NOTHING beats that feeling of being able to do up your belt on a tighter notch.
It's such a simple, but very satisfying thing to be able to do. I've written before about my struggle to drop a dress size, and after losing two stone a while back I've been despairing at seeing the needle on the scales slowly creeping up.
Being a mum, the downfall is polishing off the remains of uneaten kids' dinners and all the goodies and treats it's essential to have in the house when you have children.
One little bag of crisps, a bowl of popcorn or a sneaky chocolate bar won't hurt, but taken daily the evidence is there for all to see!
I really enjoyed the weight loss hypnosis I tried out last year, but I've been searching for something else to try that would help kick-start healthy eating and go hand-in-hand with my new fitness routine.
I gave up the expensive gym membership and have been working out using my son Alex's Wii games console, playing programmes such as Wii Active and Wii fit ever since with good results.
I discovered Bodychef, which is a unique diet plan engineered by Jayne Ritchie, who had tried every diet known to womankind but knew it would be so much easier if someone else took away the hassle of deciding what to eat, shopping, weighing out portions and counting calories. She devised Bodychef to do all the hard work for you; no decisions need to be made, you simply look at your personalised plan and fetch the food from your fridge.
Twice a week a fresh delivery arrives of chef-prepared delicious meals and snacks all carefully personalised for you. You just have to heat them up and put them on your plate.
I've been trying out the Bodychef lower carb plan for the past week and can't believe I have already shed 5lb.
The food has been delicious and kept me going, although I did have a carb-withdrawal headache for the first two days owing to my being a bit of a carb junkie.
The most surprising thing was that each main meal comes with a dessert - the cranberry cookie was so delicious, and Jayne has promised to give me the recipe, so watch this space.
The meals couldn't be further from the bland and tasteless supermarket diet ready-meals I've eaten in the past.
This is restaurant quality diet food starting from £38.99, and most people lose 3-7lb in their first week, with the average losing a stone in a month.
There are seven diets to choose from and I'm trying out the Low GI diet next week and will let you know how I get on.
Find out more at www.bodychef.com .
Cathy Ranson is editor of Sunshine, the community magazine for families living in Hillingdon. Contact: cathy@sunshinemagazine.co.uk
