New to SW and to MiniMins

[Fiorinda]

Hello,

I've never done SW before. I'm not joining either. I've bought a (last years) joining pack from a friend who got it on ebay. I HATE going to slimming meetings.
I've done WW, but it stopped working for me (I stopped doing it properly more likely the reason!!) so I thought something new might work better.

This seems like a good forum to get the support needed without joining up to SW itself!

Fio x

 

[MrsE13]

Hey!! I start tomorrow! Hopefully this time in a week we will both be smiling about how much weight we have lost in week 1. Good luck. Xx

 

[Fiorinda]

Good luck to you too! We have a similar amount to lose!

 

[Texty_F]

Good luck on your SW journey - If your pack is last years id be careful with some of the syn values and healthy extras as products change from time to time so the book may not be as up to date

There are threads on here with syn values and healthy extras if you struggle though.

 

[Fiorinda]

Thanks!!

I'm working on the premise that what's in the pack worked when it was published so will still work now. I'm well aware that the slimming organisations 'update' their programmes regularly mostly as a way to keep people signing up and paying them!! I don't eat much in the way of 'products' anyway, most of the food I eat is homemade - can't imagine the 'syn' values of stuff like olive oil and butter will have changed much!

Just trying to get my head around it really at the moment, ready for starting on Tuesday (and to resist the urge to go mad in the meantime!!). I think I understand it that I can have as much as I want from the superfree foods, whichever type of day I'm doing, and then as much as I want from the free food list that relates to the type of day. I'm still a bit baffled by the Healthy Eating choices.

​

 

[chocko1]

Hi. You can have two Healthy Extra A's and two Healthy Extra B's on Red and Green but only one of each on EE. Buying the mag might help too. Good luck! x

Kathy

 

[Fiorinda]

Shopping day tomorrow, so I'm going to make a list and do some menu plans!!

 

[lydia150970]

The magazine is brilliant for recipes, motivational stories and udpated healthy extra. Like choko1 said if you are planning on having EE then its 1 A and 1 B healthy extra choice. I always use my A for 350mls of skimmed milk and my B changes between 2 Alpen Light bars, 2 HiFi bars, 1 Special K chewy delight bar, cereal or bread. The reasoning behind healthy extras are to ensure you get enough calcium and fibre in your diet which are both very important.

There are always loads of people online that will be able to help you if you get stuck or not sure about something. So please don't be afraid to ask.

You might want to start a food diary (if you havent' already go to the food diary section) and post what you eat, that way you can get people to check that you are on the right track and they will also offer advice etc etc.

Good luck hun and welcome to SW

 

[Fiorinda]

Thanks Lydia!!

I think I made a reasonable meal plan for the week (evening meals only, I generally have leftovers or salad and something for lunch), but I've only got to Saturday (and I'm not counting today, we had to postpone our afternoon tea from yesterday to today, so I've already had sandwiches and a scone with cream and a slice of cake! And my fiance had a job interview this afternoon so he gets to choose dinner and has asked for enchilladas):

Wednesday - homemade bean burgers baked in the oven, homemade oven chips, salad
Thursday - tabbouleh, homemade hummous, pitta bread and salad (and some grilled halloumi for my son and his girlfriend)
Friday - grilled tuna steaks, homemade tomato sauce, pasta and sweetcorn salad, and brocolli
Saturday - chilli made from turkey mince, red kidney beans and vegetables with rice.

Does that look OK?

 

[Fiorinda]

AAAAAND, I've been looking through posts and my pack, and I think I've got a handle on how it works. But I have a question about Syns.

The idea seems to be 'here are some syns to use on all the stuff you might want that doesn't come under either the free food or healthy extra umbrellas, in order for you not to feel deprived and then go off and binge or whatever'. So my question is, if I don't feel deprived eating only free and HEX foods, do I REALLY need to have Syns? I'm not saying I won't, I love chocolate (and wine!). BUT I'd quite like to train my body to manage without sugar and 'bad' fats for the majority of the time. I get that I can have olive oil as Syns, and of course wine. But what if I have days where I'm quite happy to eat lots of veg and fruit and lean protein and my healthy extras, and I don't want any wine (yes, it does happen!). I'm not going to have chocolate just to eat the Syns up!! What do other people think? It's not like it's a carefully balanced mathematical equation that's not going to work if you don't have all the elements. That used to really annoy me about WW - everyone going 'you MUST eat all your points every day!!' and me being full and not wanting to eat for the sake of it!

I'd be interested in your thoughts. x

 

[lydia150970]

Hi Hun


I think it's important to eat syns every for a few reasons. One it helps to stop us feeling deprived. And, when we get closer to goal weight and are struggling to lose those last few pounds if we are eating the syns we have something to work with we can cut back on syns a bit to help get over any plateaus - hope that helps x

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[lydia150970]

Looks yummy to me. Is the turkey mince extra lean and the mince for burgers? Otherwise it needs to be synned. Good that you are having your super free with the meals too. Well done x

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[Fiorinda]

The turkey mince says extra lean on the pack, yes. I was all for making it a veggie chilli but Lee (my fiance) begged for mince (I was veggie for years, both my adult kids are veggie, Lee loves meat!). The burgers we're having today will be veggie, as we're feeding our downstairs neighbour and she's a vegetarian. I've got a tin of butterbeans and I need to go out and get chickpeas for tomorrow's hummous so I'll get another kind of bean too to add to them. We do often eat vegetarian meals.

I tend not to eat much in the way of high-carb foods though as a) I have a gluten intolerance which comes and goes - think it's a cumulative thing and b) I find that high-carb foods rush through my system and leave me hungry much sooner, even whole grains, so I usually concentrate more on proteins and veg and fruit. The pasta salad with the tuna is a bit odd for me, usually I'd just have the fish, veg and sauce. But I figured if I put sweetcorn in it, and maybe even some beans, it will be higher in protein and also I probably won't eat much of it so I can have some for my lunch on Sunday. I'll use gluten-free pasta, I really can't eat wheat pasta, just the thought of it makes me feel ill. So I'll do 2, one for Lee with mayo on, and one for me. He's really skinny and eats like a horse (it's not fair!!) so I need to make sure he doesn't starve to death!!

We almost always have loads of salad or veg with meals, particularly dinner.

Here's a queation.... last night I made enchilladas from a pack (Old El Paso - we only get them when they're on offer as they're so expensive otherwise). It was awesome, as always!! I saved some of the chicken I cooked for it for my lunch today. So I had sauteed it in a little olive oil, with mushrooms, red onion and red pepper, and added the tomato sauce that comes with the pack. But I took my portion out before I added the cheese. It's probably a 1/4 of the whole amount. I'll count some Syns in with it I suppose, for the sauce and the oil, but I don't really know how to guesstimate how many. Any tips?

Thanks, really appreciating all your help and advice!! x

 

[lydia150970]

Hi hun

i used to be a vegetarian for 28 years, but the bacon got to me LOL!

According to the website plus a little guestimating on my part I would say 4 syns?

 

[Fiorinda]

Thanks so much Lydia!!

It was roast chicken that got me - I'd stopped being veggie years ago but was only eating fish. But living with Lee, I started cooking meat, and decided I wanted to do a roast chicken - it had always seemed such a grown up thing to cook!! I wasn't intending to eat it, but when it was done it looked and smelled so gorgeous, I tried some. I still don't like beef much, and can only eat it in things like meatballs or burgers, or lamb at all (yuck!), but I love bacon and pork, and chorizo is my favouritest thing ever!! I bet that has LOADS of syns!! x

 

[Fiorinda]

Chorizo = 2.5 Syns per 28g. Not too bad!

 

[lydia150970]

Oh god I'm a right carnivore now I adore meat the only thing I don't like are hotdogs and I am a little fussy on my sausages so tend to stick to quorn or Linda McCartney.

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[Fiorinda]

I do try not to make meat-based meals every day, I don't think it's necessary (and I do prefer fish). Also, I worry about the quality - as we have a very limited food budget. I love that Aldi sell free range chickens for a fiver! I always add loads of veg to every dish I make too, even if the recipe doesn't call for it. Makes things both healthier and cheaper. I like leftovers for my lunches at work, so I aim to make everything go as far as possible.

We just had burgers made from kidney and butter beans and grated carrot with some instant mash to bind, a bit of chilli, garlic and onions and some Moroccan spices. 80pence worth of tinned beans made 8 huge burgers!!

I don't really like meat sausages, except on the BBQ or in a casserole, so I tend to have veggie ones when Lee has sausages. I got some Quorn ones today, which I love, and I might have one or two for my breakfast tomorrow!

 

[lydia150970]

I think the plain quorn sausages are free now. Think ill have one for breakfast too!

Sounds like you are definitely on the right SW track x

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[Fiorinda]

Yup yup, plain quorn sausages are free - and I noticed in Sainsburys they now do a 'low calorie' version. Didn't get those though as they were dearer!

Thanks for all your input!! x