To think what Slimming World are advertising cannot possibly be truthful?!

[iloveeverykindofcat]

My dear friend has struggled with her weight since we were in school, and despite being an intelligent woman, has wasted an awful lot of money, time and energy in fad diets/pills/shakes/teas/etc promising miracle results. Yesterday she told me she's started Slimming World, and is really excited about this diet because it lets you eat unlimited amounts of food and promises you will lose weight regardless. I thought she meant lettuce and cucumber but as the conversation progressed she told me you can have unlimited potato, pasta, rice etc some days and unlimited meat others. I didn't want to argue about it but when I got home I Googled and yep, that really is the promise, from a major, supposedly reputable diet franchise. Am I missing something here? That just seems.....not possible. And if not possible, it's false advertising, which is illegal. Am I missing something?

Well, I've lost a stone in 4 weeks on slimming world so I must be doing something right OP

Slimming world works. It's not a fad, it's not a diet even, it is a change in the way you eat. In theory you can eat as much pasta rice etc as you like but in reality you don't. It just means you don't do weighing and measuring, and you can eat what you need to feel full, that your not constantly hungry.

I lost 4 stone, and have kept it off for over 2 years.

I see so many of these posts lately.

"how does SW work?! Unlimited carbs"

"well actually the ethos is a third of your plate is filled with veg so limits the amount of pasta consumed"

"but unlimited CARBS. I DON'T GET IT"

I Come to the conclusion that people who post these questions are just thick, as it seems impossible for them to comprehend this simple premise.

It can be really helpful to be able to think of staples as "unlimited" while dieting. Stops that cycles of feeling restricted, starving, then giving in to a massive binge. So, potentially really helpful for your friend.

In practice, you have a third of a plate with salad/veg with every meal which fills you up. And you have to take care with how you cook/prepare or otherwise dress the pasta/potatoes/rice, so again the "unlimited" is naturally limited.

Generally it's quite a mentally healthy diet really with lots of research and science (including psychology) behind it.

I lost 3 stone on Slimming World.

What it taught me was:

• make sure 1/3-1/2 of plate is veg
• when going for seconds apply that rule as well
• cook from scratch using herbs and spices
• one portion of dairy and one portion of fibre per day
• That 15 syns/300 calories is a good amount for fat and sugar things e.g. Butter, sugar
• try new things
• experiment with protein/filling food
• learning what is wholesome and filling and what food your Hoover up and don't feel full or nourished with

What is was bad for:

• learning the value of calories and how they work
• dismissive of exercise and the role it plays. I walk 10000 steps a day which at my height/weight is about 500 calories burnt - about one meal!
• does stimulate a lot of sugar in diet e.g. Muller lights
• you have to shake it up every couple of weeks and look at what to change/reduce cut
• to get to target you really need to be introducing 1/2 protein meals per day

Just my experience!

Well the first week or two you lose a lot anyway as it's a shock to your body eating low fat foods like rice and pasta etc. By the end of the first fortnight the novelty of eating loads of carbs dies off and you just eat normal plates of food with carbs, protein and veg. Do you really think people are literally eating plate after plate of pasta? Weird.

If she's got a binge eating disorder then nothing is going to work really is it?

DD and DDIL are respectively 41 and 37 years old with a similar BMI pre Slimming World.DD has lost a lot of weight and is pretty much at her target.DDIL has hardly lost anything.I'm certain that there's not been any 'cheating' and DDIL does more physical stuff than DD ie lots of walking,running and gym work.
Wherehas DD is no great lover of exercise and tends to avoid it.
Horses for courses perhaps but can't help feeling sorry for DDIL.

I lost LOADS of weight on SW - all my baby weight. In less than 3 months. I am PG again at the moment and will be straight back on SW when I am ready to lose weight after this baby. My friend lost 6 stone on SW. SIX STONES.

It's essentially a low fat diet - with no weighing or measuring - it's brilliant. I think it relies on the fact that people eat roughly the same portion sizes regardless, so if you swap the foods they usually eat for lower fat foods and more veg and fruit, they will lose weight.

You are told in your new member talk that 1/3rd of your plate should be speed foods. Ideally this should replace part of what you would over eat.

You can eat lots of free foods but it's about eating until you are full and not binging.

I lost 3st in 25 weeks. I've had a holiday gain. Currently recovering from surgery but hoping to lose another 2 stone. It's about adopting a lifestyle change and looking at this as a way of eating x

I don't tend to believe most diets work;
I put on 7lb on the 3rd week of weight watchers even though I stuck to the regime and was bloody starving. However I see that a lot of folk (my own mother included) have lost lots of weight on this slimming world. Think I may give it a go!

iloveeverykindofcat - just by your own logic:

You've said you understand half plate has to be veg but other half could be infinity unlimited free food.

Well it wouldn't, would it? It would be max half the plate. It can't be infinity if its half a plate.

That half 2/3 is usually split between meat and carbs.

You are very much misunderstanding this.

waits for OP to mention how fabulous RebelFit is

Op you are quite right.
Slimming world should not be saying you can eat unlimited anything.

Their diet seems to work because the devil is in the detail but I agree with you it is very misleading to make this claim.

I don't see what the issue is. I ate unlimited pasta on slimming world.

I like pasta, veg and salad.

What's the problem?

OP that link you posted is incredibly misleading , I agree.

I've been following the SW diet since the beginning of April and I've lost over 2 stone, averaging around 1 1/2 - 2lbs a week.

Nowhere in any of the information I've been given has it said you can eat unlimited amounts of pasta or rice or any other carbs. It says that they are 'free' so you don't have to weigh / measure them, but conversely they should not be the first thing you eat. Your plate should be 1/3-1/2 of 'speed' food which is most fruit and vegetables, and by following this you are automatically limiting the amount of pasta / rice you are having as you can't fit it on your plate!

The only thing that is truly unlimited is speed food, which is the lettuce, cucumber, apples, strawberries etc that you mentioned.

Equally the red / green thing isn't what is promoted any more, so there is no way she came back from a Slimming world meeting saying that. More likely she has googled the slimming world diet, got old information and misinterpreted it.

What's with all the SW bashing threads lately?
It works for some, it doesn't work for others.
If you don't get it, don't do it

I think OP is deliberately missing the point because she / he doesn't want to believe that it works for some people/

Equally the red / green thing isn't what is promoted any more, so there is no way she came back from a Slimming world meeting saying that. More likely she has googled the slimming world diet, got old information and misinterpreted it.

More likely there is no friend just someone who wants affirmation on how it works and is trying to pluck up the courage to attend a meetings. Don't worry OP, it's not some form of evangelism like AA.

I've lost 11.5lb in four weeks so it does work

Your friend isn't understanding the diet. You need to replace a third of your free foods on your plate with speed foods. You're meant to have three meals like that, and stop eating when you're comfortably full. Snacks should be fruit/veg or out of your syns.

I've lost over 7 stone doing SW, I'm obviously,doing something right.

I think a lot of time it' s the terminology. For instance speed food. There is no such thing as speed food. It's made up jargon.

There is no magic food that will make you lose weight. It's simply that if you fill one third of your plate with low calorie food like salad or veg, you just can't fit huge amounts of protein and carbs., therefore you will have less calories overall.

It's very simple, yet there are some people who do SW who actually believe that there are such foods as speed food.!!

The healthy extras are also a nonsense. How can a sugar laden cereal bar be healthy in any Shape or form. Yet they push their own chocolate bars as being a healthy extra.

It's just daddy at the end of the day, all you need to lose weight is a calorie defict.
SW have more repeat customers than any otherc slimming club. Not surprising really is it

That should be faddy not daddy

Oh and of course people lose weight on SW. It's not because of nonsense like speed foods and syns, it's simply because they are cutting calories.