Slimming world or the gym?

[Cosyhusky]

I'm going on holiday in just under 16 weeks and would like to (safely) lose as much weight as possible. I'm not overly concerned about the numbers on the scales, but I would like to lose a couple of dress sizes (I have about 5 stone to lose, but obviously not expecting or hoping for this in 16 weeks!) but I'm more concerned about feeling better in myself, in my clothes and my general health.

Obviously I could do slimming world and the gym, but from what I've read from other people's 'journeys', they don't seem to work well hand in hand.

These aren't the only two options I would consider, but I have 2 children and a husband to feed as well, so the meals would need to be family friendly.

What would you do?

I dont obsess over the syn thing. Couldn't tell you how many I have a day but i find the group support helpful

Well an extra hour of activity each day is not going to cause you to gain body fat so that's not a reason to not go to the gym.

You need to separate numbers on scales from losing weight as it's only a rough way of measuring loss of excess fat and will vary by a good few pounds each way due to reasons completely unrelated to how big you are.

You obviously need to reduce the amount of calories you consume to below the amount you burn to lose fat, and Slimming World can be a good way to do this as you can just eat fairly normal food that the whole family can eat, as long as you can mostly cook from scratch using unprocessed ingredients. Plus the advantage of always being able to eat as much real food as you need to not be hungry, or count everything that you eat. The syns are there as an easy way to limit the amount of high calorie junk that you eat. Think of it as a 200 calorie daily limit (=10 syns) if it makes you feel better.

Obviously exercise is good for mind/body health and to making losing fat easier as it increases the amount of calories your body burns.

People often recommend Team Rebel Fit, but then you do need to calorie count and that's tedious as hell unless you eat a repetitive and mostly packaged diet.

I do not agree with s world and personally see people eating a lot of rubbish on it, however if you have a lot of weight to lose and it works for you then it really doesn’t matter.

I had to lose about 4 dress sizes after the birth of DC I just calorie counted with my fitness pal as a lot of what you see now is calories in calories out, but I was only losing 1-1.5lb a week and I was eating crappy foods because they were low cal! Started doing Keto which everyone says is faddy but it’s a lot of what I ate pre preg anyway and I started losing 1.5-2.5lb a week.

I lost 30lbs in 3.5 months on slimming world & Zumba classes between babies. I also found the gym made it much easier not to cheat as I was working hard to be healthy at the gym simultaneously.

It doesn't have to be slimming world, although I very loosely follow their plan in that I eat protein, carbs and a shit ton of veg for most meals. I don't snack on crap, have the occasional treat etc. However you want to lose weight and you won't do that by going to the gym alone. You need to work on your food intake. MFP is a great app, I use it to log my calories.

When i had five stone to lise, i started calorie counting. I went low, processed carbs and used My Fitness Pal to log nutrition.

I walked a lot and when I'd dropped two stone, two months later, i went to the gym.

At your weight you have to protect your knees etc.

Weights will define you. So you will look like you have lost more than you actually have. But you need to keep up your walking etc as well.

Will add that I exercised at least 3 times a week since I started dieting too.

Exercise is hugely beneficial though, if I focus on the visuals and not the health benefits for a moment,,,it’s because although weight loss is only down to twenty percent exercise on average, what that doesn’t take into account is the visual changes to your body when you exercise. Everything becomes tighter, smaller, leaner looking.

So gone are the bingo wings, or smaller but still flabby thighs, the wobbly arse, or droopy boobs. The change to how you look visually can’t be under estimated. It has an enormous impact and makes a huge difference.

So yes diet is the predominant factor in weight loss, but how your body looks as you, ans after you loose that weight is absolutely totally down to exercise.

Both will work hand in hand.

I dipped my toe into slimming world, and while I liked the focus on fruit and veg, i was disappointed with the lack of focus on exercise alongside. "Body Magic" as they call it i think . The group leader seemed very proud of the fact that she had lost her weight without doing any exercise whatsoever.

You don't need the gym specifically but exercise had many benefits. For me, the effort helps me pause before eating unhealthy foods and consider if it's worth the calories I'd burned exercising.

You also need to make sure that you're getting out of breath and sweaty rather than just steady movement. You can do this effectively with short intervals.

eat healthily - NHS website will tell you how and they don't want extra money.

the infantile concept of 'syns' and the massive fail rate (business model) tell you all you need to know about diet clubs.

It sounds like you are trying to make 2 big changes at once, this could lead to a greater risk of failure in my view. As other posters have said it's 80% diet. Don't do Slimming World - have a look intermittent fasting and get yoursef over to the Weight Loss chats. Track on My Fitness pal or similar, weigh your food.

Exercise will tone you up but don't beat yourself up if you don't make it to the gym, be kind to yourself. Exercise will get easier when you start losing weight and are in a pattern of regular weight loss. Most normal people burn a very small amount of calories when they exercise and it's too easy to eat it back. Do not count any exercise calories and remember if you build muscle by doing weights you will burn more.

Good luck!

Losing weight is overwhelmingly about what you eat. My DF is a scientist and swears by cutting out sugar - not just the obvious, but in processed carbs too, like bread. When I did this, I lost a stone and wasn't hungry. The idea is to eat plenty of good fat, like eggs, fish, meat and make sure you get plenty of veg.
Michael Mosely's recipes are great - thebloodsugardiet.com/

The only thing that causes weight loss is a calorie deficit. 30 minutes of exercise doesn't burn enough calories to make you lose pounds in a week with no change in diet. You simply need to be eating fewer calories than your body burns in a day, exercise helps because it gives you a bigger calorie deficit. An online TDEE calculator can help you estimate your calories.

Slimming world is so successful as a business as you always end up going back. What does that say about it?

Stop eating anything processed and start watching your portion sizes and exercise 20 mins of cardio then a weights session then 5 mins of cardio.

Look on a site like Muscle & Strength for a beginners weights programme.

You don't need to cut out processed foods or certain food groups, it's simply about a calorie deficit. Some people find it more sustainable when including processed foods, some find it easier to keep calories low without processed foods.It's about finding what works for you to keep you in a calorie deficit

I'm currently trying lose weight for a holiday and what works for me is sticking to 1200 calories a day plus at least 2 miles walking a day.I usually lose 2lbs a week.

Completely agree with @MrsJamin

It is all about calorie deficit. I went to slimming world and lost a stone and a half, it in the end I was just going for the pressure of the weekly weigh in, that is written down. As it gave me something to work for, that part of it does work, queuing up, getting on the scales and seeing your weight loss week by week, pound by pound, gave me focus.

BUT they never talked about calorie deficit and the leader wasn't slim! Which I thought was ridiculous and she could have done with losing weight herself. She would answer questions incorrectly and it just frustrated me.

Any plan basically revolves around eating less, be it by counting the calories, cutting out food groups, eating at restricted times, macro nutrients etc. Different methods will suit different people depending on their lifestyle and the reason why they tend to gain weight.

Exercise is important for health in so many ways. I'd rather have more shapely muscle bulk and athletic curves and the few extra lbs on the scales than be a little leaner, with a more restricted diet to balance intake and a lower metabolism.

I used to run a youth group at the same time as a weightloss group in the same venue. The number of times I'd be dealing with lugging the equipment, my baby and toddler the extra distance because all the convenient, nearby spaces were taken up by the people paying the weightloss group to lose weight

I definitely agree that exercise is really important, and needs to be done along side a diet overhaul. It can be really overwhelming to start both at once though, and lead to not doing either! For me, I've always found that loosing a bit of weight through changing my eating habits, then gives me the push and the confidence to start exercising. Starting the other way round, I won't see any weight loss results therefore immediately I feel dejected.

I was also quite about Slimming World's lack of focus on exercising. I guess they do it as they don't want people to be put off by the pressure of feeling they have to be more active. But a balance is really important, and it's quite negligent really for group leaders to be boastful about how they do nothing.

You can’t out-train a bad diet so if it has to be one or the other, I’d focus on the diet. However, I do think “eat less, move more” is the best way for me - the more I exercise, the less I want to make poor choices with food. Good luck!

Agree with five stone to loose, diet needs to change first and foremost,. The way you’ve written your op though makes me think you’re just doing this for your holiday, you’re not really thinking this is it, I need to make some changes for good.

If that’s the case, then slimming world will do it. If you’re worried about what you’ll look like on holiday in swimwear, shorts etc, then exercise will make you look much more toned and like you’ve lost more weight than you have.

It really depends on what you’re aiming for here. Also you need to think about how you will eat an drink on holiday. If it’s a two week holiday or so, and you aim to eat and drink to excess again, then you will not fit into the clothes you started with by the end of it, so will likely need to bring spare clothes or stretchy ones.

I’ve been following SW and going to the gym since last October. I have lost just over 2 stone and have a stone to go. I do 3 classes a week and a gym session. A mixture of cardio and weights and I lose weight every week unless my diet is bad!

Gym, smaller amounts of proper food and loads of walking.

Do you know why you're overweight, OP? What I mean is, are you an emotional eater? Do you have baby-weight to lose etc? Understanding the root of the issue is really important in trying to find a solution.
I use food as comfort. Happy, sad, stressed etc, all reasons for me eating too much. And I binge too, and I crave sugar. I'm aware of that so search for a weight plan that helps me address those issues.

I’ve been doing slimming world for 3 weeks now and shedded 9.5lb I think it’s great, don’t feel like I’m dieting at all really. I have 2 under 2 and I’m a SAHM, partner works 45hours a week so exercise is walking with the pram mainly so nothing too strenuous. I think if I could go to the gym or classes I’d be losing faster.