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.

Hi, in response to a pp, the only exercise I do is walking. Not enough exercise by a long chalk!

Smoothie aren't great because of the volume of fruit you consume in one go, so lots of sugar while breaking down the fibre. They don't say vegetable smoothies are bad. So if a green smoothie is a vegetable one then its not 'bad' but fruit s moothies and juices don't even count towards your 5 a day anymore because they aren't healthy.

Interesting thread.

I lost quite a bit of weight on my own and then joined SW as it got harder, for motivation. I'm somewhere in both camps.

If you follow the book, it's good. Works with proper foods and encourages healthy eating and a good mix of vegetables, fruit and salad with meals.

If you stay to the meeting it's stupid comments about drinking wine, and eating as much as you can get away with and using syns. I remember when I joined one question was what was I least looking forward to giving up. One lady said chocolate cake and the consultant said she could have a good slice for 5 syns. I.didnt argue but no one will lose weight eating healthy food and 3 slices of chocolate cake a day! It's that sort of overselling of old habits that get to me and it's why I.dont stay to meetings. They don't need happy clappy wine chats. They need cooking demonstrations or food samples or, oh I don't know, all go out for a walk together anything but talking about eating too much!!!

I can see why it doesn't work for people.

To be honest, I don't really follow.it. I do.use it to inform me and keep me.on the straight and narrow really. I have to eat dates and things to keep me regular, so most of my syns go on those. Healthy but highish calories. I don't have any left for their expensive bars.

I agree OP. Slimming world has messed me up even more than before I joined.

Before anyone attacks me, yes I fully understand what Slimming world is, how it works, the 'logic' behind it and how you don't 'have' to eat Hihi bars, Muller lights or anything else processed.

When I joined proper exercise was discouraged. 'Muscle weighs more than fat' Haha. No. 1lb of muscle is the same as 1lb of fat. The density is different. It still weighs exactly the same.

The whole 'syn' stands for 'synergy' is absolute bullshit. Rewind back to when Slimming World started they were called sins. I quote 'Enjoy a Sin-A-Day'. It changed to 'syn' because of the controversy over associating food with guilt.

It is a business. They do want you to stay fat. Sure, when you reach your target you get a free membership. But in reality how many people get to, and stay at target? Okay, there will be hundreds of people who do. But then thousands and thousands who don't.

The avocado debate for example. It's absolutely your choice what you want to use your syns on. A lot of it does come down to common sense. But you are encouraged to use them on treats rather than healthy alternatives like avocado, nuts, oil etc. Why? Because they want you to stay dependent on sugar!

If we had the common sense to chose healthy things over unhealthy things then we wouldn't be here would we?

The guilt that comes with fucking up is mentally damaging. I know I'm not alone in this.

(I left Slimming World and have recently chosen to stay away frin any 'diet' and just educate myself on nutrition. Because no, Slimming World isn't a 'lifestyle' change. It's a diet.)

((Props to those who have done well with Slimming World, I'm happy for you and really hope that you continue to lose/keep the weight off. I just have a huge bee over it))

Just to add. How anyone thinks that starving themselves all day for weigh in is okay is beyond me.

I was part of one of the Slimming World Facebook groups and they had a thread going where people were weighing their clothes to see what weighed less!

That is not healthy! Not even slightly!

After 30 years of being 3 to 4 stone overweight I managed to get to my target weight in 5 months of slimming world and am still at the same weight, give or take 1lb here and there, almost a year later. It has given me my life back. I can walk more, don't need to keep looking for a toilet when out and about due to bladder weakness, I'm no longer at risk of T2 diabetes (which is what sent me there in the first place) and I feel so. much. better!

The thing is, a lot of people think that by joining a slimming group (by whatever name SW, WW etc) they can renounce any responsibility for themselves and that by being a member, they don't have to think things through, they just have to slavishly follow the plan. Trouble looms if they don't really understand the plan - if you forget to load your plate with plenty of veg and/or salad first, then of course you will over indulge in potatoes, rice etc and your weight loss will be slower or non existant.

I've never eaten a mueller light, pasta shot, slimming world ready meal or sauce, I've always cooked from scratch and continue to do so, but I have tweaked some of my recipes to make them more weight loss friendly. I like hi fi bars but try and treat them like sweets - eg I have them when we have family film night at the weekend etc. Yes they are processed food, but surely eating a chopped frozen hi fi bar (it lasts longer that way) at 73 calories has to be better than eating a bag of maltesers?

Don't go to SW if you think it is so bad - but donpt blame it for your own inadequacies....the secret is in the word "choice"......and you've been making the wrong choices!

I totally agree, this is why dieting clubs don't work for me. They don't teach healthy eating or good habits at all. It's all a load of bollocks.

Diets work differently for everyone, but if you look at the concept of slimming world it is really just a healthy diet. The Hi fi bars and low syn snacks like quavers are to have instead of what you might previously had like a mars bar and a big bag of walkers crisps, simply so you can satisfy a craving but not take in so many calories. You can still eat everything on slimming world, all a syn is, is calories.

I have been thinking of using SW as a guide, but I have never eaten and never would eat a processed bar or a MullerLight (I don't even know what they are, presume they are a type of yoghurt?). I need to lose weight and want to spark some interest to keep myself going by trying something new (previously lost weight with low-carb/Pig to Twig but got bored with the restriction of low carbs and fell off the wagon). I would not be tempted by branded stuff or processed food as that is just not my thing. So I think I will give it a go...

I have also just got one of these, which looks like a good idea...

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B015PU8RO0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8

i don't do SW but just started weight watchers and there are a few dodgy things on that. Their own products for sale at the meeting (mostly cereal bars and biscuits) are full of crap ,so I don't touch those. They promote an overall very healthy diet, low sugar for sure , but the low fat thing is problematic. I refuse to drink skim milk or have zero fat yogurt because I hate them and don't believe they are inherently better for you. Neither do I think you will lose much weight if you gorge on full fat products, it's all about moderation of everything. I lost weight on Atkins but a life without bread, cake , tiramisu, sticky fudge pudding (sweet tooth me?) would be a very sad one. Some people get obsessed with it as well, you still need to live your life and that means meals out and cake on special occasions (not every day) .

should add that WW don't say you can't have full fat products, their whole thing is you can eat anything but when skim milk and zero fat yogurts have less points and skinless chicken breast is zero points the emphasis is on low fat. I find 1% or 2% milk more satisfying than skim milk, as I do with low fat yogurt over zero fat yogurt.

i dunno maybe its impossible to get right? I never put on weight when I'm on holiday abroad and I eat exactly what i like , the only difference is i don't snack or worry about my food choices, and maybe I walk a tiny bit more! Go figure...

dudesmummy I tried Pig to Twig too, and liked the food and everything, but just couldn't get past the first phase. It was too strict and I kept falling off the wagon. I loved the high fat, but I don't know if you can eat high fat and also have even a few carbs. I found it far too expensive and couldn't eat any of my low cost nutritious meals because they contained lentils and beans. Starchy veg like potatoes and root veg are also good for your gut biome.
I'm doing SW and have started reading Dr Ranjan Chaterjees 4 pillar book. Some of the 'eat' pillar says you should try eating in a 12 hour window and try eating food which contains fewer than 5 ingredients. I can do SW on that if I follow the book and do the 1/3 plate of speed as there are no other low carb vs low fat restrictions.It also means I don't eat Muller lights or hi fi bars and I use spray oil and syn it rather than fry light.

Thanks guineapigs. I also loved the high fat on P2T initially, and lost lots of weight as long as I stuck to it, but then carbs started creeping in, without me changing the high-fat, so it went to pot (not at all the fault of the diet)!

Resisting processed stuff, commercial bars etc is no problem for me, I have no taste for those type of things. I do love things like toast, crackers etc, so these are really my downfall on a low-carb regime (oh, just one little wholewheat toast to go under my pile of allowed butter...!). Before you know it you are neither low-fat nor low-carb.

What works best for me is being "told" to stick to a diet sheet, rather than having too much choice. (I was one of those children who always did exactly what the teacher told me)! I have just done four weeks on an Android app called Nootric, which is very prescriptive and has gone extremely well. But I do need a bit more flexibility now, so I thought that drawing up a SW diet sheet every week (or using one from their magazine or some of the sites that do SW plans) would be a good idea. I am not an unhealthy eater by any means, and all my food is cooked from scratch (not by me but by my DH), but I need to keep things from slipping into things like lots of buttered toast or cheese and crackers...

can't believe there's a diet called pig to twig, that makes me so sad, even if they are being tongue in cheek about it. I don't think India Knight sustained her weight loss long term .
i've heard good things about the 4 pillar book and I also like the compassion showed by Louise Parker, her method is not the easiest to follow but the overall principles work well , you'll just lose weight a bit slower.

No sadly I think India Knight gained weight again, not sure about Neris. Anyway, low-carb was a miracle for me in the couple of years after I had my son, but then it all crept on again and more, once I hit menopause. I need something more sustainable this time.

I will look into Louise Parker...

No I don't think India Knight sustained the weight loss. I have decided I'm better suited to low fat too. To be honest, the only manufactured low fat food I have is yoghurt, as I drink almond milk. The 4 pillars book is really good. He just explains loads of techniques and says you should choose to initially try 2 from each pillar- relax, move, eat, sleep.

dudesmummy me too. Low carb was great for a while but i can't follow it forever, love all the other food too much. I've just turned 50 and am well into peri, put some weight on i'm hoping to shift with help from WW, more for the accountability of being weighed every week. I don't ever want to have to lose weight again (i've got less than 2 stones to lose), so fed up, this time it has to be sustainable.

I will be 55 soon. I also have less than two stone to lose, but I want to keep it off this time.

I see this post is 6 years old now. I'm at Slimming World. The reason why I can't stick to the plan is because neurodivergent people like me have trouble forming new habits. The plan is easy to follow on paper, just harder to implement practically. If I was brought up on the SW diet, I wouldn't need to be going as an adult. All the information would be 'built-in' or 'pre-programmed'. As it stands, it's going to take much longer to learn to stay focused. Focus is something I also struggle with.