Slimming World Secrets

Ten weeks as a Slimming World Target member

Well, well, well. What a nice round number – and I don’t think that’s too shabby an achievement, especially considering Christmas and new-year weeks were involved. Yep, it’s ten weeks at Target!

My week

• Average Syns per day: 19.9
• Average Speed foods per day: 11.4
• SP days: 3
• Body Magic days: 5
• Result: +½lb
• Total loss: -5st 6½lbs

That said, I’m a teeny bit nervous as it’s been two consecutive gains. OK, only 1lb and ½lb, which means I’m ½lb above my actual Target.

They’re both teeny gains, and I’m still nicely in my Target bubble. But I have gone over my Syns the past three weeks – so I need to rein things in a little. I want to get back to my actual Target – or below it. Ten weeks isn’t enough.

I need to step up my Body Magic

As well as going over my Syns, I’ve let the Body Magic slip a little of late. I’ve still been doing it – but it’s been lighter stuff, such as housework and gardening.

I need to get back to where I was before Christmas and doing several step aerobics sessions each week. Though I can’t really do the long walks I usually do in the warmer months as it’s so cold.

But, all in all, I’ve got to be satisfied. Ten weeks at my new Target is not to be sniffed at. And I know many Slimming World members would love to be in my shoes.

Asked to be a Slimming World consultant

This past week aside, I’ve been asked (again!) if I’d like to be a Slimming World consultant. As well as being asked by my actual consultant, Tracy, I got an email from head office, asking the same.

I get the impression that Slimming World is struggling a little in terms of consultant numbers. These people are self-employed, and I know several who called it a day during the darker days of the pandemic. People’s priorities changed and members quit.

Now we’re coming out of the pandemic (touch wood), numbers of consultants and groups remain low. Even the surviving groups don’t have the bums on seats that they used to have.

Anyway, it’s an honour to be asked, but I don’t really have the time. I work full-time and, while I’m loads more confident than I was at the start of my slimming journey, I still have a bit of a public speaking phobia.

It takes some guts to stand up and speak to a room full of people. Even more so when you have to inspire them on their own journeys.

Magazine feature moved back

I wrote a while back that I’m to be featured in Slimming World Magazine. Another honour! As well as my trans and slimming journeys, Team: Sparkly Castle wants to feature some of my recipes and top tips for members.

This feature was originally to be published in the March/April issue, but it has now been put back to May/June.

Which is absolutely fine. Slimming World Magazine is one of my favourite publications, and it’s just so cool to be invited to be involved.

I’ve also been really impressed by Sarah Davison, the deputy editor, who’s dealt with the transgender part of the feature with real sensitivity, particularly regarding the “before” photographs of me.

They’re not pretty – I barely recognise that person anymore, but I trust Sarah and the team to do a good job with them in the magazine.

If this were any other lifestyle magazine – or (shudder) newspaper – I would be infinitely more cautious.

The blog is dead – long live the blog!

Finally, things are going to change a little round here. I’ve been running this website for almost a year now and, once I’ve published two more blog posts after this one, that will be the full 12 months.

So, I pledged at the start to write an update post every week and I’ll have done that – 52 blog posts over 52 weeks.

I think it’s made a good “year in the life” of a Slimming World member blog, with highs and lows, award wins, getting to Target and staying there. That’s a pretty good tale, I reckon.

The 52nd post will [hopefully] be about my 12th week at Target – and that represents the final week in the Slim for the Life book in terms of recording progress.

So that seems like a good place to stop the weekly updates. After that, I’d like to write more sporadic blog posts, maybe about significant milestones, and certainly if and when I get my Diamond award after a year at Target.

More recipes and more features

But worry not, that doesn’t mean the end of new, regular content. On the contrary, I have big plans!

While my weekly blog posts get a fair few readers and comments (OK, they’re mainly from Carol, in Australia!) the vast majority of my website visitors are searching for more specific content.

Popular pages include the Slimmer of the Week and Slimmer of the Month posts in the Features section, along with those about reaching Target – and overcoming a weight loss plateau.

Most of these visitors come from Google, and there are plenty who come for my Syn-Free Feasts, especially the Five-Cheese Cheeseboard.

So, in the future, I plan to write up some of the Syn-Free Feasts recipes currently in my head (you are going to LOVE them!) and publish more features on various awards and other key areas members will find useful.

I’ve also bought a new WordPress theme and graphics package, so the website will be getting a facelift in terms of design as well as content.

So, ten weeks at Target and the future is bright for Slimming World Secrets. If there’s anything in particular that you’d like to see me address in a feature or a recipe, please leave a message in the comments below.