Syns question

[LurkingQuietly]

I started SW online last Sunday, lost 5lb in my first week which I'm pleased with as I ate way too many syns on pancake day and had an unavoidable (but good-ish option) takeaway.

DH has decided to jump on the bandwagon too. It seems ridiculous for him to pay £60 too but I've just seen something that makes me think men and women are allowed different numbers of syns. Is that correct? If so, how many can he have?

Also, I've had a few days of only having 1 or 2 syns and no HEX A (or Hex B - one or the other). Is this bad? Or will it help?

Thanks so much!

Lurking, I just started today so can't really help except to say that there's an on-going thread for SW here on MN and they certainly look like they'll be able to answer all your questions.

Yes, men do get more syns per day. I'm tempted to say 20 but not convinced it might be more!

Theoretically won't help to miss out, or limit yourself. You need to have all 15 syns every day .... but don't limit yourself to just 1 or 2.

Men don't automatically get more syns, it depends on their starting weight. (Women are the same - if you are above X stones you get 20 syns.) But I don't know what the X figure is!

Men get 10 extra syns a day.

There are also extra syns if you're over a certain weight...if men are over that weight they get those extra plus the 10 for being a man.

"Also, I've had a few days of only having 1 or 2 syns and no HEX A (or Hex B - one or the other). Is this bad? Or will it help"

The healthy extras are there for health reasons - so try not to cut them out.

Syns, if you're doing that to make up for being over syns, yep most people use their syns a bit like that, if you mean just because - no, don't just go without, it makes you more likely to treat it like a diet, something you stop and start rather than a proper lifestyle change and it can actually slow your weight loss down.

Thanks all. I'm determined to make this stick, so I'll up my syns and make DH stick to the same number.

Oh hang on...just read Tabulah's response. DH can have more!

Yep - men get an extra 10, no matter what weight they are.

They don't have to use all 25, just as long as it's somewhere between 5 and 25, but they still lose well even if they use them all.

You should have at least 5 syns a day, they are there for a reason.

You also should have both your A and B choice as that's your calcium and fibre. The fibre is important. You can miss them here and there, but it's not recommended to avoid them completely.

If you're struggling with your A choice, I usually add cheese to things as I don't like milk.

Thanks so much for all your advice. It's not so much that I've been deliberately avoiding the Hex A/Hex B - more that I've been sort of saving them for later so I could have a snack if I wanted and then snacking on free food instead. I think I need to get better at planning my meals and then writing a list of what options I've got left to incorporate my Healthy Extras and syns.

All your advice is so gratefully received though.

Men get 10 more?!? Bugger that for a game of soldiers- dp can have 15 and lump it

Haha improbable I sort of feel the same!

Sorry to hijack the thread but is there guidance on how many syns women should eat? I'm an online member and the info I've seen says between 5 and 15, which is quite a variation! Am I supposed to aim for the same number every day? Or aim for 5 but if I want something else then as long as not over 15 it's ok? I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to be aiming for!

I think, from my reading and on here that you literally have to aim for between 5 and 15 a day, so one day you can have 15, years next 5 and it makes no difference. I'm sure someone more knowledgable than me will put me straight if that's incorrect though!

It's up to you how many syns you use as long as you don't exceed 15. You can take none, one, five.... whatever works for you. They are there to make your diet more sustainable as you don't feel deprived of your favourite treats. Hope this helps

Thank you for your responses, I think I'll aim for 5-10 then if I do go over it doesn't matter too much, then can always re-evaluate in a few weeks as to whether I'm actually losing anything!