Hi - I know what u mean - and yes I've swapped and lost - I've tried and retried loads of diets but always find I turn back to SW. I agree it's easier to eats lots on SW and remain on plan - but (forgive me if I sound like a preacher! Just trying to help!) if u follow the SW rules it does reduce the amount of calories u eat but the counting is done for u. SW have created the EE, Red, Green and Success Express plans to make losing weight flexible and suitable for as many ppl as poss - but there'll be some ppl only needing to lose say 7lbs whilst others need to lose many stones - so we all have to consider how we can work with the plans - for instance:- I've heard many ppl say that u can each as much as u like on SW - that's no quite right - the rule is that we eat enough to satisfy our appetites - I used to struggle with that but now I have a hot drink after each meal - I find it fills me up and I wait about 20 mins and if I'm really hungry - I eat more. (Of course I'm no saint and I don't manage to do this all the time - check out my sign in name - just passing on what's worked for me!) Another rule that we sometimes 'forget' is that whenever we eat - we shd have 1/3 of superfree food on our plates and they suggest that superfree shd be our first choice between meals too - cos that way we'll be filling ourselves up on very low cal food. Like u I've struggled with portion control- bet many here have too - but when I started following SW's 7 day menu plans from the website (u can access those - even if ur not a member) or buy their mags - I found the food was filling and I started to enjoy it and cos I was really fed up of losing/gaining all the time wanted to get to target this time. I've learnt a lot from others here and I think the best tip I've had - was to write out the meals for the week - just a list of 7 b'fasts, lunches and teas with a few bits for snacks - then do the weekly shop - it helped me to be more organised and got into the routine of cooking appetising meals for the family - again lots of ideas for things like SW burgers, choc brownies, scotch eggs, soups, curries, pizzas etc. I find reading ppl's food diaries is good too. If ur struggling with anything, just post a question - I find that the lovely ppl here are happy to help and have often had a similar query/problem in the past - good luck with whichever way to decide to lose the weight - sorry for the L-O-N-G post!!
