Common SW misconceptions put right.

Thanks for setting these misunderstandings right! I find it helpful to be given the reasoning behind certain rules.

I'm totally new to this site but not to Slimming World, and this is my first post.

It's many years since I've been to class, but I've recently been motivated to start the DIY version through the example of my kid sister, who has lost 4st since last summer on the Extra Easy option.

Still finding my way around here, but enjoying the experience.....
 
Great thread, thanks
 
Love this thread - I did SW quite some time ago and it didnt work for me - after reading this I know why - i ate and ate and ate the free foods until they were coming out of my ears because they were 'free'!
I wont be doing that anymore!

I do worry about big portions though as i have a very large appetite - but i do like my fruit, salad and veg so think ill be ok but i am sticking to green and red as im scared I wont eat my 1/3 on EE.

At the moment im not having any syns but this is because i had a really bad weekend and ate my syn allowance for 2 weeks - when my hectic schedule (social drinking/eating!!!) has died down i will definately be eating my syns!!!

xxxx
 
I'll admit I haven't gone through the whole thread, but just wanted to add my two pence to the discussion.

Free foods are not completely unlimited! You can't eat Mugshots and Muller Lights all day every day, and then be surprised to STS. I'm putting this one up as it seems apt, while I sit trying to force down the last few mouthfuls of my MAHUSIVE pasta carbonara. You still have to exercise portion control, it's just down to your own judgement of when you are 'full' rather than having amounts and weights set out by the plan.

There is a difference between free food and syn free. SW have 40 years experience at helping people lose weight. You're right there is a strong semtiment of portion control in SW.

Mine would be making a dessert that is sw friendly that contains no or few syns, thinking that this is great and you can eat the lot lol!!
For example, the half a syn roulade, if you add the calories together of the 4 eggs, tub of quark, fruit and sweetner it comes to about 800 calories for the whole thing!! slimming world friendly or not, eating half or all of that will do you no favours!! So portion control is still key.

Again I agree regarding portion control, however there is a line between following the plan and the plan following you. I for one follow SW so I don't have to bother with counting calories. It might come to 800 calories, but the rest of your daily intake might have only come to 1000, so you are still likely to be ok. Making healthier choices is the key to SW, imagine the calories if it had been full fat soft cheese and sugar instead of Quark and sweetner!

I had a few other things pop up in my mind, but they've left my head. That and I fear this reply my turn into a epic 7 part novel!

Natt xx
 
Oh one other thing - I followed SW for a week as normal and tracked every single calorie as an experiment. I ate as normal pasta n sauces, boiled rice (and not a shot glass worth a proper amount) salads, steak, chicken, potato bakes, chilli, baked beans etc., as well as my A's B's and 15 syns and was suprised that I'd only averaged 1400 a day. I did then take advantage of this in a bad way and for 2 weeks continued going to SW, but only sort of followed the plan. I thought oh I've had my HEx's and syns but I have still got 600 calories and still be under my limit for the day so I'll have a dairy milk. This was a slippery slope that turned into me paying for SW, but doing CCing. Then I'd think oh I can eat whatever (junk) as long as I'm within the calories and it'd get to tea time and I'd have 200 calories left for tea. Luckily this only lasted 2 weeks when I thought 1. this is too much effort, 2. I don't like this, I like SW and 3. I felt like cr*p, I wasn't getting the nutrients I needed.

I think there is too much on calories, just follow the plan - steps 1, 2 and 3 and trust it works.

Sorry for the rant - just an opinion

Natt xx
 
Oh one other thing - I followed SW for a week as normal and tracked every single calorie as an experiment. I ate as normal pasta n sauces, boiled rice (and not a shot glass worth a proper amount) salads, steak, chicken, potato bakes, chilli, baked beans etc., as well as my A's B's and 15 syns and was suprised that I'd only averaged 1400 a day. I did then take advantage of this in a bad way and for 2 weeks continued going to SW, but only sort of followed the plan. I thought oh I've had my HEx's and syns but I have still got 600 calories and still be under my limit for the day so I'll have a dairy milk. This was a slippery slope that turned into me paying for SW, but doing CCing. Then I'd think oh I can eat whatever (junk) as long as I'm within the calories and it'd get to tea time and I'd have 200 calories left for tea. Luckily this only lasted 2 weeks when I thought 1. this is too much effort, 2. I don't like this, I like SW and 3. I felt like cr*p, I wasn't getting the nutrients I needed.

I think there is too much on calories, just follow the plan - steps 1, 2 and 3 and trust it works.

Sorry for the rant - just an opinion

Natt xx

I posted a thread a while back about counting calories and I did it as a little test, I found I am on average eating 1300 cals on a 100% day with 5 or so syns. I still use it as when I do use more syns I find it interesting to see how many calories I have eaten and it keeps me on track. If I have a blow out and take in say 2300 I will then make sure I eat lots of superfree food and smaller portions.

I'm not sure why but this helps me stay on track more then just counting syns as it helps me exercise portion control as well.

xx
 
I've been using myfitnesspal.com to track my food for a couple of weeks and after inputting my stats, it says I have a target of 2330 cals a day to lose 2lb a week.. ( being a large bloke )..
my daily calorie intake doesn't usually top 1600 cals a day..
I set my "goal" as maintaining my current weight and it said I needed 3360 cals a day...

I'm thinking that I'm not actually eating enough at the moment since my losses have slowed right down.. ( the fabled and much debated starvation mode".. ? )

The first week I ate loads and lost loads, the first 2 weeks of december I was stressed and ate more, and lost over a stone in those 2 weeks...

so I'm going to eat more next week and get my calories up closer to the 2330 it recomends and see if that does the trick..
 
Jennyonaplate said:
Just thought i'd put in one place a lot of the same points and questions that have been made recently. Feel free to add more!

Cutting back on syns won't always help boost your losses. Many people who increase their syns to 15 a day then have greater losses. Syns are an important part of the plan and cutting them out is not a short-cut to target.

Cooking/mashing fruit is not ok (even if you were only going to eat one anyway). It's not just about the one piece of fruit you were going to eat, it's also how it fills you up and affects your metabolism and appetite later in the day.

Too much fruit will not slow your losses. The official line from SW is that fruit can be enjoyed as a free food, provided you stop eating when you are full.

The 1/3 superfree food is important and not optional on EE. The SW guidance says that you must fill 1/3 of your plate with superfree, not that it's better if you do, or you'll have better losses if you do - the 1/3 superfree is an integral part of the EE plan and is the key to making it work.

Only the Healthy Extras listed on the website and in the book are allowed. If it's not listed then it doesn't have enough nutrients and fibre to be considered a healthy extra, so having something similar is not the same as having a healthy extra, and should therefore be synned.

Muscle does not weigh more than fat, and you cannot build muscle after a few workouts. It takes a very long time, and intensive weight lifting workouts to build muscle, so if you STS or have a small gain after starting exercise it will likely be water assisting the muscle repair and not weight gain. Also, 1lb of fat weighs the same as 1lb of muscle.

Everyone does not have big losses in their first week. A lot of people do, but a lot of people also start slowly, it bears no relation to their long term success of the plan, as things usually balance out over the following few weeks.

STS for a few weeks does not mean the plan isn't working. Our weight fluctuates naturally anyway, so sometimes it can take a couple of weeks for the scales to show a loss. It takes 3500 calories EXTRA a week to gain 1lb of fat, so if you've been good and still sts or gained, stick with the plan as it will show sooner or later.

Losing weight quickly does not mean it goes back on quicker. It doesn't matter how fast you lose weight, or what diet you follow, the only way weight returns is if you consume more calories than you burn off, so returning to the eating habits that made you gain weight before, will do exactly the same again.

As a SW newbie I love this .... Very informative and very well said

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins
 
Oops. This is my first week on SW and I have been doing Extra Easy, but not doing the 1/3 Superfree food thing.

I think I'll just do Green/Original from now on. :eek:
 
this is a fab thread, thankyou to all who has spent the time to share all the information
 
Thanks for the thread - interesting debate about the "free"ness of free foods - for me, one of things that drew me to SW above all other plans was that it wasn't about constraining myself, but about finding a healthy relationship with food again - it suits me because psychologically knowing I can eat "as much as I like" of filling and tasty foods stops me going into panic mode about what to eat... for me I think the stopping when full mantra is the key, rather than thinking that it's not truly unlimited...
 
Very interesting, great info esp as i am new to it. I am trying to have 1/3 super free per meal and filling up on fruit and veg in between. BUT i still feel that i am eating way too much pasta or rice or potato for dinner....any advice??
 
As long as you're having 1/3 superfree then you will lose! Eat til you are full and enjoy it!!!!
 
As long as you're having 1/3 superfree then you will lose! Eat til you are full and enjoy it!!!!
The operative words being "eat til you are full".
Eat slowly and if you've got 1/3 superfree on your plate you don't actually have to eat all the spuds or pasta on your plate.
 
Hello,

I'm new here and have just joined SW Online.

This is a brilliant thread and has really clarified lots of things for me, thank you :)

I wonder if someone could advise me on the Hex's though. I am probably being silly, but just wanted to check - does the hex have to be eaten at one time to count as hex? What I mean is, for a hex portion of 2 slices of bread, could I have one slice with my breakfast and one with my lunch, or does it have to be eaten as one meal/snack?

Sorry if I am being thick, still getting my head around it all :)

Clare x
 
No it doesn't have to be eaten in one sitting - you can split it however you like and have them at different times of day
 
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