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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say Slimming world food is disgusting?

158 replies

CountingThePennies · 16/04/2015 13:36

I joined Slimming world again on Monday. I did it for 4 months around 4 years ago and lost 2 stone.

Im now bigger than i ve ever been so rejoined.

I didnt do any of the recipes last time from the books and found the diet boring which is why i gave it up.

This time i was determined to buy the cookbooks and do a variety of different things to avoid me getting fed up with it.

So far i have cooked 3 meals out the books and all have been disgusting!!

I ve even tried the slimming world meals from iceland, again it was disgusting and i had 2 mouthfuls and that was it.

Im a member of a slimming world group on facebook and people are posting pictures of their tea and saying it was delicious!

Aibu to think the meals are far from delicious?

OP posts:
NotTheDuchessOfCambridge · 19/04/2017 22:49

They do actually give you the tools to continue eating healthy. It's just people don't have enough willpower to stick to it.

flownthecoopkiwi · 19/04/2017 22:58

Why pay to lose weight? 5:2 all the way... eat what you fancy, most of the week.

PuffinNose · 19/04/2017 23:03

Yes YABU if you mean SW friendly recipies are all yukky.

But YANBU if you specifically mean the SW cook book recipies are horrible. So bland. They all taste the same as well. Strangely though, the recipies I've tried from the magazines are actually ok.

Someone at my husband's work canteen is on SW so he keeps having to eat coca cola chicken, and pastry free quiche and SW sausages. I'm finding it quite amusing!

SusieOwl4 · 19/04/2017 23:03

Look at the list of free foods they are all meat and veg and fruit ? Just adapt your own recipes. The curry recipes are good. Don't have Diet Coke or muller light if you don't want them? Spices are free so cook to suit yourself.

kingscrossnoodle · 19/04/2017 23:06

Proof that Slimming World doesn't work.
If it did, people would join once and that would be it. The weight would stay off.
But people have to rejoin and rejoin and rejoin, because It Doesn't Work

NO! People have to rejoin because they LEAVE. If you eat properly, go to group, lose weight and then leave you are inevitably going to gain weight as you are highly unlikely to stick to plan.

SW target achievers are actively encouraged to stay by giving them free membership as long as they stay within a 6lb bracket around their target.

The only reason people have to rejoin because they got fat again is simply because when they stopped going they started eating shit again.

kingscrossnoodle · 19/04/2017 23:07

And OP YABU. You can eat virtually anything in SW. Recipes and processed foods are optional not compulsory.

ScarletSienna · 19/04/2017 23:10

I'm vegan and lost 4 stone following SW. The meals were non processed and high in fruit and veg so in my opinion, not revolting. I haven't followed specific SW recipes, just used the foods from the free and speed lists to make meals and used syns for things like gravy, nuts and oil.

Zhan · 19/04/2017 23:13

But kings cross, that again is proof that it doesn't work! People shouldn't need to "go to group" for the rest of their lives just to maintain a decent weight - if arsehole world truely worked then it would change people's eating habits and mindsets so that they were able to sustain the diet alone!

All it does is encourage greedy bastard portion sizes, bland meals and processed food.

I struggle to understand how people can fail to lose weight just by lowering their calorie intake, especially if they're a whale to start with they'd only need to make small changes to dramatically reduce calorie intake.

MFP is the way to go, log what you eat and see how many calories you're gorging on throughout the day. People would be shocked at how many calories are in a bowl of granola for example and again, portion sizes can mean the difference between "recommended serving" and "enough to feed 3 people".

PuffinNose · 19/04/2017 23:16

I should add, that I'm using SW more to re-educate myself about food.
I'm not buying into the fry-light and sweeteners and all that nonsense. Some of the stuff just doesn't make sense to me eg I can eat one banana and an apple and kale but blend one banana, an apple and kale and I have to syn it? I ignore those bits!
I'm aiming to eat proper food and be aware of what I'm eating. With the exception of chocolate my portion sizes are fine so that's not a worry for me.
I've not completely kicked the sweets thing and I'm eating too many again so I really need to get back into counting syns.
I've found it quite straight forward though and have lost 2st quite easily. I've another 1 or 2 st to go (not decided yet). I'm having a bit of a wobble with it all right now, mainly because I'm not meal planning so eating junk.
I'm embarrassed that I have to pay £5 a week to make me think about whether I should eat that 4th chocolate bar or not and it's a bit silly sitting in a big circle clapping but it makes me accountable and reminds me to think about food rather than just consume it like I was.

kingscrossnoodle · 19/04/2017 23:18

People go for the support Confused what's wrong with that?

Alcoholics Anonymous works but people don't fuck off after a few weeks, they carry on attending.

That's what SW groups are about. Support.

I have never eaten anything bland, processed or greedy bastard sized. Like everything it is what you make it. Some people will give up just like some people will give up a calorie controlled diet. People having no willpower doesn't mean SW is shit

Lallypopstick · 19/04/2017 23:21

Has no one checked the date of the OP?

kingscrossnoodle · 19/04/2017 23:22

Ah ffs why do people do that!

Sunnydaysrock · 19/04/2017 23:22

Sw does work. Ive followed the plan to some degree for 13 years, and am somewhere near, above or below, my target weight at all times. It's not magic. It does require will power. I know on holiday or at christmas I'll put on weight. No one is going to like ALL the recipes. But once you know the basics you can adapt many recipes from all different sources. It totally works if you follow it, it is a long term way of eating, it's easy.

Zhan · 19/04/2017 23:25

No I appreciate it does help people lose weight but I still think it's a con. When I did slimming world I inputted all my food intake into MFP and saw that my calorie intake was really low and THATS the real reason I was losing weight.

I then realised that instead of forcing a bowl of tasteless wheetabix down my neck and hating every mouthful, I could eat a bowl of cocopops, enjoy every bit of it and still lose the same amount of weight.

I have changed my entire outlook on food. I no longer force myself to eat shit that I don't like or deprive myself of stuff I do like because of "syn" value which is a made up term by a company out to make money!

I eat what I want, I enjoy my food and I simply watch the calories in vs calories out. I recommend a Fitbit and MFP

mslevine86 · 19/04/2017 23:26

Everyone's different, personally SW is working well for me as it means I think about what I'm eating. I cook from fresh most of the time anyway, for example chilli. The difference is before I joined I would cook with higher fat mince a lot depending what was on offer, use lots of oil and serve with a garlic baguette between two people. Now I always cook with 5 percent mince and put more onions and peppers in, use frylight, and most of the time don't have any (or just one piece) of garlic bread. I've tried a few of the recipes, some are lovely such as the pulled pork, i keep a couple of ready meals in the freezer for emergencies (e.g. When I can't be arsed to cook) but I don't feel I'm struggling with the diet or eating crap. I'll have a Muller light or a can of Diet Coke instead of something calorific like biscuits and the fact is I have to step on scales once a week which means I don't piss about with the diet. I've lost a stone and a half since January and I feel so much better!

PuffinNose · 19/04/2017 23:38

Zhan, SW broken down is "eat lots of fruit, veg and protein. Have some carbs, dairy and fibre. Limit the junk and only eat until you are full". That's it. Tell me how that can't work if people stick to it? Isn't it exactly what MFP does? It's just a different method. It's nothing particularly groundbreaking.
MFP never worked for me. It made me lose the will to live. I'm not going to calorie count/log every single thing forever plus I could eat just chocolate and still be somewhat aligned to MFP. I can't do that with SW. Because portion size (apart from chocolate) isn't an issue for me I don't know why I need to measure my asparagus.
As I said above I'm embarrassed to pay £5 a week but it helps keep me focussed. When I used MFP I struggled with motivation and that's where the group comes in. Right now, I don't think I am in the place where I could do any method by myself.
As for saying lifelong membership means it doesn't work, that's like saying being a lifelong member of a gym means the gym doesn't work. It doesn't work if you don't do it but having the back up there makes it easy to stay on track. Once you are at target you don't pay anything.
Different things work for different people. Just because you've found sometging that works for you, it doesn't mean it's right for everyone.

ScarletSienna · 19/04/2017 23:41

Pfft Zombie thread

PuffinNose · 19/04/2017 23:49

Zhan, you said " I no longer force myself to eat shit that I don't like or deprive myself of stuff I do like" and that is why SW didn't work for you. If you thought you had to eat like that on SW then frankly you did it wrong and no wonder you hate it. Nowhere in SW does it tell you that you have to eat this but can't that. Similarly, if you weren't meeting your daily calorie needs then why? That isn't SWs fault.
I'm glad you have found a method that works for you but just because another method didn't work for you (or maybe you did it wrong) doesn't make it a con.

Wando1986 · 19/04/2017 23:51

OP was just a shit cook... Maybe in the 2 years that have passed since the original post she has figured that out.

ilovechoc1987 · 19/04/2017 23:54

Iv had sw meals made for me and they were disgusting, but then I made the same recipes myself and they were lovely Maybe it's just your cooking methods?.

Sw is pretty simple, it's basically normal food but with less fat and sugar.
So skin off chicken,home made tomato sauce for bolognese, gammon steaks and sw chips cooked in fry light etc

All pretty basic food really.

EnglishGirlApproximately · 19/04/2017 23:54

zahn I'm guessing you're a Richie Howie follower in FB? I did SW but didn't feel like it was sustainable long term, and I didn't like the lack of portion control. I got fat through too much food nit rubbish food and I didn't feel like SW addressed that so mfp and a Fitbit works for me. Having said that I think if someone lives off ready meals etc., SW is an ok starting point - it'll help them to understand how to put together a meal and think about what they eat.

ilovechoc1987 · 19/04/2017 23:58

Haha just realised how old the thread was!!

IvorHughJarrs · 20/04/2017 00:20

I don't know why MN can't put a Zombie tag on the title line of anything over a certain age as something in the title would make us all look twice whereas after a few people have ignored the current warning it vanishes

chocolatesavedmysanity · 20/04/2017 00:25

Oh the Iceland stuff is vile, I agree! But overall you can make really tasty sw friendly meals...
Spag Bol
Chilli con carne
Irish stew
Lasagne
Lots of pasta chicken dishes using laughing cow cheese and knorr chicken stock pots as the base for your sauce
Salt and chilli chicken (use the smash/ herb recipe)
Cottage pie
Burgers
The list is endless

I would really recommend buying a tefal actifry. The salt and chilli chicken is awesome and it makes the best sw chips ever! I use mine at least once a day every day!

CheeseQueen · 20/04/2017 00:35

You're obviously not following it properly. How on earth can you say SW food is disgusting when SW food is just normal food?! Confused
You as an individual decide whether to follow the ready meal versions or recipes from magazines.
Are you writing off all pasta, rice, cous cous, bacon, chicken etc in your disgusting statement?

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