Slimming World for sustained weight loss?

[SummerGardener]

I am on a waiting list for an operation. It is likely to be months before I am operated on, and in the meantime my mobility is low.

I both need and want to lose weight beforehand.

AIBU to do Slimming World for sustained weight loss?

If not that, then what?

I’ve lost over two stone with Slimming World since Spring last year and I feel like I have developed the eating and exercise habits to keep it off. I’ve not felt hungry at all as it’s really pretty much a healthy eating plan, not a diet.

Good luck with whatever route you take.

I'm on it at the moment. Tbh I really like it, but you have to make the effort to cook and I think some people just exist on the Iceland meals and crap! Used properly it puts good habits in place. I'm not hungry at all on it.

I lost nearly 3 stone with SW nearly twenty years ago still go to group and have kept it off ( with a bit of menopausal leeway)

No, slimming world is awful diet cult that doesn’t even understand the basics of weight loss. There is no food in this world that should be classed as a ‘syn’ It’s about a healthy balance.

Calorie counting will be your best bet moving forward focusing on protein to keep you full and vegetables. Have a look at ‘The Fitness Chef’ on Facebook/Insta and you’ll see how much sense he talks. It’s all about calories in and calories out but please don’t follow slimming world.

Slimming world works as well as anything else - it depends what suits you.

If you like to or would like to cook mostly from scratch it’ll probably suit you.

If you’d find premade things easier then you might want to try calorie counting.

SW is working for me - I'm mid 50s and didn't have much to lose but I have lost 23lbs since last summer. I'm an online member. I eat to my appetite and don't go mad with pasta and endless 'free' chips etc. I eat the food I enjoy, I find it easy to track as I cook from scratch and cba with weighing and counting the calories in half an onion or a few strips of pepper etc. I use my syns on a mixture of regular food and treats such as hot chocolate. Try it and see if it works for you.

Yes why not, works quite well for many. I’ve always calorie counter and that’s worked well for me

I lost weight with SW 19 years ago and have kept it off, actually have lost a bit more. I dont stick to it religiously as over the years have identified what works for me. But when I need to lose a few pounds I go back to basics.
It needs will power like maintaining any healthy way of living. It annoys me when people slag it off. Fine, if it's not for you find something else, but plenty of people have success with it.

It’s all about calories in and calories out but please don’t follow slimming world

See counting calories would kill me, I'd find it so restrictive. But I wouldn't plead with someone not to do it. Different things work for different people.

Take a look at the Fast 800 plan. A much wiser choice than SW in my opinion.

@CherryBlossomPants syns are exactly what calorie counting is.... It's about minimising intake of sugar and fat, and upping intake of veg, fruit and proteins.

As diets go it's one of the better ones and much simpler for people who don't want - or can't afford - to obsessively count calories in 50g of banana or carrot.

People who call it a cult have usually listened to the idiots who have convinced themselves that baking lasagne sheets is a good way to have crisps without feeling guilty or who eat gallons of yoghurt a day and justify it to themselves as being healthy. That is not what SW says, does or recommends. Quite the opposite really.

SW had a basic premise - 1/3 of any plate should be fruit or veg, 1/3 meat or protein, 1/3 carb like potato, rice or pasta. Perfect example of healthy eating tbh. No fads, no cutting out whole types of food, easy to understand and easy to manage.

I knew it wouldn’t take long for someone to call it a cult, but that has to be some kind of record

Dh has done Sw and kept weight off. The syn and free foods thing is just a way of helping people make balanced choices. SW also encourages physical exercise as part of weight management. Our local group has regular tasting sessions where people take food they've made for others to try. So it can encourage cooking from scratch too. And the recipe books are pretty good.

Some of the principles of SW are pretty weird. Like you can eat an unlimited number of potatoes? The classes seem quite culty, a guess a lot like WW but without the points. I always think that these clubs are designed to keep you needing to go back, which to me means they don't help you keep the weight off that effectively.
The principles of a low fat calorie controlled diet are same as SW, without the gimmicks.
Can I ask how much you are hoping/ needing to lose?

@BobbyBiscuits what's wrong with unlimited potato? Boiled, mashed, air fried or jacket potato is all good - there's no fat or sugar in those and it's pretty low calorie. Potatoes in and of themselves are not bad for you, and if you're eating the 1/3 rule, your plate should still be a balanced meal.

Roast or fried potatoes changes things and they are not unlimited, you have to account for the fat used to cook them and that's harder to do on SW.

@NCForQuestions I get it, but potatoes have lots of carbs which are the same as sugar, so not great for diabetics for example.

I know you can't have endless chips. Haha. That would be too good to be true.

I guess it's the type of diet that suits people who like to feel full and eat quite large portions. It enables you to do that without the calories being too high. I just think the principles of it are simply low fat, calorie control under a slightly gimmicky name. My friend lost plenty weight on it, but it didn't last.

It's not the worst by any stretch. WW is even more gimmicky. Meal replacement diets are depressing and unhealthy and you never keep the weight off. Keto/ low carb can be quite good. As long as you want the opposite of unlimited potatoes, haha.

The whole point of the 'syns' is about balance . Fill up on basic vegetables, protein and complex carbs and have a limited amount of treat food - literally as a treat - that's why you count it but don't need to count the healthier stuff as long as you are still losing weight .

Simply calorie counting can mean that someone could 1,000 cals a day on chocolate - so hardly teaching about healthy eating .

You're not encouraged to eat 'an unlimited amount' of anything on SW.

You're encouraged to eat until you are satisfied, not to stuff your face with spuds until you're bursting.

I lost 3 stones on it in six months last year and, using the information they gave me, I am keeping it off and feel much better about myself and healthier.

I have 3 friends who did it together for a while. They all hit target then each ended up heavier than they started within a couple of years. The fear of olive oil always seemed strange.

You can eat anything but not everything. Just have a balanced diet, leave some treats in there but have a good mix of everything you need, including carbs. Don’t ever treat anything as a “sin”, it’s ridiculous.

Slimming world works as it’s just a different way of doing calorie restrictions.

Where it falls apart is the extra crap they try to peddle you that is all mega ultra processed food. There’s no nutritional value whatsoever in the bars they sell.

If you do it but avoid ultra high processed food you’ll do a lot better.

At the end of the day slimming world is a money making machine.

Potatoes are not the same as sugar. Sugar causes a very real insulin spike that potatoes do not for the majority of diabetics.

correct me if I’m wrong but is the focus on low fat rather than low sugar?

You will lose weight with most diets - slimming world, weight watchers etc. But you are incredibly unlikely to keep it off. That’s their business model.

@SummerGardener - to lose weight and KEEP it off requires a change of lifestyle, and I'm not sure SW is the best avenue for this.

I would suggest intermittent fasting and a healthy, Mediterranean type diet. Lots of vegetables, moderate amounts of lean protein, and small amounts of complex carbs, healthy fats/nuts and dairy/full fat Greek yoghurt.

Plus exercise. Try Lucy Wyndham Read - she is very calm and lovely, and her workouts are quite short and not too challenging. If you can also use some weights/dumbbells, so much the better. Look at Rebecca Louiseand Growingannanas to start with, but endeavour to get fit enough for Caroline Girvan.