Horrified by slimming world

[Wackelle]

I'm surrounded by people on slimming world at the moment who are essentially stuffing their faces constantly but telling me its OK cause "its free" how can anyone lose weight without counting calories, and eating cooked breakfasts?

Surely this is not healthy, I was also told you can save your sins and have a takeaway at the weekend. Wow.

Not for me.

[Whatthesausage]

It certainly isnt stuffing your face, one of the big things they remind you of is eat until you are satisfied

[MollyRedskirts]

What I find interesting is that you chose to say this in the Weight Loss Chat section, OP. I suppose you thought it was appropriate, but really, you've done the internet equivalent of walking into a room of people eating and going 'What you're eating looks like SHIT.'

This section is for support, not ridiculing.

[DameXanaduBramble]

I think it's the idea of all that low fat stuff which is full of sugar etc. If you're in the low carb camp it seems so unhealthy. (I LC)

[NomDePlumeReloaded]

whatthe How does the 'satisfied' thing work for people who had a lifetime of very large portions and whose stomachs are stretched to oblivion. If their brains are programmed (from years of overeating) to recognise 'satisfied' as a more than regular portion size, how does SW help to train them out of that and into feeling satisfied on a 'normal' portion size?

Are there portion size guidelines or is it literally 'you can eat X, Y & Z until you are full'?

[NomDePlumeReloaded]

I'm not being goady, btw. I'm genuinely interested in how it works.

[absolutelynotfabulous]

I'm a bit perplexed by how it works,too. I've had 2 friends lose a couple of stone on SW, but were unable to sustain the loss once they'd gone back to "normal" eating. The weight went back on pretty quickly. They both said that, once off SW, they "cba" to follow the plan on their own. Is it particularly complex or something?

I count calories-always have-and struggle when close to target weight. But at least I can do it on my own. It's straightforward.

Personally I believe that SW/WW etc structure their plans in such a way as to ensure that people go back. Otherwise they'd go out of business.

I don't think I've ever met anyone who has kept weight off long term after following SW.

[QueenMortificado]

I don't really understand these sorts of diets either, they seem to be great money making machines for people who are with them for years. If it works for people, great, but I'm a bit dubious of the people who lose masses of weight - ie 6 stone or something. To be that overweight you'd have to be eating serious calories for a long time so even cutting down a bit is going to start the weight loss, by virtue of the weight stopping going on!

I am all for people eating good portions though, the calorie restricted 1200 per day type ones are not sustainable and make people fatter in the longer term. I'd love to see the stats on muscle vs fat vs water of people that do this. Losing 5lbs or so in a week sounds great but if it's muscle wastage then it's counter-productive:

[colonelgoldfish]

I've done SW successfully in the past but like others have said - it's a diet not a change for life. It teaches you what to do to lose weight but not how to live and maintain it for the rest of your life. I do prefer smaller portions of fuller fat/sugar foods than all you can eat of mullerlights/ alpen bars etc though I have to say.

I'm currently stuck in a place where half of me wants to get the quick losses with SW to feel better but the other half of me knows diets don't work in the long term 🤔

[Alfieisnoisy]

SW is fabulous, it's all about choosing low fat and eating that way.

It's not all about Muller light yoghurts or bizarre recipes.

The cooked breakfast is easy. eggs are free food, bacons is free (remove the fat) and baked beans are free. I wouldn't want to eat it every day and nor do I save up syns for a takeaway...that's not the idea. If I want a takeaway I have it but I tend to go for lower calorie options.

I have two slices of bread a day or choose a breakfast cereal.
I have a pint of skimmed milk a day for tea/coffee/cereal etc.

A third of my meal plate has to be speed food....so that's fruit/veg or salad.

Pasta/rice/potatoes are free if you don't add any fat.

So a meal of grilled chicken, potatoes and salad is free ...a spoonful of mayo or salad cream is syns but not too bad.

It's basically a healthy eating plan.

I never buy the HiFi bars but have bought a recipe book and the recipes I've tried so far have been loved by all the family.

The teen especially loves the home made burgers and fat free chips done in the Actifry.

One of the women in my group has lost six stones and kept it off for more than a year now. She continues to come to group for the support and ideas.

[Twinklyfaerieglade]

My experience of SW was losing 1.5st in 4 months 6 years ago. It stayed off. I ate very normal sized portions, but a colleague who ate HUGE portions also lost weight (she had more to lose). Boiled down SW is eating fresh food, cooking from scratch and mimising empty calories. Personally only used Syns for ketchup etc. it can be a very healthy, lifetime, way of eating if you use common sense.

[NotStoppedAllDay]

Our group last night lost ten stone between us!!

[absolutelynotfabulous]

Maybe I'm just thick, but I can't get my head around foods being "free". Obviously water is free, and some veg may be pretty much "free" but eggs? Bacon? Beans? Free of what, exactly?

You say, alfie that you are eating sensibly, and also state that you go for low calorie options. But you don't need to be on SW to do that. That's just sensible eating.

[PurpleDaisies]

Boiled down SW is eating fresh food, cooking from scratch and mimising empty calories. Personally only used Syns for ketchup etc. it can be a very healthy, lifetime, way of eating if you use common sense.

This. I think slimming world more than any other "diet" translates really well to long term eating. I don't count syns anymore. I just eat mainly vegetables and lean protein with less fat and carbs. I never used the low fat spray or ate loads of low fat stuff. You can adapt what's essentially a sound way for many to lose weight to suit what you like to eat.

[absolutelynotfabulous]

Sorry, x-post. So if it's common sense, why go to SW at all?

[Raasay]

Slimming World encourages its members to:

Cook from scratch every day
Eat lots and lots of fruit and vegetables
Get enough dairy
Limit bread (to something like I slice a day)
Have very occasional treats.
Stop eating when you are full.
It also promotes healthy exercise and positive self image.

What's horrifying about that?

[PurpleDaisies]

There's a big element of teamwork and accountability if you go to the meetings. Being weighed by someone else is a huge motivating factor.

[ItsNachoCheese]

My sister and i started slimming world on monday and i was 13st 4. I have followed what the book says and i weighed myself today and im 12st 13. I have cut out all the rubbish and im eating a lot more fruit and vegetables. Its only been almost a week but i feel a lot better

[tabulahrasa]

"So if it's common sense, why go to SW at all?"

Because people don't need to lose weight because they're too thick to know what sort of things to eat, they need help actually putting what they know in to practise, structure, motivation, support.

[Gallavich]

Slimming world isn't for me but I know loads of people who have lost a LOT of weight on it so who am I to argue? It clearly works for them.

[QueenMortificado]

Beans, bacon, pasta and potatoes are free?! But you'd get the size of a house if you ate those in unlimited quantities!

[angellj]

I love Weight Watchers I lost 53lbs and I love the fact you can say YES to anything. No food or drink is off limit. I can save points for takeaway or eating out and still lose weight. It also provides portion control along with a balanced healthy eating plan.

[cx5221]

Horrified!
I go to a group where the leader has lost 16 stone in 3 years!
I'm sorry but if you can 'stuff your face' and lose 16 stone it can't be that bad.

The thing about slimming world is you mostly cook from scratch so no processed food etc and a third of your portions have to be really low calorie 'super speed' foods so even though you're eating a lot it's really healthy and it works.

[TheFirstLastKiss]

I lost 3 stone doing SW but have put a lot back on now.

The reason for me is definitely the fear of being weighed helped a lot when I was going to class which is probably the reason most people go to a class instead of just doing it at home.

Our class leader did say that although things like jacket potatoes are free they should be the size of the palm of your hand. Don't eat a potato the same size as your head just because it's free.

[Alfieisnoisy]

I love it.

Yes you don't need to attend SW to choose low calorie or low ft options but it's about more than that. It's the encouragement of the group, the shared knowledge, the extra ideas that I attend SW for.

Free food just means you don't need to weigh or measure it. However I do measure anything which contains fat or sugar.
I eat until I am full and currently I am also using a hunger scale (not SW) because I know that I have a tendency to eat when I am stressed.

[absolutelynotfabulous]

alfie (not goading but genuinely interested) how many people do you know who've reached their target weight on SW, and kept the weight off long-term?

In my experience, losing weight is not the problem - it's staying there once you've achieved it.

That's the difficult bit for me, anyway.

What's a hunger scale?