SW or WW best for sweet tooth?

[runningLou]

Am needing to lose weight. Have struggled with an ED over the past 2 years. Now in recovery but that has involved weight gain. Am now a bit out of control around food due to stress with DD being bullied at school etc and am finding life incredibly stressful, so comfort eating. Not having loads but it's a daily thing to have cake / biscuits and I feel cheated if I don't.
Am thinking a club would be good to have the pressure of being weighed but which is better for someone with a sweet tooth?

Am not technically over weight but not happy with my size, BMI is top of normal, 24. Do lots of exercise, running, walking, cycling etc so get very hungry!!

I don't know about SW but WW relatively new Plan gives very high Smartpoints values to sugar and saturated fat. A small Cadbury's Buttons Easter egg would be 42 points which is much more than most people's daily allowance.

I would have said WW but it's certainly not the case any more with their new system

I'm doing Slimming World. I have a really sweet tooth so have a curlywurly at about three everyday and use that as syns plus as much fruit as I want and mullerlight yogurts. I've found mango and pineapple are great for my sweet tooth and toffee mullerlight yogurts are yummy too and they are free on the plan :)

Sorry, I've just assumed you know the SW terminology and used it! If I can explain anything further let me know!

Thanks that's really useful! Do you find SW is working for you? Are all fat free yogurts free on the plan? I have looked at SW but struggle with the rules on dairy and stuff ...

How many points do you have per day with the WW system?

If you have had an eating disorder and are in recovery and you say your not very overweight, is a diet a good idea? Diets are a big cause of disordered eating. Would you be better just cutting out your snacking. Miller lights are full of chemicals and sweeteners and not healthy at all.

Emmiy yes I worry about that as have been taught in recovery that diet foods are not good e.g. it's better to eat full fat unsweetened Greek yogurt with fruit rather than a Mullerlight. I don't snack, I stick fairly rigidly to 3 meals a day, again as part of recovery, but I always want a pudding/something sweet after meals and probably have meals that are too carb heavy too. I have tried low carb but it sent me loopy that's why I like the idea of WW or SW as I know you are allowed everything in moderation which I think is healthy.

You have said that due to stress you are eating too much comfort food ie :cake and biscuits. So you are snacking on those and that sounds like your problem. As you are recovering from an eating disorder please don't start dieting again. Diets don't work long term. That's why they are huge money making businesses. Could you instead keep a non judgemental food diary to highlight when your stressed and what you eat. I try to eat mindfully and eat when hungry stop when satisfied ( never full). I also eat paleoish as i don't eat dairy and I try to eat only natural foods. Since doing this I lost 2 stone last year and my aim is to eat natural foods.

Sorry repeated myself there. Am on phone.

Yes sweet foods like cake and biscuits are the problem but like I said I don't snack on them I have them as part of a meal, e.g. tonight homemade vegetable soup, wholemeal pitta bead and salad and then 2 x big helpings of homemade trifle. This probably sounds like anathema to you on paleo! Due to ED am really wary of diets where you cut out whole food groups like you say you have done. I know I can't do that kind of restriction as I just don't have the will power and it does funny things to my brain. This is why I am looking at SW WW as I know there are rules but you can eat a bit more of what you want in small quantities and I think it's more compatible with family eating.

Sorry "running" thought you said you snacked on them. If your having two portions then could you just have half a portion instead. Have what you want but cut down? I eat paleoish or clean eating as I don't eat dairy and tend to avoid wheat and processed food now. I have suffered with disordered eating my whole life and started mindful eating about fifteen years ago. This kept my weight stable and then I started learning about nutrition and am where I am today. I find dairy and wheat don't agree with me and cause pain so that's why I leave them out. I say I eat paleoish as that tends to explain best.

I eat cakes, cookies etc but I make them without flour or dairy or white sugar and use other ingredients instead. I would also be affected if I tried to follow a diet now so I do understand what you mean. I eat mindfully and that and not eating dairy etc led to the two stone weight loss.

What type of recipes do you use for dairy/gluten/sugar free cakes and cookies?

paleomg.com/category/food/treats/

I use maple, date syrup and honey. Almond flour, coconut flour and eggs. I find that these sweet treats are high in protein and fat and low carb and fill me up much quicker than normal cakes which just cause me to have insulin rush and then feel just awful. The paleo ones eaten mindfully keep me feeling stable. I tend to only eat a couple of mouthfuls though since doing mindful eating.

Also use sweet potatoes, dates, pumpkin and beetroot instead of flours in some recipes like brownies. Cashew butter nut cookies are a favourite.

I have icecream made from coconut cream and honey and use whipped coconut cream with vanilla pods to replace normal cream.