Is slimming world worth trying?

[slimmingworldworthtrying]

I’ve been offered to go with a friend of a friend, next weekend. That may make it easier as it’s someone I don’t know very well, and it’s incredibly kind of her to offer.

I weigh around about 23 stone, I’m a size 28-30. I’ve been obese since I was 7 years old - I was 14 stone 7 by age 13.

I’m terrible at cooking, I live off junk and processed crap (my meals are all 200 degrees for 20 mins with mayo and BBQ sauce) and sweet stuff.

I’ve known a few relatives do slimming world, the majority have just put it back on.

Is it worth trying? I’m 32 and want to have more of a life, I’ve got a horrendous family history of heart disease (both grandparents, my mum and both her siblings) and I know I’m very unfit. I want to have children one day but have been told if I don’t lose I won’t be able to.

What kind of stuff are you allowed to eat? Is it very difficult to do?

In my personal opinion slimming world just replaces one way of disordered eating with a new one. People come up with all kinds of bizarre recipes to find loopholes in the strange system they put in place.

It works at the time - I have a friend currently on it who has lost 3 stone. But once you go back to eating like a regular human it all comes back on.

Calorie deficit and exercise is the best way to go. You can get a calorie counter app on your phone and add recipes to it. Do you feel able to stick to this independently?

It’s worth trying. I lost 6 stone. I put two back on but am happy at my current weight. I keep an eye to make sure it doesn’t go up again.

It has pros and cons. You will lose a lot of weight quite quickly and learn a new way of eating, with the emphasis on fresh lean food with lots of fruit and veg. Cheese/milk and bread/cereal are limited.

You will need to do simple cooking. You don’t ever need to be hungry- particularly with your current diet you will lose weight while eating loads of food.

Over time, you’ll need to be a bit more restrictive- learn about feeling hungry and stopping when you are full.

But it is a great way to learn how to feed yourself in a sensible way.

If you follow Slimming World properly then absolutely it works - it’s basically high protein, low fat and low carb, with lots of fruit and veg and very limited sweet treats. I found it really easy to follow and lost weight on it. If you follow the stupid recipes and/or stop then of course you your it back on. It’s like anything - if you stop eating healthy food at an amount that works for you then you’ll put weight back on. It’s not rocket science.

I am back at slimming world after years of yo yo dieting. I have tried keto, intermittent fasting, weight watchers, calorie counting and lost weight with all of them. Whilst I Am on it.
I have read a lot and learned more about nutrition, real foods etc etc. I started slimpod but wanted to lose some weight fast, so joined slimming world at the same time, slimpod was just not fast enough for me, all that being said some of the stuff I'm learning through that is helping me on slimming world. I feel different this time, when I've done SW in the past I have started eating food I wouldn't normally, cereal bars, fry light etc etc. This time I have stuck to proper oil, butter, whole foods and eat 3 meals a day, but of good wholesome food, I still use mayo, salad cream etc.
I find it works for me because there are rules and that suits me. Also my leader is slim, having lost her weight through SW, honest about her struggles she takes no prisoners and that also suits me, I need someone who will give me a kick up the arse when i need it. I'm currently averaging a 2lb loss a week, which is pretty damn good for me!
I guess what I'm trying to say is, it will work for you if you follow the diet properly and you will likely get lots of support on the way.

It will work if you follow the plan but you need a huge change in mindset and eating habits to swap your current oven food for lots of fresh food cooked from scratch.

Do you have the time and headspace for the planning and effort required?

You can buy SW branded ready meals from iceland but they're expensive and not very nice.

You can buy SW branded ready meals from iceland but they're expensive and not very nice

Agree with that. Aldi do their own versions which are nicer imo, and good for those emergency meals.

I’ve known a few relatives do slimming world, the majority have just put it back on.

I think that should give you your answer.

Nutritional therapy and a behavioural therapy for eating disorders (addiction to junk food) would be more suitable. It all starts in your head. Good luck x

I've gone down a bit of a slimming world rabbit hole this weekend, mainly because for one reason or another realisation of my weight has kicked in. My diet sounds like yours OP, cooked on gas mark 6 or air fryed!. What this will do is make me cook, which I do enjoy, but have zero imagination, or receipe ideas. Good luck with it OP if you decide to join

Please look into team rh

Slimming works just teaches disordered eating. No food is 'free'

A lot of people have a 'thing' about SW and call it disordered etc etc. I have no idea why. Ime it's the easiest, most straightforward and most 'common sense' diet plan I've ever experienced. And I eat far healthier on SW than without it.

The SW rules just essentially point you towards eating lots and lots of fruit and veg, only lean meat and measured portions of dairy and fibre.

I couldn't bear counting calories so it's perfect for me.

Like any eating plan, if you stop following it, you'll stop losing weight.

Please look into team rh

Yes, please do.

Search MN and Trust pilot for all the stories about being scammed with unfair T&C's, about the useless app that does nothing except direct you to My Fitness Pal and about the disgusting misogynist abuse that spews from the founder.

Then steer well clear.

'Free' means you don't have to measure it, and you need to have the right amount of veg and salad. It means people can lose weight without counting everything they eat or need to be hungry or fall off plan because they've run out of calories.

In the interests of balance, many MN have also has a poor experience of Team RH fitness

www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5112483-team-rh-is-it-really-so-bad

Food shouldn't be counted in "syns". Mashing food doesn't magically make it have more calories.

There's better, more sustainable ways of losing weight.

I did slimming world. It does work while you are committed and have a goal to work towards, mine was my wedding. I lost 3 stone.

However I found it made my already disordered eating worse. I stress eat, or stop eating. I would often not eat the day before weigh in if I knew I had had a bad week. I ate way too much free food, I would constantly be eating as its "free." I would find as many cheats as possible. I have put all the weight back on.

The group I went to was more like a confession group, everyone saying what they did wrong or the best cheat they found. Even the group leader couldn't follow the plan and got bigger by the week. Basically paid £5 a week to be made to feel like crap for putting on 1/2 lb or praised because I had managed to cheat then maintained or lost 1/2lb.. really bizarre attitudes and almost cult like community.

I am now focusing on getting a healthy mindset towards my eating. 3 meals, no snacks. Cut down the fizzy drinks I used as a sweet treat replacement. Im joining the gym this week with the aim to swim once a week and 2 classes per week minimum. Its the same cost as slimming world used to cost me.

This has been a long time coming, I've been yo yoing for around 2 years but I've had the ITS ENOUGH NOW moment. I want to feel healthy not sluggish, I want to feel comfortable in my clothes again, I don't want to feel the pain in my joints anymore.

Most diets work if you stick with them. As someone said when you stop and go back to the way you ate before it just goes back on. Of course it does.

SW shouldn't be seen as a diet, none of them should, it should be about changing the way you eat, permanently. SW has a seperate plan for those who reach their desired weight, and you're expected to keep going (though not necessarily every week) to check that you're maintaining and not lapsing. It's a long term commitment. The core of SW is that unhealthy plan of eating fruit and veg with lean meat. You know the sort of thing potatoes, veg and roast chicken. The things they are down on 'the syns' tend to be high fat, high sugar low nutrition like biscuits pastry etc. Sadly OH tends to like these so although he's lost a lot of weight on SW he puts some back on by having periods of eating pastries biscuits etc. I know a biscuit shouldn't be a problem but people going on diets tend to be people who don't just eat a biscuit if they did they wouldn't need a diet.

Gym will get you fitter but losing weight needs you to change the way you eat. Find a method that suits you and stick with it. If your friend I'd already going to SW that might be a bonus for you to have a friend to keep you company. Also if you're married get your OH on board. At least with SW the meals are basically decent home cooked meals.

(OH is doing liver, onions, cabbage, mash and peas this evening all On SW plan)

Just to add I highly recommend the pinch of nom books for easy and low calorie meals. I started using them when doing slimming world but still use them alot now. The slimming world recipes from the books never tasted good or like the meals it was replicating.

Maybe aim to cook 1 new recipe a week. It's better to change habits slowly as this will then become your normal.

I now use my slow cooker at least 3 times a week, everything I make in there is low calorie and easy prep.

I chop and prepare 3 days worth of meals at a time. Then it's chuck in the slow cooker with the tinned tomatoes and/or stock plus spices in the morning. Then when we are all home just cook the corresponding carb - pasta/rice/potatoes. Rice, I invested in a rice cooker. Best thing I bought, saved a fortune compared to microwave or boil in bag rice.

But most importantly you have to feel ready to make a change. You need to do this for you when it's right for you, not anybody else. Good luck 😊

I really rate slimmingworld - it works if you follow the plan. It suited me because I can't cope with being hungry and you can eat a lot as long as it's 'free foods'. Once you've lost the weight you need to keep eating healthily most of the time to keep it off. They advise on how to do that and you can go to meetings for free once you've reached your target.
But in the end, whatever way you try to lose weight you will need to change what you eat long term. I found it much easier with group support.

I think it's rubbish. It demonises certain food. Isn't slimming world the one where you can eat as many bananas as possible, but if you mash them then they become a sin!! Ridiculous.

Download an app like MyFitnessPal and start logging what you eat. You can still have some "treat" foods, you just work it into your daily calorie allowance. You soon learn the nutritional value of foods.

You need to find what works for you OP. That could be SW. The group set up can be quite motivating.

Best would be to calorie count and try to increase activity.

Avoid Team RH like the plague.

It's easy to pick up a few details like mashing bananas makes them magically unhealthy etc- but there's logic in all that.

If you purée fruit into a drink you can consume a hell of a lot of calories without noticing. Two banana, two orange, two apple might look like a healthy drink but is basically just sugar and a little fibre.

If you peel and eat two banana, two orange, and two apple, you'd feel stuffed.

Is the friend going to be dedicated to losing weight? If you both are determined to make it work then you will be excellent at supporting each other.

If she isn't then she's going to sabotage your efforts, unintentionally or intentionally.

If you're not dedicated and see her doing well then you may give up and feel even worse than you do now and as a result, eat even more crap to console yourself. And then the self loathing will kick in....

You're only 32, I'm almost twice your age and it's really not too late to become healthy and free yourself of many ailments that I guarantee you, will set in if you don't remove the strain the weight is putting on your body.

As you get older it will be harder to lose weight and your life will be less enjoyable than if you were a healthy weight.

Imagine a chrysalis turning into a butterfly.

Of course, if the friend does fall by the wayside there will be other women there that you can make friends with and help each other by being supportive. Facebook groups would also be beneficial.

You could use Slimming world to help you get on the path to weight loss and once you feel more confident you can always explore other ways to keep on losing weight.

Good luck.

I think it depends on the group you join. I started going after Christmas and have lost 3st 9lbs. I couldn't bear myself any more, I was so unhappy with myself and finally reached the point of taking action.

I wasn't convinced about a slimming group of any kind but a SW group takes place early in the morning in the building next to where my office is based. So I decided it was a sign and went. It was so easy. I don't do all the syns stuff I just eat the 'free food' and calorie count alongside keeping an eye on high protein and low carbs.

Some groups are 'avid' about the programme apparently but this one seems down to earth and sensible. Some people who go do really stick yo the programme but some are more like me. Everyone is supportive and encouraging.

I am so glad I went. I feel like I can open my wardrobes again and have a choice of nice clothes. I feel much healthier, my knee has stopped hurting, I walk miles, my confidence has come back.

Best would be to calorie count and try to increase activity

Yes to increasing activity but calorie counting is tedious and time consuming unless you eat a very repetitive and packaged diet.

Who CBA working out how many calories there is in some roast chicken, various steamed vegetables, a couple of roast potatoes and some gravy.

SW allows you to just eat 90% of it without any counting and be mindful of the highest calorie bits, so the roast potatoes and gravy.

Same for any other meal.