Debating giving up

[Weedsorwishes]

Hi all first time posting on this board. I'm loosely following slimming world but finding it really hard. My children have various food restrictions and I feel that the meals we all eat together as a family aren't very slimming world friendly so I end up cooking something for everyone else and I have a slimming world meal

I don't know whether to just focus on healthy food rather than slimming world. I'm very interested in a whole food approach sort of deliciously Ella style and love things that nourish your body eg nuts seeds olive oil avocado etc none of which are really SW friendly

Maybe I need to just accept my new size, for context I'm the biggest I've ever been due to lockdown weight gain etc my BMI is 37 but I don't think I look too bad but maybe I'm kidding myself!

I keep seeing clothes in shops and think oh I'll wear that style when I'm slim but maybe I just need to wear them now!

Don't really know what I'm trying to say but can anyone relate!

A lot of people despise SW but it does work if you stick to it (I lost 5 stone 20+ years ago and generally keep it off, only having a stone I gain/loose now and again). But you have to stick to it, and follow the principles of cooking from scratch and using fresh veggies etc. I don't eat 50 muller lights or ten packs of supernoodles either.

I've had a quick add up of your syns on the menu you listed, and I promise I'm not having a go, but a fresh pair of eyes can often help see why it might not be working for you. I know some people are allowed more than 15 syns though and extra HE if breast feeding, but this is what I got your menu to be...

Porridge would be your HEB, tablespoon of nuts/seeds the equivalent of another HEB so 6 syns, assuming you have milk in the porridge that's a HEA.

Milky coffee your second HEA.

Crumpet 4/5 syns, you've used all your HEA's so cheese minimum 6 syns. Did you have butter? Add a few for that if you did.

Coconut milk 100ml is 8.5 syns, so say you had 50ml in your serving, 4 syns

Jar of sauce - Dolmio 12.5 syns, so if you had 1/3 of a jar, 4 syns.

So on that menu you had around 24 syns, on a day you have wine/ crisps upto 47 syns if you use the figures below.

Half bottle of wine - 13 syns (roughly)
Cider - 8 syns
Chocolate - 10 syns
Crisps - 8.5 syns in walkers crisps

Thank you for all your replies you have certainly given me lots to think about.

Sometimes I think I don't look too bad but realistically I'm comfortable in size 20 trousers. I can get in 18 but they are tight. I tend to wear dresses and tights and boots.

Also I can't carry my toddler anymore. If I pick him up for a cuddle I sit down with him I couldn't carry him eg from house to car. I also get my children to pick things up if I drop them 😭 I can't make it up the stairs without stopping half way for a breather.

Ok this is quite shocking 😭

Thanks to the person who totted up the syns. It's an eye opener.

Also I'm not even fussed about being in the healthy BMI IE under 25 I'd just like to get back to a BMI of around 30 I know I felt good then. I think that's around 2 stone to lose. That's the weight of my toddler. In a way I can't believe I'm carrying him around with me in a way everyday.

I think in my head I don't see myself as that big. I know a BMI of 37 is awful but in reality I don't see myself as that big. I think it's definitely lockdown that's not helped. I don't have any weights but I remember a pair of jeans that fitted nicely the week before lockdown and now I can't get into them.

I'm waffling now ......

Have a look at Protein Priority Diet. There are loads of women there who struggled to lose weight and are now losing loads. I lost 10lbs in 3 weeks! It’s all whole food and you can eat a massive variety.

Also read a book called Why We Eat Too Much! It's super insightful.

^This too. It explains (among other things) why calorie counting and restrictive diets might work short-term but almost never work long-term.

OP please listen to this podcast mentioned earlier.
Paul even mentioned how SW messed up his relationship with food.
open.spotify.com/show/5d7Cb1o0LLLoknL1oxN78j

Hi all me again.

I had a big chat with my husband last night and he says I need to not give up as I need to lose weight ☹️

He loves me anyway of course but when we met I was 8 stone 10 I'm now 13 stone 4

I'm debating literally giving the kids chicken nuggets / pizza etc every night and getting gousto / hello fresh for my husband and I. Gousto do jo wicks lean in 15 meals so fairly healthy.

At the moment due to my children's different food needs we are stuck in a rut of roast dinners (fairly healthy), chicken fajitas and tacos. They are the only family meals they will eat. Then other days we tend to have m and s ready meals or cook ready meals

Uuurgh uurgh uurgh

How did you go from this in your first post

I'm very interested in a whole food approach sort of deliciously Ella style and love things that nourish your body eg nuts seeds olive oil avocado etc none of which are really SW friendly

to this in your last post

I'm debating literally giving the kids chicken nuggets / pizza etc every night and getting gousto / hello fresh for my husband and I. Gousto do jo wicks lean in 15 meals so fairly healthy.

Time to think of the long term OP, not just a quick fix for now. Nothing will work if you don't stick to it long-term. You are looking to make a permanent change in your eating habits.

I have a long and ugly relationship with food and fasting is the only thing that works for me. Either 5:2 or IF. I do a combo of both. I don’t enjoy the fasting time but I’m used to it and it feels ok.

I can eat normally the rest of the time and not obsess over every morsel I eat. Anything that involves constant logging of food just makes me obsess and eventually binge. That doesn’t happen with fasting.

I fasted to lose weight while BF from when they were 4 months and it didn’t make any difference to my supply. I don’t think it will make any difference if you’re only BF a toddler in the evening. Just try and have your meal around then and eat nutritiously on the other days. I didn’t even tell my family I was doing it I just had 1 meal of 500 cals with them in the evening. You can eat a good meal for 500 cals.

I think with losing weight it's finding out what works for you. I didn't find SW easy to follow at all, or particularly family friendly, I find it encourages unhealthy habits with its obsession with low fat processed versions. I personally found calorie counting much easier and enabled me to eat what I wanted, in more appropriate portions. That's me, I know others find calorie counting restrictive, everyone's different, if you haven't lost even a stone in 10 months I'd say it's time to choose something else.

Good day today in the "focussing on health" frame of mind

Breakfast shreddies and banana

Snack decaff latte

Lunch small pack of sushi, carrots with houmous and melon chunks

Dinner will be chicken korma. Admittedly the sauce is from a jar but I'm adding mushrooms and peppers and will have cauliflower rice mixed with normal rice with mine

So what eating plan are you following? The jar of curry sauce will ruin the good work you've done all day if you're following SW. (The hummus could tip you over too.) You need to decide what plan suits your lifestyle and stick to it.

I'd fully recommend getting the Pinch of Nom (PON) books and cooking meals that align with SW. Lots of people slag off SW but if you follow the principles of eating less fat, don't eat their bars and ready meals, and cook your own meals from the PON books you'll not only lose weight but you'll save money too. (Ready meals aren't cheap!)

I've lost 24lbs since July by following this plan. And my daughter eats everything I cook too.

@JustGotToKeepOnKeepingOn

So what eating plan are you following? The jar of curry sauce will ruin the good work you've done all day if you're following SW. (The hummus could tip you over too.) You need to decide what plan suits your lifestyle and stick to it.

I'd fully recommend getting the Pinch of Nom (PON) books and cooking meals that align with SW. Lots of people slag off SW but if you follow the principles of eating less fat, don't eat their bars and ready meals, and cook your own meals from the PON books you'll not only lose weight but you'll save money too. (Ready meals aren't cheap!)

I've lost 24lbs since July by following this plan. And my daughter eats everything I cook too.

Just trying to be healthier 😊 it was 5 syns for houmous and I didn't eat it all and 7 for curry (27 in a jar divided by 4)

Everyone I know who’s done SW has piled the weight back on. It doesn’t seem to be sustainable long term. I’d focus on eating healthy whole foods & avoid heavily processed foods like Muller Lights & Mugshots which SW seems to think are OK.

@FrownedUpon

Everyone I know who’s done SW has piled the weight back on. It doesn’t seem to be sustainable long term. I’d focus on eating healthy whole foods & avoid heavily processed foods like Muller Lights & Mugshots which SW seems to think are OK.

Yeah Muller lights and mugshots aren't really my style anyway 🙂

SW does work but you can't just stop and expect the weight to stay off. It has to be a lifestyle change

The good thing about SW is that when you reach your target weight, you can go to meetings and have the app free of charge. They also give a much more detailed maintenance plan to target members now.

@FrownedUpon No diet works if you don't make permanent changes. There's no doubt that people go to SW and lose weight but once they've lost weight they go back to eating how they were eating before so the weight goes back on. The only way any weight loss works is to change the way you eat forever.