I’ve been reading these threads for a while and thought I’d join in!
Over the years I’ve done SW on and off, usually online as the thought of going to group gave me a bit of anxiety. I’d lose a few pounds and then end up putting more back on, so at the start of 2020 myself and my housemate joined a local group thinking having somebody weigh us would make us to stick to it. After my first weigh in I realised how toxic the consultants are, I’d only lost 1lb compared to my housemates 3lb even though we’d eaten the same (it was totm for me but apparently that wasn’t an acceptable excuse) and was questioned on how I’d do better next week. She actually made me feel like I’d done something wrong and I felt terrible after. I still continued with the journey until we went into lockdown and it was at this point I realised I’d become quite disordered with my eating. Saving all my calories for a chocolate binge at night etc.
I stopped SW when the first lockdown started as I felt like food was the only joy I’d have living alone, I started eating foods I loved and cooking with oil. As I was so accustomed to the rules of slimming world I felt like I was going to be gaining weight rapidly eating like this, so I didn’t weigh for a while. When I did I was shocked to see I’d lost a fair bit of weight and since then it’s continued coming off helping me lose 3 stone without being on an official diet. I feel so much happier in myself and I can go out for a meal and not stress.
I completely understand that SW does work for a lot of people, but some of the people in my group who had done it for a while seemed to revolve their whole life around it and that just isn’t for me.
I maintained my loss for a while and recently it’s started creeping up a few pounds, and for once it hasn’t bothered me. Whereas before even a 1lb gain would have me upset.
I’ve attached an image from an app I have for tracking my weight, this is the last few years and it’s crazy how clear it is at what point I fully stopped SW.
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