I'm thinking of trying slimming world! Please advise :)

[rubbishfamily333]

Hi I'm thinking of trying slimming world, when I look at it I can see everyone eating pasta, jacket potatoes and bread, all my favourite foods

I'm wondering how I could loose weight eating all that food?

Are you ever allowed chocolate/cakes?

I am currently 10.6 stone and want to be around 9stone. I also have polycycistic ovaries and have been told to eat carb free or low gi to loose weight, so I'm wondering if this will even work for me.

I am new to SW.

The idea is not so much a diet as a lifestyle change - changing your relationship with food and breaking bad habits.

You can eat loads on SW, you are restricted to 15 'Syns' a day though.

Fruit, veg, eggs, pasta, rice, potatoes, lean meat, all free on the Extra Easy plan (I don't do Red/Green days so can't comment on those)

Certain foods are Super Free or Super Speed - meaning if you eat more of them, they will aid your weight loss. These are all fruit and veg (starchy fruit/veg tends to be 'free' rather than SF or SS though)

You also get to chose (on Extra Easy) a Healthy Extra A choice and a Healthy Extra B choice. All are listed in the book you are given.

A choices are dairy - all kinds of cheese, weighed.
B choices are wholemeal bread (2 slices, 400g small loaf), sensible cereals (ie not Cocopops!), nuts, dried fruit (again weighed)

An example of Syns.

125 ml wine = 4 syns
A Galaxy Ripple bar (33g) = 8.5 syns
1 slice wholemeal bread (from standard 800g loaf) = 4 syns

There's a lot of online support, Facebook groups and the actual SW website.

I lost 5.5 lb in the first week, 1 lb in the second (did have more Syns than I should have) and maintained this week - it was my birthday week and I did have wine/chinese/cake though, so what can I expect lol!

I think it's great, I have tried lots of different recipes that I'd never heard of or dared to try before (diet coke chicken being one - yum!)

You really do have to eat all your SS and SF fruit and veg though, that's how it works. You'll think you won't lose weight but as long as you are snacking on healthy stuff and really watching what you are eating in regards to lean meat, no (or little) sugar, then it really works.

Thank you for your reply that was every helpful.

Do you mind me asking how much you need to loose?

I need to loose 1 stone to 1 1/2 stone maximum. I have heard somewhere that slimming world is very good for people that have quite a bit of weight to loose like 3+ stone, but not so food if you I only have one stone to loose.

I bought the slimming world magazine today and the food in it made me feel hungry it all looked so tasty

Usually when I look at slimming menus I think oh wow I will be hungry doing this. But all the recipes look like my favourite meals .

I have 3 stone to lose. I think any weight loss program will have more noticeable results the heavier you are though, if you have 10 stone to lose then the change in eating habits alone will carry you through a couple of stone I imagine (or so it seems from the women in my group).

This months magazine is amazing - I dropped mine in the bath though (durr me for reading it in the bath!) There were lots of recipes in there I fancied trying out, am waiting for my SIL to finish with her copy and then I plan to steal it! I've done the chicken tikka, lamb hotpot and pork with mustard mash from the pull out book - all lovely.

You need to fill your plate with 1/3 free food, 2/3 super free food each meal.

Personally I think it is pure and simple healthy eating and learning to control your treats. Which is where I need help, so is perfect for me.

Well all the food looks yummy, I am happy to eat 1/3 veg but I do have a problem with snack and junk at times

I am in the process of moving and currently staying at my mums and don't feel now is the best time to start the meetings, but I am looking forward to starting.

Have you been eating as much as you like?

Go for it! I only have about half a stone to lose, but just found it wasn't budging, so joined the online slimming world 2 weeks ago. The first week I felt like I was eating SO much that I couldn't possibly have lost any weight, I was eating more than normal, but I did! I lost 4.5 pounds! The second week hasn't gone so well as I've been a bit bad :( so I may not have lost tomorrow, we shall see. It takes a lot of thinking and organising at first, to make sure you have the right food in the house, but it's worth it. :)

The 1/3 free food is more the meat, pasta, potatoes with 2/3 being veg but the type classed as Super Free (all explained in book you get)

I'm also a terrible snacker. You eat lots but healthy food. As stars says, you need to plan meals so you're not tempted to get a takeaway or reach for convenience food. Also, vary food, don't have cereal every day for breakfast, don't have potatoes every night, the meetings are great for recipe ideas.

Stars - wow so only need to loose half a stone and already lost 4.5lbs that's amazing

With the online slimming world do you suggest meals for each day?

I once did closer online diet and the website suggested meals but you could swap them if you didnt like thy meal.

Too - oh I thought the 1/3 would be the veg and 2/3 pasta etc I'm glad that was explained before I started

So is it mainly salad and veg that are super free?

Yes. But certain veg and fruit is only free, not SF. I'm on week 4 and although I don't know it all off the top of my head, it makes sense now. You just have to use your book a lot in the early days, write everything down and it becomes easier as you get used to it.

Also drink lots of water, herbal tea. Stay away from fruit juice and smoothies which appear healthy but are packed with sugar.

Rubbish, yeah but not probably lost this week whoops! Online they gave me a 7 day meal planner, but I've just taken ideas from it and then used the online recipes, trying to stick to mainly extra easy FREE meals. How does the group membership work?

I have to constantly refer to my book though as was confused at beginning and didn't understand the super free food thing being so important, also thought was syn free when actually I'd been having a few syns without realising! LOL! Yday I had wine and chocolate (too much) so I'm focusing on next week being a better week!

Good luck Hun xx

You can always buy the magazine. They do a 7 day plan which you could try out. If you like it then you could join. I have 1lb to go until I've lost 2 and a half stone, woo hoo! I've been a member for 21 weeks. I have done ZERO exercise, minimal cooking and polished off 2 large glasses of wine last night . It's a brilliant plan if you like to eat a lot. Plus I have to admit that I don't usually bother with the third of your meal as superfree food , and I'm still losing weight.

Jimmy - well done your are doing amazingly well! Have you now reached your target weight?

Thank you! I have a stone left to lose but I'm actually really happy with my weight now so I'm not too stressed about how fast I lose the rest.

I'm not promoting missing out the superfree food, it's my aim to eat more of them. I was just saying that I'm losing weight despite not following the plan exactly (guilty emoticon!)

You can also check out the website. You can access quite a lot of it without being a member.

I'm similar to you Jimmy, I am only just getting my head around the portion control on the free/SF food.

I do think that you can use it as a guide to just relearn how to eat healthy. I am combining with being more active so hopefully the pounds will come away.

I'm aiming for 1-2lb loss each week, I think this is more sustainable than the 5.5 lb I lost the first week (stickign to the plan rigidly but going over on syns each day)

I am already making healthier choices, so that alone is worth doing SW for. I wish I had the ability to go it alone, but I need the fear of the group and scales to keep me on it (my group are lovely, but the pressure of going to group is something I need IYSWIM)

SW is great. I lost 2st 2lb in 5 months with pretty regular boozing and a bit of cheating at weekends. It was relatively easy to do. My husband and daughter would eat the recipes too as it's just normal food with a few tweaks. If you cook from scratch anyway it's easy peasy.
Any diet that let's you eat loads of pasta and spuds is fine by me!
Give it a go and good luck!