To think slimming world is a mugs game?

[TheWorldIsMine]

Been doing sw for around 3 months. Yes I lost weight which is great but after a few weeks you start to realise how unsustainable the whole thing is. Constant pushing of "fat free" yogurts - full of god knows what sugars and crap to make up the taste? A breakfast of two sugar caked cereal bars which wouldn't fill a toddler up?
At one class a girl was asked what she saves her syns for. She replied "chocolate and alcohol" which was applauded - sorry but it what world is it seen as a good thing to substitute proper good with chocolate and alcohol???

Then there is the constant "ooo how many syns does each of these biscuits have in them? Ooo I could eat three Nice biscuits but only two ginger biscuits ... decisions!

I once took a fat Fred yogurt into work and a colleague looked sxpetrenrly concerned and told me I'd bought the wrong yogurts. I said "it's fat free" to which she replied "yeah but you're supposed to get muller lights ... " what a load of 'endorsed' bollocks!!!

It comes to something when a nutritious homemade fruit smoothie is classed as 20+ syns yet a chocolate cereal bar is encouraged as "healthy extra".

I can't understand the massive following they have! You may lose weight in the short term but I've never known anyone keep it off for more than a year unless they sack it off and switch to eating healthy instead.

I used to be very anti slimming groups, but when I reached 5 stome overweight this year my GP kindly suggested I give SW a go. I'm not going to a group as I can't manage it, so I'm online and getting support on the long running MN thread, I weigh in at home. I have lost 11lb in 2 months and don't feel as though I'm on a diet. I have not touched a cereal bar, I did have a few Muller lights at first but then ditched out of them, the only thing I'm having sweeteners in is a diet coke once or twice a week, I'm just not having much sweet stuff except fruit. I've cut bread right back and the same with snacks, but I am finding I don't get the urges to snack that I used to. I'm not counting or logging anything, still having a takeaway or meal out about once a week, my children have no idea anything has changed and the weight is gradually coming down, I'm very happy with it.

There's lots and lots of fake science involved with Slimming world.
Lots of bizarre chemical combos people 'treat' themselves with that ordinarily should not be in a healthy diet.
There's no portion control- so stretched stomachs/mindless eating until the point of nausea carries on. As does the 'paying a fiver a week, every week, whether you go or not'...

I don't doubt that people have lost stones and stones on it, not sure how much they've learned about healthy eating in the process.

Well yeah, obviously. But I do think it's sad that people get sucked in.

Yeah it's terribly sad, poor me. If only I''d not been sucked in I could have still been 10 stone overweight and as happy as a lark.

I don't think SW encourages a change in eating habits per se. Sure, it make lead to people making different food choices, but the sheer QUANTITY of food allowed by SW isn't a great idea for people who binge eat or overeat.

And the carbs! So so so many carbs.

I can see the appeal of SW being "you can still eat loads!" but if eating too much is your problem, I don't think SW is the answer.

PaintBox

1. Yo yo dieting is a completely separate issue.

2. Growing children need fat. Overweight adults less so. And SW isn't necessarily that low fat. You're allowed unlimited eggs, 5% fat mince, some nuts and normal dairy, and the fat in the treats allowance. I'm sure there's plenty there.

3. There's so much crap on the internet that it's possible to find articles, studies etc that appear to prove whatever point you want to make, so I'm not going to google it.

Well done to interstellarcloudofdust, that's an amazing achievement.

I'm sure she, and anyone else who has lost a significant amount of weight, is much healthier now, despite losing weight on this disgustingly dangerous, rubbish diet , than they were when very overweight, and that's what matters.

Thank you Barbara

Not to be awful op but if you think you know more about nutrition than. Slimming group, why aren't you just doing it on your own?

I know A lot of people who lost weight and kept it off long term with sw

It's working for me. I'm eating far more fruit and veg. More home cooked food. Less processed stuff. I don't buy muller lights are rarely eat hifi bars. And despite them being "free" I eat less carbs because I've learned to control my portions.

I'm losing weight consistently. The woman that runs my group is lovely. She takes time to discuss goals with us and helps us reach realistic and healthy ones.

I agree, and I think the high fat, low carb diets are as bad as the low fat, high carb ones. We weren't designed to eat mostly protein and fat, nor were we designed to eat mostly carbs. Humans function optimally on a diet that is restricted on all three - our modern Western diet is so far removed from what we would have lived on just 1000 or so years ago.

I don't buy into the Paleo bollocks either. Just eat a healthy, balanced diet, not too much animal fat and protein, not too many carbs, and fill up on vegetables and 2-3 portions of fruit a day.

But the sheer quantity of food is or should be limited by your own appetite. Plates full of pasta or 1/2 your Sunday lunch being potatoes isn't following the plan. Pasta and potatoes are free but should be accompanied by at least 1/3 a plate of 'speed' which is veg or salad or fruit.

If you just had a jacket potato with beans everyday for lunch you probably won't lose weight. If you had a jacket potato with a big portion of tuna salad instead you would probably not snack in the afternoon OR eat as much for tea.

That's how the plan works. Low calorie food replacing higher calorie less satisfying food.

I'm with SW. Lost just over 1.5 stone (want to lose 3 in total). I'm learning how to cook healthy meals using the recipie books and ideas from other members from my groups Facebook page. I do like the SW cereal bars though and have one a day. Before SW I was eating a large bar of chocolate everyday. The classes are free once you reach your target so you still go to weigh and get the support of the group without spending.

I enjoy the social aspect of the group too. It's nice to get out of the house for a couple of hours a week (I work pt but too busy to chat/make friends). My confidence has grown since going to the classes too.

It's not for everyone but it's successful for many so not fair to rubbish it if it doesn't work for you.

Things like weight watchers of slimming world are not for me, be it the diets themselves or the whole group thing, public weigh ins. But the truth is it works for a lot of people. Not everyone, but for a lot it does, they either need the rules and support or the whole group camaraderie thing and the pressure of the weekly weigh ins.

Personally I tried it once, donkeys ago, and I think went twice. I thought it was mad as a bag of frogs and very fake sincere, but could see that many were really into it and being successful on it.

Each to their own and whatever works is a good thing.

I like slimming world because it promotes meat fish veg fruit etc. I like a proper breakfast ie bacon and eggs. If I have an early start I make it the night before so its in my bag ready to go with my days food. I also don't like the manic promotion of Muller yogs, fry light or sweetener so use butter and coconut oil I've had steady losses over the last year. SW has evolved over the years, I think it will again to be more healthy fat inclusive.

I wonder how many people who moan about chemicals and sweeteners are quite happy to drink plenty of wine and eat things like cake etc... it's not better because it's 'natural' sugar and a long list of ingredients doesn't mean a food will kill you

My main problem is portion control, not what I eat. I can't see how SW would work for me at all. I've never found a diet which is sustainable.

5to2 surely if it's your portion sizes that are the problem, you don't actually need a diet? You just need to cut your portion sizes!

I know it sounds stupid but just use a smaller plate. You physically can't fit as much on, but you've still got a full plate iyswim! Works for me anyway.

SW helps with portion control as you're eating filling foods. It makes it harder to overeat.

SW do encourage portion control - the free foods are not unlimited, they're no weighing, no measuring, just eat to satisfy your appetite and swap out a third of your portion with speed free foods wherever possible.

What you're supposed to do is take a portion that will leave you comfortably full and then stop.

Huge difference between artificial sweeteners, like aspartame, and wine or cake.

Stop doing Slimming World wrong! (Alan Partridge joke)

There AREN'T "high sugar low fat options" in SW. They use chemical sweetener - it's "low sugar low fat".

I'm doing SW at the moment, it's early days but it's working for me. Before this I used to do "kind of low carb but with a shitload of crusty bread added in" which led to me putting on over a stone in a year. I have had to ditch all my "eww it's not healthy" feeling at the Mullerlights and hifi bars, because at the end of the day eating all full fat cheese and mayonnaise on everything made me massively fat. If eating Mullerlights and hifi bars means I can lose 5st, I expect I'll be healthier in many ways at the end of it.

And the "free food" doesn't mean you can eat 100 tonnes. "Free food" means "it's filling, so you'll probably stop eating at a sensible point because you'll be full, and its low GL, so it won't give you an awful sugar high with a corresponding low".

SW ways aren't very fashionable at the moment. its all about high protein, low carb, no sugar, high fat at the moment. This fashion will no doubt change. It's just what works for different people - it would work for me as I'm addicted to sweet food but can take or leave actual meals.

All diets are a mugs game imo. Keeping weight off long term without disordered eating or obession is something I have yet to encounter.

I used to be a big advocate of WW but now I see them for what they truly are; a money making organisation with no interest in long term sustainable weightloss or overall health. They want just enough short term success to say it 'works'.

Dieting is part of the problem not the solution.

If you just had a jacket potato with beans everyday for lunch you probably won't lose weight. If you had a jacket potato with a big portion of tuna salad instead you would probably not snack in the afternoon OR eat as much for tea. exactly - I used to eat a jacket potato and beans and think it was a healthy lunch, and then wonder why I was starving mid afternoon.

the "free food" doesn't mean you can eat 100 tonnes. "Free food" means "it's filling, so you'll probably stop eating at a sensible point because you'll be full, and its low GL, so it won't give you an awful sugar high with a corresponding low". I say again - white pasta and white rice are not free! Only the wholemeal / brown versions, for the low GI benefits.

I used to eat white pasta or risotto with a handful of peas in it or something. Now I have half as much pasta / risotto and a big salad on the side. That's the change that's making me loose (plus at least half as much cheese )

I started SW just over 2 months ago and have lost 1st 4lbs so far. It works for me.

One third of your plate is supposed to be speed (not just free) foods which fill you up with healthy food rather than the stodgy. It's not for everyone but then again it's not compulsory.