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Slimming World is a plan of its own. A lot of people try it after Weight Watchers and it can be hard to break the ‘points’ habit, or any other diet plan for that matter. Try and come into it with a clear and open mind. Positive thinking has a lot to answer for! Slimming World has 40 years of success - so they know what they're doing!
The only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you are taking it – create a calorie deficit. There are lots of ways to do this, some not as healthy as others, Slimming World has created a plan to give you a calorie deficit with minimal effort on your part, follow and trust the plan.
Let’s start by talking about the plan and how each bit works:
Free Foods
Free foods are called free because you can have as much as you want without feeling guilty. No measuring, no weight - just eat until you're full. Yes you really can eat as much as you want, for those interested the basic logic is that the foods have a low calorie density – so you get much more ‘value for calorie’. Check the food optimising book for the full list. These foods are chosen as they fill you up quick and keep you full up for longer.
Green Day carbohydrates fill you up and slowly release energy:
Rice
Pasta
Potatoes
Pulses
Lentils
Grains
Red Day protein fills you up and keeps hunger pangs away:
Lean Meat
Some Fish
Superfree Foods
Superfree foods are simply fruit and vegetables that are free on all plans. This is an update to the old definition that super free foods are those on all days, Mullerlight yoghurts, Bovril, Herbs, Soy Sauce etc., are just referred to as free foods now. (I think the logic to this being the marketing people didn’t think it would look as appealing to say fill 1/3 of your plate with fruit or vegetables. Instead Superfree sounds much better!)
Healthy Extras
You should be having A’s and B’s, 2 or 4 depending on the day. Healthy Extra’s are in the plan to make sure we get the nutrients our body needs; protein, carbohydrates, fibre, calcium, and fat. Plus all the vitamins and minerals we need. The reason these foods are limited is because whilst they are good for us, when eaten in excess they cause weight gain – so it’s very important to measure them correctly and not to guesstimate. (Each HE is approx 6 syns if you want to have additional amounts and syn them)
Syns
Syns are everything that don't fit into the category of free food or healthy extra - it's not just "treats" like chocolate, wine, sweets, biscuits etc.(although these do have a syn value). It can be things like gravy, butter, stuffing, additional Healthy Extra's like cheese, milk and bread. Syns are there so you don’t feel deprived or have to cut anything out. We all like a nice treat, whether it be a big bar of chocolate or gallons of gravy on our Sunday dinner, but too much causes weight gain.
Everything that isn’t a Free Food or used as a Healthy Extras has a syn number; the number depends on how calorie dense it is. I.e. how many calories it has for its volume, and how quickly it turns to energy. Don’t think that because of the name all syns are bad foods, as mentioned above it could be anything. For example a Morrisons Eat Smart French-Style vingerette isn’t a ‘bad’ food – but it’s 1/2 syn per tbsp. Also don’t get tripped up by fat-free, low calorie or diet foods (especially yoghurts). They might be low in fat, but high in sugar, or low in sugar but high in fat, or they might be low in sugar, low in fat, low in taste but high on syns – always check.
The reason peoples weight loss slows down, or they start to gain when the try not to have any syns, is because the body isn't getting enough calories to function and goes into starvation mode and hold on to everything - what you've got and what you give it.
Remember:
15 syns = 300 cals
300 x 7 days = 2100 cals
To lose 1lb per week you need to reduce your calorie in take by 3500 (on top of your normal maintenance cals) so by not having any syns at all you will not even lose an extra pound! You might think well every calorie helps, this isn’t necessarily true. Just trust and follow the plan.
Extra Easy
Extra Easy is the new plan introduced in January 2009. The structure of the plan is the same, free foods, healthy extras and syns.
With this plan you can indulge on foods that are free on either day. You must fill 1/3 of your plate with super free foods (i.e. fruit and vegetables) at each meal.
"Fill 1/3 of your plate with Superfree Foods and make them your first choice between meals [...]"
You have 1 A choice and 1 B choice healthy extras. With syns the number stays the same between 5-15 a day, except you take the lower value, if an item is 3 syns on Green and 4 on Red, you count 3 syns on EE.
Quick Recap
All three slimming world plans follow three steps;
1. Fill up on free foods – maximum satisfaction for minimum calories
2. Have your Healthy Extras – get all your vitamins and minerals
3. Use all your syns – because nothing is forbidden
Remember to follow all three steps of the plan. To quote my consultant “no-one comes into group and says, “I didn’t have any free food this week” you wouldn’t ignore that step, so remember to follow all three”. Due to the name ‘syns’ many people think not having them will help their weight loss, but in fact it can be counter productive.
just feel like I'm fighting a loosing battle!
