My class was absolutely mobbed on Thursday night!  It was queued out the door when I arrived sharply at 7pm for my weigh-in.  I asked a few of my fellow dieters in the queue, whether this was especially busy or not.  It was certainly the busiest I’ve seen it out of my three visits.  Everyone agreed that it was an exceptionally busy night. 

The fact that it is now less than 100 days to Christmas is no coincidence.  This is the time of year when many women start making preparations for Christmas, and part of those preparations include planning what to wear at the round of Christmas parties and celebrations.  Many women, myself included, would love to fit into an outfit in a smaller dress size for the party season.  Some women might simply want to ensure that they fit comfortably into their favourite LBD. If you start your diet and exercise regime just now, there should be plenty of time to achieve that.

One of my goals, when joining my slimming class, was to lose a stone (14lbs) by the Christmas party season.  Just two weeks into the diet and I’m half way there already!  I’m now confident that I’ll surpass my original goal, and I am thrilled at the prospect.

I attend my local Slimming World class, and I’m following their new Extra Easy diet.  To find out more visit the Slimming World website here.

Rememberence ceremonies have been held all over the US, with moments of silence being observed at each of the three sites, where victims perished.

Like many people around the World, I can vividly recollect finding out about the initial strike on the World Trade Centre on 11th September 2001. 

I was working in Glasgow at the time, and I remember my supervisor receiving a phonecall from a friend about the first plane striking the Tower.

“An aeroplane has crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York!”

“What!?!”

“A plane has crashed into the World Trade Centre!”

“How could that happen?  Was it a passenger plane?  What was it doing flying near the building?”

“I don’t know.”

Soon, the whole building was gripped by the horrific events as they unfolded.  People flocked to the Directors’ offices to watch the live news feeds on television.

Just as in millions of offices and homes across the globe, we went through many emotions: shock, fear, sadness, anger.

Almost six years later, I was caught up in another terror attack.  On 30th June 2007, my family and I had just arrived home from a lovely holiday in Menorca, when two terrorists crashed a jeep, loaded with petrol cannisters into Glasgow Airport’s terminal buidling.  My wondeful husband  was one of a band of civilians who bravely intervened and helped to thwart the terrorists in their attempts to cause carnage.  He was injured in the fracas and spent several days in hospital.

Even though the Glasgow attack was on a far smaller scale than the 9/11 atrocities, when you find yourself caught up in such an event, when it involves your own family and a vicious attack on your home town, it is truly terrifying.  I can only begin to appreciate what the 9/11 victims and their families went through.

These acts of atrocity, along with several others in recent years, have changed my perception of the World forever.  As a result of these acts, I am a little more cynical, a little more wary, and all the more fearful of the World in which my daughters are growing up in.

However, I have to try to twist my perspective and see things from another angle.  These events have not simply demonstrated the scale of evil that man is capable of.  These acts have also demonstrated how great the human spirit is:  the brave acts conducted by emergency services and members of the public, the great teamwork achieved in the aftermath of the attacks to get the cities up and running and back to normal again.  The defiance of Society to be frightened from carrying on, to continue travelling and gathering in public places.

It is this human spirit, which gives me hope for the future, hope for the continued freedom and democracy for my daughters, my future grandchildren and their future grandchildren.  Without this hope, the World would be a very bleak place.

I gingerly mounted the scales last night and held my breath…

“You’ve lost four and a half pounds.  Well done!”

I’m so pleased.  It’s a good start on my diet and I am still full of enthusiasm for the weeks and months ahead.

“I will reach my target weight!”

One real advantage of attending a slimming class, rather than just doing a diet on your own, is that you really do feel part of a team.  All the other slimmers in the class are going through similar ups and downs in their quest to lose weight.  Their stories and achievements are awe-inspiring.  It really gave me a boost to hear how much weight some of the ladies had already lost (some in a short space of time!).

When I told Hubby I was joining a slimming club, his response was:
“You just need to cut down a bit and exercise more!”

Easier said than done. In truth, I need to attend a slimming class, not only to advise me on what to eat (and what not to eat!), but also as an incentive to actually just carry on with the diet.  If I were simply “cutting down”, I would be more easily swayed by tasty treats, than I am following a particular diet, paying my class fees, and then being weighed every week.

The diet has been pretty easy to follow.  However, I was alarmed to see some foods that I had been eating previously, and considered to be healthy, had quite a high syn value (i.e. should not be eaten liberally!)

• Wholemeal pitta bread – 7.5 syns
• Tortilla wraps – 7 syns
• Malt loaf – 3 syns
• Fruit & Fibre cereal – 5 syns
• Porridge Oats – 5 syns
• Grape juice – 3.5 syns

The diet advises one to eat betwee five and 15 syns per day.  I can now see why I’ve been piling on the pounds, even when I thought I had an “okay”diet!

I think, at first,  Hubby was worried that my diet would affect him negatively, and that he would be served up salads and bland food every night.  I think he thought it would put an end to us eating out or enjoying a takeaway meal.

Well, his fears have been unfounded, as we still ate out with our daughters at the weekend.  I had a delicious grilled salmon and pine nut salad (just 8.5 syns, due to the dressing and the nuts).  I also shared a delicious Lamb Rogan Josh takeaway with Hubby (just 7.5 syns!).   He had a Garlic Nan with his meal, while I had boiled rice and salad.

Therefore, as you can see, I’ve not been depriving myself too much at all!  I’ve actually been eating quite substantially.

So it will be with great trepidation that I return to the slimming class tonight for the Moment of Truth - my weigh-in.  I do feel like I’ve lost a little weight, so I hope the scales reflect that! *fingers crossed*  *biscuit tin locked*