to be on the verge of tears because I don't understand the Slimming World rules?

[Mintyy]

Ffs! I am reasonable intelligent but come on!.

Am I ever going to understand it?

Just google anything before eating it if you're not sure.

Some options for Pizza Express here if you scroll down and there is info like this about most places to eat out, just always double check the syn count is for Extra Easy.

It really is easy when you get into the swing of things, it just takes a little getting used too. It will be second nature soon enough. :)

I don't mean to sound harsh or unsupportive but...just eat less, eat healthily and do more exercise. Places like Slimming World with their ridiculous rules and guidelines and 'syns' ffs. No food should be off limits or a 'sin', you just need it in moderation.

Have you tried something like My Fitness Pal? Much more straight forward, and there's a community too if you need additional support.

Having spoken to people who have done SW (and lost weight) I decided I couldn't be arsed with what seems like an unnecessarily restrictive and complicated system.

I've recently joined Weight Watchers and find it easy to follow and very flexible as basically you can eat anything as long as you count it in your points. So far weight has been coming off easily and I never feel hungry.

This is probably not helpful OP, but just wondered if you might find something like WW less trying.

It's just not as simple as that for some people though.

Slimming World is basically eating less, less unhealthy things. Guidelines and restrictions give people something to focus on and goals to aim for.

Most people will have tried the whole "eat less and move more" thing before they try something like SW anyway.

No foods are off limits in SW, they just have a syn value to help you with moderation... although maybe "syn" was not the best choice of name for a method that is supposed to do away with guilt.

It's not too bad once you get the hang of it, just choose one of the superfree foods and fill 1/3 your plate with it. Aim for the other 2/3 to be from the free foods. If you need anything extra (sauce etc), take it from your syn allocation. oh yeah, and choose your healthy extras. I'm gonna have cereal and milk religiously because I keep forgetting those.

It's a lot easier if you plan your meals and read ingredients, because you need to know exactly whats in there. Can you make a packed meal at home rather than eat out?

I know - and that's my point. It's exactly the same thing just dressed up in some ridiculously complex structure. It's virtually impossible to maintain for life, and so it's setting you up to fail before you even begin.

I think superfree have slightly less calories or something, so you fill up on low energy food. Thats what I imagine. Wasnt explained to me either!

I've tried all sorts of diets and SW is the only one I've ever stuck to longer than a few weeks. A few years ago I lost 3st in 4 months and only stopped because I was pg. I've done WW, tried 5:2, myfitness pal, etc. All of them may well work for other people, but not for me. I need some rules for what I eat, but not too many.

SW allows for all foods in moderation, that's what the syns are for, they're the foods that should be more limited because they aren't good for you too often. I don't like the word syn, but the concept behind it is sound.

minty write everything down. Especially until you get it. A regular cappuccino is MASSIVE in syns, and you need to ditch the sugar.

You can get an app for your phone so you can check syns throughout the day, some things you'll think are fine but they're loaded.

Once you get the hang of it it is EASY, but you do have to learn it first... and you'll never know everything.

Stay as close as you can to what you think is right and you WILL lose weight, GO TO GROUP because it will amaze you at times that small thing you had last week that you 'guessed' was 'roughly' 5 syns, is probably about 35.

READ everything. WRITE everything down. Follow the plan to the absolute letter with as little guess work as possible for the first few weeks, I promise you will get it pretty soon.

I felt the same as you, but lost 3 stone over a year.

I just dont understand how unlimited rice and pasta helps you lose weight.

My favourite meal is diet coke chicken which my Sw friend recommended as syn free but she piles high her plate. It certainly doesnt teach portion control.

I don't think it is impossible to maintain for life. It's healthy eating. The structure isn't particularly complex once you've been doing it for a couple of weeks. It gives you more tools for knowing which foods you should be eating a lot of and which you should keep as treats. That's really useful information for people who have bad eating habits atm.

Stuntgirl, some people need those rules. I know I do. It's not for everyone, I know, but I need to know they are there or I will eat all the chocolate every day, and postpone my diet til next week

Not everyone thinks about food and exercise the same way. I have zero will power in the face of a burger! I joined slimming world for the support, encouragement and to put the responsibility of weigh-ins in someone elses hands rather than anything else, because I got bugger all support from friends and family

It's actually not that hard to follow.

It's not that complex tbh, it's a little fiddly at the start but losing weight in any way is.

As for maintaining it for life, well for a lot of people it does change the way you think/feel about food and getting rid of bad habbits. The little guidelines never leave you and nothing is off limits anyway so it's easy to carry on.

There is a chance of failure whatever you do I guess, SW really does work for some people.

habits

I mean, it comes in at roughly 1200 calories, which is ok, although despite the prevailing mumsnet wisdom it's too low for most women.

Cappuccino is a terrible breakfast, you must know that! Something actually nutritious would do you better - porridge, poached egg on toast, omelette/scrambled egg, even just some wholemeal toast would be a better option.

The lunch and dinner are quite vegetable heavy but instead of getting ready meals couldn't you make your own? It would save you a fortune and you'd know exactly what was in them.

Your snacks are relatively healthy too. But I see very little protein and dairy, and a lot of your carbs seem to come from sugar.

I know it works for some people, but the OP is working herself up into a frenzy over it. That is not 'working' to me. That's allowing the structure and rules to control her, which isn't healthy either. Getting healthy doesn't need to be traumatic!

I had success with SW when it was red days and green days. I went back last year and was totally bewildered by the new diet. Mintyy, like you, I have a degree but that diet is totally beyond me, I could not figure it out at all.

It seemed to be 1/3 protein, 1/3 carb and 1/3 fruit and veg from what the woman told me but I obviously didn't get it right as it didn't work for me. I have gone over to low carb as, at least, that is straightforward.

She could get equally frenzied questioning her protein and dairy intake and wondering what sugar her carbs are coming from. :o

You have structure and rules your way too, they're just differently put.

Agree with timid. I lost ten stone on the Green plan 11 years ago. Ive been back a couple of years ago AND last year and the EE plan is just beyond me. I did my own low carb plan and have managed to lose a stone since mid April though i have had a small blip recently due to recently having my 40th birthday.
Losing weight/being healthy should NOT be this traumatic. Its fucking ridiculous. And you could never get hold of our consultant to talk to her individually as she has/had a massive class and doesnt have time. I think theyve shot themselves in the foot with this EE bollocks. A lot of people ive spoken to gained in the first 2/3 weeks on EE before they started losing. Very handy because SW then makes more money.

There's a lot of flaws in SW, there's a lot of flaws in any diet. But if you stick to the basic premise of eating until you feel satisfied (rather than full) even if you're technically ALLOWED 389464639 bowls of rice a day, you won't want them, because of course, you'd have to have 1/3 of salad and veg to go with them.

You can save up syns (I did and still lost) I could have a McFatTwat's on a Saturday morning without a gain on the Monday. IF to was rigid with the basics all week.

It's not going to work if you think too hard about it, but then, neither is anything.

1/3 salad/veg, 1/3 carbs, 1/3 lean protein... if you stick to that in the early weeks, you will lose and you won't 'miss out'.

I used all my syns for wine.. not healthy, but I could have just as easily used them for an avocado.

It's quite a free plan... you tailor it to suit you. If you're struggling talk to the group leader. Perhaps you need something more structured?

I know plenty of people who adore the 5:2 because they don't have to think too hard, it didn't work for me.

But she doesn't need to do that either! A quick glance at that diary surely shows that you're missing out on balanced meals (I'm sorry but I still can't get over just coffee for breakfast )

I do agree with what you're saying though, that everyone finds the structure that works for them. I am just questioning whether this structure is right for anyone the OP, since its stressing her out.

Syn is short for synergy I read somewhere in the bundle of stuff. I can't get on with it either but that is probably because I like crunchynut cornflakes and bread, butter and cheese too much.

To lose the weight that ive lost since April ive had to go very low carb
Weetabix fish veg and noodles
and intermittent diarrheoa.

It's not restrictive or complicated at all , I lost 2 stone on it and about to start again to lose my baby weight.

It's generally healthy eating, making things from scratch instead on processed shit. I used to treat my self to a take away at the weekend and be good through the week.

The slimming world recipy books are good and the sw curry heaven book is fab.

Ww ready made foods are full of crap all though I once worked out I could have 10 Belgium chocolate eclairs for my whole points for the day... Which I did

I lost 3 stone on the extra easy, as I didn't want to give anything up, certainly not a whole food group.

Once I got my head around it and kept it simple (my plate has 3 3rds, one of them needs to be leafy, steady on the fat) and controlled my syns (oh I can drink wine!) I lost loads.

What buggered it up for me was when it got complex. When I got a little bored, or started using guesswork (it's only ONE muffin, how bad can it be - every day)... it was only after a year I got confused. And bored.

Plus I loathe frylight, like real food, hate sweetner, and don't count an avocado or nuts/seeds as 'sinful' - even if syn DOES stand for synergy, it mean SINFUL to every single member... we'd recoil in horror at guacamole.