Diets do not work – Try Thinking Slimmer

Where did January go?  I cannot believe we are already in February, I am also sure that is a sign of getting old so let’s move quickly on.

Everyone who knows me will know that I, like many women, have tried every diet there is.    Some diets have been successful, some have been just awful; some have worked short term, some haven’t had any effect at all; some diets have been easier to stick to, some were hugely restrictive; some diets felt like a diet and others felt more like a form of human torture.

Tried and Tested:

The diets I’ve tried include (but are not limited to):

• Rosemary Conley – was successful mostly due to a fab class leader – was also fairly easy to keep to, but regained 2/3 of the weight lost when I couldn’t commit to a class each week
• Weight Watchers – found it a tad too “new girl v regulars” so moved on
• Slimming World – was successful once but then they changed the diet.  I asked the class leader how it all worked and when her response was “God, love I don’t do the science bit, I just weigh you each week” I moved on
• Celebrity Slim – yes, the bars and shakes
• Atkins – made me desperately want to eat fruit and veg after a week, plus awful halitosis
• Slimfast – the shakes (I really hate milkshakes so I’m not sure why I thought this would work)
• Cabbage Soup – oh what a joy it was to be near me during this one
• Chinese Tea (basically a laxative – I found this out after taking it and then getting in a car to drive 50 miles – boy was that a long awful journey)
• Hypnotism – had the treatment and then came home and “tested” if it had worked
• Raspberry Ketone (together with colon cleanser – see Chinese tea above)
• XLS (beware of any fat whatsoever – see Chinese tea above)
• Cider Vinegar – heard that Beyonce drank a shot of this before any meal.  It works but only because you spend the next 20 mins gagging and eating isn’t possible.
• Acai berries: supposed to help with appetite and metabolism.  Perhaps not.
• Adios – basically you just spend the day passing water

So, as you can see, I’m definitely a seasoned old hand at this diet lark.  However, if we’re honest, I have gained more than I have lost over the years.  The only pounds I have lost have been out of my purse.  I dread to think how much I have spent over the years trying to lose weight.

Relationship with food:

I know that for me the issue is not what or when I eat; it’s not about the calories, syns or points, it is all about my relationship with food.  Why do I eat what I eat, when I eat it and in the quantities I eat it?  Why do I practise “how much can I eat once the kids are in bed and hubby is in the bath without anyone seeing me?” on a regular basis?  I know some of the above tried and tested diets do ask you to think about why you eat (were you hungry, emotional, etc) but I don’t want a life where I have to write down every morsel that passes my lips and then analyse why I had it.

If you focus on the negative, you get more of the negative.  Or so I believe.  So if I sit and write “had 4 Freddie bars, was bored” and focus on that, then I will get more Freddie Bars and more boredom.

I firmly believe that many diets don’t work because in the back of your head a little voice is saying “I can’t lose weight” or “I have a slow metabolism” or “It’s in my genes”.  If you say this often enough, you believe it and guess what, you get it.

I am also very conscious that I have a 9 year old daughter who is already commenting on her weight, size, etc.  I do not want her growing up with an unhealthy relationship with food.  My mum, like me, was always on a diet and I grew up thinking this was the norm.  I remember my brothers were always slim and I used to complain that I only had the same amount of food as them so it wasn’t fair.  No one ever mentioned that I was a bookworm whereas they were both on several sports teams and hugely active.  My only activity was balancing on stilettos to look taller.

Enter Thinking Slimmer

I was introduced to the idea of slim pods a few years ago with a Pete Cohen free download.  Now this was really good, it had you focusing on healthy choices and being active.  I listened to it twice a day during a pamper weekend and managed to lose 5lb over four days and made really healthy choices.   However, it is almost 30 minutes long and I found it worked best if I listened a few times a day.  Being a mum to three children made this impractical, and being a mum to three children with special needs made this impossible.

A few weeks ago however, I was introduced to Thinking Slimmer’s slimpod which is less than 9 minutes long.  Now, 9 minutes a day I can commit to, in fact I can probably listen twice a day if I choose.  So I thought “let’s give this a shot.”  Amazingly I always enter into any new diet or concept with a real passion for it to work so when the first instruction was to believe this could work, this seemed like a product made for me.  Then I received the great handbook that goes along with the slim pod, and on the first few pages it mentioned goals and how to set goals.  I was more and more convinced this was perhaps the one for me.  As a Life Coach and Mentor, I know the power of goal setting and visualisation so this was great for me.

Then there is a great Facebook group for support – lots of lovely ladies all giving this a shot and supporting each other along the way.

Then I came to my favourite bit – write down three things you achieved each day.  Now this focuses on the positive, not the negative and again, I really do believe that if you think about the positive, you get more positive experiences.  So as I sit each evening and I know that as I write down  “I left food on my plate because I was full”, “I went for coffee and didn’t want a cake” or “my hubby went into the bath and I didn’t even think about doing my usual fridge hunt”, that focusing on these positive achievements will bring more of the same the next day.  Focusing on the negative and how you have failed is never going to help anyone move forward, it just keeps you in that negative “I can’t do this” mode.

So, did it have any effect?

At the beginning (last Monday), I listened to the pod and thought I must have a faulty recording, far too short and wasn’t at all what I expected.  However, after checking with the group, I was assured I had the right recording so off I went.  After just a few days I noticed that I was leaving food, not raiding the fridge and also silly little things like not pinching a chip off the kids’ plates as I walked past or having an afternoon biscuit as a reward.

Thinking Slimmer advises against focussing on the scales and recommends measuring yourself instead but come on, I am 43, have dieted for almost 30 years so my mentality says “get on the scales, get on the scales”.  Now I have to confess to being a daily weigher – or at least I was.  I went the whole week without weighing but on Monday I popped on.  I wasn’t expecting miracles because, to be honest, I hadn’t felt hungry, I hadn’t thought about food all day and I hadn’t felt deprived at all.  So imagine my surprise when there was a 4lb loss and it felt like the easiest loss ever!

I have committed to using this for 12 weeks so watch this space and I’ll keep you posted on how it is going.  So far, I only have positives and at this moment in time, I cannot see what possible negatives the next 11 weeks can hold.

Have you tried a Slim Pod?  What works for you?  How do you address your relationship with food?

* This post contains affiliate links. In plain English, this means that I may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) if you subscribe or purchase something through the links provided. You will never see me post a link to a product or service that I haven’t used myself and love! 

[jetpack_subscription_form]