Slimming world. Is it a con/cult?

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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?

You definitely can’t do slimming world and go to the gym.......

I lie, I did 50 mile 3 hour bike rides whilst doing slimming world 😊
I did gym sessions in the morning before breakfast and then had porridge, oats and a banana- worked a treat

The basic principle is great, and works. Increase ‘speed’ food (fruit and veg), decrease fat. People don’t understand the difference between free and speed.

One week in group someone said they’d made a pizza By making their own bread and rolling it etc, didn’t know how to cAlculate syns but really enjoyed it (and had lost 4lb that week). That resulted in a 15min discussion on weight watchers wraps. People could grasp that a wrap still has calories

Couldn’t*

It can work, and does for many, but probably only as much or the next diet.
It’s important to understand the principles behind how they sell it to you. So often people come to group and don’t understand why they haven’t lost weight because they’ve been ‘good’ all week, but they haven’t actually followed the plan properly.

There is ‘free’ food on slimming world, that you don’t have to weigh or measure (fruit, veg, pasta etc), but there is also a principle called the ‘healthy plate’.
The aforementioned person who had been ‘good’ but not lost weight probably ignored the ‘healthy plate’ principle which is that within the ‘free’ foods there are certain foods that are going to contribute more readily to weight loss- these are called something like ‘super free’ or ‘speed food’ and should make up 1/3 if any meal or snack.
Basically these foods are low in calories (think salad) and by having 1/3 of the plate made up of them, it’s helping to keep the calorie count low, so if you ignore this, you could be ‘good’ in that you have free food (ie pasta) only, but then actually have a massive amount of calories and thus don’t actually eat well.

IT works in the short term but most people put it back on because it isn't sustainable long term.

I've seen some people lose a spectacular amount of weight on SW (a wheelchair bound friend of mine has lost 6 stones over 2 years) but I hate it. I hate the groups, hate the fact they make up hideous recipes with junk to fit in with the plan and hate the fact that buying a sandwich takes me over my syn limit.

I found straight calorie counting far more helpful.

Oh and yes. go to the gym. That alone won't help you lose weight but it will help and will improve fitness.

Everyone I've known who's done it has become obsessed with it, lost weight then put it straight back on again after. They then go back and repeat the cycle.

Sw is more interested in profit than its members. As seen in porky lights controversy, how litigious it is going after aldi for having slimming meals and it’s gotten pinch of nom to take syn values of its recipes. That’s the last straw for me as it’s clearly not worried about people’s health so much as profiteering from it. So I won’t now be going back as planned this month.

I lost 2 stone on it last year, but did it on the app and not a group, I’ve heard they can go a bit mad. For me, I dint think it was so much Slimming World, but the fact I was keeping a food diary so therefore more aware of what I was actually eating. It did make me more conscious of my choices, but easy to follow, even if eating out etc.

It's a very unhealthy plan, and everyone I know who tried WW or SW has put more weight back on that they lost.

Just focus on nutrition, track your calories and up your exercise, you'll soon be a whole new you for the rest of your life :)

Slimming world has always been the most successful way of losing weight for me because it’s ‘easy’. I struggle with calorie counting because of having to weigh and measure everything, and thus give up far quicker than I ever have doing slimming world.

But I do struggle occasionally with it because it requires organisation.
On the basis of syns, I could make myself a pasta salad at home for lunch, using entirely syn free ingredients, but if I went out and bought a sandwich, which may be of equivalent calorie value, I could easily use up all my syns.

I think it can work, but found out that it was not for me. The important thing is to know which type of diet it is - and i think it is a low fat diet. This works best if you do not eat any ready made food (including yogurts) where the fat is replaced with sugar.

sw is not a con/cult. It's a plan which if followed works. Those we regain weight most probably go back to the old habits which made them over weight in the 1st place. I view the meeting as my version of AA as I am addicted to the wrong foods and need support on avoiding it. Ive so far lost 4 stone and feel so much better.

I did Weightwatchers 7 years ago and lost nearly 2 stone but have regained all of it. Has anyone actually managed to keep off the weight after doing SW or WW?

Cult. Avoid for all the reasons mentioned above.
Of course you will lose weight if you follow the plan, it's just a confusing way of restricting calories!
There is no such thing as a 'free' food. Everything has a calorie content.
Loads of people at my work do SW and cant wrap their head round calories in / calories out. One colleague thought she had been 'bad' by having crumpets with butter and jam for breakfast and would have to 'syn' for it. I asked why didn't she just eat a bit less at lunch or tea time (and give the high-fi bar a miss) and that would make up for any extra calories. She couldn't get it though.
From what I've seen it causes people to get some really odd ideas about food that is not healthy.

You’d be better off signing up to my fitness pal and recording what you eat.
Look up James Smith on Facebook.

I had a debate about this at work. One woman said it does work it’s great for her - she’s been doing it for 5 years!

5 years, still over weight, paying weekly.

I've lost 5.5st on SW. Am 21 months at target. I need accountability and the support I get from the friends I've made there gets me through.

For me a it a huge overhaul of my eating. I look to replace some of carbohydrates on my plate with vegetables or salad. It's what I needed to do and for me cooking from scratch rather than chucking breaded chicken in the oven.

People do go to town with baking a roll and covering it with chocolate spread and sticking cream in it. Personally I'd rather turn the roll into a BLT.

What works for one person might not work for another so people follow different plans to lose weight. As long as you lose it then maintain it sensibly what does it matter.

Didn’t work for me as it didn’t teach me about portion control. I can eat a LOT of pasta, rice or potatoes.

All of these things are a con. They’re taking money off people who are feeling vulnerable for a service you can provide to yourself, for free.

Eat less, move more... no?

If you find yourself rolling a bread roll in splenda and calling it a doughnut then you're crossing to the bad side.

Omg do people actually do this

It’s about the only thing that works for my sister.

The whole concept Wouldn’t work for me i don’t want to be weighed in front of a group - and even the time spent getting weighed would be better spent working out instead! Nothing processed works better for me i got scared even looking at all the recipes and instructions and don’t believe the ‘diet’ things you are allowed like fizzy drinks and yogurts are good for you at all. Look at the blood sugar diet - essentially giving up refined sugar - this made me FEEL so much better, sleep better, more energy as well as loosing weight.

Horses for courses depends on your mindset and what you can stick to?

Good luck with shifting the fat!

It’s a plan that has options to fit whatever healthier lifestyle you want. It encourages people to cook from scratch but it also acknowledges that for someone who has lived on takeaways or ready meals that may not be an easy change so has alternatives to help along the way.

I have been a SW target member for three years having lost 7 stone. I exercise regularly, I still attend the meetings because I know I need the odd kick up the arse to keep me focused.

I will always be an over eater, I will always use food as an emotional crutch but SW works for me because it helps me to be in control of that most of the time.

I've always had success with SW and reach target both sides of my last pregnancy.

The issue is that you have to employ a little common sense with it. SW doesn't explain nutrition and calories in any real detail - but the fact that a mars bar and an avocado have similar syn values needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Basically, if you're a reasonably intelligent human being and have a basic understanding of nutrition, it's a great plan to follow to lose weight sensibly and achieve a healthy goal.

If you have no concept of calorie intake or nutritional merits of anything it can enable you to live on a beige diet and do absolutely batshit things like substituting Pimms for balsamic vinegar in your lemonade.

I've lost 3.5 stone using them. I do the online membership as the groups are a bit nuts.

All the "tweaks" and recreating takeaways or putting quark in everything isn't for me. I just have lots more fruit and veg, limit my dairy, don't snack anymore, use reduced fat versions of everything, make everything from scratch and use the recommended portion size for wholewheat pasta/rice/potatoes. They're a "free food" and I've seen people take that way too literally with their portion sizes.