Slimming World or Calorie Controlled diet?

[rosieposey]

Hello ladies, sorry this is a bit of a long one but im looking for some advice. I started a 1200 cal diet last Weds, I have approx 6 stone to lose and i only lost 2 lbs in this first week. I am really disappointed as i tried really hard and stuck to it. In the past ( a few years ago) i have lost 6/7 lbs in the first week of a calorie controlled diet probably because i have so much weight to lose but after all that effort and being hungry i feel a bit about it all. I know i should have only expected to lose 2lbs a week on that amount after the first week but i did expect a decent sized loss today.

AF isnt due (i dont really gain weight at that time of the month anyway) but i have a feeling that what the GP said to me yesterday might have something to do with it.

I was diagnosed a type 2 diabetic a couple of years ago and have sort of been in denial about it until now. I want to lose this weight and hopefully get my blood glucose levels down to a near normal level. I was put on meds for high cholesterol/high triglicerides yesterday as my bloodwork came back compromised as well as some new diabetes medication - the doctor said these were all symptoms of metabolic syndrome and that i need to get my thyroid tested as well.

Do any of you knowledgeable ladies think that this might be the reason i have only lost a couple of lbs this week? Its really hard and im not sure i can stick with feeling hungry all the time long term.

How about SW? I have done this in the past but felt like i was eating too much on it really, one thing this past week has showed me is that i can control portion sizes. The only thing i was worried about is that on the CC diet i didnt have much in the way of a significant loss so if i am eating more on SW (which you probably will do in terms of calories) will i have trouble shifting any weight at all? SW i have read also works by controlling calories by stealth , i.e. filling you up with fibre rich foods so that you natrually eat less. I know i wont be hungry on SW but i am desperate to get my weight to a more manageable level and see some reduction in my meds, im only 39 and have a DS of 2 who i want to stay around a long time for.

I want to do SW as i know its realistic for me, my DD (18) has been diagnosed with PCOS which is also apparently a metabolic thing (she isnt more than 1.5 stone overweight though) so it would be a good way of eating for us and the rest of the family - do you lose weight on it though or do you have to really eat alot less on it to have any good results?

Should add that the GP also prescribed me some Xenical (Orlistat) yesterday which i am hoping will help a little too.

Hi Rosie,

I lost 4 stone on WW last year, but I had a lot of free time and was walking 2 miles a day, which I think had more to do with it.

I have PCOS and It is difficult to get weight off so important for your dd to maintain a weight.

I find calorie control can deprive you and slow your metabolism. And generally it is short term in gains.

WW is only as good as the person on it, I ate quite healthily as your veg is mostly free so I ate a lot of it.but I did know people who were using all their points really badly and ending up hungry.

I have switched to SW now to loose the final bit of weight I need, as I am overseas it is more flexible than working out the points on everything. I am finding it easier to manage and am eating very healthily, but you rely on fruit for snacking, so I would just check with your gp your fructose consumption? Not as harmful as processed refined sugar I know but sugar nonetheless.

I am eating a lot more, but it is super healthy, and I barely touch my syns tbh.

I think it says a lot about slimming world that it is the only plan you can do when pregnant, and that has a gp referred family plan too. Perhaps you and your dd could go together for motivation and support?

I am doing it online and have lost 8.5 lbs in the first two weeks. I work 12 hour days so have little time for exercise apart from weekends.

Never underestimate the power of walking either. Swiss women are the thinnest in the Western world and all they do is Nordic walking, gentle fat burning, not killing themselves in the gym. I am trying to take a leaf out of their books and incorporate some more waking into my day.

Hi Rosie...I started SW on 1st Jan this year, and have lost 14.5lb at my last weigh in (last Friday). I'm eating loads, am never hungry and feeling much better as I'm eating really healthy foods rather than junk. I've tried nth amount of diets in the past, but this one doesn't even feel like I'm dieting. I'd recommend it to anyone. My DD is 16 and has lost about half a stone, just by eating the meals I cook.

As for Xenical...it works but be prepared for the side effects! I came off it as I couldn't cope with the fact that it messed up my, er, bowel movements shall we say. Bright orange, slimy stuff which is impossible to clean off the toilet without bleach. Explosive poo, and once even follow through when I broke wind . And it also gave me shocking piles. And I was pretty careful with my diet while I was taking them!

IMO SW works the best, and is the healthiest by far.

Good luck.

Binful, thanks for that info. I did think about WW too but truthfully cannot be arsed to learn the new pro points plan and tbh it just sounds and feels like a calorie controlled diet too in a way.

Posts like your make me think that SW might just be the way to go you have had a great loss in just two weeks - at my weight that was the kind of loss i was hoping for in a couple of weeks but i am thinking that perhaps this metabolic syndrome that the GP mentioned yesterday is something to do with that.

I really need to get some exercise in too but i have alot of joint pain to contend with and i am so pushed for time that its hard to fit it in. I am hoping some of the joint pain will be lessened though when i lose a couple of stone maybe?

DD is very committed to losing that 1.5 stone and lost 4lbs this week on the CC diet that we have both been doing. She will do whatever eating plan i am though so hopefully if we decide to do slimming world then she will have a successful loss too.

binful do you do red days, green days or extra easy? Do you eat your healthy extras too? I cant decide if i should do red days if i do it as green days are too carb heavy for me and cause sugar spikes (as carbs turn straight to sugar) I was thinking of limiting myself to just a couple of peices of low sugar fruit a day such as pears too, BTW well done on your 4 stone weight loss (and your 8lbs in the last couple of weeks!)

newpatches a stone in a month! Thats fantastic too. The metformin that i take gave me worse side effects than Xenical! GP has put me on slow release metformin now so i'll see how they work. I also am hoping that the Xenical will stop me 'cheating' as i know the side effects can be horrendous.

Was wondering though with Xenical, if you are eating low fat anyway (which is what it recommends) then there will be hardly any fat for Xenical to remove anyway so is it worth even taking?

Rosie...If I recall correctly, the xenical still stops a portion of whatever fat you eat from being absorbed so in that way, yes it still has an effect. The problem I had is that even when I thought I was eating low fat, sometimes the xenical would kick in and give me the most horrendous stomach pains and I'd have to literally run to the loo in agony. I think sometimes things that are called low fat really aren't as low fat as you think they are IYSWIM?

This is purely personal choice, but I would never go on xenical again, I hated them.

Ah ok i understand now, will do SW i think for a week and see what the loss is like - i dont mind 2 lbs on SW as i should be eating a little more than on the Calorie Controlled diet, at least it wont be hungry torture!

I am doing extra easy Rosie.

But some days I switch to red see how I feel really.

I'm on extra easy too. I think the weight loss is slightly slower (I did green before) but it's SO easy to do and never boring.

If you have diabetes and your daughter has PCOS I'd really really recommend going for a low GI diet. I would have thought that this could be done in conjunction with SW if low GI choices are made (eg wholemeal pasta rather than white).

Also I think 1200 far too low for someone with 6 stone to loose, would think that 1400 more appropriate, cut to 1300, then 1200 later. I am doing tesco diets and my allowance was cut to that (1200) when I had 1.5 stone to go. FWIW I lost 2lbs every week, apart from first 2 weeks when I lost 3.5lbs a week. Now down to last few pounds happy to loose 1lb a week.

FWIW all my PCOS problems disappear on a low GI diet - lots of stuff on the web, also Colette Harris's PCOS dietbook - def worth a read.

Realistically you can't loose more than 2lbs of fat a week - each pound of fat is roughly 4000 calories. If you loose more its water.

I was looking at a GI diet actually Forever i have made a concious effort to cut out all refined carbs (only eat grainy bread and wholewheat pasta - still cant quite get my head around brown rice though!) I got the calorie allowance from weightlossresources.co.uk and it said for a two lb loss i needed to be at 1200 calories a day. Frankly im bloody hungry on that and i think i dont even mind a lb a week as long as im not hungry again so i might look at upping my allowance to 1400 if i dont do slimming world.

Will have a look at the book you recommended for DD - have been researching PCOS too on her behalf and you are right about good results and lack of symptoms on a low GI diet.

Hiya rosieposey
I am really interested in what you decide to do because I am in a similar boat - ie I have about 5 stone to lose and have just decided to do a calorie controlled diet.

I have been to SW for about four months but my weight loss has been really slow - and I think it is because I am a greedy guts and am not practising portion control very well.

I love SW and really think their diet is healthy and varied and the people are great. But the weight is coming off frustratingly slowly (ie half a pound here, a pound there).

I am a 'big girl' and therefore I know that my weight loss should be a bit more than that, especially with so much to lose.

Last week I semi followed SW (red/green) but also kept to 1500 a day.

On Tuesday I lost 3.5 pounds that week. I was a bit hungrier than doing SW 'normally' but not massively so. I am still going to SW but not telling them about the calorie counting - I like the group and need the discipline of going.

So let me know what you decide! And good luck! (PS I think if you have 6stone to lose you can allow yourself more than 1200 a day)

rosieposey no need to eat brown rice as basmati also low GI.

Rick Gallup's GI diet book is quite good as well but the most recent Collette Harris one would be useful too in terms of managing PCOS - would be a good investment to buy for your DD.

Try low GI on 1400 or 1500 and see how you go for a few weeks? You can always reduce later. I am now doing 1200 and am not hungry but I am now under 10 stone and only have a few pounds to go. I have lost an average of 2lbs a week, started on 6th October - also I do 3 gym trips a day...

sorry meant 3 gym trips a week. also try to do ea sports active on wii when i get time.

I would be very careful about cutting down to a rigid calorie count of 1200 a day.

When I was on weight watchers if you stuck to the exact points every day, your body went into a kind of low metabolism mechanism.

They used to encourage you to have one high points day and then decrease through the week. This keeps the metabolism going.

This is also how slimming world works in some ways. I had small loss for the first two weeks then the last tow I had 3 lbs, I am not as hungry anymore as I eat regularly through the day and have fruit in the car so I don't get home and raid the biscuit tin like an angry wasp.

It is nice to see big losses but long term, for the sake of your skin, shape and long term loss you need to do it slowly, 1or2 pounds a week.

Heylottie I think thats a really good idea, mixing slimming world with keeping an eye on your calories.

I think that cutting to 1200 per day might be a little much to start with despite what weight loss resources say, i probably wouldnt be hungry on that and maybe if i can make sure that its fairly low gi it will suit both me and DD.

I think i might do SW extra easy but keep to about 1400 - 1500 calories per day and watch portion sizes too. Some really good advice on here ladies so thanks for that :) I really think the point that you made too binful about your metabolism being more stimulated if you eat less on one day and perhaps a little more on another makes sense so i might do that sometimes as well.

Hiya rosieposey was wondering how you were getting on? x