AIBU or is this taking it a step too far? Slimming World related.

[ThankYouStavros]

I’m still a member of various SW groups though haven’t followed it in years. I just haven’t removed myself as I do use some of the recipes.

This was shared today and I was shocked. Surely if you’re sick, you shouldn’t be worried about this kind of thing? Or am I just overthinking it?

None of those bar lemsip are medicines they are sweets pretending to be. That poster isn't policing anything its just highlighting sugary shit.

@ThankYouStavros

True, I do understand it’s not technically medication, though it does set them off on a very dangerous path.

I think the "dangerous path" is defined at the outset by setting up eatung as sinful. However given that it's aimed at people that have subscribed to this way of eating, no harm in reminding people that there are healthier options when choosing lozenges, etc.

BTW - sainsbury do a brilliant cough syrup WITH ALCOHOL that probably wouldn't fare well on this list, but works brilliantly.

Cant bear the word poorly so yanbu.

YANBU. I did WW years ago and it was the same. They encourage an obsessive way of thinking IMO.

None of that stuff is actually medicine though. If you're feeling ill and worried about your sugar intake then you could just drink water and take a couple of paracetamol. When i went to sw id have been only too glad of an excuse to munch a whole packet of halls soothers cos they're basically just sweets.

@BarbaraofSeville

Exactly. Nothing is bad for you (within reason,) as long as you have it in moderation

Which is exactly the premise of SW. Make most of your meals from fresh unprocessed food like fruit, veg, pulses, meat, fish, eggs, dairy and eat the right amount so you're not hungry and looking to snack on rubbish. Try to eat wholegrain bread and cereal not white, but if you do eat white bread, watch the amount you eat. Limit ready meals, plus obvious junk like biscuits, sweets, cakes, crisps, alcohol etc you eat so it's a small part of your diet.

How on earth anyone can interpret that as bad advice I'll never know.

Exactly. My weight had been creeping up and for the first time in my life at 51 I was becoming overweight and I found it a really easy guide to follow - I didn’t have to count the calories of everything I was eating (who can be arsed with that?), I filled up with veg, fruit, lean meat, dairy, eggs and other unprocessed stuff, I ate fewer carbs, and I could still have some cake or some chocolate or whatever I wanted each day. I’m very much more aware of what I’m eating now, have revised my approach to food and the weight has stayed off. I honestly fail to see how that approach is a bad thing.

Lol, I feel poorly, I'll treat meself to 5 pellets of gum for half a syn, but I'll have to cut back on the milk in my tea.

Actually I went to slimming world once and a lady came in after that had quit smoking. As new members we had to sit at a table and the consultant told us about the plan, then told the lady it wasn't the right time for her to quit smoking if she wanted to get into a 'healthy' weight 😂

I’m fairly strict on sweets for my DC and when I bought DS a packet of Soothers for a tickly throat he thought he was in heaven and scoffed a packet in a day! It’s basically an excuse to eat sweets - great if you don’t care about the sugar and they help you, but if you’re counting calories, something else would be better.

I'm really surprised by so many people referring to this list as "medications". You don't need any of these if you (presumably, looking at the list) have a cold or flu. Just drink plenty of water and take some paracetamol. Cough medicine has never been proven to work.

It is very easy to work through a whole packet of "cough" sweets while feeling poorly and sorry for ones self.
How many syns is Honey, lemon & paracetamol?
A sensible reminder.

@changingchanges2

I don't see a problem with this tbh? It's just trying to keep you on track I suppose.

'Keep you on track' when SW doesn't even understand basic nutrition and encourages to consume calorific items without them being 'syns' lmao. I would fully encourage anyone to join WW but avoid the toxicity of SW!

@Alwayscheerful

It is very easy to work through a whole packet of "cough" sweets while feeling poorly and sorry for ones self. How many syns is Honey, lemon & paracetamol? A sensible reminder.

If you are not a health professional (which you are not evidently) you shouldn't be giving advice on here.

Slimming world is a dangerous cult who’s business success depends on members failing.

I don't see a problem. I do Slimming World and if I needed them, I would have grabbed a packet of Lockets without even thinking about it, now I'd take the extra 10 seconds to look for sugar free lozenges instead.

I went once as moral support for a friend. The basic premise about filling up on real food seemed OK. However it seemed to encourage ED type of thinking as people were standing up and saying what they ate that they 'got away with'. Like one woman had dampened a bread roll and sprinkled it with sugar and pretended it was a doughnut.
I have friends who've lost weight there once, stopped doing it, regained the weight and ended up going forever and a day and still continued to stay overweight, but they like going and talking about how hard it is to lose weight.

I also cunningly spotted that the group leader was not svelte herself.
It doesn't help food addiction if you're encouraged/allowed to eat small portion of chocolate say, as people lacking the off switch with sugary foods don't generally cope well with having half a bar of Cadburys lying about.
In theory, everything jn moderation is sensible, but the SW plan doesn't seem to look at empty calories either.

@slashlover

I don't see a problem. I do Slimming World and if I needed them, I would have grabbed a packet of Lockets without even thinking about it, now I'd take the extra 10 seconds to look for sugar free lozenges instead.

And that's the rub isn't it? Sugar free 'food' is sky high with totally unhealthy additives, so even worse for you than sugar. Ditto for sugar free drinks. Toxic as well as revolting. People need to be encouraged to eat real food not processed crap.

In my humble opinion 😂🤭

Honestly I think this is a good post! We should be annoyed at the companies selling sugar filled crap and pretending it is medicine!!

Nothing bad about opening people's eyes to the fact that something sold to you as medicine is chock full of sugar and un-necessary calories.

Seems odd that SW is getting the brunt of the outrage here not the companies selling horribly unhealthy "medicine"

@fluffythedragonslayer

Honestly I think this is a good post! We should be annoyed at the companies selling sugar filled crap and pretending it is medicine!!

Nothing bad about opening people's eyes to the fact that something sold to you as medicine is chock full of sugar and un-necessary calories.

Seems odd that SW is getting the brunt of the outrage here not the companies selling horribly unhealthy "medicine"

Yeah, kind of agree but it's the syn nonsense that gets my dander up!

If you are not a health professional (which you are not evidently) you shouldn't be giving advice on here

Honey and lemon with some paracetamol is hardly advice that only health professionals can give. Good grief - no wonder our NHS is overwhelmed if this sort of basic, time-tested remedy needs to come from a professional.

Also, in terms of feeling like things are "sinned" because of the use of "Syn", slimming world try to emphasise that no food is off limits. It is about making smarter choices and being aware of where calories are coming from. It's meant to stand for synergy.

Is that what they told you? Not true, I’m afraid. My mother and several other people I know did SW in the 1990s when it was ‘sins’, not ‘syns’. See if you can get hold of some of the old literature: full of references to sins. Sins. In the biblical/Joan Collins sense.

I thought that it was barking then, and I still do. Even with the hasty revision of ‘sins’ to ‘syns’, which happened a while back, and the reworking of the backstory to pretend that ‘syns’ is a contraction of ‘synergies’.

I have friends who've lost weight there once, stopped doing it, regained the weight and ended up going forever and a day and still continued to stay overweight, but they like going and talking about how hard it is to lose weight

But isn't that the case for any diet/weight loss/healthy eating plan? If you stop following it and go back to whatever type of overeating that made you gain weight in the first place, you'll regain. That's not unique to SW, that would also happen if you stopped low carbing or counting calories etc.

Incidentally SW also offer a maintenance plan, which is gradually increasing consumption of foods like dairy and wholemeal bread and cereal, while continuing to watch the amount of junk food you eat and you can follow that for free, for as long as you like.

Having a cold doesnt mean people don't want to keep to plan.

YABU.

I have friends who've lost weight there once, stopped doing it, regained the weight and ended up going forever and a day and still continued to stay overweight, but they like going and talking about how hard it is to lose weight

That is the shame for literally every single diet, weight loss plan or lifestyle change - if you stop doing it and revert back to your old ways then you'll put on weight. It's hardly specific to SW - and for many of us that found it works we've kept the weight off.

I had colleagues that did slimming world. They never lost any weight, all their food was highly processed crap but at least they had something to talk about endlessly.