Advice for a newbie

[MrsPatrickDempsey]

Feeling really fat and miserable since turning 50 a week ago. I need to do something and would love to lose a stone (or two would be fab). My reticence at joining SW or WW is how it works with family meals and whether the plan is easy to follow.
Come and enlighten me - all tips and info welcome. Any reason why you choose SW over WW?

I bit the bullet and started a week ago. I'm really enjoying it and have found it quite easy so far. I'm surprised by how much actually

SW much easier to fit with family meals. I like not having to count everything. The only thing is it's trickier to eat out - not that that is an issue at the moment

I’ve never done WW but I like SW because I don’t have to count/weigh everything. I feel if I was restricted to how much healthy food I could eat I’d end up bingeing on crap, but that’s my personal issues there!

I think SW fits well with cooking for the family because you can still make family favourites within the plans rules, and can replace some with salad or extra veg for yourself to make sure it’s 1/3 speed but still give the rest of the family their usual portion size.

I had success with SW. No foods are banned, so meals offer balance and variety. Yes you are limited on things like cheese and hummus but have free rein on lots of other stuff. I've fallen back in love again with beans, pulses, eggs and tofu (all ‘free’ foods). I’ve gained an appreciation of which foods are higher in energy and should therefore be limited which is helpful for long-term healthy eating.
It definitely fits in with cooking for the family. Most of the recipes on the slimming world website serve 4 and are definitely family favourites, like curries and pasta bakes.
Most meals can be adapted to make them Slimming World friendly too.
I’m not sure how good it is if you’re time poor. You really need to have a meal plan, but there are several blogs and websites which have pre written meal plans if you don’t have time.
It’s also so easy to adapt family favourites with Slimming World – using 5% fat mince, low-calorie cooking spray for frying and skipping the cheese when making a cottage pie.
If I’m making SW chips, I will cook a separate tray with oil and full fat sausages for family and do mine with fry light and SW sausages.
OR add some extras to keep the kids happy. You can try cooking the same for everyone, but adding or substituting a few bits you know your DC will eat in theirs. If I’m making bolognese l will serve all of us the SW version but the family get extra cheese and a bit of garlic bread – and me extra salad.