After being told her blood pressure was high, Emma was determined to lose weight & avoid medication. Here, she shares how Total Food Replacement (TFR) has completely changed her mindset, helped her lose 3st 11lbs and why she is determined to keep the weight off.
After visiting my GP for a routine appointment back I June 2022 and finding out that my blood pressure was high, I knew drastic action was needed to get my weight under control.
I looked at various Total Food Replacement (TFR) type diets and decided that this would give me the quick results that I needed and hopefully help me reset my mind and how I think and react to food.
The only problem was… which TFR plan to go for?!
There are a few on the market and I have friends who have tried the more known plan which come with a consultant. But it was expensive. What was worth more to me though at that time? The money or my health?
I had a few plans in July and August and wasn’t sure when the best time to start would be. I knew I wanted to give my all to TFR and not use “plans” as excuses to come off and spiral (as happens to me on other diets I have tried).
I decided to wait and luckily for me, because of all the TFR research I was doing, a social media algorithm threw up The New You Plan as a suggested site.
I had a look, read some reviews and looked for Instagram accounts to follow of people on this plan. Cost wise, it was so much cheaper than the alternative I had been looking at and the flavours and variety of the meal replacement products were so much better! No consultant… but, I hoped that would still work for me.
So, I took the plunge and placed my first order at the end of July 2022, with an aim to start on 1st of August.
My first few days on plan were tough! I started an Instagram account for my own accountability and to hopefully document my progress and see how far I had come. I wanted somewhere I could be honest about how I was finding things. And because there weren’t many New You accounts I could find, I hoped I could help other people on the plan by sharing my journey.
I remember thinking “This is not for the faint hearted”! The meals were so tiny in comparison to the portion sizes I had been eating! I didn’t like a lot of the products at first.
I hate milk or anything with a milky texture so I knew the Shakes were going to be difficult for me! I had ordered a 2 week starter bundle, having no idea what products I would like/where to start in choosing what to eat. Therefore, the bundle was the perfect way to introduce TFR and The New You Plan into my life!
The shakes were particularly hard for me, until I tried a Chocolate Mint one hot – absolute game changer! I now have practically all the shakes hot. The only ones I have cold (with LOADS of ice and made with more water so it is thinner and not as ‘milky’) are Banana, Strawberry and the very occasional Café Latte.
Throughout those first 2 weeks, I tried all the products, noting which ones I liked and which ones I didn’t. I went on holiday for a week and when I came back, I had an order waiting for me of products I knew I liked.
Over time, my favourites have changed. I initially didn’t like the Cottage Pie or Irish Stew, but they’re now the only savoury meals I order (along with my long term love, Spicy Noodles!)
After my first week on plan I lost 7.5lbs. I was hoping for more and remember being disappointed with that loss, which seems silly now! But, half a stone is a great first week loss! That’s a pound a day!
Since August, I have lost almost 4 stone. I continue to use New You products, either doing the Switch plan or, using weeks of TFR at a time.
I am not yet finished with my weight loss. I have around another stone to lose and I am taking my time! It was important to me in the beginning to lose the weight as quickly as possible. Now it is about learning new eating habits, testing myself with certain foods and finding my “triggers”. It’s now about finding the exercises I enjoy doing. Its’ about learning that having time “off plan” isn’t “the end”. It’s learning that weight will absolutely go up and down and mostly, it means nothing! Over Christmas I had 2 weeks “off” and put on a stone. I lost 11lbs in a week back on TFR because it’s not really “weight” or “fat” – it’s just bloat and water and it’s easily lost once you get back to eating sensibly again.
This has changed my outlook completely because, historically I would have a “bad” day food wise – or “fall off the wagon” and decide to completely self sabotage. I’d go on week long binges, feeling sorry for myself and fed up all because I thought I’d “ruined it anyway, so whats the point”?
Now, I no longer see weight loss or food in that way. There is no “wagon”. There is only life and decisions we make. If I decide to have a meal off plan, or a week off plan for holidays or birthdays or – whatever, it doesn’t mean I’ve given up. I’ve made a choice to “pause” and then a conscious decision to get back to it. Each time I have come off plan for any reason, it has been a conscious decision and I know I will get back to plan on x date. My mindset there has completely changed which is brilliant.
My family have all been supportive. A few friends have commented that this type of diet never works long term and once you go back to eating “real food” you’ll put it all back on. I’m sure we have all heard that.
Well. At 38 years old, I have dieted for 20 years. I have yo-yo’d up and down in that time. Followed all sorts of diets and every time I go back to eating “normally” I put the weight back on.
Why?
Because how I ate before is NOT normal. Consuming more calories than your body needs – will only ever result in weight gain. It doesn’t matter what diet or plan you follow. It will absolutely go back on once you revert to eating that way. Once I explain that to those people who want to criticise this way of dieting, they soon shut up. I am determined to be a person to show them that using TFR as a tool to lose weight, does not mean you put it all back on “after”. I want to learn those habits that will result in me keeping the weight off and living a healthier lifestyle.
At the beginning I wanted to lose weight for my blood pressure. It was incredibly high and I didn’t want to have to rely on medication. My blood pressure now is at a healthy level! It’s gone from around 165/119 to 119/81. I am beyond ecstatic about this.
I am looking forward to reaching my goal at some point this year and then maintaining my loss. This isn’t a “once I get to goal I cant wait to eat x/y/z”. This is a “once I get to goal I will have to always be aware of what I am eating and how much I am exercising”. There isn’t an “end”. It’s a continuous thing and that has finally clicked for me!
TFR Could Change Your Life Too!
Emma has learned that TFR can completely change your mindset and relationship with food.
If you want to not only lose weight, but keep it off and learn new, healthy habits to better your eating habits, why not give TFR a go? Try our 7-day bundle and see what you can achieve in a week. You’ll be pleasantly surprised…
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Aideen
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