To say Slimming world food is disgusting?

[CountingThePennies]

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?

Yes I'm an avid Richie Howie fan. He makes total sense!

I'm not on slimming world, but sometimes use their recipes from a Facebook page.
I think it's hit and miss, the salt and chilli chicken is lovely, however I made a chicken supreme using quark which was awful!

Do yourself a favour and download MyFitnessPal.

It tells you how many calories to eat a day. You then log everything you eat. If you are honest you will lose weight.

It teaches you to THINK about what you are eating. You weigh out a portion of cereal, pasta, cheese - whatever and then understand how many calories are in something.

Use it as a tool to teach yourself about portion size and making choices.

It is perfectly possible to eat well on 1500cal a day - but not if you want to eat anything you fancy and calorie dense stuff in large quantities.

If you want to make a change that will last your lifetime, you can't deny yourself the things you enjoy - chocolate, cake, cheese, crisps - whatever. But you can learn to enjoy smaller quantities and make choices like having a salad for lunch instead of a sandwich, but that means you can have a chocolate bar in the evening.

I forward plan my meals leaving myself 200 cal or so to play with for if i fancy something extra or am having a hungry day.

I eat curries, pasta, stir fries, quick junk type meals etc - and i am also mostly vegan. There is so much tasty food out there!

I just cook what we fancy eating, but use frylight instead of oil and try to avoid adding flour or sugar to recipes, and use only lean meat. The key is making sure you eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg. I found the diet coke chicken and the pulled pork SW recipes very disappointing so now just adapt recipes from proper cookbooks instead. DH likes Muller lights, I'm not so keen, but he's lost 5.5 stone on SW principles so it must be working.

I'm doing Slimming World and find it quite effective. Their recipes are awful and I hate crap like Muller Lights. I use up my Syns on things like olive oil, natural full fat yoghurt, butter etc. I cook from scratch most of the time. I don't really have Syns left over to use on chocolate or cake. It's hard as I have a really sweet tooth but I do feel much better for losing weight and eating less rubbish.

OP do you exercise?

Because that if you exercise and eat whole natural foods (yes that means full fat. Low fat = chemical shitstorm) then you will lose weight as fat is converted to muscle.

If you diet then your body goes into starvation mode. You lose weight. Then you gain it again (and more as preparation for the next starvation diet). Each time you starve yourself it become harder to lose it as your metabolism changes.

Lets face it if SW really worked there would be no fat people. Its an industry designed to make noney from people being fat. So therefore it needs people to be in this yo yo of diet, sucess, fatty again for it to make money from poor saps like you.

Please check out the Ch4 documentary that was on this year (feb 14th). And also follow rebelfit on Facebook as there are some very good diet busting links on their page. Tom Wicks 15 minute workout is good also.

And while you are at it. Email the CEO of SW and ask what the nutritional basis of a syn is.

It's just normal food. For example, yesterday I ate a bacon sandwich, vegetable rice, grapes, sliced chicken and spaghetti bolognese. All healthy, no rubbish sweetners (if I have yogurt I like the new Danone ones no sugar or fat), and all 'normal' meals. I just had plenty of fruit and veg, my syns were better ketchup and a bit of microwave rice (cba cooking rice). I did an exercise class too. I usually have chocolate but indulged Sunday so making up for it now. I don't do diet coke chicken (sounds blee) or coat chicken in smash, I just eat a varied diet and adjust It. I tend to find Sw recipes sweet so put my own spin on, although some are nice. And I find words like 'greedy bastard portionsv and 'whale' really insulting actually. At least people In Sw are doing something about it

Slimming world for me has been really good at just making me readdress my relationship with food. It's not for everyone and it certainly isn't perfect - I hate their reliance on processed foods (mug shots and pasta n sauce and would NEVER eat those foods myself. Their lack of focus on exercise and more specifically portion control means I think they don't look at one of the issues a lot of people who have become overweight have - simply eating too much. They do attempt to address this though with a third speed food minimum on every plate and I think the people that lose weigh most successfully (and stick to it) probably are those that follow rigidly. The bit I do like are the syns and like others I tend not to use them for things like chocs and crisps, but more healthy fats; avocado, olive oil, or butter which I can't do without . I might add a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese to a meal for 1.5 syns. For me it got me addressing issues like a big slug of olive oil with some meat and then a load of Parmesan even despite loads of veg with the same meal was going to make me gain weight - and I've lost 2 stone in 12 weeks. I have a bit more to go - but for me I am not finding the plan difficult and I could happily eat like this forever. I just needed to press the reset button on my eating habits. It won't work if you want to rely on all the junk and then as soon as you lose the weight you go back to previous eating habits.

Oh and their own recipes are usually too watery for me and DP. We did try them but not great. I just tweak usual things I would have cooked but use fry light or syn the oil/ measure it out, bought measuring spoons and measure any butter in mash potato etc, spag bol without the wine etc. Very do-able

I think the SW recipes are really runny. I refuse to do any of the processed crap and just syn what normal ingredients. I also just adapt my normal recipes to make them slimming world friendly. I'm on the plan. Today I had overnight oats for brekkie (which I also ate pre SW) a cous cous, med veg and feta salad for lunch. I made my own dressing with just 0.5 tsp of oil and used water to add volume. For dinner I am having chicken curry and rice. This is adapted from Hairy Dieters. I like ff fromage frais anyway, hate quark, would never touch a muller light and use oil, honey, wine etc out of my syn allowance to make my food nice.

Liquidrevolution, not sure about the rest of your post but agree with apparent randomness of syns. The specific numbers don't always make much sense and I do have to question why they occassionally change them even though the food in question hasn't changed. When you use the syn calculator you do enter the nutritional values, like in MFP and the syns are worked out based on that so I guess there must be some reasoning.
Some people say that each syn = approx 20 calories (but may change slightly depending on tge nutritional values ). Bare in mind syns are sweets, cakes and generally junk food so you are "allowed" 300ish calories a day on junk. So, a slice of chocolate cake?
I don't necessarily agree that sweeteners etc are "free" but that isn't unique to SW.
Syns are SW's selling point so just because they won't share the details doesn't mean there isn't any logic to it.
Personally, I just see syns as telling me it's a food I need to watch myself with. Yes, that's common sense but clearly it isn't for me right now otgerwise I wouldn't be attending SW would I?
Any eating plan/diet whatever you want to call it will never suit everyone. If your issue is overeating then SW probably won't help you. If it's more about a generally eating the "wrong" stuff and you need encouragement to eat your veg instead of chocolate but don't want to be constantly weighing or counting then it might suit.

A slimming world leader told a young girl to stop lifting weights so she would lose more weight. Fucking ridiculous and moronic.

When I went to slimming world all I remember from it was the huge table full of SW products for people to buy which were a total con (I worked out their chocolate bars had the same calories in as a fucking penguin - only triple the cost!) - the patronising "lets all clap for Moira who has lost 1lb this week! Woohoo!" And the gross recipes. The word "syn" makes my blood boil. No such thing as a fucking "syn"!!!! Teach people proper nutritional terms and maybe they wouldn't need "lifetime membership!!!"

Syn stands for synergy which basically means all your bits together make up the plan. It forms stand for sin, as In bad, as many people would believe

*it does not stand for

Try the Two Chubby Cubs website, they have gorgeous recipies.

Anything with smash in will be rank. It's also pointless as smash surely contains similar or more calories to Bisto/Oxo/whatever.

As above, I have never and doubt I ever will buy an SW ready meal because I don't eat ready meals. But weight watchers etc also do ready meals so that is no different.
I'll admit they do push their range in Iceland and do special taster nights etc but if you don't want them, don't eat them. They also push the hi-fi bars a bit too and the people on my group tend to go a bit crazy for them. I didn't like them so don't eat them but they might ge a good alternative to a big block of chocolate.
I also use oil, proper sugar etc instead of frylight or sweeteners and that nonsense.
They do seem to talk a lot about certain foods (muller lights, mug shots, a certain sausage etc) but I don't know if that is led by SW or the members iyswim. Again, they aren't part of the actual plan though so you don't need to eat them if you don't want to. They are just an option instead of yoghurt, pot noodles etc. Again, I don't eat them.
Like anything, you can either go down the technically compliant ready meal, processed food route or proper food route and anything in between. But that is no diffetent to any other plan. You can do the same on WW or MFP.

I hate the word "syn" too even if it isn't meant in the "this is bad" meaning. Although I don't see how it could just be a coincidence.
Zhan, the weight lifting thing depends on your goals. If the girl thought weight loss was more important than tone/muscle etc then yes, the consultant was right, she is unlikely to meet her goals if she's lifting big weights.

why eat watery unsatisfying mash without butter?

If you eat what you'd normally like (a bit of panfried or poached fish, mash with butter in it, some steamed veg) you'd feel it was a satisfying meal and not feel the cravings for biscuits etc?

I think diet food is a con, I think if you eat what you like (normal healthy food including all food groups, with no fear of fat or carbs) and just take it easy on puddings/snacks/biscuits/alcohol you'd have a more sustainable "diet" plan for life!

But I am no nutritionist or scientists, I guess I just know what works for me....

The thing is lots of people who are not trying to lose weight or who are doing calorie counting or 5:2 or whatever will eat shit food. I know people who eat processed shit all the time, if they were to sign up to SW they would continue to eat processed food. If they were to calorie count they would still eat processed food. You can't judge SW based on the fact that some people eat crap food because that's across the board. SW allows for choice and if people choose shit then that's their choice. I do SE and I eat lean meat or fish with salad or veggies. I eat berries and cheese and eggs. I don't eat yogurt of any description let alone muller lights and I don't eat processed shit. Please stop judging SW on what some peopl choose to do when following. If you want to form an opinion go find out what it entails, because 'frozen curly surly' is not it!

*SW

That's the point Ruby.when people say they had to eat crap and felt deprived or hubgry they could not have been doing it properly.
I get the thing aboit syns being a bit dubious.
I completely agree that it won't address portion control.
I also agree that a lot of the official SWrecipes aren't great or just odd and seem at odds with common sense (coke chicken?!).
I do not agree that you HAVE to buy secific products or eat fake and processed food.
If you do it properlyI don't see bow it can't be good for you. You eat as much as you need (not necessarily the same as what you want), eat all food groups, follow the whole "this much of your plate should be veg, this much protein etc. Nothing is off limits and it's adaptable. If you want butter in your mash, have it, you just need to have half a pack of crisps later instead of tge full pack.
As I've said it's not for everyone, it isn't a quick fix and people do tweak it (lasagne sheet spring roll anyone?) which doesn't seem in the spirit of it and I tbink is why sometimes it doesn't work.
Anyway, I'm going to leave this post because I'm aware I'm sounding brainwashed! It's just that it has worked and is working for me. I've lost 2st since November fairly easily with no faff and without using sweeteners, muller lights etc. With the exception of remembering to eat HexA and B it doesn't seem like a diet because it feels nutritious and I think sustainable because I don't really need to do anything special if I don't want to. I completely disagree with a lot of the criticsms above.
Anyway, yes. I'm done. :) Good luck to those of you getting healthy, whatever methox you use.

My DW, who is looking absolutely lovely, swears by it and is down to 7st something from well over 10 but has mixed it up with exercise.

Some of the recipes are dreadful but careful cooking helps - normal household recipes, but lean, for example, mince for shepherds pie lean and then drain off all extra fat. Loosing the fat does take away a little flavour but its worth it.

I don’t have much time for SW. It’s too overly focussed on pound loss. There are many, many reasons you could gain a pound in a week – your menstrual cycle/hormones, your digestion being a bit slow, water retention to name a few. I see people getting so depressed and disheartened because they’ve have gained half a pound. It’s so mentally unhealthy. I’ve known people on SW who have been discouraged from exercising too, as muscle mass makes them heavier on the scales! It’s madness.

With the food, it honestly baffles me that on SW avocados, a tiny amount of natural butter or olive oil are horrifying, and yet shitty muller lights, diet coke and fry lite, which are ALL full of crap, are recommended?! Eat real food, not Frankenfoods full of artificial rubbish.

I know a lot of people who have lost weight with SW, but every single one of them has found it very difficult to maintain their loss and has gained most, if not all, of the weight back. And it seems to make people “skinny fat” rather than healthy looking and toned.

Eat real food, watch your calorie intake and macro percentages, cut out processed crap, and exercise 3-4 times a week. Yes your progress will be slower, but you will feel healthier and you will keep the weight off.

The beef ragu pasta bake recipe is delicious. And i dont even do slimming world, i just like the recipe!