To hate slimming world?

[TOADfan]

My 3 best friends are on slimming world and I dont hear enough of how wonderful it is and today I went to doctors who instead of offering nutritional advice said "go to slimming world"

I dont get how anyone thinks it is healthy.

You can eat unlimited muller light yoghurts but only 225ml of milk
Unlimited pasta but no brown bread or wheat ceral (unless its an extra)
Unlimited fruit but an avacado is 16 syns!! (Yes high in fat but bloody good fat)
Not to mention smash, frylight, hi fi bars and chicken made with diet coke.

I get it works for people and yes there are good results but it does not make nutritional sense.

Am i the only one who doesnt understand it?

V few people will get thin eating pasta or processed sugary crap.
True fact.

Most people should follow a low GI diet. It's the blood sugar spikes and the carb addiction that is the problem.

Ive done both SW and WW (hated SW, found it so restrictive re fats, cereal and dairy) and lost quite a bit of weight with ww. However both don't allow much fat or dairy and promote Syns or treat points, which meant I could still eat a fair bit of rubbish (or even more of the artificial chocolate ww sell). So I don't think either particularly train you to eat a balanced, healthy diet, or to overcome sweet tooth addictions. This year I've just cut out sugar, processed food and started eating a lot more (healthy) fat and dairy. I don't count anything, weigh anything, do any extra exercise, it's just so easy. I've been eating absolutely loads and have lost 8lbs this month without trying, and even better, dropped well over a dress size. I doubt I will ever go back to SW or ww.

Ive done both SW and WW (hated SW, found it so restrictive re fats, cereal and dairy) and lost quite a bit of weight with ww. However both don't allow much fat or dairy and promote Syns or treat points, which meant I could still eat a fair bit of rubbish (or even more of the artificial chocolate ww sell). So I don't think either particularly train you to eat a balanced, healthy diet, or to overcome sweet tooth addictions. This year I've just cut out sugar, processed food and started eating a lot more (healthy) fat and dairy. I don't count anything, weigh anything, do any extra exercise, it's just so easy. I've been eating absolutely loads and have lost 8lbs this month without trying, and even better, dropped well over a dress size. I doubt I will ever go back to SW or ww.

Im on SW, I think its just eating real food really - bread, milk, cheese and higher calorie foods are eaten in moderation, with plenty of veg, fruit, meat, fish etc. Lots of home cooking but thats a good thing as it taught me to cook.
Today ive had carrot and coriandur soup and a wholemeal roll, 3x milk tray chocolates, lots of water, tea was pasta and meatballs and a salad, ive had a bowl of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries with a cherry muller light stirred through. Am going to have a glass of wine, and any snacks will be fruit or cold meats.

Newpapaguinea
If no diets work then should no one bother losing weight at all?

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I find some aspects of it weird too. The names for things was one thing... body magic, star week etc

Followed a lot of SW people on instagram for a bit cause I was curious about the diet and found the amount of dried pasta/noodles/processed stuff odd. But then I suppose it does encourage cooking from scratch too and the 'light' yogurts and cereal bars etc are just an alternative to actual treats... Way less calories so much better for weight loss even if not actually healthy.

It seems to get results though.

I wish people would realise that fruit is not all that great compared to VEGETABLES. Vegetables are your friend. Berries are ok but personally I think a lot of fat people eat way too much fruit and then wonder why they are fat. They contain too much sugar and it's easy to overdo portions. And don't get me started on fruit juice.

Vegetables are high in nutrients and fibre but lower in sugar and calories in general.

Oh yeah, and I was going to say their enthusiasm/social media presence is becoming quite comparable to MLM bots in some cases!

I'd be hungrier after a muller light / cereal bar than I was before it!

Atkins all the way for me, thanks!

One things I do despise about the people I know on slimming world is- constantly telling me what they've had to eat during the day! It's obsessive, and I'd be interested if it was an interesting meal but: overnight oats, pasta, muller light, mugshot, ready meal. Repeat. Gets old real fast. I'm sure some people of the diet cook delicious home cooked meals, just not the ones in my office. Yawn

Yanbu in not understanding op but the reason gps can recommend this eating plan and ww is because of grey are approved and recognised as effective when followed.

Your friends do not sound like they are following the plan well, the recommendation is to eat a breakfast for example and to eat a wide range of free food sources.

Like any healthy eating plan you need to follow it long term to lose weight and make the changes permanent to keep the weight off. I lost my excess weight over 17 years ago and havent regained more than half a stone ŵhere I have become unfocused.

Would suggest looking at the weekly eating plans in the magazine, generally family friendly food that follows the eatwell plate guidelines.

Don't work for them but did lose over 30kg with them

They not grey

Chunder my gut feeling is the people in your office will be the ones who don't succeed. Sw taught me that losing weight and eating healthily required me to cook from scratch.

If you don't like SW don't do it its as simple as that! Find a diet you do like, there's a million out there from ducan diet to raw vegan and everything in between. One thing I read recently was you will be most successful with a diet you really believe in and can commit to.

I don't agree that dieting just doesn't work. How would people ever lose weight if this was true? But you do have to change your attitude to food and eating.

I lost 3.5st on slimming world and kept the weight off for 4 years when I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. My weight went up and my poor eating crept in as I was too ill to cook.

But I have gone back. I've cut out my too many packets of crisps and stop and think about what I can eat. Today I went to the carvery and filled up on lots veg!

I don't spend my time filling up on Muller Lights! They seem to flare up my fibro and my reflux. But it does make me stop and think about what I need to eat. I've cooked from scratch every day since starting. Well last night I did get a M&S dish which was free for a change.

I got told I had to lose weight as they won't give me treatment. But I need the kick up the bum to eat healthily and doing it this way helps. I was cheating on my fitness pal and still eating stuff which wasn't helping my reflux.

But it's not for everyone. Weight watchers wasn't for me. But if you are in my category of morbidly obese, then what works for you while being healthy is what should be the key!

I just need to work out what can be my exercise as my hips are playing up big time!

Its not really that simple Tinsel as any advice about weight loss gets people going on about it

The SW board on here has some long term members who can give advice and help with recipes etc. I love Pinch of Nom and Twi Chibby Cubs for some good recipes.

Two Chubby Cubs sorry! Tired tonight x

I can't get on board with any plan which says that avocados are bad and ham cooked in diet coke is good.

I don't think seeing it as a diet does work. I think for it to be successful you need to get yourself out of the "I'm on a diet" mentality and have a "I am making lifestyle changes" mentality.

I do SW. It works for me. Different things work for different people. If we all had a healthy relationships with food we wouldn't need to 'diet'.

I am vegetarian and suffer from GERD so really can't do low carb, high fat, high protein - I have tried but I had acid/indigestion, headaches, tummy ache and bloating all the time. I can't do 5:2 as when I have very low calories i feel ill and light headed. I have done meal replacements, ok for a month or so to loose a stone but then you need to do something else. I have done WW but just prefer SW. Less counting. Some stuff being free, once you know what that is, you can grab stuff without looking/logging everything.

On SW I eat mostly fruit, vegetables, quorn, cottage cheese, yogurts (mullers, brooklea or other fat free or total greek 0%) with some carbs. I don't go mad with the carbs and eat less than I used to, bulking up with veg. Most days I have some cheese (30-40g), either cereal, bread or ryvitas and a small amount of chocolate/something sweet and some sauces/dressings/gravy to add flavour. I have milk in drinks (which I don't bother counting). I use frylight, don't have butter and try to only drink at weekends (I managed to do dry January). I have been making lots of soup :)

For me this is a healthy diet. I have stopped cooking with oil, and cream, mostly stopped eating processed food (I have an occasional ready meal or mugshot) and cut down the bread and booze. I eat much less chocolate, crisps, biscuits and cake but can still have them now and again. I am mostly not hungry and enjoy the food I am eating so am much less likely to eat junk.

I know what I need to do without going to SW but without that focus I get from attending group (and talking with other SW members) I struggle to stick to the plan. Once I stop going, I slowly drift back into bad habits.

It is not so much a case of when you stop the diet you put on weight but rather when you start eating crap again you put on weight.

Not for me. I think it creates a bot of a food obsession 'ooooh how many syns have I got left' and teaches awful psychology around some foods being unlimited / free.... invite to binge or what?!?!? for everything you put in your mouth there IS a reaction. ... be it a gain in fat / a swing in blood sugar leading to hunger pangs ...or whatever.

I say exercise, add some muscle tone and track your cals and macros, become educated on real nutrition and how to fuel your body rather than subscribing to a lazy commercialized plan.

... I would say I do think the group element has its merits though, a support network and perhaps a little friendly accountability

I did sw for 4 months and lost nearly a stone last year, but then I stopped because I felt like I didn't want to spend £5 every week just to get weighed and listen to how much weight other people have lost or gained. There were some things I liked about it, and I'm still following the basic principles, like really limiting bread and using fry light, but some of the advice given in my group was pretty ropey, like having jam on toast when you're really hungry and the relentless plugging of Iceland slimming world products, which I found really grating. There were also several people in my group who never lost any weight, and often gained, but still returned to pay their £5 every week. I think sw works if you have a lot of weight to lose and never cook, as it's a good starting point, but obviously it is a company which needs to make money, and I felt like they'd had enough of mine!