Does Slimming World actually work?

[rp2592]

Hi everyone

I joined SW a week ago.

I am finding it really hard to understand the diet. How can you lose weight whilst eating so much carbs? I just don't understand.

I am on day three of my diet and very worried that if I keep following it, by the end of the week the scales are going to show me I've gained weight!

Has it worked for you? Can anyone give me an example of what they eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner on SW?

Thank you in advance.

I think it's fair to say that it's slow weight loss....

I was eating either yogurt & fruit for breakfast OR porridge with apple
If yogurt and fruit, you have a healthy B extra spare to eat later

Lunch - small jacket pot, salad, prawns and fat free dressing (under 50k per 100ml - the hellmans one)

Dinner - similar to lunch, or using spray oil chicken/mushrooms, corgette, pepper and a couple of new potatoes.

One of their cereal bars (3 syns)

Averaging 1lb loss per week....

You have to stick to no more than 5 syns a day to do this... 15 syns all week and I wouldn't lose.

There is also a fast and easy(?) where you cut out the potatoes.... I can see you would lose 2lbs if you could stick to it...

....I would just check your portion sizes, the jacket potato needs to be what I call "small".

So on this day described I would eat about 100g new pots (which I think is 3 small ones) a small jacket pot and 1/3 cup of porrage oats, mixed with 2/3 cup skimmed milk and an apple.

I don't think that;s a lot of carbs!

I lost 3st in 25 weeks. It came off very quickly. To be honest, now as a target member, I don't seem to eat as many carbs as I once did. I have lost over 5st now and still continue with my lifestyle change.

Photo one is from 2015 and the 2nd photo was last week.

Yes it does work and it has worked for me. I lost 4 stone in 1 year. You still need to watch your portion size and have 1/3rd of your plate with speed food.

I've lost weight slowly but I've had to cut the carbs as I've lost. Now I have stalled so I'm trying cutting out white carbs altogether. It is quite a flexible programme so allows you to experiment quite widely within the guidelines. You aren't really meant to eat as many carbs as you can though. You should fill 1/3 of your plate with speed which automatically restricts carbs.

It works. Definitely. Ensuring 1/3 of your plate is speed (that means not including what’s in the meal, so spay Bol with peppers and mushrooms still needs 1/3 of speed on top such as salad), minimum of 5syns and max of 15 a day.

Make sure you drink plenty of fluids aswel

Yes it works. I've lost 45lb. I eat carbs, brown rice, potatoes, pasta, oats, noodles.

I don't really eat bread any more though.

I lost 1.5st last year, gave up after Christmas after I lost the plot a bit and stopped losing weight (my own fault) and although I don't stick rigidly to it at all and haven't since January, I haven't gained anything despite a decently decadent holiday this summer. Which in my eyes is actually pretty good.

But we do cook from scratch and make sure we've got more veg than carb on the plate. And I rarely eat bread anymore which has sorted out my IBS symptoms completely.

So I do think it works but you've got to commit to making those changes for good. And you've really got to stop thinking it's all about carbs because it's not. It's all about the speed foods and those are what you should focus on first and foremost, the carbs are a bit of an added extra if you want them. I find I don't crave carbs and stodge the way I used to.

Hiya! SW Member since Jan 2016 and I just received my 6.5 stone award yesterday :) So yes, it can definitely work!

An average day for me would be something along the lines of -

Breakfast BLT -
x2 Wholemeal slices from a 400g loaf (Healthy Extra B)
Bacon with the fat trimmed off
Lettuce and Tom (obviously)
Lighter than Light Mayo (0.5 syns for a TBSP)

Lunch -
Jacket Potato with beans and a large salad

Dinner -
Steak
Potato Wedges (cooked in the air fryer)
Salad or Veg.

I use a tin for treats, so I'll put up to 10 syns worth of either crisps, hifis/alpens light, biscuits etc. The tin keeps me out of the cupboard :)

For my Healthy A I usually have 350ml Skimmed milk as I drink lots of tea, but will switch to cheese if we're having a pasta bake or similar.

Forgot to add - if I need to snack between meals I'll have some fruit or syn free yogurt. Drink plenty of fluids!

It’s about calorie density. Carbs are not the enemy. If you’re eating only pasta that’s not great and I don’t agree with eating all the artificially low fat foods, but filling half your plate with veg will fill you up with very low calorie density foods. Oil for example can add shed loads of calories but won’t fill you up.

This video about calorie density explains it well (not specific to SW)

Thanks for the utube link IsTheRainEverComingBack I actually sat and watched the whole lecture at the weekend. It made a lot of sense and was quite motivating. It would have been good if he’d mentioned more about fitting in lean meat/poultry, but I researched the guy and he is a strict vegetarian (maybe vegan) himself so that’s understandable.

Yes I lost nearly 3st last year and eat LOADS just 're joined 3 weeks ago and lost 10lbs

Not for me, too much faff and prep needed, much prefer just simple calorie counting in my fitness pal, much more freedom. End of the day all diets are calorie minimising, SW wasn't for me as I took free foods like spaghetti too literally. SW is a diet, MFP is just monitoring what I eat, if I have too much one day, I reduce what I eat the best. Lost 1.5stone (my target) in 3 months. Didn't feel torturous.

Yes, it does work. I’m having another go after having tried it a couple of years ago - slow progress back then as I didn’t really understand about speed foods as a third of your meal, but so far this time I’ve lost 8 1/2 pounds in three weeks. I’m also cutting pasta and potato portion sizes down and eating more veg instead. I find it helpful to keep referring to the books they give out.

My fitness pal allowed me to cheat myself, Greggs sausage rolls, breaded chicken, even eating cake for breakfast. Having to count my fruit and veg became an annoyance.

How is that cheating yourself? You have a set amount of calories, if you eat a Greggs sausage roll it just means you will eat more calories in one hit? For me it offers so much more flexibility because it enables me freedom for a realistic diet, some days I do like to take my kids to MCDonalds and join them. It's not cheating, it's having the flexibility to choose how you select your calories which is why for me it didn't feel like a diet because if I did want a treat it wasn't throwing the diet off plan completely, how many people on SW have to say "I need to get back on plan tomorrow" Eating out is so hard (and boring) in SW. I know I wouldn't have maintained with them because it means sticking to what is I think quite a rigid diet. But of course we're all different, but for me after a month on SW the weight dropped off on MFP, I've never felt more in control, I agree it's annoying adding all the low calorie stuff, now I'm maintaining I don't really bother, I just keep an eye on the bigger ticket items.

Oh and I missed bread, I like to have porridge for breakfast and a sandwich at lunch which is hard on SW without losing treats. I've always hated the idea of having to avoid certain foods, MFP is just so easy, only put in what you put out! Oh and I don't like SW'a reliance on low fat/calorie foods that are often replaced with crap. Sorry I sound preachy I guess I just found SW really irritating when it didn't help me at all and made it a chore, I appreciate for others it's been their success. As I say we all different.

Because all I ate was crap food instead of good home cooking.

Just because it worked for you doesn't mean it's the right lifestyle change for me.

My poor eating choices affected my weight and my health.

I've lost over 5 and a half stone and feel so much better when I eat properly cooked food.

I don't know how many calories a Gregg's sausage roll has, but I don't know whether I would then be able to eat virtually nothing for dinner if I'd run out of calories? Not to mention its not very healthy. I do know what you mean about the eating out and not going to McDonald's, I've tried MFP, but if you cook from scratch, every bloody thing has to be weighed and divided. Hardly encouraging healthy eating in the long term. I'm having problems with though SW for the precise reason you said-2 nights out over the weekend meant I couldn't pull it back, so I feel like I can't go out at all. It's very disheartening There are so many answers, it feels like there is no answer.

I lost weight on SW but it isn't a quick fix and you have to accept the fact you have to say goodbye to bread and booze (in quantities more than 1 slice and 1 glass). On MFP you can have both as long as you document it all and don't go over your allocated calories.

istherainevercomingback That is an excellent video. I might get DH to watch it, as he loves a bit of science and needs to lose some timber! It really explained it well and made a lot of sense. I do feel much more motivated now. It does explain the basic theory being SW, but without the added artificially low fat foods. It made sense that he is vegan as he barely mentioned dairy. I read the '4 pillars' book a few months ago and one of the things in there was to only eat food that had less than 5 ingredients. That easily cuts out virtually all processed food.

Yes it does. I don’t eat all the low fat stuff but it’s a healthy way to eat and you can eat pretty much Syn Free very easily uSing your healthy extras. I use my syns for wine, eat a good mix of carbs, speed and protein and 6 weeks in have lost 12lbs and was slimmer of the month. The principles are sound - just tweak it to fit your values and lifestyle (I refuse to be scared of an avocado and won’t eat sweetener!) good luck