Scan Bran Challenge

If you're a Slimming Worlder, you probably know about Scan Bran. It looks and tastes like carpet tiles, but it's pure bran. We all know what bran does, right? You can see why this stuff has a great deal of appeal for weight loss searchers.

Luckily, the Slimming World community have got creative with scan bran. They make it into cakes, bread or use it as a cereal. A whole cake made with 5 scan bran counts as your healthy extra B choice, and can easily be very low syn to totally syn free. A whole cake a day and it's actually supposed to be good for you? Winner right there, right? 

And you know what, it certainly keeps things moving. As long as you drink enough, that is, or else it will just sit in your stomach like a lead weight. 

The scan bran challenge is simple enough. 5 scan bran a day for 5 days, and drink at least 5 glasses of water for the 7 days. Make sure you stop eating the bran two days before you weigh to give it time to work through your system. 

In my research, I found fantastic results. Most at about 2 or 3 pounds, but it was not uncommon to see 5 or even 7 pounds in a single week. The people that didn't seem to get good results either didn't drink enough or didn't stop eating it long enough before weigh in. Simple enough, stick to the plan and your laughing all the way to the scales. 

My first week I made a rookie mistake. I stuck to the scan bran challenge plan to the letter, but let the slimming world plan fall to the wayside. I ate crap. A lot of crap. But the extra fibre was doing its job so I felt thinner. Unfortunately though, I wasn't lighter. I maintained. 

The second week, I got my act together. I ate well, still sticking to the scan bran challenge but instead finishing on the Sunday instead of the Monday to allow enough time before my Wednesday afternoon weigh in. It worked, and I achieved a 1.5lb loss. 

Now, I'll point out here that I am a mere 4.5lbs off target, and my target is pretty low. So any loss is a major achievement right now. I was really happy, but I couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed at the same time. 

Sorry if this is tmi, but I was pooping multiple times a day. Literally, 3 to 5 times. Easy poops too. I can't stress enough how important water is. In the morning, it wouldn't be until I had drunk half a litre of water that I realised I needed to go - the water really gets things going. 

The cakes were pretty good too. Sure, they were bran-y, but what do you expect. Be careful of all the sugar or sweetener in them, even if it is free. I ate a lot of sugar on my challenge, in fruit and sweetener and can't help but wonder if that held me back slightly. 

A particular favourite cake was the Jamaican Ginger cake, but I also tried chocolate beetroot, cherry bakewell and a tomato bread. I even experimented with making scan bran tortilla wraps. For breakfast every morning, I would blitz 2 or 3 in my nutribullet and layer the powder with sweetened quark and fresh fruit. It was lovely. 

So 2 weeks and a 1.5lb loss. I enjoyed the challenge a lot, and would definitely recommend it to anyone. It's very easy to do, as long as you have the time to make the cakes and make sure you drink the water. I was averaging about 2.5 to 3 litres a day. 

The best tip I can give you though, is to make sure you food optimise. The added fibre is all well and good, but get your speed in and choose your syns carefully to get the best results. 

Slimming World and Slimfast

A few weeks ago, I decided to conduct a little experiment. By putting together the Slimfast plan and the principles of slimming world, I couldn't see any reason why I shouldn't get impressive results. I had figured it all out down to the last detail, so that I could be totally on plan for both diets.

Hopefully, if you're reading this, you already know the basics of the slimming world plan. 1 healthy extra A, such as mik and cheese, 1 healthy extra B, such as cereals and bread, unlimited free foods, such as fruit and veg, and 5-15 syns a day for anything else. 

The Slimfast plan is very simple. 3 x 100 calorie snacks, such as cereal bars or fruit, 2 x Slimfast shakes, and 1 x 600 calorie meal.

The first thing I did was figure out how many syns a Slimfast shake is. Now this was slightly complicated, because the nutritional info is for a shake 'made up as directed' with 250ml of skimmed milk. Sure, you could use skimmed milk, but then you'd go over your healthy extra a choice allowance. So I sat down and worked out how many syns the milk would be and then subtracted it from the total syns of the shake. This left me with 7.5 syns per serving, which is two scoops of powder. So two shakes would be 15 syns. Made up with almond milk, I could use my healthy A choice, but I would only use half my HexA for unsweetened almond milk, leaving the other half to bulk up my meal or as a snack. 

Then, I figured out I could swap the Slimfast snacks bars for hi-if light bars or alpen light to provide my healthy extra B choice, as well as two of my three snacks. The other snack could be fruit. 

For the 600 calorie meal, as long as it was syn free and completely comprised of free foods, it would fit in perfectly with both plans. Obviously, speed options would be better here, but after a liquid diet for the rest of the day, I found myself needing the extra carbohydrates. 

So, to sum up, the combined Slimfast Slimming World plan looked something like this.

Breakfast

2 scoops of Slimfast powder (7.5 syns) made up with 250 ml of unsweetened almond milk (1/4 HexA)

Snack

1 alpen light bar (1/2 HexB)

Lunch 

2 scoops of Slimfast powder (7.5 syns) made up with 250 ml of unsweetened almond milk (1/4 HexA)

Snack 

100 cals fruit, such as 1 pear, a handful of grapes etc

Dinner

Syn free meal, such as spaghetti bolognese, jacket potato and salad or risotto, as long as it doesn't exceed 600 cals and to include 1/2 HexA. 

Snack

1 hi-fi light bar (1/2 HexB)

So how did it go? Great. I wasn't hungry, I had fewer cravings because I was having so much chocolate based products in the shakes and the snacks, and it was really easy to stay to plan as I was eating so regularly. 

In the first week, I lost 1lb. I was a little disappointed, I had been expecting at least double that, if not more. I had seen other results of people doing similar things, normally following the Slimfast plan but with a syn free dinner, so not quite as complicated as my plan, and getting 5-10lbs lost in a single week. 

So, for my second week, I decided to incorporate more SP days. This was much harder, and I did feel more hungry and craved more carbs, such as pasta and potato. The result? 2lb loss.

Two weeks of not being allowed any syns as I used them all up on shakes and I only had three pounds to show for it. Sure, 3lb is great and I'm by no means complaining, especially as it got me to my next award, but it does feel like a lot of work for not much result. I have done better on weeks where I used up all my syns on rubbish as long as I stuck to plan otherwise. Yes, I did enjoy it, especially as it was so much easier to prepare two skakes in the morning as opposed to a breakfast and lunch, but it was expensive, monotonous and didn't give me the results I hoped for. 

Give it a go if you want, I didn't get massive results but that doesn't mean that you won't. I think how much you have to loose has a huge part to play. I was just over half a stone from target when I tried this experiment, so maybe if you have a little more to loose it'll work better for you.

If you do try it, I'd love to know how you get on. You can find me on Instagram @dietstartsonmonday.


EDIT - I will admit to being a little shocked this evening when I randomly checked this blog for the first time in nearly 4 years and saw that this post has got a lot of interest! I’d like to remind readers that this post was written a long time ago, and the Slimming World plan has changed a lot since then. Back then, you got a full litre of unsweetened almond milk as a Healthy Extra. I don’t follow the Slimming World or SlimFast plans anymore so cannot comment on whether this approach would still be ‘on plan’, but I wish you all the best if you do decide to try it! 

Slimming World - Weeks Seven & Eight

Slimming World - Weeks Seven & Eight. Originally posted 24th April 2016.

Yeah I know. It's been a while. I may not have been blogging, but that does not mean I have stopped slimming. 

Over the past two weeks, I have lost another pound. Yeah it's not huge. But you know, it's hard. I think it's harder the longer you do it for. I maintained last week, which is the closest to a gain I've been. I'm determined not to gain though. Although the three pizzas I had in the space of 6 days last week seem to suggest otherwise ...

We've been to another couple of groups and I think we've settled on one. Wednesday straight after school. It should mean that it doesn't cut into the evening, and hopefully means I won't be tempted to get takeaway and binge when I get home. It's early enough in the week to not just give myself a long weekend off too. At least, that's the hope. 

My main problem is that I binge. I do really well and then my brain just breaks and all of a sudden I've gone so majorly off plan that even getting straight back in it doesn't make a difference. The damage is done. Take Friday for example. I had a really good day. HeB cereal with heA milk for breakfast. Soup for lunch. Mullerlight for a snack. Then I had to go to sainsburies on the way home to pick up something for my fully free on plan slimming world dinner, and somehow ended up buying and subsequently eating a whole fresh baguette with a load of butter. A whole baguette. Then half a big bar of chocolate left over from my low syn dessert. All within about 10 mins. This was the day after I got a large cheesy bites and ate all but one slice. On my own. It's not that I'm hungry, nor that I feel full afterwards. God, I've never realised how much of a cliche I am. No food can fill the emptiness inside or some such shit. 

I guess just need to work on my emotional binging. I'm planning all my meal and it's not like I don't have enough food. I just can't help but loose control sometimes. I'm determined to not be too far behind Rachey, and she got her stone award last week. At this point, I'm only about 2kg or 5.5lb off that stone off. If I try really hard, I should be able to get that in two weeks. 

Here's hoping anyway.

Slimming World - Weeks Five & Six

Slimming World - Weeks Five & Six. Originally posted 9th April 2016.

Result - 1/2lb loss

Ok so after two weeks a half a pound loss might seem like a bit of a disappointment. You could not be more wrong. I'm so proud of that half a pound loss. 

You see, Easter happened during those two weeks. Easter is my favourite time of year, with all my favourite foods; Easter eggs, simnel cake, creme eggs, mini eggs, fruit cake with marzipan in it, egg shaped chocolate ... You just can't get better food than Easter food. 

So I ate a lot over Easter weekend. And I mean a lot. But then I tried to be super good afterwards, having a week of normal on plan eating and a few days of SP to try and get myself of the pathological need to basically starve myself in the days before weigh in ... At least that was the plan. 

Knowing I had eaten so much, practically regaining my last two weeks loss in just one weekend, meant that I had a huge amount of guilt. Yes, I tried to eat well, but it's also the Easter holidays and some times I went out to eat and probably made choices that weren't fully thought out, leading to even more guilt. My diet from waking up on Wednesday morning until I weighed in on Thursday evening consisted of half a bowl of salad, an almond milk soy protein shake, an alpen light bar and a babybel light, all of which were on Wednesday. 

I'm going to be honest, I'm starting to scare myself. I've cried more about my weight this week than I ever have. I'm so proud of my half a stone, and I so want to reach my target healthily. I just really need to work on not being afraid to gain.

Slimming World - Week Four

Slimming World - Week Four. Originally posted 25th March 2016. 

Result: 1.5lb loss.

This week was a momentous week in my Slimming World journey. This week, I achieved my first award, granting me a precidicious certificate and a shiny sticker on the back of my book. 

 

It was a close call, for the longest time I didn't think I was going to manage it, even though I only had a pound and a half to lose to achieve my half a stone. The start of the week hadn't gone well. Wagamamas on Friday followed by two nights of pasta bake rocketed my syns, and if I hadn't done a few days of speed foods only over the Monday and the Tuesday, there wouldn't have been a chance in hell. I did feel a little bit cheated as we decided to try a Wednesday class as opposed to our normal Thursday, so lost a whole day of potential weight loss, but never mind. 

Again, this weeks group was a world apart from every other one we had tried. For a start, it was crazy busy. Like huge. Normally, there is the consultant and maybe one or two helpers. This group had the consultant and at least 6 helpers. Two people logging you in and taking payment, two people weighing, and two people on the shop. The line was constant and the seats for group filled, even though many weigh in and leave. The consultant said something along the lines of that in that one session, we had cumulatively lost about 300lbs. Due to the group being so much larger, we did spend a good hour and a half there, and while that was fine at 9am during the Easter holidays, there is no way we can devote that much time a week every week, especially when we normally go in the evening and Rachey has to get home to see her son before his bedtime. None the less, we learned a lot of tips and the group itself was much less click-y and very welcoming. The consultant could tell straight away that we were visiting, and was clearly very knowledgable. We're still sampling groups but I certainly won't mind going back to this group again. 

We've both booked a week off next week, so I have a week and a half to get myself back on track after Easter. I also quite want to try and train myself off needing to starve myself with speed free foods only in the preceding 48 hours to weigh in. Staying on plan and making up my own are two very different things. I'm going to try and cut down my fruit intake, and really work on upping my vegetables, as well as drinking more. 

Easter weekend isn't going to go well, and I'm not going to sacrifice my Easter eggs for the sake of being good, but I'm fully planning to be 100% on plan from Monday onwards.

Fingers crossed I can achieve my stone off sticker within another 4 weeks! Then I'll be half way to target! 

Slimming World - Week Three

Slimming World - Week Three. Originally posted 21 March 2016.

Result: 1lb loss.

So this post is a little late. My weigh in day is a Thursday and it's currently Monday. This is partly because I'm lazy, but also because I was super naughty last week. 

I supposed I was partly spurred on by my excellent result of week 2. I had told myself that I would treat myself to a pizza if I achieved over a 2lb loss, and seeing as I did, I upheld my promise. I was good, I didn't order anything else, but still, strike one. Then Friday started well but I just didn't follow the plan past lunch time. Neither did I for most of the rest of the week, including another load of pizza on Monday. Tuesday wasn't too bad but it wasn't exactly great either, with lemon tart, a load of goats cheese and probably 20 syns worth of chocolate tofu mousse. It was only on Wednesday and Thursday that I really kicked my arse into gear and tried to undo the damage. 

Breakfast on Wednesday consisted of fruit tea and some watermelon. Lunch was an apple and a pear. Dinner was speed veg in passatta. Thursday consisted of half an apple and garcinia tablets to try to stave off the hunger. 

Needless to say, I was pretty darn grumpy. I love fruit, and it definitely helps shift some weight quickly, but a healthy diet it does not make. Sure, I lost my pound, and saw that as a huge achievement, but now im struggling to get back to that, let alone lose my target of another one and a half pound. 

In other news, we tried out a different group this week, and boy, was it different. The weigh in was a lot busier, with a constant queue of people even though we were early to begin with. The group was about the same size as our original group, but everyone seemed a lot more familiar together, laughing and joking. The consultant was lovely (also clearly well educated in SW judging by all her awards) and played a game of setting the two sides of the room against each other to win the most points, based on feedback and losses at the scales. It was a whole different world and I much preferred it. I felt like I came away with more tips and motivation than I have done in three groups worth at the last place. We're going to another one this week just due to timing, so we'll see how this one measures up. 

So that's it for now. I think any other week I would have been really disappointed in my 1lb loss, but this week, it was a bloody miracle to lose anything. 

What's more, I'm only one and a half pounds off my half a stone award! 

Slimming World - Week Two

Slimming World - Week Two. Originally posted 10th March 2016.

Result: 3lb loss.

At today's weigh in, I was so super nervous. As I stood on the scales, my brain went blank and I couldn't even work out whether I'd lost or gained. 

I had weighed myself last night before bed and after converting the kilos into stone and pounds, concluded that I should expect a 3lb loss. Then I spent the rest of today talking myself out of it. I told myself to not expect anything, that any loss is a success, that eating anything more than salad on weigh in day was a foolish thing to do. 

Basically, my point here is even though I knew that I was likely to have met my 2lb loss target, and probably even exceeded it, the idea of the public weigh in still made my anxiety levels soar and my head go to dark places. You find yourself wondering how heavy your clothes are, whether your glasses will be significantly heavier than your lenses, whether a fart will help you loose weight, and feel guilty over eating a bloody babybel the day before because you know cheese doesn't digest as quickly as fruit and veg.

Having said all of this, I am thrilled with my week two results. If I loose the same next week, I'll achieve my half a stone award in just three weeks. I think that's pretty good going to be honest. 

What did I do differently this week to achieve double the loss of my first week? Other than two cheat meals early on in the week, I managed to stick to the plan 100%. I ate loads of free foods, especially the speed foods, made sure to measure out my healthy extras and be super strict with my syns. I have aimed at between 11-15 syns a day and on only one day did I go over and even then it was only by half a syn. I think one thing I didn't wrong last week was to use oat so simple as my Healthy B, when really I should have synned it. This week, I've been using porridge oats and oat milk, and then using the remainder of my Healthy A allowance on something else, which I didn't do before, probably leaving me with over half my Healthy A left over each day. 

Protein is still an issue for me. I don't really know how to change that. I'm taking iron supplements so fingers crossed my iron intake is okay at least. 

On the day before and the day of weigh in, I decided to only eat free fruit and veg that are also speed foods. So no pasta, potatoes, bananas and the like. I think it worked, I'll try it again next week and see how it works the second week around. I'm not going to do it for more than a day  and a half though, life's too short to only eat salad for days on end.