Weight watchers or slimming world while breast feeding.

[mootime]

Hi all, I'm probably not going to get really stuck into dieting until after Christmas as DS is only 10days old. But I will need to do a proper diet as I have a good 2-3 stone to loose.
I've previously done WW while breast feeding and with the old system I found it really good, but struggled with pro points. But it's been a couple of years so am open minded about trying it again.
However I know some people do really well when doing slimming world. Has anyone done both? Is slimming world still red and green days? Do you get bonuses for breast feeding.
Any thoughts would be very much appreciated!

Hi mootime

I too struggled with pro points - not the easiest to get your head around at the best of times, let alone when you have a newborn! Out of the two I would suggest slimming world. They kind of still do red and green days, but I think most people follow extra easy (fruit, veg, meat, pasta, rice and potato are all free - you get healthy extras to get in your diary and fibre, and have to syn everything else, including cooking oil and sauces). As a breastfeeding mum you can have more healthy extras to get the milk/calcium that you need. It's slimming world so you can eat as much of the free things as you want (afternoon snack - banana with a toffee muller light yogurt?) and syn things like chocolate etc.

It should be fairly simple for you to follow whilst breastfeeding - sit down and go through all of the books etc, and make a list of free foods for your fridge. Then if you are in dire need of something to eat mid-afternoon, it will be easier to make a choice that will match the programme.

Oh, and the idea behind slimming worlds extra easy is that all meals should be 1/3rd fruit and/or veg.

Definitely don't think about it for a little while. Perhaps get the books from slimming world so that you can start to make healthy choices (if you don't already) but don't think about the actual weight loss yet. Your body needs to establish you milk supply properly first. And you will be tired!! Focus on bonding with your baby, and resting when you can (this will help with the weight loss [really!!!] - if you don't get enough rest you will reach for high calorie, high fat food like chocolate just to get your through the day!!)

I wouldn't start thinking about focusing on your weight loss until you are in a settled routine with little one.
Enjoy this time with your baby

x

Thank you for that. I think I'll give slimming world a go. I've just seen what my Bmi is and am horrified. Will try to make healthy choices until Jan and then get really stuck in.

One question, can you eat full fat cheese (even if small amounts) I can't stand low fat things, and having been deprived yummy cheese for 9 months I'm not sure I'll stick to it if I can't have the odd treat.

You can eat whatever you want! I can't be sure without getting my books out, but full fat cheese may no be classed as a Healthy Extra, so you would have to syn it (as a generally rule, 1 syn = 20 calories). If you go to a group the leader might be able to help more with this one - breastfeeding mothers get more healthy extras anyway. They might also say that you can have full fat instead of low fat.

No more deprivation, just moderation!!

I've done SW since DD2 was 6 weeks old and I'm still doing it and breastfeeding her and she's almost 9 months old now (and definitely growing lots!!)

You get to eat so much on SW. You can have unlimited free foods (fruit,veg,pasta,potatoes,lean meat,fish, fat free yogurts...), healthy extras (bread, cereal, dairy products...) and syns for treats.

If you're breastfeeding you are encouraged to use the maximum of 15 syns per day ( a Cadbury's Flake is 8.5 for example) plus you get more healthy extras than non breastfeeders.

So a normal allowance on extra easy would be an a choice (dairy) and a b choice (fibre). But you get something like 3 a choices and 3 b choices if you're breastfeeding (can't quite remember but you get a booklet which tells you exactly). I found it difficult to eat all the food I was allowed and the weight came off well!

Now DD2 is weaning I only get one extra a choice but doing SW was the best decision I made. Good luck with your choice!

Normal cheese is a healthy extra A choice...but, it's 30g of it, which is pretty tiny. Of course you could syn it as well though.