Any Slimming World people here? I just don't get it :( *UPDATE* P3

[BethK]

I've done fad diets (on one now) but they don't work for me.

I've done WW a few years ago and i did lose weight but i didn't like all the point counting and weighing.

So i'm looking at Slimming World, however i don't understand.

On their website it states this -

Eat as much as you want, when you want!
No food is banned! Enjoy your favourite treats every day and still lose weight.

I'm pretty sure i've been eating what i want, when i want and as much as i want for the last 3 years and all that's happened is i've put on weight, and lots of it!

How on earth can eating whatever you want, when you want and how much you want enable you to lose weight?

Unfortunately i can't get to the meetings (live too far away from them) so i need to be able to understand how they can help me lose weight before i pay for the online access.

If it's not portion control, points or calorie counting then what is it?

Is this the diet that does green and red days that i've heard of. Is that how it works?

Gutted i can't get to the meetings as i could use a consultant to show me the ropes!

 

[emme]

i'll be stalking this thread, i can't go to meetings as no one to have LO and like you i don't want to pay online without knowing the basics!

 

[BethK]

Well i've just joined online and they're caption "Eat as much as you want, when you want!
No food is banned! Enjoy your favourite treats every day and still lose weight" Isn't exactly true, obviously, i mean like i said, i've been eating what i like, when i like for years, that's what's got me in this situation in the first place!

So now i've joined i can see what it's really about.
The site is great i must say, you get a list of 'free food', stuff you can eat as much as you like of like fruit and veg, even things you wouldn't have thought were free, like potatoes apparently are, still not sure on that though, i've always been told to cut down on carbs :S

Then you get Healthy extras, you can chose 1 option from the A list and one from the B list each day. The A list is things like Milk and cheese, B list is cereals and breads etc.

Then you get your Syns, you're allowed 5 - 15 syns a day, there's a massive list of syns obviously and they all have syn point values by them.

The website lets you weigh in every week, post photo's on your private homepage so you can see the difference, gives loads of recipe ideas, meal planner ideas, has a bookstore for all the recipe books. I'm honestly very impressed and considering i went in completely blind, i'm very excited about this change of eating habit.

It's definitely made me look at what i cook and how i cook it. It's basically teaching you a whole new lifestyle.

We will see...

 

[Zizzle]

Do you need anymore help sweet or are you sorted?

 

[lozzy21]

The caption is because nothing is banned and you dont have to weight or measure anything.

You can eat as much healthy foods as you want so you can eat fruit, veg, salad, lean meat and certain carbs untill your full. You get an daily allowance for your calcium so your milk and cheese and an allowance for your other carbs so bread,oats, some breakfast cerials.

You then get what they call syns, you can have 5-15 a day and these are for your naughty foods, so your margarine, mayo, etc or you can use it on things like crisps or chocolate.

 

[sparkle05]

Hi Beth, I'm following slimming world Give me a shout if you need any help

It's a great diet. good luck on your weight loss journey

 

[BethK]

Thanks everyone. I think I've got it now, although a lot of the recipes talk about adding artificial sweetener, I don't know what they mean.

I bought some Truvia calorie free sweetener today from tesco, it looks like sugar. Is that what they mean? Seems odd to add sugar to a meal :/

Today I bought some Muller light yogurts and saw some muller rice low fat pots next to it, thought I'd be ok as the yoghurt is free and it was low fat so I bought 2 packs, then when I got home I had a sandwich and a muller rice and then find out its 10 1/2 syns!!

Gutted and so annoyed (

 

[LoraLoo]

It can be hard to get your head round the idea that you can eat as much free food as you like- things including potatoes, pasta etc, when you constantly hear that you shouldn't be eating lots of these things. But SW really is fantastic, Ive been doing it for 12 years and its the best and only 'diet' i have and will ever do.

There is a whole Slimming World thread on here, and if you use FB there is a SW page on there too with lots of recipes etc. Good Luck! x

 

[BethK]

Wow 12 years?! I was hoping it wouldn't take that long :/

I need to lose about 1 1/2 stone quite fast.

Have about 4 stone to lose in all.

I weighed myself Friday for my first weigh in. Weighed myself this morning and I was 2lb lighter. Weighed myself about an hour ago and I'd gone back up to my first weight!?

I'd only a weetabix with 1% fat milk this morning, a whole meal sandwich for lunch with lettuce, tomato and beet root and that stupid muller rice (

Is it normal for weight to fluctuate that much during the day? I'm sure what I ate didn't weigh 2lb

 

[LoraLoo]

Wow 12 years?! I was hoping it wouldn't take that long :/

I need to lose about 1 1/2 stone quite fast.

Have about 4 stone to lose in all.

I weighed myself Friday for my first weigh in. Weighed myself this morning and I was 2lb lighter. Weighed myself about an hour ago and I'd gone back up to my first weight!?

I'd only a weetabix with 1% fat milk this morning, a whole meal sandwich for lunch with lettuce, tomato and beet root and that stupid muller rice (

Is it normal for weight to fluctuate that much during the day? I'm sure what I ate didn't weigh 2lb

lol well there has been 5 babies in those 12 years so on and off, but ive always loosely followed it even during my pregnancies as its so easy to. Dont weigh yourself every day, yes it can fluctuate that easily and it can be disheartening, stick to once a week. Even better if you can get to somewhere like boots and do it on their scales x

 

[BethK]

Wow 12 years?! I was hoping it wouldn't take that long :/

I need to lose about 1 1/2 stone quite fast.

Have about 4 stone to lose in all.

I weighed myself Friday for my first weigh in. Weighed myself this morning and I was 2lb lighter. Weighed myself about an hour ago and I'd gone back up to my first weight!?

I'd only a weetabix with 1% fat milk this morning, a whole meal sandwich for lunch with lettuce, tomato and beet root and that stupid muller rice (

Is it normal for weight to fluctuate that much during the day? I'm sure what I ate didn't weigh 2lb

lol well there has been 5 babies in those 12 years so on and off, but ive always loosely followed it even during my pregnancies as its so easy to. Dont weigh yourself every day, yes it can fluctuate that easily and it can be disheartening, stick to once a week. Even better if you can get to somewhere like boots and do it on their scales x

Thanks Loraloo! Ahhh 5 babies, yes that'd do it!

I can see how it'd be a complete change in my relationship with food, I'm hoping I can get to grips so that I can, like you, use it as a base for years to come to keep my weight down once it gets there.

After my meal tonight I'd have had 22 syns!

So annoyed, had I not had that 11 syn muller rice I'd be ok!

 

[LoraLoo]

Wow 12 years?! I was hoping it wouldn't take that long :/

I need to lose about 1 1/2 stone quite fast.

Have about 4 stone to lose in all.

I weighed myself Friday for my first weigh in. Weighed myself this morning and I was 2lb lighter. Weighed myself about an hour ago and I'd gone back up to my first weight!?

I'd only a weetabix with 1% fat milk this morning, a whole meal sandwich for lunch with lettuce, tomato and beet root and that stupid muller rice (

Is it normal for weight to fluctuate that much during the day? I'm sure what I ate didn't weigh 2lb

lol well there has been 5 babies in those 12 years so on and off, but ive always loosely followed it even during my pregnancies as its so easy to. Dont weigh yourself every day, yes it can fluctuate that easily and it can be disheartening, stick to once a week. Even better if you can get to somewhere like boots and do it on their scales x

Thanks Loraloo! Ahhh 5 babies, yes that'd do it!

I can see how it'd be a complete change in my relationship with food, I'm hoping I can get to grips so that I can, like you, use it as a base for years to come to keep my weight down once it gets there.

After my meal tonight I'd have had 22 syns!

So annoyed, had I not had that 11 syn muller rice I'd be ok!

Dont worry about it, dont write off the day just cos you've had quite a few syns. My bet is you'd have had alot more if you hadn't started on the plan! Tomorrow is a new day

 

[ZoMo]

I have just started SW again, my 6th go in 10 years. It has always worked well for me, lost nearly 3 stone on my best go. I put it all on again when I stop doing it. Always weigh yourself at the same time of day as otherwise it fluctuates like mad!

Dont beat yourself up over a muller rice, you can get a SW phone app (if you have a smart phone) so you can log in at the supermarket to check syn values. I have discovered mini twister lollies at 2.5 syns, soleros 5 syns, fruit pastille lollies 3 syns, all v sweet, last longer than a chocolate bar and feel a lot naughtier to eat than they actually are. Also, pink n whites (marshmallow sandwiched in wafers) are only 2.5 syns or curly wurlies are only 6 syns and if you whack them in the fridge they go hard and you can make one last half an hour by sucking it!! Lots of little tricks to make your syns last longer. I feel cheated to 'spend' syns on meals, I keep my meals free and stuff myself with lollies and still stay within syn limits

Make sure to read the magazine for loads of motivation and fab recipes, you can tweak them to add in foods from free or healthy a/b's lists to suit your taste too.

 

[BethK]

Thank you!
Great ideas for syns! Will go and look at the app now.

Looking forward to my first magazine edition coming to get lots of great ideas!

 

[sparkle05]

Hi Beth, I have the phone app an I have used it non stop this first week lol.

I have gone over syns some days this week. I have had 2 birthdays this week and have had some cake I think as long as you just draw a line under it straight away and move on you will be fine

I wish it was as easy to take weight off as it is to put I on lol

 

[lozzy21]

Your body weight naturaly fluctuates during the day, you weight less in the mornings because you then put a load of food in. I think your weight can fluctuate 6lb depending on if you need a poo and how much water your retaining.

 

[BethK]

Anyone got any ideas for something substantial for a packed lunch at work?

I currently have a wholemeal bread sandwich with tomato, beetroot and lettuce and a yoghurt. I was hoping some days i could take some chicken and salad in a tortilla wrap but as far as i can tell it's high syns for the tortilla (

Any recipes for pizza? I can do free toppings (except the cheese maybe) but i can't find any low syn pizza bread mix. DH is doing it with me but he'd love a pizza.

 

[lozzy21]

Pasta salads are quite filling, as are noodles.

The bread base is full of syns but you can do pizza topped chicken, flatten a chicken breast out and bake untill just cooked, cover with passata, add things like pepper, onions, muchrooms and then add your cheese A choice and put under the grill.

 

[BethK]

Oh thank you! He's loving the idea of pizza topped chicken!

I got my recipe books delivered today.

Can you just confirm portion size for free foods mean nothing?

I'm cooking chips tonight with egg and beans.

In the recipe for the SW chips it says 6 Maris Piper potatoes serves 4 people.

Surely it doesn't matter if it served only 2 people, it's still free food?

The potatoes aren't big so I only got about 7 chips out of 1 potato. 7 chips didn't seem much :/

I've done 4 potatoes for 2 people. Am I missing the point? I know it's 'free' but am I supposed to still be strict on the amount?

 

[LoraLoo]

Oh thank you! He's loving the idea of pizza topped chicken!

I got my recipe books delivered today.

Can you just confirm portion size for free foods mean nothing?

I'm cooking chips tonight with egg and beans.

In the recipe for the SW chips it says 6 Maris Piper potatoes serves 4 people.

Surely it doesn't matter if it served only 2 people, it's still free food?

The potatoes aren't big so I only got about 7 chips out of 1 potato. 7 chips didn't seem much :/

I've done 4 potatoes for 2 people. Am I missing the point? I know it's 'free' but am I supposed to still be strict on the amount?

Also tortillas- you can get wholemeal which are slightly less syns.

Re the free food, you are supposed to fill your plate with 1/3 free food and 2/3 superfree food which is why i imagine they have put 6 potatoes. However, so long as you are eating lots of fruit and vegetables throughout the day, these can count towards your 2/3 superfree food,does that make sense? xx