About

I had a lightbulb moment the other day, and thought, why not create a blog – which funnily enough, is exactly what I do in my day job! Talk about taking my sweet time.

I created this blog about a year in to my slimming world journey, because like the rest of the world, I like to think I’ve become somewhat of a chef since the pandemic.

If I’m being completely honest here, I’ve come to realise that I do not like any of the recipes from the Slimming World books and app.. I’ve tried a handful over the years, but they’re all just too bland for my liking. I like food to be packed of flavour and not taste like ‘diet food’ which I suspect may be the reason I have given up on Slimming World a couple of times in the past, once my countdown has ended.

I have started cooking my ‘regular’ meals with tweaks to make them Slimming World friendly and this has made my current journey much easier this time around.

When I’m not in my kitchen, I’m often sat in a coffee shop with my laptop and oat milk Americano, writing up my travel experiences on my travel blog.

You might be wondering though..

Why a part-time vegan?

I don’t particularly like labels. I’m ‘technically’ a vegetarian who is mildly lactose intolerant, hence the self confessed title ‘part-time vegan’.

Through trial, error and lots of food that had made me unwell, I’ve discovered which dairy products I can and can’t eat. So while I eat the occasional egg and (all the) cheese, I’m completely teetotal when it comes to cow’s milk, yogurt and cream. Ice cream is a bit of a grey area for me.. the cheap stuff? Great, no problem. If you’re offering me an upmarket gelato or the like, I can already predict the stomach ache that will follow.

I love nothing more than exploring the world, searching for the best food locations and sharing snippets of my life online, so here at the Slimming World Veggie I embrace both my vegan/vegetarian eats and my love of travel.

My own Slimming World journey

I first joined Slimming World in 2019 when I was at the heaviest weight I have ever been thanks to spending 9 months of the year travelling; living out of hotels and eating whatever the hell I fancied. I was a member for approximately 2 months until the pandemic hit and life as we know it, turned upside down. I must have taken the concept of ‘eating the Slimming World way’ on board though as I proceeded to lose 3.5 stone (without consciously trying over the next 2 years). I’m sure the daily walks, or Boris walks as I liked to call them helped too – after all, it’s all we could do at that time, while not being able to eat out and order takeaways.

I rejoined briefly (another 12 week countdown) in 2021. I lost around a stone in time for being a bridesmaid at a family wedding, but life got busy again and I forgot all about returning to group.

At the time of writing, I started afresh and have been a Slimming World member since 2022, currently having lost just over 3.5 stone, with another 5 or so to go.

So in total, I have lost 7 stone, to date.

I haven’t set an ultimate target weight yet, as I like to play it by ear and see how I feel as I go. I set an interim target of 2 stone, which I hit relatively early on and am now working my way towards my second interim target – another 2 stone.

I’d say I am definitely taking the scenic route on my Slimming World journey. I travel a lot more than the average person – last year alone, I visited 7 countries. This doesn’t include UK staycations or staying with family, which I also do often as I live around 100 miles away from them all. When staying with family and friends, I’m not always in control of what I eat – and very easily get tempted to eat all the ‘bad things’ – which is just human behaviour I guess.

When I travel abroad as a mostly vegan, often it can be hard to find anything I can eat, never mind trying to find a Slimming World friendly option, so I just roll with it and face the gain when I get back. I also like to try vegan or vegetarian versions of traditional cuisine while I am away, so I do.

To date, I have never missed a week because I’m scared of seeing a huge gain – and I think that’s really important advice. I know I’m at that stage now where it won’t spiral out of control. I won’t see a big gain on the scales and think ‘fuck it’ I’m going to go and have a Burger King. I have learnt to draw a line under it and get straight back on plan as and where I can.

To give you some context, I spent just a week in Mexico and came back to a 13.5 pound gain. I was mortified when I saw the numbers on the scales at group and jumped off and back on again to double check it wasn’t a blip. It wasn’t – I really did gain a stone! I mean the food was absolutely fabulous and I didn’t hold back.. clearly.

I now think it’s hilarious that it was so easy for me to gain so much weight in such a short space of time.

Why can it not be that easy to lose it!??

On the flip side, I spent just under 3 weeks in the Philippines and came back to a 1.5 pound gain. Sure, Asian food is a lot healthier than eating your body weight in cheese and tacos (in Mexico). The reality however was that veggie food simply doesn’t really exist in the Philippines – it’s incredibly difficult to find, especially when staying in the more remote places like I did and really, I just spent a lot of time hungry. That was definitely a more manageable gain!

I could go on to tell you about a more recent time when I gained 1 pound after a month travelling in SE Asia (partially thanks to food poisoning) but I’m sure you get the picture.

If you’re asking me for advice, I would say don’t restrict yourself 24/7 as this weight loss journey needs to be sustainable. I try and follow the 80/20 rule, but have noticed that my weight loss has slowed down with the more weight I have lost. I can no longer spend an entire weekend drinking and eating out and expect a 2 or 3 pound loss at group – so it’s all about just being mindful and taking baby steps.

If you have any questions or comments then feel free to email me at: slimmingworldveggie1 [@] gmail.com