Anyone kindly fancy telling me there experience of sliming world ?

[LovelyYellowLabrador]

Thinking of signing up

I found the meetings weird AF tbh. Couldn't take it seriously at all I'm afraid.

I think it's changed now, but at the time I went you were allowed things like muller lights and limitless pasta. Everyone got very excitable about the diet drinks you could get now "and all zero syns ".

Not for me at all, but I've known people to lose a lot of weight on it but they all gained it back

‘Depends how your brain works op’

This too. Untreated trauma can cause uncontrollable cravings and can be a feature of binge eating disorder. Also trauma doesn’t have to be a life threatening event. It can come about through small events too which others may not be affected by.

I had EMDR therapy and haven’t had the urge since. I continued to assemble large amounts of food now and again for a couple of years. The cravings and the physical capacity for the food were gone but the habit remained. I would start to eat but get full very quickly, not enjoy it and then lose interest.

I’m of course not suggesting that you’re traumatised but for anyone losing and gaining weight back it is worth thinking about.

Have a look at the Jason Manford weight loss page on Facebook. Its free and has nice people helping each with support and tips.

For the groups I think it depends on your leader - I got to target with a dead sensible leader but now she's been replaced by one who has loads of corporate bullshit speak and suggests the stereotypical SW things like mixing Options sachets into quark for a chocolate pudding

I love the way of eating - I agree calling things "syns" is a bit infantile but it is basically there to restrict the amount of shit you eat - you're encouraged to fill up on fruit veg and lean protein.

There is a good podcast on Spotify called Slimming World Podcast if you wanted to have a listen and see what you think.

Re Pinch of Nom - IMO the books are excellent and co-incidentally most of the recipes are naturally very low syns or free on SW anyway (not actually co-incidentally, as both as trying to get you to eat less fat and fill up on healthy stuff).

Good luck OP

I lost 3st on it and kept it off, went to the classes as it kept me on track, it's easy to follow and when you reach your target weight you can stay on the diet, it didn't feel like a diet as I was never hungry and enjoyed the meals, didn't buy ready meals just followed the recipes.
Funny thing was we used to have whispered conversations at the meetings about the takeaways we were having after the weigh in then we had a week to lose it again 😂

I found in the past it worked for me, but when sun free snacks became synned I found it too hard and much more complicated to use.

@Jayaywhynot

I lost 3st on it and kept it off, went to the classes as it kept me on track, it's easy to follow and when you reach your target weight you can stay on the diet, it didn't feel like a diet as I was never hungry and enjoyed the meals, didn't buy ready meals just followed the recipes. Funny thing was we used to have whispered conversations at the meetings about the takeaways we were having after the weigh in then we had a week to lose it again 😂

Are you still attending? Still kept the weight off? Still following the plan?

The takeaway thing isn't funny but it is an indicator of how you have been programmed to see 'bad' and 'good' food and think you will put on a pound or 2 then lose it in a weeks time. It doesn't work like that. SW is toxic as hell.

Before you decide, have a read of the Rebel Fit page on the book of face.

He speaks a lot of sense, and also offers fitness plans, but no restrictions on food involved, I haven't taken part in any of the plans, so can't say if they work or not.

He is also quite humorous and passionate about the diet culture, and the negative effects it has on people, an example of this was when I joined the 'cult' years ago, a banana has more 'syns' if you mash it up....people have been terrified of chewing bananas in case they put weight on, not healthy at all!

I would sign up to the Joe Wicks 90 day plan instead. I've learnt to cook, eat the most amazing food daily (think pancakes, quesedillas) and have lost 2 stone. I'm now maintaining a weight I'm happy with and only have to work out for 30 mins a day, 5 times a week, far less than I did before!

@Lookingoutside I will second the Fitness Chef. Very sound advice and something that you can sustain. Yes I know people who have had success with Slimming World but it doesn't sit right with me. Something that re educates you to eat better is a good solution. I can recommend a couple of good online diets

Food for Fitness - Scott Baptie
The Fitneas guy - Steve ? Can't remember his surname

I've done both and can highly recommend

It’s basically a con. You would need to follow Slimming World for life, which is just unrealistic. Fad Diets like this don’t work long term.

If it worked it wouldn't exist any more. It's a scam, same as any other diet. They don't work. Look instead at making sustainable healthy lifestyle changes. Move more, eat better, and less. Inrermittent fasting is great (and is sustainable and not a fad!). If diets worked you'd only need to do one once.

SW encourages low fat low sugar loads of fruit and veg lean fish and meat. Snacks and junk limited. Not sure that’s faddish.

The muller light thing is so old now, and I’ve not heard any shite making a cake out of weetabix.

I also don’t think you can blame SW for thinking of good and bad foods - fuck me, everyone talks about ‘oooh I was naughty, I had a cake’ shops talk about spoil yourself, indulge yourself, we tell kids too many sweets and crisps are bad for them.

Yes, you pay for something that’s not rocket science. Lots of people pay for expensive gyms when the outside is there ready for running, sea or lakes for swimming. People buy expensive creams and lotions for their faces when skin doesn’t actually absorb anything permanently.

The fair answer, for ANY healthy eating plan is it has to be for life. You have to make it into how you now eat. That’s not peculiar to SW, or WW, or Joe Wicks, Pinch of Nom, any of the ‘plans’. They all rely on sticking to them forever. The end. And all these people selling things to guide people, be it a slimming club or a book - there’s someone making money out of it. None of them are the silver bullet, otherwise there wouldn’t be so damn many of them!

I found the real game changer is exercise, which if you’re not naturally into, can be difficult. The better weather is coming, after my heart attack I started at 5 mins walking a day. 4 months on I was doing 2 sessions a week with a. PT (cardiac rehab, couldn’t afford it myself!), Zumba once a week and walked a mile and a half each of the other days. The weight fell off. Then I went back to being a greedy, lazy knacker. I’m off to a Chair Burlusque dance class in a minute, wish me luck!

I love around 4 stone and have kept it off for 15 months so far. My mum has also lost over 5 stone and kept it off for 2 years so far.

Obviously if you stop following it, you will put the weight back on again if you go back to your previous eating habits. Once you reach your target there is a slightly different system to help you maintain, which is a lot easier to follow (more healthy extras, more syns)

One of my tips would be to avoid slimming world puddings. Just have a smaller portions of normal puddings, or use less cream etc. Cheesecake made with quark and weetabix just isn't worth the effort 😂

@Callcat

If it worked it wouldn't exist any more. It's a scam, same as any other diet. They don't work. Look instead at making sustainable healthy lifestyle changes. Move more, eat better, and less. Inrermittent fasting is great (and is sustainable and not a fad!). If diets worked you'd only need to do one once.

Moving to slimming world can be a sustainable healthy lifestyle choice. E.g. having 1 third of the plate as fruit or veg, eating lean meat, limiting snacks and sweet treats and oils/fats. Not sure whats fad about it.

@WeeFae

A single avocado makes you gain weight? Or a handful of nuts? These are nutrient-packed, what your body needs. There is very little your body needs from a muller light. This si what I mean by SW being toxic and ruined my relationship with food which has taken a lot of work (ongoing) to overcome.

A single avocado doesn't make you gain weight obviously, but if you eat a lot of them and other high fat items then it does.

It isn't any different to any calorie counting diet like 5:2 or MFP which people don't have the same vitriol towards.

Also I'm not sure what the obsession is with muller lights. You don't HAVE to eat them on SW. And you can eat an avocado if you want, but it comes from your syns allowance.

I have done WW and SW several times. My fitness Pal, New You also.

I always loose whilst on the diet....

And l always put back on as l like eating crap.

Currently on WW and lost 2.t stone. Will it stay off.... realistically no.... but it's my own fault if it doesn't

Lots of people will tell you it's a con but the real con is in your head. You tell yourself you'll lose weight and keep it off when actually you want to lose the weight and go back to your old habits and have someone else to blame for the weight game. If you lose weight with Joe Wickes or SW or WW it won't matter if you stop and return to your old habits.

@FrownedUpon a con how? It’s low fat and encourages you to fill up on fruit and veg and ‘eat until you are full. Yes if you switch back to fatty foods the weight will come back.

It’s calories in vs calories out. If you follow the plan correctly, you should be in a calorie deficit. And yes avocados are syned because they sre higher in fat and calories, albeit good ones, than other fruits & veg. They aren’t banned fgs.

No one says you have to eat muller lights or the hifi bars, they aren’t an essential component of the plan.
Maybe slimming world members should start a slimmimg world misconceptions thread for information purposes.

Anyway OP, I lost 2 stone a few years ago and kept it off until my pregnancies, which sleep deprivation was combated with mars bars and snickers.

It works. I did it years ago and lost several stones. I then went back to my old way of eating and unsurprisingly gained the weight back (my own fault). The meeting are horrendous though. Very clicky with a loud ‘in crowd’ (went to several during that time and they were all like that. Super boring and a waste of time as well as patronising. They just go round the group and state how much they lost/ gained. There is usually one person who is chuffed cos she lost 7lbs that week despite her eating takeaway every evening, eating her weight in ice cream and sucking Baileys through a straw! Then there will be one who ate similarly, but didn’t get away with it and gained 4lbs: she will be thoroughly peed off cos it is unfair. The group leader will then tell everyone to give her a round of applause anyway ‘for trying/ only gaining 4lbs’! Ok I am exaggerating about the food quantities but the rest is all completely true of my regular meeting. I stopped staying to the meetings for a while as they were unbearable

If you generally eat an unhealthy diet, it can help you to get on the right track, and some people benefit from the class support.

I found sw brilliant! I joined in lockdown on line and stuck to the plan. I lost 2 stone within a matter of months! I've kept it off by following the rules . It's now. Scam , it does work but you have to follow it , not make up your own version of it or follow it loosely !!!!🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Our group is really good and the counsellor has lost 10 stone and kept it off. The people are really friendly, there's no shaming - if you've put in weight, you've put on weight. She doesn't ask why, what you've done / eaten, what you're going to do to 'put it right' - she just tells us not to worry or beat ourselves up about it, it can happen and moves on.

One thing I have never been able to get my head round, though, is that a banana is classed as 'free' food, but if you mash it, it's a syn. Allegedly because it takes less energy to eat when it's mashed. I don't know what bananas HQ have experienced, but I've never found the ones I have particularly physically taxing to consume.

Fruit isn’t free when it’s mashed, cooked, blended, juiced or tinned because it’s then the same amount of calories in a smaller, easier to eat and easier to digest amount - so easier to overeat and you’re likely to be hungry sooner afterwards.

My mum went from a size 18 down to a size 10 and has mantained a steady size 12 for the past 5 years.

She gained a lot of weight post menopause and lost her way a little bit. At first she was very strict and lost weight quickly, but now she's much more relaxed about it and uses it more as a guideline for healthy alternatives and what foods cause her to gain weight.

As pp have said it doesn't work for everyone, there are many positives but every diet doesn't work for everyone.