How I'm feeling after 5 weeks on a meal replacement diet #Boostbuddies

Firstly I'd like to apologise for not updating you last week, there were a few reasons for this, as you know I was in Croatia (holiday spam coming soon!) until Sunday and my intention was to write my update on Monday, but after a day of travelling and with a mountain of washing to tackle all I wanted to do was relax with the children so I had a day in the park! I then got down to tackling the washing mountain and before I knew it I was back to work so I thought instead I'd give you an extended update this weekend...

There's been so much going on over the last two weeks that its tough to know where to start!

I went to Croatia and was a little bit naughty food wise

I'd been looking forward to this break for so long that I really wanted to make the most of my time away and that did mean that there were days that just didn't fit in with two meal replacement shakes a day, so yes I had a few 'cheat' days. I ate a few ice creams and tried the local cuisine, but I also walked a lot, swam and ate salads as much as possible. One thing I have learnt so far in this diet programme is that when you are committing to something like this on a long-term basis, you have to let yourself have bad days and just start fresh the next day without beating yourself up. I realised that one or two days of enjoying myself wasn't going to have that much of an impact in the longer term.

I wore a swimsuit

I don't have a lot of body confidence, if I'm honest with myself I never really have, whatever size I've been (from 8 to 18). I am always uncomfortable revealing parts of my body that are usually covered up so for me wearing a swimsuit is a significant thing. However, I've been thinking a lot recently about how I view my body and how other people view my body. Two particular other people, in fact: my children. 

My children see my body in a completely different way to me, they see my back as something to climb on to see high than they can from the ground, they see my legs as somewhere to hide and feel safe if they are unsure of a situation, and they see my arms as somewhere to hold them tight, to lift them up and to comfort them. When I wear a swimsuit, all they see is their mum ready to get in the water and play with them, to laugh and splash and have fun together. 

So that is what I see when I look at this picture:

I've lost 3lbs in the last two weeks

With everything going on I decided to be a bit kinder to myself and have combined week 4 and week 5's weight loss, which has taken me to a total of 17lbs down. Every pound is a step in the right direction and each time I see the number on those scales go down I get a little bit more sure in the belief that I can do this!

I've lost over a stone in the last 5 weeks and I'm feeling healthier, more confident and am feeling much more comfortable in my clothes.

For me, that's a win!

I joined the gym 

One of the first things I did when I got home from Croatia was to join the gym. I've seriously increased my physical activity over the last 5 weeks and am finding that exercise if helping me to feel happier and more positive in my outlook on life in general as well as supporting my weight loss goals. I'll be sharing more about my progress in the gym over the next few weeks.

You can read more about why I want to lose weight and catch up on my first and second-week XLS #Boostbuddies diet posts as well as how I lost a stone in 3 weeks.

Don't forget, you can check out my video diary over on youtube.  and catch up with me on my social channels; on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook,, I'd love your support and I need the motivation!

I will be back to update you next week.

Disclaimer: I have received free product and support from XLS during my weight loss journey, but am not being paid. All opinions and thoughts are my own.