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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be a bit dubious of the whole slimming world thing.....

111 replies

LEMmingaround · 11/03/2014 15:06

Ok so i am on a diet - i feel like the dog is in danger of being eaten if he sits down too long!

I am looking at the slimming world website - but i'm really irritated by all the BRANDS! Nearly all their recipes from the "cook from scratch" diet has a tin of Baxters something or other, Jordans cereal etc - why can't they just say - a tin of soup, a generic breakfast cerial - they even specified nestle products..........

Im not going to get on iwht them am i?

OP posts:

Thumbcat · 11/03/2014 17:19

I did Rosemary Conley, which was calorie counting, not using too much fat and keeping an eye on portions. It got me and DH into really good habits and was more a lifestyle change than a diet. I'd really recommend it. They had a line of food too but I never used it.

TitsalinaBumSquash · 11/03/2014 17:25

I lost 3st at Slimming World. Then I hit target, the 'support' stopped so I stopped going in the hope I'd be able to maintain by myself. I couldn't and didn't, it's now all back.

My sister did the same thing.

I get tempted to go back but the thought of living 'on plan' for the rest of my life is soul destroying.

It's not healthy, they tell you that on red days you can eat a whole chicken if you remove the skin, a whole bag of potatoes made into Slimming World Chips on a green day, there is no lesson in portion control or self control. There is a lot of quick fixes, quark mixed with option hot chocolate in huge quantities, people creating 'syn free' cheese cake.

almondcake · 11/03/2014 17:33

I have lost a stone and a half so far with slimming world. My mum lost three stone with it and kept it off, which was very important as she has related health problems.

Almost all of the food is cooked from scratch and it is very similar to the government's healthy eating guidelines.

A lot of the things people have said about it on here are assumptions. It isn't high in sugar and it doesn't involve a lot of branded food. I was very much addicted to sugar before slimming world and have managed to massively reduce my intake.

As soon as I started doing it I feel mentally and physically better. It has completely changed my relationship with food. I have never dieted before. I do believe it is a kind of eating I will be able to follow for the rest of my life.

Yes, you can eat as much as you like as long as a third of it is salad, fruit etc, with the rest being things like baked potatoes, tofu etc (I know there is also lean meat etc but I'm vegetarian and on the green version so don't eat that). I doubt many people who are overweight have done so because they ate more than 2,000 calories a day in baked potatoes. You would have to eat ten a day, which almost anyone would struggle to do.

It is free to go if you are not losing weight, and some of the weight maintaining members in my group have been there 25 years and just go for the social side and to support others.

Sorry to go on, but it has changed my life. I am hugely grateful.

winklewoman · 11/03/2014 17:37

It's all a load of rubbish. If your calories in exceed calories you expend, you will gain weight. If your calories out exceed those you eat and drink, you will lose weight. No amount of red days 'syns' etc. will alter this fundamental fact.

almondcake · 11/03/2014 17:40

Titsalina, you can only eat a whole bag of potatoes on the plan if

a. you ate the equivalent of one third of that in salad, veg and fruit as well.
b. you ate two portions of dairy and two portions of fibre

You cannot just eat the potatoes if you are following the plan. I physically could not eat a large amount of fruit and veg, 2 portions of cheese, 2 portions of fibre rich food and a whole bag of potatoes. I doubt most people could.

Clarabumps · 11/03/2014 17:42

I tried the slimming world diet. I have a huge appetite and I love pasta. Can eat loads of it, so when I read "as much pasta as you want" I thought HURRAY!! I have found the diet for me. How can you lose weight on this? I don't get it. Turns out, I couldn't. I stuck to the syns religiously and guess what. I put on 5lbs...in...a...week.The next week I put on 3 lbs. 8lbs in two weeks. I ended up giving up. I was told to just 'stick with it' but feck that for a game of soldiers.

LadyRainicorn · 11/03/2014 17:44

Hahaha that it would be hard to eat 10 baked potatoes in a day!

PonceyPeas · 11/03/2014 17:45

'Cook from scratch' range has a tin of soup as an ingredient? Is it just me, or is that not really 'cooking from scratch'??!

SanctiMoanyArse · 11/03/2014 17:45

This red / green day stuff is not the whole plan any more, by a long road: they introduced a newer and healthier system, but still keep that going for people who have been there longer term.

whois · 11/03/2014 17:50

'Cook from scratch' range has a tin of soup as an ingredient? Is it just me, or is that not really 'cooking from scratch'??!

I make a lovely tuna thing in puff pastry which uses a tin of condensed mushroom soup :-) I class that as cooking from scratch.

harriet247 · 11/03/2014 17:56

Have to admit i am so skeptical of sw- i know 6 close friends and family do it and they seem to be getting bigger. I really disagree with all the mullerlights- so much sugar in them and sososooo many carbs :/
Im sure they are NOT excercising good portion control but i do feel like they are being ripped off in a way.

StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes · 11/03/2014 18:10

I don't like the SW diet. its main attraction seems to be that you can stuff your face which, in my opinion, isn't really a good thing. its fine if you follow the good stuff, tbh its very much like the balance of good health that if I had followed I would never have got so big in the first place! The brand stuff is because its all worked out nutritionally, and the idea that you can eat enough to not feel hungry or deprived is precisely why its a success. As someone said its a way of eating for good health if you are sensible. lots of fruit veg salad, lower fat stuff etc lean meat and fish, not so much bread etc etc.It works for me, just lost 1 and half stone in 9 weeks, I don't go to class I use the books I got years ago and follow a sensible approach to food instead of stuffing myself as I used to. my challenge is to educate myself to not use food emotionally and stick to the healthy eating plan not revert back like last time. I don't have to count anything or deprive myself of anything which suits me. Can't be doing with these shake diets, or eat one day not the next its just normal sensible eating for me.

luckyjazz · 11/03/2014 18:22

Why not try the Easyloss Virtual Gastric band app £5 at Apple store or you can get the android version, been doing it for 3 weeks, lost 10lbs, don't feel deprived at all, it's hypnotherapy and whilst I was sceptical at first, I listen every night and IT'S WORKING :) It's really about listening to your body telling you when you've had enough, eating slowly, drinking LOTS of water, 2 days in I was eating half my regular portions without any conscious thought, I was planning on joining SW too as a few friends are doing it but couldn't get to the meeting as DP was working so thought well it's only the cost of one meeting and gave it a go, it's working so far, Good luck whatever you decide to try.

StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes · 11/03/2014 18:24

How can you eat as much as you like?
How does that work? no idea but it seems to, saying that I keep things sensible. an average day for me is a big bowl of fruit for breakfast and a coffee, sometimes with fat free yogt, or a bowl of porridge with a muller yogt mixed in. lunch is a salad with egg and cottage cheese, or last nights leftovers, dinner is lean meat fish with veg or a curry with cauliflower 'rice' or quorn with spaghetti or noodles. I experiment a lot with fresh foods and try out recipes off the website that appeal to me. I snack on fruit and drink lots of water. I still drink wine all weekend and as I say in 9 weeks have lost stone and a half. long way to go but fingers crossed I will keep it up.

tabulahrasa · 11/03/2014 18:26

I've been doing slimming world for about 4 months...I've never added a tin of soup to anything or spread cheese on ham...

I make things like chilli, spag bol or shepherd's pie...just without fat.

JakeBullet · 11/03/2014 18:27

Another one here doing it.

I totally agree about some of the stuff people have posted but you can tailor it to suit you.

I cook a great deal from scratch...but there are conveniences I do use.

Mushy pea curry for example which is just a tin of mushy peas, tin of baked beans, tin of chopped tomatoes (all basics/value) plus onion and curry powder. Cook it and serve with rice.....had this evening for tea as am goin out and it is delicious.

Mullerlight I can take or leave....tbh I eat very little yoghurt and would rather have full fat natural yoghurt with fruit and count the syns.

JakeBullet · 11/03/2014 18:30

Eat as much as you like...AS LONG AS YOU ARE HUNGRY!

A third of the food needs to be veg or fruit.

Spag Bol can have that in the sauce.

It's all about looking at why you eat and when you eat.

I have lost over 2 stones on it, but it is not a diet to me (diets have end points). It is a way of eating I can follow forever making adjustments as I lose weight until I reach a weight I am happy with.

BumPotato · 11/03/2014 18:35

Lucky 10lbs is fab. I started last the hypnosis sessions last Monday. No loss to report yet.

I gained 6lbs my first week at SW then spent weeks trying to get back to my starting weight before giving up.

Weight Watchers own brand food is severely bad for you. Their mini carrot cakes have so much sugar in them my teeth ache if I take one bite.

Tweasels · 11/03/2014 18:44

I went to SW for a while and was quite successful (4 stone).

However, I did notice that those of us who lost weight quickly and regularly tended to gave very different eating habits to those who always stayed the same/put weight on although no one was 'cheating'.

I followed the old red plan rather than extra easy, I never ate all the syns and I never ate shit like muller lights or hi fi bars and I never ate loads of fruit. You do have to do a lot of cooking though and it can get quite expensive.

People were quite legitimately following the diet, snacking on pasta throughout the day, eating meals consisting of 'pasta n sauce, and bachelors savoury rice followed by 20 muller light yoghurts (slight exaggeration). One woman ate a kilo of potatoes that she'd boiled and kept in the fridge to snack on - she put on 5lb. The consultant tried to say it was ok, it really wasn't

YoureAllABunchOfBastards · 11/03/2014 18:49

I am doing SW and have lost nearly three stone. I mainly cook from scratch, but it is good knowing the values of branded stuff just in case.

What I don't eat at all any more is ready meals or shop sandwiches.

Today I have had an omelette, baked spud and cheese with salad, some crispbreads with a little bit of cheese and some veg, fruit, a yoghurt and a cereal bar. For tea it is prawns, veg and noodles. All decent food.

Viviennemary · 11/03/2014 18:50

I think it's a fairly good diet. But all this raving about ferrero rocher made out of ryvita and powdered cocoa. No thanks.

TitsalinaBumSquash · 11/03/2014 18:51

Oh I know you can't eat a whole bag of potatoes! It was just what we were told in our new member talk, it's a way of sucking people in.

Goodadvice1980 · 11/03/2014 18:51

I am very cynical about all these "diet clubs" and their gimmicks. It is the old adage when it comes to weight loss - eat less, exercise more.

Good luck!

MoominsYonisAreScary · 11/03/2014 20:10

I do slimming world, wouldnt say i by any perticular brand though, but then i make stuff like cottage pie, spag bol, slimming world burgers etc and have fruit and stuff for snacks.

I think the only extra expence ive had is buying extra lean mince

MoominsYonisAreScary · 11/03/2014 20:15

Oh and i cut down portion sizes, just because potatos are free doesnt mean eat a whole bag it does tell you how much of your plate should be filled with potato/pasta etc.

Ive only ever tried extra easy though. Also ww but i found that expensive.

I tend to just calorie count now, as its not so restrictive and ive about 18lb left to shift

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