Slimming World #4

[WhatABore]

I’ve just joined SW for the first time 2 weeks ago. I’ve read through the thread and agree with what a lot of you are saying however people need to use their heads and eat in moderation. I’ve slowly gained 4 stone in 3 years and managed to lose the first 1/2 a stone in 2 weeks.

For example you’re saying people think they can eat a tit load of ‘SlimmingWorld chips’ or 27 muller lights and lose weight… they’ve got to take personal responsibility and have a handful of chips and one muller light. The same goes with syns… I never knew what a syn was until 2 weeks ago and they’re a good visual for what is bad for you eg I used to buy cold latte drinks in home bargain for 49p- I wouldn’t buy one I’d buy 3 and drink them in a day or 2. A Big Mac burger is 25.5 syns which I was eating weekly so Now I can see where I’m gaining the weight.

I don’t think I’ll be a die hard SW fan… I wanna get the chunk of the weight down and as soon as I feel good enough I’ll be back at the gym and calorie counting.

I don’t know what I’m adding to the thread tbh. I don’t disagree with you but people have to take personal responsibility for their own weight. And all this making crazy concoctions for a sweet treat.. if they’re that desperate have a treat and earn it by doing a walk or bike ride and eat the bloody sweet.

Syns dont give you a good visual of what is "bad" for you though.

You can make a slimming world version of something for 0 syns. Yet the actual version of it will be 20 syns. Yet the one that is 20 syns is less calories than the syn free version.
There's loads of examples of this.

Also as said above, how an avocado is high in syns. But it isn't bad for you.

You can make a syn free "fry up"
And it will still have 1000+ calories

 

[Cherrycup]

But isn’t it obvious that Big Macs and milky sugary drinks have a high calorific value without the need to be told how many syns are in them?
Also please don’t sink into the ‘good’ vs ‘bad’ food thing. You can lose weight by eating ‘bad’ food in controlled quantities

 

[Theyallneedarealitycheck]

This is it though isn't it, you're told bacon medallions are free so you can have as much as you like, same for pasta, rice, eggs. I don't or I haven't in my SW experiences over the years ever been encouraged to eat in moderation, it's always about filling up on free food, eating slices of ham, whizzing up polenta as a flour substitute. We were encouraged to snack on as many mullerlights as we wanted at one group.

Losing weight for me is a bleeping great albatross around my neck but being told if I have cereal for breakfast I can't have 2 slices of wholemeal toast and a Devils bollock for lunch but could boil a kilo of white pasta and eat that if I wanted... well somethings not right there is it.

 

[KeepitontheDL]

I think alot depends on the leader... I briefly joined SW last year and mine was very clear that yes, foods were free but follow the portion advice (eg. 1/2 plate speed aka veg) and she would emphasise that in an overall week the intention was to be in calorie defecit and she encouraged exercise. Many personal experiences on here are just awful and it seems leaders hadn't a notion, simply copied their previous leader and continued the cycle of shame / outdated advice.

I may have shared this before but I really noticed the difference in approach when my leader was away & the replacement went around the room person by person commenting on their gain/loss, seeking explanations and getting others to give advice etc. I sat with my face burning but thankfully he did not ask me as I was new and came late but nobody should feel that way in what is supposed to be a supportive environment that you are PAYING for!!

In general, the free food and syns is an antiquated notion and SW needs an overhaul - compared to 10 or 20 years ago, there is far more awareness around calories so as a poster mentioned above, alot of people already know that McDonald's is high calorie. Assigning a syn value doesn't help someone realise they can happily eat an occasional McDonald's provided the rest of their diet is balanced. I have to say, I despise Insta accounts promoting CC and their 1600/1800 kcals a day are devoid of fruit or veg and laden with sugar, procssed food etc. It might be a deficit but they are not really promoting a healthy balanced diet.

I do think SW is helpful to those who previously survived on processed food and gained weight. For example, pre-Covid, my cousin NEVER cooked from scratch. Takeaways or oven meals only. She joined SW during Covid and was amazed how easy it was to cook once she started following some simple recipes. Yes, she was conscious of calories and weighed her 'free food' carbs but in general, it helped her. Now I just have to put up with her harping on about "its a lifestyle change"

I guess what I'm trying to say in a long, rambling way is that I can see the positives and negatives of SW and ultimately they need to get with the times and sack most of the leaders!

 

[JustWonderingIf]

I’ve just joined SW for the first time 2 weeks ago. I’ve read through the thread and agree with what a lot of you are saying however people need to use their heads and eat in moderation. I’ve slowly gained 4 stone in 3 years and managed to lose the first 1/2 a stone in 2 weeks.

For example you’re saying people think they can eat a tit load of ‘SlimmingWorld chips’ or 27 muller lights and lose weight… they’ve got to take personal responsibility and have a handful of chips and one muller light. The same goes with syns… I never knew what a syn was until 2 weeks ago and they’re a good visual for what is bad for you eg I used to buy cold latte drinks in home bargain for 49p- I wouldn’t buy one I’d buy 3 and drink them in a day or 2. A Big Mac burger is 25.5 syns which I was eating weekly so Now I can see where I’m gaining the weight.

I don’t think I’ll be a die hard SW fan… I wanna get the chunk of the weight down and as soon as I feel good enough I’ll be back at the gym and calorie counting.

I don’t know what I’m adding to the thread tbh. I don’t disagree with you but people have to take personal responsibility for their own weight. And all this making crazy concoctions for a sweet treat.. if they’re that desperate have a treat and earn it by doing a walk or bike ride and eat the bloody sweet.

A Big Mac you mention is 25.5 syns so you won't eat it now and blame it as cause of your weight gain.
Eating one would be classed as off plan.
A big mac is 493 calories

This is a Slimming world alternative the 'big daddy burger' for 0.5 syn with HEB or 6.5 syns. Its off their website bear in mind, and not a random insta hun recipe

If you put the ingredients listed into nutracheck its more calories than a big mac (this not including the syn free chips you'd likely have with it)

Yet you could eat 3 of these if you use one of your buns as heb and still be on plan and under 15 syns.

So, if you ate the big mac you'd probably watch what you ate for the rest of thr day because its a big mac and we associate it as high calorie and fattening.
If you eat the half a syn 'big daddy burger' you'd likely enjoy another 14.5 syns, a heA, breakfast and lunch on top.
Your consultant would even tell you that you need to eat all these things.
You could walk into and eat a big daddy burger monday - saturday and only eat a big mac on the sunday.
If you gained your consultant will blame the big mac.
Demonising a food for no reason.

Syns are loads of tit.

 

[theeyeroller]

A Big Mac you mention is 25.5 syns so you won't eat it now and blame it as cause of your weight gain.
Eating one would be classed as off plan.
A big mac is 493 caloriesView attachment 1438181
This is a Slimming world alternative the 'big daddy burger' for 0.5 syn with HEB or 6.5 syns. Its off their website bear in mind, and not a random insta hun recipe
View attachment 1438194View attachment 1438202
If you put the ingredients listed into nutracheck its more calories than a big mac (this not including the syn free chips you'd likely have with it)
View attachment 1438205View attachment 1438206
Yet you could eat 3 of these if you use one of your buns as heb and still be on plan and under 15 syns.

So, if you ate the big mac you'd probably watch what you ate for the rest of thr day because its a big mac and we associate it as high calorie and fattening.
If you eat the half a syn 'big daddy burger' you'd likely enjoy another 14.5 syns, a heA, breakfast and lunch on top.
Your consultant would even tell you that you need to eat all these things.
You could walk into and eat a big daddy burger monday - saturday and only eat a big mac on the sunday.
If you gained your consultant will blame the big mac.
Demonising a food for no reason.

Syns are loads of tit.

I cannot understand all these SW recipes that end up being higher calories than the real thing, like mushy pea gravy, why? When Bisto Best is fewer calories, less faff and much nicer. Taster night is my idea of a nightmare, someone made “truffles” out of quark and cocoa powder absolutely horrendous. Tried to politely avoid eating anything but I was emotionally blackmailed into trying stuff . Never again!

 

[anotheronebitesthedust.1]

I used to do SW for years and yes it worked initially and lost 2 stone for my wedding but it was never sustainable and always felt like a diet
I switched over to CC beginning of the year and it was definitely an eye opening

Sw would teach bad and good food and go on about syns making it feel like a guilt thing . It wasn’t until I did the switch that I truly felt happy . Before I would go to Nando’s and always get the same 5 syn meal as I felt like I couldn’t get anything else but now I have my favs and work it into my daily allowance of cals . Before I would think aw yea pasta is free food so never focused on the weight of it or the cals involved until I had to weigh it for CC and realised how much I was actually having

Personally for me CC gives you the freedom and the right balance to still lose weight and also maintain a social life

 

[justhavinganoseynow]

Yeah I see what you mean with the burger it doesn’t make sense. Tbh I’m not that into it in that sense. Im not making all these fad foods. I’m just eating what we normally eat minus the goodies and takeaways. I’m doing it more of a cutting out rit like sugar and swapping for sweetener… red milk instead of blue. I haven’t been eating bread which I feel much better for as I think I had a slight intolerance anyway but no willpower to stay off it.

What I do think though is if anyone is stupid enough to think they can eat a kg of rice or a huge bowl of pasta and lose weight then they’re beyond help. It’s basic common sense… just because SW call it free it’s not free.

I’m also cycling a lot too so that’s contributing to my weight loss. I guess I’m not really following SW as other people do… I’m using it as more of a loose tool + an incentive to lose each week because I don’t want to go into the group and be asked ‘what happened?’ Basically I’m using SW as it appeals to my competitive side so I know I’ll lose because I want to meet my goals and be praised.

I haven’t heard any of the above things off the consultant about eat as much as you want of rice, pasta etc,.. what I did listen to in group the other night which I disagreed with was her giving advice to a type 1 diabetic who was devastated that she’d maintained telling her to get her medication reviewed and change this and that food as she’d followed the plan. I just think that’s dangerous territory and something a SlimmingWorld consultant isn’t qualified to be messing with.

 

[ClaretFairy]

A Big Mac you mention is 25.5 syns so you won't eat it now and blame it as cause of your weight gain.
Eating one would be classed as off plan.
A big mac is 493 caloriesView attachment 1438181
This is a Slimming world alternative the 'big daddy burger' for 0.5 syn with HEB or 6.5 syns. Its off their website bear in mind, and not a random insta hun recipe
View attachment 1438194View attachment 1438202
If you put the ingredients listed into nutracheck its more calories than a big mac (this not including the syn free chips you'd likely have with it)
View attachment 1438205View attachment 1438206
Yet you could eat 3 of these if you use one of your buns as heb and still be on plan and under 15 syns.

So, if you ate the big mac you'd probably watch what you ate for the rest of thr day because its a big mac and we associate it as high calorie and fattening.
If you eat the half a syn 'big daddy burger' you'd likely enjoy another 14.5 syns, a heA, breakfast and lunch on top.
Your consultant would even tell you that you need to eat all these things.
You could walk into and eat a big daddy burger monday - saturday and only eat a big mac on the sunday.
If you gained your consultant will blame the big mac.
Demonising a food for no reason.

Syns are loads of tit.

Not everything at mcdonalds is high calorie anyway. It's quite surprising how many diet products are actually higher calorie than just normal food.

 

[Mab1994]

bleeping slimming world! I share an office with a nutritionist and was telling her about SW and how you can't have an avocado (Devils Bollock) but you can eat 27 mullerlights. She says that is rit and told me not to rejoin ever! I had no plan to, it's a bit "drink the koolaid" for me!

bleeping slimming world! I share an office with a nutritionist and was telling her about SW and how you can't have an avocado (Devils Bollock) but you can eat 27 mullerlights. She says that is rit and told me not to rejoin ever! I had no plan to, it's a bit "drink the koolaid" for me!

I am so glad i have finally rid myself of SW for good. I can't be any happier with all the foods i get to enjoy within my calorie allowance and also super healthy and nutrious. It took me good 3 years to finally put a stop for good.

I am done lining their pockets

 

[anotheronebitesthedust.1]

I also find SW doesn’t really encourage exercise as much .
you could be hammering the gym , be in a deficit but maintained weight for a month but lost say 9 inches
They don’t really talk about the difference between large loss and scale loss

 

[justhavinganoseynow]

Out of curiosity I put todays food into MyFitnessPal and goal - food + exercise= 510 calories remaining so I’m deffo not eating tit loads of free foods. What did shock me from MFP though is that mushrooms are coming in at 89% large and I’ve been eating more of them than I usually would as they’re supposedly a speed food last time I dieted successfully I just used MFP calorie counting and went to the gym twice a day but this time I have a lot more weight to lose and a lot less time for the gym. Sorry I know it’s not a weight loss support thread but I’m trying to get my head around it all. And I still think Maccies is bad when you’re on a diet whether you’re on SW, WW or anything else.

 

[JustWonderingIf]

Yeah I see what you mean with the burger it doesn’t make sense. Tbh I’m not that into it in that sense. Im not making all these fad foods. I’m just eating what we normally eat minus the goodies and takeaways. I’m doing it more of a cutting out rit like sugar and swapping for sweetener… red milk instead of blue. I haven’t been eating bread which I feel much better for as I think I had a slight intolerance anyway but no willpower to stay off it.

What I do think though is if anyone is stupid enough to think they can eat a kg of rice or a huge bowl of pasta and lose weight then they’re beyond help. It’s basic common sense… just because SW call it free it’s not free.

I’m also cycling a lot too so that’s contributing to my weight loss. I guess I’m not really following SW as other people do… I’m using it as more of a loose tool + an incentive to lose each week because I don’t want to go into the group and be asked ‘what happened?’ Basically I’m using SW as it appeals to my competitive side so I know I’ll lose because I want to meet my goals and be praised.

You're not breaking the mould by eating less and exercising more than the plan recommends.
Sounds like you're low carbing too with not eating sugar and bread.
Many SW instagrammers/members have done this. Cut out lots of food all to get the stickers, certs and meaningless awards like mr/mrs sleek, man/woman of year etc.

You said you've cut out sugar and bread part of your motivation is you want to guarantee lossed and not be asked what happened.
When people say SW promoted disordered eating they're not just talking about syns and weird concoctions like mushy pea gravy.
It encourages people to cut out food groups and go to greater lengths to lose weight by placing a psychological stress on members at the thought of having to publicly explain their gain.

Do you think cycling like mad, eating no sugar and bread is sustainable for life?
Yeah you might stick with it until you get to target but what then?
Your metabolism will be shot and the moment you go back to eating more carbs and easing up on the cycling you'll balloon.

This happened to some high profile instagrammers such as towers, jsg, thefoodieslimmer etc
Low carbed and (more in towers case) excercised intensively on the way to target.
They couldn't sustain and gained it all back.

Them certs and award won't seem so worth destroying your metabolism for in 2 years.

 

[Mab1994]

I also find SW doesn’t really encourage exercise as much .
you could be hammering the gym , be in a deficit but maintained weight for a month but lost say 9 inches
They don’t really talk about the difference between large loss and scale loss

This is what made me finally backed out and stop going to group.

I was exercising so well for 6 months, i dropped 3 dress sizes. Look and feels so good and happy.
However, in group i am always gaining a pound weekly, i didn't mind because i know of all my non scale victories and even tried to explain that but the leader said oh you've been at this exercise since January that shouldn't be causing your gains and just brushed all of the achievements i so proudly told her right there.

She gave no attention to the 3 dress sizes i dropped and most importantly how happy i feel.

I was so gutted and decided that was the end.

 

[JustWonderingIf]

Out of curiosity I put todays food into MyFitnessPal and goal - food + exercise= 510 calories remaining so I’m deffo not eating tit loads of free foods.

Yeah you're starving your way to target.

 

[KeepitontheDL]

Out of curiosity I put todays food into MyFitnessPal and goal - food + exercise= 510 calories remaining so I’m deffo not eating tit loads of free foods. What did shock me from MFP though is that mushrooms are coming in at 89% large and I’ve been eating more of them than I usually would as they’re supposedly a speed food last time I dieted successfully I just used MFP calorie counting and went to the gym twice a day but this time I have a lot more weight to lose and a lot less time for the gym. Sorry I know it’s not a weight loss support thread but I’m trying to get my head around it all. And I still think Maccies is bad when you’re on a diet whether you’re on SW, WW or anything else.

Sadly thats diet culture drummed into you that McDonald's is "bad"... It is not bad when eaten occasionally as part of a balanced diet. As previous posters said, you could have a homemade burger and ends up more calories I totally get its hard to throw off the shackles of 'good' and 'bad' food

 

[disillusionedbythegram]

The reason none of it makes sense is because they make money off people wanting to lose weight. If everyone actually lost the weight and kept it off, they’d have no more income

 

[WhatABore]

Yeah I see what you mean with the burger it doesn’t make sense. Tbh I’m not that into it in that sense. Im not making all these fad foods. I’m just eating what we normally eat minus the goodies and takeaways. I’m doing it more of a cutting out rit like sugar and swapping for sweetener… red milk instead of blue. I haven’t been eating bread which I feel much better for as I think I had a slight intolerance anyway but no willpower to stay off it.

What I do think though is if anyone is stupid enough to think they can eat a kg of rice or a huge bowl of pasta and lose weight then they’re beyond help. It’s basic common sense… just because SW call it free it’s not free.

I’m also cycling a lot too so that’s contributing to my weight loss. I guess I’m not really following SW as other people do… I’m using it as more of a loose tool + an incentive to lose each week because I don’t want to go into the group and be asked ‘what happened?’ Basically I’m using SW as it appeals to my competitive side so I know I’ll lose because I want to meet my goals and be praised.

I haven’t heard any of the above things off the consultant about eat as much as you want of rice, pasta etc,.. what I did listen to in group the other night which I disagreed with was her giving advice to a type 1 diabetic who was devastated that she’d maintained telling her to get her medication reviewed and change this and that food as she’d followed the plan. I just think that’s dangerous territory and something a SlimmingWorld consultant isn’t qualified to be messing with.

This is the thing as well though, some people join SW at 20/30+ stone after spending their whole life eating all sorts and somethings never having dieted.
Those people have no idea of nutrition or calories. My sister was one of these. She had no idea of the calories of things.
So going to slimming world, with no understanding of what it takes scientifically to lose weight and being told you can eat as much pasta and chips and whatever as you like, she thought that was correct.
Because why wouldn't you?
She was making plates of homemade chips as snacks because it was free.
But she still lost weight because she'd spent her lifetime with takeaways ect.
But then it eventually slows and this is when they get confused, because its not working anymore.
A lot of consultants don't encourage exercise either, in fact my own told me to stop because water retention was making me appear to gain weight.

Even myself when I first started, I understood calories ect but I thought well, i don't understand how it works, but I can eat as much as I want of free food, and people lose weight so there must be something there in it. There must be some secret rule that makes these foods okay!

They don't really teach you anything. And for the ones who had no idea before, will still have no idea after if SW is all they've known. So I wouldn't say its basic common sense. You have to be taught these things to know them in the first place
It may seem common sense to you, because you already learnt all that

 

[Damocles]

Is it now erikasworld_sw??

She's changed it to this which makes me think she's paving the way to leave sw in the future

her last few stories, she seems to have got good at hiding the ad/aff bit of her posts...you can hardly see it...

 

[Nurseypops]

A Big Mac you mention is 25.5 syns so you won't eat it now and blame it as cause of your weight gain.
Eating one would be classed as off plan.
A big mac is 493 caloriesView attachment 1438181
This is a Slimming world alternative the 'big daddy burger' for 0.5 syn with HEB or 6.5 syns. Its off their website bear in mind, and not a random insta hun recipe
View attachment 1438194View attachment 1438202
If you put the ingredients listed into nutracheck its more calories than a big mac (this not including the syn free chips you'd likely have with it)
View attachment 1438205View attachment 1438206
Yet you could eat 3 of these if you use one of your buns as heb and still be on plan and under 15 syns.

So, if you ate the big mac you'd probably watch what you ate for the rest of thr day because its a big mac and we associate it as high calorie and fattening.
If you eat the half a syn 'big daddy burger' you'd likely enjoy another 14.5 syns, a heA, breakfast and lunch on top.
Your consultant would even tell you that you need to eat all these things.
You could walk into and eat a big daddy burger monday - saturday and only eat a big mac on the sunday.
If you gained your consultant will blame the big mac.
Demonising a food for no reason.

Syns are loads of tit.

This is the best thing I've seen.
More calories in a slimming world recipe than an actual big mac! This is the plan summed upto a T.
Yes done properly it is a decent plan, but the problem is with large people we aren't good at limiting ourselves that's why we are large.
So telling us we can have unlimited free foods, makes us think we actually can. But it's a lie because of course you can't!
I gave slimming world up 3 years ago now, calorie counting is a much more enjoyable way of living life and losing weight.