Slimming world fail

[Beachcountrysidetown]

Slimming world has left me fat, tired, unfit and addicted to sugar.
Their whole concept is rubbish (for me) the fact that a chocolate bar has less syns than an avacardo or handful of nuts is mad and has left me in a state where if I don’t have sugar I get a headache. Two healthy extras being those hi fi bars is also mad - they are full of sugar and no nutritional benefits except a bit of fibre.
I have become frightened of normal foods and never know what to eat as in obsessed with counting a fictional number of points is supposed “bad” food.
The weigh in is crazy - everyone has starved them self all day to then binge on quavers and hi fi bars after their weigh in. Not being able to eat freshly prepared sausages from the butcher as the syns are unknown but able to eat processed crap sausages with the SW branding....
I never exercised as it really isn’t a thing with SW. Yes there’s mentions of body magic but that’s it - getting steps in for body magic if you want to but I was constantly told it’s not needed unless you want to. Thanks to SW I am in the worst shape of my life and I have a good 12 month fight to get my fitness, diet and weight back on track in a healthy way.
Rant. Over.

Those touting the 'But you don't HAVE to eat them!' line regarding processed shite; you do realise that if people were capable of exercising self-control and making wise decisions regarding their diet, they probably wouldn't be queuing up in front of the Slimming World scales in the first place?

YES!!

That is the whole point of the thread. It isn't SW that caused people to fail. It is the inability to make the right decisions and the lack of self control. SW is about choices. No matter what weight loss plan people do they have to make the correct choices.

I wish people would actually look at the evidence and research of "self control" and "willpower". It's so easy to blame fat people for getting themselves fat.

Tuftedlady you’re so right. There wouldn’t be an obesity crisis if it was easy to make the right choice! And that’s exactly how SW make their money - giving people bad choices that are too easy to make - even by calling a sugar filled chocolate bar a “healthy” extra.

I wish people would actually look at the evidence and research of "self control" and "willpower". It's so easy to blame fat people for getting themselves fat.

No one else makes a fat person fat.

I was fat. It was because I ate too much shite. I lost weight, because I exercised some self control. If my willpower dwindles o start to put on weight. So again, self control brings it back.

It's bollocks that anyone or anything other than the person themselves is to blame.

Slimming World aren't the creators of bad food choices. Bad food choices are everywhere. It doesn't suddenly become the fault of SW once somebody is following their diet and the bad choice they make that can fit in with the diet replaces the bad choice they would have made outside of it (which is likely to have had a bigger sugar and calorie hit.)

Actually studies show that likelihood of being overweight an be linked to the weight and availability of food when your mother was pregnant (based on the Dutch famine), if your parents were overweight this can cause genetic changes to the way your body deals with leptin, insulin and other hormones related to hunger and fullness.

The food available when your mother was pregnant can also feet the foods that you eat, such as high fat, high sugar.

Dieting effects the body and often shifts the natural weight point up, changing the way the body again uses and is resistant to some of the hormones mentioned above. Most people would be a lot slimmer if they'd never dieted ever. And many girls diet on one way or another in their teens.

It's so much more complex than eating too much crap.

It's so much more complex than eating too much crap.

^ I absolutely agree with you.

I carry significant 'issues' around food from my childhood and adolescent years (I don't have the information to comment on my mum's diet whilst she was pregnant with me).

But now, as an adult, I have a choice about what I put in my mouth. I can choose to eat that extra slice of cake, or another chunk of cheese. I can choose whether I eat a burger or a salad. I can choose water or a can of Coke. I can choose to get off my arse and run 10k or I can choose to sit on the sofa.

I'm not for a second saying those choices aren't complex or that they aren't influenced by years of nature and nurture. But they're still choices that we are all able to make, if we want to. No one else physically puts food in our mouth.

Those touting the 'But you don't HAVE to eat them!' line regarding processed shite; you do realise that if people were capable of exercising self-control and making wise decisions regarding their diet, they probably wouldn't be queuing up in front of the Slimming World scales in the first place?

This is immediately disproven because enough people have posted they are able to make healthy choices and don't just eat shit because they can on the diet. They like the variety of being able to eat healthy and have the occassional unhealthy food. It's also disproven because it's not the only diet available. You don't have to follow it.

There are a huge number of diets available, no one has to pick slimming world. If you're the person who cannot make a healthy choice, then this is not the diet for you. Pick another one. Pick one that does not give you choices. Pick a diet that dictates what you eat. It's not like there's not a multitude of them.

Don't pick the one that gives you flexibility knowing you'll make the wrong choices, then make those wrong choices, know you're doing it, then stay on it, get fat, whinge and blame the diet, that's beyond bonkers..

I've been doing sw for a couple of months and have lost a decent amount of weight, but I haven't followed the plan to the letter, and certainly haven't followed it in the way that it's advocated in group because I can't see how that would lead to weight loss.

In group, there are members buying three boxes of the bars every week. They had a tasting event one week where members bring in free foods made at home to share, and the number of people having large portions and thirds and fourths was surprising - just because the food was free. They play the system by, for example, making kfc by coating chicken thighs in cereal and spices and lots and lots of squirts of 2cal spray. This tricking of the system is a large part of the discussion each week, along with how to eat as much as possible within the rules. There has never been any mention of exercise or the part it plays in health and wellbeing, not once. I didn't, until now, realise that was even part of sw. The group evangelises that you never need to feel hungry, and can eat as much as you like until full - however hunger is natural, and 'full' is subjective.

Yes of course, everything in life is about free choice, but clearly some people will make good choices and some people won't, or don't have the common sense to do so.

*I wish people would actually look at the evidence and research of "self control" and "willpower". It's so easy to blame fat people for getting themselves fat.

No one else makes a fat person fat.*

Willpower and self disipline seems directly corrected with sucess: I have willpower because I ate less chocolate or I didn't have willpower because I ate too much.

If it's always related to the outcome then the person's motivation, feelings, and physical state become irrelevant. It loses meaning.

Also I think this correlation is false. When I'm doing well do I have more self disipline? Nope. I just feel happier or more inclined to want to feel better or just stressed. I am in no way more deserving of praise. Often when I'm a bit manic I stop eating. Is this more self disipline than when I've eaten a bit too much but wanted to eat everything in sight?

I'm doing slimming world and am following the rules the consultant gave me when I first joined. Free food but third to half of plate should be speed food (certain fruits and veg for all meals, snacks should be speed food if possible and eat until satisfied. I'm pretty greedy but if I fill half my plate with veg (and that doesn't include potatoes, peas, sweetcorn etc) then I will be full even if the rest of the plate is pasta so wouldn't be going back for seconds. So the calories are easily limited. I also only really use my syns for stuff like butter, olive oil etc so I am still getting fat in my diet. It's working for me. On the Facebook groups I have joined people post the pics of their food and lots of them don't bother with the veg part. They are just kidding themselves really. I joined as I really wanted to up my veg each day and lose weight plus I like the support of groups. Exercise is encouraged by our consultant but I'd do it anyway as I know it keeps me healthy. People need to take a bit of responsibility.

For those saying "you don't have to eat the processed crap!".

I've been to many groups, and all of them would have a table laid out with empty packets and sleeves of the branded micro meals, Muller Lights, Hi-Fi bars, mug shots etc. So as you're queuing to get weighed you look at them.

During Image Therapy if anyone said they were getting peckish between meals, or struggling for ideas at work if they were in a rush, a lot of members would chime in "ooh, have a Mug Shot and a Muller Light!"

The Consultant would then do a section where she'd talk about the new flavours being released, whether there are any syn values, how much they cost, where to buy them etc.

Then you'd have the raffle, where a prize might be a box of bars. The Slimmer of the Week would win the bag of fresh fruit and veg, but there would usually be a pack of Mug Shots in there.

So actually, they are heavily promoted and it gets into your head/subconscious. Add into that if you shop in Iceland there are huge posters promoting the Slimming World meals and Muller Lights being FREE and doing promotions where if you buy X amount of something then you get Y free.

So even if you didn't start off joining SW eating processed crap, you can see why it would be easy to slip into bad habits. Of course SW is a business and all they care about is making money. Like someone else said, companies never seem to make much money from eggs and broccoli.

I agree it's only really good if you have a LOT of weight to lose and you already have a piss-poor diet.

The free foods as written in the book are healthy foods (fruit , veg , lean meat , eggs)then 100-300 calories of treat foods per day , the yogurts recommended in the book are fat free natural yogurt , my consultant tells people other foods that are syn free like the iceland meals or muller lights are not to be eaten all the time but are good if you just need to grab something but the majority of your food should come from the free foods listed in the book , avocados are a high fat food , fat is fat you will gain weight if you eat too much fat , avocado fat is just as many calories as lard so although they do have more health benefits too much avocado is not good , same with nuts its very easy to overeat nuts

Theshapeofyou - exactly that. It’s true - I never ate processed stuff but it became all too easy on sw abs or os what is pushed to you! Yes there’s willpower but when you are being told week in weeknout toneat this stuff you eventually start believing it

Slimming World and WeightWatchers, for that matter, are money making organisations. No one I know who has been on these diets has ever kept the weight off. They lose, put back on, lose, put back on and it goes on.

^^ I disagree. I lost 6 stone on ww propoints and have maintained my weight myself by using the same system in my head and with a pp calculator for about 15 years now. It's about long term lifestyle choices. Diets begin and end. If you use a plan to educate yourself for the long term, this is what "works". In my case, It's not WW "working", It's ME.

The first paragraph of my post was a quote from a pp - didn't know how to make that clear!

Bluesheep8 if you put an asterisk at the beginning and end of the quote it'll be in bold.

But bluesheep you only haven't regained the weight because youre still essentially on a diet. Sw claims to be a "lifestyle choice" or some shit, so theoretically you should get in to good habits and not have to consciously count syns. But that doesn't work because all the weight goes back on.

But bluesheep you only haven't regained the weight because youre still essentially on a diet.

Any diet will ultimately lead to regain if you don't adopt it as a lifestyle change and instead go back to eating the way you did when you became fat. Again, this is not a fault of Slimming World. At least with their plan there's a chance of sustaining it as a lifestyle change with the right outlook. The same can't be said of a lot of plans, such as any meal replacements, juices, highly restrictive plans, VLCDs.

And speaking from experience, it's astonishing how quickly it piles back on. If I eat thoughtlessly, my 'natural' weight levels out at not far short of 18 stone. I have no doubt that I'm going to have to make a conscious effort for the rest of my life to address my eating issues.

I really believe that's something that naturally-slim people don't really get. It's not a case of choosing a diet to fix a weight problem then cracking on as we were after. It's a lifelong issue that requires sustained conscious effort.

I agree. If you are overweight, it does require you to consistently continue with eating the same way and be conscious of your eating. I'm not an emotional water or a binge eater. I do however, absolutely love baked goods. I go out and 'treat' myself to a coffee and cake, will have bread at least 3x a day. If I get into the habit of only having 1 small portion of bread a day, and get to know that I can have 2 plain biscuits with my tea once a day because I know how many syns are in a hot cross bun, then am I constantly on a diet or am I just minding what I eat? Ill have to be careful what I eat all the time, because if I'm not, I can have 3 cakey/bready things a day. Because I love them, and I forget that I've already had some biscuits or a cake that day.

I never ate processed stuff but it became all too easy on sw abs or os what is pushed to you! Yes there’s willpower but when you are being told week in weeknout toneat this stuff you eventually start believing it

So why keep going til you get to that stage?

You seem determined not to take personal responsibility for your weight and eating choices. You need someone to blame, and in this instance it is slimming world. Until you accept you and only you is responsible for what you consume, you will always struggle with it.

It will be a life time of yo yo dieting. And every time you gain weight it will be someone else's fault.

Yes, as a pp said-perhaps I am essentially still on a diet, well most of the time anyway. If I'm really honest, I 'think in ww points' Monday to Friday afternoon, and eat and drink whatever I want at the weekend (But don't have a huge binge for the sake of it!) which makes maintaining my weight achievable for me in the long term. It means that when I weigh myself on a Monday morning I may have gained a pound or two but when I check my weight again on a Friday morning I'm back to where I need to be (9 stone 8 and I'm 5 foot 6) this way of doing things perhaps isn't for everyone but it works for me and has meant that I have kept 6 stone off for 15 years. Some might say I have an odd relationship with food as I see bread, rice, pasta and chocolate, wine as weekend treats rather than every day things but it means that I actually enjoy these more when I do have them. During the week I 'bargain' with myself, e.g. would I rather have a biscuit that's offered or would I rather have grated cheese on my chilli later? Whatever I'd prefer governs my decision but I won't have both. As I said, thinking this way has stopped and will stop me ever regaining that 6 stone.

And thanks to a pp for the asterisks info, didn't know that!

Bluesheep8 wow that's amazing you've kept all that weight off for so long, and keep such a low weight (I'm 5ft 7 and weigh around 11.3...would love to lose a stone). Well done you! I too try to be good during the week and relax at weekends but I'm not being good enough during the week, hence excess weight.

I'm reading "Eating Less - Say Goodbye to Overeating" by Gillian Riley at the moment and she talks a lot of sense.

theshapeofyou Aw thanks, I realised a long time ago that it's a life long commitment and I now (It's taken 15 years) feel like a slim girl who once got very fat rather than a fat girl who lost weight iyswim. The hard thing is maintaining, everyone always talks about how hard it us to lose weight, but not how difficult it is to stay where you are after you've lost it. I've heard good things about the book you mention btw.