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?

I just wanted to add, that I like the fact I don't have to weigh measure or count everything that goes in my mouth, just the things you would expect like oil, dressings, biscuits, bread and dairy. It makes it relatively fuss free.

I had got into the really bad habit of eating no fruit, little veg, ready meals, beige food. SW had meant that I have started cooking from scratch again, I feel a lot better for it. Aches and pains are disappearing and I have more energy and am sleeping better.

It has had a lot of bad press around being weird over mashed banana of all things, but you know you're not a sheep and a bit of common sense doesn't go amiss 😊

The best advice I can give you is educate yourself around food and choose a diet that is easy for you to stick to, if you hate tracking everything, calorie counting is probably not for you. You need to be realistic.

It’s works if you focus on fresh foods - please don’t fall into the trap of trying to recreate processed food using slightly less processed foods. Keep it simple and follow the recipes rather freestyling at first. I am an online member and the app has lots of good info and recipes and online community. I don’t get extra motivation from going to a group so I prefer to self motivate. Track track track.

you can do it!

@slimmingworldworthtrying I've known family members who have done well on SW.
I've had good results with WW.
If you're on Facebook these seem pretty good

www.facebook.com/groups/595053988533651/permalink/1220499619322415/

Thank you, I have done team RH before and was treated horribly when I asked for advice about medication. I take two different anti depressants and another psychiatric tablet, all three of which say they can cause weight gain and sluggishness. Team RH told me I was simply being lazy/bitching and to stop taking my meds.

I’m not sure re her weight goal. She’s a nice normal weight, she’s very pretty. Whereas I’m so fat I struggle to sit in restaurant booths, we’re very different. She’s very kind to offer to go together though.

I’m sick of constantly apologising for my size, eating and feeling guilty, binge eating, breaking chairs, all sorts.

I’ll give it a go. If it’s useless after a couple of months I’ll stop but anything is better than this. My eating’s already fairly disordered so it won’t be a massive change.

I did slimming world and I lost 6.5st in a year, going from a 24 to 12. It took about two years for the weight to go back on and three years to be higher than when I started.

It’s massively messed up my eating. I lost that much because I stuck to the plan, but the plan is garbage. It encourages dependence on low fat (high sweetener) and UPF. It’s a money making scheme, whilst I was doing it they introduced a syn on Heinz baked beans but slimming world ones were completely free. They recommend group but group is just a cult of people with disordered eating. My group were making shit like weetabix cake and sprinkling some options hot chocolate powder into quark and convincing themselves it’s as satisfying as having a bag of malteasers (similar calories). It demonises healthy, high fat foods such as olive oil, nuts, avocado all of which are great for you. Honey is a syn but you can Chuck as much sweetener on pretty much everything and that’s completely “healthy”.

I lost weight so quickly and I didn’t recognise myself. People only wanted to talk about my weight and I was still the elephant in the room, just a smaller elephant. I still wasn’t happy. I was miserable, I was unable to enjoy myself around food, I didn’t recognise myself and I basically came to the conclusion if I was going to be miserable I might as well be miserable and eat cake, drink wine. I stuck to the plan so religiously that after hiking all day in Scotland, I had a salad because the potatoes would have syns (at a pub so be cooked in oil or have butter and I really wanted the fat and was fed up off saying no butter to a jacket potato), then the next day I couldn’t hike because my body had run out of fuel. Anytime I think about dieting now, or even just trying to not eat so much crap, it makes go the opposite way and I binge. I need to do a lot to fix my thinking now.

I would say don’t do it. Instead focus on making one improvement to your lifestyle or diet and make that a habit. So one more piece of veg a day, making one meal from scratch a day, going for a walk each day. When that is a habit, add another. And so on and so on. Yes, it’s slower in the short term but longer if you actually have a healthy mindset and not end up even more disordered than you are.

I wouldn’t. It in part caused my eating disorder.

In most people I know who have done it over the years, it does caused disordered eating. And like most methods of intentional weight loss in most people, you will regain weight.

OP id go along and see for myself. Ask yourself if you could keep up slimming world and it's methods for the rest of your life (you won't) and decide. If you can't keep it up there is no point, sorry.

My GP referred me to slimming world. I researched it and had a good laugh. Never went because I could see that I still won't have a good relationship with food.

I'm doing intermittent fasting now. To my surprise I find it very easy. To my surprise it completely changes how hungry I feel (hardly) and I'm also surprised how it reduces my appetite. All this reduces my calorie intake and I feel I can do this for the rest of my life. Don't get me wrong. Work is still required because I have an awful habit of snacking and I do need to hold myself back. But it's much easier if you are hardly ever hungry and your appetite is much lower.

On the face of it, it's basic healthy eating. Lean protein, plenty of veg and a bit of carbs. It's hard to overdo the free food (potatoes, pasta, rice) if you're following the guidance of including at least a third fruit/veg with your meal.

If you go into it with a mindset of finding loopholes, "cheating" the system and loading up on all of the convenience options, of course it's shite. They don't force you to eat Muller lights and their ready meals, but they're there if you need them in a pinch. Whilst olive oil and avocado may be healthy, there's no reason you can't use your syn allowance on them, you don't have to "spend" it all on chocolate and crisps. Some things are energy dense and still need to be controlled regardless of how good they are for you.

I don't actually follow slimming world but I can see it's good for introducing you to the basics of constructing and cooking a balanced meal, if you embrace it rather than try to cheat it.

In your shoes @slimmingworldworthtrying I'd give it a go. Realistically, what have you got to lose? Best of luck whatever you decide to do.

I agree with this 100%

It's the weird fad things like mixing coating frozen grapes in jelly crystals to make fake haribo (or have I made that up)

I'd also use nutracheck along side

It's basically a really healthy way of eating with lots of veg, protein and limited carbs, limited treats.

I lost 3 stone (15 stone - 12)

Fill up on low fat Greek yoghurt, ham boiled eggs fruit and veg.

I did not 2018 so probably changed now.

Had the pinch of nom book and enjoyed dirty rice and chicken orzo. Plus others I. There. The Schwartz slow cooker curry is good.

After a week you body adjust to desire to eat all the time (fake hunger)

Plan the meals and two snacks a day.

Plus a tiny treat - small choc bar or cake

Have a treat meal once per week and a treat mid week. We used to have a Saturday dinner and then a Wednesday cake from cost!