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?

Sitting in my SW group waiting for it to start while reading this . I’ve lost another 1.5 pounds this week so very happy. Lots of new members too with it being beginning of January. Just one big cult LOL!

It doesn't change your over eating mentality. And a lot of people find routes to circumvent normal behaviour. Like making a roulade out of egg whites, candarel and horse laxatives so you can eat ALL of it. It doesn't teach you to eat a slice and back off. Having lost 4st 3 times and regained, I can vouch for their delight when you walk back in. And they discourage exercise is a sneaky way. I agree it's a weird cult. I feel like I've seen the light!

Groovee exactly
The only way to have a healthy lifestyle is to make permanent lifestyle changes.
These six week challenges pay a gym 100 quid work out like mad then go back to the way you were before. Keep the 100 Euro do some home workouts and cook from scratch

I can't agree they discourage exercise. There are shinies for body magic, a chart marking the whole groups progress and regular encouragement to move more. Fitbit challenges are the norm and some people meet for group walks. But then our group is pretty good, maybe some others aren't?

Although I admit I sometime like to eat loads, so I have melon or cucumber

I guess it's a bit like a pyramid scheme really, lots of people at the bottom paying their dues, the more meetings they have running the more magazines, "healthy bars" and shite food they can sell. Someone's making alot of money 💰

I've had 2 consultants tell me that no amount of exercise will show on the scales (bollocks) . They can't monetise exercise (yet) . I've seen one body magic award given in about 5 years!!!

I went for 12 weeks a few years ago (paid in advance so aimed to get my money's worth) and they never mentioned exercise once in that time! I was doing it anyway and people looked at me like I had two heads when I mentioned it!
And when I complained about weight loss stalling I got told to eat more potatoes! Apparently it really does work I didn't try it.

I left, but am rather disappointed they didn't hound me to return! It was a massive group so maybe they didn't miss me!

I kept a photo diary of my food and looking back my portions were far too big. I was eating my free food for meals, and healthy extras on top (rather than making them part of meals) plus syns. Plus lots of plain yoghurt as a snack, (not muller lights as they are rank) For a short person, it was just too many calories. Plus the hifi bars gave me sugar cravings like you wouldn't believe!

Listening to the people who get it completely wrong is hysterical though. "Quornio" woman was great. Had mixed up Quorn and Quinoa and was eating endless packets of Merchant Gourmet stuff. And the woman who thought raisins were meat. And the one who didn't realise butter had a syn value then started spraying her toast with fry light instead...

Fry light on toast

People put weight back on because they gradually go back to their old eating habits. There’s nothing faddy about eating fresh foods, more fruit and veg and cutting down on synned foods (crisps in my case) it’s certainly not a starvation diet!

People aren’t going to lose lots of weight eating as much potatoes/pasta as they like though just because it’s a free food, have some common sense

I did Football fans in training with the Scottish Football Association at Celtic park. It was free lasts 12 weeks.

Session is 2 hours long, first half talking about small changes different topic each week and setting a goal. Second half fitness.

Started off gentle walk round the pitch by the end of 12 weeks I could run up and down the stairs on the stands round the whole stadium. We also did some gym training, boxercise and football. Lots of variety and a chance to try new things.
Lost 10lb and it has stayed off 2 years later.
spfltrust.org.uk/projects/football-fans-in-training/

People aren’t going to lose lots of weight eating as much potatoes/pasta as they like though just because it’s a free food, have some common sense

Problem is that some SW leaders say exactly the opposite. Mine encouraged eating more carbs as a solution to the scales not moving.

I guess it depends on your group leader as to what message you get.

Who the hell thinks raisins are meat?!
Whu?!
That's got nowt to do with SW and everything to do with Raisin Person being an eejit lol

For me, my eye rolling starts when someone tells you they have had 3 take aways, been to Krispy Kreme every day, with a gain then they come out with "but I did go for a run, I just don't know how I had a gain!"

I had a friend who was a SW consultant. I was always v sceptical of SW & she used to evangelise about it all the time. The training was ridiculous & pretty useless. She was (& is) really clueless about nutrition.
I went along to a couple of meetings to support her. She is such a nice person & I needed to lose weight & thought maybe she’d prove me wrong.
It was bloody awful. She was constantly making people feel like shit about using olive oil or daring to eat an avocado, patronisingly telling people that exercising won’t burn off the bastard avocado & incoherently trying to explain why mashing fruit up made it more fattening. Anyone who deviated from the party line was put straight back in their place very firmly.
She became utterly obsessed & I don’t really see her at all now because every spare minute is take up by SW. I think her take home profit last year was pretty poor, despite it totally taking over her life.

I thought this was about Star Wars.

Avocado is quite calorie dense so it hard is syned but allowed as part of your syn allowance, just not in unlimited quantities.

I use oil instead of fry light but of course it is syned as it is very high calorie.

Mashing or blitzing fruit means you can eat more of it. If you allocate a portion then mash/cook/blitz then personally I don't syn it as I haven't increased my portion size. But you have to use some common sense (not as common as you'd think )

I think it's useful to do the plan with my fitness pal app to begin with so you focus on less calorie dense food.

I think some people assume syns should only be used on sticky buns and booze, but you can use them for healthier treats like nuts, seeds, dressing, avocado, sun dried tomatoes etc.

There are shinies for body magic

that, right there, is just how ridiculous it is. Body Magic ffs. Are the "shinies" (really? Like you give to a 4yo for getting ready for school?) made of fairy wings?

@BitOutOfPractice any positive reinforcement is good surely, we jokingly call them shinies but they ate small positive rewards for weight loss and exercise which is why we're all there. People who find it easy to maintain their weight may not see the benefit of these but for many of the people attending they are setting big goals for loss and it can feel quite daunting, breaking it down into 1/2 stone chunks with mini celebrations helps keep people going.

I think it works short term, well it did for me. Pretty healthy eating plan at the basis, but the issue for me was the lack of flexibility. Eating out (and actually enjoying it, not having a jacket potato and beans every time, or salad) was really hard and the focus was on home cooking. Great, bit when you're in work after being asked to stay later, no lunch and the shop options are sandwiches you have no real option. Even the healthy choice ones are 10plus 'syns'. So it's that, then feel guilty because of a change to your diet, or try and exist on packs of ham and carrot sticks.

I'm doing weight watchers again. I did it in the summer and enjoyed it but my head wasn't in the right place. One thing I need to watch out for it becoming obsessed, last time it was a race to keep my points as low as possible. This time I've gone either on, or just over my points each day. But I know I'm eating healthier, I'm sticking within my overall allowance and excersising more. If I went out on the weekend I could have a meal I fancied in a restaurant, or I could get a sandwich from the shops, and be ok. The flexibility is better so it works with you. With SW I found it ruled my life, meal plans, ruling food out ( they say no food is banned but when a pizza is 4 times your daily allowance and you're told you shouldn't carry them over, it doesn't work that way). With WW, I'm already finding myself thinking tea will be whatever I fancy making when I get in. There's not the delicate balancing of milk allowance, fibre allowance, do I have enough veg on the plate etc. It's less stressy.

WW meetings are much better. Sw is just going in a circle saying weight losses and is boring, to be frank. The lack of portion control isn't helpful. Yes pasta is great - but making a big plate of it isn't. It doesn't matter if you've got half a lettuce on there too, it doesn't make up for it. If you search SW on Instagram some of the portions are huge, including those treat plates. Which are promoted too in group. You're advised not to have crisps with your lunch, honey with your breakfast and a biscuit with a cuppa, instead there's talk about saving up the syns and basically binging of an evening. I'll be honest, I have a tendency to binge. But it's not a healthy habit or mindset so why promote it? That's without all the talk of being good this week. It makes food this huge huge issue. You're told that exercise is good for toning bit it's an optional extra and that excersising can make you gain weight.

I'm not saying WW is perfect. I'm sure their members refer to good and bad days too, and their snacks are also suspect. But the app is easy to use and the barcode scanner great when shopping. There's an attitude that individual days aren't the important bit, the main thing is your week overall. Exercise is positively encouraged. The group's are focused on how you'd do something - eg how do you fit in more exercise, how do you look after yourself and think positively, what lunch ideas do you have etc. You take more from the meetings. You're told that a tub of ice cream has X poinys which is low, but you shouldn't be eating the tub and should really be having portion control anyway. Binging isn't shamed at all but nor is it encouraged. You're told to spread your points throughout the day and that's a healthier way to do it, weigh day treats (as in fish and chips followed by a vat of wine and a giant dairy milk) are discouraged - I'm not saying the leader forbids you from having an extra glass of wine etc but they encourage you to use blow out days for special occasions/events and say an evening completely off each week might affect your progress. Portion control is reinforced so much and it's a good thing. Eating til were full is all well and good, but if it takes 200g pasta to fill you then that isn't a sensible portion and it should be reduced. Let's be honest, most people who are overweight aren't that way because bthey eat the correct portion size

Trust me @GoldenBlue I am not a person who has no problems with their weight. But I am also a grown up that doesn't believe in magic and who isn't motivated by stickers

I like the stickers and the celebration. It took a while before I could feel a difference in my clothes and changes size, the smaller steps helped keep me motivated. Went from an 18 to a 10/12 and kept it off over 2 years so far, which I'm proud of. I take any small reinforcements to get where I want to and stay there but we each have to work with our own style or positive feedback and if stickers don't help you what might?

We have had a number of visualisation tools such as examples of what a lb of fat looks like which again I found motivating

@BitOutOfPractice that's fine, but you realise we're all different right?
I personally like getting certificates if I've done well.
and shiny things
Each to their own.
As for "I don't believe in magic!" you totally reminded me of Vernon Dursley in that comment lol.

@goldenblue ooh yes had forgotten about the pound of fat! That's seriously weird to hold and keeps you motivated! Thinking OMG I've got several of these and then more about my person to shift...