Nandos! Double chicken in pitta bread, spicy rice and corn on the cob.

Yes a Nando’s. Nandos is great when you’re dieting! Because it’s still a take away, you can slob out in your pyjamas without doing any cooking, but still eat something fairly healthy. The chicken is grilled in spices, so it’s not caked in bread crumbs or deep fat fried. The pitta bread is a bit of a cheat, I try to avoid bread if I’m eating granola! The rice is fairly healthy and corn on the cob is always great! And the spice is great for speeding up your metabolism. Wine gums are a great alternative to chocolate, they are sweet and have no fat. But don’t go too crazy on them, just have a couple.

Sunday 4^th Jan

One piece of dry toast and a tin of beans (DO NOT ADD BUTTER)

Tomato and Basil readymade pasta from Coop (2g sat fat)

A handful of wine gums

Morrisons Cereal bar

Propercorn popcorn – Worcestershire sauce (0.4g sat fat)

Mattessons chicken bites

Slimming world curry and boiled rice (recipe below)

Fat free Muller light yogurt – new bannoffee pie flavour

Do not add butter or marg to your bread. It’s filled with saturated fat and you don’t need it. And only have once slice.  Go crazy on beans, they’re great on slimming world! Fat free yogurt is my go to, it makes a great dessert without the fat! Mattessons chicken bites are great because they’re ready made and are basically just bits of chicken without the sauce! Savoury popcorn is a great alternative to crisps with only a portion of the fat!

Monday 5^th January

Granola and semi skimmed milk

Yesterdays slimming world curry and boiled rice (reheated in microwave at work)

Fat free Muller light yogurt – New after 8 flavour

Chicken, peppers and onion on skewers and slimming world chips (recipe below)

Tuesday 6^th Jan

Granola

Slimming world chilli and boiled rice (recipe below)

Fat free Muller light

Wetherspoons chicken skewers, Mexican rice and corn on the cob

3 large glasses of rose and a tequila shot

On Tuesday I travelled down to Bristol to stay over in a hotel for a works meeting on Wednesday morning. We went to Wetherspoons for tea – just because you are eating out doesn’t mean that you have to eat a burger and chips, opt for meats without sauces, breadcrumbs or cheese, swap your chips for a jacket potato or rice (it doesn’t have to be a side salad) I have absolutely no excuse for the glasses of wine and especially not the tequila!

Exercise

I went to the gym on Monday night, but that’s all I’m afraid. Not much of a gym bunny!

I did 30 minutes on the cross trainer, 30 minutes on the bike. 3 sets of 10 on one arm weight machine (no idea what they’re called but it focused on shoulders) and 2 sets of 10 on another (again no idea but it focused on chests)

Recipes

Slimming world Spag Bol

Fry minced pork in a few sprays of fry light, add in chopped onions and peppers! Once all fried add in a tin of chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp garlic paste, 1tsp cumin, 1tsp oregano, season to taste! Eat with dried spaghetti.

Slimming world Curry

There are lots of slimming world curries that I love, this is just one!

Fry chicken in fry light spray with onions, once fried add 2tsp of root ginger, 2tsp garlic, 1tbsp of curry powder, 1tsp cumin, ¼ tsp of turmeric, a tin of chopped tomatoes and 300ml of chicken stock.

Slimming World Chips

Chop up a large potato, either into wedges using the skin or chips after peeling. Place on a baking tray, spray with fry light and cover in salt and pepper and mixed herbs! They are gorgeous!

Slimming World Chilli

Fry minced pork in fry light, with onions, peppers and carrots. Once fried add in tin of chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp garlic paste, 2 tsp cumin,1 tsp cinnamon, 2tsps paprika, tin of kidney beans, tin of baked beans.

So all that food, all that cheating, some alcohol and hardly any exercise and I still lost 4 and a half pounds in 5 days! Each day I drank 2 litres of water, but also drank diet fizzy drinks along with a few cups of tea and milk. Just try to swap for healthy alternatives, I don’t really like salads or veg and have to force myself to eat them, it’s much easier for me to stick to healthy carbs and avoid fatty foods, oils, butters and sauces.

Please try it out and see what you think, see if it works for you, or tell me all about your weight loss program and your story! Also let me know any recipes that you have tried and loved! If you have any questions or need any advice please email me! megandoesbeauty@outlook.com. And I’ll check in on Wednesday and let you know how I did!