Please talk to me about slimming world

[Hironsbirons]

I'm fat, frumpy and horrible and I NEED to change! I've tried weight watchers, but since they've changed the plan it just doesn't work for me at all. I've actually gained 7.5lbs doing it for the past 6 months I've never understood slimming world with all the lingo - hexA and B and syns and all, and as it's super expensive to join online I'm reluctant in case i just don't 'get' it! Can anyone please help? I have a bridesmaids dress to wear in 10 months time and as I am right now I don't even want to go to the wedding!

I've been at sw for years because I am useless and the plan works (when I first joined and stuck to it religiously I lost 3.5 stone in a few months and although I've not got far since due to not being great at sticking to it, I've never put that weight back on).

I second what someone else said about going at least once - you get your books and they explain the plan to you. It's nowhere near as daunting once it's been talked through. Also you can go to different groups each week that fit around work, you don't have to stick to the one group. There's normally loads so you should be able to find one each week that you can make it to.

You can eat loads on sw - pasta, rice and potatoes are all unlimited (as long as they're not cooked with oil) but a third of your plate should be super free (veg/salad). In fact, I do the weighing and people who don't eat enough don't lose as well at all! Normally the first port of call for someone disappointed because they're sticking to plan but not losing is to tell them to eat more!

That is however my problem with sw. I have a huge appetite and was brought up on big portions. I want to lose weight and be healthy and although a lot of the sw recipes are healthy it doesn't teach its members portion control, so I adjust it for me and try and not have too many carby things.

I do think it's one of the easiest plans to follow diet wise because you don't feel as restricted and miserable.

Just wanted to second what tabulah said about the fat free thing, you really don't need to eat all the muller lights, sweetners etc.. I don't really, you can just use your syns for anything that's full fat. I sometimes do the sw recipes but I mainly just make changes to recipes I usually do eg swap sloshes of olive oil for spray oil, lose the wine, make sure all the fat is removed from meat. My family (dp and 4dc) live it they never know whether it's sw or not and the kids much prefer the sw chips to the oven chips they used to get!!

My Dh has put weight on with it. He needs help with portion control and this plan doesn't really curb this. We recently checked some of the calorie context of things he was allowed to have and we were

It workes for some but not for all!

I don't mind fat free yogurt, but hate low fat spreads and cheeses, also low fat mayo. I also don't have much of a sweet tooth, so I'm happy to have say one proper pudding a week instead of a low-cal one every night. Spray oil is a good idea.

"He needs help with portion control and this plan doesn't really curb this."

It does in a way if you follow it properly because the third speed free food limits your portion size.

WhoKnows - low fat cheese is pointless, it's like...here's a bigger portion of something that's nothing like what you actually want, lol.

I don't mind low fat spread, I don't care about yoghurt because I only really have plain anyway, but cheese is cheese, I just have smaller amounts of normal cheese.

I'm the same Whoknows, I just have normal cheese and butter and use syns. I don't mind low fat mayo and yogurt and I put sweetener in my tea because despite bloody years of trying I can't drink it without (I do drink less tea now though). I don't really bother with puddings much-I was eating chocolate purely out of habit. I still drink a fair amount of wine though!

tabula yes I agree but some times you get fed up with eating piles of veg every meal to bulk it out. Also the fat free yogurts are very high in calories and things like tinned beans.

I totally agree it works for some but not for all.

The my fitness app is helping him watch what he is actually consuming in to calorie intake and burn and he he doing better at that. Plus he can factor in a proper treat once in a while

Different strokes for different folkes!

I'm on to my second week of SW and I've got two stone to lose. I lost 3.5lbs in my first week which I was pretty pleased with, but I think I'm going to struggle to lose any weight this week, as I went massively off plan over the weekend 😩.
I've never been on a diet before and am trying to think of it as a healthy eating plan, rather than a quick fix. I think my eating had become quite disordered at times, so I would eat pretty healthily and then feel starving at 4pm or 9pm and eat half a packet of chocolate fingers, or some crisps, as well as polishing off the children's tea and then eating my own dinner later. So it's helped me get a sense of what I actually eat, as despite cooking from scratch most of the time and being fairly active, I wasn't losing any weight.
I agree about the sweeteners - my young dc are eating most of my SW recipes and I don't feel comfortable giving them low fat versions of food, with probably tons of additives, so I tend to avoid those recipes. And I want to wean myself off the muller lights but, at the moment, they are stopping me eating biscuits etc in the evening. For me personally, I think the health benefits of dropping a couple of stone will far outweigh the negatives of eating a few extra additives while I get there.
Give it a go - the group is a bit cheesy but very friendly and useful in terms of getting weighed properly and having a target.

I joined 2 weeks ago and today got my 1stone award ,it's been a light bulb process for me ,I eat way more ( of the right stuff) than I ever did pre sw .My group is about 25 ,mostly female and everyone is there for the same reason .

I've been an online member for 17 months now and have lost just over 4 stones. You can do that without eating muller lights and all the other fat free/sweetener stuff. I just eat normal food but SW versions. I find the dessert recipes are the ones full of sweetener and muller lights, so I just don't eat them.

I've been doing SW since April, and I've lost nearly 4 and a half stone.

I used to do WW, but like you Op, I didn't like it when they changed it the beginning of the year.

The basics of SW are:

Swap a third of your plate for speed foods (fruits and veg)
Eat as much as you like from the free foods list, which is meats, grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables. Remove all fats from meat, no cooking in oil
Have one healthy extra A which is calcium
Have one healthy extra B which is fibre
Have between 5-15 syns a day
Drink up to 2 litres of allowable liquids

It's the easiest diet I've ever been in, it's more a lifestyle change than a diet.

So what would a syn typically be? Why are they called that, I don't really like the word I must admit.

I mentioned I was going tomorrow to a friend this morning and she's going to join me

Oh and how do you know how many syns are in say a Mars bar? Is it related to calories?

Some very impressive losses being posted here BTW. I could do with losing about 5 stones.

I joined about 3 months ago and lost a stone but could be at my target weight by now if I had stuck to it religiously. I have another 2 stone to lose. The weeks when I've had big losses are the weeks when ive felt most 'full' but I have to work really hard to avoid bread....it's my biggest downfall. Over course of a day I could eat 10 slices of it if left unchecked! I also HATE low fat anything and think that it must be full of crap to taste of anything so I just have a bit of full fat Mayo instead of usual cup full etc etc. Takes practice and planning do that you have the right foods in house. I've done a mixture of just weigh in or stay for group....the scales are the motivator for me although I like the social aspect. Does remind me of Little Britain skit....dust....anyone....dust!!!

No idea why they are called syns! Probably 'sins' originally but people had the same problem with that name that you do! A Mars bar is 11.5 syns (you 'can' have 5-15 per day), a glass if dry white wine is 6 syns. When you join you get a book with lots of foods and their syn value listed and a PIN that you can use to access slimming world on line where there is a syn calculator with practically everything on it. A lady at my group has lost over 5 stone in just over a year (August last year was her first session).

If you go to group you get access to SW online and all the syns are on there, it's very handy when out shopping.

If I could lose a couple of stone by Christmas and the rest by next summer I'd be very happy.

I joined a week ago, weighed in last night. Lost 5lbs in my first week. It took a few days to get my head around the whole free foods thing. I felt like I was constantly eating! But it's all fruit and veg and healthy options. Lot to loose and hoping for 2st before xmas

Hi, I am one of only three men in my group - it surprises me that blokes seem to have an aversion to diet clubs. I joined in May, first weigh in was 17st 3lb. As of Monday I weigh 14st 7lb. I still have some way to go but I am happy with the weight loss. SW does work well, especially if you are doing it with your partner. The recipes are pretty tasty, we had curry last night. If you really like your meat then this diet will work well!

Well, I went. The consultant was nice and explained it all very well, but was insistent that you needed to go every week and that just getting weighed and leaving wasn't really how it works, group talk was the most important bit. There were masses of people there, so the group part didn't get started till about 45 mins in. I simply can't commit to that, I would have to miss too much work time so I left without signing up - the other sessions in my town are all at impossible times too.

However the system seemed really clear and easy to understand, so I think I will look into the online version.

The group is kind of important...but, if you weigh and leave that is your choice, they can't make you stay.

I'd happily stay if time wasn't an issue, but it's just impossible for me on a Thursday morning.

I keep meaning to join sw, I went ww for a while but I do find the cheesiness hard, and when we had a quiz based on names of fish I was getting a bit hysterical. I also don't like 'syns' name, giving food a moral value. And I can't stick diets for long as I feel deprived, go off plan, then think ' why am I paying this woman £5 to tell me I've gained a lb' and get all feministy

A quiz based on names of fish ! That sounds unbelievably cheesy!

Two conversations we had at group last week:
Consultant-oh no, so you had a bit of a gain this week. Do you know why?
Member-Yes, husband pissed me off so much I had 4 slices of toast with Nutella and a bottles of wine
Consultant- Ha! These things happen. Do you think he'll piss you off that much again this week???

Consultant-oh no, a gain this week. Do you know why?
Member- Yeah. I drank my own body weight in lager and had a kebab. Do the syns count if you throw them up in the morning?
Consultant- Yes.

I think we must be a but low rent!