It's not working!

[tillytubby]

Hi I joined slimming world four weeks ago and have lost three pounds like this:
-1lb
-2.5lbs
+0.5lb
Static

Typical day is:
Breakfast- porridge with fruit
Lunch- leftovers with salad or soup or j pot
Dinner- free recipe such as spaghetti bolognese and lots of veg
Snacks- fruit, HEx cheese, fat free yog, boiled egg
Syns- Cappuccino, naked bar

I don't understand where I'm going wrong because the diet has overhauled my eating habits drastically. It's also cut my portionsizes and increased my veg intake.

I'm still snacking a lot however mainly on fruit but also on my syns.
I get extra hex's for breastfeeding (3as two bs) but don't always use all the a's.

I'm so tired and sleep deprived I thought sw would be my answer as it's easy to understand. But I'm seriously considering going back to ww as I have always lost weight with them before.

Where could I be going wrong?

I'd speak to your consultant, you'll probably be asked to do a food diary.
Are you drinking lots of water?
Are you eating lots of yoghurts, they are free, but not speed. Some at my group don't lose if they have lots of yoghurts?

Sorry grasping as straws here!

Are you drinking water? I've noticed my weight loss slows down when I don't drink much water.

Fat free yoghurts are on the whole chock full of sugar. Id evaluate and make sure you're not over indulging on sugar as slimming world does encourage too much sugar sometimes. Its generally better to have full fat natural yoghurt as its got natural sugar in it. Id also look again at portion size.

Ensure that a minimum of a 3rd of your plate is made up of speed food at each meal. Add it to the plate first before adding anything else. I find 50% still leaves you satisfied but maximises weight loss. Read your book to ensure that you are clear on which vegetables are speed (I didn't realise peas were protein rather than speed at first)

Ensure you are only eating when hungry and eat sufficient to satisfy yourself, not full to bursting.

Snack on speed or protein rather than free food. Lean chicken, boiled eggs, tuna etc. are great proteins to fill you up.
Not all fruit is speed, still with the speed fruits for a week and see if it makes a difference.

Make sure you are having your healthy A as calcium is essential for weight loss.

I prefer fat free plain yoghurt with fruit rather than mullerlites etc. adding in a spoonful of quark increases the protein content, makes it creamier and leaves you filled up for longer. Add a drop of lemon essence or similar if the plain flavour doesn't suit you.

Some people lose slower than others. I was always a 1.5lb a week person if I followed the plan thoroughly. 3stone 8lb down now.

Weight loss isn't linear. You've lost 3lbs in 4 weeks so it is working.

Cut down on the sugar.

Hi thanks that's some really good tips. I'm actually having natural fat free yogurt as I can't abide Muller lights and their equivalents.
I think I'll re-evaluate my portions and cut down on snacking and add more water in.
Was hoping for a pound a week anyway but just worried it had stalled so quickly as people seem to fly through the first few weeks.

I found that using my fitness pal for a couple of weeks helped.

I know slimming world is not about weighing and measuring but sometimes a bit of a reminder on calories and portion size is useful.

I find I lose best at between 1000 and 1200 calories per day and happily feel full on this number of calories if I have lots of salad and veg and few carbs. I go over when I eat steak as it is quite calorie dense but I just enjoy it anyway.

Some good tips from PPs for you to try, but don't be disheartened, as 3 pounds in 4 weeks is a good, sustainable weight loss.
Try some of the tips, and you could have a week where you have a big loss.

I found that using my fitness pal for a couple of weeks helped.

Ditto. It's incredibly easy to overeat on SW.

I found that my free sw breakfast was 1400 calories!!!!

I plateaued for 12 months.

I'm now fasting 2 days a week and have lost 11 lbs in 5 weeks.

I use mfp.

What were you eating for breakfast calzone ?

Slimming world is massively high in carbs and sugar. I did it for years and painstakingly lost 3 stone losing half a measly pound a week on average. It was just so easy to overeat, eat too much fruit, and use syns on sugary rubbish. The EE sp plan was the only way I ever had a decent loss.

There are other ways to lose weight, but you might have to bite the bullet and give up sugar/cut the carbs if you want quick weightloss.

If I wanted a big cooked breakfast I could easily eat.....

1. Sausages 240 calories

3 bacon medallions 180 calories 2 eggs 180 Baked beans 150 Mushrooms 44 Tomatoes 50 Hash browns 240 calories Toast

Now I know this is a huuuuuuuge breakfast but my heb was toast and the hash browns were 3 syns for 2.
You can see how it builds up.

Really watch your plate and as a pp said, make sure that you fill one third with speed veg or fruit before you put on your free food. Eating plenty of fruit or veg on the side doesn't work, it's supposed to replace one third of your meal on the plate. So when you're having your spaghetti Bolognese, your meat and spaghetti should take up 2/3 of the plate and 1/3 should be salad or veg (all speed!) Not the usual full plate of spag bol with a side salad. That's where I went wrong last time I was in SW.

I also take measurements weekly as some times i lose inches rather than lbs and if I can see that it's not so disheartening. Good luck

That is a good tip Ouch!
Having spent a long time calorie counting I found it quite strange that SW apparently lets you eat huge amounts of any free food. I now see that 1/3 needs to be speed food before you put anything else on the plate. That makes a bit more sense.