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 can definitely lose weight on it because I have several friends who have but you've got to apply a bit of common sense otherwise it's like people become utterly brainwashed by it!

I have had quite a few 'heated discussions' with a friend of mine because she falls into the 'brainwashed' camp.

In fairness, she's lost about three stone but bloody hell, she won't have it that SW doesn't promote a healthy eating attitude. She seems to think that cooking chicken in diet Fanta or Cola is far healthier than a fruit smoothy or an avocado salad!

Similarly, she raves about her rice pudding thing she makes and stressed how it's zero syns and she can eat as much as she likes!
I've tried saying that's not a healthy relationship to have with food but she's too far down the brainwashed road.

If there are biscuits or cakes in the staff room, she'll wring her hands and stress about how she shouldn't and will proceed to eat a bloody crumb or two! Utterly ridiculous.

At the end of the day, SW is a business. They have connections with various food manufacturers etc and promote these endlessly. They also rely on repeat business.

Healthy, sensible eating and some exercise is the way to go.

My brother lost 10 stone in a year at SW. my dad went along to keep him company and motivate him - ended up losing 3 stone and reversed his type 2 diabetes.
Any weight loss plan would have worked though - I’m not saying SW is some kind of magic.
They stuck to it 90% of the time but had a few ups and downs.
Both have kept the weight of 2 years down the line, but pretty much still follow the SW plan.

I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a slimming world take away, but then I don’t go to group. It’s possible to do it without but I guess it depends how much motivation you need.

Know lots of people who have lost loads Of weight on this (I’m talking 6-7 stones) and put it bsck on.

It’s such a shame. It’s exercise and diet - eating to fuel that which you do. I don’t get why people don’t get that? just dieting and then stopping said diet is never going to work if your previous way of life is too indulgent/too sedentary or both.

It does not work in the long run. Telling people food is a 'Syn' creates a weird mentality. A few of my colleagues are on it, one of whom religiously eats a large tin of baked beans covered in grated cheese for lunch every day. She actually thinks her lunch is healthier than my brown bread sandwich, with salad and ham.

No one I have met has kept the weight of long term because they are hung up on the idea of bad food and syns.

People who have totally bought into these groups talk to normal people about syns/cheats/points whatever like we are supposed to have the foggiest what they are on about.

How does the RH Fitness thing work?
I went on the website and it doesn't really tell you what you get for your subscription when signing up.

I think any diet works to an extent. Anything that makes you think about what you are eating is going to work for a while, be it eating nothing but cabbage, all green food, no carb, high fat - anything. Because you stop and think before you eat, which means you are restricting your food intake.

But any diet that doesn't educate you into eating more fruit and veg and less processed stuff won't work for ever.

No. It does work and is a healthy diet, I think. I don't go these days, though.

I follow a fb group for slimming world because some of the recipes actually are nice, but mainly because it's quite funny what they syn sometimes.

It probably does work but it won't with the way I've seen some people use it. I've also seen more people admitting to having lost weight, gained it back or more and having to do it all again. It can't be giving people good habits if that happens so much so it doesn't work correctly. But then why would it? If these diets worked correctly, no one would need them anymore, we'd all be slim and healthy and they couldn't make money from anyone. That's not the point of a business.

@Nirvana1979 its just calorie counting using myfitnesspal but they tell you how many calories you need per day and how much protein, carbs and fat you should have. You also do excercise. It is a very healthy plan but didn't work for me as I need someone else to be accountable to and you don't have that. I also disliked the attitude of a lot of people on Team RH as it was very much a hahaha look how stupid everyone following SW/WW/etc. are.

I think all of these plans work if followed properly. However not all of them are successful for everyone because we are all different and need different things from them.

It does work. I lost and kept it off. However, it is very culty. My friend started running a group and it was so strange she turned into a right weirdo, going on about it all the time and everything you mentioned she turned it back to slimming world. Stopped going and stopped meeting with her and hid her on Facebook. Cba with that shit

I know a woman who did SW for years. She would astonish me by saying things like "Today, I can eat as much pasta as I want". Then go on to eat shed loads of pasta. She is as fat as fuck.

I did WW for a while, way back when it was just the basic points (saturated fat & calories). I did lose (2 stones) and managed to keep it off for many years, but I've had some major health problems recently that have led to weight gain. I had a look at SW just to see if I fancied it, and I've never seen anything as crazy in my life. You get a banana for "free" but if you mash it to put in a roll, you have to "syn" it??? What nonsense. Your chuffing teeth MASH the bastard thing before you swallow it, ffs. I'm not doing WW cos quite frankly, they've overcomplicated the whole thing just to make money IMHO, and SW is now kicked to the curb too.

It’s a cult IMO. Some of the members are so obsessive and get almost evangelical about it. They will shoot down any criticism.

It doesn’t promote healthy eating habits either, the idea that you can eat as much as you want lf something because it’s ‘free’. An example a very overweight colleague of mine who sat in the staff room on her lunch break and ate a whole punnet strawberries! But the strawberries are ‘free’ so it’s all ok, well no it’s not because even though they are not as ‘bad’ as a bar of chocolate or a portion of chips, they still have calories and sugar in them. That’s not healthy eating.

Don’t get me started on all the wanky terminology. ‘Body magic’ just calling it fucking exercise like everyone else, ‘image therapy’ yes because Sandra the group leader has a degree in psychology and knows how to counsel people doesn’t she?

Fuck the fuck odd!

If you view any of these groups as a diet to stick to while you loose weight rather than a tool to help you change your relationship with food, then nothing will work.
People put back on because they don't change their habits they just suppress them.

It's a weird one.

My mum did it and she lost a lot of weight. She actually got it for free on the NHS due to her weight and health issues.

She did really well.

Then the weight crept back on.

She went back, paid for it herself.

Last year she paid £5 every week to lose all of 5 pounds because she goes off and on it.

For me, I think do it if you're going to do it, but don't give them money if you're not going to. It's pretty much a con, there's so many members going every week and not really losing anything and paying for the privilege when losing weight doesn't need to cost anything at all.

You get a banana for "free" but if you mash it to put in a roll, you have to "syn" it??? What nonsense. Your chuffing teeth MASH the bastard thing before you swallow it, ffs.

OMG, I thought the banana mash up was a joke! That is warped thinking beyond belief.

The banana example above is not so crazy. Ask me to eat 3 bananas and I'd struggle. Mix 3 in a smoothie or mash 3 easy. It takes into account feeling satiated or not from a very basic point of view for those whose habits are poor to start with.

Eat 5 apples raw is hard, cook them down and it's easy to eat. So the logic is synonymous them to help people make better choices. Btw I dont do SW but feel the need to correct the mockery of those it helps.

Synonymous..! No idea what was autocorrected there

I mean they would rather you eat 14 muller lights than 1 avocado...

It will teach you bad habits and make you very likely to regain the weight when you stop following their plans. You'd be much better off counting calories and exercising more.

If you want to lose weight it's as simple as calories in versus calories out.

Yes and mostly no.

Your body is a complex system, not a simple one. Calories are expended in a LOT of different ways: internal processes, excreted matter, heating/cooling, and stored matter as well as exercise. And what you eat, that is to say, the types of food you ingest, are processed differently, using up the energy in different ways. Some of which relate to weight and many of which do not.

Calorie counting has an extremely poor success rate for weight loss, because it does not reckon with the complexity of your body. Not to mention, of course, its failure to reckon with the psychological and emotional factors around eating. Calories in vs calories out is pretty much the least helpful piece of advice you could give.

OP, I would recommend reading one of Michael Mosley's books.

I used to go to Slimming World groups but quit when I realised it was a massive con. I've always thought it is a bit of a cult mentality!
I lost weight by calorie counting. It is a bit faffy but it works. I guess different methods of weight loss work for different people. Good luck with your weight loss journey OP

It does work but is only as effective or bonkers as the person doing it.