How does Slimming World work?

[DrivingRound1]

I put on a few pounds over Christmas so I'm calorie counting till they're off. My friend's doing Slimming World and she's been telling me she can have a jacket potato, cheese and beans every day for lunch and it's 'allowed'. It would wipe out over half of my calories if I ate that, but it's one of my favourite meals. Does Slimming World actually work? I've always thought it was a bit of a scam and still do really, but if it works and I can have a jacket potato, cheese and beans for dinner every day and lose weight I'd be tempted to give it a go. If it dies work, how does it?

If people stopped eating as soon as the hunger was gone then no-one would ever be overweight. People eat far past the point of being satisfied, for a whole host of reasons.

Diet companies are well aware of this, and they know that giving the option of ‘unlimited’ foods will lead to bingeing.

It works well for them . If they didn’t have returning customers their business model wouldn’t work.

And if people didn't eat crap they wouldn't either but clearly if you have poor healthy eating knowledge or will power then the focus of weigh ins and rules etc helps.
Clearly because the people who regain are the ones who do going. Some people work better with the discipline of group performance

I think people lose weight with slimming world when they have big changes to make

Going from a takeaway most nights to a weekly fakeaway and otherwise healthy dinners is obviously going to have a big impact

It works well for people like me who are usually lazy with food (takeaways, fast food, ready meals, sandwiches) to make the shift to eating food made from ingredients and Home cooking.

Obviously people who don't have those big changes to make and already eat fairly healthily don't have the same results as someone who is making a big shift

I don't think many people would eat 16 plates of plain pasta or with a healthy sauce either, especially not with platefuls of salad.

Contrary to popular belief not everybody who goes on slimming world is a binge eater, many of us are just eating the wrong things

"Again if it was that easy for everyone there wouldn't be so many people with weight problems. "

Again. I don't believe the reason why people are overweight is that they can't estimate calories. Most people can, but they like to eat too many calories.
A good description of weight loss is 'it's simple, but it's not easy'. It's simple is the sense that it's not rocket science. We generally know HOW to cut calories, we just don't WANT to because it's hard.

"One of the reason for obesity is that people are not realistic about the amount of calories they consume and underestimate what's in their food. "

This can be a part of it. It's true that some people don't realise that some healthy foods are also high in calorie because there's been some conflation of healthy/low calorie. Some dieters might not realise that muesli or orange juice are adding a lot to their calorie count or that their portion of cereal is much bigger than the one shown on the packet. However, not weighing food is not the reason why most people are fat. It's because they eat too many calories (and usually they KNOW they're doing that, even if they're in some form of denial.)

I don't believe the reason why people are overweight is that they can't estimate calories

I agree. A big driver in people being overweight is that unhealthy food in too large portions is being pushed at us everywhere and if we do try to make healthy choices, we firstly have to find them and then ignore the majority of the unhealthy food that looks more tasty and satisfying and is usually cheaper or is instantly available instead of taking effort to prepare.

Eg all the sandwich shops and supermarkets that will sell you a cheese sandwich for a pound or two, or £3 with a sugary drink and crisps or sweet thing as well but wants £4 for a salad that will leave you hungry.

Or course you can make your own but that takes thinking, planning, time and effort and you have to carry it round with you when you go out and many people either don't have the time, or do but can't be bothered.

sky news link

There's a link to an article that discusses a study.

Also there used to loads of programmes where families diets were looked at them improved. More often than not, the families were shocked at how many crisps they are a week. Or that Gillian mckieth (I think that was her name) where they would like a weeks worth of someone's food on a table and they were horrified by what they ate.

You may think people find calorie counting easy. Even though you arent calorie counting. You are just reducing calories, without counting them. Which is actually what slimming world does. Reduces overall calorie intake.

But some many people need a plan to follow, just reducing portion sizes or swooping cake for salad doesn't work for lots of people. If it did. There wouldn't be a weight problem. Some people who are happy to be over weight would be. But not at the scale it's at.

And again if most calorie counters didn't need to count calories, my fitness pal wouldn't be so popular

Of course people overestimate portion sizes when pictures on cereal bowls show them a heaped bowl of coco pops on them. As PP said above, the whole basis of SW is that you aren't weighing low calorie foods, but the stuff that is more difficult to estimate, you are. If you automatically know the calories in a slice of bread, you would only know that because its pre measured and you've looked up the calories before and remembered them. Many people can very easily overestimate the calories in a spoon of mayonnaise for example.

Re why some people are overweight

Isn't there some relevance to body shape as well? I am overweight and could diet and get slimmer, of course. But I would still be large hipped, large breasted and heavy legged as that is the way my body is made. I'd be a slimmer pear shape but I wouldn't look like a model. I will never have shapely ankles. I think so many young people hold themselves up to an impossible goal because our society values one particular body shape and makes people with different shaped bodies feel shame and that if they weren't greedy/ lazy they, too, could have a body like Kate Moss. They are being sold a lie. In my case, once I realised I would never be a size 10 and would always be "fat" (I was 9 1/2 stone) I thought "what's the point of trying?".

"Even though you arent calorie counting. You are just reducing calories, without counting them."

I AM counting, just not weighing. Yes, some of my counts will be estimates - not all, because if I eat something from a packet then the calorie amount is there for me.

"And again if most calorie counters didn't need to count calories, my fitness pal wouldn't be so popular"

I never said you don't need to count calories to count calories. That would be strange. I said you didn't need to weigh things. And the fact that people like My Fitness Pal doesn't mean they HAVE to use it. People have been losing weight since before MFP existed.

"Also there used to loads of programmes where families diets were looked at them improved. "

Well, yes, lots of people are completely in denial about how much they eat. That's not really to do with not being able to estimate calories though.

Anyway you look at it. You need to weigh food to have an accurate count of calories.

What you are doing is exactly what slimming world does. If everyone found it easy to themseleves, do you think people would join.

Denial is one of the reasons people should weigh food when calorie counting. That's exactly why they should weigh them, as per the nhs advice. Because people may think they are having about 50grams of oats or whatever, but they are in denial and having twice that amount.

Slimming world is for very overweight people who have no idea about diet or nutrition and never cook from scratch.

You wouldn't find me paying money to cook chicken with diet Fanta.

As a business model, SW wouldn’t work if it was successful. If everyone lost weight off it, people would soon leave their classes and continue their lives. But because people yo-yo in weight off it, they keep going back to their meetings, in turn giving the company repeat profit. There’s also stupid rules about Syns. I read something about a banana being no Syns but mashed banana containing Syns. I’m pretty sure your limited on your milk intake, but not your muller yoghurt intake? The best way to lose weight is to be in a calorie deficit, eat less, move more.

The mashed/cooked/puréed fruit needing to be counted is to prevent over eating. You can still have it but count it it's not for eating freely. Otherwise you could be having several smoothies a day.

Yes milk is measured but you can have plenty as your healthy option A, you get 2 As now a day and can pick milk for both plus have more if you want and count it.

Mueller lights are not unlimited, need to be counted and not compulsory.

"As a business model, SW wouldn’t work if it was successful. If everyone lost weight off it, people would soon leave their classes and continue their lives. "

As others have said, in our society, there's a constant stream of overweight people who can join.

"If everyone found it easy to themseleves, do you think people would join. "

Losing weight isn't easy. Whoever said it was? All I'm saying is that you don't have to weigh all your food to count calories. It's not the lack of scales that makes losing weight difficult.

You don't weigh all your food of slimming world. So what's the issue?

But on a when reducing calories, it's recommended to weigh your food and most people do.

"it's recommended to weigh your food and most people do."

Like I've pointed out, it's just your opinion that most people do weight their food.

I don't know if your question about Slimming World was aimed at me. I don't have any issues with Slimming World and have never done it. I don't blame it or any other slimming programme for the fact that many people relapse.

"all the sandwich shops and supermarkets that will sell you a cheese sandwich for a pound or two, or £3 with a sugary drink and crisps or sweet thing as well "

In one place I went to it was so much cheaper to get a 'meal deal' that I had to put a Mars bar on the counter and then put it back so I could get the meal deal price. That kind of thing shouldn't be allowed.

That kind of thing shouldn't be allowed.

I do agree with this. Those meal deal are ridiculous.

You can say it's just my opinion. It's your just opinion that they don't. I worked in the health and fitness industry and owned a food business within it. I sold my share to my exh when I divorced. Most if my friends are people I met within it. I can tell you, calorie counting involves weighing at least most of your food, unless you are only eating pre prepped stuff. If you arent weighing food, you are just cutting back to get an approximate reduced calorie level.