Search Results for: label/PCOS

Slimming World – my first week and weigh in

- Stacey 16 Comments
As you might have read, I joined Slimming World last week. I was excited yet a little bit nervous as I’ve always weighed in the privacy of my own home before and had a quick hop on the scales during the week! I’m determined not to do that though as obviously our scales will be different. Also I’ve never really been on a plan before, just did my own thing with calorie counting.
When I started looking through my pack, I must admit I found it a little bit overwhelming and didn’t know where to start! I decided on writing a meal plan first whilst looking through my book to get used to it. With flicking back & forth it took me around two hours! Though I was surprised to see how much I could actually eat without ‘counting’ it.
I decided that it was too much of a pain in the bum to have to keep going back and checking my book so I did this:
I have three chalk ‘boards’ with the menu, to record my daily syns, and the syns of my favourite foods that aren’t free. Then I photocopied pages from my book – free foods, and Healthy Extra A & B choices. It’s been so much easier to keep on track and get those speed foods by just having a quick glance.
The week went really well. I stuck to plan pretty much 100% and although I did miss crisps and bread, I didn’t find it overly hard not to eat them. I’m so proud I managed to resist as these are usually my downfall (crisps for lunch or snack, and a sandwich for lunch and toast at night). I’ve really enjoyed trying new meals already and adapting old meals, and I’ve actually really enjoyed all the fruit I’ve been eating – I forgot how much I’d missed it all!
So, Tuesday was my first weigh in. I had to go by myself as my ‘buddy’ couldn’t make it. There weren’t many people there though but as I had ‘met’ them last week I felt more at ease. I would have been happy with a 2lb loss, even though I know lots of people get big losses their first week but as I have PCOS it’s a bit harder for me. I certainly felt better in myself though, and a lot less bloated. I stepped on the scales, and I had lost… 3.5lbs! Absolutely over the moon with that and it has made me even more determined to go for the same again next week to get my half stone award.
Oh, and I also won the raffle – I’d been wanting one of these so I was over the moon with that too!

My stats for this week (I still haven’t set a final target):

  • starting weight – 13st 4.5lbs
  • current weight – 13st 1lb
  • loss this week – 3.5lbs
  • loss so far – 3.5lbs
  • Club 10 target weight – 11st 13.5lbs

Weight loss – week 6

- Stacey 1 Comment

After my big loss last week I wasn’t really expecting a huge loss this week, if any at all. Meal planning helped me get back into some form of a routine again, and eating salad again helped as I wasn’t eating so many carbs. I’m going to start sticking to more of a Gi diet now too as it will help a bit more because of the PCOS. I didn’t really use MFP again last week like i said I was going too, but I don’t think I did too bad as I’m getting back into the mindset of thinking before I eat what I’m about to. Though I did have a bad couple of days over the weekend as I felt exhausted and emotional which caused me to pig out a little.

I got back into walking too and headed to stay & play with the boys which is a good half hour walk there and back, though it’s more of a stroll on the way back as I get tired! I have a pedometer to review at the minute which is going to encourage me a little more too.

My week 6 stats are:

  • start weight – 203.6 lbs
  • target weight – 132 lbs
  • previous weight – 184.4 lbs
  • current weight – 183.6 lbs
  • weight loss this week – 0.8 lbs
  • weight loss to date – 20 lbs
  • weight loss to go – 51.6 lbs
So not quite a pound, but near enough. As I wasn’t expecting a loss, I’m pleased with that. And I’m nearly back at a 1.5 stone loss again – hopefully next week!

ElevEase Shower Step | Review

- Stacey 1 Comment

During my pregnancy with N, I suffered with backache right from the beginning and it was pretty awful towards the end. This made “grooming” my legs a real problem – it hurt so much to bend over to reach so I went for the gorilla look mostly (I even tweeted about it under #pregnancyproblems) – it’s a good job I was heavily pregnant through the winter so as not to scare everyone!

Having PCOS means when I defuzz, my hair grows back really quickly and if I want to wear a dress or shorts in the summer months then I have to do it every day. Ever since N arrived, I’ve suffered with backache more than I did before; it’s never really gone away. When I was asked if I wished to review the ElevEase shower step I thought it would be good to see if it helped the problem.

The ElevEase shower step aims to help people who have back problems do everyday beauty regimes with ease and reduce the pain whilst doing these tasks. So it needn’t just be used for shaving legs – it can also be used for exfoliating, tanning, toenail painting, and moisturising (among others). It is simply as it says – a step, which is fixed to the corner of your shower/bath with the special strong adhesive which is included with ElevEase.

To affix ElevEase to your shower requires 3 simple steps:

  • ensure the shower surface is clean & dry and apply the supplied adhesive to the back of the step
  • fix the step to the corner of the shower at the knee height of user and hold tight for 3 minutes
  • leave to bond for 24 hours without using the shower.

The shower step has a slanted surface on which you rest your foot, and also a handy holder for your razor. I chose the white step to review but it can also be purchased in chrome. It is made of very strong plastic – obviously it needs to be to hold the weight of your leg. There are guidelines on the back of the step that show you where to apply the adhesive – which has a strong, pungent smell by the way! But I suppose this is from the ingredients required to make it so strong. 
Once it was affixed to the wall I admit I didn’t wait the 24 hours recommended for it to bond. I had to go out the next day and I needed a shower so I risked it. Admittedly I was a little sceptical that it would hold my weight, but it did even after less than the 24 hours. And it is still stuck to the wall and doesn’t look like it’ll be going anywhere! 
When defuzzing the calf area of my legs I did find I didn’t need to bend as far, but I still did a little to do right at the bottom – though this may be because I am as blind as a bat without my glasses on and I needed to see properly! It didn’t cause me any back pain though. When defuzzing the tops of my legs, I found it was actually a bit of a struggle to do with my foot on the step – I found it much easier to just do it normally as I don’t really bend over whilst doing that bit anyway. 
Overall, I think the ElevEase Shower Step is a great product for those that do more than one of the regimes mentioned above and suffer with moderate to severe pain regularly. For its cost, I think it is worth the investment if you will use it often. 
The ElevEase Shower Step retails at £15.97 and can be purchased from Amazon.

My rating – 4/5

Disclosure
I was sent this product free of charge to review. All thoughts & opinions are honest & my own.

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