A’Kin, Celebrity Slim and More!!

*** Warning!This is going to be a pic heavy post,but the pics are of v nice things. Oh and if you look closely you may see some pics of my visage***

Yesterday, I headed off to Fitzwilliam Street to see what goodies Beacon Pharma had on offer. Beacon Pharma distribute well known brands such as [A'Kin],Celebrity Slim ,Cath Kidston  and Paradox as well as not so well known brands BABE, Boo Boo and D Lux. I was super excited to be invited to this  and it did not dissapoint. I was given undivided attention on what each brand had to offer and got have a really good chat to them about Celebrity Slim. I also got a really nice compliment on the blog which made me super happy.

[A'Kin]

A’kin skincare uses the purest ingredients, certified  organic where possible,chosen for their skin freindly compatibility. I got to test a load of the products,all of which sank into my skin quickly and felt lovely.The newest additon to the range is Pure Therapy,which has been uniquely designed for dry and sensitive skin prone to Eczema, Psoriasis and Dermatitis.

BABE

BABE is a spanish range of dermocosmetic products that offers a simle and straight forward line of products. All products are non comedogenic and hypoallergenic.

Boo Boo

First things first, I love the packaging of this brand it is so cute! Boo Boo takes the finest quality ingredients to create skin care that treats,nurtures and makes skin feel pampered. There are no parabens or any nasties in the product range. Something I love and something I am becoming more and more conscious of.

Celebrity Slim

I am a huge fan of the Celebrity Slim programme after losing just over 2 stone on it. It was really nice to meet some of the people responsible for it here in Ireland. We had a good chat about the programme and I was introduced to the new Celebrity Slim Smoothie. This new smoothie is already made up so it is handy for when you are out and about. It will be a godsend for me as I always forget to bring a shake with me. I was also introduced to the new rockie road snack bar which is really yummy and comes topped with mini marshmallows.I think this will be getting purchased with my next round of shakes.

Goodie Bag

I was lucky enough to receive a goodie bag along with a pack of the new Celebrity Slim Wild Berry Smoothie. I tried a smoothie for brekkie this morning and it is really tasty.

The Scéal on Celebrity Slim

As you will probably have read in my Weightloss Journey posts I have started the Celebrity Slim programme. Something I personally am finding brilliant.

P.S I’ve been meaning to post this for weeks so apologies for the delay xx

The scéal on Celebrity Slim is similar to other well known meal replacement diets  (minus the sugar on one of them and minus no food on the other) ie you can eat a well balanced meal once a day, have 2-3 healthy snacks and 2 shakes during the day. If you don’t want two shakes there is the option of a soup or bar. This adds up to 5-6 smaller meals a day

The first thing I will go into is the shakes, most of what I have tried are yummy apart from the Cafe Late which I don’t like purely because I don’t like coffee anyway. My favourites however are the Strawberry and Banana. I’d show a pic but I’ve none of these two left so here is the vanilla shake. They are super easy to make up,just add 200-250ml to the shaker and shake for 30 seconds.

Vanilla Shake

I’ve noticed the shakes are quite filling but find the evenings tough,possibly because I am an evening snacker and tend to pig out when little man is gone to bed. There is a fibre supplement you can add to the shakes and soups to bulk them up,apparently leaving you hunger free.I’ve yet to get these as everywhere I have been to buy it has either been sold out or they aren’t stocking it anymore.

I bought the Chicken soup last week to see what they would be like,as having the 2 shakes a day was becoming a bit boring. The chicken soup cost me €16.99 for a 7 day supply, it’s quite tasty but I tend to add some chilli flakes to mine. (I don’t know what I’m like lately, I’m gone mad on chilli flakes) I’ve yet to try the meal replacement bars.

For the first week of the diet, I took their weight management capsules, and I definitely feel they helped with my first week loss, I really should get more as they also helped supress my appetite.

The snack part of the diet has to be healthy but there are a load of choices including the Celebrity Slim Snack Bars, of which I’ve tried the caramel and mint ones. They taste nice especially if you keep them in your fridge. I tend to have an apples, 30g of cheese or a handful of allowable nuts.

Speaking of allowable foods, it is really important you stick to these. In the starter pack there is a programme guide and food diary which among other things tells you what you can and can’t have. I was shocked to see Peas and Sweetcorn are on the not allowed list, these would be my go to veg to bulk up a pasta/chilli/curry sauce so I find I miss them more than my potatoes.

Support is very noticeable on Celebrity Slim with forums on the website and a facebook page. While the forum is good the facebook page is brilliant! Post a question or a weigh in update and you’re bound to get a reply or like from the lovely people following the page and the moderators.

What about the dinners Anita!? On the website there is a lovely collection of healthy dinner recipes for meat lovers and vegetarians. It is recommended you think of your plates in thirds- 1 third protein and 2 thirds veg. All of the meals can be eaten with allowable vegetables or a salad. At the moment I am having vegetables with my dinners as I find they fill me up better than a side salad, but as the weeks go on I probably will alternate between the two.

The programme can be used until you get to your goal at which point you go into maintenance phase, which is for life. Here you stay true to the low carb idea but can treat yourself every now and then to something carb loaded. Me? I am so looking forward to a bag of chipper chips, but not until I reach my goal.

There is no way I am giving into my urges! Finding all my gorgeous size 12 clothes have really sent this message home to me.

I’m now coming to the end of my sixth week (the time has flown) and at the end of  last week I’ve discovered I’ve lost 17.5lbs ,and I can definitely feel the difference, I’m back in most of my pre pregnancy clothes and have a lot more energy. Weightloss is based on how much you weigh in the beginning so results will vary from person to person.

xxx More details on the programme can be found by visiting their website xxx

Weightloss Journey Week 7

This week went miles better than last week.

I actually did exercise this weeek by walking,skipping  and using Charlie Brooks Before and After DVD. Did all the exercise kill me? Not exactly but I definitely felt the aches and pains.

Foodwise, I’m not as hungry this week or maybe I am not noticing it as the week has been spent doing a major spring clean in the house so I’ve been drinking the Celebrity Slim Shakes on the go and setting the alarm on my phone to remind me to cook the dinner.

While doing my spring cleaning, I found loads of my old size 12 clothes that I loved then and still love now. These have been put away and I’m using them for added motivation.I also found a Davina Mc Call workout called Superfit, I attempted it once and boy was it intense!but it did have me laughing because Davina is very funny in it.

 All in all this week I lost 3.5lbs, which I am very happy about. Four weeks on Celebrity Slim amnd I have lost a whopping 17.5lbs (1stone 3.5lbs) If every week had weightloss like this week, I would be one very happy girl.

xxx In the next few weeks I plan on keeping up the Exercise 101 part of the blog by covering my lovely collection of three exercise dvd’s and I’ll also be sharing some of my favourite new recipes xxx

Weightloss Journey Week 6

This week was my third week on Celebrity Slim but it was also the week where I got hit with another nasty cold that I can’t seem to shake and splurged a bit on Valentines Day. Needless to say because of this cold, I didnt get much exercise in this week and lost just 1lb.A loss is a loss though. This doesnt reflect on Celebrity Slim as I am still finding it brilliant for curbing my appetite and learning portion control.

The only thing I am finding is in the evenings I want something to eat or at least I think I do. This is purely down to the fact I am used to filling up in the evening when the little man has gone to bed so my brain needs to be re educated.

I am really hoping this cold passes asap as I really want to get out walking and be able to do an exercise dvd without coughing my brains out. I also got dear hubby to pick up a skipping rope for me when he was out picking up some stuff for the house yesterday.

Foodwise, I’ve stuck to the plan as much as possible even with Valentines day. We went to a gorgeous steak room in the Queens Dalkey, the steak came with fries,but being a good girl I asked for a portion of veg instead, and guess what? it came with roasted potatoes. It’s like the world was saying you can’t avoid potatoes, eat them! I passed the test with flying colours and completely avoided them, which just left me with a few carrots and some onions. I even avoided my favourite dessert- Chocolate Brownie but it all went to pot with the bottle of red wine hubby ordered and a few vodka and 7ups.

This week I am definitely trying harder, which will be hard thanks to Pancake Day on Tueday but Im going to be good and not eat any pancakes and save my pancake day for when I’ve gotten to my goal weight.

We’re off to the UK the end of June to visit family and help my cousin with wedding stuff. She has asked me to be her chief bridesmaid. The dress is beautiful but instead of waiting to buy it in June,she has gone and got it in a size 12. Now the wedding isn’t until October so I think Ill fit into it by then still talk about putting added pressure Enough moaning, attitude check in order so I think I’ll have to see this as added motivation for me to get in gear.

Weightloss Journey Week 5

Last week was my second week on Celebrity Slim and found it easier than the first week. It’s funny how you begin to not notice there are no bad carbs on your dinner plate. Alot of what I am cooking comes straight from the Celebrity Slim website but some meals I am using my own imagination.(I am thinking of putting some of the yummy recipes up so if you’d be interested in that let me know)

On Celebrity Slim, weighloss is based on your diet but they recommend exercise to help the weight loss. Now last week I was very bold and did very little. I seemed to be in some sort of slump last week. Nothing to do with the new diet as I have never had as much energy,but do you think I could focus on anything?

xxx So what was the result last week? A 4lb loss, while it’s not the 9lbs I lost in Week one of Celebrity Slim,it’s still 4lbs and I can definitely notice a few inches of my measurements. xxx

Weightloss Journey Week 4

This week was a bit different for me. On a check up to my doctor, I mentioned that I am trying to lose weight but finding it tough. Her first question was what are you like eating carbs? Eh I don’t think I am too bad was my response but once I got thinking about it, I realised I may eat more of them than I’d like to admit.

While I would skip on pasta and rice, I am a huge spud lover. You name it and I’ve probably coked spuds that way. Back to the point Anita! The doctor recommended there would be no harm on going on a low carb diet (eeek!). When I got home I got on the aul interweb to research low carb diets and one thing that kept coming up was Celebrity Slim.

xxx The programme works on the low carb idea so on face value it seems like a good match for me xxx

Now I am the first to say no never! so bad for you! but I had previously started it to lose weight last year and had lost a stone on it before I found out I was pregnant. I’d toyed with the idea again on speaking to Beauty Couture over on Twitter.

I ordered Sunday evening after my Weightloss Journey Week 3 post and bought the starter pack and the weight management tablets. (The total came to €45.44 from Inhealth.ie)

Image taken from CelebritySlim.ie as my box is in the recyling.

Image taken from CelebritySlim.ie

Now this isn’t for everyone and in no way am I saying I’m going to stay on it indefinitely or that you should go out and get it. I am using it purely as a kick start and in the days I have been taking it, one major thing I have noticed is that it is helping me cut out the junk ( I have terrible willpower) and focus on eating more fruit and veg and drinking the recommended 8 glasses of H2O a day.

So how did I find it? Not bad, definitely not as hungry as usual but am running to the loo alot more. I have lost 9lbs. I was slightly worried about this much of a loss but on further investigation it is quite common to lose this much (or more) on the first two weeks and in the following weeks it evens out to a more realistic weightloss.

xxx Since Friday, I have been away visiting the in-laws,before I left I was worried I would get side tracked and not bother with the plan but I actually found it quite easy to maintain xxx

xxx I will go into more details on the plan during the week. Have any of you ever tried it or thought about it? xxx