AIBU or is "slimming world" just healthy eating?

[mumof2exhausted]

Genuinely curious - looking at some slimming world recipes etc in magazine and it just seems to be healthy recipes cooked from scratch and cutting out crap (crisis / chocolate etc). Am I missing something? Looking to drop half a stone (last half stone after having kids) and curious if it's worth it for me?

I lost 11 pound in first week and now between 2 and 4 pound a week, but I had 4.5 stone to lose. Another 3 to go. It's impossible to overload on carbs as at least one third of your plate has to be speed food. So it's a weight loss plan for those overweight but if you don't have much to lose, you may not lose anything or would lose slowly. It does encourage healthy eating though, and I find I get a lot of fruit and veg into my diet without really thinking about it, as I'm concentrating on following the plan.

You could have a cooked breakfast (grilled lean bacon, low fat sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, egg, beans, wholemeal toast, even SW compliant fried potatoes) daily and lose weight because a big filling breakfast means that it is likely that you would eat less later in the day, especially if you are like me and prefer to eat more food early in the day, rather than little but fruit, yogurt and salad all day in anticipation of a big dinner.

Of course it's a lot of processed meat and SW do warn that you should only have it once or twice a week. I've done SW a couple of times and it's worked despite only ever having a stone or so to lose.

The first time I went I was gobsmacked that I lost 4.5 pounds in my first week.

But yes OP, SW is just 'healthy eating' so it baffles me that any mention of it on here brings out armies of posters who clearly don't have a clue what they are talking about witter on about piles of pasta, mug shots and muller lights.

Healthy apart from all the chemical sweeteners they put in everything.

sweet you don’t have to use sweeteners. You can just leave it out.

Healthy apart from all the chemical sweeteners they put in everything.

Who is 'they'

Slimming world don't make my meals.

I don't use artificial sweeteners.

So yes, healthy.

It's all about choices.

You don't have to use sweeteners, it's there as an option instead of sugar. Yes sweetener is artificial but for weight loss it's better than sugar. Slimming World has been going for years with lots of success stories, so it must obviously be doing something right. It's called food optimising because you can adapt almost any meal and make it healthier by cutting out the fat, thereby reducing your calorie intake.

I don’t eat anything with artificial sweeteners. I have fat free yogurt, loads of fruit and veg, lean meat occasionally, fish more often. I had my gallbladder out a few years ago and get phantom gallbladder pain. Following a low fat diet has pretty much got rid of this.

SW uses the NHS Eatwell Plate as its model.

I get bored with TrollyMcTrollface announcing every five minutes shes got a collegue on 400 muller lights with grated freddo frogs.

Everything in moderation. People dont seem to understand that. And if you reach your target and revert back to shovelling sugar and fat down your gullet by the bucket load, of course it isnt going to work long term. SW is a lifestyle change, not a sort term fix.

I’m trying to reduce my carb intake and increase my protein intake. I’m an old woman and overweight. My calorie intake is quite low, about 1300 daily. I do plenty of walking 10-13,000 steps a day (nearly!). Does anyone know the best crispbread that has almost equal carb/protein content?

I really don't know what the issue with sweeteners is either. I don't have sugar in hot drinks but I like fizzy drinks and squash and sweeteners are better than sugar.

SW must be doing something right as it has helped quite a few people I know lose a decent amount of weight.

I need to lose weight and have opted for upping my exercise quite a lot and healthy eating/ keeping an eye on calorie intake. That’s also working really well and hasn’t cost me a penny

You've got to use a bit of common sense really though.

I've been very successful with SW but I limit pasta to twice a week max and make sure my portions are a reasonable size, ensuring most of my plate is protein and veg.

BUT - even unlimited boiled pasta and rice is a step up if you're comparing the SW plan to the fast-food habits of lots of the nation these days.

And I'm yet to use any sweetener....

Although I do tend to have diet Coke at the weekends and the occasional (don't shoot me) Muller Light.

take a look at the eatwell plate on NHS choices, then look at what SW advocate.... very very similar so tbh if you followed the eatwell plate to the letter you would likely lose weight and feel better, staying healthy and doing some exercise is really all it takes, to lose weight you don't have to starve or focus on food massively, count calories etc. Willpower to stick to the easily available healthy eating messages, avoiding processed / fast food and cooking from scratch combined with moving more is all it takes. Trouble is it is not a quick win, it takes a while and most of us want a miracle 'diet' that gives us a massive weight loss in a short time, we forget it took a while to reach a weight where we are unhappy so it will take a while to get back to where we would like to be. find the willpower, accept it will not be a quick fix and embrace a healthy diet and yes you will lose weight. No food should be banned, just learn the difference between the food groups and limit the less healthy ones, once you ban them then you fixate on them, learn to have them in moderation, enjoy them but increase the healthier options and see the weight drop.