Pros

Good variety of food
Unlimited food
Not much weighing and measuring
Good cook books

Cons

Some of the food is very highly tampered with. For example eating smash, fat free and low fat products.

Its a high aspartame diet

Pros for me, I'm not spending all day thinking about what food I can have (I also did WW and that's why it didn't work for me) it's all about eating fresh food and cooking. I can adapt most recipes I'd make anyway.

Cons...the amount of junk, chocolate, alcohol and things like that is very very small, but, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing.

As for eating things like smash or sweeteners - that very much depends on what you choose to eat. I haven't eaten smash since about 1996, lol. Also low fat doesn't always mean tampered with, things like muller lights have weird ingredients, but low fat plain yoghurt is just yoghurt, with less fat in it.

I have sweeteners in my tea but other than that I not doing processed foods such as low fat yoghurts, biscuits, processed foods like smash.

Its great as Im cooking from scratch and eating proper healthy food and enjoying it: smoked salmon/scrambled eggs, prawns, salads, steaks, chilli con carne, chicken curry, fresh fish, roasted veggies. Its really lovely. I can't think of many cons and I will be sticking to it for life as its very healthy and good for you. I have to avoid all the sweet artificial stuff as its very addictive. I do love blackcurrent and apple squash with soda water. Its a fantastic way of eating and I've lost 1.5 stone since January with lots of treats!

You don't need Smash, you can just eat real potatoes! I don't eat any artificial sweetners either, but I think that's because I prefer savoury food to sweet anyway. I would rather make my own syn-free hummus and have it with veg sticks than have an Options hot chocolate or stir some sweetner into quark to have as part of a dessert.

Pros
There is very minimal weighing/measuring.
No body knows your doing it (I didn't want to tell anyone).
It help reeducate you how much/ what you should be eating.
The weekly weigh ins keep you on track.
It's ideal for those who cook from scratch.
The whole family can eat the same food, my husband eats the same food as me and has lost 1 1/2 stone.
It's a sustainable lifestyle change.
It works!

Cons
It's important to find a good consultant/group, they are not all equal.
Initially when I had a bad day I just sabotaged the week. I no longer do this because I've learnt if I'm good the rest of the week and do extra exercise I can still loose even 1/2 lb.

My friend is doing ww and personally I think its more restrictive and I don't think I would be able to sustain it long term. When we go out to eat it's more difficult for her. It's worth trying SW. Good luck!

I tried WW in the past too and didn't like it because I was hungry and thinking about food all the time. I did try 'filling and healthy' but I found that extremely restrictive and so a bit boring, plus I didn't lose any weight at all on it!

For me, with Slimming World, the pros are:

• A wide choice of 'free' foods, so I never have to get bored.
  

• it fits in well with my family and I can make dinners we all eat.
  
• I can still have a social life and eat out
  
• it's the only 'diet' my hospital consultant is happy for me to follow. (I have a health condition that is partly controlled by diet)
  
• it encourages me to eat lots of fresh fruit and veg.
  
• my group is something I look forward to, but this is largely consultant dependent. I've been to four or five groups over the years and this is the only one where I've really enjoyed it.
  

• I do find the amount of chocolate etc limited, but them, it is a weight loss plan. I do find I can be a bit flexible with my syns and mostly get away with it though.
  

I've only just joined but finding it ok so far. Certainly a different approach to WW and one I think will be more sustainable in the long term. Given I lost 2.5stone with WW and 6 years later have double that to lose!

I'm not certain I will stay with the group I am in, it's quite dominated by a group of women who are long standing friends of the consultant and I am.in between the two age groups as well.

I have a 12 week paid for pass from my GP as I have a lot to lose and I want to get off antidepressants as well. I'm not exercising a vast amount yet but I am using a fitbit to get me moving.