I've tried so many times and SW doesn't work

[marshmallowmama]

What on Earth am I doing wrong? Granted I haven't tried in a few years but seriously when I last did slimming works I stuck to it religiously and really tried so hard and I just didn't lose weight ?! I'd love to try again as anyone else that does it just melts the fat off easily. Can anybody help me?

[BigFatLiar]

We're all different not everything works for everyone. If you don't think it'll work try something else as you'd be starting SW with the idea in the back of your mind that ig doesn't work.

Worked for us but OH has a thing for pies pasties and pizza so it's hard going at times keeping him on track.

[tootrueblue]

Might be worth trying weight watchers? They've got a few different plans, an easy app and as I understand it, less emphasis on cooking from scratch

[Sidisawetlettuce]

@tootrueblue

Might be worth trying weight watchers? They've got a few different plans, an easy app and as I understand it, less emphasis on cooking from scratch

WW only has one plan now, I think. They scrapped the tree colour plans and now just offer Personal Points (or something like that).
I think plans like SW are tricky because there are so many variations of what an 'on plan' day could look like.
If you struggled to lose weight with SW before, then if I were you I would try something else, although I understand the attraction of wanting to sign up again.

[Antarcticant]

Try a different way of eating. SW is quite carb-heavy which won't work for everyone. Have you looked at lower carb ways of eating?

[bambi1132]

Because it’s a diet and diets don’t work. You need to work on having a balanced diet not following a plan who only cares about money. Why would you follow advice from a company who say you can eat a plate full of pasta but the calorific value of a banana changes if you mash it 🙄
All of these weight loss companies are all about profits and you’ll end up with a very damaged relationship with food. There’s a reason so many people have been going to SW for 10/20+ years

[3dogsnorth]

I know people that it's worked for but they usually regain weight loss. It has to be calorie counting. I follow a couple of people on Instagram that might be very helpful!

Scott Baptie
The Fitness Chef
The Fitness Guy


Costs nothing to have a look at their recipes and methods. Highly recommend all 3

[MyBottleOfRibena]

I saw a really interesting video on Instagram that looked at a day of eating on SW that was a pretty standard kind of day and the calories were actually quite high! I know SW is not about calories, but at the end of the day do you need to be in a deficit to lose weight. Have you ever sat and calculated your calories for a SW day on plan?

[ArseInTheCoOpWindow]

I never lost weight on Slimming Workd either.

Im intrigued by calories changing if you mash a banana!? Why?

[Misty999]

Doesn't work for me either, to many carbs and no portion control

[EveryFlightBeginsWithAFall]

You have to cut your portion sizes and carbs , I did sw for a couple of years and lost 4 stone but I'm still surprised when I see people's food posts on fb. They're huge!

[Danikm151]

It’s not sustainable in the long run.

[elizabethdraper]

If course it doesn't work

You can't spend your life in a diet.

get to strengthen and condition ing gym, be in a calorie deficit for 6 weeks.

take two weeks holiday and back into the your calorie deficit

Eat no l was than 1600 calories a day

[Fedupsotired]

Have a read of this

Why We Eat (Too Much) Thread 5 http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weightlosss_chat/4452191-Why-We-Eat-Too-Much-Thread-5

It's a way of eating rather than a diet. Slimming world seems too much of a cult for me, I know people it has worked brilliantly for and others not at all

[elizabethdraper]

Oh up your protein 1weigh
g of protein for each lb you weigh

[Whitedamask]

Try to cut down on carbs and sugar. (Having said that, I'm half a stone overwheight but I'm sure I'd be a lot heavier if I ate a lot of carbs and sugar).

Instead of mashed potatoes I have mashed carrots and parsnips.

I don't eat rice, and the pasta I eat I make myself from Einkorn wholemeal flour, which is an ancient grain a bit like spelt.

Sometimes I make my own bread from Allinsons einkorn blend flour, which makes a nice loaf and is more nutritious than bread made from modern wheat.

I eat quite a lot of fruit, in the form of a small fruit salad for breakfast, followed by egg, bacon and tomatoes.

I don't eat sweet biscuits, cake or crisps. If I eat biscuits at all, they're savoury, and I have them with cottage cheese and pineapple.

I wouldn't want to spend money on either Slimming World or Weightwatchers. ( I think it's got a different name now but I can't remember what it is).

I don't do a lot of exercise, but weight is about 80% diet and 20% exercise, so as long as you are moderately active you should be ok.

Good luck.

[Inklingpot]

I lost a stone on SW to begin with but ended up giving it up. I hated most of the recipes and the feeling that I could never eat anything vaguely enjoyable. The meetings are excruciating with the constant clapping.

The biggest thing which I took issue with though was the failure to recognise exercise as part of a weight loss journey. I spend a lot of time in the gym and using a heart rate monitor and app, am burning about 400-500 calories per session but SW is solely focused on diet.

[DuggeeHugPlease]

I have lost weight with SW in the past, stopped when I got pregnant but a lot of the habits have stuck with me and my weight is pretty much back to the target I set with them even though I don't go to meetings.

I think it gets so much hatred on here when it does actually help people to think more about what they're eating. People always spout that it says you must eat a huge bowl of pasta etc but that's just not true. It's not necessarily the bastion of healthy eating and nutrition but for a lot of people it's a helpful means of cutting out the crap like chocolate, crisps, sweets etc and replacing with proper food.

Will agree that the meetings are tedious and I hated all the clapping.

[gothereagain]

Were you genuinely doing the 1/3 speed food? I don't mean putting extra veg in your Bolognese, I mean replacing 1/3 of your portion with veg.

As for calories changing when you mash a banana that's NOT what they're saying. They mean (and say if you actually read) that mashing a banana, juicing stuff or cooking fruit makes it easier to easier to eat so you are more likely to eat more of it. Like a fruit smoothie is often 4 or 5 pieces of fruit - most people wouldn't eat 4 portions of fruit in one sitting. A mashed banana is fast to eat and mashing releases some of the sugar making it more palatable as well and you may eat more than just a fresh banana.

As for "don't diet" well that's ok for some people, but for others any change to eating is a diet. Like me. I'd much rather shove my face full of carbs, bread and high fat food all day but everyday I battle not to because I don't want to gain weight again. It's a constant diet. After 5 years I'd still rather have crap for breakfast lunch and dinner.

[MrsGinaHarrison87]

Works for me but it's sticking to it after a couple of months I find hard. Someone who's ten stone who's not eating loads and then goes on the diet with the free foods might struggle to lose, but someone say, 15/16 stone used to eating more should be steadily losing.

[Fernsinthegarden]

@gothereagain i did SW a few years ago and the mashed banana thing really irritated me as well - I was syned for it and was given the explanation that there are more calories in a mashed banana than a whole one. If they genuinely believe this they should probably specify the colour of the banana because the browner they are the more sugar they have in them! Anyway. My syned banana was used to make pancakes with eggs. I’m still holding a grudge 😂
it just didn’t work for me but I didn’t want it to work either! I found the meetings really condescending and really didn’t agree with some of what they promote, like using fry light instead of olive oil or butter or the slim bar things.

[MagneticRubberDucks]

Slimming world is aimed at and only really works for people with disordered eating habits.
People who have terrible diets and eat lots of processed convenience food.

If you already eat reasonably healthy, but just eat too much, it rarely does anything to help.

SW is mostly about changing the relationship with food, getting them to cook from scratch and enjoy food.

One of my friends is a SW consultant, she loves it as it changed her life, but she is clear SW is not a diet, it’s a program to change your eating habits.

[Overtheanvil]

It doesn’t work for me. I’ve done it religiously and each time I’ve ended up with an ovarian cyst and slow weight loss. So it doesn’t suit my body. It’s very, very low fat and I never felt satiated.

[MrsMigginsCat]

I lost nearly 4 stone on SW ten years or so ago. I've been back and forth several times since then but never managed to achieve the same success as the first time and I'm now very near to my original start weight. I find it too carb heavy now - I used to to a job where I was on my feet all day and burnt them off, but now I'm office bound and activity during the day is limited so that many carbs just doesn't do to for me.

Calorie counting is the way forward. Work out your basal metabolic rate and TDEE to get your daily calorie allowance, download the NutriCheck app, £3.99 a month (less that one week of SW) and track everything you eat/drink. It's working for me, albeit slowly, but is more sustainable in the long run. I can eat what I like, as long as I count it.

[Nuisancepenguin]

SW worked for me in 2019, lost 2 stone. Went back post-lockdown and couldn’t shift any weight, despite following just as I had before. It was very disheartening. Still have the weight to shift and I do feel like my relationship with food has been messed up even further. I follow Scott Baptie already and need to look at his recommendations more. I’m also getting advice from a dietitian at the moment. She advises making two small changes every 2 weeks for a healthy diet.

[SirChenjins]

There's a lot of hate for SW on here, not sure why. It's just one of many approaches to losing weight, all of which will result in you putting weight back on if you stop them - whether that's calorie counting, exercising, or whatever. If you follow SW carefully you'll see it's about reducing carbs and eating lots of lean protein and veg with a dairy and 'treat' allowance each day. If that suits you then great, and if not then other approaches are that way ->
I lost weight on it and now do a 'lite' version now that I'm aware of what I should avoid and what I should eat, plus a sort of 10:14 fasting and so far the weight has stayed off. Didn't do the classes - I'd no more clap at a group that I would go to a gym class with loud music and a hyped-up instructor.