How long did it take you to lose weight with slimming world?

[Whatsmyusername1235]

Hi, I’m rejoining my local sw group tonight. I haven’t been in over a year the last time I went I did really well and lost 3.5 stone but this was back in 2022 after I had my baby. Since then I’ve gained it all back and more and I really need to do something about my weight, I hadn’t realised how heavy I am looking until recently.
anyway, my question is how long did it take you to lose the weight you wanted? I need some motivation so I can get started 😂

I didn't like it all that much and didn't do very well at all - too much leeway in some areas and too unstructured. Nor did I like the play on words with their 'syns'.

For me personally, weightwatchers worked better.

Well done for taking the first step @Whatsmyusername1235 . The best thing about SW for me was that I thought I'd have to get to target before I felt great but I lost a pound or two consistently and felt healthier and more positive from week one.

The thing about SW is that you can take from it what you will. I took the messages I heard from my brilliant group leader to heart and they've stayed with me. Things like 'only eat until you're full', 'fill half your plate with speed fruit/veg' and 'it's not a diet, it's a way of living'. I think I'll keep to them for the rest of my days now.

Citation needed and please try not to be so condescending. Fwiw calorie counting is not laborious: it's easy, especially with various apps available these days. A lot of "consistently thin" people have a disordered relationship with food. Whilst we're on the subject, I take issue with the word thin. We need to focus on being healthy.

Almost 3 1/2 stone in 30 weeks

I do focus on health, which is why I don’t do something as essentially obsessive as counting every mouthful. I focus on healthy whole foods, variety and eating only when hungry, plus increasing exercise. Close to 3 stone down now, and I don’t think about food all the time or worry if I go on holiday or out for a meal. I’ve done all the diets, including calorie counting, and they are all laborious, unsustainable long term and cause me to think about food all the time.

Edit: here’s a dietician saying the same, it was the first google hit. There’s plenty of info out there. https://www.lindsaypleskot.com/why-diets-dont-work/#:~:text=If%20you've%20ever%20felt,weight%20than%20when%20they%20started.

Luckily @cardibach SW is not a diet

It's a lifestyle change to encourage healthy eating for life

You'll not find the word diet in any SW books or at group

Whatsmyusername1235 Good luck! Do the weight loss method that suits you.

I'm on week 8, have lost 13 pounds. I'm eating more healthily, SW works for me. Lost a stone and a half six years ago with SW, kept it off until 2nd year of COVID. It wasn't that the 'diet' didn't work - I chose to go back to eating rubbish at that point, nothing to do the the SW method.

Exactly, this is what happened to me. I learned so many healthy eating habits through sw and then I chose to eat rubbish and not follow the plan anymore because I was unmotivated. Well done btw!

100%

I was always wary about SW, esp with their red and green days - I admit I know nothing much about those, just thought it was weird :)

I got my sorry fat arse into SW 22/4/23 and have now lost nearly 2.5 stone.

Its been slow for me, a pound a week, maybe 2 if Im lucky, but Im 60 this year - post menopause. I work shifts so meals can be haywire. Im also an alcoholic - actively drinking which kind of takes care of the "syns" allowance :)

If I calorie counted, Id be eating dust :)

SW works for me because of the free food concept. I can stuff my face and get a good drink in me and loose weight. Because the foods that are free are healthy. There is no limit on free foods, eat as much as you like

And thats the idea behind SW, it pushes you into making the right choices food wise so that you can still have your wee fix of whatever without putting on weight . I could not drink and use "syns" for food but I dont feel the need, I eat plenty of satisfying healthy meals

This week evening meals have been Chicken Saag and rice, beef stew and potatoes, chicken, jacket potato and salad, chicken and peppers and black bean sauce with egg fried rice , tomorrow is going to be roast leg of lamb and all the trimmings and friday it will be the left over lamb with bubble and squeak

I would hardly call that restrictive or impossible to keep maintained ?

The haters will always hate - because they see it as a diet and diets dont work. SW is a lifestye choice, you choose to make the changes that you can live with. The only food that I avoid now is white sliced bread , nothing else is off limits and white sliced is off limits as I dont know when to stop and I could mindlessly eat a loaf

Even now, a year on, I dont touch white bread if Im in control of the loaf. Sure if Im somewhere and white bread is served, I dont say no, no one needs to know Im watching my diet and I wouldnt be as rude to refuse if someone was as kind to make me food

Good luck OP, from what I experience in group, if you follow the plan, half your plate filled with veg/salad/fruit, keep the proteins lean, keep to the guidelines regarding dairy and carbs, you can easily loose a stone in 3 or 4 weeks.

I’m on week 3 of slimming world and so far have lost 8lbs. I have had three babies back to back, and really I need to loose 6 stone total. I have a holiday booked for December this year and I’m hoping to be a whole lot slimmer by then. I’m finding the plan really easy to follow and the app has been great.

Ok. It is though. and completely illogical - avocados bad, daft HiFi bars good.
It’s not a lifestyle change. It doesn’t teach anything much useful. And as I’ve said before, about 95% gain all the weight lost and more. It’s a business. If it worked it wouldn’t make money.

Nothing to do with SW but just to say, I lost about 3 stone over the course of a year by changing my diet/food habits. I've kept the weight off as the new habits are now the norm (though less strict now), and I don't really think about it much. I stopped eating sugar, - cakes, biscuits, chocolate. I stopped eating rice and pasta. I stopped eating crisps. I stopped eating processed meat such as sausages. I stopped eating processed ready meals.

I started eating a lot more fresh veg and fruit, potatoes/new potatoes (air fried or mash) instead of pasta or rice. Etc. It really didn't feel like a big chore.

These days I allow myself the occasional pasta or rice dish, and only rarely miss the sugary stuff.

12 weeks in and have lost 2 stone 3 pounds. Have never eaten better. I have overnight oats and berries in the morning. For lunch I make lentil soup or couscous salad, leftover dinner etc and then for dinner I always have 1/3 protein 1/3 carbs (usually sweet potato or wholegrain pasta) and 1/3 vegetables. I find I'm not snacking as much but when I do I try to stick to protein snacks such as cheese or turkey because I am very satisfied and the motivation of the group is really keeping me going.
Good luck

Where do you get those ideas from?

Avocados are not "bad", they are "syned" because they have a high fat content so should be eaten in moderation.(same advice as the NHS ) You can eat avocado every day if you so wish only you wont be able to have a large G&T and a packet of peanuts as well

The bars are not promoted as "good" they are allowed as a healthy extra ( no need to count syns) because of the fibre content, the same as wholemeal bread. So your choice - wholemeal bread or a sweet treat at the end of the day else they are syned - highly - so you dont just eat those all day .

You get a syn allowance - usually 15 syns a day on top of all the free food and you have choices of healthy extras - dairy and fibre. How you consume those syns is down to you, you make the choices that fit your lifestyle.

No food is classed as "bad", no food is off limits Syn values are there to make you more mindful

It does work, if you keep to it which is why once you reach target you go for free and as long as you weigh in once every 8 weeks and keep within 3lb of target it remains free. Ive been a target member for 6 months, I still go, I still keep to plan and I keep my weight steady

Except I’m old enough to remember when Syn was spelled Sin. They are discouraged. Plus avocados aren’t high in any fat that will harm you. Fine though. Carry on and pray you’re in the 5% who succeed long term I guess.

are we pretending that ‘sun’ doesn’t mean bad?

It doesn’t teach healthy eating
it doesn’t teach portion control
it doesn’t teach calorie awareness.

The reason they don’t do that is so people don’t learn how to healthy eat - so they keep coming back

££££££££

This wasn’t meant to be a SW bashing thread.
if you don’t like it/ haven’t had success with it then the question wasn’t for you. I was more interested in those who have had success and the time frame it took them just out of interest.

I had ‘success’ with it. I lost 3 stone. I’ve put it on again and more. Wouldn’t you rather consider ways which might actually have success long term?

I have lost a stone and a half in the last six months, which I am happy with. I have lost 5 stone altogether. I started by calorie counting and cutting out crap and increasing exercise. This was during the second lockdown for context. I lost about 4 stone over a couple of years. When my weight started to plateau and frankly I got bored of counting calories in the app, I decided to try SW as my cousin had a lot of success with it. I feel like it is changing my relationship with food. Basically though to lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit, SW does it by encouraging you to fill your plate with low calorie foods such as salad and veg and very processed foods are out. Calorie counting does it differently but you are still in a deficit.

Syn foods are typically high in fat, sugar or both and are not the sort of of foods anyone could expect to lose weight while eating unlimited amounts of. If you are calories counting you will reach your calorie limit quite quickly if you have a pain au chocolat and it will not keep you full, but if you have beans, scrambled egg, mushrooms and tomatoes it may be more calories but you will feel fuller and won't get a sugar crash.

People always say that food should not be labelled as bad but some foods are so bad and the main reason why we have an obesity and sickness epidemic in this country.