Slimming world. Is it a con/cult?

[Emcont]

Basically that really. I've read positive stories but also some completely bat shit crazy ones!

I have a considerable amount of weight to lose. I have recently joined the gym. But I'm reading conflicting advice about the gym and slimming world.

Is it worth it?

I had a look at Team RH and also find the swearing a total turn off but I do agree with some of what they are saying. Some of how they encourage people looks positive. Don't think any of these companies bathe themselves in glory by pointing fingers at other companies. RebelFit seems very angry at people who follow slimming plans, to be swearing and calling them morons. Wow.

My son does SW, and likes it. Unfortunately he tends to stop going after a while and puts the weight back on again. But I think he'd do that with whichever weightloss method he followed. He just eats normal food though, not weird stuff.

Read more widely on it and don't be brainwashed. Try Rebelfit and the Fitness Chef online, and the book How to have your cake and your skinny jeans, to name a few.

Just bought and read most of "How to Have your Cake and Skinny Jeans" on the strength of that post. It's very convincing and I'm going to give it a go. Thank you HobbyIsCodeForDogging!

@lazylinguist you're welcome, I discovered it through these boards as well. It's mind blowing.

If anyone else is interested in possibly reading it look at these Kindle screenshots (hope this works!) for a taster of the damning evidence of the effects of dieting...

If diets don't work then what does?

Surely most people are aware diets don't work, it's not new information. Then again it's New Year and half the women I work with are on diets yet again....

It's very obvious how it works - calorie deficit, it makes you go into a deficit without you really noticing. But this method means you gain the weight back easily.

The issue is very obvious and it teaches you no nutrition. For example, a banana is "free" and in this respect it means you could eat as many as you like. A banana is 100 calories or there abouts. A slice of bread is also about 90 calories. You're only allowed 2 slices of bread but you can have as many bananas as you like? It's illogical.

Some people "follow the plan 100%" and "don't know why they haven't lost weight" and it's because they snack on a punnet of grapes and think that's healthy.

So SW works if you follow it for a long time and stick to it. If you want to eventually drink and enjoy life you will gain it back.

diets do work. It's people going back to unhealthily eating that causes weight gain rebound

damnthatanxiety there are diets that can be unhealthy or unsustainable long term. Also will power plays a big factor. It's a total life style change. I love healthy food. Occasionally I will have junk food but not often. Also many people have treats everyday totally missing the point it's nor a treat it's part of your diet.

It wants your repeat business.

Over half the adult population is overweight. SW does need to worry, for the time being at least, about repeat business.

Damnthatanxiety But the reason people go back to unhealthy eating is because diets like SW are so unsustainable in the long term that the body can't cope with being deprived and eventually the urge to break them becomes so great that you start eating all the forbidden foods you've been avoiding.

I tried it a few times and lost weight. Went back to normal eating and put it all back on. The unlimited pasta and potatoes is so misleading. You get into a habit with that and then carry on and puke the weight back on. 1000 calories is 1000 calories whether or comes in the form of meat, fish, ice cream or "free foods" like veg and pasta.

I'm now doing intermittent fasting and have a much healthier view of food. Nothing is off limits or "syns". If I want chocolate I don't have to save up for days to have a treat. I know i can have one in a few hours if I still want it. Normally I don't though because the craving had passed.

I would read up on different lifestyles before you commit to a "diet". You also have to be in the right mindset and be doing it for the right reason in my experience otherwise you are doomed to fail.

I honestly think that different ways work for different people so you will get loads of people who hate SW and loads who love it. For some people it works for some it works temporarily but without knowing whether people cheat etc that doesn't help.

It's not for me personally but then I'm Keto and I've had loads of SW devotees tell me my way of eating is dangerous. I'm always tempted to show them the figures (drop of 7 stone, reduction in blood pressure reduction in cholesterol etc etc) however I dont say the same to then because honestly if it works for them and makes them feel good...fantastic, that's what we all aim for right?

I dont eat sugar so I find it odd that SW suggests processed things like Muller lights and convenience food and frankly for me any diet that requires you to pay is not for me, but again, hey if it works , crack on.

My Dm and dsis have just joined ww and for dsis (as much as I'm not overly fond of her) I can absolutely see that having a weekly group to check in with will be great for her. It's my idea of hell so again what works for one may not work for another. They are all valid if ultimately people are healthier.

So to be honest OP try it , if it works for you great, if not look for an alternative, with access to technology you can research whichever way of eating is effective for you.

I think it depends on the individual.

For some if followed correctly it can provide a structure and guidelines for dieting and it helps them to lose weight healthily and steadily still allowing occasional treats.

However others take it a bit far and I’ve seen some depressing Instagram pages of photos of a bit of ham on a cracker with a side of raw tomatoes as they obsessively track every calorie and think about food 24/7.

I had a friend who did it intensely and she lost weight but it was all we heard about - what she had eaten, what she would eat later, what she couldn’t, a dissection of menus when we went out with an analysis of all the calorie contents of everyone’s choices. It was depressing that it clearly overtook her life.

I guess, as they say, the definition of madness is doing the same thing again and again and expecting different results. It's so very frustrating to realise after 20 or 30 years of on-and-off dieting that you might well now be slimmer if you'd never started dieting in the first place.

According to the statistics in the book Hobby recommended, dieting fails to lead to long-term weight loss for 99.5% of dieters. That's pretty damning.

diets do work. It's people going back to unhealthily eating that causes weight gain rebound

That proves that diets don't work. Something that 99.5% of people fail to stick to long-term cannot be described as an effective methid that works. If 99.5% of people can't do it, it is not the individual's willpower that's at fault, it's the method.

I once lost 2 and a half stone just by exercise. I went to the gym 5 times a week, I did 40 minutes cardio then weights. I kept the weight off for over 10 years until the cursed perimenopause hit me for 6.

I never let upon the exercise though. I continued to go 4 times a week after I got to my goal weight. I ate what Iwanted it was fucking brilliant.

Now no matter what I do Iook like a matronly fatty.

@Oysterbabe
I'm sure it works but a lot of people do turn a bit bonkers. If you find yourself rolling a bread roll in splenda and calling it a doughnut then you're crossing to the bad side.
Made me lollolllll

For all SW folk here whi have lost weight.

Research shows that 95% of you will regain the weight within five years and that around 45% of you will be heavier than your original weight.

THIS IS NOT YOUR FAULT.

Diets are not designed to be sustainable long term. Your body adjusts to you being heavier, it does not like it when you lose weight. Your subconscious brain (the bit you don’t control) will eventually drive you to higher calorie foods. ..until you are back at the weight it thinks you should be.

The 5% who maintain weight loss do so because they discover exercise in a big way.

And ...you can achieve almost as good results for your health by exercising and NOT dieting.

Google Rebelfit.

Also read Professor Traci Mann “Secrets of the Diet Lab”.

If you’re dieting and still in the exhilaration stage where it’s easy you won’t believe me. But buy the book when suddenly you can’t stick to the diet anymore and find out why,

Worst advice in the world is eat less and move more.

Better advice is Eat more and Move more and ask yourself how foods make you feel, how they help you perform if you exercise etc. but don’t forget to eat a bit of crap food too...you’re human.

My mum has lost something like 5 stone with slimming world. Her various health complaints have cleared up, she looks amazing, and she’s the lightest she’s been since she was a teenager.

But she isn’t happy. Instead of being really fucking proud of herself and enjoying her slim, healthy new body all she can talk about is how she’s not at her ‘goal’ yet and how she’ll be happy if she can just lose the last 5lb. That’s been the case for going on a year now and it makes me so sad. I told her that I thought she should be proud of herself and stop obsessing over the last few lb and she got all panicky and practically started crying at the thought of stopping now. It broke my heart.

I did WW years ago and it was a similar story for me. I looked fucking incredible (now I look back at photos) but I just remember feeling miserable and obsessively ‘pointing’ everything even when I was at my slimmest. I remember the group leader encouraging me when I said I wanted to keep going, and it was all very unhealthy.

I do think there’s a place for these clubs but I don’t think they are always conducive to happy, healthy body image and it’s very easy for people to become obsessive.

And the whole unlimited Muller Light thing on SW is a particular bugbear of mine, although that may have changed now!

I am doing ww.ive tried healthy eating etc but my portion control was too high.
I've slowly list over 2 stone.I eat my normal food(vegetarian,),tweaked and don't eat some things at all(pastry,garlic bread)and can now see by eye if my portions are the right size.We eat very little processed food and I don't have a sweet tooth so some bits are easy.
I'm finding it hard after Christmas but still have a stone to go.
I am under no illusion that keeping the weight off will be easy but I'm 60 this year so my eating habits are changing for good.
As for knowing when you're full and stopping eating,this spectacularly misses what over eating and being over weight is about.

I did slimming world but it didn’t really work for me because it didn’t address portion size and emotional eating.

I used to roll my eyes at the “Not losing weight? Eat more potatoes” advise.

I’m working now on not emotional eating which is any eating when you’re not actually hungry including being bored, upset, tired, being polite or because the clock says it’s mealtime. It’s really hard to unpick those bad habits and I’m getting there. I’ve always said my meals are ok, it’s all the crap in between that’s the problem.

Slimming world says any time you feel hungry you can eat. What’s not always clear is that the urge to eat isn’t always a reflection of actual hunger.

It does seem to work for some people in the short term. Personally I think it's a money making racket. With all their special foods and silly cult like meetings.

lisasimpsonssaxophone That's really sad and disturbing to read. Your poor mum. She's lost weight but gained a complex about dieting.

I lost weight on SW and have managed to keep it off as I’ve managed to change my whole outlook on food. I’m not now sticking to the SW diet, but am applying its principles - lots of fruits and veg, protein, some carbs, occasional unhealthy snacks. This is sustainable for me, as by not denying myself anything I reduce the chance of me binging and overeating. I am really enjoying my food now and feel in control.

People who put all the weight on are those who think they can go back to normal eating after dieting. Their normal eating was not normal, as it made them put on all the weight in the first place.