SW is just a weird fucking cult

[Dayzedandconfuzed]

I've literally had enough of people talking about Slimming World (or Slimmers' World shudder).

It's bullshit.

It has the odd decent recipe but generally advocates for really unhealthy food habits and weird restrictions and replacements.

My main issues with it are -

Emphasis on classifying foods as 'free' or 'speed' and don't even get me STARTED on syns.

It makes members act like fucking zombies who talk in halfspeak jargon. HexBEasySp what the actual fucking fuck?

To make anything you need to use FryLight which is a heinous invention. Rapeseed or olive oil spray is 2 cal per spray and is an actual raw ingredient, not some industrial airport lubricant with added flavourings.

The amount of shit you're encouraged to add to your diet. Diet fanta and coke are staple ingredients in loads of main meals which are touted as family friendly, as are spends and other sweeteners.

It is a fucking RIP OFF. £20+ to join, £5 per week and fines if you miss a sesh. I went to a meeting twice a few years back and the group leader still adds me in group chats when attendance gets low cos he's clearly missing the $$$ now that nobody is buying his fucking HiFi bars.

I just don't see that this works. I don't know anyone who has consistently kept weight off with it - most people tend to become either yo yo dieters or shadow ED sufferers.

Why is this still a popular industry that people keep funding even though we logically know it doesn't work?

It worked for my mum. She lost weight in her 60s and has kept it off (now in her 70s). When it creeps up she goes back to the SW rules for a while and it goes again.

I think it works for her because:

1. she likes having rules to follow. Doesn't really do well with flexibility my mum :) but give her some solid clear rules to follow and there ain't no deflecting her!
2. it gave her a legitimate reason to refuse/defuse my dad's calorie-heavy meals ("oh dear I wouldn't be able to eat that. But if you do this instead then that is free foods with 2 healthy extras and 1 syn so I can have it")
3. she wouldn't eat the muller light/diet coke type foods anyway - genuinely much happier with far free natural yoghurt and some fruit. So for her it reduced the fat/calorie rich foods she ws already eating but didn't introduce other bad habits

Yeah that was it glitter but it didn’t make sense when you could eat a regular yoghurt that had the same calories but not a “free” one :/ just seemed a bit weird

Apologies but have name changed. I was Potteringon70z

I think a better question would be - what is the answer? I think that out energy would be so much better spent on finding a solution.

We cannot escape the fact that real people from a number of backgrounds need help, support and practical tips.

I’m not aligned with any weight loss group, but I recognise that this is a highly emotional subject.

Like I said, any organisation that has a string affiliation to a hashtag with "magic" in it is deeply suss to me

OK so why not do your quick google first? Enjoy your crab sticks.

@orangecushion Eh?

Don't need to Google first. What's that got to do with anything lol?!
People! Don't answer without consulting Google first. Even if your answer was right before Google checking lol.

I did lose weight successfully at SW and was so impressed I became a group consultant. My mum lent me the cash to start up.

I absolutely hated, hated, hated that job. It was probably one of the worst jobs I've ever had - and I've done some shitty stuff!

The amount of effort that went into my one x2 hour meeting each week was ridiculous. Preparing a table display, raffle prize, posters, talk. Then leafleting literally 1000s of leaflets through doors - for a tiny % response. Putting up publicity throughout the town. Then all the computer work, Record-keeping, paper returns, compiling statistics. Not to mention supporting members and answering queries at all hours of the day and night, the pressure to sell books and bars. I also had a huge amount of stock and stuff to store in my house, gave up weekends for training.... was supposed to attend local meetings and was frowned upon when I didn't.

It went on and on. SW HQ were constantly emailing and phoning with things we were meant to be doing - special promotions and competitions, sending returns.

The reward/commission levels were stingy and I never made a penny. It was so stressful and miserable I lasted less than 6 months.

Awful, awful company.

@bitoutofpractice - when you obviously haven’t bothered to read any of the previous comments. Such a reliable and solid way to base your opinions.

@Fairydust70 how are you helping? Or are you just having a go at an organisation that is trying to help?

I was answering an earlier post, not trying to help personally.

I do not believe SW are trying to help. They are a commercial company who's primary aim is to make a profit. The secondary aim is the weight loss of users, not the primary aim.

The invention of non-language for non existent things like syns and speed. This is not educating people in nutrition. This is my point.

"It DOES NOT educate people on nutrition. By the nature of the business plan it deliberately sets out to muddy understanding. It doesn't teach the basic tool needed for fat loss - calories and calorie deficit."

I feel very strongly about this. Just as you feel very strongly about the opposite. Most slimming world users would have better long term outcomes, I feel, if they were educated properly to understand nutrition.

@Spfairydust

A. I have read the thread
B. I base my opinions on having done SW myself and watching dozens of friends do it too
C. It was a throwaway comment. That's allowed I think if you're not part of the SW cult
D. Who made you thread queen? I'll comment how the fuck I want thanks

Answering me like that only reinforces my thoughts that SW is like some strange brainwashing thing. So aggressive.

It doesn't claim to educate about nutrition.
It does have an emphasis on eating from scratch meals, things like fruit, veg, pasta, rice, meat, fish, all fine to eat. Even treats such as a glass of wine or bag of crisps encouraged.
People used to calorie counting and hand wringing over what they can and can't eat might find it hard to wrap their head round.

@bitoutofptractice
Comment in any way that makes you feel good (who mentioned anything about thread Queen?).
I am not a SW member.
I didn’t swear or get abusive in my reply - I was only trying to encourage a group discussion around a possible solution.

Can someone who likes SW please explain how the pasta and sauce works?
I'm asking sincerely. When I moved to Japan, I lost 4kgs without trying and a lot of what I ate was pasta and sauce, as that's what I could recognise in the supermarket. I was still going to bars and eating out but that's what I ate at home.

I really wish there was a calorie counting group meeting that had social sides for say group walks and the like where you got weighed once a week and it was kept a track of like SW/WW.

I know there's the NHS dieticians and so on and so forth - but there's a lot to be said for accountability in a group setting.

( i did SW, lasted roughly 9 or so months. I hated the diet, it just didn't make sense to me all the things that were 'free' that were crap snacky foods like the packet pastas etc and the stupidly sweet hifi bars that made you crave more sugar rather than it satisfying your biscuit urge and so on and so forth... that and the woman who is in in every group who eats nothing but shit but has big losses every week)

If you're going to sell a weight loss programme, it generally helps if you are slim yourself. I have similar views on most service providers . For e.g. I Iike my hairdresser to have nice hair, a mechanic to have a car that works and so on.
The Sw consultant from my work place (I mentioned in earlier post) is not slim and knows absolutely fuck all about nutrition. She has a script she follows for the cult members and spends most of her working day texting 'scripted inspirational messages' to her members and collating weird diet coke and mushy peas recipes - yuck.
Members just want a quick fix and to go back to eating the same crap they where eating before ASAP.
The earlier example of the lady cutting up lasagne sheets to make crisps, because pasta is syn free just about sums it up. Its members would rather do shit like this than attempt to retrain their pallate to eat nutritious healthy food.
Agreed it's a good short term fix to get you started, but people become overweight for way more complex reasons than a lack of mushy pea recipes in their life. Sw does little to promote proper nutritional undrstanding or address the underlying reasons someone is overweight.

@PenelopeFlintstone pasta in sauce which you add water to we're synned in November 2017.

@PenelopeFlintstone I don't know why it works if you eat pasta and sauce, it just does. (Lol, sorry, that's not helpful!)
What I do know is that SW has two different days you can follow. Alternate them if you like. You can choose to go completely green days (pasta, rice, and tomato based sauces etc) and lose weight. Or if you're a meat and fish based person can do them (Red Days) or mix and match the days depending on what you end up fancying when you wake up lol.
Pasta and sauce by itself is healthy meal, maybe that's why. Carbs aren't the devil like some would believe. You need a certain amount in your diet.

Oh sorry, cross posted with someone saying pasta and sauce sachet things. If that's what you meant, I don't really eat those so don't know.

Slimming world has seemed to be ok for the people I know who did it

What does my tits in is all these shake /juice / tablets bullshit fads . The same people popping up on my Facebook as this time last year and the year before trying to pedal this shit and in the nicest possible way ... You are the same size you were last year , and two years back. Just stop. And eat normal food while your at it

It worked for me. I lost 3.5 stone.

However, several things I did that not 'endorsed' by SW:

• I bought the cheaper meals from Asda and ALDI cause they've exactly the same as the Iceland ones
• If I had any kind of carb (pasta, potatoes etc..) I would weigh it and have a standard portion size and not have anything 'unlimited' cause that's just plain stupid
• I never stayed to do the group shit. Not for me thanks.
• I weighed myself at home most days
• I didn't use cheats like making potatoes into crisps using frylight or make wraps from eggs

Also, my weight gain was temporary due to eating all the pies during pregnancy rather than a long term, complex issue with weight.

SW is full of nutritional holes. I have been on a health program the last 20 months. Lost 2 stone, 30 inches overall, gone from a size 16 to a 12; I don't miss high carbs, chocolate, fizzy juice etc because my body is getting the right amount of nutrition on a daily basis. The key is the word Nutrition. You lack one or two key items of what the body requires, it then starts craving the bad stuff like high carbs, chocolate etc. SW preys on those aiming to lose weight short term but doesn't think about the long term effects; which is why none of these diets work!

@PenelopeFlintstone plain dried pasta is free food. Eat it as part of a meal (1/3 of the plate covered in veg first). Make your own syn free or low syn sauce or buy one, you can estimate the syns from the calories per portion 20 cal = 1 syn.

Personally I make my own for Chinese I'd use stock, soy sauce, chilli, ginger, onion, garlic. For tomato i'd use pasatta, stock, tomato purée, onion, garlic, chilli. If I wanted a richer sauce I might syn a bit of chorizo and finely chop and fry with mushrooms before adding the other ingredients.

I tend to half fill my bowl with cauliflower and/or broccoli before adding any pasta and sauce. It reduces portion size and fills you up.

It works for one off weight loss. For instance my friend list the two stone she put on whilst pregnant. She was slim before abc knew how to eat properly and exercise to avoid weight gain . For her she just liked the peer support. But if you just return to eating crap after you loose the weight you will go back to what you were before. Also ageee that they promote terrible food. Need to eat proper food and restrict treats not replace them with some over processed ‘low fat’ junk.