How is it possible to lose weigh on SW

[Chloe1973]

I've recently been calorie counting and have managed to lose 9lb in 4 weeks but I hate the weighing of food items so I thought that SW may be good for me. I struggle to understand how so many people lose weight on this plan as the daily calorie "allowance" often appears to be high with all the pasta and potatoes! Can someone please explain x

There is no daily calorie allowance on Slimming World, therefore it cant be compared to calorie counting.

I lost about a stone of Slimming World. It's got it's downfalls of course, as all diets do. What was good about SW though was that it can help change how we approach food. For example, potatoes aren't bad. They are a natural food and carbs are good for you, providing you eat them as jacket potatoes/mash etc and not deep fried chips etc!

First and foremost - congrats on the weight loss so far!

I think it's important to note that just because you can eat 'all the pasta and potatoes' doesn't mean you should in every meal. Using myself as an example, I've lost 3 stone since January. In an average week potatoes might feature once in a main meal and pasta twice because it quickly gets boring and samey.

SW encourages members to fill at least 1/3 of their plate with 'speed food' which is primarily healthy veg and / or salad which both fills you up and gives your body a bit of a work out processing it all. The remaining space can then be filled with whatever you fancy so long as it's within the parameters of the plan, pasta and potato included.

The main point of SW for me is limiting the things we don't need but like and want. Like chocolate, crisps, cream, oil and butter. Are they nice? Yes. Do you need them. No. Which is why you can have them on Slimming World but the amounts are limited to a daily allowance.

I would definitely suggest that people give it a try. If you see it as a lifestyle change rather than a diet it can be really effective.

If you follow the plan it does work. Ive lost 3.5 stone so far and it has helped me to change my eating habits. In its basic form, its unlimited low fat/lean meat and fish, fruit and veg, dried pasta and rice; limited amounts of cheese/milk and other dairy, and some extra fibre. Anything high fat/processed is restricted/counted.

I dont bother with trying to make haribo out of muller lights, or recreating a SW version KFC, but i find it works well for me. It wont appeal to everyone tho 😃

Crosspost with @mauhea who explained it much better than I did! 😃

@Mvshrln @Mauhea thank you. I absolutely want to change my eating habits as with calorie counting I find myself filling up on rubbish just because it's within my daily allowance and SW encourages you to make healthier food choices.

@DeltaAlphaDelta thanks for the explanation. I am going to give it another try as I love vegetables fresh food and have no problem filling my plate with them. I have the book as I have attempted SW many times but never lasted longer than a week. Do you tend to use all your syns and do most people exercise? . I'm starting today guys lol wish me luck x

I'm going to put together a weekly meal plan too which will make sure that I stay on track! I have noticed that alot of people online say that SW messes up your mind? Any thoughts on this?

@DeltaAlphaDelta omg haribo out of muller lights there's a hilarious instagram page called "slimminghurled" that pokes a bit of fun at the mad creations people come up with. You can certainly get very creative with it!! But I think for me keeping it to the basics was best haha

Why not try WW, OP? I've lost 3.5 stone on that and it's been brilliant. The app is amazing - you log everything in there, scan barcodes for points, chat to other members, get online virtual Meetings... I can't rave about it enough.

If you follow the WW Purple plan you get unlimited potatoes and (wholemeal) pasta too.

[quote Mvshrln]@DeltaAlphaDelta omg haribo out of muller lights there's a hilarious instagram page called "slimminghurled" that pokes a bit of fun at the mad creations people come up with. You can certainly get very creative with it!! But I think for me keeping it to the basics was best haha[/quote]
I know! Id rather eat sensibly all day then use my syns on a proper bag of sweets as a treat!

[quote Chloe1973]@DeltaAlphaDelta thanks for the explanation. I am going to give it another try as I love vegetables fresh food and have no problem filling my plate with them. I have the book as I have attempted SW many times but never lasted longer than a week. Do you tend to use all your syns and do most people exercise? . I'm starting today guys lol wish me luck x [/quote]
Some days i use them all or go over, some days less than five. If I have a couple of days (usually if we are away for the weekend) where i have gone over, the rest of the week i will stick to it more.

I also do gym classes and cycling for exercise, but its a shame that exercise doesnt allow more syns (like WW used to do on their old plan - dont know if the knew one does).

I have always been a big eater and for me, knowing there is so much free food i can eat an unlimited amount of works well for me.

@DeltaAlphaDelta thanks for the info and good luck on your journey x

I have lost 1st 4lbs in the last four weeks and haven't counted anything. I'm simply doing time restricted eating- fasting for 16 hours and eating in an eight hour window and have cut my carbs right back.

The first couple of weeks were hard but now I'm full of energy and don't feel hungry. I think it's actually suppressed my appetite. I'm out of the obese category now and into overweight. I've got three more stone to lose until I become a healthy weight. I have done WW in the past and got to goal (twice!) but who wants to carry on counting points for the rest of their life? I feel that this way is sustainable and when I have reached my ideal weight and want to maintain I'll still do time restricted eating and low carbs but increase portion sizes a little.

I used syns for gravy or salad dressing rather than sweet stuff. Although a frozen curly wurly lasts ages but I didn't get sucked into the muller yoghurt snacking either.

It just makes you make right choices, so instead of saying well this biscuit is X number of calories which would be allowed under other calorie counting diets SW makes you reach for something healthier like an apple. Both have calories only one is good for you and only one is free.

It is why it forces the dairy and fibre choices too, far more balanced. I lost weight eating potatoes (actifry), rice and pasta because it stopped me eating 3 biscuits with a cup of tea mid morning. It is about portion sizes too. If you cut off all fat, eat a lot of veg with your meal etc then you should lose. If you don't then your portion sizes are too big.

The way to succeed is to meal plan, only shop for that food and stick to it. Re-program your brain to say grabbing a banana is as easy as opening a packet of biscuits.

You can do this!

By following the plan correctly.

Not as some people do, who tune out after "unlimited pasta"

Make sure you have 1/3 speed food at every meal...not as an addition to a mountain of pasta, but instead of that mountain. And when you have seconds.... Make sure it's still 1/3 speed.

If you ignore all the crap about fucking miller lights and sweetener in everything.
It's actually really easy to follow.

[quote Chloe1973]@DeltaAlphaDelta thanks for the info and good luck on your journey x[/quote]
Thank you. You too!

@00100001

If you ignore all the crap about fucking miller lights and sweetener in everything. It's actually really easy to follow.

Yep! Haven't touched a muller light, and a homemade cake with 6 tablespoons of sweetener in, no thanks!

@00100001 ooh I'm with you there on the sweetener! I also made the mistake of "filling up" on diet fizzy drinks until one weekend my stomach decided enough was enough I also tried really hard to find a muller yogurt that was nice but a lot of them contained gelatine which made them seem extra gloopy! That being said, there were lots of flavours and other yogurts which has similar "syns" but seemed a bit nicer.

Because I have done calorie counting - I’m fairly aware of what calories are in what.

If I do it as you’re supposed to, without denying myself carbs, but also swapping out veg where I should... I average about 1200 calories a day.

So I lose weight.

@Crinkledbeetroot @BluePaintSample @Mvshrln @tabulahrasa @DeltaAlphaDelta thank you all soo soo much for your advice / tips re: diet / syn use but I finally decided to continue to calorie count! I know that it works well for me! I’ve realised that I am not at the point where I want to cut out any food group/type and cc is very sustainable long term! I don’t even have to do a special shop now as I can eat what I usually have in. I’ll get to goal then concentrate on the micronutrients in my food! Thanks again guys x

The difficulty for me with SW is that sometimes I just want a small snack such a crackers and cheese or cereal, turkey cheese bagel etc and even though I love fruit and veg, having to always find speed food for every meal is a bit of a chore when you don’t feel like it!
It may even just be timing to be honest, I need a bit of freedom with everything at the moment after lockdown. I managed to lose weight well having the freedom of calorie counting x

@Chloe1973

The difficulty for me with SW is that sometimes I just want a small snack such a crackers and cheese or cereal, turkey cheese bagel etc and even though I love fruit and veg, having to always find speed food for every meal is a bit of a chore when you don’t feel like it! It may even just be timing to be honest, I need a bit of freedom with everything at the moment after lockdown. I managed to lose weight well having the freedom of calorie counting x

You can still snack on that, but obviously it uses syns. I dont have a massive amount of speed with every meal either, or if i am doing a bolognese for example, i will just add some onions and mushrooms.

I tend to eat free food/hex for normal meals, but use syns if i want crackers and cheese, cereal etc.