Can you still do green and red days?

[lris]

Hello. I lost a couple of stone doing red and green days about 15 years ago. My weight has fluctuated in the meantime, and I now find myself back where I started, due to snacking and general bad habits.

I don't want to rejoin, never enjoyed the classes (image therapy, ugh), all the happy clappy nonsense. But I did do well on the plan.

Would I be successful going it alone, based on the information I can find online?

Typically, I would use HEXAs for milk in cereal, tea and coffee. HEXB for all bran or oats with fruit for breakfast. Lots of fish, lean meats and veg for lunch / dinner and syn alpen bars and muller lights if I needed a snack.

Does that sound okay? Is it within the current rules, as I know things have changed a lot over the years. I just don't want to be bothered with extra easy, as I never got my head around it. I need something quick and easy to follow for a few months to get me on track and back into better habits.

I do cook from scratch, and I don't drink alcohol, please tell me it's feasible.

Day23
69.8kg

Breakfast: HEA milk and belvita (6.5)
Lunch: Pasta, pesto (2 syns) tomatoes and HEB cheddar
Supper: Harcombe risotto. Possibly quorn steak and beans to go with

Snacks - oops, bag crisps and Time Out!!

Had a covid jab this afternoon (AstraZeneca) if I get any side effects I hope it is loss of appetite!!

Day 24
70.4kg

Day 24 Green.

Mango and blueberries, tea with milk HEXA.

Apple, more tea, water, mullerlight, Alpen light bar HEXB. Some nuts HEXB.

Jacket potato with beans and cheese HEXA.

Your meal plans look fine to me. My rules are:

Read the books regularly.
Mix up breakfast. If you have cereal, you can have two HEXAs milk allowance.
Increase amount of non-carby veg and salad.
Write everything down.

I think I am going to have to try some red days to mix it up, but I do love my carbs!

Cereal for breakfast for the rest of the week perhaps. Everyone eats the green day food, but with one veggie dc and two that are fussy when it comes to things in sauces, red days are going to be more of a challenge.

On your red days, you could try keeping meals fairly neutral until dinner, then you will still have a carb allowance as 2 HEXBs.

Say yogurt and fruit for breakfast (bananas are quite filling). Boiled eggs with salad for lunch, omelette or bacon, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes. Quorn pepper steaks (free on both red and green) with lots of veg. Large bowl of homemade soup. Then dinner could be a veg curry with rice, spag bol, lasagne etc, if you count the carbs and use both of your HEXBs.

Day 25 Red.

Yogurt and banana. Tea with milk HEXA.

Alpen light bar HEXB, apple, nuts HEXB, tea, water.

Ham and mushroom omelette with tomatoes and cucumber.

Quorn pepper steak with broccoli and green beans.

Thanks Iris!

Day 25
70.0kg
Red!!

Breakfast: Muller Light and Banana HEA Milk in coffee
Lunch: ham salad
Supper: Omelette and veg or Beef Casserole type meal and veg

Snacks: fruit, 2 x belvita (3.5)

Day26
70.0kg
Red

Breakfast: Muller Light and banana HEA milk for coffees
Lunch: Ham salad
Supper: Rest of beef thing from last night (2.5) with swede and carrot mash

Snacks: fruit, 2 x belvita (3.5)

I made a beef casserole type thing last night from this recipe, which was really nice and quite easy but I did it in the oven (I need a new insert for my slow cooker - it's a metal non stick one and the non stick coating is coming off!) I will definitely make it again.

www.slimmingeats.com/blog/rich-beef-and-prune-stew-instant-pot-or-slow-cooker

Have a good weekend. And as always, fingers crossed for losses on Monday !

Thank you for the link Nancy, we do a lot of slow cooker meals, and it's always good to have new recipes and ideas.

Day 26 Green.

Yogurt and berries. Tea with milk HEXA.

Alpen light bar HEXB, banana, apple, tea, water.

Veggie bean casserole. Lots of chickpeas, haricot beans, tomatoes, onion, red pepper, mushrooms, garlic, Italian herbs, olive oil HEXB.

Looking forward to a loss for us both this week. Enjoy the weekend.

Day 27
70.2kg
Green

Breakfast: Banana and yoghurt, HEA milk for coffees
Lunch: Pasta pesto tomatoes and HEB cheese
Supper: Risotto

I might do red tomorrow. I have obviously gone way off plan this week, I'm a bit cross with myself - properly back on track Monday (I say that to myself every week, though).
I might be able to pull it back with a lean weekend, but Saturday is pizza and film night and ds2 always leaves loads of his so that might end up being my supper instead.

Day 27 Red.

Berries and yogurt. Tea with milk HEXA.

Boiled eggs and cherry tomatoes, banana, tea, water.

Steak. New potatoes (2 HEXBs). Green beans and broccoli.

When I lost weight many years ago, I treated each day as a fresh start. I did see so many people at group have one 'bad' meal or snack, and then throw in the towel for that week.

I've done the same myself, and come to realise that if you can't stick to plan 100%, then 80% is good enough. Even 50% is better than nothing.

I hope that's not coming across as preachy, as I just wanted to share my insights. I've found that it's not so much about what you eat, more about what's in your head.

Onwards and upwards (or downwards)!

Not preachy at all!
I know I am my own worst enemy at times (aren't we all?) and like with so many habits, what is in your head has by far the biggest influence. I say this as an ex smoker who, having tried many times to quit, woke up one morning knowing that I didn't want to do it anymore and that was that - not a craving in sight since and that was over 15 years ago!
If only I could apply the same mindset to what I eat...

Day 28
70.2 kg
Red

Breakfast: HEA milk for coffees. Banana.
Lunch: Ham salad
Supper: Beef stew with veg

Possibly a belvita or 2 with my coffees.

I have been we understood how SW works. Could someone explain to me in layman’s terms how to do this? I only understand calories or carbs.
I don’t tolerate carbs well at all so can’t eat pasta or potatoes really. Other than that, how would a low carb Plan look with SW? I don’t eat processed foods or commercial cereals apart from no sugar muesli or porridge oats.

I have never understood

Hi GoLightly.

I'm (clearly!) no expert on the plan, but SW has changed from when I first followed it in the 1990s and the plan no longer recommends red and green days to my knowledge, hence this thread!

They now do something called Extra Easy which appears to hinge on ensuring a third of your plate per meal is 'speed food' (essentially this means veg or salad) and which looks like it is the opposite of the old style red/green. You'll probably get a much better explanation from someone following the current plan on the SW board, who knows how it works - I don't know what to suggest for a low carb diet, having failed to get along with low carb eating in the past.

That's a good summary Nancy.

@GoLightlyontheEarth, this thread isn't following current slimming world guidelines, we are using the old green and red plans from years ago. One of the other threads in this topic might be a better place to start.

Day 28 Red.

Bacon, poached eggs and tomatoes. Tea with milk HEXA.

Tea, water, apple, banana.

Cottage pie. Potatoes counted as 2 HEXBs and gravy as 4 syns.

Fingers crossed for weigh in tomorrow.

Oh, and congratulations on giving up smoking Nancy, that's a fantastic achievement!

Just popping in to say how much I enjoy reading this thread (feel quite stalkerish saying so!). I'm an old green dayer from years past, and am starting it up again having not really got on with EE (a veggie, plus I need my 2x healthy extras!) and getting frustrated with the MFP app. It's such a treat to be able to eat fruit and carbs freely again. High carbs, low fat has always worked for me and the weight has already started dropping off now I'm back on green days. I am one hell of a tweaker though , and use the one syn = 20 cals to my best advantage (and never count ketchup, gravy etc). Working for me anyway and good to see that red green lives on!

Hi @diege and welcome!

We have dispensed with the happy clappy nonsense that seems prevalent in group, so feel free to post your meals and losses. If you prefer not to, that's fine too.

Thanks for the welcome iris!
Will be helpful to post my daily meals when I can - keeps me on track theoretically at least! I have around a stone to lose and have the motivation of a very unforgiving wedding dress to get into August 2022 🤣

Day 29
70.0kg
Green

Breakfast: HEA milk for coffees, belvita (6.5)
Lunch: Banana and yoghurt, leftover pasta as pasta salad if hungry
Supper: Pasta pesto tomato HEB cheese

Water. Lots of water.

Weekly change +0.4kg
Total loss 0.8kg

I'm nearly back to where I started fgs.
I might copy my week one meals again and see if that works.
(Not cheating would no doubt work better, at least I am not paying for the privilege!)

Day 29 Red.

Loss this week 3lbs.
Losses to date 9lbs.

Yogurt with fruit. Tea with milk HEXA.

Alpen light bar HEXB. Apple, more tea, water.

Omelette and salad. Mullerlight.

Burger and salad.

I'm surprised by that loss, but pleased, obviously. I did stick to the 'rules' more rigidly this week. I haven't had bread, butter, chocolate, cake, biscuits, pastry or crisps for a month, which is unheard of for me.

Keep the faith Nancy, you know the plan works. Are you counting everything? I can't offer any suggestions, as your meals look fine, but I did drink more water last week.

And now the weather is improving, I'll be doing more walks, I'm hoping that has an effect. As you get closer to target, it does get harder, so you need to tweak things then.

Hope you have a better week.

That is a fantastic loss this week Iris! Round of applause

You are obviously sticking to the plan whereas I clearly am not which is why I am not losing any weight.

I've already decided to change lunch today to a JP, beans and VLF cottage cheese - probably too much pasta otherwise.

This might be my meal plan for the whole M to F week.

I am so cross with myself. I know this works IF you stick to it. My downfall is the picking here and there which all adds up.

It's especially difficult if you are cooking for others too. I either have something entirely different (jacket potato and chilli beans being my go to weekday dinner) or I do the SW version of something with extras added on for the rest of the family. So, tonight's burgers will have chips and burger bun for everyone else, and I will have salad with mine.

Although I do think the extra effort is worth it (or will be, when my summer clothes fit).

And I always have the option of fruit or an Alpen light bar if I need it.