My Weight Loss Journey Featuring XLS Medical* - An Update And Birthdays

A million apologies that this post is a few days later than planned but yet again life got in the way. For once though it wasn't for anything bad, I've uploaded a couple of You Tube videos this week, and I had a lovely day yesterday with Mummy Lou, we went to Chiquitos for lunch, did a bit of shopping and then I had an amazing Kiehls facial, hand and arm massage in the newly refurbished House Of Fraser Beauty Rooms, in their Intu Metrocentre store. Heaven, and the perfect start to my birthday celebrations!

Yes it's my birthday on Sunday and ahead of any potential naughtiness calorie wise, I though I better update you on how my weight loss journey is going.

Not too bad is the answer, although I've had a couple of wobbles here and there, and a couple of weeks where I didn't manage to lose any weight, since my last update  I've managed to lose 6lbs taking me to 12lbs in total.

I had a couple of really good weeks then I got sick again which contributed to a couple of wobbles, and then I had my godfathers 87th birthday party, which involved cake and lots of gluten free pizza :) so I'm taking the fact that I didn't gain anything over the 5 weeks or so as a bonus.

Maybe this is the XLS Medical Max Strength doing it's thing who knows? Even on my off days and days when I haven't been calorie counting I've still been taking the supplements so maybe they've helped stop the absorption of some of the excess fat and calories

Celebrations normally involve food, and I'm not intending to be too careful about what I eat over the next few days but I will be talking the supplements and trying to make some good choices. Yesterday in Chiquitos we didn't have starters or dessert, and I just had a salad (the Halloumi Citrus Salad in case you're interested) and me and Mummy Lou shared a side order of Sweet Potato Fries. I had a Costa Creamy Cooler too but I didn't eat very much else all day.

So one  birthday event down two to go, obviously there is my birthday itself and tomorrow night I'm going for a meal with my best friend to a local Greek restaurant so although there might be a few calories from the olive oil, maybe some chips and some cheese, I'll definitely be getting my five a day when it comes to vegetables,

I intend to enjoy my birthday and if that means eating a few bad (good) things then so be it - Everything in moderation and they say and I'll be back on it as soon as I can, and I'll be updating my Instagram from Monday with my weekly weigh in's regardless of the result..

I only have about a month's worth of the XLS Medical Max Strength supplements remaining so in about a months time I'll do another update, where I'll talk more about the supplements and talk about my experiences with them.

Thanks again for your support and if you have any questions please leave me a comment and let me know x Thanks for reading xx

*Samples

A Weight Loss Journey Update - Illness, A Big Fat Fail And A Small Positive

It's been over a month since I announced that I was restarting my weight loss journey and since then it's all gone a bit quiet, so I thought I owed you an explanation.

The reality is that yet again my healthy eating and weight loss plans went down the pan - I had a good couple of weeks without managing to lose any weight (probably down to star week) and then it all went belly up.

I had a few wobbles over Mothers Day weekend but then I was hit by an awful virus or should I say viruses! Over the next 3 weeks I had a UTI (sorry if that's a bit TMI), a sickness and diarrhoea bug, and finally a horrible cold / chest infection that I can't seem to shake off, and then of course came Easter!

How I haven't gained any weight I'll never know, maybe the various viral infections played their part and scared the calories and periods of over indulgence away, but whatever the reason I have to take it as a positive and put this wobble behind me.

So from yesterday I'm back on it and I've even more determined then ever - I took what I hope will become a before photograph, that almost made me cry and that I hope will give me the push and inspiration that I need.

I'm going to trying to eat more healthily, I'm aiming to eat less than 1500 calories a day and I'm going to be resuming my XLS Medical Max Strength* trial. I'm also going to try and up my activity levels, I'm going to start slowly and just do more around the house including tidying and decorating before hopefully moving on to a bit of Wii Fit, a bit of yoga, and hopefully once the weather gets better I'm going to pop my trainers on and start going for a daily walk just to get myself out of the house and to get myself moving.

So after yet another false start I'm back and raring to go, as per usual I will be weighing on Monday's and updating my progress be it good or bad on my Instagram (link in the sidebar x ) and in a month's time I'll do another blog post to let you know how I'm getting on. Wish me luck xx

*Sample

Restarting My Weight Loss Journey Featuring XLS Medical Max Strength*

It's hard to believe but it's been nearly 3 months since I put the breaks on my latest weight journey - doesn't time fly. A lot of water has gone under the bridge and I've eaten a lot of chocolate since then but after a few months worth of trials and tribulations I'm ready to start again.

Although I couldn't eat anything too hard, or too sticky or too crunchy I still managed to put on quite a bit of weight over Christmas. Salvation came though when the tooth said goodbye, 7 days of liquids and sloppy food meant that my weight loss journey started without me even trying. 

In the month that' followed I've had some good days and some bad days but since I first stepped on the scales on the Monday before my surgery I've managed to lose 6lbs by just making little tweaks here and then.

From today though I'm back on it good and proper and I'm going to be resuming my XLS Medical Max Strength trial. I started using this weight loss aid last June, and I really think it made a difference (Find out more about my previous experience by typing XLS Medical into the search box or have a read of some of my previous posts, here, here and here. Thanks to the tooth though and various unrelated health issues I had to put the trial on hold. From today though I'm back on it and for the next 3 months I'm going to be taking 4 tablets a day, whilst watching what I eat, drinking plenty of water and trying to increase my activity levels. 

What I was doing before seemed to be working so I'm going to try and do the same thing again - I'm a bit of a devotee of calorie counting so that's what I'm going to do. It makes sense really, eat less calories, and you'll lose weight - simples! Well I know it's not that simple. it's tough, it's hard and it needs serious willpower, but by making small changes, taking my XLS Medical supplements,eating 3 healthy meals a day, cutting down on the cheese and the chocolate, and by moving my body a bit more, hopefully I'll be able to shed those pounds and feel a bit more confident and a bit happier.

I still don't feel confident enough to reveal my full weight on the blog at the moment so all I'll say it at the moment I weigh:

1%st 8lbs

I have quite a bit  of weight to lose, and I know that it won't be a quick fix but I'm hoping that the XLS Medical tablets can do there thing, and at least help my kick start my weight loss over the next 3 months. I'm only going to be posting monthly updates on the blog, so if you want to keep tracks on my progress please follow me on either Instagram or Twitter where I'll be posting my weekly weigh in's every Monday. Thanks as per usual for your support, if you have any questions let me know and if you're interested in XLS Medical in general or the XLS Medical Max Strength supplements then don't forget to check out their website for more information x

*Sample

Life Lately - Weight Loss, Chronic Fatigue, Illness And Family

When I first started my blog nearly 9 years ago now I talked a lot about myself, my family and my illness - I used to write regular goods and bads posts and I often used my blog as a bit of a place to whinge. Over the years though my blog has changed and maybe I've changed!  For various reasons I haven't felt comfortable sharing certain aspects of my life and my blog has become my happy place, a place where I can escape and take time out of my daily life. I always wanted my blog to be a part of me though, so every once and a while maybe it's good to share.

To say my posting has been flaky lately is probably an understatement, I seem to have a really consistent spell and then I seem to disappear for a few days or a week. There shouldn't be any pressure to blog but I do feel a bit guilty every now and then when I can't get as many posts up as I would like. Life over the last 3 or 4 months or so hasn't been kind to me in a lot of ways and that's reflected in my blog so event hough there probably isn't a need I thought I should at least give you some sort of an explanation. 

I don't want to go into too much detail but as you know I'm quite close to my family, and unfortunately my illness curse seems to have struck them too. I'm not going to go into too much detail to protect them and their privacy but two of my closest family members are having a very rough time of it at the moment. It's awful seeing people you love struggling on a day to day basis, and facing their own mortality and it's probably affected me more than I've realised, both physically and mentally, something that I could probably have done without.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a funny thing, I don't mean funny haha, I mean strange, one minute you can feel relatively "normal" and the next minute you can feel as though your on deaths door, yet you'll still look okay. You can have good days and you can have bad days and this year for whatever reason I've definitely had more bad days than good days.Throw in a long awaited, and presumed Fibromyalgia diagnosis and it's now pretty clear why I've been in so much pain and felt so wiped out.

If that wasn't all after a routine dental check up I was told that one of my wisdom teeth needs to be removed! Fury didn't quite cover it, I brush, I floss, I use mouthwash, I visit the dentist every 6 months - why!!! and why wasn't this picked up sooner! I know some of my medications can affect my teeth and my saliva (yuck, sorry!) but still!

A visit to an oral surgeon confirmed that the tooth needed to come out, and I was put on the waiting list to get it removed. Oh and in the meantime I was told to eat a relatively soft diet as the damaged tooth would potentially start to break off - hmm I wondered what that small creamy, white hard thing was in my risotto!! 

Yeah - not good but unfortunately the worst was yet to come" before any form of surgery you have to undergo certain tests to rule out any complications and after some simple tests low and behold they found a couple of issues. I'm not going to bore you with the details but I have a pile of new medication to take and I have to see a health care professional every fortnight for monitoring!

So here I am, waiting and waiting for that appointment letter to get this godforsaken tooth removed, I swear it caused me no pain or irritation until that bloody dental check up. Thankfully avoiding anything to hard or chewy, painkillers, Corsodyl mouth wash, and Anbesol liquid are making it a bit more bearable but I'm still having the occasional swollen hamster cheek moment!

At the moment finding something to eat and eating without discomfort is hard enough, without watching what I'm eating so I've made to decision to at least postpone my weight loss journey, till I get both my teeth and my heart sorted. I'm annoyed, ashamed and more than a little disappointed to give in like this, but I need to focus on improving my short term health before I start thinking about more long term concerns. It's a shame because I really think I was starting to make progress with the XLS Medical Max Strength system* - I'd lost around 12lbs and I was feeling really positive about the whole thing but it can't be helped. I'd already bought some more capsules when they were on offer so I'm ready to get back on it hopefully in the new year when I get myself pulled together.

I really hope this hasn't come across as an oh woe is me post, although I suspect it probably has, but I just wanted to let you know what's been going on and why posting has been a bit erratic and why I haven't been posting as many recipes or weight loss updates.  Knowing that you guys are there on the interweb really keeps my going at times and it gives me something to focus on when real life is getting in the way. If you're a new reader I don't write posts like this that often so I hope I haven't scared you off! I'm making no promises as to the regularity of posts at the moment but all I'll say is I'll post when I can. I have quite a few post ideas floating around that will hopefully come to fruition before Christmas including some long overdue press sample reviews, some festive gift idea reviews, some hauls, a recipe that I might not be able to eat but I can assure you is amazing, and my usual big festive giveaway.so I hope that you'll stick around and be patient with me. Thanks for reading and of course thanks for being there x

*Samples

My Weight Loss Journey Featuring XLS Medical Max Strength* - Part 2

It's been a little while since I posted a weight loss update so I thought it was about I did a little post to let you know whats been going on.

I started my new weight loss programme with XLS Medical Max Strength, with a huge amount of enthusiasm and willpower and by the time I published my first post, which you can read here, I'd already lost 5lbs, fast forward over a month and a half later I'm only 8lbs down, so what happened?

Well the usual thing for me - illness. The chest and lung infection from hell, attacked my system for over 3 weeks, so dieting was pretty much out of the question, my immune system was shot and it needed all the help it could get. Throw in a family bereavement and another relative being in intensive care and to be honest I'm surprised that the scales are still showing an overall loss.

From this week though I'm back on it, I'm keeping an eye on my calorie intake, I'm keeping a food diary and or course I've started taking my XLS Max Strength supplements again.

I promised in my last post that I'd tell you a little bit more about the supplements and how they work, so here we go x I'm not going into too much detail but basically what XLS Medical Max Strength is, is weight loss aid that can help users reach their weight loss goals up to 4 times faster than diet and exercise alone.

How it does this is by the inclusion of a patented, gentle, organic plant based complex, Clavitanol, which reduces the break down and absorption of dietary carbohydrates, sugar and fat, which in turn leads to a reduced calorie intake. It also helps to stabilise blood glucose and insulin levels which helps to reduce food cravings.

This product has been rigorously tested, and the plant based ingredient is gentle on the system. Full instructions and contra indication information is supplied in every box and all you do is take two tablets, about half an hour before you eat your two main meals of the day, you even get a nifty little pillbox for when you're on the go. Unlike some weight loss supplements I've used in the past these don't seem to have any of the nasty side effects such as diarrhoea or nausea, in fact all I've noticed is a little bit of bloating.  

Although it sounds good these tablets aren't for everyone and for good reason. Supplements like this are for people that have a weight problem and really need to lose weight. For that reason you need to have a BMI of over 18.5 to take them. It's also only recommended for adults over the ages of 18 unless it's given under the supervision of a GP or a dietician, and it goes without saying that it isn't suitable for women who are pregnant or breast feeding. If you're diabetic its also recommended that you consult a health professional before use as the tablets can interfere with medication, but to be honest before you take any form of supplement or pill you should always consult with your GP even if you consider yourself fit and healthy.

So I'm back on it and with just over 2 months supply of tablets remaining, I'm going to give it my best shot x I I'm looking forward to receiving some support and encouragement from Jodie Reif who is a registered dietician and in house dietican for XLS Medical Max Strength, and of course from you guys x  I want to thank you all as per usual for your support. From next week, weekly weight losses (or gains!) will be appearing again every Monday on my Instagram and Twitter page so don't forget to follow me, and in a month I'll do another update post for you x You can find out more about XLS Medical Max Strength by visiting their website and if you have questions about my journey please let me know x 

*Sample

My New Weight Loss Journey Featuring XLS Medical Max Strength* - Part 1

I guess I'm beginning to sound a bit like a broken record with so many false dawns and false starts, but last week I restarted my weight loss journey.Over the last 12 months or so it's been a bit stop / start but on my birthday of all days I decided that I needed to make some changes in all areas of my life.

Why weight loss? well I'm officially classed as obese, bah humbug you should be happy what ever your size, people shouldn't be labelled and all that. Fine if you're happy and you have that self confidence but not so much if you're like me and looking the mirror at times makes you feel miserable.

Recently I attended a press event and I the night before I literally burst into tears as I tried to find something that looked decent and didn't highlight my wobbly tummy and my bum. Okay I was probably being a bit dramatic but if you don't feel comfortable in your own skin, all the reassurances and common sense in the world won't make one bit of difference. Believe me I've tried, I admire and love so many plus size / eff your beauty standards bloggers but when you're hating on yourself as much as I have been lately it's impossible to see anything positive about the way you look.

I've never had a lot of self confidence, or confidence in my appearance, even many moons ago when I was a size 8, so why do I think it will make a difference now? Well I'm older and maybe a little bit wiser, I know that being a bit slimmer isn't going to change my life dramatically but I need to at least give it a try for my health, if not for my self confidence.

I didn't want this to be an Oh Woe Is Me post, so I'm sorry if it's heading that way but losing weigh isn't the easy thing that some people make it out to be. It's a physical and emotional journey that effects every part of your life

I've been told on many occasions by my GP and my hospital specialist that it's will be hard for me to lose weight due to my illness, lack of exercise and my medication but I'm going to give it my best shot and I fully intend to prove them wrong.

So how am I going to be doing it? Well pretty much the same way that I've done it in the past, watching what I eat, making healthy choices, and less snacking. I did consider trying a slimming club but the expense put me off and I know that this method works for me - Many moons ago I lost 4 stone doing something similar so despite the obstacles now in my path I know it can be done.

This time round though I do have a little bit of a support. A month or so ago now I was invited down to London to meet Denise Van Outen, who is the brand ambassador for weight loss tablet XLS Medical Max Strength. Unfortunately because I'm a northerner travelling down to London the majority of times just isn't possible so the PR company gave me the opportunity to take part in the week XLS Medical Get Back To The Real You, 12 week challenge, and sent me three months supply of the XLS Medical Max Strength supplements*

Diet pills and supplements have always been controversial but for me I need a kick start. I'm going to talk more about what they do and who they are for in a future but be rest assured these aren't just some random pills I've got off the internet. XLS Medical are the biggest weight loss brand in Europe and their products are available in most major pharmacies. My BMI is high enough and I've checked with my GP so I'm good to go.

I'm not going it alone though, every person who buys XLS Medical Max Strength can either log onto their website or download the app, and register for their free support programme, to get support, meal tips and advice from their in house dietician Jodie Relf. I'm going to be speaking to the XLS team once a week via email and I think that their support will be invaluable.

I've been taking four tablets a day for the past week, and in my first week I've lost 5 pounds. Have the tablets helped? I'm not sure yet but I've experienced no side effects as yet so all's well. I'm not going to be doing a weekly update post or anything like that, instead I'm going to be updating my instagram every Monday with how much I've lost or gained, and I'm going to be doing a monthly post to keep you updated. My next post will be in around four week time and as well as updating you on my progress I'll also be explaining a bit more about XLS Max Strength how they work, the science behind them,and who can use them, but if you want to find out more please have a look at their website x

So although I'm going down a slightly controversial route to some, hopefully it's going to give me the kick start that I need x Thanks for your support as per usual and thanks for reading and I'll see you soon with either a beauty or fashion post depending on how I'm feeling xx

*Samples