Is Slimming World a healthy way to lose weight?

[Whitefeather01]

Just that really. Is it healthy? Sustainable? Is the food nice?

YABU - No, not healthy or sustainable.
YANBU - Yes to the above

YANBU. You need to approach it as a lifestyle change rather than a diet or a quick fix. You need to stick to it forever really or you'll put weight back on. If you can get that straight in your head then it's pretty easy to follow. DH cooks in our house and he makes 'free' meals from scratch pretty easily. You need to watch your 'syn' intake but we should all do that anyway. It's not that certain foods are 'bad.' It's just about making healthier choices.

No. It's a money making cult. Google "the truth about slimming world".

I havnt done it for a few years but after all the diets I found it the easiest to stick to. Aldo I didnt fall for all the faddy crap food. I stuck to basic cooking from scratch for my meals, only smacked on fruit or veg with odd treat. Used my sins for sensible foods. It can be as good or as bad as you make it

I lost weight on SW, but it went back on (& more) when I stopped following. It encourages you to "fill up on free food", but then you get used to eating more than you would/bigger portions which is difficult to unlearn.

That said, it depends on what your current diet/health is like as to whether it would be beneficial. In the first instance, I would recommend just cutting out/down on whatever treats you usually have and see how much difference that makes. I eat a shed load of chocolate which I obviously couldn't do on SW. Would've been better off just cutting this out altogether on my own rather than paying £5/wk to someone to tell me to do so!

Weight loss is about eating fewer calories than you burn, not about what you eat, which diet you do etc

Honestly I think that as the science around nutrition becomes more widely known then the likes of Slimming World and others focusing on Eatwell will become obsolete.
I'd look at Dr Michael Moseleys references in his books for a different and more sustainable approach.

I found sw to be good, if you have self control on portion size, but if you don't, like me, it's useless. Also, like someone further back said, the recipes to make dishes the slimming world way are pretty gross. They also encourage the use of sweeteners, which, personally I feel are a type of poison.
The best money I ever spent was to see a dietician, Wow! I went on a very low carb eating plan, and the weight dropped off, it was difficult at first as I am a vegetarian. so he helped me find high protein in other foods. This is not a diet but just healthy eating for life.
Everyone one is different, so you need to find what suits your lifestyle.
Oh, and I am another fan of 'My fitness pal' I pay for the upgrade and it is such a big help.

If you take a sensible approach, then it’s fine. It promotes eating veg and cooking meals from scratch.

I did it after having my daughter and I lost over 3 st and I've kept it off. She's 3 and a half now. If you read the actual plan it's eating veg, lean meat, food high in protein, carbs. It encourages you to cook yourself so you know what had gone into things. There is portion control, you fill one third of your plate with veg before putting anything else on. The syns can be used for your extra bits which are higher calories like oils, chorizo, coconut milk to make your meals more exciting. Also they can be used for chocolate and crisps and booze too.

I find it works well. I like to eat so I like the fact I can have for eg a big omelette for breakfast with lots of veg in, a jacket spud for lunch if I'm in a cafe, steak and chips for tea sometimes. I did do ww years ago but I got a bit obsessed with the point counting and was sometimes eating less so I could drink more booze! On SW it doesn't matter how much good stuff you eat, you are still limited on the booze etc so I eat much more healthily.

It's like any eating plan though. It works if you stick to it.

Tried it once for two weeks and gained 5lbs. The empty cards and sugar. The free foods. Awful.

A friend lost a lot of weight on it but she seems a bit brainwashed by it. You lose weight if you follow the plan without cheating and it works best if you have a lot to lose. I dont think it's the best to follow long term though.

If SW and WW worked, they’d go out of business. You would follow the plan, lose the weight. Keep the weight off and never need to go back. Instead they are multi million pound businesses specifically designed for the plan to work enough to get you hooked, but designed so that you regain the weight and return to them. This is their business model. They need constant repeat business to be successful. They are designed by nutritionists and psychologists to make you feel that you can’t do it on your own therefore you continue to pay every week. They are VERY successful businesses, which should ring alarm bells.

What were you eating avenger?

Very unfashionable focus on low fat dieting. Low carb is far more in right now.

People regain the weight for two reasons. One they don't eat healthily when they get to their target and go back to old habits. Two they don't deal with the reasons why they are over weight or over eat so when the diet ends the underlying issues are still there and the weight goes on again.

SW does have classes to help people with reasons why they overeat but these can be a bit varied in quality (!).

My GP advised I follow it after I had DD and put on three stone. I liked it as I never felt hungry and didn’t have to calorie count. It made me cut out all junk - my daily diet would be something like toast for breakfast, scrambled eggs for lunch and salmon and veg with pasta for tea. I’d have full fat butter and milk, snacks would be fruit or a hardboiled egg. I still follow it loosely to maintain but have added alcohol and weekend treats.

"eat what you want in moderation"

That rarely works for people who are obese, or haven't had a physical reason (pregnancy, illness etc) for putting on weight.

"Weight loss is about eating fewer calories than you burn, not about what you eat, which diet you do etc"

All calories aren't equal in terms of weight loss. Unless you are dropping down to 1000-1200 (max with some exercise) , a lot of women have to change what they eat, as well as calorie counting.

I think that we should be looking at the science stuff that tells us how to be healthy, especially until we know how the CV will go.

We know intermittent fasting and low processed, including potatoes, carbs puts us at our healthiest. Combine it with calorie tracking and some exercise, weightlifting is ideal in these times and the weight will come off.

I agree ponoka. After being brought up to finish all my food I don't think I can just stop eating when I'm full. I need more guidance then that.

@Beachtowel23 the mashed fruit is about food satiety. If you peeled and ate 3 bananas you’d feel full whereas if you mash them you’d eat : without really noticing. The best analogy is orange juice, to get a small amount of juice you’d need at least three oranges. If you ate three oranges you wouldn’t be hungry but if you fluffed bank that small amount of juice you would be hungry. So you’re eating all the calories and sugar but not feeling as satisfied from them,

Yeah I've lost 2 stone going from 11-9 i love it

I tried it and put on weight. It's way to carby for me. But I think of you're very over weight it may help

@Ponoka7 It literally is calories in, calories out though. If someone eats less than they burn, that's how you lose weight. You could eat entirely junk food and consistently lose weight if you're eating less calories than your TDEE, you could eat all healthy food and gain weight if you're eating more calories than your TDEE.

Many people believe they eat far fewer calories than they actually do. If someone consistently stuck to a calorie deficit, they'd lose weight even if they were eating less healthy foods. In reality someone will often overeat those foods and stop being in a calorie deficit and won't lose weight but the reality is that if someone actually sticks to it, they lose weight no matter what they eat. Eating processed foods can cause someone to gain water but not fat unless they eat too many calories.

I think there are two ways to do SW.

The one where you try and cheat it, and consume Muller lights, those noodle things, quark, sweetener, couscous pancakes and so on. People creating a jam donut out of a roll, quark, sweetener then baking it, or eating things they don't even like just because it's low syn.

Or the other way which is lots of fresh vegetables, salad, fruit, eggs, measured cereals etc, lots of cooking from scratch.

The first way is unsustainable and will never work long term. The second is what most people should eat anyway.

But then, unless you have a medical reason, I think low carb and keto and all of those are a load of nonsense.

I don't follow SW but stripped back, the basic principles are fairly sound. It's the way people interpretate it is when it becomes a problem.

Another vote to check out Slimming Hurled. Some of it is hilarious